X MARKS THE BIOMETRIC SPOT

Always read the fine print. This is a good rule for life in general, but somehow one that is easy to overlook or skip. When you buy a new phone, sign any kind of agreement or contract, even when you sign up to a new app, there is always some kind of ‘fine print.’ Most of us however, never get around to reading it – which means in essence, we don’t really know or understand the full extent of what we are signing up for, and therefore, what rights we may or may not be inadvertently wavering in the process. This is especially applicable when signing up to social media platforms such as […]

INDIA MAKING HISTORY WITH SPACE EXPEDITIONS

India made history recently with its moon landing that took place on 23^rd of August 2023. The lunar lander called Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the moon’s South Pole, a first for any country, although technically speaking India is the fourth nation to land on the moon behind the United States, Russia and China. The landing is also significant as it is the first successful landing since China in 2020. The moon’s South Pole represents an exciting opportunity as it has yet to be explored, and is known to be marked by trenches, craters and plenty of ancient ice. There are many reasons that make the global interest in space exploration potentially beneficial […]

TO ACTIVATE OR NOT TO ACTIVATE AIRPLANE MODE WHEN FLYING

Switching your phone onto airplane mode is as standard as buckling your seatbelt when on-board an airplane. And, as the name suggests, the setting was designed specifically for smart and portable devices when travelling by air with the intention of restricting its ability to transmit wireless signals. This is important as these have the potential to interfere with the aircraft’s communications systems. Long-gone are the days when phones needed to be switched off in their entirety, activating airplane mode is sufficient. But, what really happens if you forget to do this, or don’t want to?

Well, of course by activating airplane mode, you won’t be connected to any networks […]

WHY ELON MUSK ‘EXED’ TWITTER

The infamous blue bird has shed its feathers and is now donning new branding reminiscent of a modern super hero origin movie versus its more humble and naturally inspired beginnings. The company, which was founded in 2006 originally took its name from the sound that birds make when they communicate with one another, and also used this as the basis of its logo through the blue bird stock image that they purchased at the time for a mere $15. Since the company began, it’s had three logos, however all three maintained the brand’s corporate imagery through the maintenance of Twitter’s recognisable blue hue (at least for the first two logos) and the avian […]

BUBBLES BUSTING PLASTIC WASTE

The world has a plastic problem, and not of the Barbie variety. Life is plastic and far from fantastic. As single-use plastics continue to permeate every aspect of our daily lives globally, especially during and post-pandemic where the spread of the disease was at the forefront of everyone’s mind, not necessarily the environment, we are now experiencing the impact of a plastic pandemic. So much so that plastic, in particular micro-plastics, have now been detected in the ocean fish that we consume daily. What this means is outside of the various ways that we knowingly subject ourselves and our environment to plastics and micro-plastics, we are unknowingly ingesting it too. The long-term effects of […]

VIRGIN GALACTIC THE OFFICIAL COMMERCIALISATION OF SPACE TRAVEL

Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group has finally begun his journey to commercialise space travel through Unity, his Virgin Galactic rocket plane after almost 20 years working towards this milestone for the Virgin Group. The flight which took place in June 2023 was the “first purchased mission” rather than another test flight. The first mission for Unity was live streamed worldwide for its 72 minute duration. Unity, the space rocket, is assisted in reaching the required altitude through its carrier plane, which takes it to 44,500ft , the rocket then climbs the rest of the way on its own and at its peak, Unity managed to hit 279,00ft which […]

THE HOTTEST DAY(S) ON EAR SO FAR

July 2023 marked a new world record in terms of the hottest ever recorded days on Earth – for three consecutive days, the recorded results have showcased the culmination of a number of different contributing factors which have driven the median global temperatures higher than they’ve ever been before. In the last three years, the world has been experiencing a drawn-out La Nina weather pattern and cycle. This is longer than the typical nine to twelve month La Nina and El Nino climate cycles. These climate patterns are responsible for determining things like temperature and rainfall across all regions of the globe.  Locally, La Nina has meant wetter and colder temperatures […]

IS THREADS REALLY THE NEXT TWITTER?

What is Threads you may be asking? Well, if you haven’t heard already, Threads is what Meta believes may just be the “Twitter Killer.” Mark Zuckerberg’s Threads launched on Thursday the 6^th of July 2023 and within hours of launching, apparently already has over 30 million users – at least according to Zuckerberg. The social media space has certainly been heating up since business billionaire Elon Musk bought and took over Twitter in October 2022, with Donald Trump also pushing his Twitter-equivalent Truth Social, which was launched in February 2022 and currently boasts approximately 1.7 million users in the USA. In all fairness, there is no shortage of social media equivalents to […]

DOES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY IN UPCOMING EXTINCTIONS

No, this isn’t the premise of iRobot or another such dystopian future AI-based film, these are the warnings of industry experts who believe that artificial intelligence may have a role to play in future extinctions. That being said – there are many other industry players who believe that such assertions are premature and potentially unfounded. Governments globally are being warned to make contingencies and accommodations for the rate at which AI is becoming a part of everyday life as the legality of all this needs to be considered from a regulatory standpoint too. The biggest underlying concern is the level of redundancy to which AI has the […]

OUT OF LA NIÑA INTO THE EL NIÑO FRYING PAN

El Niño and La Niña are the climate patterns in the Pacific Ocean that play a big role in determining our weather worldwide. Periods of El Niño and La Niña typically last 12 months, however its not an exact science and they can go on to last years. There is also no set schedule in that El Niño and La Niña alternate every two to seven years on average, that being said we experience El Niño more frequently than we do La Niña. The more recent years have showcased some of the more severe sides of both weather patterns, largely exacerbated by climate change.

El Niño, meaning ‘little boy’ […]