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Cholera: What is it and how can you avoid getting sick?
Water expert shares guidelines on how to purify water at home in areas where there is uncertainty over water quality or poor sanitation.
Eastern Cape meteorite find revealed
The spectacular entry of a meteorite into Earth’s atmosphere has unleashed a chain of events that would not be out of place in a Hollywood movie script.
Research rock stars dazzle at 'Science Oscars'
Wits researchers won in six out of 15 categories at the prestigious NSTF-South 32 Research Awards.
A drought of political will
South Africans are still fighting for the right to basic water supply as enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
Who is accountable for environmental rights?
The lack of enforcement of environmental laws allow powerful entities to act without consequence. Where does the buck stop?
Make sure the water from your tap is safe to drink
With an increasing risk of water-borne diseases such as cholera spreading in cities, it is important to learn how to keep your family safe.
Origins of Early Southern Sapiens Behaviour exhibition opens in the Western Cape
The exhibition showcases the archaeological heritage and rich marine environment of the Southern Cape coastline.
Medals and fellowships from Royal Society of South Africa
Medals for established and emerging researchers, eminent scholars inducted as Fellows.
Three factors driving SA's destructive storms
A series of powerful tidal surges battered coastal areas in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces over the weekend of 16 September 2023.
Surviving heat waves in Africa
Around the world, temperature records are being broken in countries in Africa, Europe, America and Asia.
Canon SA extends partnership with Wits rock art digitisation laboratory
Canon South Africa and the Wits Rock Art Research Institute (RARI) partnered in 2021 to keep the preservation of rock art heritage alive.
Bridging the energy gap with AI
Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) can help catapult South Africa’s energy distribution into the future.
South Africa’s cold weather has arrived – some tips on how to stay warm and safe
Researchers share advice on how to keep yourself as warm as possible during the winter months.
The 2022 Durban floods were the most catastrophic yet recorded in KwaZulu-Natal
Research shows flooding events in the province have doubled in the last century.
Adapting to climate change in urban Nigeria
Poverty drives vulnerability to climate risks in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Here are 4 factors that affect how residents adapt.
Heat stress is rising in southern Africa
Southern Africans are experiencing heat stress more often than in 1979. Climate experts show where and when it’s the worst.
The ancient San painting featured in SA’s coat of arms
The exhibition titled ǃke e꞉ ǀxarra ǁke [‘People who are different’, ‘come together’], celebrates the rock art of the San people and is on display now at the Or
African mountains are feeling the heat of climate change
Mountain systems are sensitive to climate change. Loss of snow and ice sets off effects which have wide ranging consequences.
White butterflies are filling Johannesburg’s skies earlier than usual. Climate change is to blame
The brown-veined white butterfly (Benenois aurota) annual migrate between 80,000 and 155,000 butterflies per hour from SA’s Kalahari region to Mozambique.
Witsie wows global science community
Tamlyn Naidu claims a win for South Africa in Berlin for her research on acid mine drainage.
Clean water solutions made possible for Alex informal settlement through water-based research
The Accessible Greywater Solutions for Urban Informal Townships (URBWAT) project is providing sustainable water solutions for the Alexandra township.
Climate change to impact mountains on a global scale
Research shows climate change will negatively impact mountain landscapes, including increasing risks such as avalanches, river floods and landslides.
Do no harm - 5 steps a researcher should take
Researchers have a number of responsibilities when embarking on their work - not least of all to ensure participants are not harmed and are fully heard.
Vice-Chancellor’s awards celebrate the best of Wits
The prestigious annual awards recognise staff excellence in categories including research, teaching and learning, and professional and administrative services.
Digging for the truth of humanity
Wits researchers have over the past century changed, and challenged, the way we think about the evolution of humanity and our ancestors.
Colonial diaries help scientists reconstruct weather patterns from past to protect future
A project to transcribe Dutch colonial records of the weather in Cape Town can benefit modelling of future climate scenarios.
Longest daily weather record for the South digitised
A project examining the Dutch East India Company’s day registers reveals unique information on the Cape’s past climate.
Wits Centenary promotes community partnerships
The Wits community joined hands with NGOs in Tembisa township to clean the Kaalspruit tributary, a feeder to the Hennops river.
