As Chinese news organization CGTN reports, creative farmers in Jiangsu Province have been using hydrogen-filled balloons to spray pesticides since at least 2018. The practice involves suspending a hose all the way across a paddy, with workers in vehicles on either side providing the forward motion. This obviates the need to leave clear tire lanes for a vehicle to drive through the field. Here's what it looks like:

Below, this video clip from 2017 also shows the practice. You will be horrified, but perhaps not surprised, to see that the smiling worker holding the line has no respiratory protection at all:

I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.

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