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Note:
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Solving the belch
New Zealand scientists are conducting world-first research into solutions for
agricultural methane emissions including genetic engineering, cloning and a
vaccine for gassy animals. "Given that we're trying to turn around hundreds
of thousands of years of evolution, it's no small challenge," said Mark
Aspin, manager of New Zealand's Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium. If
the 25 full-time researchers in Aspin's labs discover the secret to making
livestock less belchy and flatulent, they could help make billions of farm
animals around the world more environmentally friendly. It's up to scientists to
give farmers the weapons against global warming, Aspin said. "There's a
very strong ethos in New Zealand farmers," he added. "They do feel
like they are stewards of the land."
(7 June 2008)


Surgical innovation
University of Otago scientists have patented a gel derived from squid that can
reduce bleeding and scarring during surgery. The gel, named Chitodex, is a
chemically modified form of the polymer chitosan, which is found in squid and
crabs. Trials so far have involved spraying the gel into patients' noses during
endoscopic sinus operations, a procedure that has successfully prevented
bleeding during surgery and any scarring afterwards. "This is a very
exciting discovery for us. This combination makes it the 'holy grail' of medical
gels," said study leader Professor Brian Robinson in the NZ
Herald. "It's really a very exciting product which may have a
profound effect on a lot of people around the world, not only for the sinuses
but other surgery."
(19 November 2007)


Technology high-fliers
Marketing entrepreneur Andy
Lark is the latest New Zealander to land a top job at a leading US
technology firm. Lark has been appointed global vice-president of marketing and
communications at Dell, one of the world's largest computer makers. He joins
former Carter Holt Harvey boss Chris Liddell, now chief financial officer at
Microsoft, and ex-EDS sales head Michael Boustridge, who now leads British
Telecom's business in the Americas. As the chairman of New Zealand Trade and
Enterprise's Beachhead programme in the US, Lark has a strong involvement with
NZ businesses and industry programs. "Fortunately, Dell is supportive of my
efforts to help New Zealand companies thrive in the US and other markets,"
he said in the NZ Herald. "I wouldn't have taken the role if it had
meant giving that up."
(17 September 2007)


Queen bee uncovered
A University of Otago study has unearthed the secret to queen bees' dominance in
the hive. According to its findings, queens keep their worker bee subjects calm
and obedient by secreting a scent that prevents them from learning from negative
experiences (known as aversive learning). "Aversive learning is when the
animal makes an association between a particular odour and a nasty
experience," said senior study author Alison Mercer in the LA Times. By
preventing aversive learning, the queen ensures that her worker bees will stay
in the hive and not use their stings, even if an unpleasant event occurs. The
University of Otago study has been published in the leading UK journal, Science.
(21 July 2007)


New Zealander heads Microsoft innovation
NZ software architect Nigel Keam has spearheaded the development of Microsoft's
new Surface technology, the subject of much excitement and speculation in the
computing industry. Surface is a tabletop PC device with a touch interface that
uses an integrated 30-inch screen and five cameras to enable access to music,
photos, the web, and more. Surface can recognise fingers and hands as well as
inanimate objects such as MP3 players, "smart" credit cards and
digital cameras. Keam, a physics and computer science graduate of Auckland
University, has worked for Microsoft in the US for 12 years. He joined Surface
Computing in 2003. "When I joined, there was a working prototype and when I
first saw it, I just fell in love with it," he said in the NZ Herald.
"[Bill Gates] was very enthusiastic from the first time he saw the concept
and has been a great supporter." Initially, the US $6000 Surface will only
be available to select Microsoft partners, including Harrah's casinos, Sheraton
hotels and phone company T-Mobile. Keam hopes it will eventually become an
indispensable device in schools and homes, as well as in public and private
businesses.
(30 May 2007)


Schoolgirls spill the juice
A science experiment by two Auckland schoolgirls has resulted in a major
lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the world's second-largest food and
pharmaceutical company. In 2004, Pakuranga College students Anna Devathasan and
Jenny Suo (then 14) tested several big-name juice brands to ascertain their
levels of vitamin C. They found that GSK's Ribena
contained almost no trace of the vitamin, despite its advertised claim that
"the blackcurrants in Ribena have four times the vitamin C of
oranges." When the company dismissed the girls' findings they took the
matter to NZ's Commerce Commission and the consumer affairs show, Fair Go. GSK
appeared in the Auckland District Court on March 27 to face charges alleging 15
breaches of the Fair Trading Act. "It's completely unbelievable," said
Suo in the NZ Herald. "It's pretty crazy when you realise how much power
you can have, as a kid as well." Ribena has global sales of about $8
million per year.
(27 March 2007)


Fuel of the future
Two national institutes are hoping to reduce NZ's national oil consumption
by developing the production of cellulosic ethanol. Ag Research and Scion
(formerly the NZ Forest Research Institute) are working with US company Diversa
on turning byproducts from the country's forestry and paper businesses into
cellulosic ethanol. While ordinary ethanol is made from corn or sugar cane, the
cellulosic variety comes from agricultural products with little or no other
value, thus driving down the cost of production. Diversa spokesman William Baum
predicts that a cellulosic-ethanol plant could be built in NZ in approximately
three years. He believes that, if successful, the plant could help NZ offset a
significant portion of its oil imports.
(26 January 2007)


No such thing as waste
A NZ company has stunned international researchers by successfully developing a
fuel which blends petrol with organic waste. The Aquaflow
Bionomic Corporation's breakthrough bio-diesel is made up of 95% petrol and 5%
liquid squeezed from algae grown on human sewage. While the first batch of algae
used came from sewage ponds, the company claims that organic waste from freezing
works and dairy farms is equally effective. NZ energy minister David Parker and
Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons recently drove a 4WD powered by the Aqaflow
bio-diesel through central Wellington and claimed the fuel "performed
admirably."
(28 December 2006)


Kiwi creation joins world's supercars
NZ's first supercar, the Hulme.F1,
secured a rare invitation to show at Britain's prestigious Goodwood Festival of
Speed. The annual event showcases the latest designs by big names Ferrari,
Maserati and Aston Martin, as well as those of boutique car makers. Named in
honour of Kiwi Formula One champ Denny Hulme, the Hulme.F1 has been developed in
secrecy over the last two years. Hulme Supercar Managing Director, Jock
Freemantle, explained the significance of showing at Goodwood in NZ's Sunday
Star Times. "We are getting in front of the most exclusive prestigious
market in the world. Probably a very high percentage of the supercar owners of
the world will be there." Designed by Tony Parker, the Hulme.F1 has
received financial backing from fashion label Zambesi, Air NZ, paint company
Dupont, and former Air NZ CEO Ralph Norris.
(7-9 July 2006)


Nile by mile
NZer Cam McLeay is co-leading an expedition aimed at accurately measuring the
length of the River Nile. The six person team began their journey at Rosetta,
Egypt, and will travel through Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and possibly
Burundi to find the river’s starting point. “Our goal is to accurately measure
the length of the Nile to its longest source,” says McLeay. “There's been a lot
of debate over the last several hundred years about the source of the Nile.” The
British/NZ crew will travel in motorised inflatable boats, which will be
air-lifted over difficult stretches by microlight hang-gliders. Possible hazards
include crocodiles, hippos, and border security.
(21 September 2005)


