Given the central role that ethnicity played and still plays in South African politics, it is good to have an unbiased estimate of Afrikaners’ genetic history.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Science + Tech – Articles, Analysis, Comment
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A greater understanding of interconnectedness created by river maps could influence people to become more engaged with conserving river systems.
There is a chemical skin surface difference between individuals who perceived themselves as being attractive for mosquitoes and those that weren’t.
Scientific knowledge is a critical driver for human health and wellbeing, economic development and environmental sustainability.
What’s needed is a prioritisation of the health and medicinal values of the food that’s consumed in African countries.
The term “citizen science” is intended to widen the network of people whose contribution to science is acknowledged. But the word “citizen” can be problematic.
It appears that the South African Cape south coast’s dunes and beaches formed a vast canvas of sand on which our ancestors could leave their mark.
Technology is allowing scientists to better understand fungal viruses, with the aim of managing them more effectively.
These new finds indicate that Diictodon was burrowing and giving some parental care to its young. This was long thought to be unique to mammals.
In several other parts of the world, people used the bones of animals that were important within their respective cultures to make tools.
The cetacean brain has a specialised thermogenic system that helps the animal’s brain to produce enough heat to maintain a functional brain temperature.
Removing funding from research-led projects puts people in highly vulnerable situations.
People were drawn to Ga-Mohana for many reasons. Surface water was likely among them.
These surfaces are of profound scientific, cultural, heritage, environmental, and aesthetic importance. Unfortunately, they are threatened - by graffiti.
Stone-walled structures such as Driefontein often store information that’s not written down and are the only remaining resources to help understand local histories.
Madagascar stands out as an exceptionally interesting place in which to study the evolution of “mini” creatures. And we are only just starting to scratch the surface of this.
The lead role of public health researchers continues to be important. But there is growing acknowledgement that social scientists have to be present from the very beginning.
Indigenous beans could enhance food security in Cabo Verde which depends on food imports.
Since the 19th century, biologists have treated the larvae of lampreys as a relic of evolutionary ancestry that could potentially give clues about vertebrate origins. Now fossils overturn that view.
Because of its skeleton’s heavy architecture, scientists have always assumed that Anteosaurus was a rather sluggish, slow-moving animal, only capable of scavenging or ambushing its prey, at best.
For anyone who has worked on crop improvement in Africa over the last three decades, the flood of misinformation around vaccines evokes an eerie sense of déjà vu.
Rather than constructing a nest, incubating eggs and feeding young, some birds deposit their eggs in the nests of other birds and trick them into doing the child rearing.
Fat replacers have the potential to mitigate the global obesity challenge.
With research that offers new insights, there is increased hope for improved climate predictions and better preparation for severe weather conditions.
Occasionally, a mutation will give the virus a better chance of surviving and reproducing itself, and will result in a new population (known as a new lineage)