Tag Archives: africa

Evolution of Human ‘Super-Brain’ Tied To Development of Bipedalism, Tool-Making

By Guest PostApril 22, 2011Scienceafrica, ants, archaeological evidence, archaeologist, Arctic, bees, bipedalism, don river, Europe, evolution of human mind, fossil, france, Germany, honeybees, human ancestors, human brain, human mind, john hoffecker, kostenk, lucy, modern mind, moscow, russia, social insects, stone tools, super brain, university of colorado boulder, waggle dance

Scientists seeking to understand the origin of the human mind may want to look to honeybees — not ancestral apes — for at least some of the answers, according to a University of Colorado Boulder archaeologist.

CU-Boulder Research Associate John Hoffecker said there is abundant fossil and archaeological evidence for the evolution of the human mind, including its unique power to create a potentially infinite variety of thoughts expressed in the form of sentences, art and technologies. He attributes the evolving power of the mind to the formation of what he calls the “super-brain,” or collective mind, an event that took place in Africa no later than 75,000 years ago. (more…)

Got Product Questions? Microsoft Has Answers – More Than 500,000 per Day

By Guest PostApril 4, 2011Technologyafrica, barbara winter, community stars, emea, Europe, florian eichinger, internet explorer, microsoft answers, microsoft answers site, microsoft consumer products, microsoft most valuable professional, microsoft product, middle east, mvp, office, ronnie vernon, windows, windows 7

*Every day more than half a million people visit Microsoft Answers to get their burning Microsoft product questions answered. The company’s recently refreshed question-and-answer forum brings together consumers, experts and technical enthusiasts into a single online community.*

REDMOND, Wash. – April 4, 2011 – Ever since he retired in 2005, Ronnie Vernon’s time has been his own. The former heavy equipment instructor gets to spend his days doing exactly what he likes to do. So each morning he fires up his computer, heads to the Microsoft Answers site, and settles in for a long day answering questions about Windows.

Vernon can’t quite explain why he spends up to 12 hours a day offering strangers tech support. “Over the years I’ve tried to figure out why people do what they do with volunteering, but I never came up with a good explanation,” said Vernon, a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) community leader recognized by Microsoft for actively sharing his real world technical expertise with consumers. “Basically, you have some knowledge, you see some people who have problems, and you just like to help.” (more…)

Genome of Extinct Siberian Cave-dweller Linked to Modern-day Humans

By Guest PostDecember 29, 2010Scienceafrica, archaeologists, archaic humans, asia, bence viola, croatia, denisova cave, denisovans, dental analysis, early humans, Europe, genetic data, genetic sequencing of dna, genetic testing, neanderthals, southern siberia, svante pääbo, tooth, vindija cave

*Sequencing of ancient DNA reveals new hominin population that is neither Neanderthal nor modern human*

Researchers have discovered evidence of a distinct group of “archaic” humans existing outside of Africa more than 30,000 years ago at a time when Neanderthals are thought to have dominated Europe and Asia. But genetic testing shows that members of this new group were not Neanderthals, and they interbred with the ancestors of some modern humans who are alive today.

The journal Nature reported the finding this week. The National Science Foundation’s Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences Division partially funded the research. (more…)

Microsoft Vice President Margo Day Helps Build Girls’ School, Safe Haven in Kenya

By Guest PostDecember 18, 2010Culture, Technologyafrica, amsft, claire mungai, elephants, gail, go to africa, Kenya, kihanya, life changing experience, lions, margo day, microsoft employees, nairobi, philanthropic work, pokot region, redmond, safari, st elizabeth school, Tanzania, the africans at microsoft, united states, us small and midmarket solutions, wildebeests, world vision

*An encounter with 35 young girls in Kenya prompted Margo Day to start a secondary school there. The school will also be a refuge for girls who fled their homes to avoid the traditional practice of female genital mutilation.*

REDMOND, Wash. — When Margo Day went on a safari last year in Africa, she more or less knew what to expect. She had traveled in Kenya and Tanzania 16 years earlier, where she had what she calls a life-changing experience watching lions, elephants and wildebeests roam the plains. She returned to Kenya last fall to share that experience with her 19-year-old niece, Gail.

