How a popular sweetener could be damaging your brain’s defences – new study: Found in everything from protein bars to energy drinks, erythritol has long been considered a safe alternative to sugar. But new research suggests this widely used sweetener may be quietly undermining one of the body’s most crucial protective barriers – with potentially …
Only 3 years left – new study warns the world is running out of time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change: Bad climate news is everywhere. Africa is being hit particularly hard by climate change and extreme weather, impacting lives and livelihoods. We are living in a world that is warming at the …
Green energy and protecting nature get the thumbs up in climate change study in 68 countries: Africa has begun experiencing frequent extreme weather events. Extreme weather is defined as the kind of heatwaves, droughts, storms and floods that have historically been rare occurrences for the place and time, and which pose a danger to large …
University graduates in Ghana must serve society for a year – study suggests it’s good for national unity: Almost 70 years after independence was gained across the continent, many African countries continue to face the complex task of managing ethnic diversity and building national cohesion. National cohesion is a broad and often abstract concept. It …
Cleaner air in east Asia has driven recent acceleration in global warming – new study: A traffic jam in Beijing in China, where air pollution has drastically reduced. Hung Chung Chih/Shutterstock Global warming has picked up pace since around 2010, leading to the recent string of record warm years. Why this is happening is still …
Child labour numbers rise in homes where adults are jobless – South African study: Child labour is a big concern across the world. It is particularly acute in countries in the global south, where it is estimated that about 160 million children are engaged in child labour, about 87 million of them in sub-Saharan Africa. …
Zambia runs on mostly green power, but households use polluting cooking fuel: study suggests how to fix this: Zambia, like many African countries, is facing a crisis over clean cooking fuel. Over 80% of the population still relies on polluting fuels like charcoal and firewood. This exposes families to toxic indoor air, deepens poverty and …
Ocean currents can generate electricity – and our study shows Africa’s seas have some of the strongest: The world’s oceans cover more than 70% of Earth’s surface. They’re filled with currents, some much stronger than the fastest flowing large rivers. These currents can be harnessed as clean, marine renewable energy. Marine energy is much more …
Dehorning rhinos tips the balance against poaching – new study: Black and white rhino populations in the Greater Kruger (Kruger National Park and surrounding reserves) in South Africa have plummeted from over 10,000 rhinos in 2010 to around 2,600 in 2023. Hundreds of rhinos are killed each year by poachers for their horns. These are …
We found a germ that ‘feeds’ on hospital plastic – new study: Amparo Garcia/Shutterstock.com Plastic pollution is one of the defining environmental challenges of our time – and some of nature’s tiniest organisms may offer a surprising way out. In recent years, microbiologists have discovered bacteria capable of breaking down various types of plastic, hinting …
Clownfish shrink during marine heatwaves – new study: Clownfish that shrank during heatwaves were more likely to survive them. Morgan Bennett-Smith As the world contemplates dealing with more extreme temperatures, one coral reef fish has found a novel way to beat the heat: shrinking. Wanting to know how clownfish cope with changes to their environment, …
Fulani: new study unravels the genetic history of Africa’s largest pastoralist community: The Fulani people are Africa’s largest pastoralist group. There are between 25 million and 40? million Fulani people across 17 African countries, from the Atlantic shores of Senegal and Mauritania to Sudan. The Fulani have long intrigued social anthropologists with their complex cultural …
Africa’s elephants have been in dramatic decline for 50 years. What can be done to save them – new study: Surveying elephants is hard, risky work. Dedicated biologists have been doing this challenging task across Africa for decades. Systematic surveying started in the late 1960s but has been sporadic, as access to remote areas takes …
Building Zambian homes with local materials delivers benefits that imports don’t: study: People spend up to 90% of their lives in buildings. How these are designed and built has a profound influence on our economies and how we live and work. Traditionally, buildings were constructed by local craftspeople, from readily available materials. The result was …
Bacteria in your mouth may hold clues to your brain health and dementia risk – new study: Could the bacteria in your mouth predict whether you are at risk of dementia? Emerging research suggests that the bacteria living on your tongue and gums may affect how the brain works and how it changes as we …
Most of Britain’s peat bogs could stop forming new peat as the climate changes – new study: Joe Dunckley / shutterstock By the 2080s, climate change will mean most of Britain’s peatlands could be too dry to form new peat. That’s the stark warning from a new academic study my colleagues and I just published in …
Madagascar supports more unique plant life than any other island in the world – new study: Madagascar is rich in species, including plants. Leamus/iStock/Getty Images Researchers have long known that islands are hotspots for species diversity. But, until recently, there weren’t precise figures to quantify the diversity of plant life on islands. A study involving …
South Africa’s low-cost housing model is broken – study suggests how to fix it: The backlog of subsidised public housing in South Africa is estimated at 2.4 million. In this interview, Hlengiwe Maila, a research fellow at the School of Public Management and Administration at the University of Pretoria, answers questions posed by associate professor …