Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 12h

Cities could someday be lit up with plants instead of wires and bulbs, thanks to a new discovery that has created sun-powered succulents that can glow at night. They absorb the sun's energy during the day and then glow at night.

Glowing plants could become living energy-free light sources

In nature, many organisms glow in the dark, including lightning bugs, some squid and jellyfish, using light to attract a mate or lure prey. Now, researchers have engineered glowing succulents, plants ...

news.mongabay.com

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 12h

😂😂😂

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 19h

Catholic altar wine replaced after becoming a favourite in Kenyan bars, replaced by a South African vintage.

Kenyan Catholic Church drops Mass wine after it becomes common in bars

The previous brand was said to have lost its sanctity due to its widespread use outside the church.

www.bbc.com

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 21h

Researcher claims he's found the Garden of Eden after carefully analysing the Bible and Quran – it may have been situated in the highlands of Bahir Dar, a fertile region in northwestern Ethiopia.

Researcher claims he's found the Garden of Eden and reveals where the mysterious location is

An American chemical engineer has made a case for the biblical Garden of Eden being situated in a unique location.

www.unilad.com

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 1d

Voodoo helps protect endangered mangroves in Benin. Where laws failed, belief in Zangbeto — a night watchman spirit — is helping the fight against climate change.

Voodoo helps protect endangered mangroves in Benin – DW – 10/09/2025

Ancient voodoo traditions are safeguarding vital mangroves. Where laws failed, belief in Zangbeto — a night watchman spirit — is helping the fight against climate change.

www.dw.com

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 2d

This will amount to cutting 13,000 to 14,000 troops and police, affecting missions in hotspots like DR Congo, South Sudan, Lebanon, and Somalia.

Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 2d

UN to slash global peacekeeping force by 25%, amid US funding cuts. Since the 1990s, UN missions have grown from 11,000 to over 130,000 at their peak. Today, about 52,000 peacekeepers operate across 11 conflict zones.

UN to slash global peacekeeping force, amid US funding cuts | Africanews

The United Nations is preparing to slash its global peacekeeping force, cutting 13,000 to 14,000 troops and police from missions worldwide, following major U.S. funding reductions under President Trum...

www.africanews.com

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 2d

This will amount to cutting 13,000 to 14,000 troops and police, affecting missions in hotspots like DR Congo, South Sudan, Lebanon, and Somalia;

Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 2d

Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina has asked for one year to fix the country's challenges, promising that if they persist, he’ll resign. Africans know this story all to well. Leaders who were given one year, took 10 years. Those who were given 5 years to “finish their” work, took another 30.

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 3d

Nam Lolwe aka Lake Nalubaale aka Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest freshwater lake, could be site of Kenya’s nuclear power plant. Meanwhile in Uganda, a small section of its 1,440Km-long oil pipeline to Tanzania, is buried under the Nile River.

Africa’s largest freshwater lake could be site of Kenya’s nuclear power plant

“It is perfect!” exclaims Anthony Kingi, a member of the Kenyan nonprofit Center for Justice Governance and Environmental Action (CJGEA). “Kenya doesn’t need it. However, if they must build it, I’m gl...

news.mongabay.com

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 3d

Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest freshwater lake, could be site of Kenya’s nuclear power plant.

Africa’s largest freshwater lake could be site of Kenya’s nuclear power plant

“It is perfect!” exclaims Anthony Kingi, a member of the Kenyan nonprofit Center for Justice Governance and Environmental Action (CJGEA). “Kenya doesn’t need it. However, if they must build it, I’m gl...

news.mongabay.com

Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 4d

In 1792 amidst the Haiti Revolution, Caradeux fled the burning colony, dragging with him 26 enslaved Africans to begin life anew in America. He purchased a plantation in Berkeley County, South Carolina. He died in 1810, unpunished for his crimes 3/3

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 4d

Historical records show that Caradeux tortured enslaved Africans in ways that shocked even other slaveholders. He was known to bury men and women alive, leaving only their heads exposed. He and his guests would then watch as flies and insects slowly ate their flesh 2/3