What Day didn’t expect was meeting 35 young girls who would change her life. But Day, who serves as West regional vice president of U.S. Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners at Microsoft, had also wanted to do some philanthropic work on her trip. So she and her niece spent the last four days of their tripin remote northern Kenya with a team from World Vision, an international nonprofit that helps children, families and communities overcome poverty and injustice. The day before Day and her niece flew back to the U.S., they visited a primary school that also housed a rescue center run by World Vision. (more…)

What “Pine” Cones Reveal About the Evolution of Flowers

By Guest PostDecember 15, 20101 commentScienceafrica, angiosperms, arabidopsis, australia, avocado flowers, bees, bottlebrush, california poppy, conifers, cycads, doug soltis, floral organ, flowering plants, flowers, genetic fossils, genetic origin, gymnosperms, pine cone, pineapple lily, plant life, pollination agents, seed bearing plants, tepals, zamia, zamia furfuracea

*Research genetically traces flowers to a single common ancestor*

From southern Africa’s pineapple lily to Western Australia’s swamp bottlebrush, flowering plants are everywhere. Also called angiosperms, they make up 90 percent of all land-based, plant life.

New research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides new insights into their genetic origin, an evolutionary innovation that quickly gave rise to many diverse flowering plants more than 130 million years ago. Moreover, a flower with genetic programming similar to a water lily may have started it all. (more…)

Passive Smoking Kills 600,000 Every Year

By PravdaNovember 26, 2010Healthafrica, betty mcbride, death, developing world, passive smoking, south asia, the lancet, tobacco, World Health Organisation

More than 600,000 people, including 165,000 children, die every year from passive smoking, a report from World Health Organisation experts says today. The estimates from the first analysis of the true global toll are based on the best available data across 192 countries and the known effects of exposure.

The biggest impact on children is in the developing world. “Two-thirds of these deaths occur in Africa and south Asia,” the authors write in the medical journal The Lancet. “Children’s exposure to second-hand smoke most likely happens at home, according to The Guardian. (more…)

Shrubby Crops Can Help Fuel Africa’s Green Revolution

By Guest PostNovember 24, 2010Economy, Environment, Generalafrica, agricultural revolution, calorie-rich food, crop diversification, green revolution, malawi, nutrient-enriched grain, peanuts, rotating corn, shrubby legumes, sieglinde snapp, soybean

Rotating corn with shrubby legumes holds a key for fueling Africa's green revolution. Image credit: Michigan State University

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Crop diversification with shrubby legumes mixed with soybean and peanuts could be the key to sustaining the green revolution in Africa, according to a Michigan State University study.

The study, which appears in the Nov. 22 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, states that diversifying crops would boost production of nutrient-enriched grain by 12 percent to 23 percent, said Sieglinde Snapp, a crop and soil scientist at Michigan State University’s Kellogg Biological Station who led the study.

Malawi has been called the cradle of Africa’s green revolution. Through its government subsidizing 90 percent of fertilizer and superior corn seed costs, Malawi has reaped substantial gains in productivity of calorie-rich food. The successful program has had some unintended consequences, though, such as reliance on starchy cereals, expensive fertilizer and depleted soils. (more…)

IBM Reports 2010 Second-Quarter Results

By Guest PostJuly 19, 2010Economy, Technology2010 earnings, africa, asia-pacific, chairman, Europe, gaap, generally accepted accounting principle, global services, gts, ibm, middle east, net income, revenues, samuel j. palmisano, second-quarter, total outsourcing services

ARMONK, N.Y. – 19 Jul 2010:

Diluted earnings per share of $2.61, up 13 percent;
30 consecutive quarters of EPS growth, 12 of last 14 at double digits;
Full-year 2010 EPS expectations raised to at least $11.25;
Net income of $3.4 billion, up 9 percent;
Pre-tax income of $4.6 billion, up 7 percent;
Pre-tax margin of 19.3 percent, up 1 point;
Revenue of $23.7 billion, up 2 percent, as reported and adjusting for currency;
Growth markets revenue up 14 percent; first-half revenue as large as total Euro zone revenue;
BRIC countries revenue up 22 percent;
Business Analytics revenue up 14 percent;
Software revenue up 2 percent, 6 percent excluding divested PLM operations;
Systems and Technology revenue up 3 percent;
Services revenue up 2 percent;
Services backlog of $129 billion, up $1 billion, adjusting for currency.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced second-quarter 2010 diluted earnings of $2.61 per share compared with diluted earnings of $2.32 per share in the second quarter of 2009, an increase of 13 percent.

(more…)