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Latest Sci-Tech Headlines [Page 3]
Seasonal Climate Outlook February To April 2025 By The National Institute Of Water And Atmospheric Research (NIWA)
Friday, 31 January 2025, 2:34 pm | NIWA
A La Niña Advisory is in effect, though weak and expected to be short-lived, says NIWA National Climate Centre Principal Scientist Chris Brandolino, with international guidance indicating around a 50% chance for La Niña conditions persisting through ... More >>
New Aotearoa Climate Goals Announced – Expert Reaction
Friday, 31 January 2025, 1:13 pm | Science Media Centre
This new contribution would reduce NZ's emissions to around 40 million tonnes CO2-equivalent per year by 2035. Nations participating in the Paris Agreement (recently excepting the US) are due to submit their greenhouse gas reduction targets by February. More >>
DeepSeek Shock Could Spur AI Space Race
Friday, 31 January 2025, 12:53 pm | Bill Bennett
AI brings many challenges and there are questions about DeepSeek but on the whole this week's news is ground for optimism. More >>
Are New Zealand's Submarine Links Safe?
Friday, 31 January 2025, 12:49 pm | Bill Bennett
Recent incidents damaging submarine cables pose the question of our island nation's dependence on a handful of links. More >>
Blood Donation And HIV Prevention Symposium – Expert Reaction
Thursday, 30 January 2025, 2:01 pm | Science Media Centre
New Zealand Blood Service provided an update that Medsafe has approved individualised assessment for screening potential blood and plasma donors. More >>
Wanting To ‘Return To Normal’ After A Disaster Is Understandable, But Often Problematic
Wednesday, 29 January 2025, 9:07 pm | The Conversation
Accepting change in the aftermath of natural disasters is hard. But long-term survival may require embracing managed retreat rather than repeated rebuilds. More >>
Tornadoes: What You Need To Know
Monday, 27 January 2025, 8:55 pm | RNZ
Explainer: The wind speed of the Mangawhai tornado is similar to one that's occurred before - RNZ has been looking at what we know so far. More >>
Chorus Fibre Data Surge Marks End Of 2024
Monday, 27 January 2025, 12:28 pm | Bill Bennett
New Zealander's data consumption has climbed thirteen-fold in a decade and downloading a monthly terabyte is no longer outlier behaviour. The mobile market is largely static. PC sales improve. More >>
New Flood Technology To Prepare Communities
Monday, 27 January 2025, 10:54 am | University of Canterbury
The work focuses on flood risk assessment and hydrology using digital twins—computer simulations powered by geospatial data and cloud computing—to model and visualise floods and their potential impacts. More >>
NZIF Welcomes Proposed Changes To Crown Research Institutes
Friday, 24 January 2025, 4:52 pm | New Zealand Institute of Forestry
NZIF supports the removal of the ban on gene technology, provided it is implemented responsibly. This modification offers substantial potential to advance innovation in forestry and related sectors, ensuring New Zealand’s continued leadership in ... More >>
Reforms To NZ’s Science Sector – Expert Reaction
Friday, 24 January 2025, 4:21 pm | Science Media Centre
A new Prime Minister’s Science, Innovation and Technology Advisory Council will provide strategic direction and identify economic opportunities, while a new agency, Invest New Zealand, will focus on foreign direct investment. More >>
Science System Advisory Group Report Receives Only Selective Engagement From Government
Friday, 24 January 2025, 3:02 pm | NZ Association of Scientists
The report repeatedly laments the problem of inflated, unrealistic valuations for commercialisation of science and specifically warns that “the naive idea persists … that exploitation intellectual property” within institutions “can generate ... More >>
NZDF Celebrates Successful Launch Of A Second Satellite Payload
Friday, 24 January 2025, 1:22 pm | New Zealand Defence Force
The Tui payload, named after the native bird, was built by a team of scientists from the NZDF’s Defence Science and Technology. Tui is the primary payload on the Otter mission, a research satellite developed by the US Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) ... More >>
Universities NZ Welcomes Findings In Science System Advisory Group Report
Thursday, 23 January 2025, 5:36 pm | Universities New Zealand - Te Pokai Tara
“The university system is a major player in New Zealand’s science, innovation and technology system, home to approximately 50% of all New Zealand’s researchers,” says Professor Grant Edwards, Chair of Universities NZ and Vice-Chancellor of Lincoln ... More >>
Oxford’s Bright Stars Pull In The Visitors
Thursday, 23 January 2025, 5:00 pm | David Hill - Local Democracy Reporter
One year on from gaining international dark sky status, Oxford's night sky is proving to be a drawcard. More >>
