SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION - The African Mirror

Jul

07

2021

African scientists on the rise

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

SETH ONYANGO AFRICAN scientists are staking a claim at the world’s scientific high table, generating cutting-edge breakthroughs in the fight against malaria, HIV/AIDS, maternal health and TB and boosting agricultural productivity. Despite little global spotlight − at home where it matters, as well as overseas – African scientists are creating home-grown solutions to some of the world’s biggest maladies. The World Bank has released a report indicating that despite an increase, Africa’s contributions to the world’s research remains at a measly 1.1 per cent. But there are caveats. One is that the research that IS created is extremely wide-reaching, showing…

Jul

03

2021

By The African Mirror

How to help entrepreneurs adopt cutting edge technologies to grow their businesses

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

ENTREPRENEURS are known to drive innovation and progress in various fields. The Fourth Industrial Revolution has provided an unprecedented platform to do so. SEAN KRUGER, Coordinator Strategic Innovation, University of Pretoria ADRIANA ALETTA STEYN, Senior Lecturer in Informatics, University of Pretoria This global concept was coined in 2016 by Professor Klaus Schwab. He said that this revolution entails “nothing less than the transformation of humankind” because it is the integration of technologies across the digital, physical and biological spheres. Moreover, the speed at which this is happening is influencing work, services, educational needs and people’s everyday activities. Entrepreneurs have the…

Apr

20

2021

By The African Mirror

Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe: Nigerian academic mentor and researcher who made an impact

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

OYEWUSI Ibidapo-Obe, who passed away earlier this year, was the former president of the Nigeria Academy of Science. He was also a former vice-chancellor of both the University of Lagos and of Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike. OLUMUYIWA ASAOLU, Associate Professor of Systems Engineering, University of Lagos He pioneered the study of stochastic methods in mechanics and the development of computer algorithms, applying Martingale Concepts to the control of nonlinear dynamical systems. That is: how to monitor and control seemingly random events in engineering via computer programmes. He was also a great mentor who made a notable contribution to deepening…

Jun

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Google searches for new measure of skin tones to curb bias in products

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

PARESH DAVE ALPHABET Inc's Google told Reuters this week it is developing an alternative to the industry standard method for classifying skin tones, which a growing chorus of technology researchers and dermatologists says is inadequate for assessing whether products are biased against people of color. At issue is a six-color scale known as Fitzpatrick Skin Type (FST), which dermatologists have used since the 1970s. Tech companies now rely on it to categorize people and measure whether products such as facial recognition systems or smartwatch heart-rate sensors perform equally well across skin tones. Critics say FST, which includes four categories for…

Jun

24

2021

By The African Mirror

Techpreneur turning Africa’s e-waste into power banks

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

DORCAS BELLO IN African dumpsites, the sight of faulty smartphones, television sets, laptop parts and broken accessories like phone chargers have become all too conspicuous. In Jos, Nigeria, Luka is turning trash into cash, making power banks from e-waste. Peering into the gutters of any Nigerian city including the capital Abuja, a stream of filth greets you — used nylon, plastics bags, tins and cans are all clogging up the drainage system. But in Jos city, tech-enthusiast Zag Luka Bot, 29, is turning this mountain of trash into cash. His ingenious innovation of making power banks out of used laptop…

Jun

24

2021

By The African Mirror

AI is watching: What to know about workplace surveillance

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

ARTHUR NESLEN FROM Swedish retailer H&M being fined 35 million euros ($42 million) for recording employees' private data to Britain's Barclays bank accused of spying on its staff, workplace surveillance has come into the spotlight in recent months. On Wednesday, the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), the European Trade Union Confederation's research arm, said planned regulation by the European Union (EU) to improve privacy does not do enough to stop companies from snooping on their workers in the name of security and efficiency. As artificial intelligence (AI) technology becomes ever more accessible and sophisticated, here's why unions are worried: What kind of surveillance are we…

May

12

2021

By The African Mirror

African countries must embrace the concept of good food as good medicine

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

FRESH impetus is being directed into identifying and advocating for scientific priorities in the area of food security and nutrition across Africa, with a particular focus on health implications. CHARLES WAMBEBE, Professor Extraordinaire, Tshwane University of Technology At the centre of these efforts is a five-year project initiated by the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Africa, a partnership between the African Academy of Sciences and the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD. This project aims to identify the continent’s most urgent research and development questions, and to advocate for investments in these areas. This will go a long way in helping the…

May

11

2021

By The African Mirror

We live in our smartphones, anthropologists say

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

Umberto Bacchi ACCORDING to the saying, there's no place like home. But a group of anthropologists argue that smartphones have become so fundamental to human life, they are like places people live rather than mere tools of communication. The researchers at University College London (UCL) say smartphone users are like "human snails carrying our homes in our pocket" in a study analysing use of the devices across Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. "You have one room for watching entertainment, another one for socializing with your friends, another one for organizing your life," Daniel Miller, the study's lead author, told the Thomson Reuters…

Jun

23

2021

By The African Mirror

Italian hospital uses CT scan to unveil secrets of Egyptian mummy

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

ANCIENT Egypt met modern medical technology when a mummy underwent a CT scan at an Italian hospital as part of a research project to discover its secrets. The mummy of Ankhekhonsu, an ancient Egyptian priest, was transferred from Bergamo's Civic Archaeological Museum to Milan's Policlinico hospital, where experts will shed light on his life and the burial customs of almost 3,000 years ago. "The mummies are practically a biological museum, they are like a time capsule," said Sabina Malgora, the director of the Mummy Project Research. Malgora said information on the mummy's name comes from the sarcophagus dated between 900…

Jun

21

2021

By The African Mirror

Songs, stories, pottery: Refugees preserve their heritage in digital archives

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

RINA CHANDRAN SOLIMA Khatun has been a refugee six times in her long life. She first left her home in Myanmar during the Second World War, and most recently in 2017 - when relatives had to carry her as they fled to Bangladesh with nearly one million other Rohingyas. Khatun - who is believed to be aged over 100 - lives along with some 700,000 Rohingya refugees in Kutupalong, the world's largest refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Most fled religious and ethnic persecution in neighbouring Myanmar with few possessions. Khatun took a locket and a loda, a spouted brass…