The world is on edge over a coronavirus outbreak that started in early December in Wuhan City, China. The virus is thought to have first infected people working at a seafood and live animal market. So what could the original source have been? Siouxsie Wiles explains. Update, January 27: Soon after the “snakeflu” paper was … Read more
Bushfire conditions will become more severe. We call on Australians, particularly our leaders, to heed the science, writes Will Steffen of the Australian National University Those who say “I told you so” are rarely welcomed, yet I am going to say it here. Australian scientists warned the country could face a climate change-driven bushfire crisis by … Read more
A strange pneumonia-causing virus has broken out in China, and the number of cases is rising rapidly. How worried should we be? What’s all this then? Like Sars, swine flu and ebola before it, a new virus is hitting the headlines. The outbreak of a new type of coronavirus is centred around Wuhan in China, … Read more
Fishermen and swimmers around the Hauraki Gulf are reporting droves of baby sharks in the waters. What does it mean, and where are their parents? Baby hammerheads were the most recognisable, but plenty of species were among the hundreds of chondrichthyan children hanging out at the marine crèche that popped up at Great Barrier Island … Read more
As the world’s leading coal exporter, Australia is burning down its own house, writes environmentalist Bill McKibben. This piece was originally published in The Nation as part of Covering Climate Now, a journalistic collaboration of 400 news outlets around the world to strengthen coverage of the climate story. One way to think about the devastating fires … Read more
Last year was the fourth hottest year on record for New Zealand, and scientists say it’s only getting hotter. For the planet, and all of the people on it to survive, scientists the world over warn that we must stay within two degrees celsius of warming. Scientists and baby-faced Swedish activists alike know that the … Read more
Women have been told for years that the hymen is an integral part of sex, especially when it comes to ‘losing your virginity’. Nurse and educator Kathy Lowe says that’s all a lie. The concept of virginity has been around for thousands of years. Rooted in cultural and religious beliefs, virginity has historically dictated whether … Read more
Australia, your country is burning – the climate change emergency is here with you now, writes Michael Mann, a climate scientist visiting the country. This article originally appeared in The Guardian and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalistic collaboration to strengthen coverage of the climate story. After years studying … Read more
Bushfire season in Australia traditionally runs from December-March, but since August last year fires have been scorching the country in an unprecedented wave of destruction. We look at the fires by numbers. 480 million The estimated number of animal deaths so far, despite the best efforts of conservation and wildlife protection agencies. 160 Fires currently … Read more
Leading physicist Richard Easther explains what’s been going on with the smoky orange skies above New Zealand. On New Year’s Day, social media in New Zealand was flooded with images of eerie orange skies above the South Island as the smoke from a continent-scale fire disaster crossed the Tasman Sea. Eerie. All we can hear … Read more
Lauire Winkless speaks to the New Zealand scientists working to clean up the final frontier and how to make steel in a zero-carbon future. In today’s urbanised world, steel is everywhere. It’s used in everything from critical infrastructure like roads and railways, through to earthquake-resilient buildings, wind turbines and electric vehicles. But making steel comes … Read more
Ada is a dog with a very unusual, life-saving skill: warning her diabetic owner that her blood glucose levels are getting dangerously low or high. All dogs are good dogs, but Ada is a very special dog. The seven-year-old husky is New Zealand’s first Diabetic Response Dog. Ada’s owner Vicki Parry was diagnosed with type 1 … Read more
Despite it being proven that women with dense breasts have an increased risk of developing breast cancer, there is currently no requirement for Breastscreen Aotearoa to inform women of their own density after a mammogram. Shoshana Maasland talks to the women advocating for that to change. This story first appeared on Te Waha Nui Fay … Read more
New Zealand’s universities have a shocking record on emissions. If they band together, however, they could make a massive difference. Shaun Hendy explains. Humour me for a minute by imagining that the University of Auckland was facing a 40% budget blowout next year. Of course, you chuckle, this would never happen. The University of Auckland … Read more