Vice-Chancellor Responds To Research And Science Reforms
Thursday, 23 January 2025, 4:28 pm | University of Auckland
Responding to the research and science reforms, the University of Auckland’s Professor Dawn Freshwater welcomed the emphasis on research impact and end-user outcomes. She applauded changes to incentivise quality, relevant and impactful research. More >>
Crown Research Institutes To Merge Into Three Mega Science Groups
Thursday, 23 January 2025, 4:26 pm | RNZ
NIWA, GNS, ESR and numerous other bodies are set to be pulled together. More >>
Callaghan Innovation To Support Staff And Customers Through Disestablishment
Thursday, 23 January 2025, 2:37 pm | Callaghan Innovation
“Planning is also underway to manage the smooth transfer to other agencies of those functions that the Government wants to continue. That process will begin in earnest once the Government confirms its intentions." More >>
AUT Academics, Ex-All Blacks Feature On New Concussion Podcast
Wednesday, 22 January 2025, 2:21 pm | Auckland University of Technology
Dr Pedersen says the podcast intends to generate a healthy and balanced debate on the risks and benefits of sports from experts and people with lived experience. More >>
Lessons From La Palma Helps Prepare Auckland For Future Eruption
Wednesday, 22 January 2025, 9:06 am | Natural Hazards Commission
La Palma’s 85-day eruption released over 160 million cubic metres of lava downslope over inhabited areas of the island, at some points reaching 70 metres thick. More >>
Kiwis Have High Trust In Science, Study Finds – Expert Reaction
Tuesday, 21 January 2025, 3:50 pm | Science Media Centre
Most people in Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas also believe that scientists should play a greater role in society and policymaking, and that scientists should talk about science with the public. More >>
Nz broadband speeds improve but falling behind international pacemakers
Monday, 20 January 2025, 7:24 pm | Bill Bennett
Download Weekly Summer Edition: Ookla's International broadband speed comparison show New Zealand no longer beats the world. Network for Learning gets top marks from school principals. More >>
New Contrast Agent For Ultrasound Imaging Tested To Make Medical Diagnostics More Affordable And Safe
Monday, 20 January 2025, 10:40 am | Skoltech
Compared with a protein-based agent without the added copolymer, the new hybrid microbubbles achieved an improvement of both key characteristics: image contrast and the time they remain in the bloodstream, which lengthened between one and a half and two times. More >>
Skoltech Researchers Proposed A New Model For Predicting Hardness Of Materials
Friday, 17 January 2025, 11:52 am | Skoltech
Hardness is an important property of materials that determines their ability to resist deformations and other damages (dents, scratches) due to external forces. More >>
Rocket Lab’s 2nd Re-entry Class Spacecraft For Varda Operating On Orbit Supporting Payloads For AF Research Lab & NASA
Friday, 17 January 2025, 8:37 am | Rocket Lab
W-2 Pioneer is delivering critical mission functions for Varda’s 120kg capsule including power, communications, propulsion, and attitude control. More >>
AI Supplies Data For Modeling Safer And More Sustainable Nuclear Power Reactors
Thursday, 16 January 2025, 10:04 am | Skoltech
Molten-salt reactors could ease the problem of mounting nuclear waste from conventional reactors. They produce highly radioactive minor actinides: neptunium-237, americium-241, etc. While this hazardous waste is hard to dispose of, it would be suitable fuel ... More >>
Beyond BMI: How Should We Be Diagnosing Obesity? – Expert Reaction
Wednesday, 15 January 2025, 2:09 pm | Science Media Centre
The global Commission on Clinical Obesity recommends focusing on measures of body fat, in addition to BMI, to avoid people being misdiagnosed. The Science Media Centre asked third-party NZ experts to comment. More >>
Scientists Take A New Step Toward Creating Digital Oil
Wednesday, 15 January 2025, 11:27 am | Skoltech
The fact that the model includes multiple oil components — particularly asphaltenes and methane — is the key achievement of the study, ensuring a more accurate simulation of molecular interactions. More >>
New NZ Study Shows Microplastics Contaminate Organic Waste
Wednesday, 15 January 2025, 9:55 am | University of Canterbury
The research, published today (15 January) in Water Emerging Contaminants and Nanoplastics, highlights the potential for thousands of microplastic particles per kilogram of organic waste to enter productive soils. More >>
Research Reveals Potentially Dangerous 'Urban Heat Island’ Effect In Central Auckland
Tuesday, 14 January 2025, 8:07 pm | RNZ
New research shows some parts of the city are up to 3C hotter than others, and experts say it's a concern. More >>
Researchers Win $8.3m Grant To Predict And Prevent Influenza
