The gentle godfather of nature returns in Seven Worlds: One Planet on TVNZ 1 tonight, and you best have your tissues at the ready. “Never has it been a more precious time to reveal the life on our seven continents,” Sir David Attenborough says at the beginning of his new documentary series Seven Worlds: One … Read more
Our kinship with plants is etched out in the mythology on which our societies are founded, and in the web of life it is a scientific fact that we are indeed close kin to the plant kingdom. So why do we not live like we are, asks Matt Hall. There are no prizes for guessing … Read more
Ecologist Robert Vennell is a man mad on plants. His book The Meaning of Trees: The history and use of New Zealand’s native trees tells the stories of the forest giants – kauri, tōtara et al – and the kelp that throngs our beaches. He writes about the oddballs, the plants that are revered, and those used … Read more
We finally reach the last summer phase ‘Matiti Rauangina’, when the Paengawhāwhā constellation appears in the sky and the leaves fall from the tress. Learn more about the maramataka, the Māori lunar calendar, here. Nau mai ki te marama a Paengawhāwhā. April/Paengawhāwhā is here and we look forward to a productive cycle ahead. Add the dates below … Read more
Management decisions at Te Papa are putting at risk the very things that make a national museum worth having, Dr Nic Rawlence and Dr Trevor ‘Mr Moa’ Worthy argue. Te Papa sees itself as a proud and reputable national museum. Within its walls is a unique resource that is used by scientists worldwide to answer the … Read more