Comment by jhull | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jhull | Hacker News Reader

This device will do great clearing out mosquitoes from your backyard but don't think for a second that this will save lives or help solve the global malaria problem.

This is a great device for eliminating mosquitoes from stagnant water but it is completely impractical that it would work in the areas where malaria hurst the most. [1]

Firstly, it would require that every single puddle be discovered immediately. Try doing that after monsoon season in India, or in rural West Africa where malaria is one of the main killers of children under the age of five and where the roads are so bad you can't even get a truck loaded with food in, let alone these devices.

If these did make it into some of these rural villages, every single one would be picked up off the ground immediately and be converted into something that really could improve the quality of life, into something that might power lights or charge cell phones or be sold to someone who could.

[1] http://cms.travelstart.com/uploads/image/asset/92/malaria-ar...

I think he proposes leaving these in areas that are prone to forming puddles after storms. And they would turn on automatically when wet.

That way you don't have to immediately locate all puddles.

I doubt it, as the in-built alarm would sound for months while the device waits for the puddle to form.

Also, largish puddles are not the only (and probably not the main) problem with malaria. Many puddles will be too small for this device. That old tire in a corner, a coke can, a discarded piece of plastic all can and will contain stagnant water.

Finally, even if one could predict where puddles would form on roads, I doubt these would survive the dry season with cars driving over them.

You're making some comparison that I don't understand, how exactly are these devices comparable with tracks?!

You're saying that keeping the lights on is a higher priority to the people of India and Africa than keeping themselves safe from malaria?

If that's true, so be it. It is still it's better than nothing. If this could work as an energy source would be extremely good anyway :-)

> You're saying that keeping the lights on is a higher priority to the people of India and Africa than keeping themselves safe from malaria?

It is if there's not a direct link between a whirring box and children not dying in the next several years.

I mean, I'd sound crazy if I said that a slight convenience is more important to Americans than long-term cardiovascular health, and yet McHere we are.

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