Latest news with #SquareKilometreArray
West Australian
2 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Durack MP Melissa Price given science, cyber security in new Coalition shadow cabinet
Fifth-term Durack Liberal MP Melissa Price has been handed science and cyber security in the Coalition's new-look shadow cabinet. After the Liberal and Nationals parties reconciled after their Coalition 'divorce', Liberal leader Sussan Ley on Wednesday announced the make-up of the new team. Ms Price said she was honoured by her appointed shadow ministries and as a former science and technology minister had a wealth of knowledge and experience and proven track record in these areas. 'The opportunity to once again help guide Australia's scientific and technological future is an incredible honour,' she said. 'Serving in this portfolio was one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. From announcing our partnership with NASA to sending an Australian rover to the Moon, I saw firsthand the opportunity, innovation and national pride that science brings.' The vast electorate Ms Price represents — the biggest in Australia at 4,000,000sqkm — has long been central to the nation's science story. 'Carnarvon played a vital role in the Apollo 11 mission and today, we are home to groundbreaking projects like the Square Kilometre Array in the Murchison and deep space communication facilities in New Norcia,' Ms Price said. As shadow minister for cyber security, Ms Price will also focus on one of Australia's most urgent national security challenges. 'In today's interconnected world, protecting our digital borders is as vital as defending our physical ones — cyber security is national security,' she said. 'I will continue to push for stronger cyber protections and greater investment in science because our future depends on how we face today's challenges and prepare for tomorrow.'
IOL News
6 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
A critique of the proposal to close public universities and convert them into colleges
Dawie Roodt, an economist, should keep in mind that, universities are not narrowly designed as he would think; to produce immediate job-ready graduates, but to fulfil a broader mandate that includes critical thinking, foundational knowledge, research and public service. says the writer. Dawie Roodt, an economist at the Efficient Group, has advocated that certain state universities in South Africa be closed and converted into colleges, claiming that they are not creating the "right skills" in comparison to private institutions. This concept stems from a worry about the skills mismatch in the South African employment market. However, the plan to close public institutions indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of the varied functions within the post-secondary education and training system, and it risks jeopardising public higher education's long-term developmental, democratic, and intellectual missions. Misunderstanding the Role of Universities Roodt should keep in mind that, Universities are not narrowly designed as he would think; to produce immediate job-ready graduates, but to fulfil a broader mandate that includes critical thinking, foundational knowledge, research and public service (CHE 2016, Badat 2010) and according to Manuel Castells, each with their own specific expectations and internal logic. Castells argued (2001:206) that 'universities perform a major role in the generation of new knowledge'. I assume that Roodt would have known that public universities are grounded in the idea of knowledge production, and innovation contributes to national development in ways that are not reducible to short-term market needs. A university graduate and, by his own admission, of UNISA, our land university, would have known this. His reckless claim that Unisa is underperforming was without facts. At least he should be aware that, in the last few years that UNISA, out of its 151-year history, has emerged as one of South Africa's and the African continent's premier scientific research and innovation institutions. As a dispute to his assumption and weird disinformation about UNISA, the institution has identified ten catalytic niche areas (such as Autotmotive Studies, Energy Studies, Space studies and the Square Kilometre Array, Fourth Industrial Revolution and digitization, etc) that will activate and enhance its academic agenda while remaining focused on the institute's vision of building Africa's Intellectual capacity. My view is that the role of public universities goes beyond 'immediate' skills production; their purpose includes fostering critical thinking. The failure of Roodt's argument was to realise that the skills gap cannot be solved by solely changing from public to private and from a public university to a private university.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mesmerizing new simulation shows the space between stars like you've never seen it before
