NUGGET (29 JANUARY 2026)

IT’S GIVEN ME A FEW.

If life gives you lemons, name it PSR J2322-2650b? I learnt about something very new in an article about the James Webb Space Telescope: a planet shaped like a lemon, about 2000 light years away from Earth. You can read about it here if you like: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-observes-exoplanet-whose-composition-defies-explanation/

WI-FI.

I didn’t even know what number we were on, and I learnt a little about Wi-Fi 7 this month. It’s also known as IEEE 802.11be (I am certain I am going to forget that) and represents the latest advancement in Wi-Fi technology, engineered to apparently offer a remarkable “quantum leap” in speed, capacity, and reliability over its predecessors, Wi-Fi 6 and 6E. It was officially introduced by the Wi-Fi Alliance (https://www.wi-fi.org/) in January 2024 (and I only learned about it now), and boasts a theoretical peak data rate of up to 46 Gbps, that is nearly five times faster than the 9.6 Gbps limit of Wi-Fi 6 and 6E.

This new generation reportedly ensures ultra-low latency by optimizing the use of all available bands, achieving up to 100 times lower latency, making it perfect for real-time applications such as cloud gaming, virtual and augmented reality, and industrial automation. Additionally, Wi-Fi 7 is designed to support over 200 devices simultaneously on a single network without compromising performance, setting a new standard for connectivity.

DO YOU HAVE ANY?

What Human-Centric Skills do you actually have? In a world of increased automation and AI, ensure you possess one very important skill: the skill to learn. Many people will need to reinvent their careers and diversify. Focus on something truly human to improve your chances of success, something those bots simply can never do. Diversify and humify! This is the best advise I can offer to a general audience worried about their future income.

SHOH, THAT’S FAST.

How long does it normally take to develop a space rocket booster? Now I know this is not a question you might have asked yourself before, but stick with me. Creating a new rocket booster from the ground up can take anywhere from several years to over a decade! You have so much to do: extensive design, testing, and development. Then finally, take off! However, I got some news this past month that changes everything. With AI and automation, this process can now be completed in just a few days!

LEAP 71 is a technology company based in Dubai that used their AI model, Noyron, to autonomously design intricate physical products such as rocket engines, electric motors, and heat exchangers. They are producing designs suitable for advanced 3D printing (Additive Manufacturing) within minutes.

You can watch more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-YVG6X3cdU

HOW WE GET PAID

If we do at all? In the future payment processes are going to be significantly different to what we have today and the trend of ‘banking having less to do with banks’ will accelerate.

https://getneema.com/ is a global payments platform which recently announced their new ‘Neema Request-to-Pay’ solution, allowing a payment method for businesses and fintechs that could be used across borders or directly between businesses (B2B). We must expect to hear more about such businesses and innovations in the coming months.

SMILE MORE

Few things make me smile more than tech used for good. I wanted to share some info about a company I learnt about in a book I am reading at the moment. I can just imagine how an ethical business can use this service and also how this can also help our environment.  Please take a look at this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDftStOPevM 

Planet Labs are basically indexing the Earth…and making it searchable by you. Not like google earth, different. My quick summary: Planet Labs PBC  are an American Earth-imaging company headquartered in San Fran and they do Daily Global Imaging, offering a service for imaging the entire Earth’s landmass every 24 hours to make global changes visible and actionable.

This is their site: https://www.planet.com/ 

IN THE LAST VIDEO

The sad thing is, and unfortunately, we trust our municipalities – and we get let down time and time again! Our courts appear to be our ultimate defence against those empowered and paid to care for us, and don’t.

The last video in the prior section of this article, made me wonder what percentage of our beaches around the world are in a similar state. Unfortunately, there is no universally accepted percentage for polluted beaches worldwide, as ‘pollution’ includes various contaminants and testing methods differ.

Some studies have shown that, in a global assessment of 209 marine turtle nesting beaches, 45% had detectable microplastics, with the Mediterranean reaching 80%. For water contamination, a 2024 report noted that over 50% of 3,187 U.S. coastal and Great Lakes beaches exceeded the EPA’s safety threshold for faecal bacteria on at least one testing day. I couldn’t find much information for Africa, but I wish there was and would love to see Durban and Cape Town’s data.

