Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, of Dutch parents.Schooling and most of my studies there.Worked in South Africa, Ghana, the Netherlands, Ghana again, now back again consulting from the Netherlands. Originally trained as a geologist, now advising mining institutions.Happily married, 3 great guys for sons, one of whom brought me into contact with plime!My website, with some irregular blogging and a photo gallery: www.ronaldsmit.com
A wall to stop the creep of the Sahara desert Posted: 4 months ago by rambler
A plan to build a 6,000km-long wall across the Sahara Desert to stop the spread of the desert has been outlined.
Comments: 1 Score: [-] 223 [+].
How to survive a holiday in Holland Posted: 4 months ago by rambler
Subtitled "Travel guide for confused tourists", this featured in today's online version of "De Pers". You'll find quite a few of these oddities if you search for news items using "Holland" as a search term, but this is a nice compilation.
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 85 [+].
Obama's visit to Ghana: Positive and funny aspects... Posted: 4 months ago by rambler
"President ... Obama's visit to Ghana ... has really placed this country in its rightful place among the comity of nations."
but also, there was quite a bit of "..botched protocol..".
Comments: 3 Score: [-] 303 [+].
Ghana: Teachers Run for Cover As GES Undertakes Headcount Posted: 5 months ago by rambler
The Ghana Education Service (GES) is embarking on a head count of teachers in the Northern region as part of efforts to clean the bloated pay roll.
The exercise has apparently created panic among teachers the region.
Comments: 1 Score: [-] 77 [+].
Uganda: Millions More to Wed As Govt Doles Out Mosquito Nets Posted: 5 months ago by rambler
"When we asked the couples why they have chosen this particular time to enter holy matrimony, they all had the same answer: that government was going to give them free wedding gowns!" said a source at Peter's Church of Uganda in Kampala.
Comments: 16 Score: [-] 660 [+].
The earliest granaries? Posted: 5 months ago by rambler
Possibly the first step from gathering wild grain towards a box of Corn Flakes?
Comments: 3 Score: [-] 193 [+].
The end of retirement Posted: 5 months ago by rambler
This article from The Economist, a discussion rather than breaking news, is a bit longer than a typical news item here. But very readable, with interesting (some might say worrying?) statistics from a greying world. What are your opinions?
Comments: 7 Score: [-] 195 [+].
St Elmo's frier Posted: 5 months ago by rambler
A physicist at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and her colleagues have come up with a possible alternative: a dental plasma torch.
*YIKES!*
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 393 [+].
Black holes for sound? "Silent holes"? Posted: 5 months ago by rambler
Sound may offer a better way than light to test Stephen Hawking’s prediction that black holes emit radiation.
Unexpectedly, a pretty understandable article.
Comments: 2 Score: [-] 66 [+].
How malaria is assisted into host cells Posted: 5 months ago by rambler
"This study reveals the identity of a novel protein trafficking apparatus ... and hence, provides an 'Achilles heel' for anti-malaria drug developers,..."
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 80 [+].
Typhoons trigger slow earthquakes Posted: 6 months ago by rambler
Typhoons can apparently trigger imperceptible, slow earthquakes.
This short version of the report is from the BBC... surprised nobody has posted it yet, couldn't find it here.
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 155 [+].
Illegal miners asking mine owners for body bags Posted: 6 months ago by rambler
"The criminal miners requested a few days ago that we supply them with body bags, and we have been doing such, and they have been bringing the deceased to the shaft stations,..."
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 109 [+].
SABC lays charges of 'theft' over Zapiro doccie Posted: 6 months ago by rambler
This article raises 2 questions:
1. Who owns a documentary made for (free) public consumption?
2. Should presidents be exempt from satire?
I know my answers to both questions!
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 65 [+].
Digging in the dumps Posted: 6 months ago by rambler
Some of the upsides and downsides of diamond mining - Sierra Leone as an example of what can go wrong (and what could go right).
