Scientist: Climate Change Will Impact Mountains on a Global Scale
According to research, climate change will have a severe effect on mountain landscapes and human activities, increasing the likelihood of avalanches, river floods, landslides, debris…
University of The Witwatersrand News
“Smoking Gun” Evidence That Mammals Were Not the First To Be Warm-Blooded
Karoo fossils provide “smoking gun” to when warm-bloodedness evolved in pre-mammalian ancestors. The ability of mammals and birds to generate their own body heat and…
Early Human Evolution: Hominin Fossils in “Cradle of Humankind” May Be a Million Years Older Than Thought
Famous Sterkfontein Caves deposit is 1 million years older than previously thought. New dates for Australopithecus-bearing Sterkfontein Cave deposit places South African hominin fossils at…
A Child of Darkness: First Partial Skull of Homo naledi Child Found in Cave Near “Chaos Chamber”
The first partial skull of a child of Homo naledi begins to give us insight into all stages of life of this remarkable species. An…
Harnessing Thor’s Hammer: Forensic Science Is Unlocking the Mysteries of Fatal Lightning Strikes
Scientists in South African and the UK have found the smoking gun in forensic lightning pathology that could help save lives threatened by the increase…
Student Cracks the High-Dimensional Quantum Code – Reveals Hidden Structures of Quantum Entangled States
A new and fast tool for quantum computing and communication. Isaac Nape, an emerging South African talent in the study of quantum optics, is part…
Rhino Anti-poaching Campaign Goes Nuclear
The innovative anti-poaching Rhisotope Project aims to significantly reduce demand for rhino horns through the safe application of radioisotopes and radiation research. From 2010 to…
Southern African Dinosaur Had Extremely Irregular Growth
Anyone who’s raised a child or a pet will know just how fast and how steady their growth seems to be. You leave for a…
Shuvuuia: Extraordinary Dinosaurs That Hunted in the Dark
The tiny desert-living dinosaur Shuvuuia had extraordinary vision and owl-like hearing for nocturnal life in the Mongolian desert. Today’s 10,000 species of birds live in…
Novavax Vaccine Trial Indicates 100% Protection Against Severe COVID-19 Due to South African Variant
Results from the initial primary analysis of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine trial conducted by Wits VIDA in SA have been published. The New England Journal…
Powerful Magnetic Fields Surrounding Black Hole Are Strong Enough to Resist Gravity
Wits University astrophysicists are the only two scientists on African continent that contributed to the study. The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, a multinational team…
260-Million-Year-Old Killing Machine Exposed
Previously thought of as heavy, slow and sluggish, the 260-million-year-old predator, Anteosaurus, was a ferocious hunter-killer. Judging by its massive, bone-crushing teeth, gigantic skull, and…
Diamonds Are a Quantum Scientist’s Best Friend: Discovery May Revolutionize the High-Tech Industry
The discovery of triplet spin superconductivity in diamonds has the potential to revolutionize the high-tech industry. Diamonds have a firm foothold in our lexicon. Their…
New Quantum Approach for Sharing Secrets Sets a Record With 11 Dimensions
Wits Researchers have demonstrated a new quantum approach for sharing a secret amongst many parties, setting a new record for the highest dimensions and parties…
A Sign of Troubled Times: Daytime Aardvark Sightings
Wits researchers find that aardvarks feeding in the daytime during droughts might be starving. Aardvarks occur across most of sub-Saharan Africa, but very few people…
World’s First Super-Chiral Light Produced by New Metasurface Laser
Laser opens up a new world of applications using optical control of physical objects. Researchers have demonstrated the world’s first metasurface laser that produces “super-chiral…
Multi-Dimensional Quantum Communications With Twisted Light Across Optical Fiber Networks
A team from Wits (South Africa) and HUST (China) show that multi-dimensional quantum communications with twisted light is possible down legacy fiber networks. New research…
Giant Croc-Like Carnivores Terrorized Triassic Dinosaurs 210 Million Years Ago
Rauisuchians fed on vegetarian dinosaurs according to Wits student Rick Tolchard. Gigantic, predatory croc-like animals that lived during the Triassic period in southern Africa preyed…