Tuesday, 14 January 2025, 4:23 pm | University of Auckland
Every year, influenza kills around 500 New Zealanders and causes misery and income loss for many more, which is why a research programme has been granted $8.3 million for the next three years. More >>
Kiwi Neuro Researchers Receive $2.6M Funding Boost
Tuesday, 14 January 2025, 3:34 pm | Neurological Foundation of NZ
The Foundation – the biggest non-government funder of neurological research in NZ – has two grant rounds each year. This latest round has seen $2.6 million of funding injected into the research community across eight projects, 10 personal awards ... More >>
Antarctic Voyage To Venture Further South Than Ever Before
Tuesday, 14 January 2025, 11:10 am | NIWA
The ship, with a multinational group of scientists, led by NIWA oceanographers Prof. Craig Stevens and Dr Denise Fernandez, will travel more than 3,500 kilometres south of New Zealand, right up to the Ross Ice Shelf and further south than Tangaroa has ever sailed. More >>
Dinosaur Dolphins Survived In New Zealand Long After Extinction Elsewhere
Tuesday, 14 January 2025, 9:04 am | Canterbury Museum
Icthyosaurs, marine reptiles that looked like dolphins, largely went extinct 100 million years ago. Canterbury Museum Senior Curator Natural History Dr Paul Scofield & University of Canterbury master’s graduate George Young spent 3 years studying ... More >>
Nearly Half Of Gen Z And Millennials Have Had Their Social Media Passwords Hacked
Monday, 13 January 2025, 1:46 pm | Yubico
2024 State of Global Authentication survey captured a snapshot of the current state of cybersecurity - including how individuals and businesses around the world are tackling authentication and the increasing risks of technologies like AI on cybersecurity ... More >>
Research Sheds Light On Fire Risk For Canterbury
Monday, 13 January 2025, 11:17 am | University of Canterbury
UC student research is providing new insights into the impact of hedgerows and shelterbelts on rural fire risk. More >>
Why Community Volunteers Will Be Essential For How NZ Handles The Arrival Of Bird Flu
Monday, 13 January 2025, 11:06 am | The Conversation
Conservation volunteers could provide a crucial defence line against bird flu outbreaks in New Zealand by ensuring early detection. More >>
Episode Premiere Of BBC Mammals Featuring NZ Wildlife
Sunday, 12 January 2025, 7:03 pm | Far Out Ocean Research Collective
BBC natural history series Mammals airing now on TVNZ – upcoming premier of Episode 3 “Water” featuring New Zealand false killer whales and bottlenose dolphins. More >>
CO2-capturing Building Material Would Cut Emissions By 16 Billion Tonnes - Study
Sunday, 12 January 2025, 6:18 pm | RNZ
Switching out concrete and other construction materials for carbon-sucking alternatives could store the equivalent of half of all human-made carbon emissions in 2021. More >>
Potential $20 Billion Loss In Export Demand Threatens Rural Communities
Sunday, 12 January 2025, 5:52 pm | GE Free NZ
Comments at the end of the year from the Coalition Government by Minister Judith Collins show that they have little awareness of the global demand for GE-free food in 2025 or the historical failed genetic engineering trials in New Zealand. More >>
How Technology Is Enhancing Senior Care
Saturday, 11 January 2025, 2:29 pm | Hugh Grant
Introducing technology into senior care has transformed the way residents live by improving health monitoring, making communication easier, enriching their entertainment options, and delivering care tailored to their needs. More >>
Carbon-storing Construction Materials – Expert Reaction
Friday, 10 January 2025, 10:02 am | Science Media Centre
The amount of CO2 storage needed worldwide is daunting and so storage in building materials deserves to be on the table alongside approaches like geological storage, further forestry planting, and other nature-based solutions, says Associate Professor ... More >>
NIWA’s Annual Climate Summary For 2024 – Expert Reaction
Wednesday, 8 January 2025, 1:36 pm | Science Media Centre
Of New Zealand’s 10 warmest years on record, eight have occurred since 2013. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have continued to rise, exceeding 420 parts per million (ppm) at NIWA’s monitoring station near Wellington in 2024. More >>
New Web-Based Tool Will Help Greenhouse Growers Switch To Geothermal Heating
Wednesday, 8 January 2025, 11:18 am | Vegetables New Zealand
The tool under development will help kiwi greenhouse growers make the switch to geothermal, by translating complex geothermal subsurface data into a user-friendly web-based tool tailored for the covered cropping industry. More >>
Monarch Butterflies Are In Decline In NZ And Australia – They Need Your Help To Track Where They Gather
Tuesday, 7 January 2025, 8:25 pm | The Conversation
