Author: The Conversation

In his latest book sociologist Professor Roger Southall, a prolific researcher who has written extensively about political dynamics in Southern Africa, avoids the “negative and condemnatory” approach generally seen in writing on white South Africans, the creators and beneficiaries of apartheid. In the preface to the book, Whites and Democracy in South Africa, he explains that he’s done this to instead undertake a nuanced and constructive assessment of white people’s adjustment to post-apartheid democracy. Therefore, he enters the South African debate on critical race studies by setting his study apart from whiteness scholarship that assumes the homogeneity of white practices,…

The first three coronavirus vaccines earned Emergency Use Authorization more than a year ago. To date, no other vaccines have been put into use in the U.S – but that will soon change. More than 40 vaccines are undergoing clinical trials in the U.S., employing a number of different approaches to protecting people from the coronavirus. Vaibhav Upadhyay and Krishna Mallela have been studying the coronavirus spike protein since the outbreak of the pandemic and are developing COVID-19 therapeutics. Together, they explain what vaccines are in development and why some of the vaccines should be better than what’s available now.…

President Cyril Ramaphosa recently appointed a senior South African politician, Ayanda Dlodlo, to serve a two-year term as a member of the World Bank’s 25-person Board of executive directors. She will represent a constituency consisting of Angola, Nigeria and South Africa. Dlodlo has previously held two cabinet positions – as minister of public service and administration and state security. The appointment of such a senior politician to executive director position offers South Africa an opportunity to influence the World Bank’s relations with Africa. The 25 executive directors of the bank fulfil a dual function. Firstly, they operate as the governing…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is much more than just a buzzword nowadays. It powers facial recognition in smartphones and computers, translation between foreign languages, systems which filter spam emails and identify toxic content on social media, and can even detect cancerous tumours. These examples, along with countless other existing and emerging applications of AI, help make people’s daily lives easier, especially in the developed world. As of October 2021, 44 countries were reported to have their own national AI strategic plans, showing their willingness to forge ahead in the global AI race. These include emerging economies like China and India, which…

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…