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. If you've ever poured milk into a cup of coffee and watched it swirl, you've seen turbulence in action. This phenomenon is responsible for everything from a bumpy airplane trip to ocean currents. Now, researchers have developed a way to visualize in unprecedented detail the turbulence within the interstellar medium — the clouds of gas and charged particles between stars — and how it interacts with magnetic fields. The model was described in a paper published May 13 in the journal Nature Astronomy. "This is the first time we can study these phenomena at this level of precision and at these different scales," James Beattie, an astrophysicist at the University of Toronto and Princeton University, and lead author of the new study, said in a statement. Such complex calculations take a lot of computing power. To develop their model, Beattie and his colleagues used the SuperMUC-NG supercomputer at Germany's Leibniz Supercomputing Center. The model is scalable, consisting of a series of virtual modules that can be stacked to form a cube of up to 10,000 units. At this size, it can help researchers simulate our galaxy's magnetic field. When scaled down, it can be used to model more localized turbulent processes in space, such as the solar wind, the stream of charged particles emanating from the sun. "This is the first time we can study these phenomena at this level of precision and at these different scales," Beattie said. Related: Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' contains surprisingly accurate physics — suggesting he understood the hidden 'dynamism of the sky' The charged particles in the interstellar medium are significantly more diffuse than even ultrahigh vacuum experiments on Earth. Still, their motion is enough to generate a magnetic field. This field is millions of times weaker than a fridge magnet, but in the vacuum of space, it plays a major role in shaping galaxies, and even in forming stars. Unlike previous simulations, the new model considered this dynamic, replicating how the field shifts and swirls interstellar ions from areas of higher or lower density based on their charge. This could help astrophysicists gain a deeper understanding of how galaxies like our own came to be. RELATED STORIES —A dozen black holes may be 'wandering' through our galaxy — and they're the rarest type in the universe —Astronomers spy puzzlingly 'perfect' cosmic orb with unknown size and location —Venus may be geologically 'alive' after all, reanalysis of 30-year-old NASA data reveals In the future, Beattie and his team hope to develop models with even higher resolution. They also plan to compare their simulations against real-world data, such as solar wind measurements. Sensitive new observatories, like Australia and South Africa's joint Square Kilometre Array, promise to make these models even more precise. The images promise to be just as stunning. "I love doing turbulence research," Beattie said. "It looks the same whether you're looking at the plasma between galaxies, within galaxies, within the solar system, in a cup of coffee or in Van Gogh's 'The Starry Night.'"
TimesLIVE
16-05-2025
- Science
- TimesLIVE
UKZN's youngest PhD graduate 'unlocks secrets of gravity'
At 26 years old, Dr Shavani Naicker was the youngest doctoral graduate at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) during its 2025 autumn graduation ceremonies — an achievement earned with a PhD in applied mathematics, specialising in astrophysics. Naicker's academic journey has been entirely home-grown, completing her BSc, BSc Honours and MSc degrees at UKZN — all summa cum laude. UKZN said her doctoral research, conducted under the guidance of Prof Sunil Maharaj and Dr Byron Brassel through the Astrophysics Research Centre (ARC), delved into the intricate theories of Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, part of Lovelock gravity, a higher-dimensional extension of Einstein's General Relativity. 'Lovelock gravity introduces higher-order curvature terms into the equations of gravity,' said Naicker. 'Studying these helps us understand gravitational interactions in extreme conditions, such as near black holes or in the early universe. My work contributes to uncovering the gravitational dynamics of astrophysical objects in higher dimensions, which could address some of the unresolved questions in cosmology and quantum gravity.' UKZN said her work produced new exact solutions to complex field equations — earning praise for its potential to shed light on how stars and black holes behave in extreme conditions. Maharaj, director of the ARC, called her research 'critical in understanding gravitational phenomena' and said it offers 'deep insights into the behaviour of stellar models'. Brassel, who taught and supervised Naicker over the years, described her as 'an astute student' and said he hopes their collaboration continues. Naicker is now a postdoctoral fellow at the ARC, supported by the National Research Foundation, and aims to one day become its director. Her work aligns with major scientific projects such as the MeerKAT and Square Kilometre Array telescopes. 'Obtaining a PhD in applied mathematics with a specialisation in relativistic astrophysics is the realisation of a lifelong dream,' said Naicker. 'It stands as testament to years of hard work, resilience and an enduring curiosity about the universe. I hope my journey inspires others — especially young women — to explore the fascinating world of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.'
