8News Investigates: Unfit to Breed [Update]

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RICHMOND (WRIC) - On a frigid day at the Capitol with icicles forming outside, there's renewed hope of a warming inside the halls of power towards compensating the living victims of Virginia's efforts to create a super race.

"This is something that has to be rectified not just with soothing words but with actions," says Del. Bob Marshall.

It was the actions of the state that robbed now 86-year-old Lewis Reynolds of the ability to have children.

"I only wonder what kind of a father I would have made if I had a family, but I do not have one," Reynolds says.

The retired Marine Corps Sgt. Is one of more than 7,000 Virginians forcibly sterilized between 1924 and 1979 under the Commonwealth's Eugencial Sterilization Act, which was based on the now discredited science of eugenics.

Eugenics had the stated goal of riding society of those considered defective, those whose offspring might burden society - those with "unfit human traits...

Virginia law, declared "insanity, idiocy, imbecility, epilepsy, and crime" could be influenced by heredity and allowed the compulsory sterilization of those confined to state institutions. As a child, Reynolds displayed signs of epilepsy and was sterilized by court order.

"I can't look him in the face and say we're sorry, go away and all things are well,' Marshall says. "They're not all well and that's why we're here today,"

Conservative Republican Bob Marshall and liberal Democrat Patrick Hope typically don't agree on much.

"We stand in front of sundials and dispute the time, but on this we have no difference," Marshall says.

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8News Investigates: Unfit to Breed [Update]

U of C student wins national elevator business pitch award

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CALGARY - A University of Calgary student has won a national award in the Next 36 Elevator Pitch contest.

Adil Vegdanis SaveIt! idea - an electronic payment system for the eco-friendly consumer - captured the contest which asked post-secondary students to submit an elevator pitch for an innovative business that can be started with a maximum of $100,000 in funding in nine months or less.

SaveIt! gives consumers the option to have refunds from their recycled beverage containers directly deposited into their bank accounts or accrued for a year-end lump sum.

The 23-year-old Vegdani is in his third year at the University of Calgary studying economics and management with a focus on applied energy and sustainability.

Really the idea came to me after doing some research into the waste management industry, he said. What I discovered is that human beings are inherently wasteful . . . I think its more prevalent in Western society. People understand the concept of reduce, recycle. However I dont think we fully appreciate the magnitude of waste we create every day.

His idea is for a smartphone application coupled with a laser technology system.

The pitch needed to be a maximum of 100 words and applicants had a chance to win $2,500. The entries were judged on a combination of creativity, originality, content and the ability to thoughtfully present the idea in a direct and succinct manner.

The contest was presented by StudentAwards, The Next 36 and the Trajectory Brand.

Rob Henderson, president and chief executive of yconic, the parent company of StudentAwards, said the idea was to promote an entrepreneurial culture.

We wanted to capture some of the great ideas in 30 seconds or less, he said. Now the thing about an entrepreneur or even being a great business person being able to write down and consolidate and be very clear with your ideas in 100 words or less is an extreme talent which is why we wanted to base the whole competition on that criteria.

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U of C student wins national elevator business pitch award

Turbocharging and advanced hybrid tech coming to Formula 1 for 2014

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Unlike trickle down economics which forgot to trickle down, Formula One has been known to develop race technology that has meandered its way into the mainstream in consumer form. McLarens carbon fiber monocoque, albeit an expensive design innovation reserved for high end exotics, was the direct result of F1 engineering. For the 2014 season, new hybrid technologies and requirements designed to make F1 racing more energized and eco-friendly are being introduced.

For 2014 not only will technology and energy recovery systems play an integral role in the cars power makeup, but the engine size itself will be significantly reduced. In 2013, F1 teams were allowed a 2.4-liter naturally-aspirated V8 engine with power output of 750 bhp, but for the 2014 season, engines will lose two cylinders and almost a liter of displacement. At 1.6 liters, the new twin turbocharged V6 engines will generate 600 bhp, down 150 hp from the previous season. However, the loss of power through the gas powerplant will now be subsidized by new Energy Recover Systems (ERS).

