'Drinkable Book' Pages Clean Dirty Drinking Water

An anonymous reader writes: Scientists have developed what they're calling the "Drinkable Book," which contains pages that can be torn out and used to effectively filter drinking water. The book has just completed a series of field trials in a few African countries, and it successfully removed more than 99% of the bacteria in water taken from contaminated sources, bringing it in line with U.S. tap water. The book's pages are imprinted with nanoparticles of silver and copper, which sterilize a wide range of microorganisms. The lead researcher says each page can filter about 100 liters of water before needing to be discarded. The team currently makes all the pages by hand, so their next step will be to find a way to automate production.

Comments

Silly

[gurps_npc]

So they took a perfectly good filter, printed on them with some kind of ink, the sewed them up into a book.

No way this is as cheap as a paperback, nor as long lasting as an acid-free book.

No one would buy this to read.

It's just a publicity stunt - and one not worth hearing about.

Re:Silly

[Anonymous Coward]

Naturally, it shows that you didn't even bothered to read the article.

And as you are reading slashdot, you aren't the target user of it either.

Re:Silly

[Anonymous Coward]

Even scarier is it will spread the concept that "a page from a book can make your drinking water safe" among the populace there if it DID catch on. Will the average person realize that it has to be a book with this specific kind of filter paper?

Seems like a bad plan all around.

Re: Silly

[Anonymous Coward]

After use please wipe your ass and then dispose of properly.

Re:Silly

[Marxist Hacker 42]

" The book's pages are imprinted with nanoparticles of silver and copper"

Both rare materials that we've passed peak production on. Seems a bad thing to base such an important invention on.

Re:Silly

[Mr D from 63]

So they took a perfectly good filter, printed on them with some kind of ink, the sewed them up into a book.

It's just a publicity stunt - and one not worth hearing about.

Exactly. Why not just manufacture the sheets in an optimal size for filtering, and keep the cost lower by not binding them or printing on them?

Re:Silly

[Noah Haders]

these sheets would be contraband, so you you need to find a way to sneak them into the country. If you print up a copy of Hunger Games using these sheets, then you can sneak in the material no problem.

Re:Silly

[K. S. Kyosuke]

Think again. Silver use in solar panels is on the rise. Seems a bad thing to base such an important invention on, right? (Presumably, it could be replaced in that application, but there isn't much reason for that, since today's silver, from what I understand, is largely a by-product of copper mining, so the supply is much stiffer.)

Also, "materials that we've passed peak production on"? Silver is still on the rise, and so is copper.

Re:Silly

[gstoddart]

So, I had though that at first. But, having seen a picture of the cover of the book, it says:

The water in your village may contain deadly viruses, but each page of this book is a paper filter that will make it safe to drink.

In English and in the local language. I believe the instructions are also on the page.

So, no, they hand made a book of water filters specifically for the purpose of being a book full of water filters.

This isn't a publicity stunt. This doesn't have anything to do with reading it. Or being a paperback

Or pretty much any damned thing you said. It's a lot more than that:

The Drinkable Book not only purifies drinking water, but also contains instructions in each page to educate people about safe water habits. According to researchers, it only costs pennies to produce and one filter can purify up to 100 liters of water.

It's something designed to save lives in some of the poorest parts of the world by providing a means of getting clean water.

Seriously, RTFA now and then. This is pretty much the opposite of a pointless publicity stunt.

Re: Silly

[Anonymous Coward]

... but it is not a single wipe product. Re-reading the article indicates that you can use it to wipe your ass up to 100 litres of contact material. Rinse and repeat with the added bonus of bacteria filtering you should also be able to blow your nose or even wipe that pussing gunk out of the scab on your elbow ... oh the possibilities are endless ...

Re: Silly

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't make the mistake of assuming because you would be fooled that anybody else would.

Discontinuity

[Anonymous Coward]

Does anyone else find a disconnect between using silver and copper to clean drinking water and deploying it in Africa? Seems like it's made by outsiders, for outsiders.

Re: Discontinuity

[Anonymous Coward]

Wy? It isn't like silver and copper aren't muned in Africa.

It's just they export it elsewhere.

Re: Discontinuity

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure, and processing copper and silver into nanoparticle paper coatings is also commonly done in Africa by Africans?

