Blog – Page 15 – Next Einstein Forum

December 18, 2017

The literary genius of Africa’s leading innovation scholar, Calestous Juma

Calestous Juma, the towering Kenyan scholar of technology and development, died on Friday (Dec. 15) at the age of 64 in Boston, Massachusetts. Harvard’s Kennedy School professor, was known for his work on innovation, and how that intersected with sectors including agriculture, education, health, and economic prosperity. As a prolific and luminary academic, he combined rigorous evidence with […]

December 18, 2017

How scientists and farmers creating climate and disease resistant livestock for Africa

Visiting Brisbane in November for theInternational Tropical Agriculture Conference for 2017, Director General of theInternational Livestock Research Institute Dr. Jimmy Smith discussed with Devex a range of new and exciting programs his organization is delivering to help create climate and disease resistant livestock for Africa. With research progressing rapidly, Smith believes 2018 will see ILRI deliver a […]

December 12, 2017

There’s more to evidence-based policies than data: why it matters for healthcare

The idea of “Health for All” was first put on the global agenda in 1978 at the International Conference on Primary Health Care at Alma Ata. It called for primary health care to be introduced as the first step to making sure that everyone has access to health care. The big question is: how can […]

December 12, 2017

Scientists build hydrogen sensor readable with the naked eye

According to many scientists, the proposed ‘hydrogen economy’, in which hydrogen is to become the most important carrier of sustainably generated energy, is an inevitable development. Unfortunately, the use of hydrogen entails certain risks, because it is flammable and difficult to detect. The research that the scientists described in their publication in Nature Communications focuses on […]

December 5, 2017

West Africa’s biggest solar farm launched in Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is now home to West Africa’s biggest solar farm, a 33-megawatt plant located in the town of Zatubi, outside the capital Ouagadougou. Records indicate that only about 20% of Burkina Faso’s 17 million population have access to the national power system. The majority depend on other unsustainable power generation options. Built at a cost […]

December 5, 2017

Hopes for HIV vaccine buoyed by start of second big trial

Scientists announced the launch of another large HIV vaccine efficacy study, fueling hopes for a protective shot against the virus that causes AIDS, despite past disappointments. The start of the new trial involving 2,600 women in southern Africa means that for the first time in more than a decade there are now two big HIV […]

December 5, 2017

Open access publishing platform launched for African scientists

African scientists are getting their own open access publication platform, which will use a system of transparent, post-publication peer review. The African Academy of Sciences, in partnership with F1000, is launching AAS Open Research, which will offer immediate online publication to AAS-funded and affiliated researchers. Peer review reports will be published alongside the articles, together […]

December 5, 2017

Nairobi Scientists discover technology to manage maize pest

Scientists at the Nairobi-based International Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) announced Thursday they have discovered a technology that will manage ravaging pest that has worsened food insecurity in Africa. In a statement released in Nairobi last week, the scientists said the technology, Push-Pull, is effective in controlling the Fall Armyworm, which mainly prefer maize plants […]

December 5, 2017

How a West African lab made a 3D printer from toxic e-waste

An innovative lab in Lomé, the capital city of Togo in West Africa created the first “Made in Africa” 3D printer using e-waste. WoeLab, a community tech hub established by architect Sénamé Koffi Agbodjinou, 37, made the machine using little more than scrap printers, computers and scanners. The idea was born after Agbodjinou purchased a 3D […]

December 1, 2017

BIO GIRLS DAY 2017: EXPOSING GIRLS TO OPPORTUNITIES IN BIO-SCIENCES

The African Woman in Science and The Work Place The under-representation of African women in science and its related fields is a cause for concern. The stereotypical African woman in times past was seen as a weak figure better suited to doing ‘menial’ jobs including raising children and taking care of the home. Today, paradigms […]