Environment

Budget 2013: What's in it for science?

Budget 2013 saw a net increase of around $50 million in science and innovation funding, according to Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce who tweeted the factoid in response to Sciblogger Siouxsie Wiles. $130 million of funding has been committed to boosting R&D efforts in companies and start-ups, $107m of which will come from the […]

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Monckton's nightmare week in New Zealand

A week into his self-described “barnstorming” tour of New Zealand, arch-sceptic Christopher Monckton seems to be quietly licking his wounds after a string of farcical public and media appearances. The armchair climate change expert has in the past managed to stimulate discussion of climate science on his tours of New Zealand and Australia, even if […]

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Final frontiers: Antarctica

By Tony Press, University of Tasmania With the global population now well over seven billion there are few remaining parts of the world relatively untouched by human activity. We assess the current state and future prospects of five final frontiers: rainforests, Antarctica, the Arctic, the deep sea and space. Antarctica is the coldest, highest, driest […]

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The TPP – what does it mean for science?

Right now, hundreds of diplomats and trade experts from around the Asia Pacific region are ensconced at Sky City convention centre in Auckland for top-secret negotations as part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. The level of secrecy alone is of great concern and to some, anti-democratic, let alone what is actually being concocted in the latest draft agreement. […]

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