Latest Sci-Tech Headlines [Page 2]
NZ Facing Rampant Cybercrime Threats In 2021
Monday, 25 January 2021, 4:38 pm | Make Lemonade
New Zealand organisations and businesses are facing increasing and rampant cybercrime threats and the situation is getting worse, NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller says. Almost a million New Zealanders are falling victim to cybercrime every year, ... More >>
Heat Returns In The East
Thursday, 21 January 2021, 1:27 pm | MetService
MetService is forecasting a run of changeable weather to come, as summer makes a brief return, before a cold front sweeps through, pivoting back to hot weather next week. After a couple of days of unseasonably cool temperatures across the country, ... More >>
Investigating The Mathematics Of Extinction
Thursday, 21 January 2021, 10:21 am | University of Canterbury
Two University of Canterbury (UC) mathematicians have been granted $710,000 from Te Pūtea Rangahau a Marsden, the Marsden Fund, to investigate mathematical models for extinction events in the tree of life. Using a mathematical and algorithmic framework, ... More >>
Male Praying Mantis Fights To Avoid Being Eaten
Wednesday, 20 January 2021, 12:59 pm | University of Auckland
Sexual reproduction in the insect world is often a risky business and never more so than when the risk of being eaten is high. But a new study on South African - or Springbok - praying mantids, commonly found in New Zealand after first being identified ... More >>
Volcanic Missiles Help Auckland Prepare For Threats From Below
Wednesday, 20 January 2021, 10:04 am | Earthquake Commission
Scientists unleashing volcanic ballistics onto Kiwi roofs hope to help Aucklanders understand and manage their volcanic hazards. “Auckland sits on an active volcanic field with 53 known volcanic centres and it is likely there will be an eruption in ... More >>
Active Front To Usher In A Cool Change This Week
Monday, 18 January 2021, 12:15 pm | MetService
MetService is forecasting an active front to sweep across Aotearoa this week, bringing heavy rain to western parts of southern and central New Zealand and strong northwest winds to many places. The front is followed by a change to showery southwesterlies, ... More >>
COVID-19 Emerging Variants – Expert Reaction
Friday, 15 January 2021, 4:17 pm | Science Media Centre
The global community is rushing to respond to new variants of the novel coronavirus, which appear to spread faster than their earlier counterparts. The Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases yesterday called on the New Zealand Government to begin its ... More >>
NIWA's Hotspot Watch
Friday, 15 January 2021, 2:51 pm | NIWA
A weekly update describing soil moisture patterns across the country to show where dry to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent. Regions experiencing significant soil moisture deficits are deemed “hotspots”. Persistent hotspot regions have ... More >>
A Few More Beach Days Before Next Week's Rain
Thursday, 14 January 2021, 12:32 pm | MetService
While warm and settled conditions will see out the week for most of New Zealand, MetService are forecasting temperatures to drop considerably next week as a new, cooler airmass moves over the country. Much of the South Island will see a dramatic ... More >>
COVID-19 Emerging Variants
Thursday, 14 January 2021, 12:09 pm | Science Media Centre
The global community is rushing to respond to new variants of the novel coronavirus, which appear to spread faster than their earlier counterparts. The Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases yesterday called on the New Zealand Government to begin its ... More >>
First Of Its Kind Study Underway On How NZ Accent Changes In Childhood
Thursday, 14 January 2021, 11:47 am | University of Canterbury
New Zealand English, as spoken, is quite different today compared to 120 years ago. It is thought that children carry the momentum for accent change through the generations and that the transition to school is a key speech change incubator. In a first of ... More >>
Earth To Reach Temperature Tipping Point In 20-30 Years, New Study Finds
Thursday, 14 January 2021, 8:48 am | University of Waikato
Earth’s ability to absorb carbon emissions through plants could be halved within the next two decades at the current rate of warming, according to a new study from the University of Waikato and Northern Arizona University, USA. Published in Science ... More >>
