March 2015: Issue No. 40
In this issue, you will find:
Message from the Director General: P1
Mkapa launches Nyerere Resource Centre: P2
The poor man’s biggest asset: P3
Tanzania Parliamentary Committee on Infrastructures: P4
th
4 Workers Council: P5
Researchers discuss Technology Transfer: P6
Rodents’ huge threat to Agriculture: P7
Hides and Skins Research: P8
Solar impulse plane: P10
10 Year old math Genius: P12
Local herb shows promise for HIV: P14
Scientists discover organism: P15
Pictorial :P16
Pictorial: P13
Message from the Director General
Dear readers,
Ladies and Gentlemen, Let me express my pleasure to allow you interact with the Tanzania Commission for Science and
Technology (COSTECH) through this electronic Newsletter.
Electronic Newsletter is indeed one of the important Communication channels used by the Commission to disseminated
different information taking place at COSTECH.
This month, COSTECH launched the highly anticipated Mwalimu Nyerere Resource Centre. Mwalimu Nyerere Resource
Centre is the brainchild of three Researchers, Professors Issa Shivji, Saida Yahya Othman and Dr Ng’wanza Kamata all dons at
the University of Dar es Salaam.
We provided Research fund to those Researchers to support the social science project of Mwalimu Nyerere Biography.The
researchers visited different local and foreign libraries, archives and personal collections. They also conducted numerous
interviews which eventually brought a number of important materials about Mwalimu Nyerere.
That collection brought two outcomes, One, the book which is in the final stage and secondly the Nyerere Resource Centre,
which has been launched on March 18, 2015.
Mwalimu Nyerere Resource Centre is now a semi-autonomous unit under the Tanzania Commission of Science and
Technology (COSTECH).
We believe that COSTECH which is mandated to coordinate and promote Research will use Research outputs from this Centre
to advise the Government about different development ideas.
COSTECH had been using Research results to advise policy makers and decision makers for years, we believe we can also
maintain this role by linking Mwalimu’s great ideas about development with scientific solutions
We think that through Researching Mwalimu’s development ideas in the Centre, People will then critically start discussing
debating, questioning and analyzing the ideas for implementation.
This month COSTECH had also some other events, it organized the South-South Cooperation Workshop in collaboration with
the Institute of Development studies of University of Dar es Salaam and HIVA KU Leuven of Belgium. It also hosted the
delegation of researchers from the Swedish Research Council and lastly it invited the Tanzania Parliamentary standing
committee on Infrastructure.
1
With kind regards,
Dr. Hassan Mshinda
DIRECTOR GENERAL.
th
By Theophil Pima, March 18 2015,
Former President Benjamin
William Mkapa has officially
launched the highly anticipated
Mwalimu Nyerere Resource
Centre at the Commission
for
Science
and
Technology (COSTECH) in
Dar es Salaam.
schemes, private firms and
individuals to contribute to the
fund to help the centre realize its
goal, upholding the country’s
cultural heritage.
He added that the centre will
host conferences, seminars and
provide other opportunities for
discussions and debate to
advance strategic thinking on the
holistic development of the
country.
Prof Shvji also said in order to
run the centre; they plan to
establish an Endowment Fund
and appealed to social security
prominent public leaders that are
not archived anywhere .
He further revealed that
there was no special place
to keep Mwalimu Nyerere
materials thus the launched
Centre will be the special
centre to store all these
very private documents
which include writings on
how the former President
resolved
national
and
regional conflicts.
Speaking during that
event,
Director
of
Mwalimu
Nyerere
Resource
Centre,
Professor Issa Shivji said
the centre will be used for
research purposes and
heritage centre housing
copies of some of
Mwalimu Julius Nyerere’s
works. He said the centre
will allow public access to
Mwalimu’s
priceless
documents.
“The Center has been launched
to digitize these documents to
make them easily available and
reader friendly as well as a
preservative measure,” Prof
Shivji
said
acknowledging
Tanzania Commission for Science
and Technology (COSTECH) and
Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung.
He said there are numerous
unpublished materials and
private
documents
from
Fig 1: Former Tanzania President
Benjamin W.Mkapa admires one of
the best photos of Mwalimu
Nyerere shortly after launching the
Kavazi la Mwalimu Nyerere. With
him are the former Tanzania Prime
Minister Cleopa Msuya(left) and
COSTECH Director General Dr.
Hassan Mshinda. Others are
Rosemary Nyerere (first left) and
UDSM Vice Chancellor Prof.
Rwekaza Mukandala (second left).
“The centre will provide a
dialogue platform for senior
experts,
politicians
and
academicians
to
deliberate
burning issues of national
interest,” he said adding that the
Centre will honor the memory
and advance the nationalist,
socialist and Pan-African legacy
of Mwalimu Nyerere.
2
For
his
part,COSTECH
Director
General,
Dr.
Hassan
Mshinda
said
Mwalimu Nyerere Resource
Centre is the brainchild of
Professors Issa Shivji, Saida
Yahya Othman and Dr Ng’wanza
Kamata all dons at the University
of Dar es Salaam.