eNCA
13-05-2025
- Science
- eNCA
S.Africa's vast radio telescope draws new generation to the cosmos
When Lungelo Zondi first learnt about stars and galaxies at primary school in South Africa, she dreamt of having a live feed into the universe for uninterrupted space exploration. Today, aged 25, her childhood vision has pretty much come true. From her desk in Cape Town, Zondi monitors one of the world's largest radio telescopes, the MeerKAT, made up of 64 giant white dishes that stand in a semi-desert region 600 kilometres away. Through the screen of her computer, she can tune into radio signals emitted by stars and galaxies light-years away using the massive antennae that are 13.5 metres in diametre and turned up to the heavens. "This is so interesting and fascinating: we're collecting data from the universe," Zondi said of the job of telescope operator at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) that she started just two months ago. Since 2005, SARAO has awarded 1,369 bursaries to students of applied mathematics, computer science, astrophysics and other subjects. The bubbly engineering student is among them and part of a young generation of South Africans now able to look into the cosmos since the 2018 inauguration of the MeerKAT super radio telescope, which put the country on the map of global astronomy. - World's most powerful - As impressive as they are, the 64 dishes of the MeerKAT are just the start of an even bigger project, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Observatory that will be the world's most powerful radio telescope when it is completed by 2030. AFP | MARCO LONGARI The project will hook up another 133 South African dishes and more than 131,000 antennae based in Western Australia to allow humans to look back billions of years to when the "first stars and galaxies started lighting up the darkness", according to SKAO. In the seven years since it was launched in the remote and sparsely populated Karoo region, MeerKAT has already "pushed the boundaries of scientific knowledge," said Adrian Tiplady, SARAO deputy managing director. Its feats include groundbreaking radio images of the centre of the Milky Way, the discovery of immense radio galaxies stretching across millions of light-years, and the tracking of cosmic ripples through spacetime. And with the MeerKAT programme to help train young South Africans, it is also keeping an eye on its future. "It really covers the broad base of skills needed to actively participate in a global astronomy enterprise," Tiplady said. "It has meant that the youth of South Africa now are excited about science, engineering and technology. We've really grown from a handful of radio astronomers some 10 or 20 years ago to a thriving and diverse community," he said. An astrophysics group at the University of the Western Cape has benefited. In 2011, "it started with just one South African faculty (member) at the time… and one student doing the PhD", Mario Santos, 50, professor in the university's physics and astronomy department, said. "Now we have about 25 students and six faculty members," he added, saying the growth was "completely" linked to MeerKAT's development and South Africa's selection as SKA host. - Time machine - In the control room at SARAO's offices in Cape Town, Zondi and her colleagues monitor the health of the antennae and send them instructions to execute observations requested by scientists from all over the world. AFP | MARCO LONGARI There have been more than 1,200 submissions for observation time since 2019, with the biggest share from local research teams, Tiplady said. "The world is watching us, so we have to make things perfect," said Sipho Molefe, another telescope operator. The 34-year-old studied electrical engineering and never imagined he would be working in astronomy. "It makes people dream," he said. "There's a feeling that we're contributing to a bigger and larger environment in terms of information and development of technology." The quiet and empty Karoo from where the MeerKAT's sensitive antennae listen to the universe was identified as holding tremendous potential for South African astronomy in the 1990s. The facility operates in a "radio quiet zone" where radio waves, cell phone signals and wireless connections are strictly controlled to prevent interference with the telescope's tracking. 'When we're building a telescope, it's almost like building a time machine," Tiplady said. "Something like MeerKAT or the SKA will detect radio signals that have been travelling through the universe since the birth of the universe itself.' 'It's a true marvel of scientific and technical excellence... and we're proud of South Africa to be a part of this,' he told AFP. jcb/br/kjm