Re: Discontinuity

[Anonymous Coward]

No reason it wouldn't be possible as long as they got the appropriate tools.

Re: Discontinuity

[stooo]

Yes, they can :
http://www.mintek.co.za/techni...

Obligatory XKCD

[thedonger]

XKCD on hand sanitizer.

Re:Obligatory XKCD

[michelcolman]

My first thought was exactly like that comic. If you only kill 99% of the bacteria in water from a contaminated African source, that still leaves an awful lot of bad stuff in there. In line with U.S. tap water? Ewww, I'm never drinking from an American faucet again.

Re:Obligatory XKCD

[3.5 stripes]

Yeah, who still has a functioning immune system, used to dealing with external bacterial threats..

Re:Obligatory XKCD

[R3d M3rcury]

Fewer and fewer, since we're off-loading all the bacteria killing to chemicals...

Re:Obligatory XKCD

[Falos]

The bacteria in your body right now outnumber your cells. By ten to one. Munroe was blasting the boast.

I'm tired of you phobics. You always sound so entitled. You clearly consider yourselves above others.

As you read this you are swallowing an endless stream of slimy mucus, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Fortunately, there's nothing you should do about it, and you'll be comfortable with reality after you prioritize where fucks need to be given.

Re:Obligatory XKCD

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder what a Venn diagram of the following two people would look like?

1. Those who use hand sanitizer.
2. Those who use their cell phone while sitting on the toilet.

Re:Obligatory XKCD

[thedonger]

To be clear, I'm fine with bacteria, and I despise hand-sanitizer.

Re:Obligatory XKCD

[K. S. Kyosuke]

Well, almost less than seventy percent of HIV-negative people in some African countries still have it.

Re:Obligatory XKCD

[K. S. Kyosuke]

It's less about gut microbes and more about waterborne pathogens.

You may diss the idea as much as you want, but stuff like cholera or dysentery is still a real thing.

6 months in?

[Nidi62]

So, since the book contains instructions and reasons for filtering water and the pages get consumed as filters, what happens when you are 6 months in and half the book is gone? Why not just make a big stack of filters and a small pamphlet on how/why to use them?

Re:6 months in?

[The-Ixian]

We don't currently have the technology to keep a bunch of loose leaf pages bound together though....

Re:6 months in?

[Anonymous Coward]

The instructions are probably "fold it into a small square. then pour water through it." in like 3 languages. (filters aren't complicated)

I'd imagine they printed the same thing on each page so if you have a page you also have the instructions.

Re:6 months in?

[Anonymous Coward]

6 months? Not even that!

It lasts for 100L. An average individual needs to consume 2L of water each day, especially in those hot countries, so, in less than 2 months it's already trash.

Re:6 months in?

[Anonymous Coward]

It is 100L per page. The book has several of them.

Re:6 months in?

[dj245]

So, since the book contains instructions and reasons for filtering water and the pages get consumed as filters, what happens when you are 6 months in and half the book is gone? Why not just make a big stack of filters and a small pamphlet on how/why to use them?

It's perfect for any kind of outdoor survival book. If you manage to survive long enough to filter 100L of water, you probably can find time to memorize the information on the next page.

Re:6 months in?

[king neckbeard]

A Brita water filter lasts about 100 gallons, so this is a piece of paper with about a quarter of the lifespan of a traditional water filter. I'm guessing that the 'piece of paper' part of it is to make it cheaper and more easily transported, so as long as you have at four pages in a book, it's probably going to last longer.

Re:6 months in?

[Anonymous Coward]

well, then the magic will be gone.

I hear, if you fuck a new book, it'll cure your AIDS.

Re:6 months in?

[K. S. Kyosuke]

you probably can find time to memorize the information on the next page

Especially if your life depends on it, it focuses the mind wonderfully.

Re:6 months in?

[Reziac]

Just print it on every page, like we already do with some stuff that's bulk-packaged. That way pages can be torn out and handed around without needing separate instructions.

And print a copy on the inside cover, which is far less likely to get lost than is a separate pamphlet. Be sure to use nontoxic ink. :)

Re:6 months in?

[ArylAkamov]

Why?

So you look like a goddamned wizard. This is not just any book, this is a book full of water filtering spells!

"in line with U.S. tap water"

[Anonymous Coward]

And for the rest of us - does this mean 'drinkable as is', or 'needs boiling still'?

