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more about #africa GreyHammer: ARRRRRR more » Gen. Appithy: ok. i like this game "At what point does a pirate economy just become a regular old economy?" i'm not sure, but you could always ask the guys from e... more » Willravel: It's just a matter of time before speculators get involved and suddenly piracy loses it's stellar reputation. more » comics0026: At what point does a pirate economy just become a regular old economy? When they start robbing people using words and documents instead of guns and g... more » OldDog1: "Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates" Mark Twain more » BangarangRufio867: If I don't invest in their stock options, will they put me in the Boo Box? more » Obee Juan: Wait a sec... the pirates are BUYING luxury goods and SUVs? I thought the whole point of being a pirate was to steal stuff. They must have some whac... more » aribus001: Is it illegal to hunt pirates? I mean, one can make a business out of tracking down and sinking ships known for piracy. Plus, you would never have to ... more » Post-Nuked: I'm just guessing that in pirate board meetings they never use the word "synergy." Then again, you might have to swab the poop deck. more » TotalFanGirl: I know that "72 pirate outfits" means 72 groups of pirates but I had to read that three times before my brain stopped trying to make it 72 pirate clot... more » Spaceknight: "we've made piracy a community activity." Where's my t-shirt with that slogan? Come on, Internet, you should have had those printed up by now!! You'... more » LittleDragon: Actually this reminds me of a book I read once where there was a theives guild that would steal something then ransom it back to the owner. If the own... more » jamesryan: To that last point about pirate economies becoming regular ones, I'd argue that piracy is a normal part of any economy. Let's consider the Law of Sup... more » tnmnsquare: Meet Somalias future Navy. more » SJ_Edwards: Joseph P. Kennedy made a fortune during Prohibition from the illegal importation and distribution of alcohol. Anticipating the end of Prohibition, he ... more » firstanointed: Hey, good for them. After Somalia's been frakked over so much by the "civilized" world, at least someone is doing something independently...pulling th... more » Dexomega: So in this case would a Stock Market crash be a Stock Market shipwreck? more » ElimGarak: So do they have board meetings, CEOs, CFOs, shareholder revolts, etc.? And how hostile are their hostile takeovers? Perhaps it would be cheaper for ... more » DRaGZ: To be honest, I'm pretty impressed. more » AdoraBelle: At what point does a pirate economy just become a regular old economy? Round about when you withdraw from the colonies. more » -
#pirates
Somalia's Pirates Have Created Their Own Stock Market - And It's Booming
Excited about the booming pirate economy? Now you can get a tiny cut of Somalian pirate booty by investing in their stock market - that's right, these pirates are now offering stock in their plundering operations. More » -
#futurism
Researchers Say Africa Needs "Genetic Prospectors"
Over the next 50 years, the climates of most African nations will change enough that their traditional crops will no longer be able to grow. But there is a solution — a new type of explorer called a genetic prospector. More » -
#futurism
Plans to Convert the Sahara Into a Forest
One of the finalists for the prize in this year's Buckminster Fuller Challenge is a project that would use known technologies to convert the Sahara desert into a sustainable source of fresh fruit and vegetables. More » -
#monstersamongus
Liberia Declares Emergency After Massive Worm Invasion
The worst invasion of army worms in decades has reduced Liberia's farms to ruins in a matter of days. Now the worms are menacing neighboring countries. More » -
#environmentalfuturism
Ocean Shows Up In The Middle of Africa
At the same time as Paraguay is drying up, Africa is ripping open, a slow process that will result in the emergence of a whole new ocean, according to Scientific American. The rip you see above can't be resewn — as Eitan Haddock's photographs document. Last year, scientists watched an 8 meter rip in the earth appear in only three weeks. Change is nothing new for this part of the world: researchers recently revealed that the Sahara was entirely covered in vegetation at many points during the last 120,000 years. Watch an ocean appear before your disbelieving eyes, after the jump. More » -
#urbanfuturism
Kibera's "Instant Farm" System Is the Future of Urban Agriculture
Kibera, a dense, 2.5 square km shantytown outside Nairobi, is the largest slum in Kenya. It's estimated that possibly a million people live its maze of houses and outdoor markets. Now a group there has figured out a fast, efficient way to convert piles of trash into compost — and to convert areas that were once trash heaps into instant organic farms using just recycled PVC piping and other easily-accessible materials. One farm, which now feeds 30 people, was operational in just 3 months. This low-tech form of land reclamation could be a model for rapidly-growing urban populations. More » -
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#spaceporn
A View of Thunderheads Brewing from Space
These thunderheads are brewing over the midwestern United States, a region where thunderstorms can whip up pretty damn fast. Courtesy of NASA, this image is one of a series running on the Boston Globe's website to celebrate the work done by the International Space Station. Want to see what this kind of cloud looks like a little closer? More » -
#spaceporn
African Satellites Are Out Tonight
A few days ago, this Ariane rocket blasted off from Kourou, French Guiana. Its payload included a telecom satellite for Africa, which is now sailing serenely overhead. Image by Jody Amiet, AFP/Getty Images. -
#design
Toilet of Tomorrow Straps to Your Back
It's called the Dignity Toilet, and it doesn't just provide a comfy seat when you want to take a dump; it also has a strap so you can carry the full toilet on your back; and finally, its shape allows you to quickly turn your poop into fertilizer at your local field. The Dignity Toilet, designed by Cooler Solutions, just took first prize for a "sanitary solution for Africa" from Design for People in Need. More »
