Today's science and technology

A review on medicines prescribed last year shows many South Africans are living unhealthy lifestyles. News24 reports that the findings clearly shows that more money was send on medication for high blood pressure, cancer, high cholesterol and others. The report shows lifestyle factors such as smoking, incorrect diet and heavy alcohol use are known to increase the risk of developing chronic diseases. According to a science research company, medication for high blood pressure constituted 10.8% of expenditure on medicines.

A national committee has been set up to tackle rhino poaching in South Africa. News24 reports that the committee is to improve communication and co-ordination among the anti-poaching initiatives and government. The newly-elected committee-chair, Sam Ferreira, says four initial priorities are set to fight rhino poaching are agreed upon by the committee. He says the first to set up a national number where people could phone to report rhino poaching activities.

BlackBerry may provide some solution next week to help Indian security agencies access corporate email by obtaining encrypted data in readable format. This is after threatening to shut down BlackBerry if it did not address the security concerns by the end of this month. The Indian authorities want BlackBerry to give them the means to track and read BlackBerry Enterprise email and its separate BlackBerry Messenger service. It says it is concerned about the potential for militants to use the secure BlackBerry network to carry out attacks.

A study published by Nature Geo-science says the solar system could be nearly two million years older that it had been believed before. Independent on line reports, evidence comes from a 1,49-kilo meteorite, found in the Moroccan desert in 2004, that contains a "relict" mineral, which is one of the oldest solid materials formed after the birth of the Sun. Analysis of lead isotopes suggest the mineral was formed 4.4 billion years ago, making the meteorite the oldest object ever found