The new ERS system for F1 is a next generation uptake on the previous Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS). For those unfamiliar with KERS, it involves capturing waste energy during braking, which is then transformed into electrical energy. When activated, energy stored in a small capacitor-like device provided teams with a sort of electric nitrous oxide shot to the tune of 60kW (80 bhp) for up to 6.67 seconds per lap. With the new ERS system for 2014, drivers will not only have access to longer power bursts of 33 seconds, but double the power to the tune of 120 kW (160 bhp). An electronic rear brake control system will also be introduced into all cars in order to cater for the extra power generated by the ERS system during braking.

The ERS system will also employ not one but two energy recovery sources. Regenerative braking technology for the season will remain relatively the same with minor updates. The Motor Generator Unit - Kinetic (MGU-K) in partnership with the Energy Store (ES), takes braking and heat energy from the brake rotors during the race, then converts it back out into the system in the form of that 160 hp electric burst through the generator unit. One of the main drawbacks to this system is that in the event of a breakdown, teams would lose a significant chunk of available power. Unlike V8 systems from last year, where teams still had reasonable power to continue and remain competitive, the loss of KERS and 160 hp in 2014 would most likely translate into a DNF (did not finish).

But all is not lost, as there is another ERS device on board to supplement the power-hungry diet. The second addition for 2014 is the introduction of a thermal capture device. The similarly named Motor Generator Unit - Heat (MGU-H), attached directly to the turbocharger shaft, captures exhaust heat and coverts it, like the kinetic system, into electrical energy. This capturing device has the ability to dump power straight into the system on demand or store it in the Energy Store for later use. When activated, the MGU-H gives drivers another electric power shot to the drive wheels via the dedicated generator unit. And unlike the MGU-K, the thermal recovery unit can provide unlimited supplemental power throughout the race. For 2014, Formula 1 has limited energy recovery from the MGU-K to 2 megajoules (MJ) per lap with the ability to release stored energies to a maximum of 4 MJ per lap.

Another fancy power management trick is the way in which the MGU-H thermal unit manages turbo speed. Contrary to a conventional turbocharger system where a wastegate is used to vent out excess engine pressures derived from the turbocharger, the new unit actually controls the speed of the turbocharger impeller. The ability to speed up or slow down the turbo allows teams to not only better manage wastegate pressures in the engine but to spin up the turbocharger low in the rev cycle. As boost is enabled sooner, power comes on quicker, and that power procrastination thing known as turbo-lag essentially disappears from the equation.

Other technical changes and challenges for teams this year will include a fuel limit of 100 kg (220 lb) per race. For 2013, teams on average used around 160 kg (353 lb) during a normal race. This means that teams will need to carefully consider where and when the ERS system is engaged. Since hybrid technology brings with it the unfortunate side effect of weight gain, Formula 1 teams will now be able to plump up their cars from a minimum weight of 642 kg (1,415 lb) to 690 kg (1,521 lb). The cars exhaust systems will also change from a two-pipe setup to a single pipe, which according to F1, must be angled upwards to prevent exhaust flow from being used for aerodynamic effect. The entire exercise should be interesting to follow, to see how teams react to the new hybrid technologies and whether or not faster laps will be a result.

According to Renault, a typical lap using the new ERS systems will look something like this:

Under acceleration the internal combustion engine (ICE) will be using its reserve of fuel. The turbocharger will be rotating at maximum speed (100,000 rpm). The MGU-H, acting as a generator, will recover energy from the exhaust and transfer it to the MGU-K (or battery). The MGU-K, which is connected to the crankshaft of the ICE, will act as a motor and deliver additional power to pull harder or save fuel, dependent on the chosen strategy. At the end of the straight the driver lifts off for braking for a corner, at which point the MGU-K converts to a generator and recovers energy from the braking event. Under braking the rotational speed of the turbo drops due to the lack of energy in the exhaust which leads to turbo lag. To prevent this lag, the MGU-H acts as a motor for a very short time to instantaneously accelerate the turbo to its optimal speed, offering the driver perfect driveability.

Engine development will also be frozen during the season, and only five Power Units will be permitted per driver for the year. The 2014 Formula One season begins March 14 in Melbourne, Australia.

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Turbocharging and advanced hybrid tech coming to Formula 1 for 2014

ECO forum focuses on state’s environmental ‘rollback’

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Published: Thursday, January 23, 2014 at 10:42 p.m. Last Modified: Thursday, January 23, 2014 at 10:42 p.m.

