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SUSANNA ANBU On 8 September, Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court dismissed two-time Olympic gold medallist Caster Semenya’s appeal. The dismissal upheld a ruling that was announced last year by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), that came into effect from 8 May 2019, stipulating that it was mandatory for all athletes with a difference in sex development (DSD) to undertake the necessary procedures to maintain a testosterone level below 5nmol/L continuously for the entirety of their athletic career in order to be allowed to compete in international athletic events. In response to the decision made by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, the University of Pretoria’sRead More →

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STEPHANIE COOKSON At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was widely circulated that in 12 to 18 months, a vaccine might be available. It became a general consensus that the public needed to push to the foreseeable future and that the vaccine would put an end to the pandemic. However, experts have pointed out that this process will likely take much longer, increasing the importance of safety measures like masks and social distancing, as they may be the best defense for many months to come. PDBY spoke to Professor Jan Verschoor from UP’s Department of Biochemistry, Genetics, and Microbiology, to find out why aRead More →

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  TSHEPANG MOJI The University of the Witwatersrand has launched clinical trials for a potential vaccine against COVID-19, with two thousand South Africans volunteering to be given the vaccine. The set of vaccine trials are to be the first in South Africa and on the African continent, and the trial seeks to find the vaccine that will prevent people from being infected with the SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease. Wits University is collaborating with the University of Oxford and the Oxford Jenner Institute on the trial. The vaccine that is to be used in South Africa is the same vaccine thatRead More →

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 VASALYA MOODLEY South Africa is the proud home of The Black Mambas, an initiative founded by the non-profit organisation, Transfrontier Africa, in the plight against poaching. This project is the first of its kind, as it is the first all-women anti-poaching unit. The work of these women encompasses the dire need to eradicate poaching, for the benefit of more stable ecosystems. Initially in 2013, the six-membered Black Mambas team were deployed to prevent poaching within the Olifants West Nature Reserve near the Kruger National Park. Today, the team has grown to the extent that there are enough members spread out across the Balule area, beyondRead More →

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SUSANNA ANBU The University of Pretoria (UP) has attained 1st ranking in Africa, and 183rd globally, as per UniRank’s Annual publishing of its tertiary institution ranking. UniRank’s ranking system stems from three integral selection criteria: the accreditation of the institution by the relevant higher education-related organisation in the respective country, the institution offering four-year undergraduate degrees or postgraduate degrees, and delivering courses and lectures in a traditional face-to-face setup devoid of non-distant formats. Additionally, UP’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) has been ranked by UK’s Financial Times as the most gender-balanced business school in the world. As per the Global Ranking of Academic SubjectsRead More →

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  VASALYA MOODLEY On 30 May, aerospace company SpaceX launched its Crew Dragon spacecraft from NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Centre. This launch, known as Demo-2, is the final test for the company’s human spaceflight system. The launch of the Crew Dragon capsule marks the send-off of astronauts from American soil in American technology into space for the first time in almost ten years. Using safe and advanced technology, SpaceX aims to further mankind’s knowledge of space exploration, and the Dragon mission is the first step towards reaching that goal. What makes this launch so historic is the fact that SpaceX is the first privately-ownedRead More →

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SUSANNA ANBU A joint collaboration by a team of astronomers from the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), the United States National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), the University of Pretoria (UP), and Rhodes University have used the MeerKAT telescope to solve the mystery behind the x-shape emanated by certain galaxies. The study observed a galaxy called PKS 2014-55, situated 800 million light years away from Earth, and proposed the reasons for the characteristic x-shape visualised. The results of the study have been accepted for publication in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. MeerKAT is a radio telescope comprising of 64 antennas spanningRead More →

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  NOKWANDA KUBHEKA On 9 May, the United Nations Association of South Africa University of Pretoria (UNASA UP) hosted the premier of the first virtual Model UN in South Africa. Organised by the UNASA UP Chairperson, Andrea Yazbek, the topic of discussion at the premier was ‘Multilateralism in Food Security after a Pandemic Shock’. The delegates were representing five countries, namely, the People’s Republic of China, the Argentine Republic, the United Mexico States, Côte d’Ivoire, and the Republic of South Africa. The event was attended by the Secretary General of the UNASA, Mr. Ali Kiyaei. A Model United Nations (MUN) is a recreation of theRead More →

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JAMEO CALVERT The Chairperson of the residence sub-council, Lara Thom, was happy to share with PDBY that the fund has turned out to be successful. According to her, they are ahead of their schedule, and have since been able to make the first round of payments on 27 April. She says that they were able to assist approximately 98 residence students with a disbursement amount to the value of approximately R 47 000. Thom explained that the second round of payments was processed over the weekend of 1 May, and states that “hopefully, this will aid around 150 residence students”. As of 3 May, theRead More →