South African scientists - The African Mirror

Oct

2022

Rock stars: how a group of scientists in South Africa rescued a rare 500kg chunk of human history

SCIENTIFIC breakthroughs can happen in the strangest ways and places. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin because of mould growing on a Petri dish left out while he was on holiday. Chinese monks in the 9th century wanted to make a potion for immortality: instead, they discovered gunpowder. Our own remarkable discovery happened on a rugged, remote stretch of coastline east of Still Bay on South Africa’s Cape south coast. It was low tide, and three members of our ichnology team (people who study tracks and traces) were in search of newly exposed Pleistocene vertebrate track sites in aeolianites (cemented dunes). Authors…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

South African scientists explain why they make time for science festivals

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

SCIENCE festivals across the world attract millions of visitors every year. They are typically busy, buzzing events: visitors stroll through interactive displays, enjoy science-themed shows and popular science talks and take part in hands-on workshops. MPFARELENI REJOYCE GAVHI-MOLEFE, Mathematical Scientist & AIMS House of Science Manager, African Institute for Mathematical Sciences ERIC A. JENSEN, Associate Professor in Sociology, University of Warwick MARINA JOUBERT, Science Communication Researcher, Stellenbosch University These events appeal to different groups of people for different reasons. For adults, they provide rare – and valued – opportunities to talk directly to scientists while learning in a leisure context.…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

South African scientists’ COVID-19 breakthrough

NEWS

RESEARCH by South African scientists suggests that antibodies triggered by exposure to the country's dominant coronavirus variant can prevent infection by other variants, the scientists disclosed yesterday. The findings in laboratory studies offer hope that COVID-19 vaccines based on the 501Y.V2 variant first identified late last year could protect against multiple variants circulating in different parts of the world. The more contagious variant drove a second wave of infections in South Africa that peaked in January and is believed to have spread to many other countries in Africa and other continents. "We used plasma ... from people that were infected…