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Meet the iShack, a modern take on an age-old design that is bringing new hope - and light - to the slums of South Africa. Millions of people are unable to afford to move out of slums and shanty towns in sub-Saharan Africa but the development of the iShack is intended to lift their living standards. People living in rickety and makeshift shacks in slum areas can wait for years before they can get connected to the electricity or water grids, and the United Nations estimates that 62 per cent of the urban population in Sub-Saharan Africa lives in slums. Meet the iShack, a modern take on an age-old design that is bringing new hope - and light - to the slums of South Africa. Millions of people are unable to afford to move out of slums and shanty towns in sub-Saharan Africa but the development of the iShack is intended to lift their living standards. People living in rickety and makeshift shacks in slum areas can wait for years before they can get connected to the electricity or water grids, and the United Nations estimates that 62 per cent of the urban population in Sub-Saharan Africa lives in slums. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2259075/Slum-dwellers-South-Africa-given-taste-mod-cons-introduction-environmentally-friendly-iShack.html#ixzz2HTI9EfYr  Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Its expansion was frighteningly fast. A handful of cases were first recognized in the U.S. at the beginning of the 1980s, but AIDS was soon seen around the world. By 1990, the world had a pandemic on its hands. In 1997, the peak of the epidemic, more than 3 million people became newly infected with HIV. Then science struck back. Drugs approved for HIV treatment in the mid-1990s proved profoundly effective, transforming AIDS from a death sentence to a chronic illness. Those treatments, combined with an international commitment to manage the disease by providing access to free drug therapy, led to a steep drop in new HIV infections. The United Nations has kept track of HIV worldwide for the past couple of decades. Below, we use that data to explore some of the trends in HIV prevalence. (The chart shows the percentage of the population, ages 15 to 49, living with HIV.)

"Technological progress-improvements in the ways that goods and services are produced, marketed, and brought to market-is at the very heart of human advancement and development. It has helped reduce the share of people living in absolute poverty in developing countries from 29 percent in 1990 to 18 percent in 2004." Thanks to Sarah Gibson for the link

"The most hated company in the world right now isn't a member of Big Oil. It's not a shady Internet company or a bailed-out megabank. Populist discontent toward dirty energy, high-tech snoops, and greedy bankers has occasionally been fierce, but it's never been laser-focused like the outrage that drew an estimated (by the organizers) 2 million protesters to anti-Monsanto rallies in more than 50 countries at the end of May."

"Russia is pushing for next week's landmark UN climate science report to include support for controversial technologies to geoengineer the planet's climate, according to documents obtained by the Guardian. As climate scientists prepare to gather for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Stockholm to present the most authoritative state of climate science to date, it has emerged the Russian government is asking for "planet hacking" to be included in the report. The IPCC has not included geoengineering in its major assessments before"

"Farmers in parts of India are breaking growing records, using less seed, less water, and compost as fertiliser. This ground-breaking method of cultivation, developed in Madagascar, is boosting yields and changing lives for the farmers. Norman Uphoff, professor at Cornell University, explains how it is done For more on this subject, see John Vidal's report in the Observer Food Monthly on Sunday"

Instead of the supposed revolution in agriculture that Monsato's GM seeds were meant to bring, the opposite effect has occurred - a rise in herbicide use

"When you think of geoengineering, you may be imagining huge mirrors in space, or iron filings being dumped into the ocean. Geoengineering, though, can occur on a smaller scale. Some researchers are proposing small-scale fixes as in an effort to save some of Chile's 3,100 glaciers."

"Google has made it public knowledge for some time that it wants to connect the world to the internet. The challenge of facilitating this in remote areas has seen the search giant come up with some seemingly unorthodox methods, such as its TV white space project in South Africa. Now it's extending the use of existing technologies to provide wireless networks across Africa and Asia with blimps."

"Pollution fears are on the up-and-up in Beijing once again as winter, the smoggiest season of them all, fast approaches. After the World Health Organization released a report labelling air pollution as a leading cause of cancer earlier this month, China's government is more frantic than ever to curb the level of PM 2.5 particles in the air"

In a village in India's poorest state, Bihar, farmers are growing world record amounts of rice - with no GM, and no herbicide. Is this one solution to world food shortages? * India's rice revolution - audio slideshow

The project is part of the 4Afrika Initiative, an investment programme being announced by technology giant Microsoft, that also includes a new Windows Phone 8 smartphone for the region and investment in help for small businesses on the continent, and in education and internships.For the white spaces project, the company is working with a Kenyan ISP, Indigo Telecom, and the Kenyan government. The ISP is installing wireless 'base stations' - or masts - that are solar-powered, to get round the lack of mains electricity. The base stations act as a link to the nearest main cable connection to the internet, without the expense of extending the fibre-optic network. The solar panels will power the bases stations - and also charge computer equipment The signal supplied is much more powerful than normal wifi.

"Retractable Needle, Single-Use, Safety Syringe 100% Reduction in Needlestick Injuries Needle is Retracted in Plunger. All Components Interlocked After Use. Single-hand Operation & Passive Retraction User-Friendly Robust Design"

"Golden rice, a new strain that boosts vitamin A levels and reduces blindness in developing countries, is about to be sown in the Philippines - and is the new battleground crop"

Bananas are a staple food in Uganda. Ugandans eat more of the fruit than any other country in the world. Each person eats on average 700g (about seven small bananas) a day, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute, and they provide up to 27% of the population's calorie intake.

"A total of 96m black polythene balls now cover water at reservoir in Sylmar, California, to protect against evaporation"

"Fighting global warming by reflecting sunlight back into space risks "terrifying" consequences including droughts and conflicts, according to three major new analyses of the promise and perils of geoengineering. But research into deliberately interfering with the climate system must continue in search of technology to use as a last resort in combating climate change, scientists have concluded."

"A tiny "genetic patch" can be used to prevent a form of deafness which runs in families, according to animal tests. Patients with Usher syndrome have defective sections of their genetic code which cause problems with hearing, sight and balance."

Pakistan was plunged into darkness after a breakdown of a key power transmission line in southern part of the country, another reminder of the country's crippling energy crisis. The power failure on Sunday, one of the worst in the country has experienced, has caused power to be cut in major cities throughout the country including the capital Islamabad.

"Free parking, incentives and driving in bus lanes push Tesla Model S and Nissan Leaf to top of best-seller lists"