All posts tagged: southern africa

The haunting Masters meltdown that changed Rory McIlroy’s career

The haunting Masters meltdown that changed Rory McIlroy’s career

Published by Sam Flores

Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in April 2023. CNN  —  Slumped on his club, head buried in his arm, Rory McIlroy looked on the verge of tears. The then-21-year-old had just watched his ball sink into the waters of Rae’s Creek at Augusta National and with it, his dream of winning The Masters, a dream that had looked so tantalizingly close mere hours earlier. As a four-time major winner and one of the most decorated names in the sport’s history, few players would turn down the chance to swap places with McIlroy heading into Augusta this week. Yet on Sunday afternoon of April 10, 2011, not a golfer in the world would have wished to be in the Northern Irishman’s shoes. A fresh-faced, mop-headed McIlroy had touched down in Georgia for the first major of the season with a reputation as the leading light of the next generation of stars. An excellent 2010 had marked his best season since turning pro three years earlier, highlighted by a first PGA Tour win at the …

Girls to design Africa’s first private space satellite

Girls to design Africa’s first private space satellite

Published by skeptic

Story highlights Africa will launch its first private satellite into space It’s been built by schoolgirls CNN  —  They may be teenagers, but 17-year-old Brittany Bull and 16-year-old Sesam Mngqengqiswa have grand ambitions – to launch Africa’s first private satellite into space in 2019. They are part of a team of high school girls from Cape Town, South Africa, who have designed and built payloads for a satellite that will orbit over the earth’s poles scanning Africa’s surface. Once in space, the satellite will collect information on agriculture, and food security within the continent. Using the data transmitted, “we can try to determine and predict the problems Africa will be facing in the future”, explains Bull, a student at Pelican Park High School. “Where our food is growing, where we can plant more trees and vegetation and also how we can monitor remote areas,” she says. “We have a lot of forest fires and floods but we don’t always get out there in time.” Information received twice a day will go towards disaster prevention. It’s …