PRI's The World: Technology Podcast 220

November 24, 2008

Believe it or not, what you're looking at there is essential to your cell phone, your Playstation, and a host of other electronic products. In Africa, it's called coltan. From it, we get a blue-grey powder called tantalum...and tantalum, because it's durable and can withstand high temperatures, is great for making capacitors, which can store tiny electrical charges. That, as you can imagine, makes them handy in electronics. Unfortunately, one source for the increasingly valuable coltan is...the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. And that's the story that leads this week's Technology Podcast (WTP 220). We speak with Jack Ewing, BusinessWeek's European Correspondent. He's been following the coltan trail to see just how much so-called "conflict coltan" actually makes it into the electronics we carry around with us all day. The answer might surprise you, so be sure to give a listen.

We move to West Africa for our second story. You have doubtless received an email which starts "I am a manager at the Bank of Nigeria," and then goes on to entice you with promises of millions. It's lovingly referred to as a 419 scam. It's named after the Nigerian law governing this kind of fraud. Despite all the warnings against answering such emails, many folks are duped into replying. West Africa has gotten a reputation for being a hotbed for Internet scams, but this week, computer experts gathered in Ivory Coast to discuss ways to the tackle the problem. We speak with the BBC's John James in Abidjan.

Then, we have an ever-so-brief item on a new Google Earth project called Virtual Rome. Too freakin' cool.

Our next story is the latest twist in the increasingly strange tale of Hossein Derakhshan, or Hoder as he's known to the blogging world. Hoder's widely regarded as the "Blogfather" of the Persian blogosphere. Back in 2000, he was one of the first to launch a blog in Persian. He even wrote a how-to guide for other would-be Iranian bloggers. His blogs, both in English and Farsi, covered a wide range of topics. His posts, however, made it clear that he was a critic of the Iranian government. Then things changed, and Hoder started siding with the Iranian government, and attacking dissidents. Not long ago, he moved back to Tehran from Canada. And now, this week, news has trickled out that he may or may not have been arrested. We get an update from Cyrus Farivar, who leads us through the twists and turns of Hoder's blogging career.

Then, we wish Happy Birthday to the International Space Station. Ten years ago this week, the first module lifted off, carrying the first module, a Russian one named "Dawn." It was soon joined by an American module called "Unity." Ten years later, it's still not finished, and it's way over-budget. Critics contend that it's not worth the money. Supporters say the ISS is proving a valuable teaching tool and training ground for future long-duration missions, possibly even to the Moon and Mars. We hear from smart people on both sides of the argument.

And speaking of the ISS...there was a spacewalk on the station that went, well, slightly awry this week. Here's the video I promised, and bear in mind...this HAS happened to you, too, just not in space.

We then switch into "science mode" for a bit, and hear about an amazing medical breakthrough in Spain. Doctors in Spain removed the windpipe of a woman with respiratory disease, and replaced it with a new airway created, in part, in the laboratory using adult stem cells. Read the write-up in The Lancet. See a video depiction of the process here. We hear from Barcelona, where the surgery took place.

And we end...with a tribute to that incredible piece of Eastern European automotive technology -- the Yugo. Didn't you know that it's production run is ending? I'll miss the jokes.

(Both photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

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Africans Search for Obama

November 07, 2008

Former VP candidate Sarah Palin may be unclear on the exact geographic status of Africa (country or continent?), but a quick spin through Google Insights for Search, reveals that Africans are more interested in Barack Obama.

I've covered the last four elections, and I've never, ever seen the kind of global interest in US politics in general, or in a specific candidate, as I have this time around. That's why the results here are not surprising, but interesting none-the-less. Just look at what happens when you gauge the global search interest in "Obama" over the past seven days.

That's right -- eight out of 10 are countries on the continent of Africa. Kenya is no shocker as the leader, considering Obama's family ties to the country.

So what do these results tell us? First, they don't imply that more Kenyans are searching for Obama than Americans. They just mean that a greater percentage of Kenyans (and Ethiopians, and Ugandans, and Cameroonians) who are online and searching are looking for information on the US President-Elect. Also, this has been the case not just in the last seven days. African nations have, according to this article, led the world in the concentration of "barack obama" searches for the past year.

Well, if you're going to name your child after the man, I guess it makes sense to know a little bit about him. For their part, the Obama team seems eager to feed its online supporters. Less than 48 hours after winning the election, Obama's transition website was up and running.

Oh, and just for fun and comparison, here's the global Google Insights results for "palin."

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