Wits University and Anglo American have entered into a partnership to fund the renovation, expansion and digitization of the 62-year-old Planetarium into a forward-looking, multidisciplinary research, training and science engagement centre. Wits University and Anglo American have entered into a partnership to fund the renovation, expansion and digitization of the 62-year-old Johannesburg Planetarium into a new, future-oriented, multidisciplinary research, training and science engagement centre.
Using 3D construction
3D printing represents a new technology in the manufacturing sector associated with potentially strong stimuli for sustainable development. Other advantages of this project are that the cement used in 3D construction dries faster than the cement used in the construction sector and that virtually any structure can be printed.
What if you could actually PRINT your food?
3D food printing improves color profile and structural properties of the derived novel whole grain sourdough and malt crackers. At the end of last year, the University of the Free State (UF) Faculty of Education opened the first Science Education Center (Sci-Ed) in central South Africa. He believes it is in spaces like these where innovations and initiatives are created to tackle science (and the world) of the future.
Designed to house all the crucial elements of a modern science education centre, the Sci-Ed building is an extension of the existing Winkie Direko building. Loyiso Jita, dean of the Faculty of Education, described the building as a dream come true. At the opening of the Science Education Center on the Bloemfontein Campus, from left: Prof.
Staring at the sun
Africa’s first operational space weather centre was recently launched in Hermanus
The operational capability has been developed over the past three years and to date, DSI has invested over R70.89 million in building the 24/7 space weather capability," the minister said during the launch. The new space weather center was designed with its purpose in mind and has large elliptical shapes throughout, inspired by the shapes of Earth's magnetic field lines. The building contains the latest ICT infrastructure, space weather operations room, a 100-seater.
The new SANSA Space Weather Center and associated capacity was launched on 3 November 2022 and has been operational 24/7 since October 2022. The capacity is operated from a new state-of-the-art building on the SANSA campus in Hermanus. One of the primary goals of this research was to understand the process by which the mass of a white dwarf can grow to this point, known as the Chandrasekhar limit.
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The announcement was made in November at a Science Café held at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, hosted by the industry body and focused on showcasing research on Rooibos. The department's Director of Sector and Local Innovation, Sunita Kalan, explained that the funding was made available through the Sector Innovation Fund (SIF) - a program launched by the DSI in 2013 to improve the competitiveness of various sectors in the economy. by way of encouraging greater investment in research, development and innovation (RDI). Given the decline in private sector investment in R&D in recent years, the Sector Innovation Fund has helped create an enabling environment for RDI priorities that are largely driven by industry in a co-financing arrangement with government.
In addition to the funding provided to SARC through the SIF, DSI has also strengthened the Rooibos and Honeybush sectors with support for. Joe Swart, director of research at the SA Rooibos Council, says the industry welcomes the partnership with DSI. The demand for natural remedies in modern medicine as complementary or alternative therapies is increasing; however, the potential medicinal values of these plants, including rooibos, are not always adequately researched and documented, so the industry and the wider sector can benefit from a greater focus on research and development in this area.
Rooibos research ‘blooming’
The SARK responded to the call with a proposal that seeks to establish a scientific evidence base for the health benefits of rooibos and was one of six proposals approved for funding in this phase of the SIF program. The additional investment will help the industry move forward with studies that include human trials – an important next step in the development of therapies that contain rooibos as an active ingredient. Scientists consider it a rich source of polyphenols, which are packed with antioxidants and potential health benefits, which can be used in the development of phytochemicals, nutrients and cosmetics.
Dr Nehemia Latolla was selected as the FameLab SA 2022 winner during the national leg of the International FameLab science communication competition, held on Monday evening, 17 October 2022. However, there is a lack of reported chemistry, safety and efficacy of these medicinal plants," according to Latolla. Second runner-up, Onesimo Mtintsilana, also from the University of the Witwatersrand, is a particle physicist and the student representative for the Women in Physics in SA Forum.
Talking with 2022’S FAMELAB SA WINNER
First runner-up, Johanné Marais from the University of the Witwatersrand, aims to address sleep deprivation due to HIV treatment with her sleep neurophysiology research. I was born in Leratong Hospital in Johannesburg before my parents started missionary work in the Eastern Cape province. When I grew up in a house of missionaries, my parents always reminded us of the importance of caring and helping others.
