New research uncovers surprising effects of caffeine on the sleeping brain.
Caffeine isn’t just in your morning coffee. It’s also in tea, chocolate, energy drinks, and many popular soft drinks, making it one of the most widely consumed psychoactive substances around the globe. Read more
Amazon’s new warehouse robot has a ‘sense of touch’ that could see it replace human workers
Amazon has announced a new robot with a sense of touch, enabling it to pick up and stow around three-quarters of the items found in its warehouses. The new robot, called Vulcan, can accurately gauge the pressure required to grab and move warehouse items based on their size, dimensions and density, according to the e-commerce […]
Quantum Code Cracked: Scientists Solve 20-Year Puzzle Behind Entanglement Purity
Scientists have achieved a major leap in quantum technology by deriving an exact mathematical expression crucial for refining noisy quantum entanglement into the pure states needed for advanced quantum computing and communication. Read more
$6.9 Billion Solution: Engineers Unveil Cleaner, Cheaper Way to Desalinate Seawater
Eliminating acid and base treatments from conventional desalination plants could save billions of dollars worldwide, making seawater a more cost-effective source of drinking water. Water desalination plants may soon be able to eliminate the use of costly chemicals by using new carbon cloth electrodes that remove boron from seawater, an essential step in making seawater safe to […]
Chewing Gum Could Be Adding Thousands of Microplastics to Your Body
Chewing gum can release thousands of microplastics into saliva. Scientists say more research is needed but suggest chewing fewer pieces to reduce exposure. Plastic is everywhere, and many everyday products, such as cutting boards, clothes, and cleaning sponges, can expose people to tiny micrometer-wide particles called microplastics. Read more
Scientists Reveal Why We Can’t Remember Our Earliest Years
A new fMRI study reveals that babies as young as 12 months can encode memories, contradicting theories that memory formation is impossible in infancy. Instead, the inability to recall early life may stem from retrieval failures rather than memory loss. Read more
Inaugural artificial intelligence olympiad in SA
We recognize that artificial intelligence isn’t covered in South African high school curriculums, so this programme gives you the opportunity to gain foundational knowledge in AI, then provides pathways to build on that foundation and compete in international AI olympiads and competitions, opening doors to opportunities and showcasing your talent on a global stage. Read more
Viewing math as a language might help it make sense to more of us
Does math leave you anxious? Maybe you feel it’s unforgiving — that unless everything is perfectly right, it’s totally wrong. Perhaps it just doesn’t compute for you. It’s like looking at a foreign language — one in which you’re far from fluent. Read more
This young biologist looked for links between diet and dyslexia
Drawing on her own experience with the condition, Giselle Drewett wants to find ways to help. Inspired by her experience with dyslexia, Giselle wanted to use the power of biology to help people with this condition. And when she took a summer course on genetics, she got an idea for how to do it. Read […]
Two SA students in international round of young researchers’ awards
Two Master’s in Engineering students from Stellenbosch University, Yasmin de Raay and Chris Erasmus, have advanced to the international round of the 2025 Blue Sky Young Researchers and Innovation competition. Read more