Rubbish. Malaria has been flourishing around the globe for tens of thousands of years, infecting hundreds of species besides humans (some species even infect multiple host species). It does just fine in rural areas. Indeed, it's well controlled in most cities. No doubt there is a density below which it doesn't do that great in humans, but the threshold is rather low.

It actually did better with the rise of agriculture *everywhere* (around 10k years ago).

Europeans did plenty to people they met, but don't try to pin malaria on them.

On Thu, May 1, 2014 at 7:12 AM, Ian Wood <dawnhaven@xtra.co.nz> wrote:

how wonderful, we have a technical device that wasnt needed before europeans interfered wiht their lives.

malaria requires dense humanity for it to flourish.
Something the Papuans know.

Ian
From: Richard Aiken <raikenclw@gmail.com>
To: tml@simplelists.com
Sent: Thursday, 1 May 2014 10:59 PM
Subject: Re: [TML] Oh god, it's real!
On Thu, May 1, 2014 at 4:22 AM, <shadow@shadowgard.com> wrote:

Some of you make recall years back when I requested that someone
design an anti-insect (and possibly anti-bird/bullet) laser goizmo
using Traveller rules...

Well, someone has done it in the real world
http://37.media.tumblr.com/747b469aa4b118347ad85e3c66c789e6/tumblr_n2r
hq9dHjH1rhavdko4_r1_500.jpg

(from the Ultrafacts blog: https://www.tumblr.com/follow/ultrafacts )

It seems that the main objections to it working for it's intended purpose (to kill malaria-carrying mosquitoes in Africa) are the high cost - each $50 laser covers only a ~100 foot radius - and need for reliable electrical power. But the per-unit price would like drop once production got going and a small solar panel/battery seems likely to be enough to provide it with power.

Of course, then you would have the problem of people stealing the solar panel/battery unit . . .

But for zapping mosquitoes/gnats on your porch/patio, it appears as if it would work just fine.

Hey! Maybe they could sell them for commercial use, then use the income to install them for anti-malaria use. E.g., the Newman's Own Profit Model. :)

--
Richard Aiken

"Never insult anyone by accident." Robert A. Heinlein
"A word to the wise ain't necessary -- it's the stupid ones that need the advice." - Bill Cosby
"We know a little about a lot of things; just enough to make us dangerous." Dean Winchester

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