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The impact of Mauritius’ oil spill will be felt acutely by the island nation’s most vulnerable people, especially those who rely on the ocean for their livelihood. Rosabelle Boswell, who has researched racism, poverty and social change in Mauritius for more than 20 years, lays out her concerns about the potential consequences of the environmental disaster on the Creoles, descendants of African and Malagasy slaves. They settled along the
country’s coastline after the abolition of slavery in 1835 and remain a highly marginalised community.
Meanwhile, as the world waits for an effective COVID-19 vaccine, tough decisions will need to be made about who gets the first shots. A committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recently recommended prioritising older adults after giving the vaccine to first responders and health care workers. However, Dana Goldman and David Conti of USC and Matthew E. Kahn of Johns Hopkins, scholars who have spent decades studying health economics and epidemiology, argue this pandemic “requires a different model” – one that prioritises the young after essential workers.
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Moina Spooner
Commissioning Editor: East and Francophone Africa
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Citizens rallied to stem the oil tide.
Courtesy of Daphney Dupre
Rosabelle Boswell, Nelson Mandela University
Mauritius' oil spill highlights the plight of impoverished communities that live along the coastline.
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How should COVID-19 vaccine be prioritized?
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File
Dana Goldman, University of Southern California; David Conti, University of Southern California; Matthew E. Kahn, Johns Hopkins University
A team of experts argues that after taking care of essential workers, COVID-19 vaccinations should be given to the greatest transmitters of the virus, who are mostly the young.
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Health + Medicine
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Prof. Wolfgang Preiser, Stellenbosch University; Gert van Zyl, Stellenbosch University
Pooled testing, or group testing, has been used to diagnose relatively rare conditions, such as infection in blood donors. It could be used for universal early infant diagnosis and viral load testing.
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Irene Esteban, University of the Witwatersrand; Paloma de la Peña Alonso, University of the Witwatersrand
Before 200,000 years ago, close to the origin of our species, people preferred the use of broad-leaved grasses to build their beds and resting areas using ash layers underneath.
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Science + Technology
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Ilya Mandel, University of Birmingham
New discovery settles a wager between astrophysicists: black holes can merge repeatedly.
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Hanane Hadj-Moussa, Carleton University; Kenneth B Storey, Carleton University
Jumbo squids live in extreme environments. Tiny genetic modifications allow them to move back and forth from the surface of the ocean to its bottom, killing and eating everything in their path.
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En Français
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Rémi Pannequin, Université de Lorraine; Dominique Martinez, Université de Lorraine
Pour étudier un insecte en vol sans le perturber, des chercheurs ont conçu un « laboratoire sur câbles », qui se déplace avec lui.
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Eunice Okome Obiang, Université d'Angers
Grâce à l’IA, en prévoyant la survenue des incendies, on peut anticiper leur gestion et les maîtriser avant qu’ils ne dégénèrent, en tenant compte de leur rôle naturel de régulation de la végétation.
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