SMC Heads-Up: Sea level rise, drones, science medals and giant penguins
Issue 307 28 November - 4 December 2014
Sea level rise to impact on
New Zealanders
Flooding
and erosion from rising sea levels are likely to
significantly impact on New Zealanders in our lifetimes,
warns the latest report from the Parliamentary
Commissioner for the
Environment.
King tide on
Tamaki Drive, Auckland, in February 2014.
Commissioner Dr
Jan Wright released the report titled Changing Climate and Rising Seas:
Understanding the Science on Thursday,
which lays out the science behind sea level rise and how its
consequences will affect New Zealanders.
Drawing on modelling of future sea level rise, the document paints a grim picture of what lies ahead. It says that the sea level is 'locked in' to rise by about 30 centimetres by 2050, which is enough to intensify king tides, storm surges, flooding and coastal erosion across New Zealand.
The second report from the Commissioner, due next year, will show which towns and cities are most vulnerable and assess the risk to infrastructure in those areas.
The Science Media Centre contacted experts for comment in response to the Commissioner's report:
Prof Martin
Manning, Climate Change Research Institute, Victoria
University of Wellington,
comments:
"Dr Wright's very
readable review of the scientific basis for estimating
future sea level rise is setting out an extremely important
issue for New Zealand. How do we plan for major changes to
our coastline when the rate at which these will occur is
still not clear?"
Dr James Crampton, Palaeontologist, GNS Science, comments:
"I think
that the report does a very good job of placing modern
sea-level rise in its long-term context and, in particular,
it emphasises how far we are moving outside the stable
environmental envelope of the past few millennia. The report
also highlights the diversity of approaches and data that
are required to understand and predict future rates of
sea-level rise."
You can find the full comments and audio from the report launch, as well
as a round up of media coverage, on the
Science Media Centre
website.
Deep South
Challenge takes shape
The Deep South National
Science Challenge is finding its feet with a strategy day
for this area of science in Wellington this week outlining
the path ahead for research aimed at assisting New Zealand
adapt to the impacts of climate change.
The four
priorities of the Deep South Challenge
include:
1. Engagement
2. Impacts
3. Earth System
Modelling
4. Processes and observations.
The interim
challenge leaders will soon seek to recruit a director for
the challenge, which is one of the first of the 11 National
Science Challenges to get under way.
For more
information on the Deep South Challenge visitwww.deepsouthchallenge.co.nz
On
the science radar this
week...
Thanksgiving
helps (sort of) find potential antibiotics, smartphone
screens could boost battery life, teens
really do shut down after being nagged,
whales are flayed alive by aggressive gulls, and
does being gay help us bond
better?
Focus on 'eye in the sky'
drones
The soaring popularity and
availability of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has opened
up a surprising range of potential applications, but also
raised concern that the speed of technology development is
outstripping current safety rules.
This week the SMC held a media briefing bringing together several experts to explore the range of UAV technologies being developed in New Zealand. At the briefing, scientists outlined the new kinds of environmental and agricultural research that drones are making possible. The Civil Aviation Authority also gave a preview of proposed rule changes for drones that will be announced for public consultation later this month.
You can watch the full media briefing and read a round up ofmedia coverage on the Science Media Centre website.
Be our next Science
Journalism Fellow
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 complexscience, 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.
RSNZ
medals honour top
researchers
Twelve
outstanding New Zealand researchers have beenawarded medals at the Royal Society of New
Zealand 2014 Research Honours event, held in Wellington
on Wednesdaynight.
The Rutherford Medal, the top medal awarded by the Royal Society of New Zealand, was presented to Distinguished Professor Peter Schwerdtfeger of Massey University for his world-leading contribution to fundamental aspects of chemical and physical phenomena in atoms, molecules and condensed matter.
The Callaghan Medal for science communication was awarded to University of Otago geneticist Associate Professor Peter Dearden for the outreach activities of Genetics Otago (including the Southern Genes blog on Sciblogs) and his involvement in communicating his genetics research on honey bees with the beekeeping industry and the public.
Ten other medals were presented to highly esteemed researchers in disciplines including archaeology, literature, mathematics, education theory, technology and environmental research.
Read media coverage of the awards on the SMC website.
The Friday video...
The Science of Christmas
AUT
University
Policy news and
developments
Record Māori health student scholarships - The Hauora Māori scholarship has been awarded to 728 students, the highest number since the scholarship fund began in 2000. "The Hauora Māori scholarship fund supports and encourages more Māori into a career in the health sector," says Health Minister Jonathan Coleman.
New cancer fund boosts local
services - 23 new locally-focused initiatives
under the Cancer Service Improvement Fund will deliver
better, faster cancer treatment. The Fund will allocate
$11.2 million to projects run by District Health Boards and
regional cancer networks to improve the quality of care and
support for patients.
Submissions called for two
herbicides - The Environmental Protection
Authority is inviting the public to make submissions on the
herbicides 'Firebird' and 'Sakura'. The submissions period
for both applications opens Tuesday 25 November and will
close at5pm on 2 February 2015.
