A single person still can make a big difference

Great story about a physicist who wondered whether it would be possible to manufacture eyeglasses with user-adjustable prescriptions, so that patients in poor countries wouldn't be dependent on being able to afford (or find) an eye doctor with special equipment. He's found a mechanism and is within a few years of making the whole thing affordable.

The implications of bringing glasses within the reach of poor communities are enormous, says the scientist. Literacy rates improve hugely, fishermen are able to mend their nets, women to weave clothing.

The article estimates that some billion people might have use for such a development. Who'd have thought?!

(via Follow Me Here)