About 50 residents attended a forum Thursday to hear a panel of experts discuss what two of three panelists characterized as North Carolinas systematic rollback of environmental protections.

Sponsored by the Environmental and Conservation Organization, the public forum at the City Operations Center featured N.C. Rep. Chuck McGrady, Senior Attorney D.J. Gerken of the Southern Environmental Law Center and Co-Director Julie Mayfield of WNC Alliance.

The speakers focused primarily on the impact of three bills that became state law last year: a 59-page regulatory reform act, a bill to prevent local governments from updating building codes more than every six years, and a bill sponsored by McGrady to regionalize water and sewer service.

Most troubling to the panelists as a whole was House Bill 74, a catch-all that McGrady a past national president and board member of the Sierra Club said started as a two-page bill and quickly morphed in the Senate to include everything from hog lagoons to carbon monoxide detectors.

One provision of the massive bill is that local governments can only adopt environmental ordinances stricter than state law by unanimous vote, Mayfield said.

If you pay attention to local politics, you might know that getting a unanimous vote on anything is difficult, she said. Getting a unanimous vote on an environmental regulation is almost impossible.

The regulatory reform bill also requires that the states Environmental Management Commission review all state environmental regulations and re-adopt them within an aggressive timeframe or the rules will automatically expire, Mayfield said.

We really dont know how this is going to play out, but there is a huge amount at risk here, she said. Allowing rules to expire will be easier, she said, because the legislature passed a bill firing all the EMC members who were appointed by previous governors and allowed new members with greater ties to polluting industries.

Potentially, theres a little bit of the fox guarding the hen house here, Mayfield said.

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ECO forum focuses on state’s environmental ‘rollback’

Deathlok and Lorelei joining ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’

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Jan. 24 (UPI) -- ABC's Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is bringing on two more signature characters.

Fictional cyborg Deathlok, and Lorelei, a villain from Thors home of Asgard, will join the superhero series when it returns to the small screen in February. S.H.I.E.L.D. executive producer Jeph Loeb made the announcement Thursday on the set of the show.

Weve been leaving breadcrumbs along the way, Loeb said regarding Deathlok. This is a major Marvel character appearing on TV, on film for the first time.

Before the season went on its winter hiatus, J. August Richards's character Mike Peterson lost a leg and was given a high-tech eye, both actions were signs the he would soon transform into the infamous cyborg Deathlok.

"There's an awful lot of enhancements that he'll have. His speed, his strength and he's well-known for his cybernetic eye," Loeb said.

As for Thor's Lorelei, who will be played by Elena Satine, Loeb revealed that she'd be coming to "hunt down another Marvel character."

"Lorelei is from Asgard. She's a beautiful redhead who has the ability to sway men's minds. She has this in her own unique way of speaking," he added.

Deathlok will make his first appearance on S.H.I.E.L.D. during the show's Feb. 4 episode.

[TV Guide] [Deadline]

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Deathlok and Lorelei joining 'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'

Vacation rental the Beaches of Panama City, Florida – Regency Towers Resort – Video

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Vacation rental the Beaches of Panama City, Florida - Regency Towers Resort
Listed on http://www.PCBVacation.com: This is a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom private vacation rental which can accommodate up to 7 people and has direct Gulf of Mexico and...

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Vacation rental the Beaches of Panama City, Florida - Regency Towers Resort - Video

Foreign media slam Fraser Island beaches as ‘dangerous’

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Topics: beach, danger, dangerous, editors picks, fraser island, media

FRASER Coast beaches are getting served negative publicity around the world as the foreign press decides it's unsafe to venture in for a swim in our seas.

The United Kingdom'sTelegraph, the United States' Huffington Post and one of Sweden's top newspapers, Expressen, have slammed our sandy shores as dangerous, listing us as one of the most dangerous beaches globally.

"The seas surrounding Fraser Island, to the south-east of Queensland, are a no-go zone," the Telegraph published.

"That is unless you mind swimming with sharks and jellyfish, while battling strong rip currents.

"Head inland and you're likely to bump into some of the world's deadliest spiders, the odd saltwater crocodile, as well as dingoes, which are known to occasionally attack humans."

The Expressen of Sweden gave equally uninviting perspectives on our native fauna.