“COSTECH provided Research
fund to support the social science
project of Mwalimu Nyerere
Biography which had two
outcomes, One, was the book
which is in the final stage and the
second
was
the
Nyerere
Resource Centre, which has been
launched.”He noted
He said COSTECH which is
mandated to coordinate and
promote Research is also
responsible for advising the
Government in all issues
pertaining to Research, Science,
Technology and Innovation.
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By Theophil Pima, March 18 , 2015
The biggest asset and factor for
the development of the poor is
their land, former President
Benjamin Mkapa reminded policy
makers.
the poor is their land but they
must have security of tenure be
it perpetual freehold ownership
or land use leasing and tilling
agreement,” he said.
The former president’s
statement
comes
as
controversy mounts over
last week’s report by the
international organisation
ActionAid that claimed the
government is grabbing
land from its people, in
reference to the planned
establishment of sugarcane
plantations in Bagamoyo.
The third administration
President underscored the
need for the country to have a
legal regime that will facilitate
management
of
natural
resources for the benefit of the
people and reduce government
dependency on foreign aid.
Mkapa was speaking during a
dialogue session yesterday at the
newly
launched
Nyerere
Resource Centre (NRC) in Dar es
Salaam, Mkapa said a major
development obstacle is the
misconception that poor want
only to take and have nothing to
give or contribute.
“This misconception is contrary
to our country’s founding spirit
of self-reliance,” he said.
“In their quest for food
production
and
income
generation, the biggest asset and
factor for the development of
resources that promote growth
and industrialization in equity,
because the vast majority of
citizens are peasant farmers and
livestock keepers, key to
development is ownership of
land,” he explained.
Veteran politician Kingunge
Ngombale-Mwiru
commenting at the same
event said, in order for the
country to stop depending
on others and for it to
achieve development, the
role
of
science
and
technology
must
be
recognized and respected.
Fig 2: Former President Benjamin
Mkapa (L) stresses a point during
the dialogue session dubbed the
Return of the developmental state
that was organized by the newly
launched Nyerere Resource Centre.
“There should be a legal regime
for the sharing of revenues
gained
from
our
natural
resources,” the former president
urged.
“The state must define a national
vision
and
a
periodic
development plan for its
realisation,” he urged and
underscored that the process of
developing the vision must also
be inclusive and the plan must
envisage macro-management of
the economy by the state.
“This is necessary in order to
build economic structure and
forms of economic ownership of
3
He cited Asian countries like
China and India which were poor
as is the case with Tanzania now
but their economies have grown
very
fast
because
they
recognized the role of sciences
and technologies and put their
focus on it.
REPOA Executive Director Prof.
Samuel Wangwe described the
newly
launched
Nyerere
Resource Centre (NRC) as a good
idea that will remind people
values of the Founder Father of
the Nation, Mwalimu Julius
Kambarage Nyerere.
Prof Wangwe said the NRC will
also serve to remind government
officials the importance of
supervising
development
activities for the benefit of the
public as was with Mwalimu
Nyerere.
By Theophil Pima, March 10th, 2015
The Tanzania Parliamentary
Standing
committee
on
Infrastructure visited COSTECH
Head quarters at Sayansi
Kijitonyama Dar es Saalam.
Speaking about that visit,
Chairman of the Committee Prof.
Juma Kapuya noted that their
visit aimed at cross checking
performance
of
the
Commission.
“We usually work on behalf
of the citizens of the United
Republic of Tanzania to visit
different
Government
Institutions to cross check
their performances, our
visit at COSTECH has been
very interesting as we have
observed how COSTECH
lacks enough funds to
coordinate and promote
research activities “He noted
promising COSTECH to advise the
Parliament to approve enough
funds to support Research
projects at COSTECH.
Responding to the challenge of
Research funds at COSTECH,
Minister for Communication,
Science and Technology, Prof.
Makame Mbarawa revealed that
his Ministry is looking on
different sources of funds to
support Research funds at the
Commission.
“We are now in the discussion to
look at the possibility of using
some amount of revenues
collected
from
the
Telecommunications
Track
Monitoring System (TTMS) to
support Research activities at
COSTECH. Our aim is at least to
generate between 900m/- and
1bn/-, every month to support
Research activities at COSTECH,”
he noted.
funds into research despite its
importance to the economy.
She asserted: “A country that
does not give priority to science
and technology cannot advance.
This country does not give
priority
to
science
and
technology; imagine even the
little amount of money passed by
the Parliament for that purpose
is not disbursed.”
Hon. Madabida urged her
colleagues in the committee to
put
pressure
on
the
government
through
the
Ministry of Finance to ensure
that it injects enough support
into the research sector.
Fig 3: Minister for Communication,
Science and Technology Prof. Makame
Mbarawa (standing) responds to the
questions
from
the
Tanzania
Parliamentary Standing committee on
Infrastructure. On his left are the
Committee Chair person Prof Juma
Kapuya and other Committee members.
Looking on is the COSTECH Director
General Dr Hassan Mshinda(right)
For her part Hon.
Zarina
Madabida (Special Seats-CCM)
noted that the government has
to channel more funds to
research for the sake of national
development.
