With the roll-out of a Covid-19 vaccine gathering steam across New Zealand, here’s a quick explainer on what goes into it and how it works. Support the Spinoff by becoming a Member – and score a Toby Morris tea towel. Who is getting vaccinated? First on the list to be offered the vaccine are the … Read more
Aotearoa remains stuck in disaster response mode, 10 years after the Christchurch quake, write risk and resilience experts Ursula Cochran, Kelvin Berryman and Hugh Cowan. How’s progress, New Zealand? Do we still have buildings that could kill 115 people in one go? Yes. Are we still building on liquefiable land? Yes. Do we have essential … Read more
With the roll-out of a Covid-19 vaccine gathering steam across New Zealand, here’s a quick explainer on what goes into it and how it works. Support the Spinoff by becoming a Member – and score a Toby Morris tea towel. Who is getting vaccinated? First on the list to be offered the vaccine are the … Read more
Today the NZ vaccination programme begins in earnest, with the first doses provided to border workers. Why is that so important? Siouxsie and Toby spell it out, cheesily. With the arrival of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine into New Zealand and the start of the roll-out to our border and isolation/quarantine workers and their families, we now … Read more
I found my own first Martian meteorite sitting in a cabinet in a gem store in Akaroa, writes James Scott. Nasa’s Perseverance rover successfully touched down on Mars this morning, and has already begun beaming back images. But people might be surprised to learn there have been another 48 missions to the red planet so … Read more
Nearly 42,000 years ago, the Earth got flipped turned upside down. It caused total chaos. And it might happen again soon. Mirjam Guesgen explains. Seemingly randomly throughout time, the Earth’s magnetic poles flip – magnetic north swaps places with the magnetic south. Up until now, scientists weren’t really sure what that meant for the planet’s … Read more
Some border workers are now undergoing daily spit testing. Does this mean the end of nasal swabbing? We explain how the tests work and why the two tests co-exist. Voluntary saliva testing has been rolled out at Auckland Airport and the Jet Park quarantine facility for border workers, sparking hope for some that the sometimes … Read more
The scarcity of Covid-19 cases in New Zealand allows our formidable scientists to learn things you simply can’t in places where the virus is widespread. This helps us not just strengthen our controls but contribute to the world’s understanding. The new community cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand remain a bit of a mystery. Fortunately, … Read more
How much can you trust the information you’re pulling off a pad wrapper? Mirjam Guesgen finds out. Those with menstrual cycles may be familiar with Libra’s Odd Spots – mini-facts you can read while spending more than the reasonable amount of time on the loo during that time of the month. According to Libra’s marketing … Read more
No decision on extending lockdown can be made until officials are able to conclusively trace the path of the virus from the border, write Michael Plank, Shaun Hendy and Siouxsie Wiles. New Zealand’s latest community cases, the first to be infected with the more infectious B.1.1.7 variant of Covid-19, have a plausible link to the … Read more
Three new community cases of Covid-19 and an unknown source have plunged Auckland into lockdown and the rest of the country into alert level two. Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles tackles some of the critical questions we now face. Could we be looking at a situation as worrying as last August in Auckland? Yes. Like in August, … Read more
Achieving our emission reduction obligations means changing the nature of our homes. Here’s how we can do that. New Zealand’s homes need a refresh. Mouldy, leaky, cold homes that leach any semblance of heat to the outside world won’t cut it any more – if they ever did. Aside from the health benefits, making homes … Read more
Click here to see interactive data visualisations and watch all five episodes of 100 Year Forecast on our special interactive website. Climate change is big and it can feel overwhelming. It may seem like New Zealand does not have a big part to play in any solutions to the global problem. Yet despite our low total emissions, our … Read more
Our understanding of the way Covid-19 is transmitted from person to person has changed a lot since the pandemic began. A year in, here’s what we now know. It’s just over a year since the World Health Organisation (WHO) raised its highest alarm over Covid-19, declaring it a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). … Read more
Click here to see interactive data visualisations and watch all five episodes of 100 Year Forecast on our special interactive website. Aotearoa’s ecosystems are already under strain from habitat loss and introduced pest species. A warmer climate, more extreme weather and rising sea levels will intensify these stresses. This episode explores which plants and animals are under threat … Read more
