South Africans have been urged to help the country win the bid to host the world largest radio telescope, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), by highlighting their science and technology strengths.

Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor says science centres have a crucial role to play in strengthening grass-roots science campaigns.

South African scientist Zubair Jinnah's discovery of 100-million-year-old fossils of a rare and tiny mammal-like crocodile in Tanzania has been described in the prestigious international science journal Nature.

An innovative technology demonstrator designed and developed by two researchers at South Africa's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is set to become a must-have weapon in every cricket coach's arsenal.

Scientists at Stellenbosch University have used a herbal tea, tradtionally used to infuse water with flavour, to do the opposite by purifying water. 

A new bicycle powered by Hydrogen has been launched by Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor at a conference in the North West yesterday.

Two African women have become the first recipients of the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship for outstanding contributions and leadership in computer science.

Laser physicist Dr Christine Steenkamp is one of three African women scientists who recently received international recognition for excellence in research.

The smartphone market is experiencing robust growth as consumers increasingly seek well-designed devices with innovative features and applications such as touch screen technology, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) and location-based service (LBS) on their smartphones.

A South African-designed mobile application for smartphones is enabling people to diagnose ailments via mobile technology – with the help of a panel of doctors.

New social media aggregator Jamiix, which was developed in the Western Cape’s impoverished Cape Flats, is set for a global launch in June 2010.

Jamiix works by bringing social media and instant messaging functionality into a single application, allowing users to manage many accounts, and carry on several conversations at the same time, using a computer or mobile phone.

The Jamiix team identified a desperate need in their community for affordable and accessible communications, especially in terms of social services

The nation of South Africa, after more than a decade of comparative stasis in terms of research output, has seen its annual yield of papers rise discernibly in recent years. The nation’s citation impact in main fields of science has risen considerably compared to its performance as gauged through the early 1990s.

The use of mobile internet services has exploded in South Africa, with 3.6-million people now using their cellphones to browse the web and 4.5-million using mobile instant messaging.

South Africa has been selected by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to host the prestigious IAU Office for Astronomy Development (OAD).

Technology giant Google has launched www.youtube.co.za, a South African version of YouTube that offers local users a way to easily discover local content and content producers.

A Durban company on Monday unveiled a light aircraft engine which can operate on biofuel or liquid petroleum gas.

The University of the Witwatersrand is offering a prize of R75,000 to a South African child who can come up with a name for a 1.95 million-year-old fossil of a new hominid species unveiled in the Cradle of Humankind last week.

Consumers in emerging markets are far more interested in mobile technologies than those in mature markets, a survey carried out by technology services group Accenture has found.

A climatologist from Unisa has helped develop a low cost, eco-friendly system to harvest moisture from abundant mountain fog in a water-scarce region of the Eastern Cape, and communities there are already benefiting from it.

Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Buyelwa Sonjica, has launched a state-of-the-art weather radar network that will see the prediction of and warnings about severe weather become more accurate.

Researchers at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have demonstrated a world-first laser cladding system that offers a permanent solution to sealing leaks and repairing cracks at power stations.

A formidable public-private partnership today launched an ambitious set of programmes to reduce South Africa's service delivery backlog by injecting skilled graduates and high-level training initiatives directly into local government.
 

 

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in South Africa considers the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa) announcement on the electricity tariff increase as one more reason to halt the development of the second new coal-fired power station, Kusile.

South Africa’s very own all-electric car known as “Joule” will be on show next month at the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland, one of Europe’s most important automotive industry events.

South Africa must never be shy to compete against the best countries in the world, said science and technology Minister Naledi Pandor after witnessing the first images from the Sumbandila satellite on Monday morning.