She said it was surprising to see
the government not injecting
4
Earlier
COSTECH
Director
General Dr Hassan Mshinda
said the Commission also looks
for all possibilities to rescue the
research activities at COSTECH.
He said the Commission has
submitted the proposal to SIDA
and other International agencies
to support Research at COSTECH.
“Funds allocated for Research in
the Budget have been reduced
from time to time. In 2014 We
were allocated 16.5 Billion for
Research but We only have
received 0.799.We know the
Government now has many
priorities but We think Research
also is very important thing
which can transform the
Tanzanian economy “He said.
th
By Theophil Pima, March 26 , 2015
The new Workers Council has
been launched at the Tanzania
Commission for Science and
Technology Dar es Salaam
Tanzania.Workers Council is an
important forum representing
workers affairs in a particular
organization.
Acting Chair person of the
COSTECH Board, Dr. Agnes Kijazi
who launched that Council said
forum for workers participation
in a workplace is an important
matter
in
all
institutions
guaranteed by the rule of law.
Dr Kijazi who also is the Director
General
at
Tanzania
Meteorological Agency stated
that good relations between
Workers and their employer
(Government)
maximize
efficiency and democracy thus
they must be given high
attention and priorities.
“Effective
Workers’ Council
creates cooperation, democracy
and reduces chances for strikes
and unnecessary boycotts,” she
added.
“The Employment and Labor
Relations Act of 2004 section
73.-
She
also
acknowledged
contribution of previous Workers
Council at COSTECH that they
had tirelessly dedicated their
time to work out workers
tribulations.
“Predecessor of today’s Council
had been of great impact to
workers at COSTECH. It was very
active performing its duties
according to the rule of Law.
It was successful in arranging
better salary scales at
COSTECH from PGSS and PRSS
to the new schemes of COSS”
She clarified
(1-3) stipulates that “A
recognized trade union and an
employer or an employers’
association may conclude a
collective
agreement
establishing a forum for
workers participation in a
workplace.
(2) If a registered trade union,
employer
or
employers’
association wishes to establish a
forum for workers’ participation
in any workplace, the union,
employer or association may
request the assistance of the
Commission
to
facilitate
discussions between the union,
employer or association,” she
said.
complaints something proving
that most of workers problems
are being solved through workers
Council.
Earlier
COSTECH
Acting
Director General Dr. Flora
Tibazarwa admitted that
COSTECH values all its
workers for meeting its goals
and plans.
Fig 4: The Acting Chairperson of the
COSTECH Board, Dr. Agnes Kijazi
addresses the COSTECH staff (not
pictured) before launching the new
Workers’ Council at COSTECH. With
her is the COSTECH Acting Director
General, Dr. Flora Tibazarwa.
She explained adding that so far
there are no reports at COSTECH
that workers have too many
5
“We are now implementing the
Big Result Now program, the
Management believes, We can
achieve that only if we value
workers and maintain team
works at COSTECH” Dr Flora
pointed out
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By Theophil Pima, March 24 , 2015
Researchers
from
different
Universities have discussed the
issue of Technology transfer and
its implication to the Tanzanian
economy at the Commission for
Science
and
Technology
Headquarters.
Technology transfer is the process
of transferring skills, knowledge,
technologies,
methods
of
manufacturing,
samples
of
manufacturing and facilities among
governments or universities and
other institutions to ensure that
scientific
and
technological
developments are accessible to a
wider range of users who can then
further develop and exploit the
technology into new products,
processes, applications, materials
or services.
Speaking during the special
Workshop dubbed south -South
Cooperation
organized
by
COSTECH in collaboration with the
Institute of Development studies
of University of Dar es Salaam and
HIVA KU Leuven of Belgium,
COSTECH Director General Dr.
Hassan Mshinda said in order for
Tanzania to develop, it must
consider the aspect of technology
transfer.
Dr Mshinda said foreign investors
who come in Tanzania should be
guided by a policy to favor
technology capability to the
Country.
“We need now to find a solution to
rescue the Tanzanian technology.
There is a need to put incentives to
foreign investors who promote
technology transfer, it is through
this way that we shall be able to
6
create
jobs,
and
impart
technology to locals which in turn
will lead to mushrooming of other
local companies” he said.
He also said that some Years ago
there was a road construction led
by a foreign Company just
opposite the Mlimani area, but
there was no any Civil Engineering
student from UDSM who was
attached for that that work.
He added that when foreign
Companies
allowed
running
different projects, some local
students and other technicians
should also be attached to lean
technologies used.
Investment(FDIs) and Technology
Transfer to Local Private Sector in
Tanzania,
said
multilateral
companies investing in Tanzania
will not transfer technology
directly as they usually seek to
maximize their profit.
He further stated that if local
enterprises are not protected from
FDIs competition, indigenous
entrepreneurial development may
be hampered.
He said Foreign Direct Investment
and Technology Transfer should
operate in Tanzania by enacting
new policies, laws and regulations
to stimulate technology transfer.
