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Bill and Melinda Gates back an implant that could prevent HIV
You don't have to wait until after an infection to fight HIV. A technique known as pre-exposure prophylaxis has you taking preemptive medicine on a regular basis, greatly reducing the chances that HIV will take root in the first place. Needless to say, such a treatment could change the world if done well -- and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation wants to make sure that it's as easy as possible. They're investing $140 million in an Intarcia Therapeutics program that will develop an under-the-skin pump implant (you're looking at it above) that will deliver a steady stream of anti-HIV drugs in 6- or 12-month batches. Instead of having to remember to take medicine every day, you'd only have to top up once or twice a year.
Bill Gates weighs in on the new Microsoft, philanthropy and leaping over chairs
Bill Gates plays bridge, washes dishes each night and prefers In-N-Out to McDonald's and Burger King (as any sane person would). The Gates Foundation chairman offered up those tidbits and more in another Reddit AMA today, an hour-long dialogue that unearthed a few gems. Let's consider the Microsoft situation. We already knew Gates would play a more prominent role in the company now that Satya Nadella is running the show, and he confirmed that he's going to spend about one-third of his time on "product work" for the company. Pretty vague stuff, but he clarified just a bit: "I make sure we pick ambitious scenarios and that we have a strong architecture to deliver on them. I encourage good work (hopefully)."
Charlie Rose interviews 'Bill Gates 2.0' on 60 Minutes: the man after Microsoft
Last night's 60 Minutes gave a solid block of screen time to Microsoft founder Bill Gates, with a focus on his efforts to tackle preventable diseases through the Gates Foundation. The show looked at how the Foundation is using the ethos of a technology company to meet humanitarian challenges, such as its recent plumbing-free toilet competition to improve sanitation around the world, and the development of a thermos that can keep 200 vaccines cool for 50 days using a single block of ice. Separately, Gates also spoke about the late Steve Jobs and how the two men effectively "grew up together" as rivals. 60 Minutes interviewer Charlie Rose noted that Gates will "long be remembered" for his philanthropy, whereas Jobs "did not have time to do that." There are two excerpts from the show after the break, but we can't guarantee how well they'll work on mobile devices so you may want to go straight to the source links below.
Gates Foundation collaborates with Manchester University to develop potable toilet water
It's an unsettling thought, having to drink water from that bowl in your bathroom, but if the need ever arose, wouldn't you be glad to know it was clean and safe? Dr. Sarah Haigh, a researcher into the properties of nanomaterials at Manchester University, is currently pursuing this goal with a $100,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. With the help of nanomaterials and bacteria, Haigh believes that hydrogen can be easily extracted from not only the water, but human waste itself, which could then be processed into clean water. Should the system work effectively, Haigh stands to receive an additional $1,000,000 grant to further her research and develop inexpensive purification systems for use in nations without modern infrastructure. And you thought nothing worthwhile would come from purchasing Microsoft Office.
Teachers-in-training to get pointers, CIA updates via wireless headsets
Okay, so maybe there's no actual guarantee that headset-wearing teachers will be able to tune into top secret broadcasts from the nation's capitol, but once the infrastructure is in place, it's just a matter of time before everyone's moonlighting as an operative. As the story goes, a gaggle of teachers are volunteering to take part in a Teach for America campaign that puts a bug into their ear and a mentor on the other end. The idea would be to rapidly bring a teacher up to speed by correcting and shaping their technique as it happens, and the potential implications and applications are both vast and numerous. For example, PhDs in foreign nations could one day remotely tutor rural math teachers if Obama's national broadband plan takes hold, and if they're feeling a bit comical, they could throw question marks onto the end of each pointer à la Anchorman. The trial is being funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