Re:"in line with U.S. tap water"

[Triklyn]

us tap water is potable generally. something is wrong if your water isn't.

might not taste the best in some places, but won't kill you from infection or generally poisoning.

you might even get some of your daily dose of methane, but that's another issue entirely.

Re:"in line with U.S. tap water"

[Coren22]

you might even get some of your daily dose of methane,

But that's a made up issue entirely. Or the water already had methane...

Re:"in line with U.S. tap water"

[Triklyn]

http://insideclimatenews.org/n...

not made up, not a scourge, but not made up.

you always gotta remember, corporations are by design amoral. and they'll be greedy as fuck.

we need government to reign in their excesses, and you should expect as many excesses as they can get away with. but that's just the nature of the beast.

nano silver

[Anonymous Coward]

Didn't we determine that nano silver is toxic to the environment?

Free funding opportunity

[Overzeetop]

You want to get this to all the nations of the world where safe potable water is scarce? Just convince the Christians to print their bibles using this paper and take those versions on their mission trips. It could be the first time in history that the word of [the Christian] God was used to truly save someone.

Re:Free funding opportunity

[Anonymous Coward]

Christ, you sound like you work at Guantánamo.

Re:Free funding opportunity

[bluefoxlucid]

Why not print a copy of the Book of Pasquale on it?

Re:Free funding opportunity

[Anonymous Coward]

Damn, looks like all the Christian missionaries got mod points today.

Re:Free funding opportunity

[Anonymous Coward]

nope, just people realizing that while christiandome isn't all sunshine and roses, it would be incredibly naive and disingenuous to say that it's never done good works.

i'm atheist, but i'm not an obnoxious one... *hint* *hint*

charitable giving is higher in the religious, https://philanthropy.com/artic...

it's a terrible thing to paint with such a wide brush.

Re:Free funding opportunity

[Anonymous Coward]

Giving more to charity... or giving more to church as charity, who in turn buy private jet for their pastor, or new bible, or build a church, is NOT useful charity.

Since I saw how certain charity are using money, like 50% for administration, I'd rather compare wider with institutionalized charity to see which is more effective. And 'charity' that we tax people for, like unemployement, medicare, food stamp, 'free' education is a better kind of charity in my opinion.

if you earn $100k and give $1 000 to charity you feel good about yourselves, but when your tax are use for charitable purpose it's way more, and more effective.

As in when libertarian want to cut all 'helping the poor' governmental service and let charity do the work, many study found out that at current level, charity does not even do more than 5% of help that government does. I greatly doubt that if you were to get completely tax exempt that you would suddenly increase your charity by 20 times.

Re:Free funding opportunity

[Anonymous Coward]

Athiest shill. If you really cared about mocking believers, you'd take your act to church. But you prefer the hypocrisy of your nontopical comments on a forum that has been killed and raised from the dead I forget how many times.

Re:Free funding opportunity

[Cinnamon Beige]

As in when libertarian want to cut all 'helping the poor' governmental service and let charity do the work, many study found out that at current level, charity does not even do more than 5% of help that government does. I greatly doubt that if you were to get completely tax exempt that you would suddenly increase your charity by 20 times.

How is 'help' defined in these 'many study' you mention? I know a few studies have found that how you help makes a serious difference as well as how close to the problem the choices are made as well--merely throwing money at problems, it turns out, isn't good. Not only that, but culture and social views actually shape if you give and how much: if you view it as a problem for the government to fix, you won't give as much money if any. People also seem to be overall less inclined to pay attention to how well the government actually uses the money it gets, and at least some of the 'charitable' functions it serves are indirect vote-buying.

I've heard that studies have found that some of the biggest improvements in 3rd world countries aren't done at all by charities--they're done by people from those countries going to the 1st world to work, and sending money home to their family, who know precisely what they actually need.

This book actually sounds like a pretty good example, actually, especially if it's not distributed mostly to places where that level of drastic reduction in bacterial load in the water is definitely needed. Slow sand filters won't get used up and will last a hella lot longer, biosand filters are an advancement upon those, and in all cases the 'used up' part is important given that your body is used to whatever the local water's bacterial load is. In fact, this book sounds like more of something for emergencies and Western tourists to use.

