freefrag - Slashdot User

Comment Gates Foundation's approach to malaria is wrong (Score 4, Insightful) 841

by freefrag on Thursday February 05, 2009 @11:17AM (#26737565) Attached to: Bill Gates Unleashes Swarm of Mosquitoes

The Gates Foundation is trying to distribute antimalarial drugs to all the poor people in Africa. Too bad there is already a cure for malaria orders of magnitude cheaper: DDT. In epidemiology, you eradicate a disease by preventing its spread, not treating every infected individual. Malaria was already eliminated in places like Sicily by using DDT.

DDT does not thin eggshells of birds. It is not carcinogenic either. I can't tell whether Bill Gates is trying to accomplish anything or just spend lots of money on others out of penance. If the Gates Foundation wants to improve the world, they would have more money for useful charity if they just applied DDT in Africa.

Comment Re:Enact the assault sword ban! (Score 2, Interesting) 579

by freefrag on Wednesday February 04, 2009 @11:53AM (#26725703) Attached to: Man Robs Convenience Stores With Klingon "Batleth"

The daggers the Sikhs carry is more of a challenge not to unsheath them unless Muslim tyrants (Mughals) return.

Comment Re:Chinese Recycling costs (Score 1) 249

by freefrag on Sunday January 11, 2009 @03:29PM (#26408869) Attached to: The Scope of US E-Waste

Iron is unlikely to be depleted any time soon

Comment Late Breaking News (Score 5, Funny) 369

by freefrag on Sunday May 25, 2008 @09:24PM (#23539905) Attached to: The Phoenix Has Landed

Amidst of rumors of yet another invasion by the heinous creatures of the blue planet, the most Illustrious Council of Elders confirmed that another mechanical war machine recently landed successfully on the homeworld. K'breel, speaker for the Council, stressed that plans for defense were well underway:

Gentle Citizens, today my gelsacs frumple in anticipation of the successful counterattack on the two-eyed monsters of the blue planet. Our sources indicate that while their latest mechanical terror has an experimental weapon to bore into our colonies, it has landed far from our podhomes and will soon be destroyed by this zunok's unusually powerful dust storms. Victory against our enemies is near! Our scientists report that our climate disruptor probes are currently in full operation and will make the blue planet uninhabitable within the next 5 zon.

When dissenters questioned whether the warming of our enemy's planet was due to his own self-destructive habits or our weaponry, K'Breel ordered their gelsacs pierced on the spot.

Submission + - Sunspots reach 1000 year peak

Submitted by rlp on Monday April 09, 2007 @07:54PM

rlp writes: Researchers at the Institute for Astronomy in Zurich are reporting that solar sunspot activity is at a 1000 year peak. Records of sunspots have been kept since 1610. The period between 1645 and 1715 (known as the Maunder Minimum) was a period of very few sunspots. Researchers extended the record by measuring isotopes of beryllium (created by cosmic rays) in Greenland ice cores. Based on observations and ice core records, we are now at a sunspot peak exceeding solar activity for any time in the past thousand years.

Submission + - Celebrating the HP-35 calculator with a new model

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 09, 2007 @07:25PM

An anonymous reader writes: Hewlett-Packard last week announced a contest whereby HP-35 fans create and submit videos of their favorite calculator memories. HP will choose the best videos and you can win a 50-inch, high-def plasma TV. But everyone wins, because HP this summer will debut a special new calculator model. The details aren't announced, however, it's likely to be a 35th anniversary edition of some sort. This was covered in Computerworld's new vintage technology blog.

Feed Eating With Our Eyes: Why People Eat Less At Unbused Tables (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed on Monday April 09, 2007 @07:13PM

People who saw how much they had already eaten -- e.g., leftover chicken-wing bones -- ate 27 percent less than people who had no such environmental cues, finds Cornell scientist.

Feed People Who Are Severly Overweight Grow Faster Than Other Obese Americans (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed on Monday April 09, 2007 @07:12PM

The proportion of Americans who are severely obese -- about 100 pounds or more overweight -- increased by 50 percent from 2000 to 2005, twice as fast as the growth seen in moderate obesity, according to a new study.

Bookmark Reduce your Linux memory footprint (ibm.com)

by rumbi on Monday April 09, 2007 @01:17PM

Feed Plastic With Changeable Conductivity Developed By Chemical Engineer (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed on Monday April 09, 2007 @01:13PM

A chemical engineer has modified a plastic so its ability to carry an electrical current can be altered during manufacturing to meet the needs of future electronic devices.

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