News archive

• Stopping whitebait from frittering away

  17/11/2008

  With the whitebait season in full swing until 30 November in most parts of the country, scientists are studying how to make sure there are enough of the delicacy in our streams and rivers.

• Old poo holds answer to moa diet

  10/11/2008

  Scientists plan to study the fossilised poo of moa to work out what the giant birds used to eat and what effect their snacking had on the ecosystem before humans and other mammals arrived in New Zealand.

• Exploring the briny deep sea without leaving land

  05/11/2008

  Do you want to explore over a thousand metres below the sea surface, navigate the Kermadec Arc and see underwater volcanoes – all without leaving land?

• NASA to operate the world’s largest airborne observatory out of Christchurch

  29/10/2008

  From 2009, the NASA Science Mission Directorate in partnership with Germany’s DLR Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Aerospace Center) is planning to operate the world’s largest airborne infrared observatory out of Christchurch for two months of the year.

• Using science to save face

  23/10/2008

  Riot police around the world could one day be wearing protective head and face gear that is being designed and made in New Zealand for hockey and cricket players in 61 countries.

• Ozone hole biggest on record

  14/10/2008

  Scientists at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) have announced that this year’s ozone hole over Antarctica is the biggest on record, covering 27 million square kilometres, compared to 25 million square kilometres last year.

• A prickly culprit

  10/10/2008

  It would seem that agricultural activities are not the only things polluting our waterways with nitrogen. It has recently been discovered that gorse, that prickly green plant with the yellow flowers, is responsible for leaching as much nitrogen into our waterways as some dairy farms.

• Dabbling in genetics earns lifetime achievement award

  09/10/2008

  The winner of the 2008 KuDo^s Lifetime Achievement award is estimated to have brought in excess of $400 million to the New Zealand dairy farmer by improving the genetics of the New Zealand dairy herd since 1956.

• Foraging for fungi turns up rare treat

  16/09/2008

  Forty-five fungal enthusiasts, both amateur and professional, from around the world gathered in Otago recently for the 22nd annual New Zealand Fungal Foray.

• Bird watching

  15/09/2008

  The second week of the July school holidays saw almost 3,000 New Zealanders from all over the country sitting quietly in their gardens or spying through windows for the second nationwide garden bird survey.

• NZ’s major fault lines not connected through central Cook Strait

  03/09/2008

  Scientists have recently discovered there is no connection between major fault lines in the North and South Islands.

• Fighting a little bee mite

  02/09/2008

  A little mite, like a tiny spider the size of a pin head, has been plaguing New Zealand’s bee industry for the last few years.

• World’s largest known dinosaurs once roamed New Zealand

  18/08/2008

  A team of fossil hunters has discovered that one of the largest known dinosaurs, a titanosaurid, almost certainly roamed New Zealand about 80 million years ago.

• Future driving: biofuels, hydrogen fuel cells and electric cars

  12/08/2008

  A team of scientists from CRL Energy, Scion (forestry research), IRL, GNS Science and NIWA have been examining the technology and the resources that New Zealand has available to create energy and provide fuel for the cars of the future.

• Urban runoff threat to marine life

  06/08/2008

  Urban runoff from chemicals used in car cleaning products and paint and oil being poured down stormwater drains is a major contributor to seabed contamination. In addition it could also pose a risk to marine life in Wellington Harbour, a report from Greater Wellington says.

• Landslide buries climate change link

  01/08/2008

  Scientists at University of Canterbury are disputing evidence that is widely used as an example that climate change can happen simultaneously around the world.

• Kiwi energy generator harnessing the power of ocean waves

  30/07/2008

  On 5 June, which was World Environment Day, a group of energy scientists and engineers started up their prototype of a wave energy generator. It has been designed to harness the power of waves to make electricity in Evans Bay Wellington.

• Mathematical model helps insulin research

  21/07/2008

  A mathematical model to explain the reason for slow insulin transport within skeletal muscle fibres has been developed by Ruakura scientist Dr Paul Shorten.

• Passionfruit helps asthmatics

  15/07/2008

  Passionfruit, a vine fruit which turns dark purple when ripe, may hold the key to help people who suffer from asthma to breathe easier.

• Old rat bones provide key to past

  08/07/2008

  Old rat bones are providing scientists from Landcare Research and Oxford University with clues about human settlement in New Zealand.

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