Drudge has linked to a story about a kooky professor named Eric R. Pianka, who believes that for the good of the planet, 90% of the world's human population should disappear:

Though his statements are admittedly bold, he's not without abundant advocates. But what may set this revered biologist apart from other doomsday soothsayers is this: Humanity's collapse is a notion he embraces.

Indeed, his words deal, very literally, on a life-and-death scale, yet he smiles and jokes candidly throughout the lecture. Disseminating a message many would call morbid, Pianka's warnings are centered upon awareness rather than fear.

"This is really an exciting time," he said Friday amid warnings of apocalypse, destruction and disease. Only minutes earlier he declared, "Death. This is what awaits us all. Death." Reflecting on the so-called Ancient Chinese Curse, "May you live in interesting times," he wore, surprisingly, a smile.

Pianka will doubtless be vilified as a genocide advocate. That's as it should be, for even though he denies advocating direct action, he's clearly sympathetic to the idea.

"Good terrorists would be taking [Ebola Roaston and Ebola Zaire] so that they had microbes they could let loose on the Earth that would kill 90 percent of people."

Redstate's Nick Firenze is correct in seeing Pianka as a threat because of the likelihood that he'll inspire others:

Hopefully, none of the students impressed by Dr. Pianka's ideas will try to act on those ideas.

Pianka has stated that Ebola is an evolutionary step away from becoming a global pandemic.  He has also stated that Ebola is only an international plane flight away as well.  "Ebola does not discriminate, kills everyone and could spread to Europe and the the Americas by a single infected airplane passenger."

I sincerely hope that someone is keeping tabs on Dr. Pianka's travel plans now and in the future.  And also the travel plans and itineraries of his many students.  And the plane flights and "vacations" of the many, many others who hear his doomsday talk and become convinced that the cure to the world's problems is the death of 9 out of every 10 people alive.

Equally sobering is the thought that many of the biology students who study under Dr. Pianka will end up in jobs where they come in contact with lethal bacteria and viruses used in research.  Hopefully, none of them will have been so impressed by Dr. Pianka's arguments in favor of a worls "saved" from humans by global pandemic that they are tempted to help the process along.

It doesn't take a Tom Clancyesque terrorist group to bring about this apocalyptic scenario.  All it takes is one true believer who hops a jet to Central Africa after seeing a CNN story about a new Ebola outbreak

Just one true believer who "worships" Dr. Pianka's vision of death and isn't afraid to get his hands dirty and give his all for the "cause."

It would be tough to find a better case for government surveillance.

The bright side is that people like Pianka can be watched, as can their students. The ones who are fired, denied tenure, driven underground are probably the most likely suspects.

Not that I have any problem with anyone's free speech. Pianka and those of similar bent have just as much right to advocate genocide as Nazis or anyone else. But common sense suggests that advocates of genocide bear watching. (Monitoring?)

Pianka isn't too hard to spot. Here are a couple of lovely pictures from his web site:

What a pity that this jerk has to be a herpetologist, of all things! I've been an amateur herpetologist for most of my life, and I love snakes and monitors.

I think Pianka is giving reptile lovers a bad name!

UPDATE: More of Pianka's remarks reported here by fellow scientist Forrest M. Mims III:

I watched in amazement as a few hundred members of the Texas Academy of Science rose to their feet and gave a standing ovation to a speech that enthusiastically advocated the elimination of 90 percent of Earth's population by airborne Ebola.

Let me now remove my reporter's hat for a moment and tell you what I think. We live in dangerous times. The national security of many countries is at risk. Science has become tainted by highly publicized cases of misconduct and fraud.

Must now we worry that a Pianka-worshipping former student might someday become a professional biologist or physician with access to the most deadly strains of viruses and bacteria? I believe that airborne Ebola is unlikely to threaten the world outside of Central Africa. But scientists have regenerated the 1918 Spanish flu virus that killed 50 million people. There is concern that small pox might someday return. And what other terrible plagues are waiting out there in the natural world to cross the species barrier and to which scientists will one day have access?

Meanwhile, I still can't get out of my mind the pleasant spring day in Texas when a few hundred scientists of the Texas Academy of Science gave a standing ovation for a speaker who they heard advocate for the slow and torturous death of over five billion human beings.

What a relief to know the man isn't a bigot!

UPDATE: Pajamas Media has more links on the Pianka story.

UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds looks at whether depression might be involved, and wonders whether cases like Pianka's receive disproportionate media attention.

Given that academics' lives are generally pretty good, it's hard to see why academics should be more depressed. It's perhaps better to say that academics' negative statements get more media attention.

What I'd like to know is whether Pianka is on the "right" or on the "left."

I mean, I hate to see everything get politicized, but exactly where would killing 90% of humanity fit on the political spectrum anyway?

UPDATE (03/06/06): Professor Pianka will be interviewed by the FBI, and he denies advocating genocide, and he may be right. Promulgating an idea or a philosophy is not the same thing as advocating its direct implementation, even if the one who promulgates in wants it to happen.

But suppose instead of "people," he'd said "Jews":

"Good terrorists would be taking [Ebola Roaston and Ebola Zaire] so that they had microbes they could let loose on the Earth that would kill 90 percent of Jews."

Is humanity as a whole less worthy of protection than individual groups?