Bill Gates Releases Bugs At TED Conference: A Necessary Feature When Free Markets Don't Deliver

bill gates releases malaria mosquitos bugs at TED conference photo
Bill Gates spreads malaria-fighting message by releasing mosquitoes at TED Conference Via:TED, excerpted still from video.

Old habits are hard to unlearn for IT guys. Maybe it's just a pragmatic way to solve today's problems using yesterday's proclivity but, as CNET, Cutting Edge reports:- "Bill Gates opened a jar of mosquitoes on stage at an elite tech conference Wednesday to draw attention to the plight of malaria victims."

"The Microsoft co-founder released the insects, which are notorious for spreading the deadly disease, during the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Conference in Long Beach, Calif."

Like we said, bugs are a feature of the program. Only last year:

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded 100,000 dollars each on Wednesday to scientists in 22 countries including funding for a Japanese proposal to turn mosquitos into “flying syringes” delivering vaccines.

Via:AFP

Kidding aside, it's a good idea for Bill to bug people about how important it is to find more effective preventions and cures for malaria. It'd be a win-win if he triggers a viable anti-malaria approach, because not only would people in equatorial nations suffer less, but we at TreeHugger would no longer have to put up with the hostile accusations of Think Tank experts who are still convinced that DDT sprayed 'liberally', everywhere bugs lurk, is the way to go.

Here's Bill's full TED talk. It's a good one. He's has really honed his public speaking skills.