In any country, Stuff’s news story assessing ‘edible sunscreen’ would be questionable. In New Zealand, the melanoma capital of the world, it’s downright irresponsible, writes Mark Hanna. I have a mental checklist of bits of my body I must not forget to put sunscreen on. The back of my neck, the tops of my ears, … Read more
When it comes to solar panels, the future is flexible. Vanessa Young discovers how a MacDiarmid project is unlocking the possibilities of a new generation of solar cell technology. When we imagine solar panels, we think of hard rectangle frames, sitting upright on roofs, or spread out across expanses of deserts. But imagine flexible, bendy … Read more
The only thing more volatile than the polling is the commentary around the volatile polling. Statistician Richard Arnold tackles some of the critical questions. We love them, we hate them, and they have a greater impact on our political system than many would like to acknowledge. The problem is, polls are statistics, and people as … Read more
The 20-year-old Saturn exploring Cassini spacecraft meets its fiery demise this week. Beyond revealing the universe to us, space exploration exposes our own small place in the big picture, writes cosmologist Richard Easther It has been a bitter-sweet month for solar system explorers. As a teenager and a space-geek, I had a poster of this … Read more
Climate change is a harsh reality for the Pacific Islands. After travelling to the Solomon Islands to meet the communities already affected by climate change, Madeleine Chapman looks at New Zealand’s responsibility in the region and the campaign for the Zero Carbon Act. There’s a completely unfounded and illogical belief among humans that, at the … Read more
Climate change is a harsh reality for the Pacific Islands. Madeleine Chapman travelled to the Solomon Islands with World Vision to meet the communities whose lives are already being upturned by climate change. The homes at the Lord Howe settlement are well built. So much so that it took me by surprise when we entered … Read more
When astrophysicist Jordan Alexander was given the chance to travel on the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy, he leapt at it. It was as if I’d become trapped in a cold, noisy, enormous, and super hi-tech elevator, filled with row upon row of technical equipment – including a telescope. The elevator was a 747 aircraft, converted … Read more
Climate change is a harsh reality for the Pacific Islands. Madeleine Chapman travelled to the Solomon Islands with World Vision to meet the communities whose lives are already being upturned by climate change. At 105 years old, Stewart can remember a time when his island wasn’t underwater. At 105 years old, he can remember a … Read more
Climate change is harsh reality for the Pacific Islands. Madeleine Chapman travelled to the Solomon Islands with World Vision to meet the communities whose lives are already being upturned by climate change. The skipper navigated our banana boat through wooden posts that shot out of the ocean like tombstones. Beyond them, on an island no … Read more
Climate change is going to dramatically disfigure New Zealand’s economy, cutting up to half our GDP, according to fund manager Lance Wiggs. The good news? We have a chance to lead in a new low-carbon world – or we could do nothing and perhaps see our economy, and society, collapse. Sometimes the future is easy … Read more
Climate change is the defining challenge of our times. The Spinoff is devoting a week of coverage to the issue, its advocates, complexities, and solutions. Today, former President of Kiribati Anote Tong says that while the rest of the world ignores the gradual onset of climate change, the lives of Pacific peoples are already being … Read more
Global warming is a fact, it’s caused by humans, and it’s going to change our world. Oh, and one more truth: you may never be able to convince your libertarian, climate change-denying uncle otherwise. Dave Hansford explores the psychology of denial. The annals of inaction — the long, sorry history of human inertia — are … Read more
New Zealand has a long history of introducing foreign insect predators to control crop pests and weeds. How risky is that? Thanks to a lack of long-term monitoring of our native insect populations, nobody really knows, explains the University of Auckland’s Margaret Stanley. “Is there any evidence that an introduced insect, other than a social … Read more
Climate change is the defining challenge of our times. The Spinoff is devoting a week of coverage to the issue, its advocates, complexities, and solutions. Today, The Morgan Foundation’s Paul Young looks at the data and uncovers some dirty secrets about New Zealand’s emissions. Aotearoa New Zealand – clean and green, principled and progressive. So … Read more
Z Energy is the largest retailer of petrol in New Zealand, yet is paying to promote Al Gore’s climate change movie An Inconvenient Sequel. Duncan Greive meets Z CEO Mike Bennetts and asks what’s up with that. The CEO stood atop the small flight of stairs leading into the multiplex of Event Cinemas’ tiring Newmarket … Read more
