Page 34 - EngineerIt January 2021

INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGY

Appeal to creditors to join MTI liquidation application

uitingh and Associates, the Cape Town firm of attorneys launching the liquidation application against Anyuschka Nett, attorney at Luitingh and
Lthe bitcoin investment scheme, Mirror Trading International (MTI), is appealing to all potential Associates, says that it is vital that creditors
creditors to advise the attorney firm of any claim against the scheme. The appeal comes at a time when urgently complete a requisition form found on
two high court applications for the liquidation of MTI were filed by investors unable to withdraw funds. www.mtiliquidation.co.za. “We need to be fully
What is described as an alleged online bitcoin trading scam, MTI alarm bells first started ringing in aware of all claims against MTI to adequately
August 2020 when the South African financial regulator, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), assist the public to recoup their investments.
filed criminal charges with local law enforcement against the company. The regulator’s decision to press Despite FSCA warnings, the number of MTI
charges followed an investigation into MTI that unearthed the company’s use of fake trade statements, members has grown to an estimated 280 000,
undeclared losses, and possible fraud involving thousands of bitcoins. which means the loss is potentially a massive
blow to many people.”
Nett says that while this is not a first or last
of its kind in South Africa, at an estimated R8bn
loss, it does appear to be one of the largest to
have occurred. She says that Luitingh and
Associates intend to appoint liquidators as a
matter of urgency: “We need to work fast to
recover assets in a swift and competent manner
and would like to avoid a lengthy and protracted
liquidation process.”
Commenting on the scheme, Nett says that
the public must be wary of the manner in which
they invest funds: “The adage of ‘if it sounds too
good to be true it probably is’ usually rings true
in scenarios such as this one.” n

To join the claim against MTI please visit
www.mtiliquidation.co.za

Musical notes from Space

igh above the Arctic Circle in Lofoten, Norway, citizen scientist Rob
HStammes operates a space weather monitoring station. His sensors
detect ground currents, auroras, radio bursts and disturbances in Earth's
magnetic field. On 18 January 2021 he received a musical note from the
magnetosphere.
Stammes reported that around 05.30 UTC on 18 January 2021 the local
magnetic field began to swing back and forth in a rhythmic pattern.
"Electrical currents in the ground did the same thing. It was a nearly pure
sine wave--like a low frequency musical note. The episode lasted for more
than two hours."
Stammes has received such notes before, but they are rare. "I see a
pattern like this only about once a year”.
Space physicists call this phenomenon a "pulsation continuous" or "Pc"
for short. Imagine blowing across a piece of paper, making it flutter with
your breath. Solar wind does the same thing to magnetic fields. Pc waves are essentially flutters propagating down the flanks of Earth's
magnetosphere, excited by the breath of the sun.
According to the global INTERMAGNET network of magnetometers, the
set of waves washed over Norway and Sweden, but almost nowhere else. It
was a strictly regional phenomenon.
What happens in the sky when such a pure tone emerges from the
natural background cacophony of magnetic activity? "I wish I knew," said
Stammes. "I was asleep at the time." In fact, it's possible that no one
knows. Tones like these are rare, and they all too often occur while skies are
cloudy or daylit, blocking any peculiar auroras from view. Stammes says he
A magnetometer in Abisko, Sweden, recorded the same waves. plans to build an alert system to help him find out. n

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