Connect with us

Headline

Nigerian Egusi Seeds Return From Space

Published

on

If Earthlings are ever going to colonise Mars, they won’t be able to do so on an empty stomach — and Temidayo Oniosun thinks a helping of Egusi soup, a Nigerian staple, might just hit the spot.

Space in Africa, the Lagos-based firm Oniosun founded, is expecting its Egusi melon seeds to splash down in the Pacific Ocean Saturday — fresh from a trip to the International Space Station.

Once Earthside, experiments will begin on what is being hailed as the first food native to West Africa to be sent to space.

Advertisement

As Oniosun told AFP on Friday, it could herald an era where space exploration reflects the planet’s diversity.

When we talk about humans colonising other planets, this is not just an American mission or a European mission — this is a global mission,” he told AFP.

READ ALSO:UK PM Starmer Urges Israel To Stop Gaza Assault

Advertisement

And future African space explorers might enjoy a taste of home.

Experiments on extraterrestrial food, which is to say, tested in space, have been going on for years.

Growing food in space is seen as a crucial part of long-distance space flight and long-term missions, where frequent resupply won’t be feasible.

Advertisement

– International tests –

Scientists at the University of Florida in the United States and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, in the southwestern Nigerian city of Ibadan, will examine the seeds “to see the effects of exposure to space” and zero gravity, including on the seeds’ DNA.

Once planted, researchers will monitor their post-space performance and germination.

Advertisement

READ ALSO:Alarming Food Shortage Forces People To Eat Animal Feed In Sudan

The seeds went up to the ISS on a SpaceX Flight last week, as part of NASA’s partnership with private firms.

Oniosun said the inclusion of Egusi seeds marked an important step forward, both for those on Earth as well as future astronauts.

Advertisement

High in protein, they are typically used to prepare soups and stews across West and Central Africa.

Africa’s most populous country has a small space industry, but the launch of the seeds seemed to generate more excitement on social media and in newspapers than previous launches of Nigerian satellites, he said.

READ ALSO:Authorities Order Evacuations In Los Angeles Zones As Wildfire Spreads

Advertisement

The moment that we’re sending food that they love, a food that holds significant cultural contexts to Nigeria… everybody starts getting interested in the subject,” Oniosun told AFP.

The launch of Egusi melon seeds into space is more than a symbolic gesture,” he added.

The future of humanity among the stars must reflect the diversity and richness of life on Earth.”

Advertisement

Whether pounded yams — the key dish served alongside Egusi soup — will make its way to the final frontier remains to be seen.

AFP

Advertisement

Headline

Woman Wanted Over Mutilation Of Boyfriend’s Genitals In US

Published

on

Authorities in Toledo, Ohio, United States, are searching for a 45-year-old woman, Jeanita Hopings, accused of breaking into her boyfriend’s home and attacking him with a sharp object, causing serious injuries to his genitals.

As reported by PEOPLE on Thursday, warrants issued for Hopings’ arrest show she faces charges of felonious assault and aggravated burglary in connection with the October 7 incident.

Investigators allege that Hopings “forcefully kicked open the front door” of her boyfriend’s home before entering “without permission,” according to one of the warrants.

Advertisement

READ ALSO:Elon Musk Joins ‘Cancel Netflix’ Campaign

Once inside, she allegedly attacked the victim with an “unknown instrument,” inflicting a deep wound.

“The victim’s testicle was clearly exposed as the result of the laceration,” the warrant stated.

Advertisement

The man was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, police confirmed.

READ ALSO:FIFA U-20 World Cup: Argentina Crush Nigeria 4-0

Hopings has not yet been arrested and has not entered a plea to the charges. Court records from Lucas County indicate that she has no prior felony history, though she has previously faced several traffic-related misdemeanour offences.

Advertisement

Police say Hopings remains at large as the investigation continues.

Continue Reading

Headline

US To Execute Man Convicted Of Rape, Murder Of Teen

Published

on

A 53-year-old man convicted of the 2001 rape and murder of a teenage girl is to be executed by lethal injection in the US state of Indiana on Friday.

Roy Lee Ward was sentenced to death in 2002 for the murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne at her home in the town of Dale.

Payne was repeatedly stabbed and died of her injuries several hours after the attack.

Advertisement

Ward was arrested at the scene while still holding a knife.

READ ALSO:Elon Musk Joins ‘Cancel Netflix’ Campaign

The execution is to be carried out between midnight and sunrise on Friday morning at a state prison in Michigan City.

Advertisement

Ward will be the third person put to death in Indiana since the state resumed executions last year after a 15-year hiatus because of difficulties obtaining the lethal drugs used in them.

There have been 34 executions in the United States this year, the most since 2014, when 35 inmates were put to death.

Florida has carried out the most executions — 13 — followed by Texas with five and South Carolina and Alabama with four.

Advertisement

READ ALSO:FULL LIST: Police Arrest Suspects Involved In Death Of Arise TV Presenter

Twenty-eight of this year’s executions have been carried out by lethal injection, two by firing squad and four by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.

The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.

Advertisement

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.

President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and on his first day in office called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”

AFP

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Headline

Trump Gives Update On Israel, Hamas Peace Deal

Published

on

Trump Gives Update On Israel, Hamas Peace Deal

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he may go to the Middle East at the end of this week as a peace deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is “very close.”

Trump said during an event at the White House that he would “go to Egypt most likely” but that he would also consider going to war-torn Gaza.

Advertisement

“I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday, actually. And we’ll see, but there is a very good chance. Negotiations are going along very well,” Trump told reporters at the start of the event.

Our final negotiation, as you know, is with Hamas, and it seems to be going well. So we’ll let you know, if that’s the case, we’ll be leaving probably on Sunday, maybe on Saturday.”

READ ALSO:Israeli Forces Strike Gaza Despite Trump’s Ceasefire Call

Advertisement

Near the end of the meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio unexpectedly entered the room and handed Trump a note.

The US president told reporters the note said that “we’re very close to a deal” and that his presence was needed. “I have to go now to try and solve some problems in the Middle East,” he added.

Hamas and Israeli officials are having indirect talks in Egypt on a 20-point peace proposal unveiled by Trump to end the two-year-old war.

Advertisement

– ‘Very close’ –

Trump said as he began the event that he had come off the phone with officials in the Middle East, where his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner had just joined discussions in Egypt.

READ ALSO:Trump Slams Harvard With New Restrictions On Funds

Advertisement

“‘Peace for the Middle East,’ that’s a beautiful phrase, and we hope it’s going to come true, but it’s very close, and they’re doing very well,” Trump added.

“We have a great team over there, great negotiators, and they’re, unfortunately, great negotiators on the other side also. But it’s something I think that will happen.”

Asked if he would consider going to Gaza if a deal happens, Trump replied: “I would, yeah. I would. I might do that. I may do that. We haven’t decided exactly.”

Advertisement

Trump said he would insist on the release of hostages held by Hamas before traveling to the region.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said earlier that he had received “encouraging” signs and hailed the support of Trump.

Hamas too expressed “optimism” over the indirect discussions with its foe Israel.

Advertisement

Trump’s plan calls for a ceasefire, the release of all the hostages held in Gaza, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
AFP

Continue Reading

Trending