Last week we invited you to lob your questions regarding autonomous cars at AUT professor Reinhard Klette, New Zealand’s foremost expert on the subject. Today he responds to a selection of the many questions he received, and explains why driverless cars might not be as close as you think. Professor Reinhard Klette, former professor at … Read more
Auckland’s fashion festival for the people kicks off today and runs until Saturday at venues around the city. Brian Ng has the lowdown. Fashion in the City ( Wednesday 29 March – Saturday 1 April) is sprawling around town this year: from a MAALA concert in Topshop to through a new look at fashion history … Read more
Don Rowe speaks to Dr Neil deGrasse Tyson, the leading science communicator of our age, about climate change, celebratory ignorance and the rise (or not) of artificial intelligence. Stoners worship him, nerds want to be him, the average person wishes they had just a tenth of his IQ – Neil deGrasse Tyson is the … Read more
Fresh back from five days in Queenstown for NZ’s nanotechnology and advanced-materials science conference, Dr Ben Mallett reckons AMN8 shows that our stereotypes, of science and scientists, need a bit of nuance. What happens at a science conference? Lots of “talks” (in which scientists speak about their research, with some accompanying pictures); poster sessions; specialised … Read more
To celebrate the opening of the Spark Boroughs Victoria Park basketball court, The Spinoff gathered together a motley crew of musicians and media-types to play a ‘friendly’ game of 5-0n-5. Watch the highlights here. In the media team: Duncan Greive, Madeleine Chapman, Paul Williams, Melanie Bracewell, James Roque, Jamaine Ross. In the music team: Henry … Read more
All evidence points to one hard fact: it is incredibly improbable that you will remain alive. Hayden Donnell recommends either signing up for life insurance or fleeing to an apocalypse bunker this very minute. Are you reading this? Congratulations. Somehow you’re not dead. Good luck keeping it that way. Right now 11 major organ systems … Read more
In this special one-off podcast marking the Auckland Pride Festival and brought to you by AUT, Sam Orchard talks to Emmy Rākete and Dr Pani Farvid about gender noncomformity, trans rights and challenging queer/straight binaries in Aotearoa and beyond. Today’s panelists are Sam Orchard, trans man, comic book artist, designer and activist; Emmy Rākete, Māori … Read more
In the fifth instalment of our Money Talks series, freelancers Tess Nichol and Alice Webb-Liddall talk about retirement, and having enough money squirrelled away to enjoy it comfortably. For two young writers only a few years into their careers, the thought of being on the other end of their working life seems almost unimaginably far … Read more
Three women at the forefront of nano science discussed their work and the hurdles they faced during the AMN8 conference this week. The 11-year-old girl in the front row raised her hand. “I have a comment rather than a question,” she told the panel of three women scientists. “I’m really impressed because you followed your … Read more
As the government doubles down on trying to get good science into the marketplace, how are scientists preparing for the commercial world? Do scientists make good businesspeople? Are they able, after a lifetime of studying in institutions to learn how to become a researcher, then turn their attention to putting that research into application? Can … Read more
Bioengineer Albert Folch uses football to kick off children’s scientific curiosity. Charles Anderson watches the AMN8 guest work his magic at a Queenstown primary school. The children don’t seem terrified despite Professor Albert Folch just telling them that their planet will be vaporised. In a billion years or so, the sun will grow into a … Read more
Among the 500 delegates who have descended on the AMN8 conference in Queenstown from around the world are two New Zealand students who have taken their studies abroad. In his third blog post from AMN8, the advanced materials and nanotechnology conference hosted by The MacDiarmid Institute, Charles Anderson talks to them. Rebecca Sutton and Jesse … Read more
The inventor of the Vortex Fluid Device tells Charles Anderson how the machine that famously converted a boiled egg back into its original state could have huge implications. Professor Raston is a panelist at this week’s AMN8 conference in Queenstown. The boiled egg has both blessed and haunted Professor Colin Raston. For the past two … Read more
Dr Carla Meledandri promises that the photograph of decaying teeth is the only ‘gross’ one that she will show this morning, reports Charles Anderson in his second blog post from AMN8, the advanced materials and nanotechnology conference hosted by The MacDiarmid Institute, in Queenstown. The first day of AMN8 kicked off with scientists from around … Read more
