Ethiopia, in the Horn of Africa, is a rugged, landlocked country split by the Great Rift Valley. With archaeological finds dating back more than 3 million years, it’s a place of ancient culture. Among its important sites are Lalibela with its rock-cut Christian churches from the 12th–13th centuries. Aksum is the ruins of an ancient city with obelisks, tombs, castles and Our Lady Mary of Zion church.
Tag Archives: Africa
Science: Research Paper Translation, Sustainable EV’s & Giant Centipedes
A team is creating bespoke words for scientific terms in African languages, and the sustainability of the electric car boom.
00:46 Creating new words for scientific terms
Many words that are common to science have never been written in some African languages, or speakers struggle to agree what the right term is. Now a new project aims to change that, by translating 180 research papers into six languages spoken by millions of people across the continent of Africa.
11:48 Research Highlights
A rainbow of biodegradable inks derived from brown seaweed, and the enormous centipede that preys on baby birds.
Research Highlight: From drab to dazzling: seaweed yields sparkling coloured inks
Research Highlight: The giant centipede that devours fluffy baby seabirds
13:58 How sustainable is the electric car boom?
As electric cars become more ubiquitous, manufacturers will have to up the production of batteries needed to power them. But that begs the question – can they be mass produced in a sustainable way?
News Feature: Electric cars and batteries: how will the world produce enough?
24:06 Briefing chat
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, how a tusk-based ‘chemical GPS’ revealed details of a mammoth’s enormous journeys , and why the Perseverance rover’s first efforts to collect a Mars rock sample didn’t go according to plan.
Nature: Mammoth’s epic travels preserved in tusk
Nature: Why NASA’s Mars rover failed to collect its first rock core
Sahara: Senegal Plants Circular Gardens To Prevent Desertification
Circular, drought-resistant ‘Tolou Keur’ gardens have sprung up in Senegal, marking a more local approach to what is known as Africa’s Great Green Wall initiative.
Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country in West Africa. Senegal is bordered by Mauritania in the north, Mali to the east, Guinea to the southeast, and Guinea-Bissau to the southwest.
The Great Green Wall or Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel is a project led by the African Union, initially conceived as a way to combat desertification in the Sahel region and hold back expansion of the Sahara, by planting a wall of trees stretching across the entire Sahel.
South Sudan: Thailand Peacekeepers Teach New Food & Farming Methods
With years of civil war having severely reduced agricultural output in South Sudan, Thai peacekeepers have set up agricultural demonstration plots in the capital city of Juba to teach residents how to successfully grow their own food using contemporary farming practices.
South Sudan, officially known as the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in east/central Africa.
Morning News: China Cyber Hack Rebuke, Africa Space Race, Mice Plague
The European Union, NATO and the “Five Eyes” intelligence partners have all joined America in accusing China’s government of involvement in hacking campaigns. Now what?
Away from the spectacle of billionaires’ race to the heavens, many African countries are establishing space programmes—with serious innovation and investment opportunities on the ground. And why Australia is suffering from a plague of mice.
Safari Views: Leopards At Mala Mala, South Africa
8 leopards in an afternoon at MalaMala.
Mala Mala is a game reserve located within the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, Mpumalanga province, South Africa. It is the largest and the oldest private big five game reserve in South Africa, It covers around 130 km² or 15 000 hectares of land.
Morning News: Delta Variant In Africa, China Ride-Hailing Giant DIDI
A.M. Edition for June 30. WSJ Africa Deputy Bureau Chief Gabriele Steinhauser on how the region is dealing with a surge of the more-transmissible Delta variant.
Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi is set to begin trading today in the U.S. And, differing stances on vaccine passports. Marc Stewart hosts.
African Views: Lions Hunt Buffalo In Tanzania
In Tanzania’s Ruaha National Park, water is hard to come by in the dry season. Without it, animals like buffalo will die. And so they’ll do anything for a drink – even take on a pride of hungry lions.
In stunning footage of an exciting chase, we show you lions’ hunting techniques – and how it’s possible even for these experienced predators to make mistakes. Who will be the winner in the end?
Aerial Views: The Cities & Landscapes Of Tanzania
Tanzania is an East African country known for its vast wilderness areas. They include the plains of Serengeti National Park, a safari mecca populated by the “big five” game (elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, rhino), and Kilimanjaro National Park, home to Africa’s highest mountain. Offshore lie the tropical islands of Zanzibar, with Arabic influences, and Mafia, with a marine park home to whale sharks and coral reefs.
Climate: Mozambique Builds Green Areas To Curb Cyclone Flooding
In 2019, Cyclone Idai devastated Mozambique’s port city of Beira. Many died and entire neighborhoods were flooded. The city is now setting up large green areas designed to absorb future floodwaters. But entire fishing communities need to relocate.
Boomers Daily 