Walter Focke, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and Director of Institute of Applied Materials, University of Pretoria; Mthokozisi Sibanda, Postdoctoral fellow in Chemical Engineering, University of Pretoria, and Taneshka Kruger, Senior Project Coordinator at the Centre for Sustainable Malaria Control in the School of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria Long-lasting insecticide […]
How to see past your own perspective and find truth
The more we read and watch online, the harder it becomes to tell the difference between what’s real and what’s fake. It’s as if we know more but understand less, says philosopher Michael Patrick Lynch. In this TED talk, he dares us to take active steps to burst our filter bubbles and participate […]
A ‘smart city’ working for its own residents
Christine Steinmetz, Senior Lecturer in Built Environment, UNSW Smart cities, digital cities, virtual cities, connected cities. Are these just trendy buzzwords? Perhaps. But these types of cities are supported by infrastructure that is more than bricks and mortar. These cities are smart (thoughtful, people-centric), digital (driven by data acquisition, measured, analysed and sometimes exchanged) and […]
SA inventor devises novel way to produce electricity
South African engineer Clement Mokoenene has come up with an invention that could make drivers and their cars creators of electricity, the Vehicle Energy Harvest System (VEHS). This is how it works: a special overlay is placed on parts of existing roads that cars drive over. The overlay then captures the energy from the cars pressure […]
Manufacturing this key vaccine in South Africa of paramount importance
David Richard Walwyn, Professor of Technology Management, University of Pretoria South Africa has been granted a licence to manufacture one of the world’s most important vaccines. It’s the first time the country will be able to do so since the mid 1990s, and is news that will result in many positive spin-offs for the […]
Drones will soon decide who to kill
Peter Lee, Director, Security and Risk & Reader in Politics and Ethics, University of Portsmouth The US Army recently announced that it is developing the first drones that can spot and target vehicles and people using artificial intelligence (AI). This is a big step forward. Whereas current military drones are still controlled by people, this […]
Is it really 2018? The evidence suggests otherwise
Charles C. Rozier, Lecturer in Medieval History, Swansea University According to scholars throughout history, we actually aren’t living in the year that is printed on our calendars. The more the origins and development of dating systems have been and are studied, the more it becomes apparent that time is only what we make it. […]
Israeli arms exports to Africa growing
Early in March Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa met in Harare to discuss deepening military cooperation and economic relations between the two countries, as part of Lavrov’s tour across several Eastern and Southern African countries including Angola, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia. by Arie Egozi/defenceWeb Israeli arms sales to African countries […]
Nerve Agents: what are they and how do they work?
Nerve agents can be absorbed through inhalation or skin contact. Unlike traditional poisons, nerve agents don’t need to be added to food and drink to be effective. They are quite volatile, colourless liquids (except VX, said to resemble engine oil). Simon Cotton, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, University of Birmingham The former Russian spy Sergei Skripal […]
China’s quest for techno-military supremacy
Adam Ni, Strategic and Defense Studies Centre, Australian National University 6 March 2018 Chinese President Xi Jinping wants to transform China’s military into the world’s most powerful force by 2050. And he could be on track to do it. On the opening day of its National People’s Congress in Beijing yesterday, China reported a defence budget […]