So far our Emissions Trading Scheme has been deemed largely ineffectual, thanks to low-integrity overseas credits and low emission prices. Motu’s Catherine Leining believes recent global and local changes mean the ETS can do its job – if we are ready to get serious about reducing New Zealand’s own emissions. Ninety-two percent of New Zealanders … Read more
Climate change is the defining challenge of our times. The Spinoff is devoting a week of coverage to the issue, its advocates, complexities, and solutions. Today, five journalists discuss the intricacies and importance of covering climate change. Climate change is the biggest story on any editor’s newslist right now. Legendary environmentalist David Suzuki wants journalists to … Read more
Climate change is the defining challenge of our times. The Spinoff is devoting a week of coverage to the issue, its advocates, complexities, and solutions. Today Don Rowe talks to departing Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Jan Wright. Around the same time Al Gore released his first call to arms in the battle against climate … Read more
Climate change is the defining challenge of our times. The Spinoff is devoting a week of coverage to the issue, its advocates, complexities, and solutions. Climate Change Week at The Spinoff is brought to you by An Inconvenient Sequel, Al Gore’s new movie and, says Simon Wilson, it’s not entirely what you might expect. Al … Read more
This week massive seabed mining was approved off the Taranaki coast. Former environmental lawyer Dale Scott believes the potentially flawed application of the law will have significant consequences for all of New Zealand. At every level, environmental issues raise the most pressing questions of who gets the benefit and who carries the cost. In every … Read more
Tickets for ‘rockstar’ particle physicist Professor Brian Cox’s Auckland show went on sale this week. With seats priced from $90 to $215, are big popular science shows fostering elitism? Super scientists, assemble! New Zealand has been blessed by visits from four big names in science this year already, and is set to play host to … Read more
‘My mind exploded. No joke, the feeling was like I had a crush!’ Three rangatahi talk about discovering their passion for science at MacDiarmid DiscoveryCamp. DiscoveryCamp is a fun, hands-on programme designed for year 12 or 13 Māori and Pasifika secondary pupils with an interest in science. Students are chosen from all around the country … Read more
Artist Sarah Smuts-Kennedy told Kim Hill on Saturday that she has been repeating a ritual used by Peruvian banana farmers in the 1980s to treat diseased kauri. Yes, we need more research, but leave the comment to the scientists, writes Cate Macinnis-Ng. Art can be a powerful tool for connecting and mobilising communities around scientific problems. Art … Read more
The achievements and challenges of women in STEM disciplines were the focus of the Celebrating Women in Science conference, which closed in Auckland on Friday. Among the speakers was American chemist and physicist Cather Simpson, now of the University of Auckland, who writes here about her involvement in an intense effort to level the playing … Read more
She’s an anti-vaccination, anti-fluoride campaigner who believes measles is a hoax and polio can be cured with vitamin C. Meet Siggi Henry, one of the most powerful people in our fourth largest city. Angela Cuming reports. First published 13 July 2017. When Hamilton councillor Siggi Henry wore a tinfoil hat to meet associate health minister … Read more
In the first of a new monthly column by Dr Lance O’Sullivan, the former New Zealander of the Year addresses the anti-establishment mood, and the potential of technology in the internet age to both challenge and enhance science and medicine. There is nothing new about rebelling against elites, but there is a deepening mood of … Read more
Scientist Dr Michelle Dickinson looks at the truth behind the scaremongering headlines over a questionable study– and the disturbing way its Australian commissioners went after her when she wrote about it. This post has been updated with responses from Friends of the Earth Australia and the New Zealand Science Media Centre. (12 July 2017) Wow Now … Read more
Dr Siouxsie Wiles writes an open letter to the people of Whakatāne (and the rest of Aotearoa New Zealand*), where vaccination rates are dismal and an anti-vaxxer propaganda film is screening tonight. As a parent, I know what it’s like to worry about whether you are doing the right thing for your child. When my daughter … Read more
Three months ago, Ian Griffin led passengers on the world’s first commercial flight to view the Southern Lights. Here he tells the story of the journey, and why he wants to do it again. The departure board at Dunedin airport on the evening of March 23 included Flight NZ1980. The destination? Dunedin. Just after 9pm we … Read more