General
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Most people have never heard of Etherium or Monero, but they have heard of Bitcoin. All three are cryptocurrencies – a form of digital money – and they are a few of the dozens of digital currencies available.
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The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has set the cat among the pigeons in its claims that the load shedding of 2008 and 2014 was ‘self-inflicted’ by Eskom. Not only does Outa believe load shedding was avoidable, but that “corrupt practices” exacerbated the situation.
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We keep hearing stories about how the economy is putting a stranglehold on all areas of our lives, but a recent Career Junction poll shows that those in the engineering and related sectors have not been as negatively affected as those in other industries – at least as far as their salaries are concerned.
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Charcoal has long been a favourite medium for artists, but a South African artist has taken this to a new level. Hannelie Coetzee has used targeted burning to create the image of a locust and grasshopper on grazing grassland near Johannesburg.
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This week saw another important step towards the building of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope in the southern hemisphere, with Ghana and South Africa completing what they termed “first light” science observations. This was achieved through the successful conversion of a communications antenna from a redundant telecoms instrument in Ghana into a functioning Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) radio telescope.
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Man’s desire to explore space has created plot lines for science fiction writers for centuries. 50 years ago, the stuff of science fiction started becoming reality with the advances in technology that allowed us to land on the moon. Today, the colonisation of Mars is not only looking like it will become a reality, it’s actively being pursued by some of the brightest minds on Earth.
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The famous line from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” is frequently cited when the importance of the names of things is raised. Juliet would have us believe that names don’t really affect what things really are, but post-colonial Africa would beg to differ.
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The announcement by US President Donald Trump that America would pull out of the historic Paris climate agreement has gained widespread condemnation across the globe. Even South Africa weighed in, with the Department of Environmental Affairs issuing a statement expressing “profound regret” at Trump’s decision.
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The Chinese curse “may you live in interesting times” seems to be more appropriate for South Africa than ever before. Between tough economic times (the country is officially in a recession) and the political upheaval that’s marked the past few months, many South Africans are bound to be craving a bit of mundane news.
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Lego made the robotics toys trend a fixture in the lives of families with children who could afford high-tech toys, but robots are set for integration into children’s day-to-day play, if the experts are to be believed. From problem-solving, to decision making, to learning the basics of coding, robots are changing how the younger generations are learning.
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In South Africa, the fate of the local rhino population in light of poaching syndicates and poor birth rates has become a national concern. While we worry about the potential extinction of the species, Kenya is facing the reality: The last male of the northern white rhinoceros subspecies is getting old, and desperately needs to mate.
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Easter weekend in South Africa has become synonymous with horrific car accidents and high numbers of fatalities. This year was no different, with authorities announcing that 2017’s Easter break saw at least 33 dead in Gauteng, more than 30 in KwaZulu-Natal and 22 in the Western Cape. The Road Traffic Management Corporation said it had issued nearly 20 000 fines for various traffic offences across the country during the period.
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Last week saw the biggest uprising of “people power” in South Africa in recent history. President Jacob Zuma shocked the country when he reshuffled his cabinet, firing finance minister Pravin Gordhan and deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas, sending the Rand plummeting from an already weak level and resulting in a ratings downgrade for the country. This seemed to be the final straw for South Africa’s populace, which took to the streets in protest.