Development

One of the obvious challenges of development in technologically primitive societies is the absence of infrastructure upon which the technology of well-developed societies depends, e.g. roads and electricity. The cost of importing technology when the background infrastructure is spotty or even wholly absent is surely often prohibitive. That's why I find simple solutions -- like this pot-within-a-pot refrigeration device -- so fascinating. Apparently, it's already transforming rural life for the better, e.g. by allowing more girls to attend school. Inventing such simple devices requires a special sort of ingenuity for which Mohammed Bah Abba deserves high praise. (Via Andrew Sullivan.)