Newly-discovered TB blood signal provides early warning for at-risk patients
Latest newsResearchUniversity of Cape Town January 24, 2018
Caption: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that leads to the Tuberculosis disease. Photo Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuberculosis can be detected in people infected with HIV via a unique blood signal before symptoms appear, according to a new study. The study, which is the result of a... Read more
Quest for a better heart valve
ResearchStellenbosch University January 19, 2018
Heart valve replacement, while a lifesaving procedure, is rife with problems ranging from blood clotting to tissue degeneration. The field is long overdue for innovation. Prof Jacques Janson, a senior specialist in the Cardiothoracic Surgery Division in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, with a strong interest in... Read more
Print a 200-million-year-old dinosaur fossil in your own home
ResearchUniversity of the Witwatersrand January 18, 2018
CT-scan study of Wits PHD student makes it possible to 3D print the skull of the dinosaur species Massospondylus that roamed South Africa 200 million years ago. The digital reconstruction of the skull of a 200-million-year-old South African dinosaur, Massospondylus, has made it possible for researchers to make 3D prints... Read more
The world of work is changing – are you future-proof?
Research January 17, 2018
The world of work is facing rapid change and savvy business owners will need to take notice if they want to survive, let alone grow. Leading global flexible workspace provider, Regus, commissioned research which shows a snapshot of the world of work today. The trends were indicative of a... Read more
UJ researchers make interesting discovery in Hypatia stone
Must-ReadResearchUniversity of Johannesburg January 15, 2018
Researchers at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) have found exotic micro-mineral compounds in the ‘Hypatia’ stone that are not known to occur on Earth, elsewhere in the solar system or in known meteorites or comets. Professor Jan Kramers and Dr Georgy Belyanin from the UJ PPM Research Centre at... Read more
Finding big data solutions through teaching and learning
ResearchUniversity of Cape Town January 12, 2018
As a partner in the African Research Cloud (ARC) and the Inter-University Institute for Data-Intensive Astronomy (IDIA), UCT is home to some powerful computing facilities. These facilities, which allow researchers to work with enormous sets of data, are helping us to prepare for the era of big-data science. But... Read more
Mapping pixels with UCT eResearch
Research January 9, 2018
When Associate Professor Adam West from the Department of Biological Sciences began using drones to collect data from his fynbos study plots, he was confronted by a big-data problem. The customised drones were efficient and collected data easily, but they collected a lot of it – more than could... Read more
Preparing for the SKA data
ResearchUniversity of Cape Town January 8, 2018
The world is wholly underprepared for the big-data challenges presented by the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) – the largest radio telescope ever built. This is because we have never seen data volumes on this scale before. By the time the SKA comes online in 2020, the scientific community needs... Read more
Atmospheric Research Group hosts third training workshop
ResearchUniversity of KwaZulu-Natal December 29, 2017
UKZN’s Atmospheric Research Group (ATMRES) recently hosted its third training workshop for masters and PhD candidates, with the topic being Atmospheric Remote Sensing using ground and space borne techniques. Fifty-two participants, including 18 presenters, attended the three-day workshop, which included a laser safety course. More than half of those present were... Read more
Boosting the breeding success of hornbills
ResearchUniversity of Cape Town December 27, 2017
Fear of heights, floods and being mistaken for a poacher punctuated Kate Carstens’ PhD fieldwork on the Southern Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) in the Limpopo Valley and Lowveld regions. Carstens assessed the role of artificial nest boxes to boost breeding success, a tool for conserving these endangered birds. Carstens... Read more
