Since Phrank brought up the issue of the inevitable pandemics in the near future, I'll toss another monkey wrench into the discussion. We are approaching the end of the era of antibiotics' ability to control bacterial infections; from what I am reading, we are already there with some strains of STD's, tuberculosis, MRSA, various staph and strep strains. I foresee our health care infrastructures being overwhelmed even in developed countries within the near future.