Prof Loyiso Nongxa is a trailblazer and an inspiration to many. In 1978, the mathematician became the first black South African to receive a prestigious Rhodes scholarship (now known as the Mandela Rhodes Scholarship) to study at Oxford University. The former Wits vice-chancellor was last year voted in as one of the vice-presidents of the International Mathematics Union.
Bob and Mary Scholes had – almost by accident, they say – given themselves just the right grounding to play an important part in growing our understanding of what humans are doing to the planet – especially in terms of climate change. This article by Mandi Smallhorne is made possible through funding from the Royal Society of South Africa.
Rugby? In die ruimte? Hoe het dit gebeur dat die Springbokke se wedstryd teen Italië die eerste Wêreldbekerwedstryd ooit sou wees wat in die ruimte uitgesaai word?
University of KwaZulu-Natal maths doctoral student Chinedu Izuchukwu is pretty clear about one of the highlights of attending the weeklong 7th Heidelberg Laureate Forum in Germany: it is meeting the man behind a software programme that has made his academic life so much easier. The brain in question belongs American Prof Leslie Lamport, winner of…
Later this month, Professor Doug Butterworth will be formally honoured by the Emperor of Japan with the Order of the Rising Sun for contributing to the sustainable management of the very lucrative bluefin tuna fishery. In 2008, Butterworth received a similar national order from the South African president, after he helped to set the benchmark…
A secretary bird called Legs is the first raptor in South Africa to sport a 3D-printed prosthesis. It was designed by some of the South African team members involved in the recent development of the world’s first 3D-printed middle ear bones. Scibraai visited Eagle Encounters Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation Centre at Spier Wine Estate near Stellenbosch…
I’ve never eaten an insect on purpose before, but I am willing to try. The concept of entomophagy, or eating insects may be quite a foriegn curiosity to me, but not so to some South Africans who love the stuff. I recently came across a research paper that essentially called for the regulation of edible…
by Thabiso Goba Dark energy has dominated the 69th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting with a few playful murmurs of a future Nobel Prize for the next discovery. About 5% of the universe is made up of known atoms like protons, neutrons, and electrons and the rest of it is an unknown, invisible gas substance that…
by Wiida Fourie For those of us living in the cities, facing up to the realities of the climate crisis – such as contemplating the mere possibility of a Day Zero – can be challenging at the most. Some describe it as a vague unease about the changes you see in nature. Others talk of…
Mbali Mahleyeye recently attended the 25th celebration of the finding of Little Foot fossil at an event held by French ambassador in Pretoria. SciBraai contributor, Sibusiso Biyela sat down with Mahleyeye, who is a remote sensing scientist working at the Department of Water and Sanitation, and asked her what her journey as a young, black,…
Prof Elmi Muller is a South African pioneer in transplant surgery and attached to the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital. More than a decade ago, she transplanted the first kidney of an HIV-positive donor into another HIV-positive recipient.
Astronomer Prof. Renée C. Kraan-Korteweg’s work on the large-scale structure and distance scale of galaxies has made her an internationally-recognised researcher, but it is as leader and educator that this quiet-spoken astronomer has also excelled throughout her career.
