Bill Gates releases bugs

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is well used to dealing with bugs and on Wednesday he released a jar full mosquitoes at a technology conference. Gates' stunt at the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Conference was to highlight malaria and its prevalence in the developing world. Watch Gates release mosquitoes at 5:10. News of the event first broke on Twitter when one of the attendees blogged about the insects being released. "Malaria is spread by mosquitoes," Gates said, while opening a jar onstage. "I brought some. Here, I'll let them roam around. There is no reason only poor people should be infected," he continued. TED curator Chris Anderson joked that Gates' talk would be posted on online at Ted.com with the headline "Gates releases more bugs into the world". Gates, who set up a philanthropic organisation with his wife, is raising awareness about malaria which kills more than one million people each year, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa. "There is more money put into baldness drugs than into malaria," Gates quipped, triggering laughter. "Now, baldness is a terrible thing and rich men are afflicted. That is why that priority has been set." www.ted.com www.gatesfoundation.org