"The water outside Queensland at the Australian east coast is not to be trifled with," they wrote in their list of the world's 14 most dangerous beaches. Especially the area around Fraser Island is crawling with dangerous aquatic animals. Sharks, poisonous octopus but above all, sorts of poisonous jellyfish."

Expressen said between October and April, jellyfish coast along northern Australia and Queensland beaches, with many of them cordoned off due to stinger risks.

"The jellyfish harvests up to 200 lives a year," they said.

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Foreign media slam Fraser Island beaches as 'dangerous'

Great whites frolic near beaches

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A hooked juvenile white shark breaching while being led away from the surf zone for tagging off Bennetts Beach in 2011. Photo: CSIRO

Up to 250 juvenile great white sharks are living off the NSW coast and spending a lot of time off beaches in depths of one to five metres, CSIRO research has found.

Tagged great whites have been tracked swimming along the coast from Lake Macquarie to Seal Rocks. These sharks are ''abundant along a section of coastal waters in the Port Stephens region'' from about September to January each year, the study says.

The sharks are residing along three beaches: northern Stockton, which is south of the Port Stephens estuary, and Bennetts (also known as Hawks Nest Beach) and Mungo Brush to its north. Satellite tracking showed juvenile white pointers occupied waters from inshore to depths of 120 metres, about 25 kilometres offshore.

A juvenile white shark with a tag on the dorsal fin, ready for release. Photo: CSIRO

''They spend a significant amount of time in the surf zone in water depths of one to five metres, where they are readily observable and frequently encountered by the public,'' a CSIRO report said.

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Research in 2010 and 2011, based on tagging and monitoring, estimated the sharks spend ''an average of 36.5 per cent'' of their time off Port Stephens in ''near-shore waters including the surf zone''.

In 2012-13, great whites were recorded spending 20 per cent of their time in the surf zone.

''This study provides further confirmation the Port Stephens region is a key nursery area for juvenile white sharks in eastern Australia,'' the report said.

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Great whites frolic near beaches

No dogs on the beach, Volusia County Council votes

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Last Updated: Thursday, January 23, 2014, 6:17 PM DELAND --

The "no dogs allowed" signs on most of Volusia County's beaches will remain.

The county council on Thursday voted against a pilot program to allow leashed dogs on all of the beaches.

Councilman Josh Wagner pushed the pilot program, which would allow dogs on most beaches between 4 p.m. and 9 a.m. The program would have lasted three months, with the council given the option of extending or ending the program.

There was some concern about enforcement. Dogs would not only have to be leashed, but owners would also be required to pick up after them.

When we reported this story earlier this month, 47 percent said they would be in favor of allowing dogs on the beaches, while 42 percent said they were against. About 11 percent had no opinion.

There are two dog beaches in Volusia County -- Smyrna Dunes Park and Lighthouse Point Park.

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No dogs on the beach, Volusia County Council votes

Volusia County says no to dogs on beaches

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DAYTONA BEACH Dogs wont be allowed on Volusia County Beaches after all.

The Volusia County Council said no Thursday to a proposal to temporarily allow leashed dogs on the beaches. The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports discussion about the issue touched on parasites, bites and possible confrontations between dog owners and people who would rather visit a dog-free beach.

You would have a steaming heap of dog excrement for your next tourist to step on and have it ooze between his toes, Councilman Doug Daniels said after the debate ended. What is he going to tell people back home? That is not a good picture.

Two weeks ago, the council agreed 6-1 to draft a test ordinance that would have allowed leashed dogs on everywhere on the beach. It would have been in place for up to three months.

But on Thursday, after hearing from the countys health department, federal officials and residents, the council decided to ditch the proposal. The vote was 5-2. County Chair Jason Davis and Councilman Josh Wagner, who proposed the idea, were the dissenting voters. Wagner has pursued a plan to allow dogs on the beach for five years.

The county was already gearing up to implement the plan. County Manager Jim Dinneen said enforcement would have been strict. Someone caught not cleaning up after their dog or letting it run unleashed would have been fined. The county had suggested a fine of at least $50, with no warnings.

Several councilmembers feared turning Volusia Countys beach patrol into a puppy patrol.

Unless were willing to be known as the dog Gestapo down there ... I dont think thats a direction we want to go, said Councilwoman Deb Denys.