“The Investment Act 1997 for
example has to be reviewed to
create favorable conditions for the
country to advance economically
“He said
Fig 5: Prof. Honest Prosper Ngowi from
Mzumbe University presents about
Foreign
Direct
Investment
and
Technology Transfer to Local Private
Sector in Tanzania. Looking on is the
UDSM Assistant Lecturer Mr Hezron
Makundi
Head of Institute of Development
Studies of the University of Dar es
Salaam, Dr. Adalgort Komba said
the cooperation between Tanzania
and developed economies should
benefit Tanzanian technologies. He
said good uses of Science,
technology and innovation can
transform the country’s economy.
Prof. Honest Prosper Ngowi from
Mzumbe University who presented
about
the
Foreign
Direct
The South-South Cooperation
Workshop aimed at assisting
Tanzania Government to improve
the support to the Local private
sector under the intensified
engagement
with
emerging
donors.
It also offered a multi stakeholders
platform for discussion and
reflection on the position of the
local enterprises under the
development cooperation with
China, India and other emerging
donors.
Finally,
it
intended
to
communicate the findings from
the policy research on the SinoTanzania
development
Cooperation.
By Felix Lazaro, March 12 2015
Scientists have studied that female
rats enter into heat between about
10 and 24 hours after giving birth,
which makes it possible for them to
reproduce every month.
Such a phenomenon of a female rat
coming into heat shortly after giving
birth
is
scientifically
called
postmortem estrus.
Did you know that there is a certain
female rat species that can
reproduce 48 young rats in two
months?
Scientists have studied that female
rats enter into heat between about
10 and 24 hours after giving birth,
which makes it possible for them to
reproduce every month.
“It looks like the female conceived
about 10 days after giving birth,
when in fact she conceived shortly
after birth but simply has a longer
pregnancy
than
normal,”
researchers Menella and Moltz
studied in 1988.
24 rats reproduced at once
7
Such scientific evidence of rats’
reproduction capacity has economic
repercussions on the food security.
Herwig Leirs, Vicent Sluydts and
Rhodes Makundi studied rodent
outbreaks in sub-Saharan Africa and
found that the outbreaks of mouse,
rats and squirrels characterized by
larger incisors used for gnawing or
nibbling, were a major concern for
agriculture in Africa especially in
drier areas.
“Scientifically, females go into heat
on the first evening that is at least
10 hours after giving birth,”
according to scientist Gilbert Challet
in his study ‘An Urban Roof Rat
Control Programme in Orange
Country’ in 1985.
In 1988 it was found that female rats
that conceive shortly after giving
birth may go through an extended
gestation of about 32 days rather
than the normal 21 and 22 days.
even reproduce 24 rats at once, if
well fed with water and food.
“High rat outbreak leads to high
food damage before and after
harvests,” said Prof Mulungu.
“The situation becomes worse in
areas where farms are surrounded
by forests. The more people open
new farms by clearing forests the
more disturbances they cause to rats
and hence rats attack food in nearby
farms.”
Fig 6: Rodents such as this one
cause millions of dollars in damage
to crops.
Prof Loth Mulungu, an expert in
rodent research from Sokoine
University of Agriculture’s Pest
Management Centre said there is a
species of rats in Morogoro that can
He had learnt that there are about
50 species of rats in sub-Saharan
Africa and more than 30 eat crops,
but with changes of climate, the
scientist said, even the remaining 20
species might start eating crops
which becomes a bigger threat to
farmers.
By Theophil Pima,March 4,2015
LEATHER products enhance
elegance. A research reports says
hides and skins industry has not
been fully tapped. TANZANIA has
among the fast growing human
population in Africa, projected to
be 44,484,857 (in 2011). This is a
big market for goods.
6.0 million in 2006 but no new
information
is
available
thereafter.
What market share does
Tanzanian leather and leather
goods take in the country, what
factors dictate the situation?
Also the country has 36.5 million
cattle, sheep and goats yielding
4.4 million hides and skins
annually, with potential to
generate huge earnings and
employment.
Information is unavailable on
hides, skins, leather and leather
goods industry.
It is unclear how many hides and
skins are produced in Tanzania,
how many are processed to
leather, what leather goods are
produced, where and how much.
How much leather and leather
imitations are imported is yet to
be made clear.
8
Data show that Tanzania's
hides/skins exports earned $5.6-
"COSTECH has been very active
in funding Agriculture and
Livestock projects in 2012 as the
sectors employ a majority of
Tanzanians. COSTECH seeks to
use Science, Technology and
Innovation to solve peoples'
problem.
We always give funds to
Research which have public
interest and which we think can
help to transform the Tanzanian
economy, “Dr Mshinda says,
adding that under- utilisation of
Hides, Skins, Leather and Leather
Goods is a critical problem in
Tanzania, affecting generally
even the economy.
But animals, hides, skins, leather
and
leather
goods
are
underutilized due to poor quality
and lack of factories. Hides and
skins are reportedly of poor
quality.
Tanneries and leather goods
factories have poor technologies
using crude procedures. There
are unpublished reports that
large amounts of hides and skins
are exported as raw materials
and that only 60-68% are
marketed formally, while 32-40%
are unaccounted for.
problems
through
research
coordination and promotion.
