May 24, 2022
South Africa: We Tested Plants Used for Contraception. Here's What We Found
In sub-Saharan Africa, 91 per 1,000 pregnancies are unwanted. This is around three times the rates of unintended pregnancies recorded in Europe and North America. Read more »
May 23, 2022
Senegal: Rising Sea Levels Are Driving Faster Erosion Along Senegal's Coast #AfricaClimateCrisis
Coastal retreat in West Africa is a pressing problem. The contact between land and sea on coasts produces intense erosion and sedimentation processes. When erosion is more intense… Read more »
Africa: Monkeypox Q&A - How Do You Catch It and What Are the Risks? An Expert Explains
The latest outbreak of monkeypox has, at the time of writing, reached 17 countries with 110 confirmed cases and a further 205 suspected cases. It's a fast-moving story, so if you… Read more »
Africa: How Many Bots Are On Twitter? The Question Is Difficult to Answer and Misses the Point
Twitter reports that fewer than 5% of accounts are fakes or spammers, commonly referred to as "bots." Since his offer to buy Twitter was accepted, Elon Musk has repeatedly… Read more »
Africa: Monkeypox Isn't Like HIV, but Gay and Bisexual Men Are At Risk of Unfair Stigma
The first case of monkeypox in the current outbreak was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 7. The person in question had recently returned to the UK from… Read more »
Africa: Ideology Matters in Unravelling Russia's Invasion of Ukraine
In explaining the war on Ukraine, ideology matters as much as interests. This means that we need to factor ideology into our analysis if we want to gain a deeper understanding of… Read more »
South Africa: How a Desire to Help Led Me to Track Covid Numbers and Make Sense of Them Through Graphs
As COVID took hold in South Africa, daily case numbers grew. But the numbers people were seeing online or on news channels did not tell the full story of the pandemic. Ridhwaan… Read more »
May 22, 2022
Congo-Kinshasa: What M23's On-and-Off Insurgency Tells Us About Precarious Search for Peace
Since March 2022, fighting has escalated in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) between the army and the rebel group March 23 Movement, more widely known as M23. The… Read more »
Uganda: Museveni's First Son Muhoozi - Clear Signals of a Succession Plan
On 8 March 2022, Ugandan politics was sent into a spin by 49 words tweeted by President Yoweri Museveni's only son, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba. Read more »
Angola: Ruling Party Faces United Opposition in Upcoming Poll. But It's Pushing Back
The election of Angolan President João Lourenço in 2017 raised hopes of a shift from the authoritarian and corrupt era of his predecessor. This was thanks to the new,… Read more »
South Africa: Covid Is No Gamble - Physics-Inspired Simulations Predict Waves in Four Countries
As a physicist, I am trained to look for patterns in data. For example, the motion of the tiniest particles may seem random, but it contains patterns and symmetries. Read more »
May 21, 2022
West Africa: Togo - Region's New Frontier of Violent Extremism?
The threat of violent extremism across West Africa has been on the rise in recent times. Read more »
May 20, 2022
Africa: Why You Shouldn't Trust Claims That a Single Foodstuff Has Amazing Health Benefits
You've probably read the stories proclaiming that eating blueberries reduces your risk of dementia, or red wine is good for your heart, or coffee protects against type 2 diabetes -… Read more »
Africa: What Is Monkeypox? a Microbiologist Explains What's Known About This Smallpox Cousin
On May 18, 2022, Massachusetts health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a single case of monkeypox in a patient who had recently traveled to… Read more »
Africa: Over 100 Years of Antarctic Agriculture Is Helping Scientists Grow Food in Space
Figuring out how to feed people in space is a major part of a larger effort to demonstrate the viability of long-term human habitation of extraterrestrial environments. On May 12,… Read more »
South Africa: What to Expect for Covid in South Africa
In light of the approaching winter months combined with the recent lifting of the national disaster act, South Africans have anxiously been watching an increase in COVID… Read more »
Nigeria: Dilomprizulike - Artist Who Mesmerizes and Befuddles in Equal Measure
Nigerian artist and lecturer Dilomprizulike, who curated, among other things, the Junkyard Museum of Awkward Things in Lagos, wages a continuous battle on two fronts. First, as an… Read more »
May 19, 2022
Nigeria: Restrictive Abortion Laws Put Women in Danger
The word "abortion" is used to describe two types of pregnancies that end before 20 weeks, which is now regarded as the age of viability of a pregnancy. Read more »
East Africa: Banana Paper Could Save East Africa's Potatoes From Devastating Worms
Potatoes originated in South America, where they were domesticated about 8,000 years ago. The plants were eventually brought to Europe in the mid-1500s, from where they spread to… Read more »
Africa: How Visionary Scientist Bernie Fanaroff Put African Astronomy On the Map
Recent decades have seen remarkable growth in astronomy on the African continent. Africa enjoys pristine dark skies and vast radio quiet zones, making it the ideal home for many… Read more »
May 18, 2022
Africa: The Rights of Refugees in Africa Are Under Threat - What Can Be Done
In April 2022, 70 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were reportedly detained and then deported by the Zimbabwe government. Once back in the DRC, their government… Read more »
South Africa: Nation Has Entered a New Phase of the Covid Pandemic - What That Means
Confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 have been increasing in South Africa in recent weeks. This has been largely driven by two offspring - known as the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages - of the… Read more »
Zambia: Herbicides Threaten Edible Weeds in Zambia - That May Be Bad News for Local Food Security
The use of herbicides - substances that control unwanted plants - is on the rise across Africa. This trend has been referred to by some researchers as the "herbicide revolution".… Read more »
May 17, 2022
Africa: African Scientists and Technology Could Drive Future Black Hole Discoveries
Astronomers have revealed the first image of the black hole at the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way. The image was produced by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration,… Read more »
South Africa: Inflation Should Be Viewed As Public Enemy Number 1 - Here's Why
Inflation is a process of sustained increases in the general price level over a period of time, typically 12 months. Read more »