Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Scientists exploring the possibility of finding a local cure for the Coronavirus disease-COVID-19 are set to start their trial next week. Dr. Monica Musenero, the Presidential Advisor on Epidemics, who is leading the team of researchers, told URN on Wednesday that they are finalizing documentation …
Read More »New study explains how far distancing, masks can protect against COVID -19
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Scientists have established that face masks and social distancing significantly reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections. This was established in their latest analysis of how SARS COV 2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease COVID-19 spreads. The review published in The Lancet medical journal and …
Read More »‘We can get it done here’: Africa’s tech scene tackles virus
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Watching from afar as much of the world was brought to its knees by the coronavirus, African scientists, engineers and innovators have turned to homegrown solutions to prepare for the worst case scenario. By the time the virus hit Africa, where cases have risen relatively slowly, …
Read More »Hydroxychloroquine fails in largest COVID-19 drugs
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug that has been touted as a game changer in treatment of Corona Virus Disease COVID-19 has failed in another trial, the biggest so far to be conducted globally. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists led by a …
Read More »Skull find in Ethiopia yields new clues on how humans evolved
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | A “remarkably complete” 3.8-million-year-old skull of an early human has been unearthed in Ethiopia, scientists announced Wednesday, a discovery that has the potential to alter our understanding of human evolution. The skull, known as “MRD”, was discovered not far from the younger Lucy — the …
Read More »UK’s Johnson plans visa shake-up to attract science talent
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled plans Thursday for a new fast-track visa route for “the brightest and best”, in a bid to attract the world’s top scientists to Britain after Brexit. The “shake-up” of immigration rules is aimed at encouraging elite researchers and specialists in science, engineering and technology …
Read More »GMO law fight not over
Civil society excited but frustrated scientists pin hope on Museveni Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Ugandan civil society is celebrating a new law that seeks to regulate the development and application of biotechnology. But it is cautious celebration – until President Yoweri Museveni signs it into law. The objective of …
Read More »Did you know? Scientists have made silicon beating heart
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | It looks like a real heart. And this is the goal of the first entirely soft artificial heart: to mimic its natural model as closely as possible. The silicone heart has been developed by Nicholas Cohrs, a doctoral student in the group led by …
Read More »COMMENT: Economists vs. scientists on growth
What to expect when, someday, thinking machines become so sophisticated that they will invent other machines COMMENT | KENNETH ROGOFF | Most economic forecasters have largely shrugged off recent advances in artificial intelligence (for example, the quantum leap demonstrated by DeepMind’s self-learning chess program last December), seeing little impact on longer-term …
Read More »Scientists thwart cancer-spreading compound, in mice
Paris, France | AFP | A common amino acid produced in the human body or absorbed from food can be suppressed to stop breast cancer spread in mice, researchers reported Wednesday. They hope the finding may yield a method to prevent cancer cells spreading from their origins in a woman’s …
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