Category: Technology

  • Scientists discover why waistlines expand in middle age

    Scientists discover why waistlines expand in middle age

    It’s no secret that waistlines often expand in middle-age, but the problem isn’t strictly cosmetic. Belly fat accelerates aging and slows down metabolism, increasing risk for developing diabetes, heart problems and other chronic diseases.

    Now preclinical research by City of Hope, one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States and a leading research centre for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses, has uncovered the cellular culprit behind age-related abdominal fat, providing new insights into why midsections widen with middle age. Published in Science, the findings suggest a novel target for future therapies to prevent belly flab and extend our healthy lifespans.

    “People often lose muscle and gain body fat as they age — even when their body weight remains the same,” said Qiong (Annabel) Wang, Ph.D., the study’s co-corresponding authour and an associate professor of molecular and cellular endocrinology at City of Hope’s Arthur Riggs Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute.

    “We discovered aging triggers the arrival of a new type of adult stem cell and enhances the body’s massive production of new fat cells, especially around the belly.”

    In collaboration with the UCLA laboratory co-corresponding author Xia Yang, the scientists conducted a series of mouse experiments later validated on human cells. Wang and her colleagues focused on white adipose tissue (WAT), the fatty tissue responsible for age-related weight gain.

    While it’s well-known that fat cells grow larger with age, the scientists suspected that WAT also expanded by producing new fat cells, meaning it may have an unlimited potential to grow.

    To test their hypothesis, the researchers focused on adipocyte progenitor cells (APCs), a group of stem cells in WAT that evolve into fat cells. The City of Hope team first transplanted APCs from young and older mice into a second group of young mice.

    The APCs from the older animals rapidly generated a colossal amount of fat cells. When the team transplanted APCs from young mice into the older mice, however, the stem cells did not manufacture many new fat cells. The results confirmed that older APCs are equipped to independently make new fat cells, regardless of their host’s age.

    Using single-cell RNA sequencing, the scientists next compared APC gene activity in young and older mice. While barely active in young mice, APCs woke up with a vengeance in middle-aged mice and began pumping out new fat cells.

    “While most adult stem cells’ capacity to grow wanes with age, the opposite holds true with APCs — aging unlocks these cells’ power to evolve and spread,” said Adolfo Garcia-Ocana, the Ruth B. & Robert K. Lanman Endowed Chair in Gene Regulation & Drug Discovery Research and chair of the Department of Molecular & Cellular Endocrinology at City of Hope.

    “This is the first evidence that our bellies expand with age due to the APCs’ high output of new fat cells.”

    Aging also transformed the APCs into a new type of stem cell called committed preadipocytes, age-specific (CP-As). Arising in middle age, CP-A cells actively churn out new fat cells, explaining why older mice gain more weight. A signaling pathway called leukemia inhibitory factor receptor (LIFR) proved critical for promoting these CP-A cells to multiply and evolve into fat cells.

    “We discovered that the body’s fat-making process is driven by LIFR. While young mice don’t require this signal to make fat, older mice do. Our research indicates that LIFR plays a crucial role in triggering CP-As to create new fat cells and expand belly fat in older mice.”

    Using single-cell RNA sequencing on samples from people of various ages, Wang and her colleagues next studied APCs from human tissue in the lab.

    Again, the team also identified similar CP-A cells that had an increased number in middle-aged people’s tissue. Their discovery also illustrates that CP-As in humans have high capacity in creating new fat cells.

    “Our findings highlight the importance of controlling new fat-cell formation to address age-related obesity. Understanding the role of CP-As in metabolic disorders and how these cells emerge during aging could lead to new medical solutions for reducing belly fat and improving health and longevity,” said Wang.

    Future research will focus on tracking CP-A cells in animal models, observing CP-A cells in humans and developing new strategies that eliminate or block the cells to prevent age-related fat gain.

  • Humanoid robots stride into the future with world’s first half-marathon

    Humanoid robots stride into the future with world’s first half-marathon

    Step by mechanical step, dozens of humanoid robots took to the streets of Beijing early on Saturday, joining thousands of their flesh-and-blood counterparts in a world-first half marathon showcasing China’s drive to lead the global race in cutting-edge technology.

    The 21-kilometre (13-mile) event held in the Chinese capital’s E-Town — a state-backed high-tech manufacturing hub — was billed as a groundbreaking effort to test the limits of bipedal robots in real-world conditions.