Citizen scientists are called on to help with tagging monarch butterflies and find out why their numbers are dropping. More >>
The Discovery Of A Rare New Fossil Sheds Light On NZ’s Extinct Dolphin-like Reptiles
Wednesday, 1 January 2025, 6:56 pm | The Conversation
The discovery of the most complete ichthyosaur skeleton known from New Zealand sheds new light on the diversity of these ancient dolphin-like marine reptiles in the southern hemisphere. More >>
Inside RNZ on the night of Y2K
Sunday, 29 December 2024, 5:40 am | RNZ
A beacon of hope and grape juice in a bunker were featured as, 25 years ago, RNZ nervously ticked over from 1999 to 2000. More >>
From New Commercial Moon Landers To Asteroid Investigations, Expect A Slate Of Exciting Space Missions In 2025
Saturday, 28 December 2024, 1:48 pm | The Conversation
From exploring the Moon to revealing mysteries of the solar system, space agencies around the world are gearing up for an exciting year of launches and flybys. More >>
Advancements In Transducer Technology Drive Precision In Biomedical Research
Wednesday, 25 December 2024, 1:09 pm | ADInstruments
ADInstruments, a global leader in biomedical research equipment, offers a comprehensive selection of transducers designed to meet the complex demands of modern research. Their product range includes pressure, pulse, isotonic, and force transducers, each ... More >>
Scientists Reinvent Physical Laws Governing Formation Of Snowflakes, Raindrops, And Saturn’s Rings
Tuesday, 24 December 2024, 1:47 pm | Skoltech
Fluid aggregation is involved in many processes: In the atmosphere, water droplets agglomerate into rain, and ice microcrystals into snow. In space, particles orbiting giant planets come together to form rings like those familiar from Saturn. More >>
Could NZ’s two kākā subspecies actually be remnants of a more diverse species? Here’s why we need to know
Monday, 23 December 2024, 8:56 pm | The Conversation
Genome analysis of New Zealand’s forest parrot kākā has so far found no genetic differences between its two subspecies. This could allow for more relocations of birds between populations. More >>
Download Weekly: Review Of 2024
Monday, 23 December 2024, 11:35 am | Bill Bennett
A look back at the New Zealand telecommunications sector’s biggest news stories and themes over the past year. More >>
One NZ scores worldwide first as Starlink direct-to-mobile launches
Monday, 23 December 2024, 11:32 am | Bill Bennett
In the latest Download Weekly newsletter: One New Zealand squeaked in ahead of the year end with its promised 100 percent coverage launch. The Commerce Commission is thinking about fibre deregulation. More >>
Rocket Lab Successfully Deploys Satellite for Synspective, Caps Off Year with 60% Increase in Launches YoY
Sunday, 22 December 2024, 2:18 pm | Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab launched 16 missions in 2024, besting the Company’s previous annual launch record of 10 missions, achieved in 2023 and representing a launch cadence increase of 60% year-on-year. More >>
Our Changing World: New Antarctic Methane Seeps
Friday, 20 December 2024, 5:28 pm | RNZ
Methane is escaping from below the seafloor in Antarctica - what are the potential implications for further warming of the planet? More >>
Apple iOS Update Makes It Easier For New Zealanders To Report Scam Messages To DIA
Friday, 20 December 2024, 9:24 am | Department Of Internal Affairs
This new initiative, initiated by Apple and delivered in partnership with NZ telcos means that a user with an iPhone 14, 15 or 16, which has been updated with the latest iOS 18.2, can select “Report Junk” on a suspicious message and now the details ... More >>
Scion Invests In Cutting-Edge Innovation Upgrade
Thursday, 19 December 2024, 6:26 pm | Scion
The advanced equipment features the latest generation of superconducting magnets, which provide superior sensitivity and resolution for more accurate test results. More >>
Scion’s Novel Internship Model Connects Talent With Industry
Thursday, 19 December 2024, 6:21 pm | Scion
“Partnerships like this are central to Scion's mandate and strategic approach, fostering cross-sector collaborations to advance forestry research, drive innovation, and promote sustainable forestry practices,” Henri Baillères, Scion’s general ... More >>
Blending Livestock And Forestry Brings Benefits
Thursday, 19 December 2024, 4:20 pm | Scion
Agroforestry blends agriculture and forestry in a way that addresses environmental, economic and social pressures. Silvopastoral systems are the form of agroforestry involving livestock grazing on pasture. More >>
Gigamon Announces Power Of 3 Offering With Cribl And Blackwood To Deliver Comprehensive Intelligence To Cloud, Security
Thursday, 19 December 2024, 2:58 pm | Gigamon
Powerful combination brings deep observability to hybrid cloud infrastructure and extends the value of existing tool investments. More >>