Fig 9: Leather products enhance
elegance. A Research report says
hides and skins industry has not
been fully tapped.
He further states that when the
proposal
about
analytical
investigation into the hides and
skins industry was brought to
COSTECH, it was reviewed and
seen as very potential to rescue
the industry.
The Tanzania Commission for
Science
and
Technology
(COSTECH) which is entrusted
with roles of promoting and
coordinating research, science,
technology and innovation in
2012 decided to fund the study
about analytical investigations
into hides, skins, leather and
leather goods for developing
tanneries and leather goods
factories
for
youth
empowerment.
Principal Investigator of the
project, Prof Gabriel Kihanda
Mbassa says the broad objective
of the study was to enhance the
value chain (supplies, collection,
transportation,
production,
processing,
marketing,
utilisation) of hides, skins and
leather in order to create
employment
for
youths,
graduating
from
tertiary
institutions and increase socioeconomic growth.
COSTECH Director General Dr
Hassan Mshinda says his
Commission always strives hard
to find solutions to people's
Prof Mbassa who also works with
the Sokoine University of
Agriculture observes that…
Continues on page 9
Continued from page 8
Currently the country has seven
tanneries producing 30 million
square-feet leather annually, but
the country is a major raw
hide/skin exporter, importing
about 33-tons leather/ leather
goods, large amounts of leather
imitation footwear, bags and
other products.
He says the country's hides/ skins
exports earn $5.6-6.0 million, far
below many African countries
noting that Tanzania is among
the top three livestock keepers in
Africa, but not even among the
first 10 leather producers in
Africa.
He is not satisfied with the
situation that the country has
very few experts in that industry
because there are no special
institutions training on hides,
skins and leather development,
the situation which drops off the
sector.
“In the proposal which we
submitted to COSTECH, we also
included the objective of
introducing a special degree
programme for training about
Hides, Skins, Leather and Leather
Goods.
Everything is under control as the
Sokoine University of Agriculture
has accepted the proposal and it
has allocated us two buildings for
rehabilitation so that our
students can be accommodated”
Prof
Mbassa
hints
on
emphasizing that the sector is
very potential expected to be
sixteen times a value that could
be earned from cash crops such
as cotton, coffee and others.
He believes the industry can
employ many youth in Tanzania
as unemployment is very
challenging where more than 6
million youths 14-21 year age
drop
from
primary
and
secondary schools, universities
and tertiary colleges and remain
unemployed.
If the unemployed youths can be
turned into a resource and many
leather
producing
animals
available as a raw material, the
large human population as a
market, and production of
leather and leather goods as an
economic opportunity both
problems stated above (not
processing hides and skins, youth
unemployment) can be solved.
“When we see Cows, Goats and
other domesticated animals, we
always think about meat as
important products from these
animals but we forget about skin,
hides and leather which also are
very important especially for our
industries.” Prof Mbassa clarifies.
He says demand for leather
goods is huge, but skins/hides
are not processed; this requires a
solution.
Assistant Researcher of the
Study, Dr Claudius Luziga says
there is a need to educate
livestock keepers how to
preserve skins of their animals.
“Skins with poor quality as a
result of branding scratch and
beatings are sold at a cheap
price. Our study has come up
with good recommendations to
educate livestock keepers on skin
quality of their animals so that
they can sell those products at
higher price,” he notes.
Muringe
Ngung’wai
is
a
pastoralist in Mvomero area in
Morogoro.
He says previously he never
thought that apart from meat
and milk, his animals could also
have other valuable produce.
“I appreciate the government’s
efforts through COSTECH and
Sokoine University of Agriculture
to allow researchers to visit us
and find solutions to our
problems.” he observes.
SOURCE: DAILY NEWS
9
By Jonathan Amos BBC
A record-breaking attempt to fly
around the world in a solarpowered plane has got under
way from Abu Dhabi.
The aircraft - called Solar
Impulse-2 - took off from the
Emirate, heading east to Muscat
in Oman.
But the round-the-world venture
is altogether more dramatic and
daunting, and has required the
construction of an even bigger
plane than the prototype, Solar
Impulse-1.
Piccard and Borschberg whoever is at the controls - will
have to stay alert for nearly all of
the time they are airborne.
Over the next five months, it will
skip from continent to continent,
crossing both the Pacific and
Atlantic oceans in the process.
Andre Borschberg was at the
controls of the single-seater
vehicle as it took off.
They will be permitted only
catnaps of up to 20 mins - in the
same way a single-handed,
round-the-world
yachtsman
would catch small periods of
sleep.
They will also have to endure the
physical discomfort of being
confined in a cockpit that
measures just 3.8 cubic metres in
volume - not a lot bigger than a
public telephone box.
He will share the pilot duties in
due course with fellow Swiss,
Bertrand Piccard.
The plan is stop off at various
locations around the globe, to
rest
and
to
carry
out
maintenance, and also to spread
a campaigning message about
clean technologies.