Got a friend who’s got it wrong about vaccination? Here’s how to set them right. Yesterday New Zealand provisionally approved use of the Pfizer vaccine, sparking a fresh burst of argument about Covid-19 vaccinations online. Many people have concerns about the vaccines and how they will impact people. I worked with Jo Kirman, associate professor … Read more
Countries have a history of acting selfishly – and when they do, everyone loses out, writes Roderick Bailey. According to one recent estimate, more than half of all vaccines against Covid-19 have been reserved for one-seventh of the world’s population. At the time of writing, the UK alone has reportedly secured enough vaccines to give each … Read more
Click here to see interactive data visualisations and watch all five episodes of 100 Year Forecast on our special interactive website. Aotearoa is a steep and rugged country. Our settlements are concentrated in pockets of fertile floodplains, around river mouths or along coastlines. During the last few decades, these places have experienced increased river and coastal flooding. As … Read more
Salps, that’s what – the humble little plankton Emily Writes believes to be our nation’s greatest creature. She talks to a salp expert about the key role they play in our marine ecosystem. Recently a reader said to me that I’m the only one she knows of who talks about salps. I knew I had … Read more
Click here to see interactive data visualisations and watch all five episodes of 100 Year Forecast on our special interactive website. The future of rainfall in Aotearoa is complicated. As the country warms up, some places will get drier, while others will become far wetter. These changes will not be spread evenly through the year. … Read more
Wondering why the Covid-19 vaccines were able to be developed so quickly? Fair enough, too. Let me explain, writes Joel Rindelaub. Under the headline “Why I wouldn’t give son vaccine yet”, the NZ Herald yesterday published a story questioning the safety of the latest Covid-19 vaccines. It was irresponsible reporting, and they have rightly removed … Read more
Covid-19 lockdowns created a never-before-seen scenario for the world’s wildlife – a break from us. But that wasn’t always a positive, as Mirjam Guesgen explains. With people staying home and travelling less, bird song crescendoed, wild cats suddenly started roaming the streets of Chile and Florida’s loggerhead turtles finally got a chance to lay their … Read more
CLICK HERE to see interactive data visualisations and watch all five episodes of 100 Year Forecast on our special interactive website. Aotearoa is getting warmer. How do we know this, and what will happen over the next 100 years? Watch episode one here: 100 Year Forecast explores what Aotearoa might look like in the next … Read more
A humble New Zealand mollusc is suddenly in the global spotlight, and now it’s up to New Zealanders to help it claim victory. Biologist Priscila Salloum explains why the snakeskin chiton deserves your vote. Snakeskin chiton, a common mollusc on the New Zealand coast, has beaten off more than a hundred competitors from all corners … Read more
Visitors travel from far and wide to Northland’s Waipoua Forest, home of Tāne Mahuta, one of the largest trees in the world. But with the forest under threat from the spread of kauri dieback, are they putting Tāne Mahuta and his brothers and sisters at risk? First published December 1, 2020. Into Darkness is part … Read more
Is it plausible that the new cases contracted in the Pullman hotel in Auckland were transmitted via pipes? Here’s what the science tells us. As the investigation to determine how three people became infected with Covid-19 during their stay in New Zealand’s managed isolation and quarantine system gets away, it is worth considering a few … Read more
Interactions between parents and healthcare providers could have a big impact on the wellbeing of our children, according to new research. The way parents and healthcare providers interact has lasting implications for children’s health, new research has found – and that includes immunisation uptake. Released today, the report is based on research by AUT’s NZ … Read more
At least three new, more contagious Covid variants have been spreading around the world. Here’s how they emerge and why. Let’s start with the basics. The genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for Covid-19 is a strand of RNA made up of almost 30,000 nucleotides. Those nucleotides – adenine, cytosine, guanine, and uracil – … Read more
A new study suggests that trees’ ability to soak up carbon could expire. Mirjam Guesgen explains. Trees have long been held as the saviour for climate change. Plant enough trees and we might be able to balance out some of that carbon-emmitting flying or driving. But a new scientific study says that trees only buy … Read more