africa – Page 6 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Dr. Livingstone’s Lost 1871 ‘Massacre’ Diary Recovered; Discovery Rewrites History

By Guest PostNovember 3, 2011Culture, General1874, account of a massacre, adrian wisnicki, africa, arab slavers, birkbeck, british academy, british government, central africa, congolese village, david livingstone, doug emery, east african slave trade, eastern democratic republic of congo, evening standard, expedition, henry m stanley, horace waller, imperialist in africa, indiana university of pennsylvania, ink from berry seeds, keith knox, livingstone 1871 field diary, london standard, mike toth, national hero, new york herald, nyangwe, original diary, roger l easton jr, slave trade, spectral imaging, the last journals of david livingstone, the unspeakable horror, ucla, united states, university of london, victorian explorer

In Africa 140 years ago, David Livingstone, the Victorian explorer, met Henry M. Stanley of the New York Herald and gave him a harrowing account of a massacre he witnessed, in which slave traders slaughtered 400 innocent people. Stanley’s press reports prompted the British government to close the East African slave trade, secured Livingstone’s place in history and launched Stanley’s own career as an imperialist in Africa.

Today, an international team of scholars and scientists led by Dr. Adrian Wisnicki of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, publishes the results of an 18-month project to recover Livingstone’s original account of the massacre. The story, found in a diary that was illegible until it was restored with advanced digital imaging, offers a unique insight into Livingstone’s mind during the greatest crisis of his last expedition, on which he would die in 1873. (more…)

The Genographic Project Confirms Humans Migrated Out of Africa through Arabia

By Guest PostNovember 2, 2011Science, Technologyafrica, ajay royyuru, analytical method, anthropology, arabia, archaeology, bab el mandeb strait, DNA, dna chromosomes, egypt, Europe, evolutionary history, genetic diversity in southern india, genographic project, history of human migration, history of humankind, human genome, human population genetic data, human populations, laxmi parida, mathematical modeling, migratory genealogy, modern humans, national geographic society, out of africa, project, spencer wells

*New analytical method approaches the unstudied 99% of the human genome*

WASHINGTON, D.C., – 02 Nov 2011: Evolutionary history shows that human populations likely originated in Africa, and the Genographic Project, the most extensive survey of human population genetic data to date, suggests where they went next. A study by the Project finds that modern humans migrated out of Africa via a southern route through Arabia, rather than a northern route by way of Egypt. These findings will be highlighted today at a conference at the National Geographic Society.

National Geographic and IBM’s Genographic Project scientific consortium have developed a new analytical method that traces the relationship between genetic sequences from patterns of recombination – the process by which molecules of DNA are broken up and recombine to form new pairs. Ninety-nine percent of the human genome goes through this shuffling process as DNA is being transmitted from one generation to the next. These genomic regions have been largely unexplored to understand the history of human migration. (more…)

Africa’s Female Students Are Fighters and Survivors

By Guest PostOctober 21, 2011Cultureafrica, african continent, cameroon, developed countries, education of girls in developing countries, housecleaners, male domination, marie lambert chan, pitfalls, quebec, sexist stereotypes, sexual harassment of male teachers, sub-saharan africa, therapeutic, thesis, togo, université de montréal, university education, valese mapto kengne

The education of girls in developing countries is lagging by at least 30 years in comparison to the education of girls in developed countries. This is particularly true in sub-Saharan Africa, where only a minority of women get a university education. Why does this disparity still exist today?

Valèse Mapto Kengne obtained her diploma last spring from the Université de Montréal Faculty of Education where she devoted her thesis to answering that very question. “I wanted to know the truth behind the numbers. Why do some girls drop out? And contrarily, what drives the others to persevere? (more…)

CT Study of Early Humans Reveals Evolutionary Relationships

By Guest PostSeptember 20, 2011Sciencea africanus, a boisei, a robustus, africa, anatomy of the face, anterior pillars, australopithecus, bony columns, brian villmoare, classic evolutionary puzzle, convergence, ct scans, east africa, facial features, fossil skull, hollow columns of bone, key ancestor of modern humans, parallel evolution, South Africa, william kimbel

CT scans of fossil skull fragments may help researchers settle a long-standing debate about the evolution of Africa’s Australopithecus, a key ancestor of modern humans that died out some 1.4 million years ago.