Dishing the dirt
NZ scientists at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research have
developed a high-tech yet cost-effective new crime-fighting technique. The
revolutionary system uses DNA analysis of the bacteria in soil to match a
database of samples – the equivalent of a soil “fingerprint.” Says study leader
Jacqui Horswell, "If the person says I didn't murder her because I didn't go
into that back garden, you can say, actually, I think you'll find you did."
Unlike current techniques, which
involve hiring pricey experts, the ESR kit can be used by any forensic scientist
familiar with molecular biology. In a spin-off study, doctoral student Rachel
Parkinson is creating a tool which will be able to pinpoint a victim’s time of
death by looking at the bacteria the body produces as it decomposes and its
presence in the surrounding soil. Both studies have sparked considerable
international interest, particularly from the University of Tennessee Forensic
Anthropology Facility, known as the “Body Farm.”
(26 May 2005)


Seismic shift for psychiatry
A study of schizophrenia by NZ psychologist John Read, as published in leading
psychiatric journal Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, could potentially
"trigger a landslide" in his field, according to Guardian columnist
and clinical psychologist Oliver James. The traditional view of schizophrenia is
that it is a genetic disease which can only be cured by anti-psychotic drugs.
Read "slays these biological cows" by showing that, in the vast
majority of cases, schizophrenia is a result of nurture rather than nature and
is specifically triggered by traumatic events such as childhood sexual abuse.
James: "Not since the publication of RD Laing's book Sanity, Madness and
the Family, in 1964, has there been such a significant challenge to
[psychiatry's] contention that genes are the main cause of schizophrenia and
that drugs should be the automatic treatment of choice."
(22 October 2005)


Industry in good hands
Malaysian Star feature looks at
NZ's thriving film, multimedia and technology schools; specifically Auckland's
South Seas Film and Television School, Media Design School, and University of
Technology (AUT), and Palmerston North's University College of Learning (UCol).
"Thanks to the success of award-winning trilogy Lord of the Rings, NZ's creative
schools are seeing a surge in interest in film-making, 3D-animation, computer
graphic design and a host of other artistic disciplines."
(19 June 2005)

Deluxe innovation
Douglas Creek Ltd (Bay of Plenty) has spent the last five years developing
Cervelt, a groundbreaking luxury fibre made from the down of NZ deer. Cervelt is
a strong light-weight textile with a fibre diameter of just 13 micron (merino
wool is 18 and the finest cashmere 15.5). “There are many qualities of Cervelt
yet to be quantified,” says Douglas Creek Director Bert McGhee. “[We] believe it
is possibly the greatest natural fibre in the world and there is nothing on the
market that comes close, with trials in Europe and NZ exceeding all
expectations.” Fibre2Fashion clearly agrees, describing Cervelt
as “the most revolutionary textile development seen worldwide in over 150
years.”
(20 December 2004)

Warning heard around the globe
Top Kiwi scientist, Dr Peter Barrett, has warned the world “if we continue our
present growth path, we are facing extinction … Not in millions of years, or
even millennia, but by the end of this century.” An expert on climate change,
Barrett is this year’s recipient of the prestigious Marsden award and Director
of Victoria University's Antarctic Research Centre.
(17 November 2004)

Dynamic partnership
Christchurch based Nano Cluster Devices
Ltd (NCD) has secured a potentially lucrative partnership with American
organization and manufacturer, NanoDynamics. NanoDynamics is to take over
international sales duties for NCD’s groundbreaking technologies, which include
the self-assembly of nanowires in production of semiconductors and electronic
components.
(18 October 2004)

One computer to rule them all
The supercomputer used to create Oscar-winning special effects for the LotR
trilogy is now for hire. Weta Digital and Gen-I (a Telecom subsidiary) have
established the NZ Supercomputing Center in Wellington, where commercial and
scientific research can be undertaken by local and international customers.
Currently ranked 80th among the world's 500 most powerful computers, it can
perform 2.8 trillion calculations per second. Weta and Gen-I plan to add extra
servers in the near future, boosting it to the top 10.
(8 September 2004)

Quantum leap
Otago University's Dr Murray Barrett
joined a team of scientists at
the
National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado examining
teleportation via quantum information processes. The group's groundbreaking
findings - which proved that it is possible to "reliably
and readily shuttle information within a quantum computer" - were published in
June editions of both Science and Nature.
(14 July 2004)


Power in numbers
Minister for research, science and
technology,
Dr Pete Hodgson, headed an impressive delegation of NZ scientists and
executives at the annual Biotechnology Industry Organisation (BIO) meeting in
San Francisco. In the course of the conference NZ and Australia signed the
Trans-Tasman Biotechnology Alliance, in a bid to attract more foreign investment
to their combined shores.
(6 June 2004)

Humdinga
Alan Gibbs launches the Gibbs Humdinga
at the Motor Show in Birmingham. A V8 350 bhp five seater go-anywhere machine,
the Humdinga reaching 160 km/h on land and 48 km/h on the water. Says Gibbs,
"There is vastly more suitable water for mankind to enjoy than mountains to
drive over." Meanwhile the Gibbs Aquada
continues its thrill-a-second ride as BBC
correspondent David Gregory unstraps himself: "I have never had so much fun
in a car." And Virgin Atlantic Airways Chairman Sir
Richard Branson has set a new record for the fastest crossing of the
English Channel by an amphibious vehicle. (90 minutes). Alan Gibbs has slashed
the price of the Aquada in half because response has been such that the company
will increase production substantially. Ticket price is $190K NZ plus GST, or
£75K including VAT.
(19 May 2004)


Talking Turkey
Evolutionary biologists at Auckland
University have made ivory tower headlines by providing compelling evidence of the
origins of the Indo-European language family. Associate Professor Russell Gray
and PhD student Quentin Atkinson applied a complex computer program modelled on
those used in genetics to the question which has baffled linguists for nearly
two centuries: whether the Indo-European language was spread by Kurgan horseman
invading Europe and the Near East from the Russian steppes 6,000 years ago, or
via agricultural expansion from Anatolia (modern Turkey) 3,000 years earlier.
The findings of Gray and Atkinson aver that the language family diverted from
its predecessors well before the Kurgan horsemen, which places its origins in
Anatolia. The ground-breaking theory - published in leading British science
journal Nature - made
headlines around the world and has been championed in the US by Stanford
University's renowned geneticist, Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza.
(1 December 2003)


Time travellers beware
NZ relativity expert, Professor Matt Visser, attended a Cambridge University
discussion on the troublesome issue of time travel, in honour of Stephen
Hawking’s 60th birthday. “Most physicists view time travel as being problematic,
if not downright repugnant,” he said in an Age feature, pointing to the
famous paradox of a time traveller killing his infant grandmother. “Is
chronology protected? Despite a decade's work, we don't know for certain.”
(1 October 2003)


Aquada, Bond Aquada, 0064
International media attention was
lavished on The Thames, London, for the launch of NZ-entrepreneur Alan Gibb's
revolutionary Aquada (inspired by inventor Terry
Roycroft's design innovations). The James Bond-style sports vehicle with the
amphibian edge can reach up to 100mph on land, and on the water retracts its
wheels and uses a jet to plane along the surface at speeds of over 30mph. Gibbs:
"This is new in the way that helicopters were new or Harrier jump jets were
new." It goes into production later this year and has a price tag of
€150,000. CNN,
BBC, Washington
Times, NZ
Herald, USA
Today, Salon,
Canoe,
The Times,
Sydney
Morning Herald, Guardian,
Wired, The
Independent ("duck the traffic") and The
Sun (who call it a "Fjord Escort"). Read the story of
the Aquada here.
(03 September 2003)