Famous Sterkfontein Caves deposit 1 million years older than previously thought
New dates for Australopithecus-bearing Sterkfontein Cave deposit places South African hominin fossils at the centre of global palaeo research.
Tracking rainfall moisture in Lesotho
Lesotho is considered to be the water tower of southern Africa and it is key to water security in the region.
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How the music of an ancient rock painting was brought to life
Sometimes archaeologists can “hear” the ancient past using acoustic methods.
Mapping mosquitoes to combat malaria
Theresa Mazarire in the Wits Institute for Malaria (WRIM) combines environmental science and public health to control malaria mosquitoes.
Wits celebrates research excellence
It was an upbeat post-pandemic return to campus when Wits academics gathered to celebrate research excellence.
Snowfall in the Sahara desert
In order for snow to form, two distinctive weather properties are needed: cold temperatures and moist air. The Sahara can tick these boxes.
Namaqualand daisies are flowering earlier
The progressively earlier flowering places the daisies at greater risk of failed flowering seasons. This would be a blow to biodiversity and tourism.
Diverse people unite exhibition hosted at Wits
Canon South Africa and RARI partner up to preserve our heritage through the camera lens.
Origins of early sapiens behaviour opens at Origins Centre
The extraordinary multimedia presentation comprises 16 unique display panels that include six videos by renowned documentary filmmaker Craig Foster.
Why does cold air go down and hot air go up?
Associate Professor Jennifer Fitchett answers this question in Curious Kids, is a series for children published in The Conversation-Africa.
Witsies win six Science Oscars at prestigious national research awards
Wits researchers won six National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)-South32 research awards .
South Africa’s bandit slaves and the rock art of resistance
Wits tackles water crisis through new water research programme
The Claude Leon Foundation will fund two research chairs and a research programme in water stewardship worth R15.7 million.
Jacarandas in parts of South Africa are flowering earlier: why it’s a warning sign
Climate change is causing jacarandas to flower earlier.
Wits Archaeologist named 2021 National Geographic Explorer
Archaeologist and biological anthropologist, Keneiloe Molopyane, is recognised as a trailblazer by the prestigious National Geographic Society.
How pots, sand and stone walls helped us date an ancient SA settlement
We now know that Bokoni Phase I was built as early as the 15th century – before the arrival of European colonisation or trade.
Johannesburg is threatening to sideline informal waste pickers. Why it’s a bad idea
Waste reclaimers save South African municipalities up to R748 million a year in landfill space. Without them, the country's recycling economy would not exist.
Malaria risk zones and climate change in South Africa
Malaria kills over 400,000 people a year across the world. Africa carries the highest burden, with 90% of these deaths occurring on the continent.
Extreme temperatures in South Africa
Pasha 101: Two researchers unpack these events.
Prehistoric killing machine exposed
Previously thought of as heavy, slow and sluggish, the 260-million-year-old predator, Anteosaurus, was a ferocious hunter-killer.
New technology allows scientists first glimpse of intricate details of Little Foot’s life
High resolution X-ray imaging of Little Foot's skull and dentition shows Little Foot suffered periods of dietary stress and illness when she was a child.
New Earth Sciences Cluster
This new Cluster will further encourage world class research through collaboration, coordination and communications.
A fleeting green moment in time
Scientists predict that an Age of Pandemics is imminent unless human beings change their ways.
Climate research is critical in Africa: how to make it more visible
The threats of climate change to plants, animals and people in Africa mean that the continent is an excellent place for biometeorological research.
Changes in South Africa’s rainfall seasons could affect farming and water resources
Trends across the different rainfall zones can be linked to changes recorded for large-scale climate systems.
Grass on ash: uncovering 200,000 year old beds from South Africa
Before 200,000 years ago, close to the origin of our species, people used ash as layers for broad-leaved grasses to build their beds.
Rock on!
Music is thought to be one of the ways that our ancient ancestors expressed their emotions – and may well have led to early languages.
Wits Associate Professor joins South African Young Academy of Science
Jennifer Fitchett, an Associate Professor of Physical Geography at Wits has been selected as a member of the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS).
Wits experts to speak at international symposium on climate and environmental factors in COVID-19
Symposium coincides with the publication of their article on environmental drivers and the potential seasonality of COVID-19.
Does alcohol have an undisclosed African heritage?
Until now the search for early evidence of alcohol has fixated on residue analysis.
