Author: The Conversation

Agenda 2063 is the African Union’s long-term framework for socio-economic development, regional integration and the preservation of history and culture. The agenda has 15 flagship projects. These have been identified as necessary for meeting the continent’s aspirations. They are wide-ranging and include constructing a network of high-speed trains; ending violence and creating continental financial institutions. But, in my view, the core of Agenda 2063 is the Africa outer space programme. It has direct or indirect impacts on the other flagship programmes. The outer space programme seeks to enable Africa to obtain maximum benefits from space science, technology and applications. It…

Clothing retailers sell their shoppers more than jeans and sweaters. Major apparel companies also sell credit, often with very high fees, like The Gap’s 21.7% starting interest rate, and US$27 to $37 late payment charge. In 2019, Macy’s store credit card revenue of $771 million accounted for more than half of Macy’s operating income. As researchers studying retail clothing workers, we never expected to learn about credit cards. When we asked the workers about the worst part of their jobs, we expected to hear about low wages, inconsistent schedules and rude shoppers. Those things matter, but many workers identified mandates…

When astronomers dream of their ideal telescopes, it’s not that different to what people want from their TVs and computer monitors. Images they produce should be large and high definition, such as those from the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), which have ~10k resolution (beyond the typical quality you get from digital TVs and digital cinematography). And they should have a high dynamic range, indicating high quality imaging with deep sensitivity to faint objects. But not every telescope can do it all. That’s why complementary science – using some telescopes for some tasks, others for different but related tasks,…

Thousands of years ago, the blacksmith led a technological leap in sub-Saharan Africa. West Africa’s Nok culture, for example, switched from using stone tools to iron around 1500BC. Imagine an innovative artisan like this re-emerging in the 21st century equipped with digital technologies. This is not Wakanda science fiction. It is the story of a real promise that 3D printing holds for an industrial revolution on the African continent. 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a fabrication process in which a three-dimensional object is built (printed) by adding layer upon layer of materials to a series of shapes.…

The growth of the internet and smartphones has led to the widespread global use of dating apps, such as Tinder, Bumble and OKCupid. These location-based apps have become a popular and acceptable way to meet new potential romantic partners. With over 6.5 million monthly downloads Tinder is the most popular dating app in the world, including in South Africa. But Tinder still has a reputation for being a “hook-up” app. Most people perceive it as a way to search for casual dating or short-term sexual partners. Owing to its focus on pictures, physical attractiveness is the main way that users…

On Sept. 1 and 2, 1859, telegraph systems around the world failed catastrophically. The operators of the telegraphs reported receiving electrical shocks, telegraph paper catching fire, and being able to operate equipment with batteries disconnected. During the evenings, the aurora borealis, more commonly known as the northern lights, could be seen as far south as Colombia. Typically, these lights are only visible at higher latitudes, in northern Canada, Scandinavia and Siberia. What the world experienced that day, now known as the Carrington Event, was a massive geomagnetic storm. These storms occur when a large bubble of superheated gas called plasma…

The discipline of physical anthropology has a dark, often fraught past. It was misused to justify slavery and even genocide. In this edited extract from the introduction of his new book, Bones and Bodies: How South African Scientists Studied Race (Wits University Press, 2022), Alan G. Morris examines the discipline’s South African history. He points out that modern academics struggle to find ways to balance the roles of sociology and genetics in their research – and that understanding how scientists previously understood the relationship between social and physical characteristics will guide them in navigating this tricky balance. The aphorism first…

The importance of whistleblowers was highlighted again recently in South Africa. In one of the reports released by Judge Raymond Zondo, who has headed up a commission of inquiry into state capture, he recommended that whistleblowers should be protected. He also recommended that they should be given an incentive to make disclosures – a monetary reward based on a percentage of the proceeds recovered on the strength of such information. Academics, myself among them, have called for similar treatment of tax whistleblowers. The logic of these calls is that whistleblowers play a role in exposing corruption. In addition, they can…

Today more than half of the world’s population is connected to the internet. In Africa, there are over 590 million internet users and over 800 million mobile phone subscribers. Some observers note that such diffusion of digital tools and connectivity is bringing political, economic, social and cultural transformations on the African continent. One such change is that workers from Lagos to Johannesburg to Nairobi are carrying out various forms of digital work. These are activities which involve manipulation of digital data using tools such as mobile phones, computers and the internet. Examples are transcription, article writing, image tagging, search engine…

Have you looked at the international rankings of the world’s happiest countries lately? Measuring a country’s subjective levels of happiness has become something of an international sport. People look with interest (and a little jealousy) to nations such as Denmark, which consistently tops the world happiness rankings. It has also led to Danish practices such as the “hygge” lifestyle gaining popularity elsewhere. If only we could add more cosiness to our lives, perhaps we would be as happy as the Danish! But is living in one of the worlds happiest nations all it’s cracked up to be? What happens if…