Quoted:
Radio New Zealand
"Africa has fossil humans, America has fossil dinosaurs, we have a few dinosaurs, but I like to think of New Zealand as a place with giant penguins. It feeds into the idea that New Zealand is really special."
Massey University's Dr Daniel Thomas on discovering a new type of giant penguin.
New From the
SMC
Briefings:
Unmanned flight - pushing the
limits
Experts
respond:
Brace for extreme weather -
report
Sea level rise to impact on New Zealanders -
report
Getting in the thick of Antarctic
ice
In the
News:
Sea level rise report in the
news
Royal Society medals honour 2014's top
researchers
Focus on future of drones
Forgotten bones lead to ancient penguin
species
From the SMC Network
From the UK
SMC:
Expert reaction to reversing common form
of autism in mice
Expert reaction to the publishing of the
Food Standards Agency's retail survey on levels of
Campylobacter on chicken
Expert reaction to the Royal Society's new
report: Resilience to extreme
weather
Expert reaction to preliminary results from
phase I trial of chimpanzee adenovirus vector Ebola
vaccine
Expert reaction to study reporting proton
transport through graphene
Geoengineering: can it help combat climate
change?
Expert reaction to review of reported link
between early life exposure to paracetamol and
asthma
Expert reaction to research suggesting the
same regions in brain are vulnerable to Alzheimer's and
schizophrenia
Expert reaction to research on Antarctic sea
ice
From the Australian
SMC:
BRIEFING: Launch of CSIRO report Australia's
Biosecurity Future
Sciblogs
highlights
Some of
the highlights from this week's Sciblogs
posts:
Getting it Wright on sea level
rise - Jan Wright's report on sea level rise is
"a welcome addition to what passes for national discourse on
the inevitability of climate change and the necessity of
adapting to what it brings," says Gareth Renowden.
Hot
Topic
'Real' experts on climate change? Really?
- Ken Perrott debunks a poster showcasing
climate change skeptics' scientific 'expertise'.
Open
Parachute
Teenagers and electronic devices: Use at
night affects sleep- Karyn O'Keeffe discusses
research that investigate how thefrequency and intensity of
using media can affect teenage sleep.
Sleep on
it
Divesting from fossil fuels - is this good
for public health? - Alistair Woodward and Nick
Wilson take a look at the arguments for why selling off
interests in fossil fuel companies is good for health in the
long run.
Public Health Expert
Monday Micro: Ebola update and NZ
preparedness - With Ebola now moving into Mali,
Siouxsie Wiles gives us a quick update on how prepared New
Zealand is if the disease arrives on our
shores.
Infectious
Thoughts
Research
highlights
Some of
the research papers making headlines this
week.
Knowing the fungus among
us: An international consortium of researchers,
including a Landcare Research scientist, have painted the
most vivid picture of Earth's fungi to date. The scientists
sequenced fungi genes from almost 15,000 soil samples in 365
locations worldwide, from which they spotted global patterns
in how and where different fungi live. They were surprised
to find that plants aren't as big an influence on fungal
evolution as previously thought, with climate and soil
make-up being the strongest drivers for fungi
diversity.
Science
A yoghurt
a day: Eating a 28g serving of yogurt a day may
lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 18 per
cent, according to a study that followed the medical history
and lifestyle habits of almost 300,000 health professionals.
The researchers also found that other dairy products did not
appear to lower diabetes risk, suggesting that the bacteria
in yoghurt has a role in this food's protective
effect.
BMC
Medicine
Burying the
(un)dead: 'Vampires' historically buried in
northwestern Poland with sickles and rocks across their
bodies were likely local and not immigrants, according to
researchers who found six superstitious burials amongst
hundreds of normal ones. They say that these individuals
were probably buried in this way because their social
identity or manner of death likely marked them as
suspicious, such as being the first victim to die in a local
disease outbreak.
PLOS
One
Vultures' vile iron
gut: Vultures have evolved an iron gut to cope with
their disgusting diet, according to new research by Danish
and US scientists. Vultures' dinners consist of rotting meat
laced with feces with deadly microbes on the side, but
scientists have found that there are unexpectedly few lethal
bacteria in their digestive system, suggesting that vultures
have developed extraordinarily harsh digestive chemicals
that kill off most microbes yet are still selective enough
to allow for beneficial bacteria.
Nature
Communications
Dogs do understand
us (mostly): Pups understand what we say, how we
say it and who is saying it, according to a UK study. The
researchers found that while dogs don't necessarily
understand the words being said, their brain is able to
process different commands - with the left hemisphere
focussing on the meaning of a common command and the right
hemisphere on tone.
Current
Biology
Upcoming sci-tech
events
For these and
other upcoming events, and more details about them, visit
the SMC's Events
Calendar.
• What comes first: innovation or
entrepreneurship?Victoria University of
wellington panel debate held in collaboration with BizDojo -
11 December, Wellington.
• Social Networks and the Diffusion of
Information - Public lecture from Stanford
University Professor of Economics Matthew O. Jackson
examining the diffusion of information, society and gossip -
11 December,
Auckland.