How being colourblind turned Prof Loyiso Nongxa into a mathematician

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.

Homo Naledi goes virtual

Thanks to funding received from the Royal Society of South Africa, Scibraai will be publishing a few new science stories in the coming months by local journalists. First up is an insert about Dinaledi VR, the world’s first free mobile palaeoanthropology virtual reality app. It provides virtual access to the underground Dinaledi chamber in the…

Age-old secret that Hollywood celebrities try to keep from you has been uncovered … by palaeontologists

Hollywood celebrities spend large amounts of dollars on it. The hunky stud at the local pub thinks he knows it. But the age-old secret has been carefully kept for millions of years. Yet, it seemed obvious to pre-mammalian reptiles that went so far as to evolve mouths full of beautifully crafted teeth. It’s your beautifully…

[LISTEN] The Science Inside’s Leap Year episode

Take the leap with us on #TheScienceInside and have a listen to the latest episode. We hear from astronomer Duncan Steel how the history of our calendar has been influenced by Popes and politicians and what a perfect calendar might look like. We also speak to an astrophysicist about the fabric of space as we learn…

Yet another new SA dinosaur discovered at Heelbo

A Christmas visit to South Africa and an introduction through friends to palaeontology experts from Wits University have had exciting scientific consequences for New Zealand student Blair McPhee. It has provided him with the honour of taking the lead in describing yet another new South African dinosaur species. He is the lead author of a…

IBM research lab to work with the cool kids

Multinational research company IBM announced on Friday that it will be opening a research laboratory, in collaboration with the University of Witwatersrand, in the Tshimologong Precinct in Johannesburg. The premises was once a bar, and still has a long bar counter and heavily-graffiti’ed walls, but in a year this will be one of the top information…

The Science Inside #36: South Africa’s water problem is massive

What does exploding homebrewed beer in Johannesburg suburbia to do with South Africa’s growing water problem? Find out by listening to this week’s edition of the ‘Science Inside’. Dr Karl Rumbold of the Wits School of Molecular and Cell Biology and water expert Anthony Turton of the University of the Free State shed some light…

The next best thing to a time machine

A “man” stands naked in the centre of the studio. In the dim light cast from a lamp on a nearby table, you can see the threads of muscles running down his arms and cording up his legs. But something is wrong: his chest does not expand with air, he does not shift his balance,…

How to crowdsource an atlas for a snake, a tortoise and a lizard

There’s more than just a few snakes (and tortoises, lizards and crocodiles, for that matter) to be found among the 485 pages of the newly published Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. In fact, you will be able to use this full-colour atlas to look up the basics…