Bright sparks and smart studs
A NZ company working in conjunction with
Auckland University is set to revolutionise road safety technology. Harding
Traffic Systems has developed battery-powered "smart
studs" to replace the cat's eyes currently marking roads around the world.
The light emitting studs are able to direct traffic on an individual basis - for
example, by pulsing green in one direction in the event of heavy fog or smoke.
An offshoot program fulfils a long-held driver's fantasy: voice recognition
technology could enable motorists to command lights to "go green!"
(1 August 2003)


Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm ... 35?!
Canterbury University
psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa lumps men of scientific brilliance and criminals
in the same psychological boat, claiming that both dwindle in the creative
stakes post-35 - typically sapped by marriage! Kanazawa gathered the ages of
280 scientists at the time of their major breakthroughs and discovered that -
like criminals - most were at their productive peak during early adulthood. His
theory? Men strive for success in order to attract marital partners - once a
wife is snared, the drive to impress recedes. Kanazawa's findings - which,
incidentally, concur with his study of artistic geniuses - are to be published
in the Journal of Research in Personality and New Scientist.
(11 July 2003)

On father figures and wayward teens
New Scientist profiles the work
of Canterbury University psychologist Bruce Ellis, who has recently published a
study on the effects of absentee fathers on teenage girls. Ellis has monitored
700 girls from pre-school to high-school, in an attempt to explain the unusually
high rate of teen pregnancy in our country. His theories have met with great
interest in the US - the only Western country with a comparable teen pregnancy
rate.
(15 May 2003)

Belated acclaim for unsung edge hero
"The Wright Brothers get all the
credit, but a little-known NZ farmer and self-taught aviation pioneer deserves
some recognition too." Richard Pearse featured in LA Times as both
NZ and America approach the centennial celebrations of their respective
"first flights." Pearse has been nominated for the First Flight Hall
of Fame at Kitty Hawk by the NZ division of the Royal Aeronautical Society, but
is unlikely to be inducted before 2005. For the NZEdge profile on Pearse click here.
(13 April 2003)

Children of the revolution
"New Zealand is leading the mobile revolution in Australasia," says
BIZ IT managing director John Kennett. Telecom's recent launch of Mobile
JetStream has paved the way for radical innovations in the very near future;
including high-speed mobile and Internet services, the ability to access a
database from anywhere at any time, and on-demand video-conferencing.
(12 March 2003)


A life story
NZ scientist Maurice Wilkins is the least recognised of the three discoverers of
DNA; a fact which is finally being rectified by this year's 50th anniversary
celebrations. 2003 will also see the release of Wilkins' long-awaited
autobiography, on which he has been working for the last 8 years. The
Dominion Post: "In tackling the question 'what is life?' his readers
may at least gain some understanding of one remarkable person's life." For
the NZEdge story on Wilkins see here.
(14 March 2003)

Wireless Oscars
Auckland based company, The
Hyperfactory, were commended at the 2003 GSM Awards in Cannes this month for
their TXTDJ innovation. This was The Hyperfactory's second consecutive
nomination for what is essentially the wireless industry's Oscar equivalent.
(18 February 2003)

Wireless Oscars
Wireless wizards The Hyperfactory
are taking NZ innovation to the world stage as finalists in the 2003 GSM Awards
in Cannes. The company's TXTDJ
Radio SMS program is entered in the Best Wireless Application/Service -
Consumer Market category. The awards take place 17-21 February.
(13 January 2003)


Kiwi scientists search for Merrick's ma
Joseph Merrick (the Elephant Man) is still drawing crowds. This time round,
Merrick's deformities are attracting genealogists and scientists, rather than
circus-goers. A team of NZ researchers wants to find living descendents of
Merrick and take samples of their DNA. It is then hoped that the cause of his
disfigurement can be established using the latest genetic techniques.
(28 October 2002)

Celebrations on ice NZ and US scientists in Antarctica recently celebrated the
centenary of the first midwinter stopover by British explorers. Fun and games
included swimming naked in an ice hole and hurling a (frozen) turkey in Scottish
Highland-style games. Staff at Scott Base can look forward
to their first peek of spring sun on August 19th, the same day as their next
scheduled supply flight. "Don't toss that turkey just yet professor."
(12 July 2002)
Model animal behaviour An economic model developed by Massey University-based resource economist Dr
Robert Alexander and postgraduate researcher Chris Fleming, could improve our
understanding of how to help endangered species. By determining how much
money particular how much money particular species cost or benefit humans, the
pair argue that they can give a clearer insight into socio-economic pressures
that push animals to extinction.
(08 May 2002)


Allan Wilson out of Africa evolution theory
"The most profound story Discovery
Channel has ever presented." In Real Eve the Discovery Channel
traces the tale of human evolution through fossilised evidence and breakthrough
genetic evidence towards the theory that that that all humans alive today can
claim as a common ancestor a woman who lived in Africa some 150,000 years ago.
See the NZEDGE hero bio on revolutionary evolutionist Allan
Wilson's formative contribution to the field.
(April 2002)


Ocean's 11 = moonshine
Ernest Rutherford's
musings on the improbability of the development of nuclear weapons because of
the large scale industrial resource needed to do so act as a trope for Phillip
Kerr's New Statesman review of the heist film Ocean's Eleven.
Kerr finds larger than atomic holes in the Steven Soderburgh remake of a Rat
Pack original brought into the C21st as a laptop caper starring Clooney, Pitt
and Roberts. "It's the equivalent for the screenwriter of the "Get
out of Jail Free" card in Monopoly. Or, as Ernest Rutherford might have
described it, "moonshine".
(18 February 2002)

NZ biologist battles
in spice wars
Michael Pearson, a biologist at the University of Auckland, has isolated six
different viruses threatening to destroy the world's second most lucrative spice
- vanilla planifolia. "We are the world experts on vanilla virus ... that
is because we are the only ones doing it." God defend our Tip Top Ice
Cream.
(30 January 2002)
 NZ hydro pioneer passes on
"Each time a switch is thrown on a toaster, in a
woolshed or in a steel mill, there is an odds-on chance that John Malcolmson
will have had a hand in generating the necessary electricity." Malcolmson,
originally from Auckland, was an unassuming man but played a pivotal role in
establishing the huge hydro-dams that are now the basis of our power supply. He
also broke with the government practice of the time consulting with Maori before
using their land.
(16 November 2001)


Remote
control
Wellington design student Rodney Mackrell has won the top prize in a $46,000
competition,
run by Korean giant LG Electronics. His "cellular remote" is
a pocket-sized device that operates as a cellphone with the fold-out screen
allowing the user to control a computer remotely.
Archived story
(September 2001)

Stopping the Rot
The Hamilton-based HortResearch has developed a spray-on organic control
agent that can help prevent botrytis - grapes rotting on the vine. "It
sounds like Mecca," says Phil Ryan, chief winemaker of McWilliam's Wines,
Mount Pleasant. "Anything that could conquer botrytis is exciting."
(6 August 2001)
Government wind
New Zealand government brings wind power to Pakistan's Gwadar district.
(16 July 2001)

Blast from the past
Edge inventor Paul Williams' gasification technology leads the way in
turning waste into energy.
(13 June 2001)

Money on trees
New Zealand scientist Dr Chris Anderson
grows gold on trees through phyto-mining.
(24 May 2001)

Deeply convincing
New Zealand screen-techies Deep
Video Imaging are nearly ready to bring their 3-D PC screen closer to market.
"People have tried like crazy to get the illusion of depth and the closest
you could have is wearing [3-D] goggles and standing at a particular
position," says DVI director Lim Soon Hock outlining the need for DVI's
slimline double screen system
(14 May 2001)


