School of Chemistry researcher, Dr Dalia Saad, is a recipient of the 2020 FLAIR research fellowship. Saad, an environmental chemist is among 30 young researchers from African countries including Sudan, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Cameroon, Uganda, South Africa and Ghana who will receive up to £300,000 (about R 580000) each to... Read more
A mathematician of note, Prof Themba Dube of the Department of Mathematical Science in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) demonstrates that teaching is a noble calling. Dube pursued his dream of becoming a profound mathematician and passed most of his qualifications with distinction. He majored in... Read more
UWC, SU isolate SA’s first lab culture of SARS-CoV-2
Latest newsResearchStellenbosch UniversityUniversity of the Western CapeWestern Cape May 12, 2020
While much of the scientific and medical community rushes to develop therapeutic agents for COVID-19 based on clinical data, getting a better understanding of the brand-new virus remains crucial. That’s why it’s so important that South Africa obtained its very first known laboratory isolate of SARS-Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on... Read more
“It’s like searching for buried treasure. When you finally find that zircon in the rocks entombing a fossil, you know you have in your hands a time-capsule from the prehistoric past.” Speaking is Dr Ryan T. Tucker, a sedimentologist and taphonomist in the Department of Earth Sciences at Stellenbosch... Read more
They pollinate a third of our crops and help make a healthy living soil. We must protect them better and learn from ideas that have already been developed in South Africa and elsewhere to conserve themSo says Stellenbosch University insect conservationist Prof Michael Samways, lead author of a new... Read more
Stellenbosch botanist rediscovers extinct species
ResearchStellenbosch UniversityWestern Cape May 3, 2020
One of the first recorded species to have been lost to forestry and agriculture in the Western Cape in the 1800s, a type of fountain bush from the pea family that used to grow next to mountain streams in the Tulbagh region, have been rediscovered. Psoralea cataracta was discovered... Read more
Farmers with a few cows and the necessary space available could for around R24 000 start their own artisan cheesemaking business. So says Dr Faith Nyamakwere of the Department of Animal Sciences at Stellenbosch University (SU). She recently received her PhD in Animal Sciences in the SU Faculty of AgriSciences... Read more
UKZN Researchers Review Evidence for Quantum Effects in the Brain
KwaZulu-NatalLatest newsResearchUniversity of KwaZulu-Natal April 22, 2020
A review undertaken by researchers at UKZN’s Centre for Quantum Technology, published in the AVS Quantum Science journal as an editor’s pick, examines evidence for the role of quantum effects in neural processes in the brain, saying that this knowledge could be useful in determining how we think about... Read more
Astronomers stumble upon unexpected features in a distant galaxy
Eastern CapeLatest newsResearchRhodes University April 14, 2020
An international team of astronomers, including astronomers from Rhodes University, has uncovered unusual features present in the radio galaxy ESO 137-006, using MeerKAT. Launched in 2018, the South African MeerKAT radio telescope aims to answer fundamental astrophysical questions about the nature of objects in the Universe. It is a... Read more
With the reality of COVID-19 facing many, a psychosocial support organisation is making use of the concept of “flocking” to provide some hope with the help of research conducted by Professor Liesel Ebersöhn of the University of Pretoria (UP). “Flocking shows behaviours that are implied by ubuntu, and refers... Read more
