SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION - The African Mirror

Jan

2024

South African researchers are tracing the vibrational language of elephants – using fossils

RESEARCHERS in South Africa have unearthed groundbreaking evidence that sheds light on the ancient communication methods of elephants, according to an academic report quoted in The Conversation. A research team led by Charles Helm of the African Centre for Coastal Palaescience at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa published a report in ScienceDirect, a scientific research journal, in September 2023. The team's work focused on the discovery of 35 fossilized elephant track sites, some of which are the first-ever trunk-drag impressions. “These have been noted in South African Pleistocene coastal deposits, in apparent association with elephant tracks,” the scholars explain…

Jan

2024

By PATRICIA ANN WHITELOCK, DANIEL CUNNAMA and ROSALIND SKELTON

20 years ago South Africa had 40 qualified astronomers – all white. How it’s opened space science and developed skills since then

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

SOUTH African astronomy started an important journey two decades ago when an initiative to attract and train future scientists in the field welcomed its first group of students under the National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme. World-class facilities have been established during this period, the most notable of which are the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) and the MeerKAT radio telescope, a precursor to the international Square Kilometre Array. They added to the South African Astronomical Observatory and Hartebeesthoek Radio Observatory which existed already. The National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme has played a vital role in ensuring that these…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

Unusual ancient elephant tracks had our team of fossil experts stumped – how we solved the mystery

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

OVER the past 15 years, through our scientific study of tracks and traces, we have identified more than 350 fossil vertebrate track sites from South Africa’s Cape south coast. Most are found in cemented sand dunes, called aeolianites, and all are from the Pleistocene Epoch, ranging in age from about 35,000 to 400,000 years. CHARLES HELM, Research Associate, African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University During that time we have honed our identification skills and have become used to finding and interpreting tracksites – a field called ichnology. And yet, every once in a while, we encounter something we…

Dec

2023

By BIRD STORY AGENCY

South African physicists unveil breakthrough research on mysterious dark matter

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

TWO South African physicists, Professor Deepak Kar and his former PhD student Sukanya Sinha, have spearheaded a fresh approach to researching dark matter, a long-standing puzzle among physicists globally, according to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). According to the South African university, the study is critical because it offers a new way to research dark matter, which “has been a question that high-energy and astrophysicists around the world have been investigating for decades.” Physics.org describes dark matter as a component recognised solely by its gravitational pull rather than its luminosity. Theorised almost a century ago, dark matter is believed…

Oct

2023

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Superdeep diamonds from West Africa and Brazil unveil critical insights on earth’s evolution

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

A scientific analysis of ‘superdeep' diamonds, a type of diamond that originated between 180 and 620 miles deep into the earth and was extracted from mines in Brazil and Western Africa, has exposed new processes of how continents were formed. According to a press statement from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, the diamonds were analyzed by a team of experts, including Karen Smit of the Wits School of Geosciences. “We wanted to date these diamonds to try and understand how the earliest continents formed,” Smit explains. Formed between 650 and 450 million years ago, the diamonds have shown how supercontinents…

Sep

2023

By The African Mirror

Meteorite discovery: unusual finds by South African farmer add to space rock heritage

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

METEORITES – fragments of rock that have fallen to Earth from space in spectacularly fiery meteors – have been the subject of public fascination, awe, myths and even religious worship for thousands of years. In recent decades they’ve become a cosmic Rosetta Stone for scientists investigating the birth throes of our solar system and the organic life it hosts. Meteorites are therefore rightly classified by many countries as an integral part of communal natural heritage and are sought after by museums and private collectors. ROGER LAWRENCE GIBSON, Professor of Structural Geology and Metamorphic Petrology, University of the Witwatersrand South Africa,…

Sep

2023

By BIRD STORY AGENCY

World’s oldest wooden structure unearthed in Zambia

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

ARCHAEOLOGISTS working in Zambia have made a revolutionary discovery that has the capacity to reshape our understanding of early hominid behaviour. According to the Lusaka Times, the scientists unearthed pre-historic wooden logs, firmly embedded in the riverbank, which indicate that nearly half a million years ago, Stone Age communities used wood for the construction of structures - possibly shelter. "The research… has generated significant excitement in the archaeological community. It is led by Professor Larry Barham from the University of Liverpool, who heads the Deep Roots of Humanity research project responsible for excavating and analysing this ancient timber," the Lusaka…

Sep

2023

By The African Mirror

South African hominin fossils were sent into space and scientists are enraged

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

WHEN a Virgin Galactic commercial flight soared into space on 8 September 2023, there were two Virgin Galactic pilots, an instructor and three passengers on board – as well as two fossils of ancient prehuman relatives from South Africa. Timothy Nash, a businessman, carried a clavicle belonging to Australopithecus sediba and the thumb bone of a Homo naledi specimen. The fossils’ brief journey – the VSS Unity’s flight lasted just an hour – was organised by palaeontologist Lee Berger, who led the team that discovered and described Homo naledi in 2015. Berger was granted an export permit in July by…

Sep

2023

By The African Mirror

Giant sea lizards: fossils in Morocco reveal the astounding diversity of marine life 66 million years ago, just before the asteroid hit

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

SIXTY-SIX million years ago, the Cretaceous period ended. Dinosaurs disappeared, along with around 90% of all species on Earth. The patterns and causes of this extinction have been debated since palaeontology began. Was it a slow, inevitable decline, or did the end come quickly, driven by a sudden, unpredictable disaster? NICHOLAS R. LONGRICH, Senior Lecturer in Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences at the University of Bath, University of Bath Georges Cuvier, working in the early 19th century, was one of the first palaeontologists. He believed that geological catastrophes, or “revolutions”, drove waves of sudden extinction. In part, his ideas…

Sep

2023

By SETH ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Price wars drive adoption of cleaner cabs, carpooling in Africa

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

CONSUMERS love cheaper rides and there's always a driver willing to take less per ride. To cushion themselves from losses, many taxi and rideshare drivers are turning to smaller, fuel-efficient cars, hybrids, LPG-powered, and fully electric vehicles. This trend, driven by both economics and a growing environmental consciousness, has begun to reshape the taxi industry across Africa. It also comes as the continent sees a shift in attitudes to polluting staples like plastic and fossil fuels, according to a report released by a unit at bird story agency, The African Climate Awareness Report 2023. As cities across Africa expand, shared…