It's worth noting that biosand filters have comparable reductions in bacterial levels to the filter paper--keeping them working does require making sure the locals know how to maintain them, but improving the educational levels so they can maintain them on their own and ideally build them from raw materials as well actually would benefit them more long-term than having them depend on handouts from the West. Don't just give people fish, teach them how to fish.

Wow...

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought we got over burning or destroying books...

One-off water filter with no mass production

[swb]

....proves successful.

Isn't that a more accurate description?

I would think it would make more sense to invest time and energy into making existing filtration systems that can be mass produced and use simple materials would be more beneficial than one, when used correctly, loses half its value over time (the book part).

Dean Kamen

[Anonymous Coward]

Why not use the machines that Dean Kamen's company has already designed, and Coca-Cola is distributing and installing? Why go nano-technology and dead-tree paper books?

Finally:Analog DRM!

[bickerdyke]

While it's a nice idea that that may save you from carrying a book AND a water filter (in whatever rare circumstances this might matter) this finally allows for text books that are consumed and can't be handed down from one generation to the next.

Next step: Water quality at US colleges is reduced to levels that require filtering with textbook pages.

Silver and mold

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

Silver-impregnated bandage pads work wonders on wounds. I don't know why they aren't more readily available

Re:Silver and mold

[drinkypoo]

Silver-impregnated bandage pads work wonders on wounds. I don't know why they aren't more readily available

Because nobody buys them. The only place I've seen them is at Discount Grocery. They had pretty crap adhesive, so even at a deep discount, I only bought them once.

A lot of good stuff is compromised by half-assery. It doesn't matter how well the silver works if the bandage doesn't stay on. They'll never get a chance to find out.

That 1% can kill you too

[RogueWarrior65]

What's a few million microbes between friends?

Re:That 1% can kill you too

[K. S. Kyosuke]

A kiss?

Re:That 1% can kill you too

[Reziac]

Numbers of pathogens matter. In crude terms, one antibody unit kills one virus or bacterium. Your immune system can cope with a lot, but if the defenses it has to hand get "used up" faster than it can make more, that's when a pathogen will overwhelm you.

So if the number of pathogens in the water are reduced by 99%, or even by 90%, it's that much more chance your immune system has to stay ahead in this numbers game, and kill off whatever pathogens are still in the water before they can reproduce in your body (which is when you get sick).

This is basically how modern water treatment works to prevent the spread of disease. What comes out of the tap isn't sterile or pathogen-free. But it's clean enough that a reasonably-normal immune system has no trouble keeping ahead of the game.

used pages

[Anonymous Coward]

Send all used pages to me for disposal.

What book?

[iTrawl]

Now print a Quran on that filter paper and see what happens when people want clean water from their holy book and rip a leaf off.

Re:What book?

[K. S. Kyosuke]

Technically, the micropores would make it their holey book.

Dumb Question: Doesn't that breed superbugs ?

[seboontheroof]

They banned deoderants containing silver in some places, didn't they ? Because silver is one of the shrinking number of working antibiotics.

Nice

[nospam007]

"bringing it in line with U.S. tap water"

Meaning it still may stink of rotten eggs, contain deadly arsenic and it also may catch fire at the tap.

Re:Nice

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps you can take this moment to reflect on the fact that even the *worst* water you have access to is miles better than what these people have on a daily basis?

#firstworldproblems

Re:Nice

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

> may contain deadly arsenic

I assume you mean the same well water that catches on fire and smells of Fred Flintstone's ass, because it sure isn't city water.

Some of you younger punks won't remember when Clinton left office, and on the eve of it, instituted expensive new regulations on arsenic in drinking water, thinking Bush would thus be forced to reverse it because it was needless and hideously expensive, taking a big political hit. Guess again. Meme deployed, "Arsenic bad, Mmmmm'kay?" So what was safe is now ridiculously oversafe.

Amazing

[Anonymous Coward]

What's even more stunning is the existence of a lead researcher, is he/she sterilized too?

LifeStraw

[da_foz]

How is this any different from the LifeStraw?

Having the filter in a piece of paper seems less practical and more prone to error i.e. water spilling over the side. You also require multiple containers. A dirty container from which to pour the water, and a clean container for storage.

Note: I am in no way affiliated with LifeStraw and have never used the product.

Re:LifeStraw

[Anonymous Coward]

You could make a drink that isn't just plain water with it. Tea, for example. And you don't have to keep dirty water in a dirty container where it's going to continue to spawn more and more bacteria, from which you have to all communally take sips with your lifestraw.

