Science related stories and commentary
A short ride on the S-Bahn north-east of Berlin brings you to Oranienburg, a quiet, semi-rural village with cute houses, a beautiful centuries-old palace and Sachsenhausen – a well-preserved Nazi concentration camp which was the centre of innovation for the Final Solution during World War II. On a languid summer afternoon a couple of weeks […]
MoreA team of Australasian scientists have returned from an expedition to the remote Kermedec Islands having discovered at least three new species of fish. The team, which included scientists from Auckland Museum, Te Papa, Department of Conservation, Australian Museum and NIWA spent three weeks observing and collecting specimens to create a record of species diversity […]
MoreHave you ever been to a conference where more than half the attendees are tapping away on smart phones, laptops or tablet computers while the main keynotes and panel discussions are underway? Welcome to the world of social media conferences, where attendees practice what they preach – firing off tweets, microblogs, status updates and audio […]
MoreI keep a fairly close eye on where New Zealand science is covered in the international press. So it was good then to see University of Auckland psychology lecturer Dr Quentin Atkinson featured in the Wall Street Journal and other major news outlets for his paper published in Science last week which suggests that our […]
MoreIt barely attracted any coverage when it was released following the Prime Minister’s post cabinet press conference last night, but Sir Peter Gluckman’s discussion paper on evidence-based policy is possibly one of the most important he has released thus far. The Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister has made a call for government departments […]
MoreRussia is this week remembering the golden age of its space exploration programme with the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s orbit of the Earth, the first manned space flight, which paved the way for human exploration of space. The Herald on Sunday ran the following useful infographic which breaks down the steps in the historic […]
MoreIt had become apparent to journalists some time ago that things were starting to look shaky for the country’s news wire service NZPA, with its major backer Fairfax itching to go it alone, generate its own content and save some money in the process. But last night’s news that Fairfax’s move to pull the plug […]
MoreThere’s a new player in science communication that has emerged across the Tasman, in the form of The Conversation, a website backed by numerous Australian universities and overseen by a highly experienced team of journalists and scientists. I’ve known The Conversation was coming for some time – our colleagues at the Australian Science Media Centre […]
MoreI’m at the NZBio conference in Auckland over the next couple of days, so in a good position to see what is preoccupying the country’s biotechnology sector. One simmering issue has already been aired – the ad hoc and often ineffective way we approach conducting clinical trials of drugs and treatments in New Zealand. According […]
MoreA graphic from Melbourne’s The Age newspaper that does a good job of explaining the effects of various doses of ionizing radiation on the body.
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PETER GRIFFIN 
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