A block chain or blockchain is a permissionless distributed database that maintains a continuously-growing list of transaction records hardened against tampering and revision. It consists of blocks, holding batches of individual transactions. Each block contains a timestamp and an information linking it to a previous block.
The block chain is seen as the main technical innovation of bitcoin, where it serves as the decentralized public ledger of all bitcoin transactions. This original design has been the inspiration for other cryptocurrencies and distributed databases.
In this series, we cover latest development stories related to blockchain and its applications around the world.
The cost of living crisis is making it difficult for many people to pay their bills, including housing costs. Private sector rents have increased by an average 9% over the year to February 2024, and rising interest rates...
Gas prices have relaxed, Europe has come out of the winter with record gas storage levels and a surfeit of liquefied natural gas is set to reach the shores of Europe over the coming years. Many commentators are hopeful...
Minimum wage policies are typically aimed at reducing poverty. Yet there is little direct evidence of this effect, especially in developing countries. And none for South Africa.
In a recent paper, we consider the...
The Albanese government is talking up the crucial role of gas as a transition fuel through to 2050 and beyond.
In a gas strategy to be released on Thursday, the government envisages the fuels uses would change over...
The South African governments Just Energy Transition Implementation Plan was launched in November 2023. It is a roadmap guiding the country away from reliance on coal-fired power towards renewable energy alternatives by...
Former President Donald Trump reportedly proposed a $1 billion deal to oil executives, offering to end electric vehicle (EV) subsidies in return for campaign funding, according to The Washington Post. This move underscores...
For the 2022 midterm elections, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Alabama to use congressional districts that violated the law and diluted the voting power of Black citizens.
A 5-4 vote by the Supreme Court in February...
Ahead of the European parliament elections in June, Germany has lowered the age limit on participation to 16. This makes it the largest of just a handful of states in the EU to allow people under the age of 18 to vote....
South Africa will play an important international role in 2025 as president of the G20. The G20 is a group of 19 countries as well as the African Union and the European Union. Between them they represent 85% of global...
By the end of winter 2024, the return of Donald Trump to the top of the GOP presidential ticket has revealed a surprising trend in the former presidents base of support: his increasing popularity among Black and Latino...
Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without...
About a trillion tiny particles called neutrinos pass through you every second. Created during the Big Bang, these relic neutrinos exist throughout the entire universe, but they cant harm you. In fact, only one of them is...
A critical NASA mission in the search for life beyond Earth, Mars Sample Return, is in trouble. Its budget has ballooned from US$5 billion to over $11 billion, and the sample return date may slip from the end of this...
A ghost is haunting our universe. This has been known in astronomy and cosmology for decades. Observations suggest that about 85% of all the matter in the universe is mysterious and invisible. These two qualities are...
While we go about our daily lives on Earth, a nuclear-powered robot the size of a small car is trundling around Mars looking for fossils. Unlike its predecessor Curiosity, Nasas Perseverance rover is explicitly intended to...
The price of Shiba Inu (SHIB) has surged by 6% this week, with analysts predicting a 50% rally if key levels are broken. Meanwhile, PEPEs market cap has soared to $5 billion after hitting another all-time high.
Analysts...
Vanguards new CEO, Salim Ramji, has confirmed that the investment giant will not launch a Bitcoin ETF, emphasizing the firms commitment to its investment philosophy. Despite his past involvement with BlackRocks Bitcoin...
A troubling bug in Apples iOS 17.5 update is reportedly resurfacing previously deleted photos, including sensitive images, causing alarm among iPhone owners. Users on Reddit and beta testers have flagged this issue,...
Lucie, the Shiba Inu teams official marketing head, has taken to her X social media account (previously known as Twitter) to declare the SHIB, BONE, and LEASH pricing behavior she expects to see during a hypothetical...
Elon Musk provided a new update on the Tesla FSD development, which appears to be moving faster than anticipated. FSD V12.4, which aims to enhance miles per intervention by tenfold over V12.3, is set to begin internal...