County health director Dr. Bonnie Sorensen recommended against the proposal due to threats of hookworms, roundworms and even rabies.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service opposed the plan based on its potential impact on shorebirds and sea turtle nests.

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Volusia County says no to dogs on beaches

Continental Telescope Array Could Usher Astronomy Revolution in Africa

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Able to detect light from the first stars just 380,000 years after the big bang, the Square Kilometer Array will be the world's biggest radio observatory and promises to spur science and economic development in Africa

Thousands of radio telescopes are being built in Africa as part of the Square Kilometer Array, to be the world's largest network of radio telescopes, which could help usher in a new age of astronomy in Africa.

Scientists are predicting an astronomy renaissance on the African continent in coming years, thanks in part to a giant radio telescope array being built there. But the road to cosmic cachet is not an easy one, and African science advocates are scrambling to take full advantage of the opportunities coming their way. "Astronomy really is about to explode across the African continent," astronomer Kartik Sheth of the U.S. National Radio Astronomy Observatory said January 9 at the 223rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society near Washington, D.C. The challenge, he said, is to make sure African astronomers benefit from the surge of facilities being built in their midst. "We want to build long-term sustainable collaborations that are mutually beneficial to the U.S. and to Africa. We dont want brain and data drain from Africa to the U.S." The biggest game-changer on the continent will be the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), the world's largest network of radio telescopes designed to survey the sky faster than any instrument before it. Roughly 3,000 radio disheshaving a combined total surface equal to a light-collecting area of about a square kilometerwill be spread across vast distances to offer a resolution akin to a single dish encompassing the whole span. "SKA will be the premier project of the coming decades, completely revolutionizing radio astronomy," said Ted Williams, director of the South African Astronomical Observatory. "The largest part of the SKA will be sited in Africa, and it's continent-wide, extending across eight African countries:" Botswana, Ghana, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia. A smaller portion of the project will be built in Australia. South Africa, headquarters for the African contingent of the project, mounted a competitive campaign to bring the observatory to Africa, and the news in 2012 that its bid had won the lion's share of the project was unexpected to many. "We kind of took them by surprise but we did our homework very well," says Takalani Nemaungani, an engineer at South Africa's Department of Science and Technology who led his country's SKA lobbying campaign. Nemaungani sold the SKA committee on South Africa's clear skies (necessary for precision radio astronomy), the promised political support of its president and cabinetwho have passed legislation to strictly limit the amount of radio noise in the remote site areaand its expertise in engineering and infrastructure. Construction of the $1.6-billion observatory is due to begin in 2016 and will be added to in phases, with the first observations to take place in 2019 and full operation by 2024. South Africa's apartheid past posed a special challenge. Until the race-separation policy ended in 1994 the country faced local unrest and international opprobrium. Trade sanctions imposed on South Africa by other countries, especially the U.S., hampered the nation's economy but resulted in some unintended consequences in boosting homegrown technologies. "Because of the embargoes and sanctions here, there were technologies and expertise we had to build for ourselves to sustain the country," Nemaungani says. For example, the international oil embargo against South Africa enacted in 1987 forced the nation to become the world leader in technology to convert coal to oil. Still, Africa's goal of astronomical ascendancy faces serious challenges, including many African countries' high levels of unemployment, poverty, poor education and lack of investment in science. According the UNESCO 2010 Science Report (pdf), scientific development in sub-Saharan Africa faces "poor infrastructure development, a small pool of researchers and minimal scientific output. The continent has failed to invest in science, technology and innovation (STI) as drivers of economic growth and long-term sustainable development." Proponents of Africas new age of astronomy want to change all that. "SKA is helping us to change perspectives on Africa as a destination for high-tech opportunities and industry," Nemaungani says. "We're using astronomy as a gateway science to interest young kids to study math and science. That's where a big project like SKA can make an impact." Virtually everywhere in South Africa people have heard about the SKA, although they might not know much about it, Williams said. Leaders are particularly working to help South Africa's black population reap the new scientific opportunities, which have traditionally gone to the nation's privileged whites. "Several generations of Africans were told, 'You can't do this,'" he told Scientific American. "The message we're trying to send is, 'Yes, you can.'" And the SKA is just one of numerous astronomical projects on the continent. The High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) gamma-ray observatory opened in 2002 in Namibia, new telescopes are being built in Burkina Faso and Ethiopia, and the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) was inaugurated in South Africa in 2005 and came fully online in 2011. Ted Williams was a Rutgers University astronomer in 1998 when he first came to South Africa to investigate the possibility of building SALT. His wife insisted on coming on the trip because it was a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity to visit. It was not long, though, before the two moved to Cape Town. In his time there Williams has seen significant technological, scientific and social advancement. "When we started on SALT, nobody could have conceived that a project like SKA would go to South Africa," Williams says. "So much has changed."

