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NASA’S DART DEFENCE DEMONSTRATION DART, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, which is the world’s first “planetary defence technology demonstration” did exactly what it was designed and intended to do – it impacted it’s asteroid target after 10 months in space. This is indicative of DART’s ultimate goal – except on a much smaller scale. The successfully impacted asteroid is demonstrative of the technology’s targeting abilities and its future uses as a means of deterring and destroying objects that come into Earth’s orbit and risk colliding and causing damage to our planet. “At its core, DART represents an unprecedented success for planetary defence, but it is also a mission of unity with a real benefit for all humanity,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “As [...]

RIDING SAFELY IN SA WITH UBER In South Africa, as well as globally, catching an e-hailing ride comes with certain risks, especially as a woman. That’s not to say that men are always safe either, however in recent months both Uber and Bolt have had a spate of very public and very serious incidents that have occurred while female patrons were utilising their services. Some of the incidents have included female riders being assaulted, raped or left on the side of the road in dangerous, precarious and life-threatening situations by drivers. Such incidents have warranted the need for more serious action to be taken by the respective companies to ensure the safety of their riders. Many riders still feel that this may be [...]

SEEING DOUBLE – DOPPELGANGERS AND SHARED DNA We’ve all seen movies and TV shows that feature look-alikes and would-be twins except for the fact that the people featured are not related. Doppelgangers have always been an interesting premise and have featured more in fantasy and sci-fi genres more than any other, likely due to the fact that to find your doppelganger in real life feels like something that could only exist on screen. There is of course the trope that a doppelganger by nature of being a person’s double, must be inherently evil, assuming of course that the person who’s double it is, is ultimately good. Doppelganger is actually a German word that originated in the 19th century, originally meaning “double-goer” or “double-walker”. [...]

PIG ORGAN POTENTIAL Globally, there is a shortage of viable organs for human transplant with the organ donor waiting list stretching for years depending on the transplant requirement and underlying factors. Sadly, a significant number of people on the list never end up getting to the top, and receiving the organ donation that could save their lives. However it’s not just about organ availability, it’s also about viability in that in order to ensure a successful organ transplant, the organ donor and recipient need to firstly be a blood-type match to make sure that the organ doesn’t get rejected based on an incompatibility of antibodies. In an effort to address the shortage of organs as well as the lifespan of an organ between [...]

MAD ABOUT MONKEYPOX Just when we thought we had seen the backend of our last zoonotic virus encounter aka COVID-19, we have now been confronted by the reappearance of another, Monkeypox. Like the Corona virus, monkeypox was also originally transmitted from to humans by animals. So, how do we now contend with a new virus and one that the majority of the world has not been vaccinated against? Well, let’s start with the facts. Monkeypox can be contracted by coming into close contact with an infected person or animal, or a contaminated piece of material too. The transmission from person to person requires close contact with open wounds, bodily fluids, lesions or respiratory droplets. Monkeypox historically is thought to originate in Africa, as [...]

SEEING MORE THAN STARS The Milky Way is not just a well-known South African ice cream café, but rather the galaxy in which we exist. The Milky Way as defined and described by the British Encyclopaedia Britannica is a “large spiral system consisting of several hundred billion stars, one of which is the Sun. It takes its name from the Milky Way, the irregular luminous band of stars and gas clouds that stretches across the sky as seen from Earth. Although Earth lies well within the Milky Way Galaxy, astronomers do not have as complete an understanding of its nature as they do of some external star systems. A thick layer of interstellar dust obscures much of the Galaxy from scrutiny by optical telescopes, and astronomers [...]