Perhaps it’s time those responsible spend some time in the water?

I REALLY LIKE THIS VIDEO

Here is an interesting video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_-viMYwOCA) by Asher Pardey on some infrastructure developments in South Africa that we might look forward to in the coming months.

Perhaps we can expect a project with hydrogen, a new railway from Durban to Johannesburg, water waste management for Johannesburg, and developing power from waste. Perhaps one day soon we will get entire development zones running off sunlight are at Coega? Will South Africa’s water reuse program work, or our regional energy infrastructure storage and distribution program succeed, and will the Gauteng Urban Upgrade program bear fruit? If even some of these come to be, that would be wonderful!

In 2025, the planet’s annual average global ocean surface temperature was approximately 20.89°C (for waters between 60°S and 60°N), a significant increase compared to the estimated temperature of approximately 18.1°C in 1995 just 30 years prior.)

The mid-2020s have witnessed the worst recorded temperature increases in human history, with 2024 currently ranking as the hottest year on record. This period marked the first time the global average temperature exceeded 1.5°C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) baseline for a full calendar year.

Hottest Year on Record: 2024 reached a peak of 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels. The decade from 2015 to 2024 contains all 10 of the warmest years in our history.

The Arctic region is warming four times faster than the global average. Over the next five winters, Arctic temperatures are predicted to rise by 2.4°C above the 1991–2020 average.

Here at home, North Africa is the fastest-warming sub-region on the continent, with 2024 temperatures 1.28°C above the long-term average. Mali recorded 48°C in April 2024.

In short… the fire truck has left the station. The best estimate right now, just 30 years down the line, is that by 2056, the world is expected to reach or exceed a global average warming of 2.0°C (3.6°F) above pre-industrial levels. This will have catastrophic effects.

Under a high-emissions, “worst-case” climate change scenario, parts of South Africa could experience maximum air temperatures with an increase of more than 6°C (10.8°F) above current levels by the end of the century. This means that areas in the western, central, and northern parts of our country, which already experience hot conditions, could see daily maximum temperatures in summer exceeding 38°C (100°F) for over 100 days per year, with some stations projected to reach new record temperatures above 46°C during extreme heat events.

Suffice to say, that within my lifetime, and probably that of most of the people reading this article — life is going to become very unpleasant. What is worse, is for our children and their children’s lifetimes, in 60 years, South Africa is projected to face some of the most extreme global incidents if current high-emission trends continue. Unfortunately, our region is a ‘climate change hotspot’, which means it warms at roughly twice the global average rate: so roughly 8 percent hotter than our worst days right now. We will be approaching 50 degrees!!! This is a mathematical certainty.

NOT HAPPY WITH WHAT’S HAPPENING ON EARTH?

We are now just a few months away from holidaying and working off-world. (If you have the moola that us 😉)

While we are sadly losing the much loved and famous International Space Station (ISS) in 2031, we are getting Haven-1 Space Station in May 2026, and then in 2028, we are getting Starlab from Voyager Space and then the Orbital Reef Space Station from Blue Origin in 2030! These will be far more accessible to us mere mortals. Pack those bags!

IMPORTANT TOPIC.

Here is a good article on an update on where and also ‘how’ we get power. I do believe the solution will end up being a multifaceted one involving renewables (Solar, Wind, Hydropower, Geothermal), nuclear (Next-Generation Reactors, Fusion Energy), Hydrogen, Bioenergy, and all supported by Smart Grid Technologies. The era of fossil fuels is coming to an end!

https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/01/12/1130006/next-gen-nuclear-reactors-power-energy-2026-breakthrough-technology/

TRADE NEWS.

An AGOA extension has been approved for 3 years, but conditions still need to be decided upon. I do suspect the conditions for South Africa, once shared, will include some that are simply not those we can agree upon. Time will tell. Right now, AGOA is unfortunately a tool for the USA to impose agendas and the Captain of that ship is seriously misaligned.

