Quantum Entanglement’s New Dimension: A Topological Breakthrough
This experimental milestone allows for the preservation of quantum information even when entanglement is fragile. For the first time, researchers from the Structured Light Laboratory…
University of The Witwatersrand News
Dark Matter Detective Work: A Revolutionary Approach at the Large Hadron Collider
Researchers investigate whether dark matter particles actually are produced inside a jet of standard model particles. The existence of dark matter is a long-standing puzzle…
Gondwana’s Secret: 390-Million-Year-Old Marine Mystery Unraveled
During the Early-Middle Devonian period, a large landmass called Gondwana—which included parts of today’s Africa, South America, and Antarctica—was located near the South Pole. Contrary…
450-Million-Year-Old Diamonds Reveal Secrets of the Evolution of Earth
Superdeep diamonds formed between 650 and 450 million years ago show how continents developed and moved. The analysis of ancient, superdeep diamonds dug up from…
Structured Light Revolution: Noise-Free Optical Communication Demonstrated
A new approach to optical communication that can be deployed with conventional technology. The patterns of light hold tremendous promise for a large encoding alphabet…
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…
“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…