Biggest-ever Animal Has Special New Zealand Link, New Research Shows
Wednesday, 13 January 2021, 11:08 am | University of Auckland
New Zealand waters provide an important migratory route for the biggest animal to ever exist, the Antarctic blue whale, according to a study led by a University of Auckland scientist. Hydrophones, or underwater microphones, anchored at the bottom ... More >>
Groundwater Drives Rapid Erosion Of The Canterbury Coastline
Wednesday, 13 January 2021, 9:37 am | University of Malta
Groundwater flow and seepage can form large gullies along coastal cliffs in the matter of days, it has been discovered, as per a recently-published paper. An international team of scientists from Malta, Germany, Romania, New Zealand and USA has used drones ... More >>
NIWA Drones Going Where People Can’t On The West Coast
Wednesday, 13 January 2021, 7:07 am | NIWA
A team of scientists have been exploring some of New Zealand’s most remote and rugged coastal zones. Parts of the South Island’s West Coast are so inhospitable to humans that marine biologists simply don’t know what plants and animals are ... More >>
2020: New Zealand’s 7th-warmest Year On Record
Tuesday, 12 January 2021, 12:41 pm | NIWA
Overview 2020 was Aotearoa New Zealand’s 7th-warmest year on record. The nationwide average temperature for 2020, calculated using stations in NIWA’s seven-station temperature series which began in 1909, was 13.24°C (0.63°C above the 1981–2010 ... More >>
On A Summer High
Monday, 11 January 2021, 11:56 am | MetService
With the return trek to the office well underway, it’s nice to know that even if holidays seem to finish as quickly as they started, at least summer continues. Warmer summertime air and a stubborn high have MetService forecasting a pleasant ... More >>
NIWA Heads To Antarctica For Critical Climate, Ocean Research
Friday, 8 January 2021, 11:11 am | NIWA
NIWA’s flagship research vessel Tangaroa leaves today on a six-week voyage to Antarctica, making it one of the few full scientific expeditions to the continent since the global outbreak of COVID-19. The ship leaves Wellington with 20 science ... More >>
Microbes In Our Wetlands – A New Use For EDNA
Thursday, 7 January 2021, 4:48 pm | Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research
Researchers Jamie Wood and Michelle McKeown collecting a wetland soil core. DNA extracted from soils, air, water, and other substrates (known as environmental DNA, or eDNA for short) is fast becoming a vital tool for studying a wide range of ... More >>
Auckland Scientist Models How Giant Dinosaurs Dispersed Seeds
Wednesday, 6 January 2021, 12:12 pm | University of Auckland
It’s an insight into ecosystems that existed more than 65 million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth. A new study from the University of Auckland looks at the animals’ roles in moving seeds from one place to another. Evidence from fossils ... More >>
Scientist Spots Shark Sperm Storage Strategy
Wednesday, 6 January 2021, 7:07 am | NIWA
A NIWA researcher has found the first evidence that female deepsea sharks store sperm as a strategy to preserve the species and possibly avoid aggressive mating encounters. Fisheries modeller Adele Dutilloy was keen to discover more about deep ... More >>
NIWA Science Divers Finish Mud Marathon
Monday, 4 January 2021, 7:19 am | NIWA
Where there’s mud, there’s scientists. NIWA divers recently got down and dirty while completing a harbour-wide dive survey in the Wellington area. A NIWA dive team visited 20 sites in the Wellington and Porirua harbours during November working in ... More >>
Scientists Unite Across World For Decade Of Ocean Research
Wednesday, 30 December 2020, 8:31 am | NIWA
In 1872 the HMS Challenger left Portsmouth in the UK on a four-year circumnavigation of the globe to explore the deepsea. It was a scientific voyage of discovery that has since been recognised as the origin of deepsea science and modern oceanography. ... More >>
Oldest Fossil Flax Snails Found At Mangere
Thursday, 24 December 2020, 2:40 pm | Geomarine Research
Two fossil specimens of one of New Zealand’s most iconic invertebrates, the flax snail/pupuharakeke have been discovered in shell sand recently excavated from shafts at Watercare’s Māngere Wastewater Treatment Plant. The flax snail ( Placostylus ... More >>