Before taking off, Borschberg
told BBC News: "I am confident
we have a very special aeroplane,
and it will have to be to get us
across the big oceans."
"We may have to fly for five days
and five nights to do that, and it
will be a challenge.
"But we have the next two
months, as we fly the legs to
China, to train and prepare
ourselves."
The project has already set a
number of world records for
solar-powered flight, including
making a high-profile transit of
the US in 2013.
10
The slow speed of their propdriven plane means these legs
will take several days and nights
of non-stop flying to complete.
Flight simulators have helped the
pilots to prepare, and each man
has developed his own regimen
to cope.
This new model has a wingspan
of 72m, which is wider than a
747 jumbo jet. And yet, it weighs
only 2.3 tonnes.
Its light weight will be critical to
its success.
So, too, will the performance of
the 17,000 solar cells that line
the top of the wings, and the
energy-dense
lithium-ion
batteries it will use to sustain
night-time flying.
Operating through darkness will
be particularly important when
the men have to cross the Pacific
and the Atlantic.
Borschberg will use yoga to try to
stay fresh. Piccard is using selfhypnosis techniques.
"But my passion also will keep
me going," said Piccard.
"I had this dream 16 years ago of
flying around the world without
fuel, just on solar power. Now,
we're about to do it. The passion
is there and I look forward so
much to being in the cockpit."
The support team is well drilled.
While the mission will be run out
of a control room in Monaco, a
group of engineers will follow the
plane around the globe.
Continues on page 11
Continued from page 10
They have a mobile hangar to
house the plane when it is not in
the air.
It is not at all certain Solar
Impulse will succeed. Computer
modelling suggests the ocean
crossings are feasible, given the
right weather conditions.
"Last year, we had a very good
exercise. We went around the
world virtually, but with actual
conditions," explained Raymond
Clerc, mission director.
circumnavigation of the world in
1999, using the Breitling Orbiter
3 balloon. The Piccard name is
synonymous
with
pushing
boundaries.
"For the Pacific crossing, it was
an easy decision. We had a very
good window on 2 May.
But when we were on the East
Coast of the USA, we had to look
to cross the Atlantic and we had
to wait 30 days to find a good
window to cross the Atlantic.
And then it was easy - 3.5 days
and we were in Seville, [Spain],"
he told BBC News.
Jump media player
Media player help Out of media
player. Press enter to return or
tab to continue. Pilot Andre
Borschberg gives a guided tour of
the solar plane If the pilots
should come unstuck over the
Pacific or the Atlantic, they will
bail out and use ocean survival
gear until they can be picked up
by a ship.
Fig 8: Flight simulators have helped
the pilots to prepare, and each man
has developed his own regimen to
cope.
But that same modelling has
shown also that there may be
occasions when the team simply
has to sit tight on the ground for
weeks before a fair window
opens.
Of the two protagonists, Andre
Borschberg perhaps needs a little
more introduction.
A trained engineer and former
air-force pilot, he has built a
career as an entrepreneur in
internet technologies.
Bertrand Piccard, on the other
hand, is well known for his
ballooning exploits.
Along with Brian Jones, he
completed the first non-stop,
11
Bertrand's
father,
Jacques
Piccard, was the first to reach the
deepest place in the ocean (a
feat achieved with Don Walsh in
the Trieste bathyscaphe in 1960).
And his grandfather, Auguste
Piccard, was the first person to
take a balloon into the
stratosphere, in 1931.
By Theophil Pima
God blessed some selected
people with extraordinary talent.
Some people are gifted with this
magical talent since their
childhood.
(via The Independent)
Google +?
Meanwhile
reports
from
Tanzania show that there is also
another boy Nice Valentino from
Kiteto district in Manyara.Just at
the age of 3,he is capable of
solving
different
Secondary
mathematical topics.
They’re the super genius and
really smart. Generally before 10
years old they showed their
abilities comparable to those
highly skilled adults in specific
fields; hence the term child
prodigy is used for them.
Esther Okade might be ten years
younger than normal university
students, but she’s easily ten
years cooler.
Even Tony Stark didn’t graduate
MIT until he was in his late teens.
After successfully enrolling at the
UK’s Open University, Walsall’s
Okade has become one of the
world’s
youngest
college
students.
She enrolled three weeks ago
and has already received a
perfect score on her first test,
which she says was “easy.”
I have a feeling not everyone
might
agree
with
that
assessment – except her six-yearold brother, Isaiah, who is
already
taking
university
qualification exams himself.
What magic DNA?
In addition to math, Okade also
loves Frozen and playing with
dolls, but attending university so
young was entirely her idea.
12
Fig : Esther Okade
Her mother said that “from the
age of seven Esther has wanted
to go to university, but I was
afraid it was too soon.” She
finally gave in to her daughter
when Okade hit double-digits.
Apparently, Okade wants to run
her own bank one day, and I
would happily invest my money
there, ma’am.
According to the Tanzania
Number one Youth Channel,East
African
Television
who
interviewed Nice Valentino,that
little boy has also Mathematics
extra ordinary performance
different to his age.
