Hola MaHigh School Volume 6, issue 10, Nov-Dec 2017
Gauteng, home to Africa’s economic powerhouse, Johannesburg, boasts an exciting mix of urban lifestyle, diverse cultural and natural attractions, as well as advanced infrastructure. Call us and we’ll show you why Gauteng in South Africa is the perfect location to bring your big idea to vibrant, colourful life.
Contents 06 Editors letter 07 Poem 08 We need writers 10 Contributors 11 Holler at us 12 This year - and the next 16 The month of January 18 Masiziba - The first year 22 Traditions - Marcia view 24 Crazy world of IT
Contents 26 Food security 29 Quotes 08 We need writers 32 Catalonia - Spain going fast? 36 Continental - Science on the road 38 SKA in Ghana 40 Careers in Space Science 42 Entertainment 44 Time travel 46 Next issue
Editor’s Letter
November, December - yes and actually October. This issue was a ahrd one to ‘crack’. Terrible sorry. it took forever to get ready and out. Year end crept up on us. and we had a ton of things to do. Mostly on what Hola will be in 2018. Excuses, excuses ... but, yes. Now what have got today? Catalonia is the internation stuff. Will Spain even be a country anymore? ... and science. SKA. The biggest science project for decades in SA. This is huge and it is time to gt involved. And of course our regular writers. We are looking forward to 2018 Crazy IT stuff. I love it. it is just soooo... IT! Food security is something which will impact us all, so Masiziba has got her teeth into that (‘scuse the pun). Traditions and culture - not easy and Marcia is giving it a bash. This might just turn into more in 2018. 2018? the web and the print editions and so many more things. and to finish it all off: ....a good conspiracy. GOOD READ
Sybil
Time for poems:
Summer .. and school is out Time to relax and time to do Do something else Family and friends and so much But also farewell To friends I miss you already School friends disappear but new friends to be found I hope
Sybil
We need writers! Our writers are growing up and getting older That is og course good. BUT.... it means they are leaving us Therefore: would you like towrite for us? What is required? That is easy You have to be in grade 10-12 Impeccable in your preferred language-and that might not be English. We try to be more than just English Passionate about your topic of choice no dull articles here
Do you get anything out of it? Well, not money, sorrry. BUT if we publish your articles you will have: Your bio in a commercial magazine A photo of yourself You can put it all on your CV you can use us as a reference ... and it goes in your portfolio
Is it important? YES it is. Look what Rofhiwa said: My name is Rofhiwa and I love to write. I think I am rather decent writer too. I took my talent and have used it to express my thoughts on international dealings of the world which have been published in Hola MaHigh-School. It has paid off, not only is my work printed for young people in the country to read, but it also contributed to me gettng a bursary from CNBC-Africa to do my post-graduate studies. Would be a lot harder to get by if I didn’t have platform like Hola MaHigh-School.
What
me o
to do
?
n iva n co.za @romele . : nam e scho Cell n ol E-ma umber ... and il addres s we w ill tal k!
Meet our contributors I am Masiziba Hadebe. I study a BSc in Agricultural Economics at the University of the Free State. I am originally from a small rural town in Mpumalanga, Balfour. My hardworking trait proves that anyone, regardless of the background, can make it. I love plants and animals. During leisure, I read anything readable and interesting. Writing is and will always be my passion, I would starve food just to write! Pinky Rapoo is a creative writer by nature and not yet by profession.She lives in Vosloorus and is currently in grade 12 at Vosloorus Comprehensive SecondarySchool. Listening to music is her hobby,writing is her passion. Her motto is “Think twice before speaking,think three times before acting and think thoroughly before writing”.
My name is Marcia Ramodike, a 20 year old young lady from Limpopo at Lenyenye. I am doing my second year law degree at the University of the Free State and I am also an author of a book entitled from an empty pride to a full price which is touch based on issues that affect black families such as black tax. I am very passionate about writing. It is actually my first love. I love chilling indoors while reading books and novels; I am a fun, loving person who always smiles and care about other people. My favourite quote is “when the caterpillar thought it was the end of the world it turned into a butterfly “.