Keep An Eye Out For Māui This Summer
Monday, 21 December 2020, 1:33 pm | Department of Conservation
With a record number of Kiwis purchasing boats and getting out on the water this summer, the Department of Conservation (DOC) is asking people to report any sightings of Hector’s and Māui dolphins. Hector’s and Māui are the smallest species of ... More >>
Bird’s Icy View
Monday, 21 December 2020, 10:29 am | Antarctica New Zealand
A Kiwi research team has, for the first time ever, used a fixed wing aircraft to measure the thickness of a huge area of sea ice in Antarctica. This is a major milestone for understanding sea ice processes in a region of Antarctica known as the Western ... More >>
Scientists On The Trail Of Elusive Sperm Whales
Monday, 21 December 2020, 9:27 am | NIWA
When scientists head south to Antarctica on board NIWA research vessel Tangaroa next month, they’ll be keeping a close eye out for an animal that is particularly good at staying out of sight. Sperm whales - specifically large males who feed on ... More >>
UC Equips Environmental Scientists To Make A Difference
Friday, 18 December 2020, 9:08 am | University of Canterbury
Photo: University of Canterbury In a first for Aotearoa New Zealand, the University of Canterbury (UC) is offering a new four-year degree to upskill environmental scientists during a time of rising concern about climate change. The Bachelor of Environmental ... More >>
Christmas Comes Early For Kiwi Stargazers
Thursday, 17 December 2020, 11:11 am | Stardome Observatory
Kiwi stargazers are in for an early Christmas treat as the two largest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, appear at their closest since Galileo was alive 400 years ago. Known as a Great Conjunction, the two planets will be visibly at their ... More >>
Whales May Be Struggling As Climate Change Impacts Feeding Grounds
Wednesday, 16 December 2020, 9:25 am | University of Auckland
A new study has found that even a change in eating habits may not be enough for southern right whales to keep up their population recovery from whaling. Researchers from the Universities of Auckland and of Pretoria, South Africa, carried out research ... More >>
Technology Brings New Experience To Historic Battle Site
Wednesday, 16 December 2020, 6:35 am | Te Ruapekapeka Trust
Regarded as “a masterpiece of military engineering”, Te Ruapekapeka Pā, one of New Zealand’s most iconic historic heritage sites continues to deliver new innovations. Te Ruapekapeka Trust is excited with the launch of a unique mobile app which uses ... More >>
Artificial Intelligence Sets Sights On The Sun
Tuesday, 15 December 2020, 8:42 am | Skoltech
Scientists from the University of Graz and the Kanzelhöhe Solar Observatory (Austria) and their colleagues from the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) developed a new method based on deep learning for stable classification and quantification ... More >>
An Australia–NZ Travel Bubble Needs A Unified COVID Contact-tracing App. We’re Not There
Monday, 14 December 2020, 4:11 pm | The Conversation
An Australia–NZ travel bubble needs a unified COVID contact-tracing app. We're not there More >>
New Research Aims To Increase Longevity Of Bumblebee Hives For NZ Growers
Monday, 14 December 2020, 2:58 pm | Ministry For Primary Industries
New research backed by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) could help bumblebee hives to live longer and be more efficient. The new project is researching ways to protect the long-term sustainability of New Zealand horticulture, including how to ... More >>
PCE Report On Environmental Research Timely And Insightful
Friday, 11 December 2020, 5:38 pm | Science New Zealand
The Review of the Funding and Prioritisation of Environmental Research by Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, is substantive, timely and insightful says Science New Zealand chief executive Anthony Scott. “The idea of ... More >>
Festive Scientific Fun with UCOL and Te Manawa’s Laboratree
Friday, 11 December 2020, 9:14 am | UCOL
It’s not often that you see a Christmas tree decorated with COVID-testing equipment. But that’s just what Te Manawa visitors are coming across, with UCOL’s ‘Laboratree’, made from laboratory tools and equipment. More >>
Seequent Introduces Next-generation Digital Twin Technologies For Infrastructure And Environmental Projects
