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SMC Heads-Up: Stomach bugs, communicating disasters
Issue 301 17 - 23 October 2014
Science
fails to settle food stoush
Following
public pressure, the Ministry for Primary Industries has
released reports investigating the source of the outbreak of
gastroenteritis caused by Yersinia
pseudotuberculosis,
but
admits it hasn't nailed down the culprit yet.
The
release of the ESR
reports follows a torrid week for MPI,
which started with Canterbury Medical Officer of Health,
Alastair Humphrey, criticising the ministry for withholding
information which fingered lettuce and carrots as the likely
cause of the outbreak.
While MPI continued to hold out on releasing the reports, Foodstuffs revealed that some of its bagged lettuce products were on the list of suspects.
By Thursday criticism of MPI reached fever pitch, with the Labour Party suggesting the Ministry's dual role of food safety and industry promotion was at odds.
In its editorial, the New Zealand Herald suggested food safety may be more appropriately handled through the Ministry of Health.
"The Health Ministry is the obvious alternative. It commissioned the ESR surveys to find the source of this outbreak and it made known that lettuce and carrots were the prime suspects. It should have the authority to name brands when evidence points to them. Health matters most."
Stuff.co.nz reported that about 127 people have been affected and 38 hospitalised during last month's outbreak.
You can read the full reports from ESR here.
Bring your
science to the newsroom!
The SMC has set
itself the goal of helping one person a year pursue a career
in journalism and we are on the hunt for our next
candidate.
The catch? You have to have a science degree behind you. Our Science Journalism Fellowship, which is worth up to $5,000, lets a passionate science grad undertake a graduate diploma in journalism with a view to pursuing full-time work in the mainstream media.
With only a handful of full-time science journalists employed in the New Zealand media, the SMC isn't promising to smooth the way into a career dedicated exclusively to science journalism.
However, the media is constantly looking for new talent for its newsrooms and with science-related stories increasingly attracting the public's interest, those with a science background have a competitive edge - and the chance to influence how complex science, health, technology and environment stories are covered.
The Fellowship would suit recent graduates of science degrees who wish to build on their expertise with journalism training in the 2015 academic year.
Find out more about this year's Fellow, Pippa Grierson here.
Applications for the SMC Science Journalism Fellowship are now open and will close on January 20, 2015. Apply here.
On the science radar this week...
Jetlag messes with your gut bacteria too, ourthieving Milky Way, Ancient 'ice maiden'
usedcannabis for breast cancer pain,
cigarette ashcleans arsenic in water, and why pizza
tastes
yummy!
Heads-Up revamp - have your
say
Last week we racked up our 300th
Heads-Up newsletter, marking six years of weekly updates and
nearly a million words of science-related info to keep you
up to date with what's happening in the science
world.
Feedback suggests the Heads-Up, which goes out to 1500 subscribers every Friday afternoon, is a valued resource for journalists, scientists, press officers and government officials alike.
However, we are keen to sharpen the focus and make the newsletter more relevant to your needs. We welcome you to click the the link below and fill in a very short survey to let us know what you would like to see more of in the Heads-Up.
Have your say on the SMC Heads-Up
Communicating in disasters -
REPLAY
The SMC teamed up with the
Natural Hazards Research Platform and Massey University last
week to bring together scientists, journalists and
communications experts to discuss how best to communicate
risk and uncertainty in times of crisis.
The Wellington workshop spanned everything from handling politicians during crises to communicating probability and risk and featured the Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor, Sir Peter Gluckman, Massey University Vice Chancellor Hon. Steve Maharey and The Press Associate Editor Paul Gorman.
Audio of the sessions are available for playback here.
SAVVY in
Auckland - last chance...
Applications
for our next Science Media SAVVY workshop in Auckland close
on Monday, October 20.Our two-day Science Media SAVVY course will
be held on the campus at the University of Auckland Centre
for Brain Research, November 20 - 21.
This workshop caters for both established and emerging researchers who want to gain practical skills for explaining their science to a wider audience and feel more confident engaging with the media.
APPLY HERE
What
participants say about Science Media
SAVVY:
"This workshop was simply fantastic - a great intro to the media for scientists with lots of practical experiences. Absolutely would recommend it to colleagues."
"I had done media training before, but the science focus of this one made it miles better."
"There aren't many opportunities that merit two whole days of a researcher's time, but this was worth every moment."
Two scholarships covering full course fees ($595 +GST) are available, one for a qualifying early career researcher and one for a postgraduate student who shows exceptional promise in science communication. Please see the application for full details.
Help us spread the word: download a flyer for your department or office notice board.
If you are potentially interested in sponsoring course fees for successful applicants from your faculty, department, research area or association, please contact the Science Media Centre for more information.
Quoted: ONE News
"Keep it out (border control) - stamp it out (cluster
control) - manage it - recover from it."
Canterbury DHB
chief medical officer Dr Nigel Millar, discussing Ebola,
outlines the principles of dealing with disease
outbreaks.
The Friday
video...
NASA IRIS telescope scans the
Sun
Policy news and developments
Yersinia pseudotuberculosis update - The Ministry for Primary Industries has not yet found the source of the outbreak but has released case-control studies in an effort to identify foods for further investigation.
Submissions sought on new seed treatment - The Environmental Protection Authority is calling for submissions on an application to import Poncho Votivo, an insecticide for use as a seed treatment in wheat, maize, forage brassicas and grass seed.
