Bill Gates Unleashes Swarm of Mosquitoes

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft founder turned philanthropist Bill Gates released a glass full of mosquitoes at an elite Technology, Entertainment, Design Conference to make a point about the deadly sting of malaria. 'Malaria is spread by mosquitoes,' Gates said while opening a jar on stage at a gathering known to attract technology kings, politicians, and Hollywood stars. 'I brought some. Here I'll let them roam around. There is no reason only poor people should be infected.'" Say what you will about the guy, that is showmanship. Well done.

Comments

Re:Memento Mori

[Mr. Firewall]

Yup. Same thing with freon. After the patent expired, it became an evil environmental hazard here. Good thing Dow had a convenient replacement refrigerant!

Talk about a misinformed opinion. Let's deal with the actual facts, shall we? Please.

1. The Freon® family of refrigerants were banned some 40-50 years after their patents expired.
2. There were no replacement refrigerants available at the time the ban was enacted. DuPont and others had to scramble to meet the deadline.
3. There are lots of chemicals (e.g., propane) that would make ideal refrigerants were it not for the little problem of them being either highly toxic or highly explosive. The problem was not in finding a substitute gas; the problem was in finding a lubricating oil for the compressors that would work with the replacement refrigerant.

The insinuation that DuPont was somehow behind the ban is just plain trolling.