ethiopia
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Study casts doubt on the chances of life on watery alien planets
Scientists searching for habitable planets often see the presence of water as a key sign, but they might not want to raise their hopes too high. A recently published study has indicated that there was no clear evidence of extremophiles (life that can survive extreme conditions) in Ethiopia's Danakil Depression, home to some of the world's most acidic, saltiest and superheated water. In other words, the mere existence of water isn't enough -- the conditions have to be at least slightly conducive to life. Accordingly, water that was 'just' very salty included numerous forms of extremophiles, including several newly discovered examples.
In Ethiopia, pirate movie kiosks hide in plain sight
With the rise of cheap, easy and legal streaming services, actually pirating a movie or song seems like way too much effort. But in those places where high-speed internet may not be as prevalent, and those services are too pricey, other methods are required. In one Ethiopian shopping mall, for instance, there's apparently an ATM-style kiosk that enables locals to purchase illegally-obtained movies for cents.
ICYMI: Sad unicorn truth, disease-fighting drones and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-781614{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-781614, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-781614{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-781614").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: The news that a type of unicorn walked the earth at the same time as prehistoric humans makes modern-day fantasy novels make a lot more sense. CERN is getting its Large Hadron Collider back online after a hiatus to improve its electrical system. And Ethiopia is using drones to drop sterile tsetse flies over the country, intending for them to breed with the wild natives and cut back on the population of disease-carrying insects, thus lowering risk of illness to humans and animals. We also share that paleontologists mapped the evolution of the largest type of dinosaurs, learning new things about them; and also touched on how vertical farming operations are moving into grocery stores. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Ethiopia is hacking US journalists with commercial spyware
Ethiopia's government is among the most oppressive political regimes on the African continent, only trailing Eritrea in its population of incarcerated journalists. And with the country's recent implementation of off-the-shelf spyware from Italian security firm Hacking Team, Ethiopia's leaders can--and have been--expanding their despotic reach far overseas.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: WarkaWater Tower, kangaroo-like robot and an energy-generating carousel
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. The world is flooded with electronic devices, which add up to a huge e-waste problem -- but if a team of MIT researchers has its way, the gadgets of the future could be made from living cells. The team is working on hybrid materials made from bacteria that could grow anything from solar cells to smartphones. The German engineering company Festo is known for its biomimetic creations, producing everything from flying seagulls to wind turbines that flap their wings like birds. Now the company has developed an energy-efficient robot that hops around like a kangaroo. In green lighting news, Torafu Architects has created a series of recycled glass pendant lamps that are inspired by droplets of water. And Philips has developed a new LED bulb that looks and feels like an incandescent. And for those travelers who just can't seem to fit everything in their carry-on luggage, we present you with the JakToGo, a new jacket that stores up to 10 kg of goods, freeing up space in your suitcase.
Ethiopian Airlines completes first commercial 787 Dreamliner flight since grounding
Nervous flyer? If so, it's probably best you weren't heading from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on business recently. If you were, you might have found yourself onboard the first commercial 787 Dreamliner flight since the global fleet was grounded due to concerns over battery failures. The flight comes just days after the FAA approved Boeing's fix, prompting deliveries of the new craft to resume. With Japan already having cleared the 787 for takeoff, we can expect to see a few more of them in our skies soon. We're more interested in joining the mile-high Android club.
Ethiopia turns SMS back on
Some two years after the sole telecommunications provider in Ethiopia disabled SMS due to a hotly contested election, the nation's citizens can finally put their thumbs to good use once more. Reportedly, the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation sent an SMS notice to all of its mobile phone customers that wished them a "Happy Ethiopian Millennium" and announced that the service was (finally) back online. Here's to hoping the ETC doesn't get crabby again anytime soon, eh?
