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Getting sick for the greater good The vast majority of people hate getting sick, feeling ill or being out of commission in any shape or form, so to speak. For populations in under-devloped countries, viruses and diseases can be absolutely disaterous. For the working population globally, missing work due to illness or being incapacitated is often simply not an option. Therefore we deploy methods of keeping ourselves as healthy as possible for as long as possible. Often these preventative methods come in the form of vaccinations to keep us from falling prey to seasonal and contagious diseases and viruses. One of the most recent vaccines was borne out of necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with it came a wave of controversy too [...]

A Government of National Unity and a new chapter for SA South Africa’s 2024 General election results brought about a monumental change in what our current and future government will look like. For the first time since 1994, the African National Congress (ANC) lost the majority of the vote, which meant that for the first time since the Party came into power, it now needed to look to other parties to align itself to as part of a Government of National Unity in order to retain its critical seats in government, including the role of President elect. On the 19th of June 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa of the ANC was re-elected as the President of South Africa in the seventh democratic elections, post [...]

Scrolling Sickness We’ve all heard about the pros and cons of social media and the hours spent scrolling mindlessly without really taking anything in. It can be a great way to waste time, or pass the hours – depending on how you see it, and value the social-sphere.  It also, undoubtedly has the ability to trigger the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine into our systems. Dopamine acts a ‘reward centre’ in the brain, and helps give us that feeling of pleasure or satisfaction, it is also what is used to motivate us and even help us learn. Outside of making us feel good, this feeling can also become addictive, this is why some people are never without their phones and are always online. [...]

Disturbing Digital De-aging It can seem that these days, society is anti-aging. There is almost a stigma around getting older, but even more so around looking it – goodness forbid that you actually look your age. This is largely driven by the Hollywood celebrity agenda where appearances are scrutinised and publicised from every angle. This in turn has inspired and driven an entire industry dedicated to shaving off the years both through cosmetics and cosmetic procedures. Now however, with the advancements in Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as well as AI, there is a whole new realm of de-aging in television and films. Historically, when there has been a film that featured a protagonist in different stages of life and ages, these were portrayed by [...]

Fast Fashion Taking on South Africa Fast fashion is a term that is being used more and more due to the prevalence of quick-production clothing manufacturers, distributers and e-tailers that look to produce inexpensive clothing en-masse rapidly to keep up with seasons and trends. The clothing and accessories are stylish and often ‘dupes’ or look alikes of designer clothes inspired by the runways. With innovations around supply chain management, the production process moves quickly from research and design to production, rollout and shipping. Due to this, new lines and collections are continuously in production and in circulation, therefore feeding consumer demand while creating more – especially due to the generally budget-friendly nature of fast fashion. Initially two of the biggest fast fashion retailers [...]

When is too much of a good thing, a bad thing? For some people, a cup of coffee is essential to function in the morning. For others, it’s a midday pick me up or a prerequisite before an all-nighter. It is estimated that 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed globally every single day. It is the fourth most consumed beverage in the world after tea, water and fruit juice. According to the 2023 statistics, two thirds or 21.7 million of South Africa’s population start their day with a cup of coffee. Of that 21.7 million people, approximately 19.8 million South Africans consume a cup or more of instant coffee daily. “More than half of coffee drinkers consume Ricoffy, a clear South African [...]