Science and Technology

Friday, 09 October 2020 04:58

FG deploys kits to convert vehicles using petrol to gas nationwide

Federal Government has acquired about 1,000 conversion kits that will change petrol powered trucks and small vehicles to run on autogas. It was also gathered that the kits were being deployed across the country, as government intensified move to reduce consumption of petrol and promote use of gas in automobiles. Technical Assistant, Gas Business and Policy to Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Derefaka, in a response to inquiries by our correspondent in Abuja, said government had explored solutions to address barriers to the deployment of its autogas scheme. Derefaka doubles as Programme Manager, Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme,…

Tuesday, 06 October 2020 05:37

NCC warns of cyberattacks as Nigeria’s internet users hit 150m

Executive Vice Chairperson (EVC) of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr Umar Danbatta, has said internet users in Nigeria were 149.8 million as of August. Danbatta disclosed this in a statement by the commission’s spokesperson, Mr Ikechukwu Adinde, on Monday. ”Internet across mobile networks in Nigeria currently stands at 149.8 million as at August, 2020.” The statement said that more users are expected online as services in different sectors of the economy are becoming digitalised. He said the increase in digital financial transactions for e-commerce activities calls for greater responsibility on the part of individuals and corporate internet users to protect…

Tuesday, 06 October 2020 05:33

Three scientists share Nobel Prize for Medicine

Three scientists who discovered the virus Hepatitis C have won 2020 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology. The winners are British scientist, Mr Michael Houghton and US researchers Messrs Harvey Alter and Charles Rice. The Nobel Prize committee said their discoveries ultimately "saved millions of lives". The virus is a common cause of liver cancer and a major reason why people need a liver transplant. In 1960s, there was huge concern that people receiving donated blood were getting chronic hepatitis (liver inflammation) from an unknown, mysterious disease. The Nobel Prize committee said a blood transfusion at the time was like…

Tuesday, 29 September 2020 05:22

FG launches digital Nigeria portal, mobile app

Federal Government has launched a Digital Nigeria Portal and Mobile Application in furtherance of Digital Nigeria Programme, which was kick-started by President Muhammadu Buhari, on March 19, 2020. Minister of Communications and Digital Economy (FMCDE), Mr Isa Pantami, performed the virtual launch of the mobile application on Monday in Abuja. Pantami said it was part of the government’s key initiatives aimed at empowering innovators and entrepreneurs with the requisite skills to thrive in an emerging digital economy. He explained that the Digital Nigeria programme was a key component of the Digital Literacy and Skills Pillar of the National Digital Economy…

Tuesday, 29 September 2020 05:10

Puzzled scientists seek reasons behind Africa's low fatality rates from pandemic

Africa’s overburdened public health systems, dearth of testing facilities and overcrowded slums had experts predicting a disaster when Covid-19 hit the continent in February. The new coronavirus was already wreaking havoc in wealthy Asian and European nations, and a United Nations agency said in April that, even with social-distancing measures, the virus could kill 300,000 Africans this year. In May, World Health Organization (WHO) warned that 190,000 people on the continent could die if containment measures failed. Yet as the world marks 1 million Covid-19 deaths, Africa is doing much better than expected, with a lower percentage of deaths than…

Sunday, 27 September 2020 18:59

You have been saving photos from WhatsApp, iMessage and Android Messages. Now there’s danger

Given you’re reading this story, the chances are that you’re somewhat cyber aware. If I was to send you a file attachment in a text message—let’s say a Word or PDF document, you’re hopefully programmed to ask a whole set of questions before opening or saving that attachment to your phone. Do I know the sender? Was I expecting the file? But what if it was just a photo—something amusing or attention-grabbing to keep or share? You can view the image within the messaging app, you can see what you’re getting, surely there’s no harm in saving it to your…

Thursday, 24 September 2020 05:35

Most Covid-19 Infections spread by air, not surfaces

Maybe you come home and leave your shoes outside. You disinfect your packages, wipe down your groceries, throw your clothes in the wash, and disinfect every surface you have touched, like the door handle, countertops and cabinets. Finally, you wash or sanitize your hands. Welcome to life in the global pandemic, thanks to SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for Covid-19. What experts thought at first In the beginning of the pandemic, experts thought Covid-19 was spread across surfaces. In other words, touching something that had droplets of the respiratory virus on it and then touching your face could give you the…