The study, to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, explains how CT scans shed new light on a classic evolutionary puzzle by providing crucial information about the internal anatomy of the face. (more…)

Ancient Humans Were Mixing it Up

By Guest PostSeptember 7, 2011Scienceafrica, archaic hominin forms, august woerner, central africa, chromosome, contemporary african populations, DNA, eurasia, fernando mendez, fossil, fossil specimens, genome, homo, homo sapiens, hybridization, jeffrey wall, joseph watkins, michael hammer, modern humans, molecular biology, morphologically diverged neighbors, neanderthal bones, neanderthals, sub saharan africans

*Anatomically modern humans interbred with more archaic hominin forms even before they migrated out of Africa, a UA-led team of researchers has found.*

It is now widely accepted that anatomically modern humans of the species Homo sapiens originated in Africa and eventually spread throughout the world. Ancient DNA recovered from fossil Neanderthal bones suggests they interbred with more archaic hominin forms once they had left their evolutionary cradle for the cooler climates of Eurasia, but whether they exchanged genetic material with other, now extinct archaic hominin varieties in Africa remained unclear.

In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, or PNAS, a team led by Michael Hammer, an associate professor and research scientist with the UA’s Arizona Research Labs, provides evidence that anatomically modern humans were not so unique that they remained separate. (more…)

Hyenas’ Ability to Count Helps Them Decide to Fight or Flee

By Guest PostAugust 23, 2011Nature, Scienceafrica, animal behaviour, beacon researcher, chimpanzees, evolution of big brains, kay holekamp, Kenya, lions, michigan state university, sarah benson amram, sean dryer, spotted hyenas, study of evolution in action, virginia heinen, zoology

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Being able to count helps spotted hyenas decide to fight or flee, according to research at Michigan State University.

When animals fight, the larger group tends to win. In the current issue of Animal Behaviour, Sarah Benson-Amram, an MSU graduate student studying zoology, showed that hyenas listen to the sound of intruders’ voices to determine who has the advantage. (more…)

UA Public Health Students Blogging From Across Globe

By Guest PostJuly 22, 2011Cultureacross the globe, africa, blogging, city of maseru, deirdre demers, department of food safety and zoonoses, geneva, hiv prevention education program, internship experiences, jaclyn pierson, karen dreisbach, Kingdom of Lesotho, mph coursework, southern africa, students, summer internships, switzerland, unicef, university of arizona, world health organization, zuckerman college of public health

*Students are blogging about their internship experiences from destinations as far away as Switzerland and Africa.*

At the University of Arizona, summer internships matter.

Three graduate students from the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health are working as interns across the globe this summer. (more…)

Eva Longoria Asks You to Vote for a Brighter Future

By Guest PostJune 20, 2011Technologyactivist, actor, africa, american, author, China, eva longoria, german, global humanitarian issues, imagine cup 2011, longoria, microsoft corp., new york city, philanthropist, student technology competition, Technology, united nations millennium development goals, worldwide finals

*Voting opens for Microsoft Imagine Cup 2011 People’s Choice Award.*

NEW YORK — June 20, 2011 — Today, activist, actor, author and philanthropist Eva Longoria asked people around the world to celebrate the amazing work of student humanitarians by voting for the Imagine Cup 2011 People’s Choice Award at https://www.imaginecup.com/pca. Imagine Cup by Microsoft Corp. is the world’s premier student technology competition, challenging students from around the globe to use technology to tackle social issues, such as helping with disaster recovery, improving access to clean water, and expanding rural education and health care.

In an online video, Longoria spoke about how students can make a difference by using technology to address the world’s toughest problems, and she encouraged people to vote for the People’s Choice Award, in which the public chooses their favorite projects from this year’s Imagine Cup. Voting begins today and runs through July 12. (more…)

Tag Archives: africa