"Most machine learning researchers would still say that we don’t really have anything substantial to say about consciousness. It’s poorly defined, and we don’t really know what the definition is, but the fact that many people are thinking about it is true. It’s really a fascinating question. But at the same time, we still need to be concrete, both when doing scientific work and when building engineering applications.” - Prof Herman Kamper
Artificial intelligence (AI) and data science have a critical role to play in policy decisions around an array of topics, be it public health, smart cities, or sustainable development.
Imagine a world in which drug development is faster, more precise, and more affordable. As a scientific start-up company, Nanosene (Pty) Ltd is committed to reshaping the foundations of drug discovery and development to ensure just that.
Modern machine learning methods may be key to unlocking valuable insights from a dataset of over 200 000 tsetse fly wings, collected during an 11-year study carried out at the Rekomitjie Research Station in the Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe. This invaluable dataset may hold the answers to what caused the dramatic collapse of tsetse fly populations in the valley over the past 30 years, and whether we’ll be faced with their possible re-emergence in areas such as the Kruger National Park in a warmer climate.
Public procurement is big business. Globally, governments spend around USD13 trillion on the procurement of goods and services each year. In South Africa, this government expense amounts to almost R1 trillion annually — around 12% of the country’s annual gross domestic product (GDP). According to Prof Geo Quinot of Stellenbosch University’s Department of Public Law, public procurement is the world’s single largest commercial activity: “The state is always the biggest market player.”
Gravity originating from this visible matter is simply not enough to have led to the formation of our galaxy or stars, astrophysicist Prof Yin-Zhe Ma says. “We therefore know that there must be ‘more’.” He is on a mission to connect fundamental physics with astronomical observations in order to understand the basic laws of the universe, as well as its expansion and the birth of the first galaxies.
Long-term cross-disciplinary collaboration between researchers in the fields of cell physiology and electronic engineering at Stellenbosch University (SU) is leading to new insights into cellular processes, specifically within the context of neurodegenerative diseases.
Although we may listen to it daily, we seldom think of all the components that were combined to create our favourite piece of music. We don’t think about each musical note individually but rather hear and experience the bigger structure that constitutes the whole of these elements. Simply put, this is what Gestalt theory is all about – the whole being greater than its parts. Individual notes say nothing about the musical creation as a whole. They only make sense when a variety of them are organised rhythmically on various pitches and at different intervals to construct a melody.
For some time now, big data has held the promise of having a revolutionary impact on various sectors of society that will lead to better, faster decision-making, improved processes, and ground-breaking discoveries. In agriculture, better data management, analysis, and application can boost animal and crop improvement, biosecurity and disease control, postharvest technology, agroprocessing, value chain analysis and development, as well as food sustainability and security. It can also help counter and build resilience to climate change.
To help South Africa’s paper, packaging and tissue industry secure a more sustainable future — that is the mission of a new demonstration plant at a papermill in KwaZulu-Natal. Driven by the ingenuity of Stellenbosch University’s chemical engineers, it was put into operation in 2023. The plant showcases the value of a process by which paper waste sludge destined for disposal in a landfill is turned into purified, high-value bioethanol.