In the sweltering heat of the Sahara Desert sands a human-made World wonder stands, peaking at 147 metres above the ground; with four equal sides each measuring 230 metres at the base; weighing six million tonnes; and spread over 13 acres of land. What an imposing masterpiece to behold! Amidst the raging winds, a colossal…Continue Reading “THE GREAT PYRAMID”
As a background, human communication has undergone tremendous developments in the past 30 years. It started with the Internet, and was followed closely by the smartphone and social media; three modes of communication that completely changed the information ecosystem and how we understand and interpret events.
Then, just as we were getting used to engaging them in our daily life, Synthetic Medium was born 3-4 years ago.
Synthetic Medium relies on the ability of artificial intelligence and the use of special effects to synthetically create fake videos and audios that look and sound so authentic that it is not possible to realize that they’re not real. It takes advantage of the fact that we as humans are
Continue Reading "Synthetic Medium – A Blessing Or A Curse"Nature seems to be unhappy with humanity;
it has therefore decided to show its might
by stamping its foot down;
by reclaiming land and displacing people.
An angry nature is sending warning signals our way;
or how else can the following phenomena be explained?
Rivers are bursting their banks
and causing floods which
invade farmlands and cities;
examples being Rhine River
currently flooding cities in Europe; and
Sorry, on behalf of the human race for taking you for granted and seriously disturbing your spatial configuration.
We have done this through our reckless living whereby we have extravagantly exploited natural resources like water, forest, minerals, and fossil fuels.
We have depleted trees and other flora and replaced then with concrete.
We have depleted biodiversity such as soil fauna and replaced them with chemicals.
This has resulted in disappearance of most of the forest and wetlands; and intense pollution of land and rivers.
Sorry for scorning you by continuing to operate as if the earth’s environment is a subset of our human needs; as if the earth belongs to us.
You may fume all you want but please be kind to us when you remind us who is supreme.
Continue Reading "Sorry Mother Nature; Please Don’t Revenge"Experts say that, ‘a normal person
inhales, and exhales in equal measure,
seven to eight litres of you per minute;
which translates to about
11,000 litres of you per day’.
They add that, ‘Inhaled air
contains 21 per cent oxygen,
and exhaled air contains
about 15 per cent oxygen.
The difference (6%) is absorbed
by the lungs; and if there is a shortage,
it needs to be supplemented’.
2020 is a year that was ushered
with all humanity cheering
with fireworks and ululations
as they bid 2019 away;
with all its insurmountable hardships,
burdens, woes and tribulations.
Humanity wanted to just move on,
to a better year,
even when reports had emerged
of an epidemic that was ravaging China
and the difficulties that China
was facing to contain it;
but humanity went on
with life as usual
as if nothing else mattered
except to get into 2020;
hoping that what was happening in China
would remain there.
Then, however, the epidemic spread,
first to Europe, then to the Americas
and soon it was everywhere;
the World Health Organization
declared it a pandemic.
The whole World came to a standstill;
no flights, and no cross-border movement.
The word, ‘lockdown’,
On my mind is “Theatre of The Absurd”, whose part definition means, ‘a form of drama that emphasizes the absurdity of human existence by employing purposeless and confusing situations, and plots that lack realistic or logical development.
My mind’s particular reference is an absurd incident that played out today, in broad daylight, and in front of my wide-open eyes in a butchery.
And like all absurd plays such as Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot”, the characters will not be introduced to you, the audience, except for their names and their miserable situation, which pans out as follows:
I enter the butchery to buy some steak, strictly minding my own business,
Continue Reading "Theatre Of The Absurd In Covid-19 Times"Quality food production and food security have several components, including the production of sufficient amounts of food, adequate nutrient content in the food products, and the exclusion of potentially toxic compounds from the food products. The soils in which plants grow play a role in all of these areas, and they also influence human health in more ways than most realize.
One major way that soils influence human health is through their ability to act as natural filters by removing contaminants from water and thus preventing water-borne diseases. The contaminants, including sewage, are removed by soil through physical capture as the water moves through pore spaces, through chemical sorption to solid surfaces, and through bio-degradation carried out by microorganisms living in the soil.
Secondly, approximately 78% of the average per capita calorie consumption worldwide comes from
Continue Reading "The Link Between Soil Health and Human Health and the Consequences of Soil Degradation in Africa"The cells of plants and animals carry their instructions in the form of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid), which is contained in genes. To make a protein, the sequence of genetic letters in each gene gets copied into matching strands of RNA (Ribonucleic acid) in a process called expression, which then float out of the nucleus to guide the protein-making machinery of the cell in a process called translation.
Until very recently, genetically engineered organisms were created by deletion of some of the genes in their genetic makeup or insertion of genes from external sources into their genetic makeup. This article is the third of a four-series feature on genetic engineering, after Genetic Engineering – Definition, History, Benefits and Risks, and, Genetic Engineering – The Great GMO Debate. Its aim is to highlight several advances in genetic engineering where organisms such as plants and animals have been modified without interfering with the composition and sequence of genes in their genetic makeup, which has not only been controversial, but is also very expensive and labor intensive.
For the last seventeen years
Continue Reading "Genetic Engineering – Recent Advances; the Promise of Tomorrow"
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) have with time brought a sense of anxiety in the minds of consumers and environmentalists, among others; and this has resulted in a marked divide between the proponents and opponents when it comes to the use of genetically engineered foods.
Proponents believe that the increased yields resulting from genetic engineering can bolster food security and efficiently, affordably and responsibly feed the 7.6 billion people currently living on Earth. Opponents of genetic engineering, however argue that this technology has only been around since the 1990s, therefore, the true long-term health or environmental effects of these products cannot be known.
This article is the second of a four-series feature on genetic engineering, after Genetic Engineering – Definition, History, Benefits and Risks. It aims at outlining the two sides of the debate, the reasons why each side feels the way they do, and the points that justify each opinion.
Is genetic engineering a potential cure for world hunger?
Whether GMOs’ increased yields can feed a hungry world or whether they cannot is a big debate. Proponents of GM foods argue that since GMOs are easier to produce in large quantities, and may be modified to have a longer shelf life, they have the potential to reduce world hunger and poverty, improve nutrition, health and rural livelihoods, and facilitate social and environmental sustainability; especially if they are efficiently distributed to places where food is sparse. Anti-GM activists refute this argument by wondering why GMO manufacturers have not shown any interest whatsoever in using them to alleviate world hunger; they wonder why, in the two decades that GM crops have existed, the world has experienced several famines and disasters that could have benefited from genetically engineered food; they contend that GMOs divert money and resources that would otherwise be spent on more safe, reliable, and appropriate non-GMO agricultural technologies.
Continue Reading "Genetic Engineering – The Great GMO Debate"