    At the crack of the starter’s gun, the robots began taking their first tentative steps as the Chinese pop song “I Believe” blared out from loudspeakers.

    Curious human runners lined the roadside, phones in hand ready to photograph each machine as it began the race.

    One smaller-sized android fell over and lay on the ground for several minutes, before getting up by itself to loud cheers.

    Another, powered by propellers, veered across the starting line before crashing into a barrier and knocking over an engineer.

    Crossing the finish line first despite a mid-race fall was the tallest droid and one of the heaviest in the competition. At 180 centimetres (5.9 feet) tall and weighing 52 kilograms (114.6 pounds), the metallic black “Tiangong Ultra” finished in two hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds.

    The men’s and women’s winners, both from Ethiopia, finished in one hour, two minutes and 36 seconds, and in one hour, 11 minutes and seven seconds respectively, according to state media.

    Tang Jian, chief technology officer of the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center which developed “Tiangong”, told reporters the company was “very happy with the results”.

    “We had set three goals for ourselves: first, to win the championship; second, to complete the entire half marathon with a single robot — a very important goal for us; and third, to finish the race in under three hours,” he said.

    “We collected real-world running data from professional athletes and trained the robot so that its gait, cadence, stride length, and various postures could match those of professional runners as closely as possible.”

    The Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, first established by the government, is now owned by Chinese tech firms Xiaomi Robotics and UBTech Robotics as well as two state-owned companies, according to business data provider Tianyancha.

    Enthusiastic onlookers cheered the robots on from the sidelines.

    “My daughter… got up really early and asked to come watch the robot marathon,” spectator Huang Xiaoyu told AFP, holding her child.

    “It was quite a breathtaking experience — we were able to see some of the most cutting-edge robots in our country.”

    – Tech race –

    Around 20 teams from across China participated in the competition, with robots ranging from 75 to 180 centimetres tall and weighing up to 88 kilograms.

    Some jogged autonomously, while others were guided remotely by their engineers. Robots and human participants ran on separate tracks.

    “Getting onto the race track might seem like a small step for humans, but it’s a giant leap for humanoid robots,” Liang Liang, Beijing E-Town’s management committee deputy director, told AFP.

    Engineers said the goal was to test the performance and reliability of the androids — emphasising that finishing the race, not winning it, was the main objective.

    “There are very few opportunities for the whole industry to run at full speed over such a long distance or duration,” Cui Wenhao, a 28-year-old engineer at Noetix Robotics, told AFP.

    “It’s a serious test for the battery, the motors, the structure — even the algorithms.”

    Kong Yichang, a 25-year-old engineer from DroidUp, said the race would help to “lay a foundation for a whole series of future activities involving humanoid robots”.

    China, the world’s second-largest economy, has sought to assert its dominance in the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics, positioning itself as a direct challenger to the United States.

    In January, Chinese start-up DeepSeek drew attention with a chatbot it claimed was developed more cost-effectively than its US counterparts.

    Dancing humanoid robots also captivated audiences during a televised Chinese New Year gala.

  • Tesla’s EU sales fall 49% in first two months of 2025

    Tesla’s EU sales fall 49% in first two months of 2025

    European sales of Tesla electric cars dropped 49 percent in January-February compared with the same period a year earlier, the ACEA manufacturers’ association said Tuesday.

    Ageing models are one factor behind the plunge so far this year, but e-vehicle clients may also be refusing to buy in protest of Tesla’s billionaire owner Elon Musk since he became a key supporter of US President Donald Trump.

    Musk has been leading a vocal and divisive cost-cutting drive at the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

    Several Tesla dealerships around the United States have been vandalised in recent weeks and the company’s stock price has plummeted over the past month.

    New Tesla registrations in the European Union fell to 19,046 in the first two months of the year, giving the company a market share of just 1.1 percent, the ACEA said.

    In February alone, Tesla registrations were down 47 percent at 11,743.

    The sales drop came even as overall electric vehicle sales jumped 28.4 percent over the first two months of this year to 255,489 — for an EU market share of 15.2 percent.

    But for ACEA director general Sigrid de Vries, “The latest new car registration figures confirm that market demand for battery electric vehicles remains below the level needed for the transition to zero-emission mobility to progress.”