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 4d

Jean-Baptiste de Caradeux, was the French Slaver nicknamed “The Cruel” for his brutality against enslaved Africans in Haiti.
One of his favourite “games” was to place an apple on the head of an enslaved African and invite guests to shoot it off for entertainment 1/3

The Devil of Haiti: Jean-Baptiste de Caradeux, the French Slaver Nicknamed “The Cruel” for His Brutality Against Enslaved Africans - TalkAfricana

talkafricana.com

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 4d

Deep in Ethiopia, scientists have uncovered 2.6-2.8 million years-old fossil teeth, shaking up everything we thought we knew about human evolution.

Anthropologists unearthed ancient teeth in Ethiopia that have just completely rewritten the story of human evolution.

Deep in Ethiopia, scientists have uncovered fossil teeth. But these aren’t just any old teeth. This tiny find is shaking up everything we thought we knew about human evolution—pointing to a brand-new ...

www.splashtravels.com

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 4d

More more than 600 MILLION people in Sub-Saharan Africa will join the working-age population over the next 25 years — the largest and fastest demographic shift in recent history!!! Only 24% of its new workers today land wage-paying jobs.
www.worldbank.org/en/news/pres...

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 4d

Globally, each year, 12 million girls are married off before the age of 18.That is 23 girls every minute. Nearly 1 every 2 seconds – Girls Not Brides 2/2

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 4d

Burkina Faso changes the minimum legal age for marriage to 18 years old for both girls and boys. Previously, the minimum age of marriage was 17 years old for girls and 20 years old for boys. However, girls could marry as young as 15 and boys at 18 if authorised by the courts 1/2

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 4d

Andry Rajoelina was re-elected November 16, 2023, in what the opposition dismissed as a rigged election, securing 58.96% of the votes. Voter turnout was low at around 46%, the lowest in the country's history – the warning signs were all there.

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 4d

Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina, facing mounting unrest, has appointed army general Ruphin FortunatZafisambo as prime minister to quell youth-led protests against his leadership. The move carries deep irony, as Rajoelina himself rose to power in 2009 through widespread protests.

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 5d

Living in a drought and famine ravaged region, Kenya’s Turkana people are evolving to thrive on a diet that would make other people sick!

Turkana People Are Evolving to Thrive on a Diet That Would Make Others Ill

The Turkana people of Northwest Kenya have adapted to one of the driest places on Earth by relying predominantly on the milk, meat, and blood from their herds of camels and goats.

www.sciencealert.com

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 5d

3/3: It’s a capability that far exceeds any trained embryologist’s eye. A robotic arm can collect that sperm and mix the chemicals required for an egg to stay viable. And it can delicately and reproducibly fertilise an egg, initiating the moment of conception.

Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 5d

2/3: The same algorithmic computer-vision software that helps autonomous vehicles spot objects on the road can instantaneously detect the most robust swimmer among hundreds of thousands of flailing, corkscrewing sperm — each one a fraction of the width of a hair strand.

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 5d

1/3: Robots are learning to make babies. Over the past three years, at least 20 babies have been born following automated in vitro fertilisation, where AI software selects the strongest sperm and a robot arm fertilises the egg with little human involvement.

Robots are learning to make human babies. Twenty have already been born.

One in six people of reproductive age suffer from infertility. Start-ups are using AI-powered robots to increase IVF success rates and lower costs.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3.bsky.social · 5d

President Samia Suluhu Hassan has ushered in a new era of authoritarianism, and in key ways more autocratic than her predecessor Magufuli. She has crossed autocratic thresholds that haven’t been breached since Tanzania’s transition to multipartyism in 1992.

Tanzania’s Samia Hassan has ushered in a new era of authoritarianism: here’s how

President Samia Hassan is relying on repressive tactics to eliminate her most significant competitors from the 2025 presidential race.

theconversation.com

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