Thursday, 10 December 2020, 5:09 pm | Seequent
Seequent builds stronger digital twin solutions to deliver a faster, clearer picture for civil infrastructure and environmental projects Geoscience software company Seequent , has unveiled major updates to its civil and environmental portfolio, enabling powerful ... More >>
Contact Tracing Card Now Available For New Zealand Businesses
Thursday, 10 December 2020, 1:55 pm | SaferMe
Government-funded contact tracing provider SaferMe has added a wearable contact tracing card for New Zealand business use. The contact tracing card is about the size of a credit card and is worn on a lanyard or a clip on the shirt, and can be ... More >>
Top Freshwater Scientist Named As UC’s 2020 Emerging Career Researcher
Thursday, 10 December 2020, 10:22 am | University of Canterbury
Dr Jonathan Tonkin , from the University of Canterbury (UC)’s School of Biological Sciences , has won the University’s 2020 Early and Emerging Career Researcher Award in recognition of his outstanding research contribution over the past decade. Photo: ... More >>
Otago radar in operation
Thursday, 10 December 2020, 9:16 am | MetService
As of today, people in Otago can access real-time radar data through MetService platforms. More >>
Dawn Aerospace Licensed To Fly NZ’s First Spaceplane
Wednesday, 9 December 2020, 12:30 pm | Dawn Aerospace
In a world-first, the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has granted Dawn Aerospace an Unmanned Aircraft Operator Certificate to fly a suborbital spaceplane from a conventional airport. Authorised under Civil Aviation Rule Part 102, Dawn ... More >>
AWS Announces Amazon HealthLake
Wednesday, 9 December 2020, 8:17 am | Amazon Web Services
Today at AWS re:Invent, Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced Amazon HealthLake, a HIPAA-eligible service for healthcare and life sciences organizations. Amazon HealthLake aggregates an organization’s complete ... More >>
After Unprecedented Uptake In 2020, The Mind Lab Brings Back Digital Skills Scholarships For Kiwis
Monday, 7 December 2020, 11:09 am | The Mind Lab
After offering digital skills courses with a full scholarship for New Zealanders affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, today award-winning education provider The Mind Lab has announced for the first six months of 2021, 480 New Zealanders can ... More >>
Wellington-based Medical Researchers Invited To Apply For Research Grants
Monday, 7 December 2020, 9:36 am | Research for Life
Research For Life invites Wellington-based medical researchers to apply for research grants. The closing date for Research For Life’s next round of grant applications is Thursday, 18 March 2021. Research grants enable recipients to undertake innovative ... More >>
November Temperatures Above Average: Summer Heatwave Is Developing With Significant Impacts Likely
Sunday, 6 December 2020, 6:43 pm | Wise Response
The next New Zealand summer heatwave is developing, and the expected impacts are extremely likely to be intense according to Wise Response scientists. The team monitoring its progress have found that sub-surface sea temperature anomalies east of the South ... More >>
Antarctic Scientists Support Climate Emergency
Sunday, 6 December 2020, 3:07 pm | Antarctica New Zealand
Antarctic scientists say the Prime Minister’s declaration of a climate emergency in New Zealand is an important signal to industry and communities, to consider climate change consequences in all their decision-making efforts. Every year dozens of scientists ... More >>
Miia Kivipelto Wins The 2020 Ryman Prize
Friday, 4 December 2020, 6:32 pm | The Ryman Prize
World-leading researcher wins the 2020 Ryman Prize Professor Miia Kivipelto Professor Miia Kivipelto has won the 2020 Ryman Prize. The award recognises Professor Kivipelto’s more than 20 years of research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cognitive ... More >>
Water Conservation Is Paramount
Friday, 4 December 2020, 11:32 am | Bala Tikkisetty Waikato Regional Council
Heading into summer we are already drier than normal, so it’s necessary to manage water judiciously for the health of waterways, ecosystems and economics. Its efficient use is also an important element of sustainable agriculture. Long term rainfall for ... More >>
Science NZ Awards for Plant & Food Research scientists
Friday, 4 December 2020, 10:35 am | Science New Zealand
