The microsoft chairman, who is pushing for the eradication of malaria, told the audience: 'Not only poor people should experience this'
The microsoft chairman, who is pushing for the eradication of malaria, told the audience: 'Not only poor people should experience this' Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has released a swarm of mosquitoes into an audience at a technology and design
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GUNG HO: The mosquitoes Bill Gates released in the room filled with high-profile people were reportedly not malarial |
conference in California.
High-profile members of online networking service Twitter reported the incident on Wednesday (US time), which reportedly occurred during Gates's talk on malaria eradication, a cause the entrepreneur is pushing through his philanthropic foundation. Gates and his wife have spent much money combating malaria and other mosquito-borne illnesses in tropical nations.
"Bill Gates just released mosquitoes into the audience at TED and said 'Not only poor people should experience this'," Facebook manager Dave Morin wrote on Twitter.
Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar and Twitter chief executive Ev Williams confirmed that Gates released the insects on their Twitter accounts.
The official TED Conference Twitter profile confirmed that the mosquitoes were real.
"No they were not malarial. An amazing TED moment." TED tweeted.
Leading thinkersTED (technology, entertainment and design) is an annual conference that attracts some of the world's leading thinkers.
Past speakers include Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Nobel laureates James D Watson and Murray Gell-Mann.
The stunt invoked several cheers and jeers online, but the best reaction came from Omidyar, who said, "That's
it, I'm not sitting up front anymore."
