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Despite progress towards racial integration, proposals to rationalize by merging universities are being attacked as threats to the identity of some institutions. There is another way forward that deserves to be considered.
Chromosome size and number can vary widely between closely related organisms. This poses a challenge for the evolutionary geneticists who are trying to make sense of genome structure, says Jonathan Knight.
South Africa's higher-education system was designed by the architects of apartheid. So why are today's academics resisting attempts to reform it? Michael Cherry investigates.
In the social sciences, an equilibrium is a situation that involves several individuals or groups, in which each one's actions turn out to be the best reply to everyone else's.
Researchers have generated genetically altered mosquitoes with a reduced ability to transmit the malaria parasite in the lab. This is an important proof of principle, but there's still a long road ahead.
Linked chains of polymers can form hydrogels, whose properties are attractive for biomedical applications. It seems that the molecular arrangement of the polymer ingredients is central to hydrogel performance.
Many body functions keep a daily rhythm, maintained by a central clock in the brain. But how does the clock communicate with the rest of the body? The small protein prokineticin 2 looks well placed to be the messenger.
Although there have been dramatic advances in generating enormous magnetic fields, measuring these fields remains difficult. A non-metallic sensor based on a silver chalcogenide looks promising.
A molecule has been identified that seems to regulate the levels of uric acid in humans. The discovery has implications for understanding diseases such as gout and may even shed light on human longevity.
Daedalus is extending the idea of the 'augmented egg', described last week. He wants to produce plastic eggs in which chicks could grow to adulthood without ever becoming conscious.
