south africa

South Africa Doesn’t Think Starlink’s Plans Are So Slick

Musk's internet company is trying to work around the country's ownership rules.

Politics AJ Dellinger May 27

Elon Musk holds up an Air Force One stuffed toy as he walks from the presidential helicopter Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on February 19, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Grok AI Is Replying to Random Tweets With Information About ‘White Genocide’

Elon Musk's AI is obsessed with the South African conspiracy theory.

Artificial Intelligence Matt Novak May 14

Errol Musk, father of Elon Musk, pictured in front of a Tesla

Elon Musk’s Dad Says He Wasn’t Political as a Kid, Was Friends With His Black Servants

Not sure this helps his cause.

Politics AJ Dellinger Mar 20

View of the shoreline at Pinnacle Point from boat

Critical Windows Into Early Human Evolution Recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites

A trio of South African sites contain evidence that early humans ate shellfish, used fire to modify raw materials, and used advanced projectile weapons.

Human History Adam Kovac Aug 6

Terrifying Water Monsters Test a Young Mystic’s Powers in This Exclusive Excerpt From Epic Fantasy Scarlet Odyssey

After his village is attacked by a powerful witch, a young man embarks on a mission to awaken his own magical gifts to help save his people. That’s the set-up for Scarlet Odyssey, the debut novel from Zimbabwe-born, South Africa-based C.T. Rwizi, who draws on African myths and legends to spin his epic fantasy. Here’s…

Books & Comics Cheryl Eddy Feb 7

YouTuber Gives Fake Award to Far-Right Activist Who Calls Greta Thunberg an ‘Autistic Fucking Wench’

YouTuber Josh Pieters has revealed that he pranked far-right British commentator Katie Hopkins by flying her to Prague and presenting her with a fake award. Hopkins, who is frequently retweeted by President Trump and was recently suspended on Twitter, was awarded with the Campaign to Unify the Nation Trophy, abbreviated as C.U.N.T. And if you…

Tech News Matt Novak Jan 31

South Africa Rations Water As it Tries to Avoid ‘Day Zero’ Again

South African residents are being urged to use their water sparingly as hot, dry weather pushes the country toward another water shortage. The South African Minister of Human Settlements, Water, and Sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu made the announcement Monday at a press conference to address the issue. Sound familiar? Last year, Cape Town saw a similar…

Climate Change Yessenia Funes Oct 28

Rhino Poacher in South Africa Reportedly Killed By Elephant, Then Eaten By Lions

A man suspected to have entered Kruger National Park in South Africa neat the border with Mozambique on Monday with four compatriots to poach protected rhinos was reportedly killed by an elephant before becoming a meal to a pack of lions, according to a report in the Letaba Herald subsequently confirmed by other outlets. Spokesman…

Earther Tom McKay Apr 7

We Talked to the Graduate Student Who Made Bricks From Human Pee

Pee contains some pretty amazing stuff. Scientists have known for nearly a decade that it’s possible to produce bricks from bacteria, sand, and urea—a chemical found in urine. Researchers have gone ahead and produced those bricks, now for the first time with human pee. South African engineer Dyllon Randall from the University of Cape Town,…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum Oct 26

Cape Town’s Controversial Plan to Solve Its Water Crisis for Good

CAPE TOWN—In the midst of a historic drought, Cape Town is looking for solutions both immediate and long-term to its water supply problems. Although the potential shut-off of Cape Town’s taps on ‘Day Zero’ is likely to be narrowly averted this year thanks to intensive water-saving efforts, long-term drought, coupled with increased water demand and…

Conservation Christian Alexander Mar 29

Cape Town’s Reservoirs Are Getting Terrifyingly Low

“Day Zero” sounds like something out of a dystopian science fiction novel, but it’s a reality that Cape Town, South Africa, could face in a few short months. A historic stretch of drought years has turned the city’s reservoirs into deserts. As a result, water managers in the second largest city in South Africa predict…

Earth Science Brian Kahn Feb 2

Why Cape Town Is About to Run Out of Water

Parched earth and dust storms extend across much of the Theewaterskloof Dam, an area normally filled with several hundred million cubic meters of water sparkling under the Sun. Sand dunes, built up within the largest dam in South Africa’s Western Cape Province, almost completely bury parts of the barbed fence intended to demarcate the water’s…

Conservation Christian Alexander Jan 22

A Drought You Probably Haven’t Heard About Is Forcing Water Rationing in South Africa

A disaster is unfolding in Cape Town. Three years in a row of severe drought have left the second-most populous city in South Africa preparing for heavy water rationing and the equivalent of rolling blackouts for water. “All water must be conserved now, including non-drinking water from boreholes and other sources,” Richard Bosman, the executive…