New From the SMC
Experts respond:
Lockheed Martin announces nuclear fusion
power advances
Gradual vs. rapid weight loss
Plants capture more CO2 than
expected
In the
News:
Wellington and sea level rise - Dominion
Post
Dentists question tooth decay data - Morning
Report
Weed killer found in Auckland's water supply
lakes
Could Vitamin C help treat cancer? -
TVNZ
From the SMC Network
From the UK SMC:
Expert reaction to rapid vs gradual weight
loss and long-term weight management
Expert reaction to latest expert review on
the science of preventing mitochondrial disease
Expert encounter: why are young people born
in the UK attracted to supporting
terrorism?
Expert reaction to exercise and
depression
Expert reaction to new study on plants and
CO2
Expert reaction to broccoli and
autism
Expert reaction to research on the impact of
pharmaceuticals on the environment
From the
Australian SMC:
EXPERT REACTION: Lockheed Martin announces
nuclear fusion power breakthrough
EXPERT REACTION: Have we overestimated the
amount of CO2 in our atmosphere?
Sciblogs highlights
Some of the highlights from this week's Sciblogs posts:
Public health and market failures - When
it comes to economics and Ebola, Eric Crampton reckons the
WHO has gone astray.
Dismal Science
Monday Micro - frozen poop pills!
Siouxsie wiles highlights a more palatable method of
administering 'faecal transplants' for the treatment of the
diarrhoea-causing bacteria.
Infectious
Thoughts
Weather and water in New Zealand - where do
our storms come from? James Renwick explains how weather
patterns like the El Nino cycle can affect the type and
intensity of storms heading our way.
Waiology
Company paid egg freezing empowering working
women?Michelle Dickinson reflects on the announcement
that tech giants Apple and Facebook will pay for female
employees to freeze their eggs for fertility
reasons.
NanoGirl
Research
highlights
Some of the research papers
making headlines this week.
Ozone affects
winter weather: An international research team,
including a University of Otago space physicist, has found
that unpredictable changes in wind patterns and winter
temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere are thanks, in part,
to energetic electrons from space bombarding and temporarily
destroying Earth's ozone layer. They say that this is key to
understanding the chain-reaction behind how space events can
affect the ozone layer and then polar weather systems.
Nature Communications
NZ's
stubborn plants: Many of our native plants' flowers
and fruits are stunningly similar to those found in New
Zealand over 20 million years ago, according to new
research. A study of fossilised plants found in volcanic
lake sediments in Central Otago identified many structures
that were similar to plants currently existing in New
Zealand, suggesting that - for some plants - little has
changed over the immense timespan.
Biology Letters
Blue light may
ease diabetes drug side effects: Scientists have
created a new drug for cellular insulin control that only
becomes active when exposed to blue light. The drug also
switches off again when the blue light stops. The
researchers say that, in theory, this light could be shone
through skin, offering better control over blood sugar
levels and less severe side-effects because it can be
switched on for just a short time after a meal, for
instance.
Nature Communications
Active
minds hide inside 'vegetative' patients: Scientists
have found that apparently unresponsive and vegetative
patients can have brain activity similar to healthy
conscious adults. They suggest that this could be a way of
identifying patients who are fully aware despite appearing
minimally conscious and uncommunicative. Image
available.
PLOS Computational
Biology
Giant kangaroo ancestor
hop-less: A giant, extinct ancestor of modern
kangaroos weighed around 240kg (about three times the weight
of its modern counterparts) and was too heavy to hop,
according to Australian scientists. Instead these marsupial
beasts sported an upright posture and were able to support
their weight on one leg at a time using their larger hips,
knees, and stabilized ankle joints. Images available.
PLOS ONE
Upcoming sci-tech
events
For these and other upcoming
events, and more details about them, visit the SMC's Events Calendar.
• NZ Cloud Computing Conference - 22
October, Auckland. Cloud as a technology option is
increasingly prevalent across many industries in New Zealand
as Cloud offerings mature. This year's conference examines
where Cloud has been, the future and how it is serving as an
enabler for business innovation and change.
• Geometry in the computer age - 22 October, Christchurch. As part of the RSNZ's Ten by Ten Marsden Fund talk series, Dr Dillon Mayhew discusses some of the history of geometry, from classical building to modern computing, and why we should care about geometry.
• What if... a New Zealand writer won the Nobel Prize for Literature? - 22 October, Christchurch. Professor Paul Millar discusses what it takes to win the Nobel Prize for Literature and identifies a number of the great writers of New Zealand, such as Katherine Mansfield, who had things in common with past prizewinners.
Science Media Centre NZ
Our aim is to promote accurate, evidence-based reporting on science and technology by helping the media work more closely with the scientific community.
The Science Media Centre is New Zealand's only trusted, independent source of information for the media on all issues related to science. Thousands of news stories providing context from and quoting New Zealand researchers have been published as a direct result of our work.
NIWA: Ship Anchors May Cause Extensive And Long-lasting Damage To The Seafloor, According To New Research
New Zealand Customs Service: A Step Forward For Simpler Trade Between New Zealand And Singapore
Horizon Research: 68% Say Make Banks Offer Fraud Protection
NZ Banking Association: Banks Seek Government Support For Anti-Scam Centre
National Road Carriers: Praises NZTA State Highway Investment Proposal Turnaround
Greenpeace: Cameras Reveal Mass Underreporting Of Dolphin, Albatross And Fish Bycatch By Commercial Fishing Industry