    She cited a need for tax and purchasing incentives for clients and investments in recharging stations, at a time when the EU is preparing to ease emission reduction targets for struggling European automakers.

    Hybrid-electric vehicles continued to be the biggest market segment in the first two months of the year, rising to 594,059 registrations — for a 35.2 percent market share.

    That outpaced both petrol and diesel models, with market shares of 29.1 percent and 9.7 percent in February.

  • Lagos to close PWD rail crossing May 1

    Lagos to close PWD rail crossing May 1

    The Lagos State Government says the PWD rail crossing will be closed effective from Thursday, May 1 to ensure safety of commuters.

    The Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Oluwaseun Osiyemi, said this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.

    NAN recalls that the crossing has become rampant for collisions between train and vehicles crossing the rail line into Ikeja and Maryland.

    “Following a recent survey conducted by the Ministry of Transportation after the commencement of operations on the Red Line Train Service, it has become necessary to implement proactive measures to ensure the safety and security of commuters along the PWD route.

    “In line with this, the Lagos State Government has announced the closure of the rail crossing at the PWD axis to vehicular traffic, effective from May 1.

    “Motorists are advised to use alternative routes via Ikeja or Airport roads to reach their destinations,” he said.

    Reiterating the need for the closure, Osiyemi, stated that the decision was made to prevent further accidents along the corridor.

    He assured the public that the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) officers would be deployed to the adjoining roads to manage vehicular movement and reduce inconvenience to road users.

  • Calls on NCC to block porn sites

    Calls on NCC to block porn sites

    We are fully on the same page with the call by the House of Representatives on the need to block all porn sites because of the damage porn is wreaking on the fabric of our society.

    Last week, the House directed the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, the industry regulator, to shut down porn hosting websites and severely sanction providers if they refuse to comply. This resolution was sequel to a motion brought by Dalhatu Tafoki (APC, Faskari, Kankara/Sabuwa Federal Constituency, Katsina), who argued that porn is a danger to our society.

    Porn brings sexual intimacy – an act culturally designed to be consummated behind closed doors – to the public eye. It is accessible to all, including minors. The dehumanisation involved in porn is such that every barrier of indecency has been broken, thus reducing human beings, especially women, to creatures less respectable than animals which usually live according to the laws of nature.

    Porn encourages the gullible to experiment with sexual practices which damage the real-life intimacy that promotes lifelong bonds between couples. It is responsible for the spread of unnatural practices such gay and “transgender” lifestyles, loss of interest in the marriage institution and weakening of family bonds which negatively impact society.

    It leads to addiction and development of compulsive behaviours which disrupt relationships and personal lives. Addiction can deteriorate to mental disorders, depression and lower self-esteem, especially among the youth. It promotes harmful conceptions and undermines healthy relationships and sexual ethics.

    Porn is one of the hazardous effects of perverted Western “civilisation” which we in this part of the world embraced without government taking steps to protect the people. Many countries in Asia are very proactive in controlling porn sites and in so doing, have succeeded in preserving the sanctity of their cultures and traditional lifestyles.

    These include mostly Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Indonesia and others. Also, China, North Korea and Singapore are off-limits to the porn pandemic. Recently, a high court in Uttarakhand, India, ordered the Ministry of Electronic and IT to block 827 porn hosting websites.

    We call for similar measures to be taken to protect our people. We strongly debunk the argument that banning porn sites is akin to violating the “freedom of speech” of citizens or associating porn site blockage to breaching of “freedom of the press” as insinuated in some quarters. There is absolutely no association between porn and the mass media or even social media.

    We must be prudent and decide what foreign influence to adopt and which to reject, for the good of our society. Porn is a virus that has destroyed the morality of the Western societies. It is threatening to damage ours.

    Government has a duty to protect our people!

  • NIGCOMSAT Hackathon to empower students, local innovators in North-West

    NIGCOMSAT Hackathon to empower students, local innovators in North-West

    To nurture innovation in North Western Nigeria, and foster creative solutions to real-world challenges using space technology, the Nigerian Communications Satellite, NIGCOMSAT, Ltd. is set to launch a Regional Space-Tech Hackathon and VSAT Training Programme in Jigawa State.

    The event, scheduled for April 7 – 11, 2025 in Dutse, capital of the State, aims to empower participants with the skills to solve real-world challenges using space technology.

