WHY TECHNOLOGY IS A LIFESAVER:

Thank goodness that SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) broke out in the Genomics Age. The malady has already infected 5,000 people and killed 327 since it broke out in China last year. A decade ago, scientists would likely not have a clue yet as to what was causing the deadly disease.

We may be lucky in another way. SARS is serious enough to get attention, but, as best I can tell, probably not a major plague. It will thus encourage people to get public-health systems (and information sharing) in better shape, something that we’ll need if, or more likely when, something worse comes along.

Austin Bay has some thoughts on how the tendency of dictatorships (which China, as some are remembering, is) to hide bad news has cost the region, and the world, dearly. Ralph Peters has some thoughts on that, too.