Author: Gugu Lourie

South African online classified websites were this week overflowing with post-Christmas offers to sell various goods. It was however unclear if they were unwanted gifts or attempts to make up for festive season overspending.

Michael J. I. Brown, Monash University; Alice Gorman, Flinders University; Bryan Gaensler, University of Toronto; Duncan Galloway, Monash University; Geraint Lewis, University of Sydney; Helen Maynard-Casely, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation; Matthew Browne, CQUniversity Australia, and Rob Brooks, UNSW Australia Tales of strange alien worlds, fantastic future technologies and bowls of sentient petunias have long captivated audiences worldwide. But science fiction is more than just fantasy in space; it can educate, inspire and expand our imaginations to conceive of the universe as it might be. We invited scientists to highlight their favourite science fiction novel or film and tell…

 The Department of Energy (DoE) officially confirmed on Saturday that Cabinet has authorised the department to issue a request for proposal (RFP) for South Africa’s nuclear procurement programme. By Matthew le Cordeur, NewsAgency This is the first official government statement regarding the decision that was made during the infamous Cabinet meeting on December 9, which occurred just before Nhlanhla Nene was fired as Finance minister. The closest media got to a confirmation was during a question and answer session with Nene’s successor (and predecessor) Pravin Gordhan, who said government would proceed with a formal procurement process only if it was affordable.…

The mystery surrounding the recently published government Gazette on nuclear energy, which contains a 2013 stamp signed by former Energy minister Ben Martins, has been solved. By Matthew le Cordeur, NewsAgency Thabane Zulu, director general of the Department of Energy (DoE), said in an exclusive statement on Saturday that Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Petterson had decided to release the old Gazette because the determination on nuclear energy signed in 2013 had remained unchanged. He apologised on behalf of the department for not making it clear when the Gazette was published on 21 December 2015. “The department accepts that this should have been…

Nigerian authorities will wait for the outcome of a court challenge filed by Africa’s largest mobile phone operator MTN before deciding on whether to enforce a R59 billion ($3.9 billion) fine imposed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), according to a report. Reuters news agency reported that the Nigerian Communications ministry spokesman contradicted a source in the NCC, who earlier said “appropriate action” would be taken against MTN if it failed to pay the fine by a December 31 deadline for failing to disconnect users with unregistered SIM cards. “The federal government, NCC (regulator) or any government agent will not do…

In a first for a national sporting federation in South Africa, Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Uber have signed an agreement that will see fans being able to make use of the Uber service to and from Proteas home matches for the upcoming international season.

Three new Chinese smartphone manufacturers are actively targeting South Africans with the proposal that you can have a decent device without breaking the bank.

The Nigerian government said it would neither be cowed nor threatened by MTN’s court action over the R59 billion ($3.9 billion) fine imposed on the South Africa-based mobile phone operator by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), according to a report. The Vanguard newspaper reported that the Nigerian Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, made the statement in reaction to the legal suit instituted by South African firm in the Federal High Court in Lagos, Nigeria. “It is the right of MTN to approach the court but there was an infraction, which MTN admitted to have committed before it pleaded for leniency that led to the…

Four years in the making, the European Union’s new data protection rules have finally been agreed by the European Council and await the approval of the European Parliament. But a last-minute addition has sparked a debate about responsibility and consent, by proposing to raise to 16 the “age of consent” under which it is illegal for organisations to handle the individual’s data. This would force younger teenagers to gain parental permission to access social networking sites such as Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp or Instagram. By Rebecca Wong, Nottingham Trent University While raising this digital age of consent from 13 as it is…

Walking across campus to my office each morning this semester, I’ve found it hard to ignore the growing number of students using hoverboards to get around. These two-wheel self-balancing boards (they don’t really hover, Back-to-the-Future-style) are one of the hottest gadgets this holiday season. By Andrew Maynard, Arizona State University I’m probably just being a curmudgeon, but my first reaction as I saw students hoverboarding between classes was “Why?!” As sedentary lifestyles continue to be a major underlying factor in chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, I wondered whether these trendy two-wheelers are simply another way to avoid…