These filter papers would allow completely normal uses of water, like using it to clean plates, using it in food preparation, and anything else you can think of where sucking water into your mouth through a straw isn't going to cut it.

Re: LifeStraw

[Anonymous Coward]

I like these kinds of things and I've seen so many great water filtration devices that would be great in third-world countries but none are being deployed properly and in enough quantity.

The problem is that the vast majority of people "solving" this problem have never even been to Africa (for example), and/or they care more about creating new cool projects and less about actually helping people.

I watched a documentary on donations sent to Africa and where they really end up. Something lIke 80% of donations (especially clothing) end up being sold by merchants there and it never sees people in need because of widespread corruption.

Re:LifeStraw

[OverlyGenericUsernam]

The drinkable book is its own container. And at a glance the biggest difference would be price, Lifestraw is selling for 20$, they say the book will be worth pennies. Could be lifestraw has a cheaper run for the poor areas but overall the biggest stumbling block for these purifier options (And there are quite a few) is their ability to scale. Its trivial getting a filter option for an individual or family, but when you get to city level or provincial they can't keep up or cost gets prohibitive.

Re:LifeStraw

[Teebin]

Or better yet, a Sawyer Mini which is cleanable, does not generate waste, lasts years, and is just as portable. It also attaches to standard water bottles so you don't have to suck water directly from the source. It's easy to set up a gravity-fed rig to get many gallons a day of safe drinking water. (you may want to prefilter with a cheap fuel filter). It costs USD$20 but since it lasts so long, cost per liter is low. The Sawyer is purely mechanical filtering, so there are no antibiotics that can breed superbugs. These are way better than lifestraws IMHO. I'm not affiliated with Sawyer. I've used them a lot for hiking and camping.

Re:LifeStraw

[Reziac]

Folding a flat sheet into a cone is easy; anyone can learn to do it. A cone fits into the mouth of a plastic jug, which is a common way for these folks to carry water home from the common source.

And I expect it's a helluva lot cheaper than LifeStraw, which I've seen offered at around $13 a pop. We're talking about the daily water for millions of people here, not one guy on a weekend hike.

Books. So many uses.

[PPH]

Those thin bible pages made good rolling paper in a pinch.

And I've worked for a few PHBs that probably ate their school books.

Re:Books. So many uses.

[q4Fry]

Those thin bible pages made good rolling paper in a pinch.

Your remark put me in mind of a classmate's selection for the dramatic poetry reading when I was in Junior High: (WTF, Slashdot? There's a minimum for the average characters per line? How do people write Burma Shaves?)

The Ballad Of Salvation Bill
'Twas in the bleary middle of the hard-boiled Arctic night,
I was lonesome as a loon, so if you can,
Imagine my emotions of amazement and delight
When I bumped into that Missionary Man.
He was lying lost and dying in the moon's unholy leer,
And frozen from his toes to finger-tips'
The famished wolf-pack ringed him; but he didn't seem to fear,
As he pressed his ice-bond Bible to his lips.

'Twas the limit of my trap-line, with the cabin miles away,
And every step was like a stab of pain;
But I packed him like a baby, and I nursed him night and day,
Till I got him back to health and strength again.
So there we were, benighted in the shadow of the Pole,
And he might have proved a priceless little pard,
If he hadn't got to worrying about my blessed soul,
And a-quotin' me his Bible by the yard.

Now there was I, a husky guy, whose god was Nicotine,
With a "coffin-nail" a fixture in my mug;
I rolled them in the pages of a pulpwood magazine,
And hacked them with my jack-knife from the plug.
For, Oh to know the bliss and glow that good tobacco means,
Just live among the everlasting ice . . .
So judge my horror when I found my stock of magazines
Was chewed into a chowder by the mice.

A woeful week went by and not a single pill I had,
Me that would smoke my forty in a day;
I sighed, I swore, I strode the floor; I felt I would go mad:
The gospel-plugger watched me with dismay.
My brow was wet, my teeth were set, my nerves were rasping raw;
And yet that preacher couldn't understand:
So with despair I wrestled there - when suddenly I saw
The volume he was holding in his hand.

