Lifespan
Fish once labeled a ‘living fossil’ surprises scientists again
The coelacanth – a wondrous fish that was thought to have gone extinct along with the dinosaurs 66 million years ago before unexpectedly being found alive and well in 1938 off South Africa’s east coast – is offering up even more surprises. Scientists said a new study of these large and nocturnal deep-sea denizens shows that they boast a lifespan about five times longer than previously believed – roughly a century – and that females carry their young for five years, the longest-known gestation period of any animal. Focusing on one of the two living species of coelacanth (pronounced SEE-lah-canth), the scientists also determined that it develops and grows at among the slowest pace of any fish and does not reach sexual maturity until about age 55. The researchers used annual growth rings depo...
FRSC: 90% of trucks in Nigeria over 30 years
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says 90 per cent of trucks in the country are over 30 years. The FRSC Corps Marshal, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, disclosed this in an interactive session between the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), the FRSC and Haulage operators on Monday in Lagos. Oyeyemi called for an improvement on the maintenance and standardisation schemes for vehicles as most of them lacked safety measures like lighting, reflectors and other parts. He stressed the need for an intervention from the Federal Government to ensure truckers had fleet renewal as vehicles that had been on the road for 30-years should be scrapped. Oyeyemi pointed out that “due to the age of the trucks, they frequently breakdown on the road prolonging the days goods spend on the road before getting to its destinat...
South Sudan to dispose of 60,000 expired coronavirus vaccines
South Sudan is looking to dispose of 60 000 expired doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, as rollout of the drugs is hampered by scepticism among the population, a health ministry official said Monday. The doses in question were donated by African telecommunications company MTN and the African Union late last month. “When it reached here we later discovered that the (remaining) lifespan of this vaccine is just … 14 days,” Richard Lako, Covid-19 incident manager at the health ministry, told AFP. He said that the drugs had since expired and were “already locked somewhere to be dealt with as soon as possible.” Lako said the health ministry and drug authority were working on plans to dispose of the vaccines. “The ministry is now engaging the African Union and the team with regards to that e...