Funny farm
New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research thinks
something funny is going on with cow dung...
(11 May 2001)


Spray away
New Zealand - SkunkShot, created by Victoria University scientists, hits the
garden with eau de skunk; unwelcome cats and dogs keep their distance.
(25 March 2001)


Machine to the milker
Edge-inspired milk-machine gives room service.
(3 March 2001)

Whey better
New Zealand investment and technology turns Israeli cheese run-off from
environmental hazard to valuable protein supplement.
(14 March 2001)

Oil and ice
New Zealand micro-biologist Jackie Aislabie is working on an international
effort to fight oil-slicks in pristine Antarctica.
(1 March 2001)

Classical stirrer
"By instinct a man of the left and no respecter of reputations,"
influential Cambridge Classical scholar Professor Robert Coleman "brought
from his native New Zealand a suspicion of the great English institutions and
took delight in expressing his forthright and sometimes paradoxical
opinions."
(26 February 2001)


Virtually there
New Zealand sport 3D-broadcaster Virtual Spectator talks investment and
expansion.
(9 February 2001)

Over and out
"After six months and more than 400 bidding rounds, the battle for New
Zealands third-generation mobile radio spectrum is over, netting the
Government over $51 million.
(18 January 2001)

Asparagus are from Mars, potatoes are from Venus
Lincoln University researchers have successfully grown potatoes and asparagus
in soil collected from Mars. "Space-based soils could potentially support
future human expansion in the solar system," according to Professor Michael
Mautner. "I wouldn't say very soon, but in a few centuries."
(1 January 2001)

3G in 3rd M?
The auction of New Zealand's 3G radio spectrum frequencies has been an
on-again, off-again affair - will it take till the third millennium?
(20 December 2000)


Nobel award
New Zealander and Nobel laureate for Chemistry, Dr Alan McDiarmid, receives
his award from His Majesty the King of Sweden.
(10 December 2000)

Ideas on IQ
1994's The Bell Curve suggested that Black Americans have a lower
average IQ than other groups - a suggestion that appalled Waikato academic James
Flynn. Flynn suggests IQ tests reflect environment as much inherent
"intelligence", calculating that "by todays IQ tests, in the
1920s nearly half of American men would have been too retarded to master the
rules of baseball." The Boston
Review looks at other flaws in the book.
(17 November 2000)

International treasure
Enterprising techno-toy hounds have devised a use for hand-held GPS systems:
geocaching. 120 caches have been laid in 31 states and 13 countries, including
Australia, New Zealand and Chile.
(6 November 2000)

Out out damn e-mail!
Deleted files may come back to haunt you, says Peter Gutmann of Auckland
University. "It is possible to install a computer that overwrites data when
you hit the Delete key, making it much harder to recover. But these programmes
slow the computer down and even they don't obliterate the original
message."
(28 October 2000)

Frankenfood
New Zealand's Royal Commission on Genetic Engineering is being watched
closely as the first chance for citizens of any country to say what they think
about Frankenfood.
(18 October 2000)


Great Steaming Geysers!
18 year old Rawiri Waru's developed a system to check Rotorua's geysers
don't run out of steam, winning himself a Grand Award and an internship at Bayer
AG in Singapore at the Worldwide Young Researchers for the Environment Expo
2000.
(22 October 2000)

Soft-soaping protector
Waiuku orchardist Chris Henry has created the world's first organically
acceptable soft-soap fungicide. The product, branded as Protector, is
"just what environment conscious growers and customers have been
demanding".
(21 September 2000)

Seeding
change
New Zealand scientists from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric
Research have been collaborating with their Australian and
British counterparts in experiments that may hold the answer to global warming.
By adding extra iron to the sea they hope to encourage the growth of
phytoplankton which capture CO2, a major greenhouse gas.
(23 September 2000)
The end of an Aussie icon: hats off to NZ scientists
"It just may spell the end of the world's ugliest headgear: that staple of
the Australian tourist shop regular, the cork-fringed hat." Two researchers
from Massey University have developed a technique that kills female fruit flies
in the laboratory. The research may single not just the end of an irritant to
people, but also the end of an often fatal threat to sheep.
(19 July 2000)

The truth is out there
An international effort to find biological life in the stars, Stratospheric
Observatory for Infrared Astronomy ('Sophia'), a joint project between NASA and
the German Aerospace Centre, will spend two months of every year in New Zealand,
the place from which they can observe our galaxy, the Milky Way, the clearest.
(17 July 2000)


Wild weather
New Zealander Kevin Trenberth, head of the Climate Analysis Section of the
Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder Colorado, is in the middle of the
wild weather/global warming storm
Search to view
(June 2000)


Kiwi innovation helps blind see the future
A Christchurch company has taken computers for braille users from the age of
the typewriter to the age of the super-computer, with Braillenote, the first
notebook computer for the blind. Asiaweek (CNN) profiles the innovation
in its 'Cutting Edge' column.
(5 May 2000)

You can't grow money on trees ... but cabbages?
Extracting gold from plants sounds like modern day alchemy, but 26 yr-old Massey
University of New Zealand scientist Chris Anderson has managed to do it in the
laboratory - extracting gold from cabbages.
(18 May 2000)


New Zealand firm hails taxi innovation in India
Tait Electronics is launching in India
an innovative two-way radio communication service using using cutting edge
technology. The 'Mega Cab' service, using a satellite based global positioning
system is set to revolutionise the business of catching an Indian cab.
(31 May 2000)


Great balls of fire
Making the cover of the April New Scientist, New Zealand
researchers at the University of Canterbury believe they have solved the
mystery of one of nature's oldest puzzles - ball lightning - a mysterious floating light that appears fleetingly,
gives off no heat and has no obvious power source,
(April 2000)

Dolly Schwarzenegger - muscle-bound merinos the future of food?
Undertaking controversial research, New Zealand scientists are seeking
government permission to take a naturally occurring mutant gene isolated from
double-muscled Belgian blue cattle, which makes them grow exceptionally large,
and insert it into sheep.
(27 April 2000)

Great Balls of Lightning: A Lucky Find
Two New Zealand scientists report in Nature today a more
down-to-earth explanation for something that has been puzzling physicists
for hundreds of years
(3 February 2000)

Kiwi leads state-of-the-art earthquake research
Dr Ian Buckle, director of the Centre for Civil Engineering Earthquake
Research is leading lab-research at University of Nevada, Reno, intended to help
scientists, architects and engineers save lives by designing buildings and
bridges that are more resistant to a trembler's fury.
(18 April 2000)

Kiwi linguists chart man's journey across the Pacific
University of Auckland linguists Russell Gray and Fiona Jordan, "may
have solved one of the greatest mysteries in human prehistory - how
people managed to colonise the Pacific". Writing in the journal Nature they
analysed 77 languages for the evolutionary traces they betray.
(29 June 2000)

Manimal Farm: science's brave new world
New Zealand government researchers
have developed a herd of super-producing
cattle
(20 May 2000)

Edge cracks and the Icebergs breaketh
As record-breaking icebergs are breaking off the edges of Antarctica, Dr.
Dean Peterson, science strategy manager at the New Zealand Antarctic
Institute, is leading research (with far ranging implications for the global
climate) to find out more about the remote continent.
(17 April 2000)


Greenhouse gassed - CO2 emissions spell indigestion for food chains
Sheep in New Zealand may teach scientists how livestock will fare as the carbon
dioxide content of the atmosphere goes up. White poles ringing the pasture
continuously pump CO2 into the air.
(25 March 2000)