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The year in review 2017 is behind us. And what did we achieve? I think we did a lot of things in 2017 which will surely have an impact on 2018. We got a new writer: Marcia Ramodike. It is inspiring to see the awareness of Hola and to see if it is well-received out there. So, we welcome Marcia and hope she will stay with us for many years to come. Masiziba is continuing her journey at university. And we will now have another regular: food security. Remember her series on nuclear energy? Well, this is surely going to be just as interesting. The website is not really there yet. We have been ‘paying’ around with it, using the Adobe tools – the one’;s where you do not need to code anything – well, it could be better. It could be much better. So, the way forward there is to contract a professional outfit to do it and then to teach us how to maintain it. The key word there is funding, as in money. It is not for free. And maintaining it will take a lot of bandwidth as well. So, 2018: we have to do something, but it is still a bit fuzzy how to do it and really what to do. If anyone should know a web guru, please tell us all about it.
and now for 2018 The investment in Adobe has surely paid off. We do all design work ourselves and it saves money and gives us flexibility. ‌ but what about 2018? We have to get more writers in 2018. That is crucial. How is a good question. We need to start out with paper distribution again. Hola needs to be printed and to appear in the schools. But that is a lot of money, so we need a sponsor. The website has to come into play. And that is time, but not so much material after all. It is also essential that we get a working relationship with the key departments: Education and Higher Education. Without them we face an uphill battle in many ways. We may ask ourselves: why Higher Education? Well, it is the one who will need a channel to all learners before they start to make life choices on further education. How else to get to them? The way to grow a magazine is also via advertising. That is just as good as a sponsor, but a bit harder to get around to. But we are still here and we intend to be there for you in 2018!
The month All courtesy of Wiki. January – of course from the Roman calendars. Is it named after the Roman god Janus? Convenient, but no. It derives from the Latin word ianua, which means door. It is the door opening to a new year. Poetic really. Nothing to do with Janus. Actually the Roman deity for January was Juno. Shame really. Now, obviously celebrating New Year’s, but what else? Here are some gems: Coming of Age Day is a Japanese holiday held annually on the second Monday of January. It is held in order to congratulate and encourage all those who have reached the age of majority (20 years old) over the past year, and to help them realize that they have become adults. Coming of age ceremonies have been celebrated in Japan since at least 714 AD, when a young prince donned new robes and a hairstyle to mark his passage into adult. Kokborok day (Borok day) is a festival celebrated in the Indian state of Tripura to celebrate the development of the Kokborok language. It is observed every January 19. The Kokborok language is an official language in Tripura. This day is chosen to commemorate its initial recognition as an official language in 1979. Kokborok is the Indigenous language
of January of Tripura, spoken for thousands of years among the indigenous communities of Tripura. Kokborok is one of the Tibeto-Burman languages widely spoken in the Northeast part of India and neighbouring CHT hill tracts of Bangladesh. The Kokborok language is one of the fastest growing and developing Tibeto-Burman languages in the region. The script of the Kokborok is not yet finalised due to many socio-political debates, but many people prefer writing it in “Latin script” and some people write Kokborok in “Bengali” script. It has been mentioned in the chronicle of the Tripura Kings who were the Borok rulers (184 kings) of Tripura for more than a thousand years that “KOLOMA” was the script of Kokborok, but is not known anymore.
Many government and non-government groups are continuously involved in promoting and developing Kokborok languages, literature, and films/songs through cultural revolution. It has been a great achievement by the people of Tripura that the Kokborok language is now taught in government schools, colleges, and universities. The effort is still being made to further improve the language to bring it into the mainstream. Who says that a language cannot develop?
University: first ye Most matriculates are anticipating university life while some fears are lurking. Fears of fitting in, adapting to independency and whether the course of study will work out. But after sharing my journey for this my first year, I really understand how this change can be confusing in the beginning. It is after all a place where you are most likely to meet people with differing opinions other than your own. Moreover, you suddenly realise that although attending class is optional, not going can prove detrimental to your academic career and the excitement of “going to class whenever I want� is suddenly a sell-out. In addition, the university population is nowhere close to what you expected. This is where you realise that not everyone will like you, not everyone will be your friend, but how you react to that is simply up to you. In the middle of the journey (like during your first tests) it suddenly gets messy. You realise that the lecturer does not know your name, and you have to wake yourself up for a test. However, the journey at the end or approaching the end is beautiful. You get to experience the core of university life. This is finding friends that are as determined as you. They inspire you, and you see the growth within yourself. What’s more fun is that you get to attend events with these friends and they seem to be your lifetime connections. Furthermore, you begin to appreciate
ear already gone! and acknowledge university structures such as learning experiences because there the key to world-class success is given. Likewise, inspiration then strikes for you to do the best you can in the big place called university. Conversely, there will be emotional times where you miss home especially if you stay afar. There will be times where you feel like giving up because of test results that hinder you expectations. There will also be times where you doubt whether you will make it to the following year but regardless of these times, this journey can be enjoyable. You grow as a person, you smile, work and learn more. Of course, my journey will be different from anyone else’s, but the common thread is that we must not give up, be it in the beginning, middle or approaching the end, and more importantly, we should enjoy the journey and stand for what we believe in, which is simply acquiring that degree, diploma or certificate for a better future.
