MFS Africa leads $2.3M seed round in Ugandan fintech startup Numida
Small businesses in Africa need digital banking services including plenty of credit. Although these businesses drive economic growth and contribute up to one-third of the continent’s GDP, they are often financially excluded from credit and other fi.....»»
Startup financing gender gaps greater in societies where women are more empowered: Study
Commercial bankers provide capital to fund the operations and growth of businesses. However, as these lenders evaluate entrepreneurs who apply for loans, gender bias leads to women being denied more often than their male counterparts......»»
Africa"s megacities threatened by heat, floods, disease—action needed to start greening, adapt to climate change
Cities cover just 3% of the planet. But they emit 78% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, absorb 80% of final global energy (what consumers use) and consume 60% of clean drinking water......»»
Hackers are using developing countries for ransomware practice
Businesses in Africa, Asia, and South America hit before moving on to Western targets. Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) Cyber attackers are experimenting with their latest ransomware on businesses in Africa, Asia, and Sout.....»»
Hackers are carrying out ransomware experiments in developing countries
Businesses in Africa, Asia, and South America hit before moving on to western targets. Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) Cyber attackers are experimenting with their latest ransomware on businesses in Africa, Asia and South.....»»
Prophet Security emerges from stealth and raises $11 million
Prophet Security emerged from stealth with $11 million in seed financing led by Bain Capital Ventures (BCV) with participation from several security leaders and angel investors. At the core of the company’s unveiling is Prophet AI for Security Oper.....»»
Don"t blame Dubai"s freak rain on cloud seeding—the storm was far too big to be human-made
Some years ago, I found myself making my way up the narrow stairs of a Learjet on a sultry runway in a deserted airport near the South Africa-Mozambique border. The humidity was there to taste—the air thick with it......»»
Report: Apple acquires French startup behind AI and computer vision technology
Apple has reportedly acquired Datakalab, a Paris, France-based startup specializing in artificial intelligence compression and computer vision technology. According to French business magazine Challenges, the acquisition was finalized in December......»»
East Africa"s "soda lakes" are rising, threatening their iconic flamingos
Huge pink flocks of millions of flamingos—flamboyances of flamingos—are one of nature's great spectacles. But colleagues and I have uncovered worrying trends in the salty and highly-alkaline "soda lakes" of east Africa where most of these birds l.....»»
Netflix doc accused of using AI to manipulate true crime story
Producer remained vague about whether AI was used to edit photos. Enlarge / A cropped image showing Raw TV's poster for the Netflix documentary What Jennifer Did, which features a long front tooth that leads critics to believe it.....»»
Password crackdown leads to more income for Netflix
Netflix to stop reporting subscriber numbers, prioritizing viewer engagement instead. Enlarge (credit: Bloomberg) Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing helped the streaming service blow past Wall Street’s earnings.....»»
The effects of climate variability on children"s migration and childcare practices in sub-Saharan Africa
Shifting weather caused by climate change, especially drought and heat, is linked to a rise in the number of children being raised outside of their biological parents' households in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a study led by researchers at Penn.....»»
Africa is full of bats, but their fossils are scarce—why these rare records matter
Africa is home to more than 20% of the world's bat population. There are more than 200 species to be found on the continent. South Africa is particularly diverse, with 72 bat species......»»
"Human-induced" climate change behind deadly Sahel heat wave: Study
The deadly heat wave that hit Africa's Sahel region in early April would not have occurred without human-induced climate change, according to a study by the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group published Thursday......»»
Training of brain processes makes reading more efficient
A team of researchers from the University of Cologne and the University of Würzburg have found in training studies that the distinction between known and unknown words can be trained and leads to more efficient reading. Recognizing words is necessar.....»»
El Nino not climate change driving southern Africa drought: Study
A drought that pushed millions of people into hunger across southern Africa has been driven mostly by the El Niño weather pattern—not climate change, scientists said on Thursday......»»
Birds of a feather flocking together: Research shows storks prefer to fly with conspecifics during migration
With long legs and large wings, the white stork is a prominent star of the pageant that is animal migration. Flying from Europe towards Africa in autumn, and then back again in spring, birds can be seen taking to the sky in conspicuous flocks that he.....»»
A nematode gel to protect crops in Africa and Asia
The fall armyworm is a destructive corn pest that recently arrived in Africa and Asia from the Americas and began causing major yield losses and increased use of insecticides, which pose environmental and human health risks......»»
Wine growers "on tip of Africa" race to adapt to climate change
At a South African wine farm, dry, uprooted grapevines are stacked at the bottom of a hilly stretch of brown fallow land......»»
Seed ferns experimented with complex leaf vein networks 201 million years ago, paleontologists find
According to a research team led by paleontologists from the University of Vienna, the net-like leaf veining typical for today's flowering plants developed much earlier than previously thought, but died out again several times. Using new methods, the.....»»
Reptiles in South Africa are under threat, but there"s good news too
Media reports about the biodiversity crisis and what researchers have argued qualifies as a mass extinction event tend to focus on the big ecological effects. Melting ice sheets, severe weather events, droughts, habitat loss and wildfires dominate he.....»»