Global leader in 3D paint technology brings texture to cyberspace
Auckland company Right Hemisphere has released 'Texture Weapons' its latest
imaging product said, "to represent a breakthrough in 3D content creation
for broadcast, game developers and industrial design." What was once an
arduous task is now once again an easy and fun part of the creative process
(22 June 2000)

The good-old No.8 goes electric to protect people from zoo animals Hyderabad:
"Following the mauling to death of Mohammed Khaja by a tiger
last October and other similar accidents over the last decade where trespassers
have paid with their lives, the zoo authorities decided to go in for New Zealand
electric fencing to protect people".
(8 April 2000)

Testing stress building safer highways, bridges and homes
"If we can simulate an earthquake in a laboratory
under our conditions on our time scale, we can make progress much faster,"
said New Zealander Dr. Ian Buckle director of the Centre for Civil Engineering
Earthquake Research at the University of Nevada-Reno
(18 April 2000)


Kiwis have the secret to animal magnetism
It sounds like a line from a bad personal ad, but a team of New Zealand
biologists, led by Dr. Michael Walker, in an upcoming issue of Nature, report
findings from innovative research into 'the sixth sense.' Investigating how
animals navigate using magnetic fields, they have found microscopic bar magnets
inside the nose of rainbow trout.
(10 July 2000)


Through now
Seepower, global/ Wellington IT company Compudigm's data visualisation software,
delivered smooth connection of more than 500,000 calls from Stadium Australia on
the opening day of the Olympics.
(25 September 2000)

Kiwi wave expert helps the Brits hang ten in Bournemouth
The stereotype of the stoic sunburnt pommie enduring another much-mocked
English summer is all about to change thanks to a world expert kiwi who specialises
in making artificial waves. It might still be cold, but Professor Kerry Black is set to turn Bournemouth into a surfer's paradise by
creating an artificial reef using advanced computer modelling.
(15 June 2000)
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Space traveller
Gisborne-born aeronautic engineer Lester Waugh has been presented with a New
Zealand flag which has traveled 216 times around the earth in the space shuttle
Discovery. The gift from Nasa was a "rare honour", given to recognise
Waugh's work for the organisation involving the placement of scientific
instruments on the moon's southern pole. This award is a career highlight for
Waugh, who works with both the European Aeronautic and Defence Space Company in
Britain and the Johnson Space Centre in the USA. Waugh is currently working on
ExoMars Rover, a robot vehicle which will be sent to explore Mars.
(20 April 2009)


Universal access
High-speed broadband Internet access is coming to over three quarters of the
country over the next decade, in a 3 billion dollar project jointly funded by
the private and public sectors. "This model aims to provide government
investment on favorable terms, while minimizing government involvement in
commercial operations which we believe the private sector is better positioned
to direct," said Communications and Technology Minister Stephen Joyce.
Today broadband penetration is low in New Zealand and speeds are generally slow,
while access in rural areas — important in the agriculture-dominated economy
— is poor. The aim is to provide 100-megabit/second speed to 25 towns, cities
and rural areas. "This is a game changing initiative by the
government," said Rosalie Nelson, telecommunications research manager at
IDC Research. "It effectively leads to the commoditisation of access. It
changes the competitive landscape."
(30 March 2009)


Southeast Asian discoveries
Auckland-based gold exploration company Zedex Minerals Ltd. looks set to begin a
drilling programme in Vietnam at the end of February with a potential find of as
much as 5 million ounces according to a company executive. "Finding
anything above 2 million ounces is harder and harder these days, so that would
be a very sizable deposit," managing director Paul Seton said. The initial
drilling program may cost about $2 million and Zedex was "well down the
path" of raising the funds, Seton said. "Funding is a big problem for
everyone at the moment, but gold is going to be on a general upward trend,"
he said. "Money is going to be coming into gold." The company also
focuses on silver, copper, molybdenum, lead, zinc, and tungsten deposits, in
Vietnam, Malaysia and Australia.
(3 February 2009)


Speed demon's dream
Wellington entrepreneur Richard Nowland is the man behind the only jet-powered
car ever designed and built in New Zealand. Nowland purchased a Rolls-Royce Avon
206 turbojet engine and intends to transform it into New Zealand's first
purpose-built land- speed record car. Aiming to blitz the record at home
(347kmh) and in Australia (801kmh), the carbon-kevlar- over-steel-space-frame
project is entitled Jetblack. Its name picks up on the propulsion of the vehicle
and also its symbolisation of how New Zealand can compete with the best the
world has to offer. Nowland, the project manager and probable driver, hopes
Jetblack will be seen as a metaphor and an inspiration for Kiwi capabilities.
"I want to involve as many New Zealanders as possible, especially our
future generation of engineers and innovators, and I will be approaching schools
and universities to invite them to participate in the project," he said.
"The whole thing with the project isn't just to have something to go fast,
it is about promoting New Zealand engineering and technology." Jetblack is
on track for testing to begin early in 2010.
(26 January 2009)


An astral heritage
Tekapo’s Graeme Murray — director of Earth & Sky at Mt John Observatory
— is the driving force behind obtaining UNESCO World Heritage Starlight Reserve status for the pristine skies above the Lake Tekapo and Aoraki Mount Cook area. It is the first time any group has attempted this, and Murray says international interest in the idea has been “immense”. After a 2001 warning estimated the observatory would have to close its doors in just 10 years due to light pollution from house and street lighting and the impending development of the tourist town below, Murray’s major goal is to try and keep the sky relatively untouched. Operated by the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Canterbury, the Observatory is internationally recognised as one of the best-situated observatories for viewing the southern night skies. “This area would be the first in the world that is in the sky. It encourages people, and UNESCO, to look up as well as around them,” Murray says. All going to plan, he is hoping for UNESCO support to be officiated by next year, which, coincidentally, is the 2009 International Year of Astronomy.
(24 November 2008)


Rethinking polar power
Later this month, Meridian Energy will begin work on the most southernmost wind
farm in the world, on Crater Hill, Ross Island in Antarctica. The turbines will
provide renewable energy to New Zealand's Scott Base and to the American base at
McMurdo Station. Three German-built turbines, each on a 128-foot tower and each
generating 300 kilowatts, will be erected on a ridge line at Scott Base. With
few alternatives in the harsh conditions, "diesel is still very much the
lifeblood of the Antarctic,'' said acting division director for Antarctic
infrastructure and logistics at the National Science Foundation's Office of
Polar Programs Brian W. Stone. But renewable energy is trimming the size of the
problem. The project will cut consumption by approximately 463,000 litres of
fuel every year between the two bases — initially reducing fuel consumption by
11 per cent. The project will also result in a reduction of greenhouse gas
production from both bases of 1,242 tonnes of CO² annually Work will be carried
out over two summer periods with the turbines planned to be up and running by
the end of February 2010.
(4 November 2008)


Look up without pain
New Zealander Darrell Poole invented the neck safety-device Necprotech after
surviving a rock-climbing accident in 1998 which saw him fall six metres because
of a slack rope. Poole fell after his belayer - the climber's buddy who watches
the ascent and feeds the rope to ensure that it stays taut in the event of a
fall - had stopped looking up because his neck hurt. Poole made the prototypes
in his shed at home. Leeds entrepreneur Nigel King and Poole's brother, Brendon
then presented Necprotech on venture capitalist show Dragons' Den and received
NZ $300,000 (£114,442), the highest sum of money won on the show. The device is
marketed at those who spend a lot of time looking up, like those working in
overhead power maintenance work, mining, fruit picking and forestry. "The
head is very weak - it weighs about 14lb, the same as a bowling ball - and if
you lean back it puts a lot of stress on the neck. There are about 1.2m people
in the UK with muscular skeletal disorders, and we believe Necprotech will
reduce stress on neck muscles by an average of 35 per cent," said
King.
(11 September 2008)


