article  // 01 Jun 2020

When giant mustelids roamed South Africa

Recent discoveries by scientists at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and Iziko Museums of South Africa show how a wolf-sized otter (Sivaonyx hendeyi) and leopard-sized wolverine (Plesiogulo aff. monspesulanus) lived alon
article  // 28 May 2020

Harnessing plant power to curb COVID-19

Here’s a different reason for tobacco to be in the news. Cape Bio Pharms, a biotech company with its origins in the Biopharming Research Unit (BRU) at the University of Cape Town (UCT), has joined the global effort to create a fast and affordable
article  // 27 May 2020

UCT’s two 2020 WEF Young Scientists

Every year, the World Economic Forum (WEF) selects an elite group of researchers under the age of 40 to participate in their Young Scientists programme. This year, the University of Cape Town (UCT) is represented by two brilliant women scientists.
article  // 21 May 2020

Siberians and First Americans go way back

A team of international researchers has assessed the population history of prehistoric humans that lived in the region around Lake Baikal, Russia, and found the deepest connection to date between the peoples of Siberia and the Americas. The research &n
article  // 18 May 2020

Red algae alert! Rhodoliths discovered in SA waters

Scientists have discovered a bed of rhodoliths – free-living, coral-like structures that offer food, shelter and nursery space for marine animals – in the newly proclaimed Amathole Offshore Marine Protected Area off South Africa’s eas
article  // 18 May 2020

Exploited leopards pay long-term inbreeding costs

Throughout their range leopards are in rapid decline, having disappeared from North Africa, much of the Middle East and Asia. Declines have been so severe that the species is now consi
article  // 11 May 2020

Four of UCT’s best now 2020 FLAIR fellows

Four young researchers from the Faculty of Science at the University of Cape Town (UCT), have been selected to form part of the 2020 cohort of Future Leaders – African Independent Research (FLAIR) fellows. These fellowships are awarded to talente
article  // 28 Apr 2020

Kelly Chibale: World leader in pharma

The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Professor Kelly Chibale, founder and director of Africa’s first integrated drug discovery and development centre, H3D, has been chosen as one of the world’s top 60 inspirational lea
article  // 22 Apr 2020

Earth Day 2020: Birds, lockdown and cause to pause

On Earth Day on 22 April, University of Cape Town (UCT) ornithologists Professor Peter Ryan and PhD candidate Jessleena Suri talk about resurgent birdlife in urban and suburban areas in the wake of the nationwide lockd