It was an emotional weekend in Wellington. There was the thrill of anticipation in the run-up to Saturday night’s clash between the Hurricanes and the Highlanders, then the emptiness of defeat as the Cake Tin emptied and thousands of yellow-clad rugby fans trudged home. But at Creative HQ a stone’s throw from Courtenay Place where […]
MoreAfter nearly six years in operation, Australasia’s largest blog network is getting a facelift and some fresh voices. Sciblogs features commentary from around 30 scientists and science writers and is consistently ranked among the country’s top 10 blogs based on Sitemeter statistics. But the platform is well overdue for a revamp and will soon be […]
MoreThe next few months will witness a steady build-up to COP21, the December major climate change conference organised by the United Nations, and in the mind of many scientists, our last chance to strike a global agreement to tackle emissions reduction in a bid to stop dangerous global warming. There hasn’t been as much anticipation […]
MoreBudget 2015 is done and dusted and it appears there are few surprises for the science sector, other than an interesting move to replicate the success of the independent, Nelson-based Cawthron Institute. $25 million in funding has been allocated over three years to establish “between one and three” new Regional Research Institutes outside of the […]
MorePsychologist Nigel Latta has a new show running on TV One: Nigel Latta Blows Stuff Up. It is great TV, science-related but presented in a very pop-science format, with shades of Mythbusters and the types of science shows you’ll see browsing the Discovery Channel – plenty of explosions and slow motion photography. The first episode […]
MoreA few weeks ago, for the first time ever, I took a complaint to the Press Council against a newspaper. I’ve been the subject of a Press Council complaint in the past, one that wasn’t upheld. I know it is time consuming and stressful responding to a complaint, so I didn’t make my own complaint […]
MoreScience communication bodies have criticised a UK Government code for civil servants requiring ministerial approval before they talk to the media. The UK’s Civil Service Code was updated this month requiring the pre-authorisation, which in theory also applies to scientists working for the government in units such as the Met Office and the National Institute […]
More“Wooo, there’s New Zealand did ya!” Wrote one commenter on the Facebook page “I F*cking Love Science” last week. Okay, hardly the most articulate response to a story, but one that expressed the pride in seeing New Zealand science receiving exposure and recognition on a global scale. The story attracting attention was about researchers from […]
MoreIt was another big year for science capped off with the successful Rosetta mission to land a probe on a comet. But as usual, there were also plenty of quirky science stories that captured our attention too. My colleagues at the Australian Science Media Centre rounded up a list of the some of the quirkiest. […]
Moreby Peter Buchanan What value can be put on an accurate scientific name? How about the “value” of the bacterial names Clostridium sporogenes vs. Clostridium botulinum? In the latter case, the estimates begin upwards of NZ$100 million. There is an important branch of science called Systematics that often slips below the radar until critical issues […]
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PETER GRIFFIN 
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