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Digital Planet: South Africa power cuts

Factual: Science & Nature

GettyImages-186341610 CROP.jpg

07/01/2020 GMT

South Africa power cuts

BBC World Service - Digital Planet, South Africa power cuts

Power cuts in South Africa are plunging the country into darkness and possible recession.

South Africa Power Cuts
Is South Africa facing a blackout?  Power cuts across the country are now happening regularly as the country struggles with demand for electricity.  There’s even an app that tells you if your lights are going to stay on today, or tomorrow.  Professor Keith Bell from Strathclyde University explains why this is happening.

Plasmonics - computing with light
Fancy computing with the speed of light?  Well for the first time this is possible thanks to research at Oxford University.  Scientists have managed use light to store, access and now process data on chip.  The research could significantly increase processing speeds at data centres, not only making computing faster but saving significant amounts of energy.  

Land of Iron
A National Park is usually synonymous with nature and wildlife. Perhaps not the obvious place to find a technology story, but in North Yorkshire in the UK a project is underway that is using technology in many different forms to bring a forgotten history back to life.  Our reporter Jack Meegan has been time-travelling for us.  Jack finds out how the park’s industrial past can now be seen thanks to technology.

World Wise Web
Digital Planet gets a sneak preview of a brand BBC new tech podcast.  On World Wise Web, teenagers from around the world get the chance to talk to the technology pioneers who have shaped our digital world.  




(Photo: Township Homes, South Africa. Credit: Getty Images)

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