Science & Tech

The sun might be unusually cool by 2050, according to a new study. Based on the cooling spiral of recent solar cycles, scientists from University of California, San Diego believe the next “grand-minimum” is just decades away, during which the sun will be seven per cent cooler. A grand-minimum, according to the study, is a period of very low solar ...

On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has called on African countries to make science, technology and innovation (STI) policies inclusive and to place women and girls at the centre of STI programmes. Celebrated each year on February 11, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science was adopted ...

DNA analysis suggests that the first modern Britons, who lived some 10,000 years ago, had “dark to black” skin and blue eyes, scientists said on Wednesday, February 7, 2018. The scientists from London’s Natural History Museum analysed DNA from an almost complete Homo sapiens skeleton, known as Cheddar Man after it was found in a cave in Cheddar Gorge in ...

Researchers at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Colorado have developed a superconducting switch that “learns” like its biological counterpart. The switch, called a synapse, could connect processors and store memories within future computers operating like the human brain. According to the study, the NIST switch supplies a missing piece for so-called neuromorphic computers. Envisioned as ...

Scientists have found a potential food source for astronauts, using microbes to convert human waste into Marmite-like food, local media have reported. This is contained in their study published in the quarterly scientific journal Life Sciences in Space Research by Professor of Geosciences, Christopher House, and Director of the Penn State Astrobiology Research Centre. According to British online newspaper, The ...

The National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has disclosed plans to partner with Journalists for Social Development Initiative (JSDI) and Connected Development (CODE) through their Science Café initiative to train journalists on safe science reporting. Director General of the Agency, Dr. Rufus Ebegba, who made the disclosure during the opening ceremony of a Science Café on Thursday January 18, 2018 in ...

An ecologist, Mr Abdullahi Aremu, on Monday,January 15, 2018 urged the media to sensitise Nigerians to the dangers of using refrigerators, air conditioning units which emit ozone-depleting substances like chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere. Aremu, the Director-General, Advocacy for Environmental and Sanitation Integrity, an NGO, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. The ecologist advised ...

The Federal Government says it is working assiduously to develop a National Action Plan (NAP) to reduce the use of Mercury in Nigeria. Dr Abdukadir Muazu, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, said this in Abuja at a workshop for National Comprehensive Analysis of Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining Sector. The capacity building was aimed at ...

Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, has said that the Federal Government is committed to investing N180 billion to ensure successful implementation of the National Science, Technology and Innovation Roadmap (NSTIR) 2030. Onu said this at the ongoing 15th meeting of the National Council on Science and Technology in Benin City, Edo State. He said the amount, which ...

The Managing Director, Nigerian  Communication  Satellite Ltd. (NIGCOMSAT), Ms Abimbola Alale, says  the company will ensure that internet broadband gets to every part of  country. Alale, represented by  Mr Kazzem Raji ,the Executive Director, Engineering Services, said this at the First NIGCOMSAT Channel Partners Awards and Dinner Night in Abuja on Wednesday, December 13, 2017. She said that NIGCOMSAT would ...