Africa isn’t the kind of place you might expect to find penguins. But one species lives along Africa’s southern coast today, and newly found fossils confirm that as many as four penguin species coexisted on [...]
Tag Archives | Africa
Land sell-off risks major displacement, bloodshed in Africa
New studies released in London today suggest that the frenzied sell-off of forests and other prime lands to buyers hungry for the developing world’s natural resources risk sparking widespread civil unrest—unless national leaders and investors [...]
Drug Wipes Out Deadliest Malaria Parasite Through Starvation
An antimalarial agent developed by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University proved effective at clearing infections caused by the malaria parasite most lethal to humans – by literally starving the parasites [...]
The Disappearance of the Elephant Caused the Rise of Modern Man
Elephants have long been known to be part of the Homo erectus diet. But the significance of this specific food source, in relation to both the survival of Homo erectus and the evolution of modern [...]
Evidence for early ‘bedding’ and the use of medicinal plants at a South African rock shelter
An international team of archaeologists is reporting 77,000-year-old evidence for preserved plant bedding and the use of insect-repelling plants in a rock shelter in South Africa. This discovery is 50,000 years older than earlier reports of preserved b…
Unconventional approach to control HIV epidemics
A new weapon has emerged to prevent HIV infection. Called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, it is a strategy of providing medications to at-risk people before they are exposed to the virus. Having shown great promise in recent phase 3 clinical trials,…
New data allows for unique conflict research
Which factors increase the risk for armed conflict and war? What circumstances make conflict resolution more likely to be successful? If work for peace is to bear fruit; these questions needs to be answered. Today, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UC…
Climate-smart agriculture should be livelihood-smart too
Encouraging climate-smart agriculture can lead to climate change adaptation practices in a partnership where the farmer’s needs are addressed.
“Climate-smart agriculture has the potential to increase sustainable productivity, increase the resilience of…
Rip Van Winkle, Hibernating Fish and Malaria Control
When I think of hibernation, my first thought is my high school English literature class on Washington Irving’s tale of a Dutch settler named Rip Van Winkle. The story’s setting is New York’s Catskills Mountains [...]