Charles Anderson is in Queenstown for AMN8 – the advanced materials and nanotechnology conference hosted by The MacDiarmid Institute. In his first blog from the event, he enjoys a heaven-sent introduction to the field from Ben Mallett on the flight south. The flight from Christchurch to Queenstown is full, says the cabin attendant. But as … Read more
By embracing the thermoelectric potential of polymers, Rachel Segalman is pursuing a new frontier in the use of power to heat or cool. A speaker at the AMN8 conference in Queenstown, she talks to Charles Anderson Across the world, a huge amount of energy is expended heating and cooling spaces which people do not use. … Read more
The unique properties of Perovskite provide hope for a wholly sustainable future, ‘propelling the next stage of human advancement’, says Henry Snaith, a guest at next week’s AMN8 conference in Queenstown. Professor Henry Snaith has a vision of the future. Ever growing cities are powered cleanly and efficiently. Third world countries have easy access to … Read more
First discovered in atomic bomb testing, nanodiamonds could prove crucial to a range of technologies that change, if not save, lives. Charles Anderson talks to nanoscientist Amanda Barnard, a guest at the AMN8 conference in Queenstown The Soviet scientists were blowing things up. It was 1963, at the height of the Cold War, and nuclear … Read more
Alex Casey chats to Lisa Fa’alafi and Busty Beatz from the theatrical experience Hot Brown Honey, an extravaganza of stereotype-smashing, hip hop politics and costumes that would make Beyoncé jealous. Coming to New Zealand from Australia as a part of the Auckland PRIDE festival, Hot Brown Honey is a sizzling celebration of loud, proud women … Read more
From Chinese 3D manufacturing to Korean soap operas to Japanese street fashion, the 21st century belongs to Asia. Little wonder, then, that an increasing number of young New Zealanders are ditching the UK OE and heading to Asia instead. In the second of a two part series on The Asia OE, Catherine McGregor talks to … Read more
For Italian scientist Silvia Giordani, the battle against cancer cells takes place at a scale 50,000 times thinner than a human hair. A guest at February’s AMN8 conference in Queenstown, she talks to Charles Anderson Onions and tubes. It was almost a decade ago that Silvia Giordani started thinking seriously about the difference between them. … Read more
Smaller than a pinhead, the machines in Professor David A Leigh’s lab are created by chemistry that manipulates the properties of tiny elements to create motion. Leigh, who is coming to NZ for February’s AMN8 conference, talks to Charles Anderson Think of David Leigh as a caveman chief at the beginnings of civilisation. Think of … Read more
A group of AUT students have banded together to make a documentary on our growing homelessness problem – and to argue that by failing to act, New Zealand could be in contravention of its international human rights obligations. “I contemplated why I should even be alive right now, when I can’t even put a roof … Read more
We wanted to better understand the changing New Zealand economy, and who better to explain it than superstar economist Shamubeel Eaqub. Below, the second of six short videos featuring Shamubeel giving it to us straight while sitting comfortably in a classic Kiwi chair. In this episode: a tour through New Zealand’s tumultuous economic history. First published … Read more
In October we invited you to lob your Auckland housing crisis questions at AUT professor John Tookey, an expert on the subject. Here he responds to a selection of the many questions he received, and explains why – spoiler alert – there are no easy answers. John Tookey is a Professor of Construction Management at … Read more
New Zealand’s social, cultural and economic pivot to Asia is well-documented, yet when we head off on an OE London remains the default destination. In the first of a two part series on The Asia OE, Duncan Greive speaks to a young New Zealand entrepreneur for whom Asia called and changed his life. Cowan Finch … Read more
As a nation, we pride ourselves on our creativity, but when it comes to translating great ideas into successful businesses, New Zealand is still trailing behind. Colenso co-founder and serial entrepreneur Mike Hutcheson looks at what’s going wrong. I believe innovation to be the realisation of creativity, but innovation is a two-sided coin: one side … Read more
Ahead of February’s AMN8 conference, Charles Anderson talks to some of the scientists at the vanguard of nanomaterial innovation and entrepreneurship in New Zealand. Look closely at the letters on this screen. Zero in on this full stop, right here. It’s small – to the human eye, at least. But that full stop still has … Read more
We wanted to better understand the changing New Zealand economy, and who better to explain it than superstar economist Shamubeel Eaqub. This is the fifth of six short videos featuring Shamubeel giving it to us straight while sitting comfortably in a classic Kiwi chair. In this video Shamubeel explains how tax has changed and why … Read more