SCIENCE NEWS

MAKING HEADLINES

AI at your service

The world is slowly returning to normal, albeit a normal we don’t recongise. As tourism starts picking up again with local accommodations offering a new form of travel (hello, staycation!), we may be seeing a rise in new, exciting attractions. One such launch is the AI-powered robots at the new Hotel Sky in Cape Town’s CBD. Visitors are called to download the hotel’s app that will allow you to control certain parts of your stay, from checking in to ordering room service. The robots (AKA concierge service) are there to answer your questions. Alexa, book my stay now!

Get your geek on

As Africa’s largest computer science non-profit organisation (NPO), Africa Teen Geeks aims to train people from lower-income areas in computer science with the end goal of having them then share their knowledge with those in the community. The programme and its digital school even welcomes those who have never even worked on a computer before. The NPO has also set aside additional resources to empower girls in STEM with their coding classes. Visit africateengeeks.co.za for more information on these free classes.

Teacher’s pet

As the global spotlight remains on the health of our oceans and the devastation that plastics bring, we can be extremely proud of local documentary My Octopus Teacher. Not only did it win an Academy Award for Best Documentary, it shows the world the beauty of the underwater world. Here’s to hoping we can all do our bit to save the oceans – by declining one plastic straw at a time!

More on Mars

After four successful flights on Mars, the NASA helicopter called Ingenuity has been trusted with an extended mission. Ingenuity will now stay an extra 30 Mars days (or Sols, which are about 40 minutes longer than our days here on Earth). The aim is to see if controlled flying is possible on the planet. Return flights to Mars, here we come!