News Bulletin of 30 October 2025, 2pm

Two University of Pretoria (UP) researchers have won the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for their work on the ATLAS experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in Geneva.
Professor Lerothodi Leeuw, Head of UP’s Physics Department, and Professor Muaaz Bhamjee of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering are part of the SA-ATLAS team, which studies particles that could make up dark matter and helps upgrade the ATLAS detector.
The ATLAS experiment involves over 5,500 scientists and records more than a billion particle collisions every second. South Africa has contributed to ATLAS since 2010, with UP as the newest member.

South Africa has become the first African country to register lenacapavir, a breakthrough anti-HIV injection.
Lenacapavir is a pre-exposure prophylaxis treatment that protects adults and adolescents at risk of HIV-1 infections.
Unlike daily oral PrEP, it requires just two injections a year, each providing six months of protection, making adherence easier and reducing barriers to access.
The drug works by disrupting HIV at multiple stages to prevent it from replicating, and is intended to be used alongside safer sex practices.
Experts say lenacapavir is a game-changer for South Africa, where millions live with HIV, offering a more convenient and powerful prevention tool.

Uber has announced plans to roll out its own robotaxi service in San Francisco next year, setting up a direct challenge to Google-owned Waymo.
The company says over 100 self-driving vehicles made by Lucid are being prepared for the new service.
It comes shortly after Uber and Nvidia revealed plans to deploy 100,000 robotaxis globally by 2027, highlighting growing momentum in autonomous transport.
Waymo’s driverless cars have become a common sight in San Francisco, and Uber’s entry signals rising competition in the fast-evolving self-driving industry.