News

Plastic is the most common type of debris floating in the world’s oceans. Waves and sunlight break much of it down into smaller particles called microplastics – fragments less than 5 millimeters across, roughly the size of a sesame seed.

The idea of aliens and that other worlds might be inhabited actually goes back to ancient times. The question was a matter of real debate among philosophers, scientists and theologians in the Western world by the 18th century and it was widely accepted that alien civilizations existed.

The Sustainable Development Goals – a set of 17 globally agreed-upon targets for the year 2030 – are clearly listed and appear to be easy to subscribe to. However, development planning and the implementation of development projects are never straightforward.

States will get US$195.3 billion over the next year in extremely flexible funds to be spent essentially on any health care costs or to offset any negative economic effects related to COVID-19.

A fire at one of the biggest public hospitals in Johannesburg, the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, and the delay in reopening the facility has brought infrastructural issues into sharp focus. The fire broke out in mid-April. Only now is a phased re-opening of the hospital being undertaken.

Multiple studies have shown that as well as trees being a fantastic way to store carbon dioxide, they offer other benefits, such as a cooling effect in cities, the ability to reduce flood risk and boost biodiversity, among other things.

People have been panicking about COVID-19 in animals since the very start of the pandemic. There’s now plenty of evidence that SARS-CoV-2 – the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 – can cross from humans into other animals. This is known as spillback. The virus is capable of infecting a range of...

In the end it is his contempt of the Constitutional Court’s order that he cooperate with the commission that may send him to jail for 15 months. He’s appealed for a rescission of the order.

Astronomy is all about data. The universe is getting bigger and so too is the amount of information we have about it. But some of the biggest challenges of the next generation of astronomy lie in just how we’re going to study all the data we’re collecting.

The first phase of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s four-stage “pathway out of the COVID-19 pandemic”, announced on Friday, focuses on vaccinating as many Australians as possible, while halving the cap on international arrivals.

South Africa’s approach to its COVID-19 vaccine programme has been characterised by a large number of missteps. In aggregate it has left the country behind many others on the continent, and essentially left millions unvaccinated as a savage third wave descends on the country.

This month the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Entrepreneurs are known to drive innovation and progress in various fields. The Fourth Industrial Revolution has provided an unprecedented platform to do so.

The COVID-19 pandemic has stifled many sectors of the global economy. But it has apparently boosted the business of fraudsters.

A cocoa pricing agreement designed to protect farmers in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana from destitution is being circumvented by multinationals, the main buyers of cocoa beans.

South Africa’s Constitutional Court has found former president Jacob Zuma guilty of contempt of court and sentenced him to 15 months’ imprisonment.

Failure to identify, understand and address the implications of unintended consequences is an obstacle to quality healthcare.

The European Union recently added rooibos (red bush) tea to its register of products with a protected designation of origin.

The topic of China-Africa relations presents an opportunity to rethink the territorial parameters of African studies.

Determining the historical relationship between fossil species, however, remains one of the most difficult tasks in the study of human evolution.

More often than not, the gambling games in Rawsonville were arranged between two soccer clubs or teams. If there were more than two teams competing for a single pot of money or other stakes, it was referred to as a tournament.

Just before 2am US Eastern Daylight Time on June 24, the Champlain Towers South Tower in Surfside, South Florida, partially collapsed.

The key to a tax haven is the taxes, not the tan. Any place that allows a taxpayer – whether an individual or a company – to get a lower tax bill overseas than at home is a tax haven.

Misinformation, best understood as false or misleading information whether or not it was intended to mislead, has long been recognised as a problem worldwide.