SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION - The African Mirror

Feb

21

2021

WhatsApp to move ahead with privacy update despite backlash

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

FACEBOOK Inc's WhatsApp said on Thursday it will go ahead with its controversial privacy policy update but will allow users to read it at "their own pace" and will also display a banner providing additional information. In January, the messaging platform informed users it was preparing a new privacy policy, under which it could share limited user data with Facebook and its group firms. It sparked a global outcry and sent users to rival apps Telegram and Signal, among others, prompting WhatsApp to delay the new policy launch to May and to clarify the update was focused on allowing users…

Feb

20

2021

By The African Mirror

Feel like breaking up with Facebook? Maybe it’s time for a social media spring clean

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

IN denying news content to its Australian users, Facebook is arguably overplaying its hand, behaving as a big company that thinks it can intimidate governments. DAVID TUFFLEY, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & CyberSecurity, Griffith University If it keeps doing this, it will ultimately lose customers, and that’s the last thing Facebook wants. Perhaps you’re already considering breaking up with Facebook, whether in reaction to the news ban, or out of a broader unease about its business model, which profiles its users with the goal of earning revenue from targeted advertising. If so, the good news is it’s definitely possible…

Feb

19

2021

By The African Mirror

Smart weather app helps Kenya’s herders brace for drought

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

KAGONDU NJAGI SITTING under a low tree to escape the blazing Kenyan sun, Kaltuma Milkalkona and two young men hunch intently over the older woman's smartphone - but they are not transfixed by the latest sports scores or a trending internet meme. The men instead are looking at a weather alert for their village in the country's north, sent through an app that uses weather station data to help pastoralists prepare for drought. The myAnga app on Milkalkona's phone showed that Merille would continue facing dry weather and that "pasture conditions (were) expected to be very poor with no grass…

Feb

17

2021

By The African Mirror

Technology and supermarket chains can help strengthen southern Africa’s food systems

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

AGRICULTURE and agro-processing value chains have been under pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been particularly marked where they remain underdeveloped, as is the case in South Africa and the rest of the region. THANDO VILAKAZI, Executive Director of the Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development, University of Johannesburg NAMHLA LANDANI, Economist and Associate Researcher at the Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development, University of Johannesburg Regulatory responses to the pandemic disrupted agriculture and agro-processing activities. For example, agro-processing systems have been slowed down by rigorous border checks. Some countries, including South Africa, closed land border posts.…

Jul

28

2021

By The African Mirror

Greener PPE: Inventors tackle COVID-19 plastic waste mountain

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

EMMA BATHA FROM surgical masks and gloves to disposable hospital gowns and aprons, the COVID-19 pandemic is creating a mountain of plastic medical waste that is polluting the land and sea – alarming doctors and environmentalists alike. One young entrepreneur in Mexico has now invented a range of reusable PPE (personal protective equipment) she hopes will stop tonnes of single-use medical wear ending up in landfills, incinerators and waterways – and save hospitals a fortune.from Tamara Chayo said disposable PPE not only caused environmental damage, but could spread the virus which survives up to three days on plastics – a…

Feb

16

2021

By The African Mirror

Five principles that should guide future DNA ‘editing’ in South Africa

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

IN recent years there have been several major innovations in genetics. One prominent example is CRISPR-Cas9, a novel biotechnology derived from bacteria that could be used to make precise changes to specific locations in the human genome – our DNA. BONGINKOSI SHOZI, Doctoral Fellow with the UKZN African Health Research Flagship, University of KwaZulu-Natal MARIETJIE BOTES, Post Doctoral Fellow, University of KwaZulu-Natal Scientists could use CRISPR-Cas9 and similar technologies to eliminate genetic diseases by using germline cells (gametes and embryos). This is known as germline editing; a child born from modified gametes or embryos will have such “edits” in their…

Jul

27

2021

By The African Mirror

The ‘privacy by design’ approach for mobile apps: why it’s not enough

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

THE mobile apps installed on our smartphones are one of the biggest threats to our digital privacy. They are capable of collecting vast amounts of personal data, often highly sensitive. DUSTY-LEE DONNELLY, Lecturer in Law & Advocate, High Court of South Africa, University of KwaZulu-Natal The consent model on which privacy laws are based doesn’t work. App users remain concerned about privacy, as a recent survey shows, but they still aren’t very good at protecting it. They may lack the technical know-how or the time to review privacy terms, or they may lack the willpower to resist the lure of…

Feb

14

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Matrix’-style bracelets turn humans into batteries

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

UMBERTO BACCHI IN a move that will give chills to fans of the dystopian movie "The Matrix", scientists have developed a wearable device that could use the human body to replace batteries. Echoing world-domineering robots' use of enslaved humans in the 1999 cyberpunk movie, U.S. researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have created an environmentally-friendly gadget that harvests body heat and converts it into energy. Tech-lovers could power their own watches or fitness trackers by wearing a stretchy ring or bracelet containing thermoelectric chips that convert heat into electrical energy, according to research published in the journal Science Advances.…

Jul

25

2021

By The African Mirror

Rwandan farmers pin hopes on new tech to tackle food losses

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

AIMABLE TWAHIRWA Rwanda is trying to reduce post-harvest loss by relying on new technologies to increase the amount of food available for consumption and help smallholder farmers confront some challenges caused by the overproduction of staple crops. For over 20 years, Cyriaque Sembagare, a maize grower from Kinigi, a mountainous village in Northern Rwanda, had survived on farming to feed his extended family but struggled with the loss of a significant portion of his harvest to rot. High levels of aflatoxin prevent farmers in remote rural Rwanda from selling maize to high-value buyers. “I have been selling maize on the…

Jul

22

2021

By The African Mirror

South African scientists explain why they make time for science festivals

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

SCIENCE festivals across the world attract millions of visitors every year. They are typically busy, buzzing events: visitors stroll through interactive displays, enjoy science-themed shows and popular science talks and take part in hands-on workshops. MPFARELENI REJOYCE GAVHI-MOLEFE, Mathematical Scientist & AIMS House of Science Manager, African Institute for Mathematical Sciences ERIC A. JENSEN, Associate Professor in Sociology, University of Warwick MARINA JOUBERT, Science Communication Researcher, Stellenbosch University These events appeal to different groups of people for different reasons. For adults, they provide rare – and valued – opportunities to talk directly to scientists while learning in a leisure context.…