Imagination roars to life
Christchurch inventor Glenn Martin's ultralight aircraft, the Martin
Jetpack, a $100,000 "jetski for the sky" able to climb to heights of
almost 2500m, has been launched at an aerospace show in Wisconsin. No more
traffic jams as you slice through the air at speeds of up to 186mph. Developed
in secret over the past 10 years by Martin, his son, Harrison, 16, showed it off
without mishap. Buyers of the $100,000 contraption will not need a special
licence to fly, and if that sounds alarming, rest assured that Martin's company
will insist that every purchaser take a training course before turning the
ignition key. One of the test pilots was Martin's wife, Vanessa.
"It was really an exciting experience, because at the time it was just a
prototype. It was very loud, very noisy, very hot. It was like a beast that
roars," she said. "But once you throttle up, you feel it bite, and you
leave the ground, and there's this feeling of floating and freedom - you become
quite overwhelmed."
(30 July 2008)


Boscombe breaks
Raglan-based marine consultants ASR Limited have designed a £3 million
artificial reef at Boscombe beach in Bournemouth; work will begin on the seabed
project in the next few months with a completion date of late October. ASR is
then moving on to Kovalam in southern India, where it has carried out a
feasibility study for two reefs in Goa. If Boscombe is a success it expects
other British seaside towns to be banging on its door. ASR director Shaw Mead
said many beaches in the UK and elsewhere have good swell but no natural breaks.
"It's rare that Mother Nature creates the conditions for great surfing. But
we can help create those conditions," Mead said. ASR also designed the
first full-scale movable reef floor, VersaReef, for Florida's Orlando Surfpark
and Mount Maunganui's Mount Reef.
(17 July 2008)


Coolest boat in the world
New Zealand Earthrace skipper Pete Bethune has circumnavigated the globe in
record-breaking time, 11 minutes short of 61 days in a £3 million 24m tri-hull
wavepiercer powered on cooking oil. "I am elated," Bethune told the Guardian,
as he thundered the final 50 miles towards the Vulkan Shipyard near Valencia.
"We sat around last night getting excited and it was like Christmas
Eve. We just can't wait to get there and celebrate - get into some drink, meet
the ground crew and have a party." Earthrace's
journey, which began on April 27 and ended in Sagunto, Spain on June 27, was
fraught with adventure. The world's fastest eco-boat and her four-man crew was
threatened by pirates, lashed by monsoons and almost sunk by floating logs.
"Earthrace's success has proved that any form of transport, including
marine, can be non-damaging to the environment as well as being high
performance," Bethune
said. Built in New Zealand, the trimaran is capable of submarining up to 7m
underwater and at 6 knots can travel 24,000km on one tank of biodiesel.
(28 June 2008)


Energy beneath our feet
Over the next three years, New Zealand public research institute GNS Science
will explore the potential of harnessing the low-energy geothermal energy
produced by underground steam and water systems. GNS Science is to develop
technologies for locating and tapping low-temperature heat sources, which refers
to temperatures below 150°C, with some below 80°C. Project leader Brian
Carey said New Zealand's landmass is a large source of heat, with different
types of natural energy available. "Low temperature geothermal resources
are widespread throughout New Zealand and there is significant potential to
increase their use. They are capable of providing long-term energy and heat
supply with low carbon emissions," Carey said. He said the benefits of
harvesting energy this way included low environmental impacts and increased
security of supply.
(11 June 2008)


Unlikely gathering
On a subsea mountain peak 400km south of New Zealand, a robot submarine has
filmed tens of millions of waving five-armed creatures called brittlestars, in a
never-seen-before seamount discovery. Scientists from New Zealand and Australia
discovered "Brittlestar City" on a peak in the Macquarie Range, where
the starfish-like creatures colonized against daunting odds on an underwater
summit higher than the world's tallest building. NIWA ecologist Dr Ashley Rowden
said the aggregation of brittlestars was amazing. "The implications of the
find for our understanding of the relative uniqueness of seamount assemblages
are potentially far-reaching," Rowden said.
(18 May 2008)


Massive robotics
New Zealand software company Massive, famous for its on-screen swarms of
pillaging orcs in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, recently showcased new
business potential in Hanover, Germany. This included engineering, architecture
and robotics. Software used in The Rings enabled characters the ability
to react to their surroundings based on sight, touch and hearing. When scaled
into a crowd, the characters interacted with each other, creating a more
realistic result. Massive now sees this software being used for safe-building
design, disaster scenarios, traffic and municipal planning, and possibly for
scientific research into the behaviour of species. Massive CEO Diane Holland
said it is unclear how many markets the company's technology could serve.
"If you can accurately simulate what we as human beings think and do, [the
possibilities are] absolutely endless," she said.
(9 March 2008)


King talks technology
The Guardian interviewed Black Sheep director Jonathan King about his favourite
gadgets on the eve of his film's UK release. King's favourite piece of
technology is his Apple iBook G4 laptop - "I use it to write, read, chat,
think, goof off, listen to music, goof off, research, write ... all in the one
spot at my desk." King describes himself as more "nerdular" than
luddite and dreams of a day when filmmakers will be fully autonomous. "I
think most filmmakers are like people who starved in war time: even if you
believe you can get funding for your films in the future, you are always working
toward the day you'll be self-sufficient," he says. "That's getting
more and more possible as this technology gets better and cheaper, closing the
gap between having the idea and shooting and cutting the
pictures."
(12 October 2007)


The future of transport
Transport Communications, a new book by two NZ professors, predicts
an end to congestion, terrorist threats and increasing fuel prices through the
widespread adoption of nanotechnologies and satellite communications over the
next 50 years. Authors Chris Kissling and John Tiffin suggest scientific
solutions to present day problems, ranging from those based on current
technologies to scenarios that seem straight out of science fiction.
"[We're] trying to help people look into the future: what changes are
coming, because more of the same, we think, is limited," said Kissling. The
pair's predictions include "clever" clothing that helps repair
injuries after an accident, airplane passengers being given sleeping pills and
stacked horizontally on beds, and smart coatings on vehicles that can absorb
solar power, repair scratches and clean themselves.
(26 August 2007)


NZ to be nanotech hub
The NZ government is investing NZ$628 million into new research programs in a
bid to position the country at the vanguard of nanotechnology development. More
than 30 organizations will receive a share of the funding, including the
Victoria University-based MacDiarmid
Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, one of New Zealand's
seven National Centres of Research Excellence. "Our biggest area of
research investment in this round is the primary production sector, accounting
for about half of the total investment," said Murray Bain, chief executive
of government funding agency the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology
(FRST). "This reflects the innate importance of this sector to New
Zealand's economy and the need for us to be innovative if we're to remain
globally competitive. We are also increasing the amount we're investing in
research to help us understand and respond to climate change."
(19 July 2007)


Skim straight from the cow
Scientists in NZ have found cows that produce skim milk naturally, a
discovery that could potentially revolutionise the dairy industry. If
researchers can identify the genes responsible for skim milk production, they
could breed cows that produce full-fat milk that contains only the unsaturated
or "good" fats. The cows were found when NZ biotech company ViaLactia
screened the composition of milk from its herd of four million animals.
ViaLactia also hopes to breed a herd of cows that can produce milk suitable for
spreadable butter. The discovery could prove incredibly lucrative, with skim
milk dominating dairy sales in key export markets such as the UK.
(28 May 2007)