Masiziba Hadebe
IT IS ILLEGAL FOR ANYONE
UNDER THE
AGE OF 18
YEARS TO PURCHASE,
POSSESS
AND CONSUME
ALCOHOL
NEGATIVE
EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL
ABUSE ON LEARNERS ALCOHOL ABUSE HAS NO RIGHTFUL PLACE ANYWHERE
IN SOCIETY, ESPECIALLY IN SCHOOL
ENVIRONMENTS WHERE LEARNERS SPEND MOST OF THEIR LIVES.
GAUTENG LIQUOR LICENSING OFFICE
NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL ABUSE ON LEARNERS ALCOHOL ABUSE HAS NO RIGHTFUL PLACE ANYWHERE IN SOCIETY, ESPECIALLY IN SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTS WHERE LEARNERS SPEND MOST OF THEIR LIVES. CONSEQUENCES OF ALCOHOL ABUSE HIGH-RISK SEX Alcohol abuse in teenagers results in high-risk sex, unprotected sex and sex with multiple partners. SEXUAL ASSAULT Sexual assault including rape occurs most commonly among women due to high consumption of alcohol. ABUSE Harmful use of alcohol is a major contributor to violence both at schools and in the communities. SUICIDE Alcohol use interacts with conditions such as depression and stress which contributes to suicide which is the third leading cause of death among people between the ages of 14 and 25. IT IS ILLEGAL FOR ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 18 YEARS TO PURCHASE, POSSESS AND CONSUME ALCOHOL. Remember, you DO NOT NEED drugs or alcohol… it’s OK NOT to drink!
For any Liquor related issues please contact: Matlotlo House 94 Main Street Johannesburg Tel: 011 355 8000
A place called home a Usually when we describe rural areas and urban areas the description is as if these are two different worlds. The perception is that there are some sort of different standards of living. However the question here is: could there be a different view countering the traditional perception we have of rural ? Distance is an obvious one. All the basic stuff is available in any rural setting, but more ‘sophisticated’ shopping might not be. And then travelling to the nearer town is a mission. We have to look at one thing which might be perception (or fact?). TRADITION! We might all live in an urban setting, but we go ‘home’ to the village for Christmas, weddings, funerals, etc. And then traditions will crash down on us. According to what I know in the rural areas when it’s a funeral women are expected to wear different clothes (different to the JoBurg suburb as an example!), like long jerseys, doeks, long skirts etc. On the gate of the grave yard an old man would be standing and if you do not have a doek you will be turned away as you won’t be respecting the funeral. On the other hand in some of the urban areas, the dress code is tight
and a City of hustlers skirts, heels and after the burial even turn to wear jeans for after tears. Look at a funeral in a rural setting next time: people will come during the week to help you cook, clean and prepare for the ceremony. Try to buy urban-style catering in Ramokgopa in Limpopo! They will laugh at you and probably think you are arrogant and having lost touch with it all. In essence, yes, it is not a myth. Rural and urban living is miles apart, but it is not so obvious any more. It is a bit more subtle now. And remember: nobody is never really coming from Durban, JoBurg, Bloem, CT etc. we all go ‘home’ to a rural setting. Whether we really associate with it or not is a different thing. Our generation might still be reasonable familiar with the songs for funerals (in vernacular) and know the rituals and correct behavior. But will my children know? Or will they even care? Or will rural people have adopted our city-living. And that can only be answered 50 years from now.
