For an island nation like Seychelles, the loss of coral reefs has impacts in tourism and fishing, two of the country’s key economic sectors. Yet protecting coral is a priority because of climate implications too, and new research from SECORE International – a global network of scientists and coral conservationists…
A high-altitude Google Internet balloon crashed to earth in Kenya over the weekend, alarming residents near the Nthambiro farm where it landed but without causing any damage or injuries. The balloon was one of 10 launched in July as part of Project Loon, all part of program testing in Kenya….
Egyptian lawmakers on Monday approved a long-awaited law formally establishing the nation’s space agency, while announcing a planned research satellite launch with partners Japan and China. Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, Egypt’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, showed MPs a model of the satellite and said its components will be built…
Mobile money access is a cornerstone of Africa’s economic future and among the technologies highlighted by Christine Lagarde during remarks in Addis Ababa on Friday. The managing director for the International Monetary Fund was in Ethiopia to address the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, with a speech that emphasized…
Ethiopia has continued its targeted malware attacks on activists and dissidents, including the Oromia Media Network (OMN) in the United States, according to a report released Wednesday by Citizen Lab. The digital experts at the lab, based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, analyzed…
It’s a problem that’s often under the radar in sub-Saharan Africa, but not in Swaziland as snake experts recently held training on the poisonous snakebite problem – one that may soon see some new developments. At least 200 people in Swaziland are bitten by black mamba, puff adder, Mozambican spitting…
South African scientists are celebrating their contribution to an unprecedented space discovery, through data gathered by their Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) and the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory. For the first time, scientists have directly detected gravitational waves, or ripples in space-time, in addition to light from the spectacular collision of…
Facebook users were hit with a global service failure early Wednesday evening, with reports of outages from Egypt and European countries alongside those from wide swaths of Asia and North America. The outage began shortly after 5 p.m. in Cairo, with Facebook as well as Instagram users affected. As users…
Egypt moved one step closer toward establishing its space agency on Wednesday, as the Council of Ministers approved a plan that’s been slow to move forward but now has a big boost from China. The space agency plan, now headed for parliament, builds on an initial phase in the space…
Africa’s endangered rhinoceros population is getting help from its animal friends and neighbors in a new high-tech program designed to protect the rhino from poachers. The system relies on the Internet of Things to monitor conditions on the Welgevonden Game Reserve in South Africa by fitting zebra, wildebeest and impala…
Relief efforts continue in Sierra Leone following an August 14 landslide and flooding at Freetown that claimed more than 1,000 lives, and left up to 10,000 more displaced. Those efforts involve a number of humanitarian aid agencies, including UNICEF, which is working to resettle the homeless who have voluntarily relocated…
Ghana has now converted the fuel at its only nuclear research reactor in Accra, successfully completing an international project meant to replace the use of high enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. The three-year effort completed last week makes Ghana the first of five countries outside of…
Scientists who study the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano in Tanzania say that based on readings from sensors placed there in 2016, there’s activity suggesting the potential for eruption that needs to be closely watched. Sarah Stamps, an expert on the East African Rift System and assistant professor of geosciences at…
The Petya-based ransomware attack Tuesday swept across much of Asia and Europe with unprecedented fury, shutting down government agencies, banks, utilities, and global companies including Merck pharmaceutical company and DLA Piper, a law firm based in the United States. Ukraine was especially hard-hit, with virtually all entities one might characterize…
A South African startup based in Cape Town has been named as an Innovation Prize for Africa finalist. Social entrepreneurs Nokwethu Khojane, left, and Lauren Drake envisioned Lakheni in 2015, when designing a food buying cooperative that helps families to pool their resources and purchase food in bulk within their…