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50% of you think that the South African Government has the potential to make the biggest impact on reducing carbon emissions in South Africa; |
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8% opted for the technology sector; and |
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42% opted for private industry. |
Shuttle Discovery landed for the last time at Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre on 9 March 2011. Discovery has completed 39 space voyages (its first being on 30 August 1984), has spent a total of 365 days in space and travelled more than 238 million kilometres during it’s lifetime.
Have you ever wanted to step right into a biotech lab and spend time with an expert who will answer your questions? Would you like to chat to a biotechnologist about career possibilities?
How exciting would it be to have a real life experience of visiting a forensics laboratory, watching how stem cells are used, seeing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) develop, or seeing how biofuels are produced. A 3D touch screen application has now made this possible! The application was developed by the Public Understanding of Biotechnology (PUB) programme, an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology that is managed by SAASTA.
PUB commissioned 3D filming of various biotechnology fields with experts explaining their work, in their actual workplace, and giving career and other information. The film was used to produce a touch screen application that will allow the user to navigate laboratories and other workplaces, accessing and navigating the information as needed – making this interface so innovative. The user will be able to experience the scientific environment without actually physically being there, and the information is accessed according to the level of growing curiosity, as opposed to being bombarded with information.
The biotechnology topics covered in the film are categorised as “worlds” that you enter. These “worlds” cover topics such as Indigenous Knowledge Systems, biofuels, stem cells, GMOs and DNA and the user can accompany the laboratory’s scientist to, for instance, a herb market, where medicinal plants are sourced. The user can experience the sights and sounds of such an actual market. The only sense absent from this experience is smell.
Four touch screen computers are currently being built to house the 3D presentations. SAASTA will do an informatics study on the touch screen material before the touch screens are sent to science centres, tertiary institutions or other organisations. “This will assist us in making the interface more user-friendly, while allowing us to determine exactly which audience groups to target, and what the most suitable venue will be for housing this innovative application,” says Lorenzo Raynard, SAASTA. “A wealth of science information will then only be a swipe of a finger away for all users of the machines.”