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12 Jun 2011 20:31

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Culture: Bill Gates explains his philosophy on philanthropy

  • The motto of the foundation is that every life has equal value. There are more people dying of malaria than any specific cancer. When you die of malaria aged three it’s different from being in your seventies, when you might die of a heart attack or you might die of cancer. And the world is putting massive amounts into cancer, so my wealth would have had a meaningless impact on that.
  • Bill Gates • Discussing his philanthropy organization, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and why it chooses to focus on malaria over cancer. Gates, the world’s second-richest man, doesn’t give a lot of interviews, but when he does, he makes them count. In this Daily Mail piece, he avoids focusing too much on his past and more on what he’s doing now — working to ensure his money gets used in ways that can positively affect people’s lives. His 85-year-old dad even helps. And he doesn’t do it from a distance, either: “It is important to see places. When you go into a ward with kids who have cholera, it’s horrific. They are losing their vital fluids and their brains are shutting down. As a father, as a human, it’s just horrific.” Gates’ work as a philanthropist could one day overshadow his work with Microsoft. It’s that important. source

21 Jul 2009 23:08

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Tech: Your cellphone gives you cancer? Well, mine *diagnoses* Malaria

  • Okay, so it actually doesn’t. But it could! Some American researchers have fused the awesomeness of a cellphone with the usefulness of a microscope, which would make it easy to diagnose and track diseases in the developing world. Score! source

25 Apr 2009 10:32

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World: Today is World Malaria Day. Here’s a PSA from Ashley Judd.

  • Malaria used to be a completely devastating disease; now, thanks to much fighting, it appears the world has turned a corner in fighting it.source

17 Mar 2009 10:22

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Tech: Someone figured out how to use lasers for mass murder – of mosquitoes.

One laser can “toast millions of mosquitoes in a few minutes.” Will PETA complain? source

05 Feb 2009 21:06

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Offbeat, Tech: Bill Gates + mosquitoes + malaria presentation = WTF?

The ex-Microsoft CEO unleashed a swarm of skeets on a crowd. It went over like a BSOD. source