These plant fronds created scratch circles as they blew in the wind. For scale, the camera case is 14 cm long.
Jack Carrigan
There appear to be two possible explanations for circular patterns with central depressions in Pleistocene deposits on the Cape coast.
The blue stingray’s disc-like shape would have made it ideal for tracing.
Kyle Smith
The sculpture might have begun with tracing a blue stingray specimen in the sand.
Massospondylus skeleton.
Courtesy Dr K Chapelle.
Some time between 1100 and 1700 AD, a Massospondylus bone was discovered and carried to a rock shelter in Lesotho.
Wetlands like this need protection because they absorb carbon dioxide and curb floods.
Rodger Shagam/Getty Images
Wetlands can prevent flooding, trap carbon and support livelihoods, as long as they are protected and managed.
Sandie Peters/Unsplash
Today, these plants are iconic to the Australian bush. But banksias and their many relatives originated in far-away shores 130 million years ago.
A view of Iran’s Qanat of Zarch in the city of Yazd.
Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images
Qanats are an ancient system which could be a useful way of getting water to farms in arid areas.
Massospondylus skeleton.
Courtesy Dr K Chapelle.
Some time between 1100 and 1700 AD, a Massospondylus bone was discovered and carried to a rock shelter in Lesotho.
Elephants communicate underground by generating seismic waves.
Anadolu Agency
Elephants can be viewed as geological engineers that create minor tectonic forces on the substrate they walk on.
Members of South Africa’s Climate Justice Coalition protest in Pretoria in July 2022.
Alet Pretorius/Gallo Images via Getty Images
South Africa’s plan to transition to green energy may eventually benefit big private companies more than ordinary citizens.
The Economic Freedom Fighters marked its 10th anniversary at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on 29 July 2023.
Guillem Sartorio/AFP via Getty Images
Opinions differ widely about the true character of the EFF and what it really stands for since it gained seats in parliament in 2014.
Puff adders leave linear, sometimes slightly undulating traces.
EcoPrint/Shutterstock
The trace was probably made between 93,000 and 83,000 years ago, almost certainly by a puff adder.
South African captain Siya Kolisi at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
ulian Finney/World Rugby via Getty Images
A psychologist analyses the rugby star’s life to extract lessons.
The lessons pollen can teach us are not to be sneezed at.
Elisa Manzati
Pollen can become preserved in sediment deposits over thousands, or even millions, of years.
Possible shod hominin tracks in the Garden Route National Park, South Africa.
Charles Helm
Trackway findings support the notion of southern Africa being one region where human cognitive and practical ability developed a very long time ago.
White sharks are migrating to survive. Morne Hardenberg.
South Africa’s white shark population is not in decline but migrating to survive.
Groundwater is vital to communities in northern Kenya during droughts.
Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images
Better monitoring of groundwater is important for sustainable management.
Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images
Some footprints last thousands or even millions of years, preserved in sand that turned to rock.
Wreck of the British ship Charlotte in Algoa Bay, South Africa, 1854.
The Print Collector/Heritage Images via Getty Images
The word shows that language isn’t static, it evolves to reflect developments in a society.
This ammoglyph consists of a circular groove, a central depression and two possible knee impressions.
Charles Helm
Ammoglyphs – ancient ‘sand art’ – are a relatively new find.
Social entrepreneurs play an important role in alleviating poverty.
Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images
Social enterprises need to be proactive in improving their internal processes and structures. They also need to share essential information.