MONEY VERSE ENVIRONMENT IS TRUMPED

I was disappointed to learn this month that The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in USA (you know that country we are having beef with at the moment) has announced a significant policy shift that will impact how it sets air pollution limits.

Instead of considering the health benefits of reducing pollutants like fine particulate matter and ozone, the agency will now only assess the costs to industry! Families and environment be dammed?

This change, made under the Trump administration, could pave the way for repealing pollution limits from various industrial sources, including coal-burning power plants, oil refineries, and steel mills, potentially leading to increased air pollution. Well, this is actually highly probable. 

Historically, the EPA calculated monetary values for health benefits from reducing air pollution, such as fewer asthma attacks and premature deaths. However, the Trump administration has argued that these estimates are unreliable and plans to ignore public health benefits in future cost-benefit analyses. #facepalm

Critics, including Richard Revesz from New York University, and now myself, have and are, expressing concern that disregarding health benefits undermines the EPA’s (and all of humanities) mission to protect human health and the environment.

The current EPA spokesperson maintains that while health impacts will still be considered, they will not be assigned a monetary value in analyses. This in a major issue because decision makers need to know what their return on investment is, in order to get funding in the first place.

For some context, mushrooms are renowned for their remarkable resilience and unique biological characteristics. These innate properties position them as strong candidates for bioelectronics, a rapidly evolving and exciting field that seeks to explore new materials for future computing technologies. I love how some people are turning to mother nature for better solutions!

So, how are clever people turning edible mushrooms into memory devices?

The brainy Scientists at The Ohio State University have demonstrated that common edible fungi, such as shiitake mushrooms, can be cultivated and conditioned to act as organic memristors. Memristors are electronic components that process information by retaining a memory of previous electrical signals. The team discovered that devices created from shiitake mushrooms exhibited repeatable memory effects similar to those found in traditional semiconductor chips. These findings suggest that these fungal systems could form the basis for affordable, environmentally friendly computing components inspired by the brain’s functionality, and you can also if you really need to, eat your PC.

NOT MUSIC TO MY EARS.

I want to share an excellent article, and if you are in the music industry, this is a must-read! (and even if you are not, this is something worrisome to ponder about).

The article offers an update and touches on several concerns I have written about a few times now. It highlights the impact of generative AI on artists and the music business. My concerns in no particular order:

Erosion of Authenticity. The success of AI-generated music, such as an AI cover of Stromae’s Papaoutai that generated millions of streams, raises questions about emotional authenticity. We are being manipulated. In the future, will the music industry prioritize emotional appeal over genuine artistic expression, making authenticity optional? If they can make more money, why would they not?

Confusion for Consumers. The majority of listeners cannot distinguish between AI-generated music and human-created music, which brings me to the concern of uninformed consent. If audiences cannot identify the source of the music they consume, it undermines their ability to make meaningful choices.

Impact on the real Artists. This is a big concern. The rise of AI-generated content places human artists in direct competition with machines, which can produce large volumes of music quickly and inexpensively, if not for free. Now that it’s proven humans can’t always tell the difference, and the music is enjoyed no matter who or what made it, I fear the value and demand of human artistic work is being diminished, which will reduce opportunities for artists in an already very competitive industry.

Economic Displacement. This is another major concern for me because AI music is predicted to represent a significant portion of streaming revenues in the coming years, which could further marginalize human creators. As record labels would rather use AI song generators (than outright prohibit them), it appears that human artists may become just another data source for AI model training, threatening their livelihoods. That’s a sad possibility if not probability.

Question of Ethical Practices. Platforms like Spotify have come under scrutiny for not adequately addressing the ethical implications of AI music and for allowing the facsimile of emotional resonance without proper disclosure or protection of original artists. I think it’s obvious that if something is AI-generated, it must be labelled as such. I also believe the industry will need to be regulated so that ai content is not underbidding real humans.

You can read the article here:
https://www.okayafrica.com/generative-ai-is-changing-the-way-we-consume-music-by-african-artists/1421437

The END!