Author: Sarah
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SA’s SKA plans get a R40-million boost
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South Africa’s Square Kilometre Array (SKA) infrastructure designs got a R40-million injection from the European Union (EU) on Tuesday. The SKA, which has a conservative price tag of €2-billion, will be the world’s largest radio telescope, comprising thousands of antennae throughout Australia and Africa, with the core in South Africa’s Northern…
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State of the Cosmos: gravitational waves
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This was perhaps the worst-kept secret in all of science: the detection of gravitational waves. It has been seeping out of sources like leaky taps. But on 11 February, it was finally announced that scientists had detected gravitational waves. Gravitational waves are distortions in space and time that – rather…
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Science bursaries, postgrad opportunities and jobs
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One benefit of being plugged into a diverse scientific network is that a number of bursaries, scholarship and postgrad opportunities flit across my screen. So here is a list. Please get hold of me (sarah@wildonscience.com) if you know of more and I’ll add them to the list. There are a number…
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The plight of South Africa’s great white sharks
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South Africa’s great white shark may be under threat, and while that may be music to the ears of anyone terrified by the movie Jaws, this actually may have dire consequences for the balance of the local ecosystem. More than 90% of South Africa’s great white sharks share the same genetic sequence, threatening…
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FACT SHEET: Why Africa is vulnerable to climate change (Part 2)
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This article first appeared on AfricaCheck. Researched by Sarah Wild Africa as a continent will be particularly vulnerable to climate change, or so the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been saying since 2001. Some scientists even think it will be the continent hardest hit by climate…
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FACTSHEET: Why do many scientists think Africa will be hardest hit by climate change? (Part 1)
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Researched by Sarah Wild This was first published by AfricaCheck. The world’s leading climate scientists will meet this month in Paris at the Congress of the Parties 21 (COP21) to hammer out an international agreement to attempt to keep global warming below 2° C compared to pre-industrial levels. The 2°…
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South Africa needs to understand local climate change
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“We’re already on course for a world that is different to the one experienced by humanity since its evolution,” climate scientist Bob Scholes told the Science Forum on Tuesday. This month, the world’s leading climate scientists and policy makers met in Paris to hammer out an international agreement in an…
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Africa needs science to advance
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“Africa cannot advance without investing in science,” science and technology minister Naledi Pandor told the opening session of the Science Forum. Investment in research and development (R&D) is considered an important metric in economic competitiveness, growth and job creation. However, while Pandor flags the need to invest more in science…
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Education at the click of a button
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It is education at the press of a button. Anyone with an internet connection can access some of the best teachers the world has to offer. Since they began in 2008, more than 25-million people have enrolled in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), in courses that range from Introduction to…