It has been a big day in Auckland for a select group of scientists, students and science communicators who between them have been awarded $1 million cash towards research or personal development as part of the Prime Minister’s inaugural science prizes. Many will be glad to see Jeff Tallon and Bob Buckley rewarded for their […]
MoreWhen Sciblogger and SMC colleague Aimee Whitcroft and myself started developing Sciblogs in August last year little did we suspect that just five months down the track the site would feature over 30 blogs, 1600 posts and 2 finalists in the prestigious Research Blogging awards! Sciblogs was an experiment to try and engage science communicators […]
MoreThe CRI Taskforce, which has been looking at the effectiveness of New Zealand’s major scientific research organisations, has issued its report which recommends a major shake-up in the management, funding and governance of them with the aim of moving from “micromanagement by bodies external to the CRIs to one based on big picture thinking”. The […]
MoreAcross public and commercial radio there’s more science journalism going on than ever before and thanks to the internet, it is becoming easier to find. The volume of content and the flexibility of the radio format which allows for longer interviews, mini documentaries and panel discussions means radio is emerging as the medium that best […]
MoreIt’s a rare event that brings a CNN news crew to New Zealand – an America’s Cup campaign or a Lord of the Rings launch usually. Or in this case a disrupted flight schedule which prevented the crew from heading to its intended destination – Chile. So the newly formed Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre […]
MoreThe Royal Society’s dispassionate summary of the potential benefits and risks of planting crops of GM forage for farm animals to feed on makes for interesting reading, thought its lack of recommendations on a way forward for GM in New Zealand may leave you wondering what the message from science actually is. At the Science […]
MoreBluff oyster lovers will be heartened to learn that NIWA surveys of the oyster beds in Foveaux Strait show them to be looking increasingly healthy. The Bluff oyster season starts today, so you will soon see the expensive delicacy on menus at good restaurants around the country. But as in recent years, prices will be […]
MoreNew Zealanders in coastal areas are right now preparing for potential wave surges as tsunami warnings are in force for the entire coast of the country. This follows the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile last night – my colleagues at the Science Media Centre rounded up some analysis of the quake from British scientists last […]
MoreYesterday was intense. As a judge on the preliminary round of Microsoft’s Imagine Cup, which pits teams of university students against each other in a bid to find the top four most innovative and potentially world-changing projects, it was a blur of powerpoint slides and Dragon’s Den-style questioning as we got through twenty 20-minute pitches […]
MoreMy former New Zealand Herald colleague, Peter Nowak, now firmly ensconced back in Toronto at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, has just published his first book and its based on an intriguing premise. Nowak has been poring over the annals of 20th century innovation and come to the conclusion that war, porn and fast food created […]
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PETER GRIFFIN 
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