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The Latest Breaking News from the University of Cape Town

Black holes spew out powerful jets that span millions of light-years – we’re trying to understand their whole life cycle

There is a supermassive black hole at the centre of nearly every big galaxy – including ours, the Milky Way (it’s called Sagittarius A*). Supermassive black holes are the densest objects in the universe, with masses reaching billions of times that of the Sun.

The Conversation

Cat videos and wild caracals: how the internet’s viral trends can help conservation

Have you recently opened YouTube or TikTok and immediately gone looking for cat videos? If your answer is “yes”, then you’re not alone: the global consumption of cat-related media online is simply massive. In 2015, there were over 2 million cat videos on YouTube alone, with an average of 12,000…

The Conversation

End of coal in South Africa: what 100,000 workers will need when their jobs go

South Africa’s move to renewable energy means that the coal industry will be phased out over the coming decades. This transition away from a fossil-fuel based economy will affect over 100,000 workers in coal mining and coal-fired power generation – and their families. Economics professor and director of the Development…

The Conversation

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Kenya champions the free movement of people in east Africa, but it’s failing immigrants and refugees at home

Kenya has played a leading role in lowering barriers to the movement of people in the east African region. It has also made huge strides in protecting Kenyan emigrants working abroad. But there are still gaps in how it creates and implements domestic immigration and employment policies.

The Conversation

Tiny Clam Species Found Crawling Among Sea Urchin Spines Off South Africa‌ ‌

Discovery sheds light on elusive marine mollusks, unveiling symbiotic relationships and biodiversity in the depths of False Bay.‌ ‌

Zenger

Smoking in Africa: study of 16 countries shows higher taxes would help young smokers quit or cut down

World No Tobacco Day serves to increase awareness about the preventable death and illness associated with tobacco use. It also puts a spotlight on policies that governments can use to reduce consumption of tobacco products.

The Conversation

20 years ago South Africa had 40 qualified astronomers – all white. How it’s opened space science and developed skills since then

South African astronomy started an important journey two decades ago, when an initiative to attract and train future scientists in the field welcomed its first group of students under the National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme.

The Conversation

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South Africa's 2022 census missed 31% of people - big data could help in future

No census is ever exact: as academics Tom Moultrie and Rob Dorrington at the University of Cape Town have noted previously:

The Conversation

Antiviral Covid drug linked to virus mutations, study suggests

Researchers say their findings are helpful in the ongoing assessment of the risks and benefits of molnupiravir treatment.

The Independent UK

South African hominin fossils were sent into space and scientists are enraged

When a Virgin Galactic commercial flight soared into space on 8 September 2023, there were two Virgin Galactic pilots, an instructor and three passengers on board – as well as two fossils of ancient prehuman relatives from South Africa. Timothy Nash, a businessman, carried a clavicle belonging to Australopithecus sediba…

The Conversation

Johaar Mosaval obituary

The first dancer of colour to join the Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet whose ballet school in Cape Town was closed in the 1970s as he refused to operate under apartheid rules

The Guardian - UK

San and Khoe skeletons: how a South African university sought to restore dignity and redress the past

It has been nearly 100 years since the skeletonised remains of nine people were removed from their graves on a farm near the town of Sutherland in South Africa’s Northern Cape province. They were donated to the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) anatomy department by Carel Gert Coetzee, who had…

The Conversation

Experts Find Evidence Of Honeyguide Birds And Honey Badgers Cooperating To Access Honeycombs

Researchers speculate honeyguides switched to work with humans after learning guiding behavior from badgers.

Zenger

Drink up, it’s closing time: South African study calculates that limiting opening hours will save lives

South Africans are among the heaviest drinkers in the world. The country has the highest per capita rate of alcohol consumption in Africa. Excessive drinking is especially widespread in the Western Cape. Research estimates that per capita alcohol consumption in the province is between 30% and 40% higher than the…

The Conversation

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Reuters

Last known speaker fights to preserve South African indigenous language

When she was a girl in South Africa's Northern Cape, Katrina Esau stopped speaking her mother tongue, N|uu, after being mocked by other people and told it was an "ugly language".

The Conversation

The empire sings back: the deep history behind South African soprano Pretty Yende's triumph

Among the invited artists at the coronation of Britain’s King Charles III was the South African soprano, Pretty Yende. Coronations are not events that take place often. What made the moment special is not just singing for a new king, but the rareness of the occasion. After millions of global…

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