Africa

The World Health Organization is rapidly responding to a pair of new Ebola outbreaks in Africa. The two unrelated outbreaks, in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have both appeared in locations previously connected to Ebola flare-ups.

Scientists working in the West African country of Guinea have discovered a new orange-furred species of bat. The rare discovery came while conducting field surveys in the isolated Nimba Mountain range.

A long-lost species has been rediscovered alive and well. The Somali sengi, an insect-eating mammal that hasn’t been seen in over 40 years, has turned up in East Africa, with researchers snapping the first-ever photos and video of them in the wild.

Longtime readers may remember NLÉ’s floating school from 2013. The firm, led by architect Kunlé Adeyemi, is now working on another floating architecture project with a very similar design that will serve as a music and cultural venue.

After a long series of test runs and stints serving disaster-struck populations in Puerto Rico and Peru, Alphabet’s internet-beaming Project Loon balloons have taken on their first commercial task, providing thousands with connections in Kenya.

The human family tree is being shuffled around again. A new study suggests that Homo erectus existed 100,000 to 200,000 years earlier than previously thought, meaning they lived alongside species they were once thought to have descended from.

The Mount Sinai Kyabirwa Surgical Facility is a superb project in Uganda that provides locals with access to much-needed surgical treatment. The facility makes good use of off-grid technology, including solar panels and rainwater collection systems.

Combining studies of genetics, geology and climate history, scientists from Australia and South Africa say they’ve identified what could be called the “homeland” of modern humans – a vast, ancient wetland system in southern Africa.

​Rather than retiring from a day of elephant spotting to a four-walled hotel room with a window or two, safari guests of the South Africa’s Cheetah Plains Game Lodge will have plenty of opportunities for extracurricular connections with nature.

A clinical trial taking place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been terminated early due to the success of two drugs being investigated to treat the Ebola virus. The two drugs have displayed incredible survival rates, especially if given at the earliest stages of infection.

A genetically modified fungus designed to safely reduce malaria-spreading mosquito populations has been successfully tested outside of laboratory conditions in a simulated village environment. The trial decimated the mosquito population in 45 days paving the way for more trials in open environments.

The world’s first malaria vaccine is beginning a wide roll out commencing in Malawi before being introduced into Ghana and Kenya over the following weeks. This initial pilot program is aimed at children up to two years of age, with over one million expected to be immunized over the next three years.