Is Rwanda in line to become one of Africa's major tech hubs?

Recent years have seen countries across the African continent investing deep into the tech industry. Rwanda is angling to get ahead of the pack.

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  • The recent announcement of the Mara phone, a smartphone manufactured entirely in Africa, has highlighted African countries' recent forays into the high-tech industry.
  • The continent boasts more than 450 tech hubs, and while some countries have a larger market, Rwanda — where Mara phones are manufactured — is angling to become a major tech hotspot in East Africa.
  • There's a lot of competition; what is Rwanda doing to try to beat it?
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Why the Fourth Industrial Revolution could spell more jobs – not fewer

Is the pessimism about jobs totally unwarented?

Morris MacMatzen/Getty Images

Ever since Homo erectus carved a piece of stone into a tool, the welfare of humanity has been on the increase.

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Will robots free people from slavery?

Even if automation makes human trafficking economically inefficient, that alone won't end this unethical practice.

  • Robotic automation may one day make slavery economically inefficient, but automation does not spring forth fully formed.
  • An interim period of piecemeal coverage may leave many at-risk, low-skilled workers in danger of exploitation.
  • Nor can automation sate the political and social motives for slavery found in some societies.
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A new property of light has been discovered: self-torque

It turns out light can not only be twisted, but at different speeds.

Image source: pixpoetry on Unsplash
  • An unsuspected property of light, called "self-torque," had just been discovered.
  • The discovery will allow scientists to control the behavior of light in a new way.
  • The potential applications are still being worked out, but look very exciting.
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NASA uncovers a 19-year fraud that caused failed missions

An investigation finds the cause of failed NASA launches and $700 million in losses.

NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory on the launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Image credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin
  • An Oregon company provided falsified tests to a NASA rocket builder for almost two decades.
  • The company is now liable for $46 million in payments and the lab manager went to prison.
  • NASA can't test every single component itself, making it important the supply chain is protected.
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