Learning from South Africa: reconstructing rainfall seasonality in Australia
Examining old vegetation sediments to learn about shifting weather patterns and climate change.
Juggling work and family during lockdown
Three staff members from the Faculty of Science share their experiences of lockdown.
What a bone arrowhead from South Africa reveals about ancient human cognition
The artefact closely resembles thousands of bone arrowheads used by the indigenous San hunter-gatherers from the 18th to the 20th centuries.
SAs response to COVID-19 worsens the plight of waste reclaimers
The clock is ticking: in the absence of government support, not being able to work means waste reclaimers don't have money to buy food.
Behind Kenya's strange weather
It can be attributed to the Indian Ocean Dipole, the difference in sea surface temperatures between the eastern and western tropical Indian Ocean.
How we deduced that our ancestors liked roast vegetables too
The charred remains of root vegetables found at Border Cave help us understand how early humans survived and thrived.
The war on waste pickers
South Africa’s waste pickers are critical to our recycling economy and green future, yet they are marginalised, maligned, and discarded.
Jacarandas then and now
Monitoring the timing of recurring biological events is key to understanding the effects of climate change.
Ancient southern African rock engravings finally find a fitting home
The Origin Centre has added a new wing that's perfect for a visit, the Rock Engraving Archive.
Early modern humans cooked starchy food in South Africa 170 000 years ago
The discovery also points to food being shared and the use of wooden digging sticks to extract the plants from the ground
Tropical cyclones in the South West Indian Ocean: new insights
As storm directions change, countries that are outside the usual tropical storm zones need to ready themselves.
Origins Centre opens new rock art archive in newly built wing
The rock art archive is the first of three new floors that will provide public access to some of South Africa's most valuable historical finds.
Explainer: Why phenology is key in tracking climate change
Monitoring the timing of recurring biological events is key to understanding the effects of climate change.
How our African ancestors made sound in the Stone Age
Researchers show how some bone artefacts from archaeological sites in South Africa's southern Cape region might have been used in sound production.
We tracked South Africa’s sardine run over 66 years: here’s what we found
South Africa's annual sardine run is occurring increasingly late, and there have been instances where it doesn't happen at all. Here's why.
Places we once called home
Archaeologists and anthropologists peer into original homes of the past to see what made us who we are today.
Prof. Lynn Wadley elected as Fellow of the British Academy
Wadley has been made a Fellow of The British Academy in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the field of archaeology.
Building an inclusive circular economy: Recycling with reclaimers
A Johannesburg-based pilot will formally integrate reclaimers (waste pickers) into the recycling economy of South Africa for the important service they provide.
China beckons Limpopo fellow
Spreading his wings through international exposure - Thabiso is the first Witsie to be awarded the prestigious scholarship.
Tropical cyclones are on the rise in southern Africa
Southern Africa has seen a rise in tropical cyclones recently. Why? Listen to Pasha 20, The Conversation Africa’s podcast on research.
Earliest evidence of the cooking and eating of starch
Early human beings who lived around 120 000 years ago in South Africa were “ecological geniuses” who were able to exploit their environment intelligently.
Why the Indian Ocean is spawning strong and deadly tropical cyclones
The Indian Ocean has made its mark on the global news cycle this year.
Let’s step out of the museum box and transform the way we see our African past
‘We are all one’ - A must-see exhibition on why we are
Successful Early Sapiens Behaviour Exhibition extended and taking place at Iziko Museum in Cape Town.
Tropical cyclone Idai: The storm that knew no boundaries
This storm provides a grim prospect of the future of tropical cyclones in southern Africa, a region under continued threat from climate change.
Scientists split on South Africa’s winter and summer rainfall zones
South Africa is among a handful of countries that experience winter rainfall in some areas and summer rainfall in others.
Should I be scared of lightning?
Curious Kids is a series for children in which we ask experts to answer questions from kids.
“Weather” and “climate” shouldn't be used interchangeably
To understand climate projections and climate forecasts you need to know the difference between “weather” and “climate”.
Recreating our ancestral past
Wits – in the champion’s league of archaeology – hosted the first African Conference on Experimental Archaeology.
How we recreated a lost African city with laser technology
LiDAR, was used to “redraw” the remains of the city, along the lower western slopes of the Suikerbosrand hills near Johannesburg.