Okade previously made the BBC
back in 2010, when she was only
six years old, for receiving a C
grade in her maths GCSE, a test
normally taken by 14 to 16-yearolds in England.
Okade took the test at Ounsdale
High School in Wombourne,
Wolverhampton,
which are
apparently all actual, real place
names. At the time, Okade’s
father (“the happiest dad in the
world”) said that they noticed
her “knack for numbers” at age
three, and that her mother has
been teaching her algebra and
quadratic equations.
When I was six years old I was
really into Charlotte’s Web, so,
you know. There’s that.
The Genius little boy Nice Valentino (3)
with his father in an interview with the
Tanzania East African Television
The list of three most Genius
Child Prodigies of the World
starts with Kim Ung Yong. Kim
Ung Yong is thought to be the
most Genius Child in the world.
Continues on page 13
Continued from page 12
He was born on March 8, 1962,
in Korea. He has broken the
Guinness book records by the IQ
level of 210.
He has been called “the world’s
smartest boy”. He is considered
the smartest person of his age in
India.
The third list goes to Arfa
Karim.She was a Pakistani
student and computer prodigy
who in 2004 become the
youngest Microsoft Certified
Professional (MCP), just at the
age of nine years.
The second child with the IQ
level of 146 is a young Indian
Akrit Jaswal. He came to public
attention in 2000, when he
performed his first medical
procedure at his home.
At the age of 4 years only he had
the ability to read Korean,
Japanese, English and German
language,
also
solved
complicated differential and
integral calculus problems.
He was a guest student of physics
at Hanyang University from the
age of 3 to 6. At the age of 7 he
was invited to America by NASA.
He finished his university studies,
eventually getting a Ph.D. in
physics at Colorado State
University before he was 15.
This Korean super-genius might
just be the smartest guy alive
today.
13
He shocked the people at the age
of 7 years, when he did a surgery
on a native girl who suffering
from the burns on her hands.
He focused his phenomenal
intelligence on medicine and
became the youngest person to
be admitted to a medical
university in India (Punjab
University), just at the age of 12.
At the same time he claimed to
be on the verge of discovering a
cure for cancer.
She represented Pakistan on
various international forums
including the TechEd Developers
Conference. She also received
the President’s Award for Pride
of Performance.
A science park in Lahore – The
Arfa Software Technology Park –
was named after her.
She was invited by Bill Gates to
visit the Microsoft Headquarters
in the USA. She died in hospital
at Lahore on 14 January 2012,
aged 16 years.
Tanzania and South African
Scientists are studying the herbal
plant coded AMBU as a potential
cure for HIV.
This follows findings from their
latest experiments which showed
that extracts from the plant
contain antiviral compounds wit
potent activities.
Lead Project researcher ,Prof
Robinson
Mdegela
from
Sokoine University of Agriculture
said the results show that the
plant has wide safety window
and
potent
anti
viral,
antibacterial, antifungal
and
anti parasitic activities.
the viral load was reduced
significantly and treated birds
survived.
He said the plant proved to cure
these devastating diseases in
poultry and that they are now
developing
treatment
formulations.
A collaborative researcher of the
project from SUA Dr .Faith
Mabiki said that the plant is
regarded
extremely
toxic
because of sap that is corrosive
but that their crude extracts have
potential biological activities
against diseases.
The two Year project that
commenced in 2014 is jointly
funded
by
the
Tanzania
Commission for Science and
Technology (COSTECH) and the
South African National Research
Fund (NRF).
It is implemented by researchers
at
Sokoine
University
of
Agriculture (SUA) and the
National Institute for Medical
Research (NIMR) in Tanzania and
the South Council for Scientific
and Industrial Research (CSIR)in
South Africa.
Prof Mdegela said said he and his
team previously researched the
use of the herbal plant on
treating viral poultry diseases
with emphasis on Newcastle
disease, infectious bursal disease
and fowl pox and found out that
14
While
working
with
Communities, she discovered
that the tree is used to treat and
control more than 20 diseases in
humans and animals. This
includes HIV and Sexually
Transmitted Diseases (STD’s).
Dr Mabiki also used the chance
to call for more funding to the
project for best results
“This is promising research that
needs extensive studies to come
up with evidence that this plant
really works “She said
Mr James Mwesongo,a ,Master
of Science student in Natural
products technologies and value
addition Programme at SUA
,grew up in the village where the
community around ,including
himself and his parent use the
plant for disease treatment and
as a source of income.
He said that they had seen a
tuberculosis patient healed after
using the medicinal plant but he
was not certain if it could cure
AIDS or associated opportunistic
infections.
Dr Mabiki works directly with
communities where the trees are
popularly used as herbal drug,
sensitizing
communities
to
conserve the plant because of
the risk of becoming extinct and
endangered
due
to
overharvesting
and
climate
change.
According
to
him,
some
laboratories experiments that he
conducted at SUA have shown
effective activity of extracts from
this plant on Mycobacterium
tuberculosis and m bovis the
causative agents of human and
animal tuberculosis
SOURCE: DAILY NEWS
University of California, Feb 3, 2015
An international team of scientists
has discovered the greatest
absence of evolution ever reported
-a
type
of
deep-sea
microorganism that appears not to
have evolved over more than 2
billion years. But the researchers
say that the organisms' lack of
evolution actually supports Charles
Darwin's theory of evolution.
