A look at wondrous moments in one of the most visited categories on Life in Balance
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Carlos Coronel, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez and Agustín Ibáñez, Trinity College Creative experience might enhance brain health, which could slow down the brain’s ageing. That’s according to a study by a group of international scientists across 13 countries. They found that…
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Santiago Zuluaga Castañeda, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC); Arjun Amar, University of Cape Town, and Megan Murgatroyd, University of Cape Town Birds of prey and vultures (raptors) play a vital role in ecosystems, both as top predators and key…
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Research suggests very spiritual different practices may share a fundamental neurobiological mechanism. Markus Kranich/Pexels, CC BY Joshua Brahinsky, McGill University; Jonas Mago, McGill University, and Michael Lifshitz, McGill University Do the world’s religions and contemplative traditions send people to the…
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Nature Is Our Home: Five ways you can look after it From the fynbos of the Cape to the wetlands of KwaZulu-Natal, the grasslands of the Free State to the wild coastlines of the Eastern Cape, South Africa is one…
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Communities urged to adopt sustainable, humane food choices as environmental pressures mount Cape Town, 03 June 2026 — As South Africa marks World Environment Day on 05 June and the start of National Environment Month, global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS…
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AFRICA’S EVIDENCE SHOWS A DIFFERENT FUTURE FOR FOOD AND FARMING This major new briefing paper and accompanying evidence compendium challenge one of the most entrenched assumptions in global agriculture: that synthetic pesticides are essential to food security. Grounded in African farming realities, this database…
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Why you have to stop using Roundup (glyphosate) I nearly went ballistic, well I did actually go ballistic when my neighbour’s gardener told me he was spraying Roundup on her patch of grass. This prompted me to ask for a…
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Fatigue isn’t just about needing more sleep. It’s what happens when your energy, capacity and recovery are slowly eroded over time. When it goes unrecognised, it quietly starts shaping how we work, how we relate to others and how we…
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The Western Cape has been hit by the 100 year storm, except that this happens every ten years or so now. I live in a small village in the Overberg region and when the storm was raging like the fury…
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South Africa is one of the world’s most biodiverse countries, which makes conservation all the more important. The biggest obstacle to caring for the planet, however, is the idea that nature is somewhere else: the Karoo, the Kruger, a wildlife…
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Nick Haslam, The University of Melbourne Psychology, it’s said, has a long past but a short history. A popular version lists three stages. First, around the turn of the 20th century, psychologists tried to capture the stream of conscious experience…
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How individual consciousness works – and makes us unique Peter Coppola, University of Cambridge and Emmanuel A Stamatakis, University of Cambridge As we go through life, our brains run different processing modes. Some – the attention and sensory systems – result…
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A growing community-driven waste project in Langa is showing how waste (especially organic waste) can be transformed into a valuable local resource – improving livelihoods, reducing landfill, and supporting urban farming. Over the past three months alone (January–March 2026), the…
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Imagination – Language – Creation by: Joseph Wagner You stand at a doorway, staring out at an uncharted land – the blank page before creation. Beyond the threshold lies adventure, invention, and a thousand “what ifs” waiting to be imagined…
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Most of the time I walk along the shoreline of Camps Bay in Cape Town I am catching plastic. Bottle tops, straws, left over polystyrene packaging and more often than I would like to count, nappies. Yep. So, I thought…
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The past year marked a major shift in how we build things. We’re seeing emerging nature-inspired innovations moving well beyond just copying how nature looks. We’re now in the bio-inspired re)evolution, where humanity is advancing how we learn from nature to…
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This Valentine’s Day, global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS is calling on animal lovers to celebrate love in a way that truly matters: by symbolically adopting a rescued big cat. Through this programme, you’ll help provide lifelong care for lions and other majestic animals rescued from abuse and exploitation.
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If you thought national security was only about borders, armies, and cyber threats, think again. In January 2026, the UK government released something extraordinary: a national security assessment declaring that global ecosystem degradation and collapse threaten national security and prosperity….
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FOUR PAWS reminds us that protecting animals and the environment starts with what’s on our plate. On World Environmental Education Day, FOUR PAWS is spotlighting a critical issue: the link between meat, dairy and egg consumption, climate change and animal…
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I had a bad month. Many jokes were tossed my way regarding questions as to whether I had been in a bad mood. The hurricane in Jamaica made them think of me. It’s my name. Melissa. Anyway I was wondering…
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