    The winning team from the hackathon will earn a spot in the prestigious NIGCOMSAT Accelerator Programme Cohort 2025, giving them further opportunities to refine and implement their projects.

    Also, 100 young individuals will receive training on the installation of Very Small Aperture Terminal, VSAT, systems, which are widely used to provide reliable broadband connectivity in remote areas.

    The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NIGCOMSAT Ltd., Mrs. Jane Nkechi Egerton-Idehen, announced that the five-day hackathon will give participants ample time to identify community challenges, develop ideas, and build prototype solutions using advanced satellite technologies. Participants will also receive mentorship.

    She added that “by equipping and certifying these participants with technical expertise to install, configure, and maintain VSAT systems, they will gain a competitive edge in the job market and have the opportunity to explore lucrative career and entrepreneurial opportunities in the ICT sector.”

    Recall that the North-East Regional Hackathon and VSAT Training was held in Yola, Adamawa State, in February. The event witnessed an impressive turnout and laid the foundation for this series of regional engagements.

  • Telegram founder Durov allowed to temporarily leave France

    Telegram founder Durov allowed to temporarily leave France

    Telegram founder Pavel Durov has been allowed to temporarily leave France, where he is charged with multiple infractions linked to allegedly enabling organised crime, sources told AFP.

    “He departed France this morning,” a source familiar with the case told AFP, adding Durov had left with the authorities’ permission.

    According to another source, an investigating judge had authorised him to leave France for “several weeks.”

    A third source said Durov had departed for Dubai.

    A Telegram spokeswoman declined to comment when reached by AFP, saying the company would later issue a statement.

    The investigating judge accepted Durov’s request to modify conditions of his supervision several days ago, said the source close to the case.

    Durov, now 40, was sensationally detained at Le Bourget airport outside Paris in August 2024 and charged with a litany of violations related to the popular messaging app he founded. He had been banned from leaving the country.

    After days of questioning, he was charged with several counts of failing to curb extremist and terrorist content and released on a five-million-euro ($5.6 million) bail.

    Durov — who holds Russian, French and United Arab Emirates passports — initially criticised his arrest, but he has since announced steps appearing to bow to Paris’s demands.

    In January, the Telegram founder told investigating magistrates in France that he “realised the seriousness of all the allegations”, according to a source.

  • Trump says will buy a Tesla to show support for Musk

    Trump says will buy a Tesla to show support for Musk

    US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will buy a “brand new Tesla” to show support for his top campaign donor and advisor, Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

    “To Republicans, Conservatives, and all great Americans, Elon Musk is ‘putting it on the line’ in order to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform just after midnight on Tuesday.

    “But the Radical Left Lunatics, as they often do, are trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the World’s great automakers, and Elon’s ‘baby,’ in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for,” Trump said.

    “I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American.

    “Why should he be punished for putting his tremendous skills to work in order to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN???”

    Musk, the world’s richest person, responded on his X platform, thanking the president.

    Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has empowered Musk to slash federal government spending and agencies’ workforces as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

    But DOGE’s cost-cutting campaign has faced increasing resistance, including protests, court rulings and some pressure from lawmakers.

    While Musk enjoys Trump’s confidence, polling shows the tech billionaire is deeply unpopular among ordinary Americans, and his cuts to government budgets have sparked angry confrontations between Republicans and their constituents at town halls.

    And Tesla investors have feared boycotts and buyer backlash over Musk’s actions and close ties to Trump.

    Some owners of Tesla’s pioneering electric cars have voiced buyers’ remorse over Musk’s foray into politics, and his sharing of conspiracy theories online.

    Unhappy Tesla owners have even slapped bumper stickers on their vehicles claiming they had purchased them “before Elon went crazy.”

    – Slumping shares –

    Tesla shares closed down more than 15 percent on Monday, as uncertainty over Trump’s import tariffs and threats have left US financial markets in turmoil.

    The tech-heavy Nasdaq tanked four percent owing in part to the plunge in high-flying titans including Apple, Amazon and Tesla.

    Tesla has also seen its sales drop across Europe in recent weeks following Musk’s controversial support for far-right groups, including Germany’s AfD during the country’s recent election campaign.

    Tesla sales in Germany — Europe’s biggest auto market — plunged more than 76 percent year-on-year in February, official data showed. Overall sales in the European Union almost halved, on year, in January.

