Kenya – Page 3 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Geologists Correct a Rift in Africa

By Guest PostMarch 26, 2012Scienceafrica today, australia, climate change, earth crust, east africa, east african rift, eric roberts, ethiopia, geological sciences, giant arc, great rift valley, human evolution, human species, james cook university, Kenya, malawi, michael gottfried, michigan state university, model, nancy stevens, nature geoscience, ohio university, plate boundary, rukwa rift, system, tectonic forces, uganda, vertebrate fossils, volcanic ash

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The huge changes in the Earth’s crust that influenced human evolution are being redefined, according to research published today in Nature Geoscience.

The Great Rift Valley of East Africa – the birthplace of the human species – may have taken much longer to develop than previously believed.

“We now believe that the western portion of the rift formed about 25 million years ago, and is approximately as old as the eastern part, instead of much younger as other studies have maintained,” said Michael Gottfried, Michigan State University associate professor of geological sciences. “The significance is that the Rift Valley is the setting for the most crucial steps in primate and ultimately human evolution, and our study has major implications for the environmental and landscape changes that form the backdrop for that evolutionary story.” (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…)

Pity the Boss Man

By Guest PostJuly 21, 2011Nature, Scienceadult male baboons, alpha males, baboon groups, baboons, beta males, catherine markham, ecologists, female, fertilizations, glucocoricoids, human behavior and societal structures, jeanne altmann, kaye reed, Kenya, laurence gesquiere, male, national science foundation, princeton university, sexual consortship, sexual swelling, social hierarchy, social ranks in baboons, stress hormones

*Researchers find that being at the top may come at a high cost*

Ecologists at Princeton University recently discovered top-ranking male baboons exhibit higher levels of stress hormones than second-ranking males, suggesting that being at the top of a social hierarchy may be more costly than previously thought. (more…)

Mount Everest Made Easy

By Guest PostApril 6, 2011Technologybizspark, bizspark one startup, ceo, galapagos islands, geographic expeditions, global online travel ecosystem, Google, ipsos otx mediact, james oleonard, Kenya, Microsoft, microsoft dynamics crm, mount everest, opentravel alliance tour operator project team, peak 15 systems, software, South Africa, startups

*BizSpark One startup PEAK 15 Systems powers unique travel experiences.*

REDMOND, Wash. — PEAK 15 Systems, a BizSpark One startup, provides tour operators with the software they need to build you the trip of a lifetime.

Anyone can go online to quickly purchase airline tickets or find a cheap hotel room, but when it comes to planning a truly unique travel experience, most people need the help of a travel professional. That’s where specialty tour operators come into play: They design specific types of trips or specialize in certain destinations, from Napa Valley food and wine adventures to luxury biking trips across Europe. PEAK 15 Systems, which builds software for tour operators, is the computing brain that helps to pull all the details together. (more…)

Computerizing Critical Information: GTRI Supports Health Resources Information Systems in Kenya and Zimbabwe

By Guest PostFebruary 13, 20111 commentHealth, Technologyafrican nations, aids, automate, christopher skeels, computer database, emory university, george bush, gtri, health care, health planning, hiv, human resource information systems, human resource management, judith wold, Kenya, kenya health work force project, khwfp, lillian carter center, malaria, martha rogers, nursing council, robert delano, software, software evaluation protocol, tuberculosis, zimbabwe

Researchers from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are helping to automate human resource information systems for health care professionals in two African nations, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

In collaboration with Emory University’s Lillian Carter Center for International Nursing and the Task Force for Global Health, GTRI is evaluating and advising on computer systems developed to provide information for better human resource management, policy development and health planning. (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…)

Bharti Airtel and IBM Join Forces to Transform Emerging African Mobile Communications Market and Fuel Economic Development Across the Continent

By Guest PostSeptember 17, 20101 commentEconomy, Technologyafrican continent, african mobile communications, bharti airtel, bharti airtel limited, crowne plaza hotel, economic development, ibm, ibm research, Kenya, nairobi, samuel j. palmisano, spoken web, sunil bharti

NAIROBI, Kenya & ARMONK, N.Y. – 17 Sep 2010: In a move that will accelerate the transformation of African mobile communications and positively impact the speed of economic development across the African continent, Bharti Airtel Limited and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced the selection of IBM to manage the computing technology and services that power Bharti Airtel’s mobile communications network spanning 16 African countries.

An agreement is expected to be finalized in the fourth quarter.

(more…)

Spread of Malaria Still a Looming Problem

By Guest PostJuly 28, 20101 commentHealthanti-malarial drugs, anti-mosquito coils, disease, environmental factors, epidemiology, infection, jose siri, Kenya, kisumu, malaria, mark Wilson, mosquito nets, traveling

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—There are hundreds of millions of new cases of malaria annually, but much of what scientists believe about preventing the spread of malaria in urban settings is mistaken, a new University of Michigan study suggests.

(more…)

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