Cheap solar power a step closer
Massey University researchers have developed a novel means of harnessing solar
energy, at a fraction of the price. Scientists at the university's Nanomaterials
Research Centre have produced a range of coloured synthetic dyes for use in
dye-sensitised solar cells. The synthetic dyes are based on light-harvesting
compounds found in nature, such as chlorophyll and haemoglobin, and are made
from titanium dioxide - a plentiful, renewable and non-toxic mineral found in NZ
black sand. The dye-sensitised cells cost a tenth of the price of currently
available silicon-based solar cells, and are more efficient to run and produce.
"The refining of pure silicon, although a very abundant mineral, is
energy-hungry and very expensive. And whereas silicon cells need direct sunlight
to operate efficiently, these cells will work efficiently in low diffuse light
conditions," says study leader Dr Wayne Campbell. "The next step is to
take these dyes and incorporate them into roofing materials or wall
panels." The solar cells are the result of more than ten years research
funded by NZ's Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.
(6 April 2007)


The future of fabric
Auckland-based Zephyr Technology Ltd
has developed "smart fabric" for the US army which is capable of
monitoring wearers' vital signs. The patented fabric works through flexible
sensors which detect and measure displacement, distance, pressure and bio-data.
Wireless connectivity and graphical diagnostic tools deliver status updates in
real time, or record information for later analysis. The technology is designed
to save lives by assessing how well soldiers cope in combat situations. Zephyr's
Business Development Officer Steven Small says the fabric could also be useful
for athletes, as it can measure how their bodies react to training.
(20 March 2007)


Everest round two
NZ innovation could conquer Everest for a second time thanks to the invention of
an unmanned helicopter capable of rescuing stricken climbers from its summit.
Auckland-based company TGR Helicorp has spent six years developing the Alpine
Wasp, an unpiloted full-size helicopter with a revolutionary diesel engine and
rotor blades designed to function at high altitudes. While normal helicopters
are unable to fly beyond 4300m, the Alpine Wasp can reach heights of 9000m -
150m above the summit of Everest. "We are going to challenge the science of
aviation at extreme altitude and conquer new frontiers on Mt Everest and in
Nepal," says TGV Helicorp president Trevor Rogers. Initially sceptical, NZ
amputee climber Mark Inglis is now acting as a goodwill ambassador for the
company. "Much of my early career was in search and rescue, and the first
rule is that a rescuer doesn't put their own life at risk," he says.
"This [helicopter] is one of the first ways I've seen of really being able
to ensure that on Everest." The Alpine Wasp will be tested this year in the
NZ Alps and - if successful - will be stationed from spring 2008 in the sherpa
town of Namche Bazaar, at 3440m on the route to Everest base camp.
(10 February 2007)


Mammal mystery uncovered
NZ palaeontologist Trevor Worthy claims to have evidence that NZ once had an
indigenous land mammal, challenging years of accepted scientific theory. Worthy
and his team of researchers found two parts of a jaw and a femur of a mouse-like
creature in Otago's St Bathans fossil bed during digs between 2002-4. The
creature is estimated to have lived in NZ 16-19 million years ago.
"Scientists have long held the view that NZ has this weird and wonderful
avian biota that lived on the ground because there were no mammals to impede or
compete with birds," says Worthy. "It appears that this little
mouse-like animal was part of the fauna on the ancient Gondwana supercontinent
and it got stuck on NZ when the latter separated more than 80 million years
ago." Worthy's study has been published in the US journal Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences.
(28 December 2006)


Dinosaurs of the South Pacific
The first proof that dinosaurs lived on remote South Pacific Islands has
been revealed by Dr
Jeffrey Stilwell of Monash University, Melbourne. Stilwell, who trained at
Otago University under NZ's leading palaeontologist Ewan Fordyce, has discovered
a 2km-long pocket of dinosaur bones on the Chatham Islands. These include at
least three kinds of carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaur, one kind of flying
reptile and marine reptiles such as mosasaurs and elasmosaurs. "Prior to
our discoveries, only a few isolated examples of dinosaur fossils had been found
in the northern part of NZ," says Stilwell. "Now we've found dinosaur
remains almost 1000 kilometres east out in the middle of the South Pacific. [The
dinosaurs] were on their own evolutionary path for probably 15 million years
since the separation of the Chathams-NZ region some 85-80 million years ago. No
one had even hypothesised that there were any fossils out that far."
(30 March 2006)


Race with a difference
February 22 saw the official launch of Earthrace,
a 100% biodiesel fuelled boat aiming to set a new world record for
circumnavigating the globe. The brainchild of Pete Bethune, Earthrace is a
charitable foundation promoting the use of renewable fuel. The boat will tour NZ
from mid-April to June before heading to North America. The global
circumnavigation attempt is scheduled to begin in either September 2006 or March
2007 (depending on the weather) from Barbados.
(17 March 2006)


NZ has the edge online
NewZealand.com, Tourism NZ's award-winning website, earned further raves in a
feature article by Brand Channel. "A ninth annual Webby Award winner, the
homepage of NewZealand.com is a vibrant blend of heritage and enterprise, with
both tourism and trade promoted in a decisive but considerate manner,"
writes reviewer Ian Cocoran. "Bedecked in images of raw, natural beauty and
with multi-lingual functionality, the portal is easily navigable and appealing
in its simplicity. Far from being superficial however, the real allure of the
website lies within its sub-culture, perhaps not too dissimilar to the country
it represents."
(9 January 2006)


Evolution in an egg shell
Massey University's David Lambert has published his findings on the
microevolution of Antarctica's Adélie penguins in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences. Lambert's research shows a marked difference
between the genetic make up of modern day Adélie penguins and their 6,000 year
old ancestors. He believes this was caused by the splitting up of giant icebergs
in Antarctica, which forced many nesting colonies to migrate and interbreed with
other types of penguins.
(8 November 2005)


Kiwi kayak heralds new era of design
NZ biochemist Murray Broom's FirstLight
Kayak received a three-page spread in I.D
magazine, America's leading
authority on the art, business and culture of design. Reviewer Barbara Flanagan
(I.D contributing editor and product designer) hails the 20-pound collapsible
kayak as a perfect meeting of form and function. "To paddlers, Broom's
FirstLight Kayak is a sublime achievement. It means we can finally store our
boats wherever we live, and take them wherever we go - on foot, by air, by
subway … To designers, the museum-worthy vessel is thrilling proof that the
age of textiles is here, and that metal is over."
(November 2005)


Future craft flies thanks to Kiwi know-how
NZ engineer Bill
White has designed an ultra-lightweight engine to power a "back to the
future" style mini helicopter for US company AirScooter. Christchurch based
company Pegasus Aviation began developing the AeroTwin engine in the 1990s and
quickly caught the interest of Australian and US companies including AirScooter.
Pegasus eventually collapsed as a company but AirScooter persisted with its sale
due to the impressive reputation of Bill White, who made his name in motorcycle
racing engines. Former Pegasus director Stuart Pearson, who formed a new company
- Motor Corp (PMC) - specifically to manage White's engineering firm W.L White,
hails the AeroTwin engine as a shining example of Kiwi guts and ingenuity.
"American companies don't seem to want to venture into [this] sort of
thing," he says in the NZ Herald. "They would have to hire a dozen
experts, each to do a different task. They have a different mindset. We just get
stuck in and do everything ourselves where there they seem to do everything by
committee … In the States this would have cost $10 million, whereas we do it
for less than one."
(7 September 2005)