    In early March, a dozen Teslas were torched at a dealership in France in what authorities treated as an arson attack, and the firm’s facilities have also been vandalized in the United States.

    Tesla has lost more than one-third of its market value since mid-December as Musk deepens his association with Trump.

    Meanwhile, Musk said his X platform was hit Monday by a major cyberattack, raising questions as to whether the politically divisive billionaire is being targeted or his decision to gut staff at what was once Twitter is haunting the social network.

  • Nigeria, UK deepen cybersecurity partnership

    Nigeria, UK deepen cybersecurity partnership

    The United Kingdom’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) says it has successfully concluded its Cybersecurity Inward Trade Mission to Nigeria, strengthening cybersecurity collaboration between the two nations.

    The British High Commission in Nigeria said this in a statement on Friday in Lagos.

    It said the trade mission which held in Abuja and Lagos, fostered trade relations between the UK and Nigeria, promoting a resilient digital ecosystem in the country.

    The commission said the mission brought together, 13 UK experts and Nigerian stakeholders, to build capacity and promote UK cybersecurity solutions.

    It said the key highlights from the trade mission  included meaningful discussions and engagements between the UK and Nigerian stakeholders,  to strengthen cybersecurity partnerships and pave way for potential collaborations.

    According to the commission, it is  an opportunity to highlight its advanced cybersecurity solutions and how it can be tailored to tackle Nigeria’s unique challenges, while also fostering knowledge sharing and capacity building.

    Commenting, the Country Director,  UK’s Department for International Trade, Mark Smithson said: “The UK and Nigeria share a strong partnership in cybersecurity, driving innovation, resilience and economic growth.

    “This trade mission highlights the UK’s world-class expertise, while fostering collaborations that support Nigeria’s digital transformation.

    “Together, we are building a safer and more prosperous digital future for both our nations.”

    Also speaking, Abubakar Saad, the National Cybersecurity Coordinator at the Office of the National Security Adviser, said  the partnership  had been highly productive and mutually rewarding.

    He noted that through intelligence sharing, knowledge exchange, capacity building and strategic collaboration, both countries had strengthened their collective resilience against evolving threats.

    “We remain committed to deepening this engagement, leveraging our shared expertise to enhance cybersecurity governance, combat cybercrime, and secure our digital ecosystem for the benefit of both nations,” Saad said.

    Mr Haruna Jalo-Waziri, the Managing Director, Central Securities Clearing System Plc, said cybersecurity had  become a cornerstone of economic stability, national security and global interconnectedness in an era defined by rapid digital transformation.

    “Therefore, just like cybercriminals collaborate, governments and the private sector must collaborate to stay ahead of emerging threats, “he said.

    Jalo-Waziri lauded the efforts of the UK and Nigerian governments aimed at securing digital future, through the cybersecurity cooperation agreement.

    He noted that the collaboration would push Nigeria toward a thriving digital economy.

  • Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone

    Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone

    On March 7, 1876, 29-year-old Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for his revolutionary new invention: the telephone.

    The Scottish-born Bell worked in London with his father, Melville Bell, who developed Visible Speech, a written system used to teach speaking to the deaf. In the 1870s, the Bells moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where the younger Bell found work as a teacher at the Pemberton Avenue School for the Deaf. He later married one of his students, Mabel Hubbard.

    While in Boston, Bell became very interested in the possibility of transmitting speech over wires. Samuel F.B. Morse’s invention of the telegraph in 1843 had made nearly instantaneous communication possible between two distant points. The drawback of the telegraph, however, was that it still required hand-delivery of messages between telegraph stations and recipients, and only one message could be transmitted at a time. Bell wanted to improve on this by creating a “harmonic telegraph,” a device that combined aspects of the telegraph and record player to allow individuals to speak to each other from a distance.

    With the help of Thomas A. Watson, a Boston machine shop employee, Bell developed a prototype. In this first telephone, sound waves caused an electric current to vary in intensity and frequency, causing a thin, soft iron plate–called the diaphragm–to vibrate. These vibrations were transferred magnetically to another wire connected to a diaphragm in another, distant instrument. When that diaphragm vibrated, the original sound would be replicated in the ear of the receiving instrument. Three days after filing the patent, the telephone carried its first intelligible message—the famous “Mr. Watson, come here, I need you”—from Bell to his assistant.