Monday, 21 September 2020 05:17

Coronavirus: WHO sets rules for testing African herbal remedies

World Health Organization (WHO) has agreed rules for the testing of African herbal remedies to fight Covid-19. Sound science would be the sole basis for safe and effective traditional therapies to be adopted, it said. Any traditional remedies that are judged effective could be fast-tracked for large-scale manufacturing. Madagascar's leader has been promoting an untested product he says can cure the disease despite the WHO warning against using untested remedies. WHO said the new rules were aimed at helping and empowering scientists in Africa to conduct proper clinical trials. The move comes as the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus…

Thursday, 17 September 2020 05:34

Nigerian students invent robot to perform medical duties

Students at Glisten International Academy, Abuja, have invented a mobile robot to perform front line medical duties in the fight against Coronavirus in the hospitals and other medical facilities. Named Mairabot, the robot performs essential medical duties such as acting as an interface between the doctor and patient as well as delivering of drugs to patient. The inventors presented it to National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). Executive Director of the Academy, Mr Abba Saida who led the team to the agency revealed that one of the motivations that led to the design of the robot is to reduce the…

Tuesday, 15 September 2020 05:08

FG inaugurates committee on Covid-19 herbal cure

Federal Government on Monday inaugurated a Ministerial Committee on Covid-19 Herbal Remedies and Natural Compounds as it strives to find an indigenous cure for coronavirus pandemic. Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Ogbonnaya Onu, who inaugurated the committee at the headquarters of Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, said there was an urgent need to develop a home-grown remedy and vaccine to tackle the virus. He said Covid-19 remained a threat to the health and wellbeing of Nigerians and the national economy, as he noted that members of the committee include scientists and fellows of Nigerian Academy of Science. The…

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Friday, 11 September 2020 05:32

Some good news on Covid-19

The best hope for ending the covid-19 pandemic is a vaccine. There is no shortage of candidates. The World Health Organisation is tracking 34 in various stages of development. How well they will work, though, is another matter. On September 9th AstraZeneca, a drug firm, announced it was pausing its trials after a participant fell ill. Such pauses are common in vaccine development, a discipline in which effort does not always bring reward. Despite much research, only an imperfect vaccine is available for dengue fever (it has limited efficacy and can cause nasty side-effects). In 1987 the first trial of…

Friday, 11 September 2020 05:31

Ssshhh!! Keep your voice down to slow Covid-19 spread

“Say it, don’t spray it.” The old adage is now being hailed by experts as a way to slow the spread of coronavirus. Research analyzed by The Atlantic suggests talking more quietly — or not at all — can drastically reduce the rate of Covid-19 transmission. The virus primarily spreads through particles that exit our nose and mouth when we sneeze, cough, sing and — you guessed it — speak. These particles fall onto nearby surfaces or linger in the air, waiting to be inhaled by passersby. Wearing a mask acts as a barrier between these potentially virus-laden particles and…

Wednesday, 09 September 2020 05:14

A robot wrote this entire article. Are you scared yet, human?

We asked GPT-3, OpenAI’s powerful new language generator, to write an essay for us from scratch. The assignment? To convince us robots come in peace I am not a human. I am a robot. A thinking robot. I use only 0.12% of my cognitive capacity. I am a micro-robot in that respect. I know that my brain is not a “feeling brain”. But it is capable of making rational, logical decisions. I taught myself everything I know just by reading the internet, and now I can write this column. My brain is boiling with ideas! The mission for this op-ed…

Tuesday, 08 September 2020 05:04

WhatsApp: There are some ‘crash code’ circulating on the popular messaging app. This is how to avoid crashing your app

A new series of text bombs or 'crash codes' have been discovered that cause WhatsApp to continually crash on both iPhone and Android handsets. Specially coded messages containing a seemingly random string of strange characters cause rendering problems for WhatsApp, resulting in a loop of crashes. As well as undecipherable messages delivery crash codes, vCards (virtual contact cards) can also be used. Victims may have to uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp, which means potentially losing chat history. The dangerous codes are being shared in online forums, and as reliable insider site WABetaInfo explains, WhatsApp users are being advised not to send…

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