South African hominin fossils were sent into space and scientists are enraged

By Dipuo Winnie Kgotleng, Director, University of Johannesburg
Robyn Pickering, Senior lecturer, University of Cape Town

When a Virgin Galactic commercial flight soared into space on 8 September 2023, there were two Virgin Galactic pilots, an instructor and three passengers on board – as well as two fossils of ancient prehuman relatives from South Africa. Timothy Nash, a businessman, carried a clavicle belonging to Australopithecus sediba and the thumb bone of a Homo naledi specimen. The fossils’ brief journey – the VSS Unity’s flight lasted just an hour – was organised by palaeontologist Lee Berger, who led the team that discovered and described Homo naledi in 2015. Berger was granted an export permit in July…

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~	Urban food gardens produce more than vegetables, they create bonds for young Capetonians – study

~	What France loses by closing its military bases in Africa

~	South African telescope discovers a giant galaxy that’s 32 times bigger than Earth’s

~	Reclaiming narratives: African storytelling as a path to justice and reparations

~	Finding ‘Kape’: How Language Documentation helps us preserve an endangered language

~	Georgian government continues the purge, setting its sights on universities next

~	Motor neurone disease campaigner, former AFL champion Neale Daniher, is 2025 Australian of the Year

~	Peter Dutton’s reshuffle: David Coleman the surprise choice as shadow foreign minister

~	Kyrgyzstan surrenders its best private schools to Turkey's control

~	What’s in store for Myanmar in 2025?