Comments: 4 Score: [-] 309 [+].
iPod for books? Posted: 6 months ago by rambler
Interead, based appropriately in Reading, has launched a range of colourful, easy-to-use readers that might just persuade people to start dabbling with electronic books.
How about all of you - would you still prefer paper at all costs?
Comments: 6 Score: [-] 180 [+].
Alternative use for a jetski Posted: 6 months ago by rambler
Can't embed this video from its host, so i can't post it in the video category.
Please ignore the Dutch, and just view the short video here.
Comments: 5 Score: [-] 294 [+].
Little devil wired into our brains? Posted: 6 months ago by rambler
The tokoloshe, in African mythology, is a diminutive human-like creature with a large head and big eyes, often blamed for mischief or evil deeds.
Raising one's bed by placing it on bricks is said to offer protection against it.
Researchers say that the key to the tokoloshe could lie in a part of the brain called the indusium griseum, two thin strips of grey matter that had no known function in adults.
Comments: 4 Score: [-] 417 [+].
What the future looks like Posted: 6 months ago by rambler
It would be foolhardy to venture technological predictions for 2050. Even more so to predict social and geopolitical changes. The most important advances, the qualitative leaps, are the least predictable.
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 76 [+].
World’s largest solar power tower plant starts operations Posted: 6 months ago by rambler
The performance of the power tower plant, PS20, exceeded design output during its three-day production and operational testing period. The new 20 megawatt solar power plant, near Seville, Spain, will produce enough energy to supply 10,000 homes.
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 217 [+].
Ancient Roman catacombs modelled in 3D Posted: 6 months ago by rambler
The catacomb of Domitilla with its 15 km of subterranean galleries is not only the largest catacomb of Rome , it also provides an extensive insight into all phases and phenomena of an Early-Christian necropolis.
On the basis of a digital documentation using the newest 3D-laserscan techniques, a virtual model is being generated for the first time.
Comments: 1 Score: [-] 144 [+].
"Harvest" - vertical farming and living Posted: 6 months ago by rambler
The concept of 'harvest' is explored in the project through the vertical farming of vegetables, herbs, fruits, fish, egg laying chickens, and a boutique goat and sheep dairy facility. In addition, renewable energy will be harvested via green building design elements harnessing geothermal, wind and solar power.
Other designs were earlier discussed here .
Comments: 2 Score: [-] 214 [+].
"Muslim tidal wave" Posted: 6 months ago by rambler
A video describing the growth of Islam in the world today, clearly from a Christian perspective. Worth watching, and requires discussion. I think the numbers are probably right, but the conclusion is not.
Yes, we should "take action", but not against Islam per se. I am more worried about a future world dominated by powerful persons representing (in their minds, at least) a single religion. This would be somewhat like the Middle Ages in Europe, dominated by powerful people in the Catholic Church. We all know what that did for creativity, progress and tolerance...
Comments: 8 Score: [-] 104 [+].
Could President Obama ban U.S citizens from holding gold? Posted: 6 months ago by rambler
Back in 1933, at a time of economic crisis, President Roosevelt forced U.S. Citizens to sell their gold at $20 an ounce - and then subsequently revalued the metal to $35. Could President Obama, a Roosevelt disciple, have similar plans in mind.
Comments: 0 Score: [-] 90 [+].
Physical gold from German ATM's Posted: 6 months ago by rambler
A German asset management firm plans to set up 500 gold automatic teller machines across Germany, Austria and Switzerland as appetite for physical gold surges.
Interesting, since there has been quite some comment that it is worthwhile to own physical gold in times when currency values are unstable and show weakness.
Comments: 6 Score: [-] 218 [+].
Wormwood comet to wipe us all out in 2012? Posted: 6 months ago by rambler
I saw this incredible strange website advertised here on plime. A mixture of biblical codified predictions, statements that such predictions are unreliable, that the codes are probably not real, and... ads to sell calendars for 2012, cancer treatments, you name it. Who thinks up this stuff?
Comments: 3 Score: [-] 359 [+].