The really incredible thing here isn&#x27;t the robot, it&#x27;s the poison, this thiosulfate-citrate-bile salts-sucrose agar stuff. It isn&#x27;t itself lethal, but it&#x27;s a culture medium for bacteria which are:<p>www.int-res.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;dao_oa&#x2F;d097p085.pdf<p>So the injection basically amplifies specific members of the starfish&#x27;s own microbiome to the point where they not only kill the starfish, but infect and kill its neighbours.<p>That is highly ingenious, and severely creepy.