Re: Newbie needs help
- Posted by SDPringle Sep 09, 2008
- 1148 views
For you to do a problem like this you have to think about vectors of transmission, physical geography for the mosquito vectors to travel may be a factor but the travel rate between one region to another might be the an important vector as well. The humans could be seen as a vector to those poor unsuspecting mosquitos. ;) You will need several maps including maps of where mosquitos already exist to transfer from human to mosquito to human, maps of transportation networks that detail how often people travel along roads, rails and airplane flight paths. Your bottle neck will not be writing your program but it will be getting all of that data together.
On the other hand, I actually think your class mates are on the right track, computers are not so much of a wow factor anymore and you are doing a biology project on Malaria not a computer science project. Put up a big poster of the life cycle of malaria and the mosquito and how they interact with human beings. A simple 1 euro poster paper will dwarf any monitor. Then you can make several of these posters with details. Make a list of symptoms and treatment and how is it transmitted (mosquitos) You could also explore the category of Malaria, what kind of pathogen is it? What others are similiar to Malaria? How did Malaria evolve? What did Malaria do before Mosquitos?
Shawn Pringle