Marcia Ramodike
Really Cray biff — named after a dog known by the developers at Berkeley, who – according to the UNIX manual page – died on 15 August 1993, at the age of 15, and belonged to a certain Heidi Stettner. Some sources report that the dog would bark at the mail carrier, making it a natural choice for the name of a mail notification system. The Jargon File contradicts this description, but confirms at least that the dog existed. GNU — a project with an original goal of creating a free operating system. The gnu is also a species of African antelope. The founder of the GNU project Richard Stallman liked the name because of the humour associated with its pronunciation, and was also influenced by The Gnu Song, by Flanders and Swann, which is sung by a gnu.
vourite” animal.
Tux — The penguin now commonly regarded as the most famous logo of the Linux Kernel and its deviants. The logo was originally created by Larry Ewing in 1996 as an entry in a Linux Logo competition. The creator of Linux, Linus Torvalds, was bitten by a little penguin during a visit to Canberra Zoo in 1993, which made the penguin his “fa-
Lotus Software — Lotus founder Mitch Kapor got the name for his company from ‘The Lotus Position’ (‘Padmasana’ in Sanskrit). Kapor used to be a teacher of Transcendental Meditation technique as taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
y IT things Red Hat Linux — a Linux distribution from Red Hat. Company founder Marc Ewing was given the Cornell lacrosse team cap (with red and white stripes) by his grandfather while at college. People would turn to him to solve their problems, and he was referred to as “that guy in the red hat”. He lost the cap and had to search for it desperately. The manual of the beta version of Red Hat Linux had an appeal to readers to return the hat if found by anyone. spam — unwanted repetitious messages, such as unsolicited bulk e-mail. The term spam is derived from the Monty Python SPAM sketch, set in a cafe where everything on the menu includes SPAM luncheon meat. While a customer plaintively asks for some kind of food without SPAM in it, the server reiterates the SPAM-filled menu. Soon, a chorus of Vikings join in with a song: “SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, lovely SPAM, wonderful SPAM”, over and over again, drowning out all conversation.
Food security: Ano How do we feed 8.3 Billion by 2050? That is the famous question associated with food security regardless of the fact that Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 focusing on food security is hoping to achieve its mandate by 2030. During a TED talk by Sara Menker, founder of Gro-intelligence, a company focusing on reforming agricultural systems leveraging data to encourage food security, requested that a new question be asked because according to their findings, food insecurity will be at its highest peak by 2027 which is a decade from now and not by 2050. Furthermore, Menker mentions that solutions such as changing consumption systems and reducing food wastage have been discussed in almost every food security conference, podcast and dialogue. However, it has been focused on continents such as North America, South America, and Europe which are estimated to be food self-sufficient by 2027 based on factors such as population growth and economic growth. In addition, expecting these food self-sufficient areas to change the behaviour for the deficit areas has not been successful. That said, Gro intelligence has focused on calories as that is what sustain us, and the food security problem has been quantified using mass and calories. Through their new perspective (using calories to quantify food security), they have discovered
other perspective that the world is short of 214 trillion calories (equivalent to 379 billion Big Macs) aligning the solution to be with the estimated food deficient areas such as India, China and Africa. The solution was that these areas should improve yields. Although India is faced with land constraints, they do have an upside to improving yields. China, on the other hand, is challenged with scarce water resources and space constraints but Africa has sufficient arable land consisting of an upside potential to increase yields. However, sub-Saharan Africa currently produces maize equivalent to North America in 1940. These improved yields must come from the commercialization of agricultural systems especially in Africa to close the gap of calories needed by 2027. Conversely, The UN Sustainable Development goal (SDG) 2, food security aims to, by 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, specifically the poor and people in vulnerable situations including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round. In addition, to end all forms of malnutrition. By 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under five years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women, and older persons
Food Security Moreover, by 2030 double the agricultural productivity and the incomes of small-scale food producers, particularly women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets, and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment. This will ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production. This in turn help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters, and that progressively improve land and soil quality. Then by 2020 preserve genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants, farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including thorough soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at national, regional and international levels. It has to certify access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge as internationally agreed. So how do we make all this actionable? My upcoming articles hope to focus on that.
Masiziba Hadebe.
Quotes
This is picked from various sources. And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been. - Rainer Maria Rilke Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one. - Brad Paisley 12 new chapters. 365 new chances - unknown Do not try to be the best. Just do yur best - Sadhguru
We provide loans and bursaries to students at all 26 public universities and 50 public TVET colleges throughout the country.