This is a section of a 1.8 billionyear-old fossil-bearing rock.
Credit: UCLA Center for the Study
of Evolution and the Origin of Life
[Click to enlarge image]
An international team of scientists
has discovered the greatest
absence of evolution ever reported
-a
type
of
deep-sea
microorganism that appears not to
have evolved over more than 2
billion years.
But the researchers say that the
organisms' lack of evolution
actually supports Charles Darwin's
theory of evolution.
The findings are published online
by the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences.
The scientists examined sulfur
bacteria, microorganisms that are
too small to see with the unaided
eye, that are 1.8 billion years old
and were preserved in rocks from
Western Australia's coastal waters.
Using cutting-edge technology,
they found that the bacteria look
the same as bacteria of the same
region from 2.3 billion years ago -and that both sets of ancient
bacteria are indistinguishable from
modern sulfur bacteria found in
mud off of the coast of Chile.
"It seems astounding that life has
not evolved for more than 2 billion
15
years -- nearly half the history of
Earth," said J. William Schopf, a
UCLA professor of earth, planetary
and space sciences in the UCLA
College who was the study's lead
author.
"Given that evolution is a fact, this
lack of evolution needs to be
explained."
Charles Darwin's writings on
evolution focused much more on
species that had changed over
time than on those that hadn't.
evolved, that would have shown
that our understanding of
Darwinian evolution was seriously
flawed."
Schopf said the findings therefore
provide further scientific proof for
Darwin's work. "It fits perfectly
with his ideas," he said.
The fossils Schopf analyzed date
back to a substantial rise in Earth's
oxygen levels known as the Great
Oxidation Event, which scientists
believe occurred between 2.2
billion and 2.4 billion years ago.
Fig 10: Discovered Organism
The event also produced a
dramatic increase in sulfate and
nitrate -- the only nutrients the
microorganisms
would
have
needed to survive in their
seawater mud environment -which the scientists say enabled
the bacteria to thrive and multiply.
So how do scientists explain a
species living for so long without
evolving?
"The rule of biology is not to
evolve unless the physical or
biological environment changes,
which is consistent with Darwin,"
said Schopf, who also is director of
UCLA's Center for the Study of
Evolution and the Origin of Life.
The environment in which these
microorganisms live has remained
essentially unchanged for 3 billion
years, he said.
"These microorganisms are welladapted to their simple, very
stable physical and biological
environment," he said. "If they
were in an environment that did
not change but they nevertheless
Schopf used several techniques to
analyze the fossils, including
Raman spectroscopy -- which
enables scientists to look inside
rocks
to
determine
their
composition and chemistry -- and
confocal laser scanning microscopy
-- which renders fossils in 3-D. He
pioneered the use of both
techniques
for
analyzing
microscopic fossils preserved
inside ancient rocks.
Story Source:
The above story is based
on materials provided
by University of California - Los
Angeles. The original article was
written by Stuart Wolpert. Note:
Materials may be edited for
content and length.
Fig. 11:
Former President Benjamin Mkapa views displayed
photographs of the late Mwalimu Nyerere during launch
of the Nyerere Resource Centre yesterday in Dar es
Salaam.
Fig. 12: A cross section of participants of the South- South
Cooperation Workshop organized by COSTECH in
collaboration with the Institute of Development studies of
University of Dar es Salaam and HIVA KU Leuven of
Belgium,
16
Fig 13: A Cross section of COSTECH Management
participates in the launching of the new COSTECH Workers
Council.
Fig. 14: Former President Benjamin Mkapa (L) stresses a
point during the dialogue session dubbed the Return of
the developmental state that was organised by the newly
launched Nyerere Resource Centre.
Announcement
TANZANIA COMMISSION FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
CALL FOR TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION EXHIBITION
4th Annual National Science Technology and Innovation Conference and Exhibitions
Theme: Fostering Industrial Growth and Sustainable Development
Venue: Ubungo Plaza – Blue Pearl Hotel
Dates: 17th - 19th June, 2015
This call invites innovators, scientists, engineers, technologist, firms and organization to exhibit various
technologies and innovations during the conference. Exhibition space is available for those who will be
selected. The size of exhibition booth is 3m by 3m and height is 2.56m. Deadline for submitting a short
brief of what you will exhibit is 1st May, 2015.
For more information contact.
The Organizing Committee
Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH)
P. O. Box 4302 Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Telephone: +255-22-2927543/2927539
Fax: +255-22-2927551
Cell Phone: +255 767 147 947/ 713 349 503
Email:
[email protected];
So, what
do you think of [email protected]
this e-Newsletter?
If you have any comments or suggestions on how we can improve
this newsletter, or have any feature story to share, please email
[email protected]
We invite news, features, letters, opinions, and
analyses about science, technology, and
innovation for socio-economic development
Write to:
17
COSTECH,
P.O. Box 4302,
Dar es Salaam.
Or email:
[email protected]