SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION - The African Mirror

Jan

09

2021

South Africa’s plan to record all babies’ biometrics raises privacy fears

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

KIM HARRISBERG PLANS to photograph and fingerprint every baby born in South Africa for a digital register could lead to data leaks and identity theft without robust safeguards, rights experts have said. The Department of Home Affairs' new draft policy aims to capture detailed biometrics - unique physical traits - of every child born in South Africa and link this data to parents' identity numbers, which are printed on all ID documents. The government hopes the new registration system will prevent corrupt officials selling birth certificates to foreigners to illegally secure South African citizenship and protect children who otherwise risk…

Jan

16

2021

By The African Mirror

South African scientists’ malaria breakthrough

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

SOUTH African scientists have discovered chemical compounds that could potentially be used for a new line of drugs to treat malaria and even kill the parasite in its infectious stage, which most available drugs do not. The research led by the University of Pretoria, published in the Nature Communications journal this week, found that chemical compounds undergoing trials for the treatment of tuberculosis and cancer -- the JmjC inhibitor ML324 and the antitubercular clinical candidate SQ109 -- can kill the disease-causing parasite at a stage when it normally infects others. The World Health Organisation said in November that deaths from…

Jan

15

2021

By The African Mirror

Microsoft, Cigna form coalition for digital records of COVID-19 vaccination

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

MANAS MISHRA and AMRUTA KHANDEKAR MICROSOFT Corp, health insurer Cigna Corp and Mayo Clinic are part of a coalition pushing for digital records of people who get vaccinated against COVID-19. A key aim of the project, called Vaccination Credential Initiative, is to help people store encrypted digital copies of their immunization records in a digital wallet of their choice, the companies said in a joint statement. These records could eventually be used, with an individual's consent, by colleges that are trying to re-open or even for entry into concerts in the future, Joan Harvey, an executive at Cigna unit Evernorth…

Jul

02

2020

By The African Mirror

Africa’s scientists’ COVID-19 research priorities

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

MOSES ALOBO, Programme Manager for Grand Challenges Africa, African Academy of Sciences IN APRIL 2020, about two months after the African continent recorded its first case of COVID-19, the African Academy of Sciences undertook an extensive survey of its members. This allowed hundreds of scientists in African countries to identify COVID-19 related research priorities across a range of disciplines. The Conversation Africa’s Natasha Joseph asked Dr Moses Alobo, who is heading the Academy’s COVID-19 response efforts, to explain the survey’s findings and how they can be applied. What was the purpose of the survey, and who took part? The COVID-19…

Jun

30

2020

By The African Mirror

Seeking antidotes to rising heat

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

MENNA A.FAROUK THE DESERT buildings Atef Azzazy and his team of farm workers once lived and toiled in were hot in the summer, cold in the winter and leaky enough they sometimes let in snakes, he remembers. Three years ago, however, the team working in Bahariya Oasis, in Egypt's Western Desert, got an upgrade: Well-insulated homes and work buildings designed to shed Egypt's increasingly searing summer heat and hold down climate-changing emissions. ECOnsult, an Egyptian architecture firm that specialises in green, energy-efficient and affordable buildings, designed the structures for 120 workers in the Saharan oasis village, from farmers and engineers…

Jul

07

2020

By The African Mirror

Tackling coronavirus with drones and phones

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

THIN LEI WIN, NELLIE PEYTON AND FARAI MATAISHE GHANAIAN pilot Eric Acquah started a drone company in 2017 to spray crops with pesticides, but when coronavirus hit the West African country he found a new mission: saving lives. The company has used 20 drones to disinfect 38 open-air markets in Ghana - spraying a couple of acres in minutes, a job that would take a dozen people several hours - and also plans to use them to disinfect classrooms, said Acquah. "We targeted the market areas because in Africa they are open-air and always overpopulated. So we thought if the virus…

Apr

14

2022

By The African Mirror

Archaeological site along the Nile opens a window on the Nubian civilization that flourished in ancient Sudan

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

CIRCULAR mounds of rocks dot the desert landscape at the archaeological site of Tombos in northern Sudan. They reveal tumuli – the underground burial tombs used at least as far back as 2500 B.C. by ancient inhabitants who called this region Kush or Nubia. As a bioarchaeologist who excavates and analyzes human skeletal remains along with their related grave goods, I’ve been working at Tombos for more than 20 years. Author MICHELE R. BUZON, Professor of Anthropology, Purdue University Discussions about ancient history in Africa are dominated by the rise of Egypt. But there were several societies that rose to…

Apr

18

2022

By The African Mirror

Chemical traces in ancient West African pots show a diet rich in plants

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

WEST AFRICAN cuisine is known for its distinct ingredients and flavours, often including a diverse range of plant foods. A traditional meal comprises a starchy staple cooked in a pot, served with a sauce prepared from vegetables, fish or meat. It is often accompanied by pulses. Today, these starchy staples include root crops such as yams, cassava, sorghum, pearl millet and maize. In the northern Sahel and savanna zones, pearl millet is mainly prepared as porridge, while in the southern forest zone, a pounded mash from tuber crops such as yam, called fufu, is the major starch-rich element. Author JULIE…

Mar

03

2021

By The African Mirror

Painstaking study of ‘Little Foot’ fossil sheds light on human origins

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

WILL DUNHAM SOPHISTICATED scanning technology is revealing intriguing secrets about Little Foot, the remarkable fossil of an early human forerunner that inhabited South Africa 3.67 million years ago during a critical juncture in our evolutionary history. Scientists yesterday disclosed that they examined key parts of the nearly complete and well-preserved fossil at Britain's national synchrotron facility, Diamond Light Source. The scanning focused upon Little Foot's cranial vault - the upper part of her braincase - and her lower jaw, or mandible. The researchers gained insight not only into the biology of Little Foot's species but also into the hardships that…

Mar

01

2021

By The African Mirror

A new advance in the search for substances to replace fat in food

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

IT'S well known that obesity is developing into a growing global health problem. In Africa alone, the number of overweight children under five has increased by nearly 50% since 2000. Obesity is a risk factor in diseases such as cancers, heart disease and diabetes. JOYCE AGYEI-AMPONSAH, Senior Food Research Scientist (Sensory and Consumer Science), Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute Population shifts from rural to urban areas have also seen dietary shifts towards convenience foods containing more fat and refined carbohydrates and less fibre. These lifestyle changes have been related to the increased occurrence of obesity. Reducing fat in foods…