I think of all this work that describes who I am as the culmination of the various streams available to me to care for and help others. Therefore, we are interested in the study of these medicinal plants towards new, safe and cost-effective medicines. Develop the ability to persevere so that regardless of challenges or setbacks, you are able to keep pushing towards your goal.
BIG STORY TO TELL
- What makes this discovery unique?
- What has been the most exciting find from the site so far?
- What is the significance of this find?
- How do you know where to look for fossils, and how did you find this site?
- What is the next step?
The age of the site is also intriguing, as we don't know much about the plants and invertebrates from the Middle Permian period (between 273 and 260 million years ago). All of the plants we find are new to science, and they tell us how groups like the seed plants of the Permian period evolved. We have found the first seed-producing cones from the Glossopteris plant – the tree that formed all our economic coal deposits.
Understanding past extinction events can help scientists predict the effects of the current climate crisis. The fine layering and the special color and texture of the rock were ideal for finding plant fossils. In South Africa, fossils form part of the National Estate and may not be excavated without permission.
Quality research in Africa matters more than ever –
We tend to think of big cities as separate from nature, but these modern habitats attract a host of small carnivores that have learned to thrive on our concrete turf. And because we tend to kill or drive away big threats like lions and leopards, we actually create a safe space for small carnivores - foxes and wild cats and mongooses. Pest control, landscape cleaning ninjas This is one of the reasons why small carnivores often benefit from global change.
Not only are small carnivores very adaptable when it comes to diet, but they flit around under our noses without us really noticing. Jackals and other small carnivores help keep our environments clean by scavenging carcasses, and all the varied diets mean they certainly help keep disease under control. Small carnivores are very flexible in terms of their behavior - they can adjust their diet and change their social systems, all in response to human pressure.
WE BUILT IT, AND THEY CAME
They often eat unwanted pests such as termites and rodents – in Europe we even see small carnivores killing invasive species such as gray squirrels. Because they are central to many food webs, grow quickly, and exhibit great behavioral flexibility, small animals are excellent indicators of environmental change. Unfortunately, because they are small and somewhat inconspicuous, we don't know much about the little beasts.
And because they are not large, charismatic and endangered, typically not many conservation and research funds go to small carnivores. By removing the even greater threat of rodents (and rotting carcasses), small carnivores can also greatly reduce the risk of disease to humans. Maybe if we connect ecologists and virologists, and get more citizens actively involved, we can make small carnivores Big.
MeerKAT telescope team
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In its citation, the RAS recognized the MeerKAT team “for a series of spectacular observations in radio astronomy, culminating in the images of the Galactic Center region and the spectacular radio bubbles. The core of the MeerKAT array telescope, in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, with a radio image of the Milky Way showing the previously unknown 'MeerKAT bubbles' (from top right to bottom left) that surround the black hole at its center of our earth surrounding universe. Bruce Watson of the Center for AI Research at the School for Data Science and Computational Thinking, who called himself “an AI optimist.”
AI technologies encode not only explicit hegemonic social attitudes, but also the implicit logic of the society in which these technologies are based. Click here to watch a recording of the UKZN seminar entitled “Harnessing the potential of AI and ChatGPT in Higher Education”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qNwvbgyis0. To see a demo of the technology, click here: https://www.turnitin.com/blog/sneak-preview-of-turnitins-ai-writing-and-chatgpt-detection-capability.
Celebrating women in science
Nevertheless, Noarises has seized every opportunity to not only build a scientific career, but to do so in the traditionally male-dominated fishing sector, where she is a marine quality controller for Erongo Marine, a subsidiary of Africa's largest fishing company. Oceana company. A job as a packer at Cadbury was an unlikely start to a career in science, but she just needed a foot in the door. CELEBRATE WOMEN IN SCIENCE | NEWS Undaunted by a temporary setback, she got a job as a quality officer in another company, where she worked for seven years before going to sea in 2021 as one of the quality controllers in the Oceana group.
She is the only woman working in the fish processing area, with responsibility for two shore fishing boats, where she sorts the fish, evaluates them according to quality standards, checks that the weights of the frozen blocks are correct, checks the temperatures from receipt to the finished product. , maintains a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) system, monitors non-conformities and reports its findings. More women, especially black women, are taking their rightful places in science and other previously male-dominated sectors. Benelize Noarises on one of the fishing vessels where she works as a quality control scientist.
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SCIENCE FOR SOUTH AFRICA
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