Catalonia: a new old OK, so Catalonia wants to be independent? Big deal. So why not. And where is it anyway? And why is it even important to me? Well, yes. Catalonia is a part of Spain. As it is right now at least. But it has a long history of all kind of things. Everything in Europe has a long history. Because it is all written down. But here goes (all thanks to Wiki): Catalonia is out towards the Mediterranean and comprises four provinces. Barcelona being the biggest and by the way: the 2nd largest city in Spain. Heavy industry. Well-developed. Sophisticated. Catalonia was an independent (small) country before it got united with Aragon in 1137. And that is where it all starts, really. The languages are Spanish (surprise!), Catalan and Occitan – look that one up. This is the oldest common European language. Of course Catalan and Catalonia had a rough time during the different European wars, culminating in the Franco dictatorship banning their language, turning on Catalonian institutions etc. All of that in the 1960’s and up in the 1970’s. Finally – after Franco – Catalonia became a nationality. That in essence means an autonom part of Spain. Like the Basque provinces. What is it all about then? Well, my take is it is about two things: economy: Catalonia (Barcelona) are doing extremely
country in Europe? well financially, but could be hampered by Spanish regulations and EU laws. The other is the European ghost: I desire to be independent and to assert this independence come what may. It is of course a reaction against the unification of Europe – we are all the same ! which is a lie. Europe is very diverse. So, Catalonian government had a referendum in 2006. It got declared illegal at that time by the constitutional court. Insofar as this referendum and proposed changes to law really tried to align Catalonian language and institutions etc, well, it was not a popular judgement. Fast forward to 2014. A new referendum. 92% of the voters want an independent state. A country of its own. The Catalonian government is now drafting the exit terms and that gets declared illegal as well. Check! But not checkmate yet So a new referendum gets declared to be held on October 2017. That gets declared illegal and the police is raiding the polling stations, banning websites, taking the ballot papers away and so on. Some supporters even get arrested! A referendum goes ahead, but is declared illegal (sic!) by the EU. Disputes arising over voting processes.
Catalonia: a new old 5 October: the constitutional court suspends the Catalonian parliament. 10 October: the Catalonian government signs into law the declaration of independence. Now the speaker of parliament and the political party heads get arrested. 27 October: Parliament votes for independence and the Spanish government dissolves catalonia. Wiki says: “That evening, after an emergency cabinet meeting and with the green light of the Senate, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dismissed the Executive Council of Catalonia, dissolving the Parliament of Catalonia and calling a snap regional election for 21 December 2017. Afterwards on 30 October 2017, Spain’s top prosecutor announced that Carles Puigdemont and 13 other sacked Catalan cabinet ministers were being charged with rebellion, sedition, and embezzlement. Puigdemont and 5 other cabinet ministers slipped out of Spain and fled to Brussels, Belgium that same day. On 2 November, 9 other members of the Catalan cabinet were jailed after appearing in court in Madrid, including Oriol Junqueras, Catalan vice-president, and Raül Romeva, Catalan foreign affairs chief. As of 28 October 2017, the Catalan Republic is unrecognized by the international community, which regards the region as part of the Kingdom of Spain” But it does not end there! 22 December 2017: Quote from BBC: “Catalonia’s ousted leader, Carles Puigdemont, has called for new talks with Spain after separatist parties won a slim majority in a regional election. He said he wanted the negotiations in Brussels, where he is
d country in Europe? living in self-imposed exile, or another EU country. Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy later appeared to reject the idea. He avoided naming Mr Puigdemont, adding that the winner of Thursday’s election was Inés Arrimadas, the leader of the Citizens party, which wants Catalonia to remain a semi-autonomous part of Spain. “Catalonia wants to be an independent state,” said Mr Puigdemont, speaking in Belgium on Friday. “This is the wish of the Catalan people. I think the plan of [Spanish Prime Minister] Mariano Rajoy is not working, so we have to find new ways to tackle this crisis.” 24 December 2017: quote from BBC: “The king of Spain has issued a renewed call for unity amid the ongoing fallout from Catalonia’s outlawed independence referendum. In his Christmas message, Felipe VI urged the people of Catalonia to choose coexistence rather than confrontation. He did not directly mention the leaders of the Catalan separatist movement. In the wake of October’s referendum in the region, the king heavily criticised those spearheading Catalonia’s independence movement. Some Catalans were angered by this, and the fact that he made no mention of the heavy-handed Spanish police operation to block the vote” … and now what? If Catalonia goes, so will the Basque provinces. Basque country is also spanning parts of France, so it will get very messy. But the real thing is that Spain might just dissolve into the small ‘countries’ as it will all fall apart
