Tiny technology that can find pollution in South Africa’s water and trap it: Nanotechnology is the use of materials that are one-billionth of a metre (a nanometre) in size. One of its potential uses is to clean up whatever is contaminating water supplies. Analytical chemist Philiswa Nomngongo, a leading researcher in nanotechnology for water in …
Tiny weevils are waging war on the invasive water lettuce plant choking South Africa’s Vaal River: Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes L.), also known as Nile cabbage, is a free-floating aquatic plant from the family Araceae, the same family as the arum lily. It’s found on every continent except Antarctica and grows well in tropical to …
Electrifying offshore platforms targets a tiny fraction of the oil industry’s emissions: David Nixon/Shutterstock We are all familiar with the greenhouse gas emissions that come from burning fossil fuels in car engines, central heating systems and power stations. Little discussed is the climate footprint of producing oil and gas in the first place. Extracting, refining …
Tiny and mysterious: research sheds light on sub-Saharan Africa’s seahorses, pipefish and pipehorses: A giraffe seahorse (_Hippocampus camelopardalis_). Louw Claassens, Author provided Seahorses are considered fabled creatures by many; something that only exists in old mythical tales of the ocean. But these curious animals really exist – and they’re not the only members of the …
Air traffic control chaos: how human error can lead a tiny glitch to spiral out of control: Several thousand passengers were stranded at airports, hotels and connection depots following the recent system-wide glitch of the UK air traffic control systems. Some passengers were told of flight cancellations in advance, so they could make alternative travel …
Local journalism: why a tiny news operation could inspire a different approach and is attracting big name support: It started as a one-person operation, funded by personal savings and based in a bedroom, with a mission to provide a new format for local news in Manchester, and now The Mill is attracting £350,000 of funding …
Tiny but tenacious: arctic-alpine plants are engineers and warning bells: Purple saxifrage, snow pearlwort and drooping saxifrage (left to right). Sarah Watts, Author provided When most people consider the arctic, or high-altitude mountain landscapes, they think of endless snow, ice and bare rock. But pastel-coloured flowers, sometimes just a few millimetres wide, bloom in these …
From enormous elephants to tiny shrews: how mammals shape and are shaped by Africa’s landscapes: Africa is the world’s most diverse continent for large mammals such as antelopes, zebras and elephants. The heaviest of these large mammals top the scales at over one ton, and are referred to as megafauna. In fact, it’s the only …
House in a skip: even tiny homes can’t address the privilege and insecurity of the housing market: When 28-year-old artist Harrison Marshall moved back to London after a spell abroad, he couldn’t find anywhere to live within his price bracket. So in March 2023 he moved into a converted skip. He had parked the yellow …
From waste to clean water: tiny carbon particles can do the job: Clean water is in short supply around the world. But it doesn't have to be. borgogniels/Getty Images Many futuristic novels and films have explored what the world might look like without water. But water scarcity isn’t a problem for the far-off future: it’s …
Noble false widows: the tiny spiders taking a big bite out of British and Irish wildlife: The small and unassuming _Steatoda nobilis_. JorgeOrtiz_1976/Shutterstock Over the last two decades, an uninvited guest has made an appearance in and around homes throughout western Europe, including Britain and Ireland, as well as west Asia and the Pacific coast …
Arrakhis: the tiny satellite aiming to reveal what dark matter is made of: Milky Way over sand dunes in Cervantes, Australia. Nik Coli/Shutterstock The European Space Agency (Esa) recently announced a new mission of its science programme: a small telescope orbiting the Earth dubbed Arrakhis. But although its name is inspired by the sci-fi novel …
Vanuatu: why a chain of tiny Pacific islands wants an international court opinion on responsibility for the climate crisis: Mark and Anna Photography / shutterstock Small island states are losing their patience with big polluting nations as they suffer the devastating impacts of climate change. Without significant movement at the forthcoming COP27 climate talks in …
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Sri Lanka riots: how the tiny Indian Ocean island nation got into such a mess: The chaos in Sri Lanka has deepened after the country’s president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, fled to the Maldives. The president and his family left Colombo on a military jet just hours before he was due to resign in the face of …
Africans make up a tiny portion of genomics data: why there’s an urgent need for change: Nigeria provides an excellent lens to look at the genetic diversity of African people. Getty Images A group of Nigerian scientists, in conjunction with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, established the Noncommunicable Diseases Genetic Heritage Study …
Tiny tracks tell of ancient paths made by gerbils and spiders on South Africa’s south coast: Branching gerbil burrows leading to a debris mound preserved on an ancient dune surface. Charles Helm When large animals like elephants, giraffes and crocodiles roamed what is today South Africa’s Cape south coast hundreds of thousands of years ago, …
How tiny living spaces affect our wellbeing — individually and societally: Restricted living space impacts people in varying ways. lassedesignen | Shutterstock In cities around the world, tiny living spaces are becoming increasingly common. An estimated 200,000 people in Hong Kong live in what are called “coffin homes” – subdivided units so small that a …