Africa in urgent need of cyber ‘perimetre fences’ to ward off phishing, rip-offs
Cyber criminals come in many different flavours, but the majority of them are in it for one thing: financial pay-off. They want the money that comes with offering their tools or services, selling stolen data, extortion like ransomware or plain fraud. And they all have one thing in common –...
Spell of relative peace allows South Sudan to launch first-ever oil and gas licensing round
South Sudan’s Ministry of Petroleum officially launched the country’s first-ever oil and gas licensing round in an inaugural event on Wednesday in Juba. Focused on accelerating exploration and production at new and existing blocks, and promoting the country as a competitive investment destination, the event signified an historic moment in...
South Sudan’s block 5A resumes crude oil drilling after seven years
Production in South Sudan’s block 5A – operated by Sudd Petroleum Operating Company (SPOC) – has resumed from the Tharjiath Central Processing Facility into the Tharjiath – WNPOC Heglic Control Centre pipeline after seven years of production shutdown due to civil war. SPOC will unpack its production resumption journey at...
We need to talk: Researchers should always set out terms of engagement from the outset
Research collaborations are the lifeblood of science. But it is often challenging to build an inclusive partnership that stays firm in the face of conflict. Once collaborators lose trust in or respect for one another, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to salvage the team, says sociologist Martin Gargiulo,...
Men invest in step-kids and even biological kids as an asset in their relationships
Anthropologists used to assume that fatherly behaviour could evolve only in monogamous animals, Stacy Rosenbaum, co-author of Annual Review of Anthropology, says. Species like the mountain gorillas undermine that assumption. They also show that, despite what scientists have long thought, male animals don’t have to choose between spending their energy...
World Bank’s unwillingness to release Covid funds squanders fruits of research
Someday, my grandchildren will read how teams of scientists around the world developed vaccines against Covid-19 within a year. They will also read a sadder history: how millions of people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) died after those vaccines came to market. Part of the reason, they’ll learn, was...
Technology firm Emerson publishes its environmental, social, governance report
Global technology and engineering company, Emerson, has announced the publication of its 2020 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report, highlighting how the company develops and delivers technologies, software and services to enable greater sustainability, efficiency and safety for essential industries while supporting communities worldwide. As Emerson helps drive progress across...
Kenya’s NCBA bank invests in new technology to offer inclusive financial services
“We have a view or a mission to be Africa’s most valued digital platform for financial services, which then means we are seeking to move to not just identify ourselves as a bank but actually identify ourselves as a marketplace upon which financial services are offered, upon which customers can...
Corporate responsibility: Science-funding giant Wellcome steps up the plate to tackle racism
Two years ago, I was about to log off from my work at the research funder Wellcome when I got an e-mail from a senior leader. I remember tensing as I read it. I’d asked that Wellcome add its name to some general anti-racism commitments. The leader didn’t refuse, but...
Evolution of fathers: While fish and birds co-parent, mammal dads only donate sperms and moms do the rest
Lee Gettler is hard to get on the phone, for the very ordinary reason that he’s busy caring for his two young children. Among mammals, though, that makes him extraordinary. “Human fathers engage in really costly forms of care,” says Gettler, an anthropologist at the University of Notre Dame. In...
