What a selection this month! Right in time for spring beginning in earnest in the Northern Hemisphere, we’ve covered some incredible stories of hope and new birth in our April issue. In our cover story, we spoke with Teranga Gold Corporation, a Canadian gold producer that is making an incredible difference to the communities it works with in French West Africa. From health clinics to training programmes to agriculture, this soon-to-be-mid-tier producer is working closely with the government and villages alike to set up long-term support for the areas they mine in.
Meanwhile, in our Amazing World series, we took a look at a new technology developed by scientists at the University of California and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that could revolutionise life and agriculture in arid climates and water-scarce areas, by cleanly and sustainably drawing moisture from desert air.
The list of amazing ramifications keeps growing the longer it’s thought about – if even there was a project to back, in this Editor’s humble opinion, it’s this one.From innovative discoveries to unexplained ones, our Amazing World series also took a look at the illusive secrets of Oak Island, long the obsession and vexation of treasure hunters, conspiracy theorists and even Presidents. With undeciphered tablets and rumours of buried riches, this real-life puzzle is a movie-worthy mystery.
However, as we look to the future in this month of new beginnings, we also have to mark an ending. In our Focus piece, we take a look back at a remarkable life and mind that sadly isn’t joining April with us; Stephen Hawking, the British theoretical physicist and, until his passing on March 14th, one of the smartest people alive in modern day.
Alice Instone-Brewer
