General
Efficient Group’s chief economist, Dawie Roodt started a storm in a teacup this week when he advised South Africans to take their money out of the country. This was irresponsible, according to Dr Conrad Beyers, Barclays Africa Chair in Actuarial Science at the University of Pretoria, who said it was a hysterical reaction to recent events.
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It seems like South Africa is currently a magnet for cyberattacks. In the last two weeks, two high profile breaches have been reported, with one leaving about 50 million people’s details – including ID numbers, income and employment history – online.
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As children, we are told that much of what happens in movies is make-believe, and not to try emulate our favourite cinematic heroes. It seems that a British man called Tom Morgan didn’t listen to his parents, and recently made the news for attaching 100 giant helium balloons to a camping chair and sailing into the air – reminiscent of a scene from the animated movie “Up!”.
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South African rhinos have been the focus of a number of initiatives intended to stop the high levels of poaching and save as many of the animals as possible. Many of these, however, are centred around de-horning rhinos or increasing surveillance in nature reserves, and have made only a small impact.
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An engineering student at the University of Cape Town (UCT) may have the solution to South Africa’s water problems. Nkosinathi Nkomo, a third-year civil engineering student, has joined forces with Sesethu Mazangazanga, a fourth-year civil engineering student at UCT, Njabule Gule, a part-time business student and Monica Masetola, a final-year student at Vega, to launch AquaRenu, a company focused on greywater reclamation.
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“The plague”, or “Black Death”, conjures up images of multitudes dying in Europe during the Middle Ages. While it is commonly considered to be one of the diseases we have effectively removed as a threat, the plague still flares up across the world – even in North America.
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Wits University is the latest high profile organisation to cut ties with auditing firm KPMG. The local branch of the international company has lost a number of client companies as a result of its involvement with the controversial Gupta business family.
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The 24th of September was Heritage Day in South Africa. The public holiday was marked by political speeches and Heritage Day “celebrations” around the country, but while it is intended to “promulgate a South African identity, fostering reconciliation and promoting the notion that variety is a national asset as opposed to igniting conflict”, the day has become better known as National Braai Day.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been the dream of scientists and technologists for decades. From self-aware worker robots like those in Isaac Asimov’s stories, to murderous assassins like those in the Terminator movies, Science Fiction has paved the way for technology intelligent enough to interact with humans on an equal level.
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The past month has seen Mother Nature’s wrath unleashed along what seems to be the entire northern half of the planet. From floods in Bangladesh, India and Italy, to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and the soon-to-come Jose, human beings are being reminded that they are but a small part of the ecosystem they live in.
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The Department of Environmental Affairs has announced the 2017 winners of its annual greenest municipality competition. This competition has replaced the cleanest town competition, and looks at factors like waste management; energy efficiency and conservation; water management; landscaping, tree planting and beautification; and public participation and institutional arrangements.
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Science generally only makes the headlines when a new discovery is made, or something goes wrong. While scientists rightfully deserve the kudos they get for progressing mankind’s knowledge, those that are enhancing existing cures and technologies rarely get mentioned outside of academic circles. Their work, too, is done behind the scenes, and many of their advances are never noticed by the general public.
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Electric cars have been touted as one of the primary solutions to the world’s carbon emission challenges. China has set aggressive targets for electric vehicle sales to curb pollution and some European countries aim to be all-electric by 2040 or sooner. Even the US is pushing electric car sales, albeit for more commercial reasons.