Twenty-four hours after the eruption on Whakaari/White Island, here’s what we know about the ongoing situation. How many people have died? Currently, the official death toll stands at five, but there are a further eight people missing, who are presumed to have died in the eruption. 31 people remain in hospital and three have been … Read more
Another giant bird has been torn from its grave: the ancient Rēkohu/Chatham Island penguin. Just how big was it? Standing at just over a metre tall, Kupoupou stilwelli was a big bird. It was as large as the giant Otago parrot, or as tall as a metre ruler. Sixty million years ago, long before any … Read more
We don’t normally see these eruptions coming, no matter how much we would like to. Many systems are already ‘primed’ for such events, but the triggers are poorly understood, writes Shane Cronin of the University of Auckland. As of Monday night five people have been confirmed dead, 18 had been rescued and injured, some seriously, … Read more
Five people are dead, a number unaccounted for and up to 20 injured, some critically, after a volcano erupted in the Bay of Plenty this afternoon. Update 9.16pm: Police have confirmed that five people are dead following this afternoon’s Whakaari/White Island eruption. Deputy commissioner John Tims said it was too early to confirm nationalities but … Read more
A truly ambitious solution would keep jobs in Southland, delivering on the promise of the Zero Carbon Act to make NZ all but carbon neutral by 2050, writes Nicola Gaston in a post co-authored with Sally Brooker, Justin Hodgkiss and David Williams of The MacDiarmid Institute. Tiwai Point is in the news, again. Jeanette Fitzsimons, … Read more
The government will start phasing out polystyrene packaging and beverage containers in response to a major new report calling for a nationwide rethink on plastics in New Zealand, PM Jacinda Ardern announced today. Here’s what you need to know about the announcement, and the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa report. For much of the year, a … Read more
The bill unveiled this week represents an excellent opportunity to take control of the supply of cannabis and properly reduce harms, writes Joe Boden, director of the Christchurch Health and Development Study. By now the harms associated with cannabis use are well-known. Research from New Zealand – in particular the Christchurch and Dunedin longitudinal studies … Read more
Why did a US writer’s story about wearing a diabetes monitor despite not being diabetic raise Emily Writes’ hackles? The same device could mean life or death for her son, and it costs her thousands of dollars a year. My seven-year-old son is having a diabetic low, hypoglycaemia, as I write this. I’m at work … Read more
Summer has begun and the forecast is: it’s hot and breezy and wet and dry. We explain what’s going on, and what you can expect over the coming months. A cloudless sky rains down on dry soil, and children play in the hot puddles. Every night you put the laundry in the oven, grab a … Read more
The release of an anonymous lab report that found massive 1080 concentrations prompts Dave Hansford to ask: is history repeating itself? The last week has seen a great deal of discussion about claims made by the anti-1080 front group, Flora and Fauna Aotearoa (F&F), in relation to the deaths of hundreds of rats and other … Read more
Alex Casey goes in search of the tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth. If you’ve been anywhere near Instagram this year, you are probably familiar with this image. An influencer – perhaps a woman with a messy bun and a no-makeup makeup look, or a bronzed man with a six pack lounging … Read more
The anti-1080 lobby last week released ‘lab tests’ purporting to find the poison in the vermin that washed up in Westport. But do their claims stand up to scrutiny, asks Dave Hansford. For the anti-1080 movement, it was supposed to be the turning of a rather putrid tide. On November 15, Flora and Fauna of … Read more
Every week over 8,000 primary school students around the country are doing science experiments in their classrooms, many in te reo Māori thanks to an initiative started in Tauranga. Chris Duggan explains why she felt compelled to start House of Science. After 15 years of teaching secondary science, I was horrified at the lack of … Read more
Body Mass Index (BMI) is particularly flawed as an indicator of health in children and ethnic minorities. So why do we still use it? In a new comment piece published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, registered dietician Lucy Carey argues that the use of the Body Mass Index in assessing children’s health is both … Read more
Last year saw the largest mumps outbreak in two decades across Auckland. Now a new outbreak suggests the disease may be back on the rise. There’s a new outbreak of the highly contagious viral disease mumps across the Auckland region, with localised clusters of cases diagnosed in Howick, Pakuranga, Auckland Central and Ponsonby. The point … Read more