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Could your brain keep on living even after your body dies? Sounds like science fiction, but celebrated theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking recently suggested that technology could make it possible. “I think the brain is like a program in the mind, which is like a computer,” Hawking said last week during an appearance at the Cambridge Film Festival, The Telegraph reported. “So it’s theoretically possible to copy the brain on to a computer and so provide a form of life after death.” He acknowledged that such a feat lies “beyond our present capabilities,” adding that “the conventional afterlife is a fairy tale for people afraid of the dark.” Hawking, 71, made the remarks in conjunction with the premiere of a new documentary about his life. He has spoken previously about what he calls the “fairy story” of heaven and the afterlife. Likening thehuman brain to a computer whose components will fail, he s...

The Federal Government has imposed a luxury tax on private jet owners and operators in the country. As a result, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has directed the owners and operators of private jets to pay the sum of $4,000 for every flight departure within the country. According to a memo to all private jet operators and obtained by our correspondents, the NCAA ordered that Nigerian-registered private jets would henceforth pay the sum of $3,000 for every departure, while foreign registered private jets would pay $4,000 per departure. The memo, dated August 28, 2013, and signed by the Director-General, NCAA, Captain Fola Akinkuotu, was titled, ‘Order charging certain fees on operations in general aviation.’ The memo, with reference number: NCAA/DG/OR/GA/VOL.11/2013/06, reads, “In compliance with the provisions of Section 30 (2) (q) & (s) of the Civil Aviation Act of 2006, the Authority hereby orders: All foreign registered aircraft e...

Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie, says he is confident that the protracted strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities will soon be called off. Okojie, who spoke on Wednesday in Abuja at a meeting with journalists, said the commission had been doing everything within its powers to ensure a speedy resolution of the issues raised by ASUU so that students could return school. He said, “We are part of the system and we understand the issues, we are meeting with members of the union all the time and the issues are being tackled. “So, we are optimistic that the strike will soon be called off and our children can go back to school in the shortest possible time.” The NUC boss also reacted to the call by ASUU for NUC to be scrapped, saying “the call is not in good faith as the commission has not gone to sleep over its duties.” Also speaking on the recurrent disagreement between the comm...

A video believed to have been released by the wanted leader of the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, also known as Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, surfaced in Maiduguri on Wednesday. In it, a man claiming to be Shekau, debunked earlier claims by the Nigerian military that he died from gunshot wounds on August 19, 2013. The then JTF spokesman in Borno State, Lt Col Sagir Musa, had in a statement said, “Intelligence report available to the JTF Operation Restore Order revealed that Shekau, the most dreaded and wanted terrorists’ leader may have died. “He died of gunshots wounds received in an encounter with the JTF in one of their camps in Sambisa Forest on June 30 , 2013. Shekau was mortally wounded in the encounter and was sneaked into Amitchide-a border community in Cameroon for treatment from which he never recovered.” But in the video, Shekau said the world “should know that he could not die except by the will ...

Nollywood actor and TV host, Chidi Mokeme, has been approved as the host of the new season of Gulder Ultimate Search reality TV show. This year’s edition of the show started in Uyo, Akwa- Ibom State, on September 23, 2013, Monday. Mokeme who anchored the reality TV show, in its first and second seasons made a stunning comeback as the anchor man last year after taking over from erstwhile presenter, Bob Manuel Udokwu. The actor was officially announced as the host of the reality TV show, at the selection party of the Gulder Ultimate Search 10 finalists which held inside the New Expo Hall of Eko Hotel and Suites, weekend, in Lagos. Also at the event, the last 12 finalists that will scavenge the Usaka Forest of Akwa- Ibom State were unveiled. Speaking at the event, Mokeme disclosed that he was looking forward to a thrilling time in the jungle. He also advised the contestants “to gear up for the rigorous challenges that make up the upcoming adventure, fo...

The Federal Ministry of Environment says it will phase out the use of trichloroethane substance by 2015 as part of efforts to protect the ozone layer. The Deputy Director, Pollution and Environmental Health, in the ministry, Mr Kashimu Bayero, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday that methyl bromide would also be phased out by the same period. Trichloroethane (TCA) is a solvent used in the cleaning industry and also used as a processing agent while Methyl bromide is a substance used for fumigation and preservation in the agriculture industry. Bayero said that the ministry had set the target for banning the use of the substances in line with the deadline set by the Montreal Protocol to phase out ozone- depleting substances in developing countries. The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion. “Th...

The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Andrew Pocock, has said the British government is reviewing its plan to introduce a £3,000 visa bond scheme. He also said while there were security concerns in Nigeria, they were not overwhelming in many respects and could be managed. Pocock said this on Wednesday when he visited the Nigerian Stock Exchange to ring the closing bell, and to discuss ways in which more British companies could be encouraged to invest in the nation’s capital market. Reports had emerged earlier this year that the British government was planning to implement a new scheme under which some visitors from some Commonwealth countries, including Nigeria, would be asked to pay a £3,000 cash bond in return for visitor visas that allowed them to stay in the UK for up to six months. “In the long run, we are interested in a system of bonds that deters overstaying and recovers costs if a foreign national has used our public servic...