Sarah

Sarah Wild is a multiaward-winning science journalist. She studied physics, electronics and English literature at Rhodes University in an effort to make herself unemployable. It didn't work and she now writes about particle physics, cosmology and everything in between. Sarah was the science editor for both Business Day and the Mail & Guardian before moving on to WildOnScience, and the world of freelance writing and training. In 2012 she published her first full-length non-fiction book, Searching African Skies: The Square Kilometre Array and South Africa's Quest to Hear the Songs of the Stars. In 2015 she published her second non-fiction book, Innovation: Shaping South Africa through Science.

SKA Organisation gives smaller design the green light

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The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) phase one will now move into its final pre-construction phase, smaller than initially anticipated but within the EUR650-million budget cap. Construction will begin in 2018. The giant telescope, which will comprise thousands of antennae in Australia and Africa, with the core in South Africa, will be the largest scientific experiment … Read more

Square Kilometre Array confident of attracting new members

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Although Germany has now withdrawn officially from the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Organisation, the international body tasked with the pre-construction phase of the world’s largest radio telescope, the organisation was “absolutely” confident that new members would join. The telescope will compromise thousands of radio antennae in Africa and Australia, with its core in South Africa’s Northern Cape. … Read more

How to calculate the returns on star-gazing

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Analysis Countries do not buy into massive scientific projects just for the prestige or to placate their scientists. Even projects such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which will be the largest scientific instrument on Earth, have to offer member countries something other than collaboration and advancement. This is why the principle of juste retour … Read more

Copyright issues dog academics

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In the publish or perish environment of academia, getting papers into high-impact international journals is a metric for determining a researcher’s performance and job prospects. But are South African academics legally allowed to sign over copyright, which is vested in them and in their institutions, to international companies? These international publishing houses, such as Elsevier … Read more

Researchers plug carbon sink gaps

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The stormy waters south of the Cape suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and are key to understanding what will happen to our climate as the Earth heats up. The storms are part of the reason the Southern Ocean is one of the most under-researched in the world, although it absorbs almost half of … Read more

Smaller steps for mankind

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In just under two years, 50 spacecraft will purposefully destroy themselves in the Earth’s atmosphere, and a South African team is helping them do it. Nanosatellites – also known as cube satellites or “CubeSats” – are small in the world of satellites, but are gaining traction globally as a comparatively cheap way to get a … Read more

Concentrating solar: Follow the sun to power the country

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A tower rises up from Stellenbosch University’s Mariendahl experimental farm, against the backdrop of scenic mountains. Facing it like supplicants, more than a hundred mirrors stare at the tower, automatically tilting to catch the sun. This is the Helio100 project, funded by the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and a test-bed for concentrating solar power (CSP) … Read more

Stem cell research outstrips legislation

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It starts in a dish: a collection of cells that can be made to grow into corneas, hearts or livers, or used to treat currently incurable diseases. This is the future that stem cell therapies could offer us, but the path to that future is strewn with ethical and legal pitfalls that South Africa needs … Read more