Dark Sky Week | April 22 - 30 is the International Dark-Sky Week. For billions of years, all life has relied on Earth’s predictable rhythm of day and night. It’s encoded in the DNA of all plants and animals. Humans have radically disrupted this cycle by lighting up the night. Plants and animals depend on Earth’s daily cycle of light and dark rhythm to govern life-sustaining behaviors such as reproduction, nourishment, sleep and protection from predators, says the International Dark-Sky Association.
darksky.org/light-pollutio…

'New data from South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope helping to solve mysteries of the universe' | ‘Odd radio circles’ that baffled astronomers are likely explosions from distant galaxies | The New Daily thenewdaily.com.au/life/2022/03/2… Astronomy’s newest mystery objects, odd radio circles or ORCs, have been pulled into sharp focus by an international team of astronomers using the world’s most capable radio telescopes.

Origins of the Universe | SA Radio Astronomy Observatory’s (SARAO's) Deputy Managing Director Dr Adrian Tiplady will be a keynote speaker at a webinar hosted by the Botswana International University of Science & Technology this Thursday, 10 June 2021. biust.ac.bw/events/the-squ… REMINDER: This evening at 6:30pm SARAO's Deputy Managing Director, Dr Adrian Tiplady will be a keynote speaker at a webinar hosted by the Botswana International University of Science & Technology. See the attached invitation on how to join the session.

In his first state visit to South Africa, President Emmanuel Macron said France would join the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in due course. French participation in the SKA project has been coordinated by the National Center for Scientific Research. @CNRS @SKA_telescope @SKA_Africa The SKA project is an international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope, with eventually over a square kilometre (1 million square metres) of collecting area.

COVID-19 budget pressures threaten curiosity-driven science. That's a bad thing theconversation.com/covid-19-budge… via @TC_Africa "In the year since COVID-19 first emerged as global pandemic, my colleagues and I have watched scientific agility in action in South Africa on a number of fronts," says Vanessa McBride of the Office of Astronomy for Development: International Astronomical Union.

@jamesstyan You might be on to something here, James. The statement issued yesterday has all the hallmarks of the usual political interference (or political intervention depending on your school of thought) that has come to characterise the relationship between the SOCs and the government. @jamesstyan Based on past experiences, starting from the 2009 FIFA Conferederations Cup, the 2010 Fifa World Cup, local and national elections, amongst others, Pretoria has played a major role in the deferment of what engineers call maintenance philosophy, leading to huge maintenance backlog

Higher Education, Science & Innovation Minister, Dr. Blade Nzimande today visited the MeerKAT radio telescope in the Karoo, Northern Cape. This was the minister's first visit since his appointment in May 2019. The facility owned and operated by the SA Radio Astronomy Observatory. Minister Nzimande said he was impressed and "star-struck" by the amount of data that is being generated by the MeerKAT's 64 dishes, and the resultant scientific discoveries and /or solving of long-standing galactic mysteries.

The world’s largest radio telescope should open its skies to all nature.com/articles/d4158… Even though the SKA has only just been formally launched, it has already yielded some impressive results. In South Africa, MeerKAT, a 64-dish precursor telescope to the SKA that is already up and running, has taken the most detailed radio image yet of the centre of our Galaxy.

"We are excited by the fact that the SKA Observatory will be the first, and only, science inter-governmental organisation where Africa will play a strategic leading role," says Higher Education, Science & Innovation Minister Dr Blade Nzimande.

https://twitter.com/SKA_telescope/status/1357299083879342082

"The SKA project will act as a catalyst for science, technology and engineering innovation, providing commercial opportunities to local high-tech industry, and creating the potential to put Africa on the map as a global science and innovation partner," he added.
@dsigovza

On behalf of the SA Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), we'd like to congratule DG of Science and CInnovation, Dr Phil Mjwara, for winning the Best Director General of the Year at the 2020 Batho Pele Excellence Awards held recently.
@SKA_Africa @NRF_News @dsigovza Congratulations to the Department of Science and Innovation itself for winning the Best Functioning National Department category. C

After nearly a week of phone calls and unanswered emails to my bank, today I finally received a token of the electricity I bought last Saturday. It looks like there was a short circuit between the bank and the utility, resulting in me not receiving the units via SMS as expected. Although customers can buy electricity remotely using their banking apps, my understanding is that this innovation came from the banks, and not the utilities. This explains why the last mile of loading an electricity voucher is still lagging behind. @SALGA_Gov

Soweto residents protest for electricity sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-afr… The perennial calls for an electricity flat rate, as demanded by SOME, residents of Soweto, need to be dismissed by civic leaders, local authorities, politicians and all other reasonable South Africans. A flat rate, irrespective of consumption patterns, will create big problems.