Have you ever looked up at the night sky and wondered if someone, somewhere, is looking back? Given the vastness of the universe, it feels almost inevitable that intelligent life must exist elsewhere. The Milky Way galaxy alone has around 400 billion stars many of which have multiple planetary systems. Surely, some of them must have conditions suitable for life?
La Niña is fading — some forecasters say it is already done and dusted — but there are hopeful signs that this weather pattern, which typically brings good rains to southern Africa, will bounce back by spring.
With the world on the threshold of 1.5°C of warming, one pressing question is: how bad can it get? The answer may lie beneath our feet.
A recent investigation has uncovered illegal strip-mining in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve in Limpopo Province, South Africa linked to the controversial Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ). The exposé revealed that MC Mining, whose Chinese-owned parent company, Kinetic Development, is an anchor investor in the MMSEZ, has unlawfully commenced mining operations at Makhado Colliery, despite a pending appeal decision against its environmental authorisation extension.
As we discussed last month, the solar system is a wash with chunks of rock, most of which follow their uneventful orbits around the Sun for millions of years. However, occasionally, gravitational interactions between bodies can cause a shift in orbit.
An extraordinarily rare and unique little butterfly on the brink of extinction, the Wolkberg Zulu in Limpopo, has been
The rising number of wildlife-vehicle collisions in the Hoedspruit area has become a significant concern for conservationists, researchers, and local residents alike. Between May and October 2024, seven leopards were tragically killed on local roads, alongside other species such as wild dogs, hyenas, side-striped jackals, and civets. These are just the cases that have been reported—many others are likely to have gone unnoticed, underscoring the scale of the problem.
The spotted rock snake is a widespread species, occurring from southern Namibia along the western escarpment into the Cape and karoo. It extends east along the Cape Fold Mountains and into the Drakensberg Mountains, spreading into the Mpumalanga Drakensberg and up into the Soutpansberg and Waterberg of Limpopo.
We are well into the summer months, and we have been fortunate to experience good rains of late. The bush is looking great, lush, green and alive with a myriad of life. Much to the trepidation of the many, the wet and warm weather brings with it an increase in scorpion activity.
Over the past few weeks, the internet has been awash with articles on a planetary parade on the 25th January whereby Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune will all be visible in the sky after dark. However, many of you may have noticed that we have been able to view this phenomenon for the past ten days or so, and will continue to enjoy this cosmic configuration for another couple of weeks.