Continental pioneers holistic vehic The following has been sent to us. We are not responsible for any of the content. We have lightly edited it a bit. PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa, 31 October 2017 - Continental connected the first vehicles to the Internet back in 1996. Since then, the technology company has connected more than 30 million vehicles. And a glimpse into the future promises further growth. For the first time ever, this year will see half of all new cars rolling off the production line equipped with some form of connectivity solution, which means that by 2020, around 250 million connected cars will be on our roads all around the world. “Where vehicle connectivity was once simply an added feature, it is now becoming a key technology for intelligent mobility of the future. This is why we are focusing on holistic connectivity for a seamless online connection, and developing the entire vehicle into an open system,” says Helmut Matschi, member of the Executive Board at Continental and head of the Interior Division. “Holistic connectivity concerns all aspects of a connected vehicle from the in-vehicle electronics architecture, through the seamless connection, to the services and the interaction between driver and vehicle. Today we are developing the building blocks for all areas of holistic connectivity. In doing so, we are shaping future mobility.” Updates: wireless, seamless and for the entire vehicle Continental has teamed up with Carnegie Technologies for a solution that enables the seamless and disruption-free transition between different wireless networks. To send data packages containing as much data as possible from the cloud to
cle connectivity for smart mobility the vehicle and back, the solution can also combine data lines, for example, from the passengers’ mobile devices as a means of pooling transmission capacities. In a collaboration with Inmarsat, Continental is also using satellite communication to provide vehicle manufacturers and drivers worldwide with the best-possible network connection at all times. Infotainment of the future: directly from the cloud Holistic connectivity will also make in-vehicle infotainment smarter and more flexible. With the cloud terminal, applications that were once only running on the actual device will now be moved to the cloud. This ensures that the system is always up-to-date and that new functions can be added at any time, allowing vehicle manufacturers to simply roll out the applications across different models and vehicle classes. The twist is that Continental has created a development framework within the cloud that uses standard development tools and therefore does not require developers to have any specialised automotive software expertise. As such, Continental is opening up the connected car to a broad developer community, creating the basis for a number of exciting functions. The cloud terminal also acts as the driver’s digital assistant, analysing the driver’s habits and providing appropriate personalized functions.
SKA in Ghana: Kutu SKA – one of the most significant science projects to ever hit us here in South Africa. But it is not only in SA. It is also said that the entire African continent will benefit. How? Let us look at what happened a few months back: SKA in Ghana. Let us go back in time a little bit. In the late 70’s and 80’s we had global communication based on satellites. Big things providing telephony and so on. The signals were brought down via some rather huge satellite antennaes. Massive things. Now here comes the fibre-optic cables. Massive bandwidth and far easier to handle. So the communication antennaes are left to decay. SKA comes in and takes a look at it. These can be turned into a part of the SKA. A part of the radio telescope network (please don’t call those things a ‘dish’. This is not explora). SKA identified the Kutunse antenna in Ghana and started refurbishing it. It was a mammoth project. The thing had been sitting for decades and basically rusted and started to fall apart. The assessment took place during 2011. The refurbishment took into account the ability to do a full rotation, blind tracking, RFI interference and a lot of other things.
unse radio telescope Finally, in November 2017 it was finished. And then to the testing and calibration. The work entailed something called ‘first light’. First Light is the marker on the journey to full commissioning of a radio telescope, but it does not imply that the antenna is ready to start doing science. Effectively, it is a process whereby the functionality of the telescope is tested for the first time, and the very first images are received.
Minister of Science and Technology: Ms Naledi Pandor
The First Lilght readings have highlighted the current capabilities and limitations of the antenna, and the engineers are continuing to work to bring it to a stage where it can be declared ‘science ready’. It can take more than a year still!
PS: all information gleaned and cited from official DST brochures and information kiosks from various DST exhibitions (AVN News, etc).
