SA innovation takes centre stage at Chinese Innovation Forum
South Africa’s scientific and technological capabilities will this week come under the international spotlight when it participates as Country of Honour at the 19th Pujiang Innovation Forum in Shanghai, China. This colossal task, from 11 – 14 September, will rest on the shoulders of a distinguished delegation of South African scientists, innovators and researchers that […]
Early childhood is a great time to learn about clean energy: this game aims to make it fun
Global challenges, such as climate change, biodiversity loss and resource depletion, force a rethink of how to prepare the next generation. These issues are not far away from children’s lives. Education holds a responsibility. Early childhood – from birth to 8 years old – is a stage where children develop values and problem-solving skills. It is marked by rapid […]
The story of a vegetable garden in rural South Africa shows how communities can drive climate action
A long-standing idea in environmental research is that people are more likely to care about the environment, and do something to prevent environmental damage, once they earn enough to stop worrying about paying their bills. But what happens in rural communities with high levels of poverty, where money is scarce and environmental changes directly affect people’s livelihoods? Read more
South Africa’s food system is failing children – what must change
Child malnutrition in South Africa casts a long shadow across the life course. For example, stunting or being short for their age compromises children’s physical growth and their brain development in ways that limit their education and employment prospects. Stunted and overweight children are both at greater risk of developing noncommunicable diseases such as obesity, […]
SA scientists decode cancer’s ‘cloak of invisibility’ in ‘major leap forward’
A team at the University of Cape Town has successfully recreated and modelled the process by which tumours bypass the body’s natural defences. In the intricate biology of the human body, organs such as the breast, colon and lungs are lined with a defensive barrier known as the epithelium. At the heart of this barrier […]
Super El Niño may push an already stressed climate ecosystem across a critical threshold, climate change researcher says
Forecasters are warning that the ongoing El Niño is likely to become supercharged in the coming months and inject potentially unprecedented heat into our already warming world. El Niño is the warm phase of a multiyear natural climate pattern, but models suggest this year’s cycle will be exceptionally intense. Super El Niño conditions could contribute to temperature extremes […]
Celebrating National Science Month
National Science Month, an expansion of National Science Week, gives individuals and institutions a focused opportunity to interest South Africans in science, technology and innovation and show how they affect our lives. We are calling everyone – science councils, industry, universities, schools, TVET colleges, and government departments from across the country – to join us […]
School in a hot world: what research is saying about children’s health and learning
Climate change is making southern Africa hotter. While much attention has focused on climate impacts like droughts, floods and food insecurity, another crisis is unfolding quietly inside classrooms. Research has shown that some schools are becoming dangerously hot places for children to develop, learn and play. Read more
How South African scientists identified hantavirus on a cruise ship thousands of miles away
When South African infectious disease specialist Lucille Blumberg checked her email on the morning of May 1, while the country was celebrating the Labor Day holiday, an urgent message caught her attention. A U.K.-based colleague had written about a passenger from a cruise ship sailing thousands of miles away in the Atlantic Ocean who had […]
Microplastics absorb heat in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming — as if they weren’t bad enough
Microplastics are absorbing heat in the atmosphere and contributing to global warming, a new study reveals. Microplastics are infamous for being everywhere, contaminating ecosystems and accumulating inside our bodies. Scientists have known for a while that plastics are also blown high into the atmosphere, where they are now pervasive, but it was unclear what impact they might be having up […]