May 18, 2022

Reclaiming African art in digital form

40 minutes

A Nigerian project called Looty is seeking to take back African art in digital form. Members go into museums, take LiDAR scans using their phones, and recreate these African artworks as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The first piece is one of the Benin Bronzes from the British Museum. Different artistic reimaginations of this ancient artwork are now being sold as NFTs, with parts of the proceeds going to emerging Nigerian artists. Gareth speaks to Looty’s founder Chidi about the idea, and blockchain expert Anne Kaluvu comments on the project.

The innovative vision of Amazonia 4.0

The Amazon rainforest is being destroyed at an alarming rate. Could there be another way? The project Amazonia 4.0 is envisioning harnessing the rainforest’s inherent biodiversity through a sustainable bioeconomy. Professor Carlos Nobre explains how, with the help of drones, fibre optic cables and other technologies, this vision may become a reality.

The common fruit fly’s digital twin

One of the most ubiquitously used and best understood organisms in science is the common fruit fly. Many important developments in medicine and biology stem from research on this tiny insect. Now Professor Pavan Ramdya and his team have developed a complete simulated model of the fruit fly, a so-called digital twin. This model can be used by researchers to conduct experiments digitally, which may help speed up research and solve unanswered questions.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant

Producers: Hannah Fisher and Florian Bohr

(Photo: A man uses Sony's 3D Creator scanning to create a three-dimensional image

Credit: PAU BARRENA/AFP via Getty Images)

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