The Science New Zealand 2020 National Awards, held at Parliament in Wellington last night, recognised outstanding research by scientists at Plant & Food Research. More >>
New Study Highlights State Of Artificial Intelligence In The Healthcare Industry
Thursday, 3 December 2020, 2:38 pm | Intersystems
Healthcare organisations seeking to implement and extend their artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities struggle with finding skilled personnel and sufficient, high quality data, according to a new IDC White Paper, sponsored by InterSystems, AI In Healthcare: ... More >>
2020 In Top 10 Warmest Years For New Zealand
Thursday, 3 December 2020, 11:56 am | NIWA
This year is on track to be one of New Zealand’s top 10 warmest on record, according to NIWA forecasters. New Zealand’s official temperature record, The Seven Station Series, is currently showing the average temperature to be 0.7C above average ... More >>
Social Scientists Declare Climate Emergency
Thursday, 3 December 2020, 8:36 am | ASAANZ
Members of the Association of Social Anthropologists of Aotearoa/New Zealand (ASAA/NZ) have unanimously agreed to declare a climate emergency and ratified the terms of the declaration. The organisation’s declaration recognises the reality that human ... More >>
Rutherford Fellowship Supports Study Into Avalanche Dynamics
Wednesday, 2 December 2020, 8:50 am | University of Canterbury
Alpine avalanches, viewed from afar, are spectacular but can be extremely hazardous for anyone in their vicinity. Funded by a 2020 Rutherford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship , University of Canterbury (UC) researcher Dr Leighton Watson hopes to ... More >>
NZ Urgently Needs Greater Debate And Action On Gene Editing
Wednesday, 2 December 2020, 8:30 am | Make Lemonade
New Zealand urgently needs to debate and action on gene editing, with the aim of boosting New Zealand’s bioeconomy, a BioTechNZ survey report says. There is global interest in biotechnology as a means of altering biological processes to improve ... More >>
Unravelling Mysteries Of The Human Body And Mind Through Research
Tuesday, 1 December 2020, 12:28 pm | University of Waikato
University of Waikato researchers will delve deep into human health and psychology over the next three years, investigating how we develop sight, how our memories affect planning, and how an antibiotic-resistant infection might be targeted. ... More >>
Accelerating New Zealand’s Investment Into Biofuels
Tuesday, 1 December 2020, 8:56 am | Ministry For Primary Industries
Te Uru Rākau is moving ahead with the next stage of research into creating a New Zealand biofuels industry, following a successful first stage, Director Sector Investments Jason Wilson announced today. “The Wood Fibre Futures project earlier this year ... More >>
NZ A World Leader In Many Biotech Areas – Nationwide Report
Tuesday, 1 December 2020, 6:13 am | Make Lemonade
New Zealand, with its world leading bioeconomy, has huge advantages in growing its massive potential in biotechnology, a new report says. The significant BioTechNZ study analysed the state of biotechnology and its impact and benefits for the New ... More >>
Challenge To Accelerate Innovation In The Food, Fibre And Agritech Sector
Monday, 30 November 2020, 10:48 am | University of Canterbury
The need for transformative innovation in the food, fibre and agritech sector is at the core of the latest Supernode Challenge which is now open to applications. The Food, Fibre and Agritech Supernode Challenge , presented by ChristchurchNZ, KiwiNet, ... More >>
Low-lying Pacific Island Has More Land Above Sea Level Than In 1943
Monday, 30 November 2020, 9:50 am | University of Auckland
An inhabited island in the low-lying Pacific nation of the Marshall Islands, which are thought to be at risk of being inundated by rising sea levels, has actually increased in size since 1943, scientists say. And the increase in area above sea level is likely ... More >>
Project Investigating Viability Of Large-scale Spirulina Production In New Zealand
Thursday, 26 November 2020, 10:58 am | Ministry For Primary Industries
Spirulina farming could form the backbone of a new primary industries sector worth more than $100 million a year – on the back of a significant investment by the Sustainable Food & Fibre Futures fund (SFF Futures). The Ministry for Primary ... More >>
