Your comment about “leaving the door open” for an efficient way to resolve the problem of frozen cows reminds me of a story from the early days of the U. S. space program.
Seems that early on, the Russian and American astronauts discovered that ink pens didn’t work in zero gravity. So, true to form, the U. S. government (NASA) organized one of those big government crash projects, spending billions of dollars and years of effort to successfully design an ink pen that works in space.
Upon hearing of the successful American, one of the Russian astronauts laughed and said something to the effect, “stupid Americans, we just started taking pencils into space!”
I guess that that just proves, yet again, that if you really want to screw something up, ask the government for help.
As an aside. While driving in Colorado, one winter. I’d see all the “Open Range” signs. I think “huh?” Well, about that time I darn near struck a 1,800 frozen-dead steer laying across the road, stiff as a frozen rope. Kinda sets you aback! Poor, poor Ferdinan. On my return trip about a week later the steer was gone. I doubt any rancher paid to have a dead animal hauled off. Nature’s way!
Urban legend.
Using a pencil you see results in a lot of dust from the graphite crumbling.
Free floating particles in space around lots of delicate equipment is a very bad thing.
Which is the why of the space pen.