Jobs in spa Now we ask ourselves: are there really any careers open t me in space science in SA? should I rather go somewhere else? Good question. And the answer is: we re on the forefront here! Don’t go! Here are some tidbits i have plucked from the DST and SAASTA brochure ‘Careers in Space Science’. Teboho: Junior space weather assistant: The sun is the driver of space weather. Space has solar storms, X-ray flares, solar wind and so on, all impacting on communication and all electromagnetic device really. Teboho is the weather forecaster in SA. Robert: Satellite engineer: Robert and his team became the first South Africans to launch a satellite into space! The cube. Nyameko: Radio frequency communications development engineer: This is designing, simulating, testing and measuring RF circuits on communication systems to ensure they can be used in space. Andiswa: Earth observation scientist: This is of course the weather forecasts, but there is more to it. She is also the coordinator of activities within the continent. Christo: Space engineer: Christo builds heat sensors that can spot a veld fire or a volcano or anything that is an anomally on Earth.
ace science Dan: Science communicator: Dan is the one who makes sure we have an understanding of science at this level. He is the one who is writing the texts, making science something which we can all know. Jessie: Satellite engineer: This is the person who actually designs a satellite and gts it build. This is the one liasing with the entire science community globally! Lulekwa: Space lawyer: Her work encompasses national and international laws governing activities in space. Nobody can just launch a satellite into space. Laws are there and Lulekwa is the one overseeing this. Rabelani: Investment specialist: Yes. Investments in space. and there is a career handling all of this. Zama: Space physics researcher: She is studying the ionosphere which is impacting on all our electromagnetic devises - i.e. communications globally
Conclusion: There are plenty of careers in space science in South Africa. We have just mentioned a few here. Want to know more? ask your teacher, go on the DST website, look up SAASTA, look up ...... so much more out there. Good luck!
It’s Movie Time! Sta Is this really it? Is this the ultimate? The end? Or do we see more of this? Well, this one is a bit different from the rest. It has the feel of wrapping up loose ends and getting the threads back into the jersey. The thing is that we have a lot of flash-backs to the first Star Wars series. Parents, family and new family and so on. And also a few new heroes thrown in for good measure. Of course we see a new cast of ladies taking to the stage in many very different roles. Grannies galore and a few newer one’s.
Old heroes and villains are awake, but it leaves one frustrated: you have to have been around the first one’s to enjoy this. Simply too many things going on to feel comfortable as a new-comer. There aer ways of mitigating this: buy the entire box collection and start watching. It is great fun, but hey, we are into nostalgia here.
ar Wars: the last jedi Another way is to just watch the Force Awakens and jump from there. After all, there is sort of a divide here. Also because the old one’s have a bit too much technology awe in them. Focus on the human aspect and let the technology explain actions. Rather than the other way around. But alas, that might be the way my parents liked it.
The film is looooooonnnnggggggggg. 2 ½ hour. It is a stretch to keep going. It uses the usual recipe of a migty great battle to begin with, setting the scene for what is to follow. Two separate strands, woven together in the last minute as the real hero – the last jedi – awakens and stops fishing or feeding birds or whatever the last one is doing. But it takes an awful ot of time to get to the climax. The last battle. May the force be with the one’s who can keep fingers of the fast-forward. PS: this review is inspired by BBC’s review and whatever else I have lerned.
Time travel - again! Yes, it is possible! Einstein also predicted it. It is the bending of space-time which can make it possible to travel faster than speed of light. Actually it is not faster than speed of light. It is bending space-time. Ok then How? Use the Alcurbierre Drive. That the energy requirement is beyond anything and can probably only be carries as mass of anti-matter is not the point. The point is: yes it is possible. Wiki says: Alcubierre Drive is a solution of Einstein’s field equations in general relativity as proposed by Mexican theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre, by which a spacecraft could achieve apparent faster-than-light travel if a configurable energy-density field lower than that of vacuum (that is, negative mass) could be created. It is of course all very speculative. However, if a Cassimir Vacuuam can be created between two plates, then yes., the energy requirement can be fulfilled. That Einstein’s theories do not include quantum mechanics does not mean that quantum gravity cannot exist. Quantum gravity combines both Einstein’s field theories and quantum mechanics. If this is correct, then the combination will eliminate the solutions in general relativity which can make the Alcubierre Drive possible. Checkmate!
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