Not just numbers : Quantifying development as metrology hits 150yr milestone
If you can measure it, you can manage it. One of Kenya's metrology heavyweights speaks to Georja about how there is might in monitoring. There were no African signatories when 17 countries came together150 years ago to set measurement standards for time, distance and weight, but as the continent's development picks up pace so does its contribution to global metrology.
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France 24
15-05-2025
- France 24
Not just numbers : Quantifying development as metrology hits 150yr milestone
If you can measure it, you can manage it. One of Kenya's metrology heavyweights speaks to Georja about how there is might in monitoring. There were no African signatories when 17 countries came together150 years ago to set measurement standards for time, distance and weight, but as the continent's development picks up pace so does its contribution to global metrology.
Euronews
19-02-2025
- Euronews
Asteroid 2024 YR4 could hit one of the world's most populated regions, new NASA data shows
NASA has released new data that suggests that the 2024 YR4 asteroid would pose a risk to some of the most densely populated regions in the world if it were to hit Earth. 2024 YR4 could likely hit somewhere along a "risk corridor" which NASA has identified as stretching across the eastern Pacific Ocean, northern South America, the Atlantic Ocean, African, the Arabian Sea, and South Asia. Cities on this trajectory include Bogota in Colombia, whose metropolitan area is home to over 11.6 million people, the Mumbai metropolitan area in India which has a population of 18.4 million and Dhaka in Bangladesh, home to over 23.9 million. The US space agency ratcheted up the asteroid's risk of hitting the planet in 2032 to a 3.1 per cent chance, making it the "highest-threat asteroid ever detected". This is up from the more than 2.3 percent chance warning issued less than two weeks ago. NASA revised the risk of collision upwards after it collected more information about the asteroid's orbit. The European Space Agency (ESA) estimates the chance at 2.8 per cent, which is a higher threat level than 2004's Apophis asteroid. It was initially thought it would hit the Earth in 2029 but this theory was dismissed with further research. What is the 2024 YR4 asteroid? The asteroid was discovered on December 27, 2024, by a NASA-funded telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, because it had a "close approach" to the Earth on Christmas, according to NASA's Center for NEO Studies (CNEOS). At the time, scientists said it was hard to predict whether the asteroid would collide with the Earth or not. While the exact size of the asteroid can't be confirmed yet, scientists estimate that it's likely between 40 to 90 m in size, at its largest estimate around the same height as New York's State of Liberty. Scientists rated 2024 YR4 at a 3 out of 10 on the Torino Scale, the rubric that CNEOS uses to assess the potential threat level of an asteroid's impact on Earth. No other observed asteroids have a rating above 0, according to CNEOS. NASA said on its planetary defence blog that several asteroids have risen on the risk list "and eventually dropped off as more data has come in," meaning that the asteroid could eventually be reclassified as 0 risk. What happens next? The agency said it will continue to observe the asteroid until April, after which it will be too far away from the Earth until June 2028. The risk of collision could either rise or continue to fall during this time, as scientists understand how the Earth will be rotating at the time of impact. The James Webb Space Telescope will determine the asteroid's exact size in March 2025 to clarify how likely a collision could happen, NASA said. If the threat level rises, emergency responses around the world will be alerted to the impact risk and given support from ESA's Near Earth Object Coordination Centre, they said in a statement. Space agencies could also conduct planetary defence missions. In 2022, NASA's DART mission intentionally collided with the small asteroid Dimorphos and successfully changed its orbital path, the agency said. ESA launched its Hera mission in October to return to the DART mission crash site on Dimorphos and gather data. This will be used to help form a planetary defence system against future asteroid threats.
Euronews
07-02-2025
- Euronews
Mpox in Europe: Where has the more dangerous clade 1 strain been detected?
Ireland is the latest European country to identify a case of a contagious new strain of mpox that is ravaging Central Africa. The Irish patient had recently returned from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the epicentre of an outbreak that has infected thousands of people since the new strain was detected in 2023. There are two subtypes of the mpox virus. Clade II, which is endemic in West Africa, caused the global outbreak that had health authorities on high alert in Europe and North America in 2022. It continues to spread there at low levels. Meanwhile clade I, which is endemic in Central Africa, is believed to cause more severe illness and a greater risk of death. A subset of the more dangerous strain, known as clade Ib, emerged in the DRC in September 2023 and has since spread widely across the region, particularly in Burundi and Uganda. How does mpox spread? Much is still unknown about the severity of mpox caused by clade Ib, but it appears to spread more easily and is causing more illness among children. Mpox spreads through close skin-to-skin contact, and can cause a rash, headache, fever, chills, lymph node swelling, and respiratory symptoms. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Africa's mpox outbreak a global public health emergency in August 2024. At the time, European health authorities warned that cases would likely emerge in Europe as well, though the risk to the public remains low. Outside of Africa, the new strain has since been detected in six European countries as well as the United States, Canada, China, India, Oman, Pakistan, and Thailand. Here's where the new mpox strain has been found so far in Europe. Ireland Irish health authorities said the risk remains low for the public following the detection of clade Ib mpox in a person who had recently returned from the DRC. The patient was hospitalised in Dublin. United Kingdom Most of the UK's nine reported cases have been travel-related. The most recent infection, reported in February, was a person who had travelled to Uganda. The first cases were in October 2024, when a person got sick after returning from African countries where the strain is circulating and then spread mpox to three members of their household. In September, the UK government bought more than 150,000 doses of mpox vaccine to prepare for potential clade Ib risks, and recently opened vaccination sites across England. France In January, someone in the French region of Brittany got mpox after close contact with two people who had travelled from Central Africa. French health authorities said that additional cases linked to countries with mpox outbreaks may emerge on occasion. Germany Germany has reported seven mpox clade Ib cases, most recently in January. Its first case was in October, with five more infections in December, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said. The December cases involved someone who had travelled to an area affected by the outbreak and then infected family members, including children who had not been overseas recently, the ECDC said. There was no additional spread outside of the household. Belgium Belgium identified two cases in December, in a person who had recently travelled abroad and a child, according to the ECDC. The agency said it had not identified any high-risk contacts. Sweden In August 2024, Sweden became the first country outside of Africa to report a case of the new mpox strain. A patient sought medical care in Stockholm after being infected in a part of Africa where clade Ib mpox is spreading, Swedish health authorities said. It remains the country's only case.