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Continental Telescope Array Could Usher Astronomy Revolution in Africa

Telescope array could usher in astronomy revolution in Africa

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SKA Organisation

An article by Scientific American.

Scientists are predicting an astronomy renaissance on the African continent in coming years, thanks in part to a giant radio telescope array being built there. But the road to cosmic cachet is not an easy one, and African science advocates are scrambling to take full advantage of the opportunities coming their way.

"Astronomy really is about to explode across the African continent," astronomer Kartik Sheth of the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory said January 9 at the 223rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society near Washington DC The challenge, he said, is to make sure African astronomers benefit from the surge of facilities being built in their midst. "We want to build long-term sustainable collaborations that are mutually beneficial to the US and to Africa. We dont want brain and data drain from Africa to the US."

The biggest game-changer on the continent will be the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), the world's largest network of radio telescopes designed to survey the sky faster than any instrument before it. Roughly 3,000 radio dishes having a combined total surface equal to a light-collecting area of about a square kilometer will be spread across vast distances to offer a resolution akin to a single dish encompassing the whole span. "SKA will be the premier project of the coming decades, completely revolutionizing radio astronomy," said Ted Williams, director of the South African Astronomical Observatory. "The largest part of the SKA will be sited in Africa, and it's continent-wide, extending across eight African countries:" Botswana, Ghana, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia. A smaller portion of the project will be built in Australia.

South Africa, headquarters for the African contingent of the project, mounted a competitive campaign to bring the observatory to Africa, and the news in 2012 that its bid had won the lion's share of the project was unexpected to many. "We kind of took them by surprise but we did our homework very well," says Takalani Nemaungani, an engineer at South Africa's Department of Science and Technology who led his country's SKA lobbying campaign. Nemaungani sold the SKA committee on South Africa's clear skies (necessary for precision radio astronomy), the promised political support of its president and cabinet who have passed legislation to strictly limit the amount of radio noise in the remote site area and its expertise in engineering and infrastructure. Construction of the $1.6-billion observatory is due to begin in 2016 and will be added to in phases, with the first observations to take place in 2019 and full operation by 2024.

South Africa's apartheid past posed a special challenge. Until the race-separation policy ended in 1994 the country faced local unrest and international opprobrium. Trade sanctions imposed on South Africa by other countries, especially the US, hampered the nation's economy but resulted in some unintended consequences in boosting homegrown technologies. "Because of the embargoes and sanctions here, there were technologies and expertise we had to build for ourselves to sustain the country," Nemaungani says. For example, the international oil embargo against South Africa enacted in 1987 forced the nation to become the world leader in technology to convert coal to oil.

Still, Africa's goal of astronomical ascendancy faces serious challenges, including many African countries' high levels of unemployment, poverty, poor education and lack of investment in science. According the UNESCO 2010 Science Report, scientific development in sub-Saharan Africa faces "poor infrastructure development, a small pool of researchers and minimal scientific output. The continent has failed to invest in science, technology and innovation (STI) as drivers of economic growth and long-term sustainable development."

Proponents of Africas new age of astronomy want to change all that. "SKA is helping us to change perspectives on Africa as a destination for high-tech opportunities and industry," Nemaungani says. "We're using astronomy as a gateway science to interest young kids to study math and science. That's where a big project like SKA can make an impact."

Virtually everywhere in South Africa people have heard about the SKA, although they might not know much about it, Williams said. Leaders are particularly working to help South Africa's black population reap the new scientific opportunities, which have traditionally gone to the nation's privileged whites. "Several generations of Africans were told, 'You can't do this,'" he told Scientific American. "The message we're trying to send is, 'Yes, you can.'"

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Telescope array could usher in astronomy revolution in Africa