Earther Brian Kahn Nov 3

This Could Be Why Orcas Have Been Eating Great White Sharks in South Africa

A South African shark-watching hotspot has recently turned into the scene of a seaside horror movie. For several months, enormous great white shark corpses have been washing up on the Gansbaai beaches, often missing their livers as if feasted upon by cetacean Hannibal Lecters. But this is no movie—it’s just biology, ruthless as ever. This…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum Jul 24

This Story About Killer Whales Eating Great White Sharks Is Basically a Horror Movie Now

You might remember last month when orcas ate an enormous great white shark’s liver, Hannibal Lecter style, in South Africa. It seems the killer whales have decided, why stop there? Why not take the testicles and stomach, too? https://gizmodo.com/killer-whales-eat-enormous-great-white-shark-in-south-a-1795016535 The Dyer Island Conservation Trust, a South African conservation program, was called in to investigate a…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum Jun 27

This Stunning Drone Footage of South Africa Looks Like a Real Life Lion King

For the past couple of years, mediocre drone videos of dramatic landscapes have littered the internet. Like, we get it, drone pilots. Your camera flies and stuff looks pretty from the sky and the whole conceit is pretty trite at this point. And then I saw these four minutes of magic, filmed in South Africa.…

Sploid Adam Clark Estes Apr 6

Elon Musk Bets His Paycheck

In December, Elon Musk tweeted that he was so annoyed with California traffic that he was “going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging.” Then he did. That’s why it’s worth believing his latest outlandish proposal: That if he can’t fix South Australia’s power problems in just 100 days, he’ll foot the…

Tech News Avery Ellis Mar 10

Hundreds of New Galaxies Detected in First Image From Super Telescope

The MeerKAT radio telescope isn’t even finished being built, but it’s already released its first image: a small patch of sky showcasing 1,300 galaxies. In comparison, only 70 galaxies were known to exist in this part of the sky, which covers less than 0.01 percent of the entire celestial sphere. The telescope in South Africa…

Physics & Chemistry Carli Velocci Jul 17

Gorgeous Sweeping Views of the Dragon Mountains

Cooped up in a city or squandered in a suburb, it’s easy to forget how damn wonderful nature can be. Here are some truly stunning views of the Drakensberg Escarpment in South Africa. I love how the shadows and light shutter over the mountains throughout the day. Drakensberg is derived from the Afrikaans word Drakensberge…

Sploid Casey Chan Apr 8

Man Blames Wife for Stashing 21 Pieces of Female Genitalia in Freezer; She Disagrees [Updated]

There just isn’t anything about this story that isn’t horrible, so naturally we’re here to share it with you. A Danish man was arrested in his Bloemfontein, South Africa home after his estranged wife tipped police with this grisly fact: he had 21 pieces of female genitalia stored in his freezer. The man, who owns…

Tech News Cheryl Eddy Oct 22

south africa

South Africa Doesn’t Think Starlink’s Plans Are So Slick

Grok AI Is Replying to Random Tweets With Information About ‘White Genocide’

Elon Musk’s Dad Says He Wasn’t Political as a Kid, Was Friends With His Black Servants

Critical Windows Into Early Human Evolution Recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Terrifying Water Monsters Test a Young Mystic’s Powers in This Exclusive Excerpt From Epic Fantasy Scarlet Odyssey

YouTuber Gives Fake Award to Far-Right Activist Who Calls Greta Thunberg an ‘Autistic Fucking Wench’

South Africa Rations Water As it Tries to Avoid ‘Day Zero’ Again

Rhino Poacher in South Africa Reportedly Killed By Elephant, Then Eaten By Lions

We Talked to the Graduate Student Who Made Bricks From Human Pee

Cape Town’s Controversial Plan to Solve Its Water Crisis for Good

Cape Town’s Reservoirs Are Getting Terrifyingly Low

Why Cape Town Is About to Run Out of Water

A Drought You Probably Haven’t Heard About Is Forcing Water Rationing in South Africa

This Could Be Why Orcas Have Been Eating Great White Sharks in South Africa

This Story About Killer Whales Eating Great White Sharks Is Basically a Horror Movie Now

This Stunning Drone Footage of South Africa Looks Like a Real Life Lion King

Elon Musk Bets His Paycheck

Hundreds of New Galaxies Detected in First Image From Super Telescope

Gorgeous Sweeping Views of the Dragon Mountains

Man Blames Wife for Stashing 21 Pieces of Female Genitalia in Freezer; She Disagrees [Updated]

Amazon Is Sticking With ‘Rings of Power’ to the End

Trump Is Reportedly Going Full Steam Ahead with the Golden Dome

‘Kamen Rider’ Is Ready to Take on the World

Twitter Just Can’t Stop Leaking Movies

The ‘Mass Effect’ Show is Getting Rewritten to Get Greenlit

See the Early Stages of How ‘Project Hail Mary’ Brought Rocky to Life

‘Cognitive Surrender’ Is a New and Useful Term for How AI Melts Brains

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

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