Then something snapped inside my brain, and with an evil start
The wolf-man in me woke to rabid rage.
"I saved your lousy life," says I; "so show you have a heart,
And tear me out a solitary page."
He shrank and shrivelled at my words; his face went pewter white;
'Twas just as if I'd handed him a blow:
And then . . . and then he seemed to swell, and grow to Heaven's height,
And in a voice that rang he answered: "No!"

I grabbed my loaded rifle and I jabbed it to his chest:
"Come on, you shrimp, give me that Book," says I.
Well sir, he was a parson, but he stacked up with the best,
And for grit I got to hand it to the guy.
"If I should let you desecrate this Holy Word," he said,
"My soul would be eternally accurst;
So go on, Bill, I'm ready. You can pump me full of lead
And take it, but - you've got to kill me first."

Now I'm no foul assassin, though I'm full of sinful ways,
And I knew right there the fellow had me beat;
For I felt a yellow mongrel in the glory of his gaze,
And I flung my foolish firearm at his feet,
Then wearily I turned away, and dropped upon my bunk,
And there I lay and blubbered like a kid.
"Forgive me, pard," says I at last, "for acting like a skunk,
But hide the blasted rifle..." Which he did.

And he also hid his Bible, which was maybe just as well,
For the sight of all that paper gave me pain;
And there were crimson moments when I felt I'd o to hell
To have a single cigarette again.
And so I lay day after day, and brooded dark and deep,
Until one night I thought I'd end it all;
Then rough I roused the preacher, where he stretched pretending sleep,
With his map of horror turned towards the wall.

"See here, my pious pal," says I, "I've stood it long enough...
Behold! I've mixed some strychnine in a cup;
Enough to kill a dozen men - believe me it's no bluff;
Now watch me, for I'm gonna drink it up.
You've seen me bludgeoned by despair through bitter days and

s/Drinkable Book Pages/New Filters/

[ciaran2014]

Not much of a headline when you remove the funny name that was just invested for marketing:

New Filters Clean Dirty Drinking Water

i've got a good idea

[Anonymous Coward]

print the instructions separately then print the qur'an on it. That way the muslims have to continue drinking dirty water while decent folks will enjoy pulling pages out, passing dirty water through them then finally using them as toilet paper.

Deadly for the ignorant masses...

[Anonymous Coward]

This may be a terrible idea. What if people start assuming (like those that are illiterate) that all books' pages can filter water this way?

but what happens if

[Anonymous Coward]

it is a dirty book or god forbid the page shows a nipple?

Re:EKOcenter, right?

[Anonymous Coward]

With integrated Slingshot filtration engine?

WTF

[drinkypoo]

Did someone who lost their shirt in the silver band-aid business get modpoints today?

99%

[ThatsNotPudding]

I assume the book is titled: "On the Creation of Superbugs".

Why can't Africans look after themselves?

[Anonymous Coward]

Anybody? Could it possibly have anything to do with their LOWER IQ? Say it ain't so!

Re:Why can't Africans look after themselves?

[Anonymous Coward]

They certainly got a higher iq than you, racist micro dick.

Unless the capitalism behind it catches up....

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a great invention, and I hope it turns into something useful. The problem is translating the technology into a business model that will actually put a lot of them in the hands of people who have very, very little money. I volunteered in West Africa for two years, and I can outline the cycle for this:

1) A shipment is delivered, and local "trainers" take the books out and show people how to use them. They're skeptical, but they go for it anyway. It works!
2) Half of the book gets shared out and used for unintended purposes - taken to school and gets used for lessons; burned as fire-starting material; etc., etc.
3) The book doesn't last as long as the inventors intended. When it runs out, there's nowhere to get another book - either the next shipment never arrived, or there are a few in a shop someplace, but they cost a month's wages, also known as $30. Nobody can get a regular supply.
4) People grab the half-dozen pages they have left, wipe them off, and keep using them. After 200 liters of water, they stop filtering usefully, and the kids start getting sick again. Soon enough, the couple of months where there were enough pages and they were working are forgotten, and the whole thing becomes yet another Western plot, to sell them expensive stuff that doesn't work, or to poison them. Or else it makes them angry - the outsiders showed up and gave us this great stuff, but then just took off again? That's what they always do.

If this can't be made either locally or by the Chinese and sold for $2 a book, it won't work.

Cost of Book

[lindaslash]

Wonder what would such a book cost?