Technological trailblazers
A group of Canterbury University scientists have developed a machine with the
potential to revolutionise everything from counter-terrorism and border control
to disease detection. Since the early 1980s, Professor Murray McEwan and his CU
team have been working alongside NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the field
of SIFT technology - the analysis of ionic chemical reactions in interstellar
space. In recent years McEwan has brought the technology's applications closer
to home, using it to detect the invisible smell and taste fingerprints known as
volatile organic compounds (VOC's) in quantities of air or breath. The initial
prototype has been downscaled from a four-tonne machine to one the size of a bar
fridge, the Voice100. As well as detecting traces of explosives and narcotics,
the Voice100 can analyse subsoil for valuable oil and gas reserves, measure
pollution levels, and diagnose diseases ranging from diabetes to schizophrenia
from a single human breath - all at 100 times the speed of standard
technologies.
(17 September 2005)


Martian rocks get Maori names
The American space agency NASA has given Maori names to rocks on Mars, thanks to the
influence of the film Whale Rider. The Mars robotic rover Opportunity is
exploring near a cliff named after the late Wellington-born scientist Roger
Burns, who made predictions about Martian geology. The NASA team used New
Zealand names for rocks with geological links to the Burns cliff. Paikea - the
name of the girl in the film - came to mind at first, and after they learned about
Maori meeting houses another rock was named Wharenui. NASA has also used
the names of the Rotorua geysers Pohutu and Kahu. Roger Burns was educated at
Rongatai College and Victoria University. He was Professor of Earth and
Planetary Sciences at MIT. He predicted that a certain mineral would be found on
Mars that would prove that there had been a great body of water on the planet's
surface. Roger Burns died in 1994. See XenoTech
Research also.
(29 December 2004)


Dino-buff wins US accolade
Dr Joan Wiffen of Havelock North received the esteemed Morris Skinner Award from
the US-based Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology at its 64th annual meeting in
Denver, Colorado. According to the SVP website, the award is “for outstanding
and sustained contributions to scientific knowledge through the making of
important collections of fossil vertebrates.” Wiffen, an entirely self-taught
palaeontologist and dinosaur expert, famously discovered fossils in a remote
section of Mangahouanga Stream in northern Hawkes Bay. “Her contributions are
extremely important nationally and give NZ geographic position, internationally,
said Chris Hollis of NZ’s Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences in the
NZ Herald.
(17 November 2004)


Sir Ed speaks out
Sir Edmund Hillary has spoken out against a US-led project to build an “ice
highway” in Antarctica, which would allow hundreds of tons of scientific
equipment to be transported to the Amundsen-Scott Base. “[Sir Edmund] spent
weeks battling against the elements to get to the pole, and it was an enormous
achievement. Now you've got the concept of a marked route that takes away the
challenge and the adventure of getting there, and that is anathema to [him],”
said Foreign Minister Phil Goff, who accompanied Hillary to Antarctica to
commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Erebus disaster. NZ has joined the 29
other Antarctic signatories in sanctioning the project as ecologically sound.
(29 November 2004)

The wonders of technology
77-year-old Aroha Pearless used the
internet to track down her first crush, a US marine stationed in NZ during WW2.
Pearless had found photos of her former flame, Carl Leary, while cleaning out an
old album. Remembering Leary came from Flint, Michigan, she set her
grandchildren to work online. “I hadn't forgot about her,” said 81-year-old
Leary. “As soon as I heard her voice, I knew who she was.”
(27 September 2004)

A change forecast
Metra, the commercial sector of NZ’s
government-owned meteorological service, is helping the BBC propel its TV
weather reports into the 21st century. Thanks to cutting edge technology used in
video games and the LotR trilogy, viewers will be able to watch realistic
3D computer graphic versions of current weather or meteorological predictions.
BBC Weather Centre project director, Colin Tregear: “We will keep our hallmarks
of accuracy and authority. But we hope this will be more engaging and therefore
informative for viewers. Snow will look like snow, cloud like cloud and so on.”
(24 August 2004)


Rat-tracker
Groundbreaking research into the origins
of Polynesian people by Auckland University's Lisa Matisoo-Smith has been
published in the
New York Times,
National Geographic, and Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences. Matisoo-Smith used the DNA of Pacific rats - both fossilised and
contemporary - to create an extensive family tree mapping the migration paths of
various Pacific peoples. Her findings appear to refute the popular "express
train" theory - whereby Remote Oceania was settled in a matter of a few
centuries - suggesting instead a slower and more interactive process. "The
settlement of [the Pacific] was the last major human migration, and it seems to
grab the public's imagination," says Matisoo-Smith. "But there are not simple
answers. Like most human endeavors, the settlement of the Pacific was complex.
And that complexity should be recognized and celebrated."
(8 June 2004)

Thunderbirds are go!
NZ software company, Virtual Katy, will
lend its world-class sound engineering services to London's Pinewood Studios,
for the live-action remake of Thunderbirds. Virtual Katy - which
was also used on The Lord of the Rings - is described as "revolutionary"
by film industry insiders. "What
took 5 hours of intensive splicing by sound engineers can now be done
automatically by Virtual Katy in a mere 10 minutes," says founder John McKay.
Link has expired
(12 March 2004)

Play it safe with silver
According to research undertaken at Auckland University, silver cars are
significantly less likely to be involved in a serious crash than vehicles of
other colours. Sue Furness, who led the study, suggests that this “may be due to
a combination of light colour and high reflectivity,” but stresses that factors
such as engine size, mileage, and the sex of the driver must also be taken into
account. The findings were published in New Scientist and the British
Medical Journal.
(19 December 2003)


Chameleon car coolest of '03
Alan Gibbs' Aquada skims into Time
magazine's list of 'Coolest Inventions of 2003.' The Aquada also featured in Arthur Lubow's
article 'Inspiration: Where Does It Come From?' for the
New York Times,
alongside the Band-Aid, the dripless popsicle, and the new US $20 note. "Because
design stands at the intersection of artistry, engineering and commerce, ideas
can blow in from many directions ... The New Zealand businessman who designed
the Aquada car-boat was annoyed by the inconvenience of dragging his boat to the
harbour by tractor and trailer. He developed an amphibious vehicle that moved
easily enough through water but lumbered on land - until he stumbled upon an
ingenious form of retractable wheels."
(30 November 2003)


These wings are made for walking ...
A team of NZ researchers – led by David Lambert of Auckland’s Massey University
- has broken new ground in the field of genetics to reveal previously unknown
details about the moa. In a world first, Lambert and co analysed the nuclear DNA
of fossilised moa remains in order to determine their sex. The study, published
in the September 11 issue of Nature, reveals a clear case of reverse
sexual dimorphism. Female moa were twice the size of their mates, and undertook
foraging duties while male moa reared their young. The new information has
helped in the classification of different species of moa - there are now thought
to be 11 species, down from 38 20 years ago.
(11 September 2003)


Space, time and Einstein
27-year-old Wellington university
drop-out, Peter Lynds, claims to have solved a philosophical paradox which has
baffled thinkers for 2,500 years. The broadcasting tutor has taken on such
scientific heavyweights as the Greek philosopher Zeno and Stephen Hawkings in
his rejection of the possibility of finding a fixed moment in time. Lynds'
radical theories have divided international academia; for every critic
dismissing his ideas as being "based on profound ignorance and
misunderstanding of basic analysis and calculus," there is one calling him
the new Einstein.
(1 August 2003)


Words into mouths - Fingering the leap to language
An NYT feature explores the impetus that gave man the edge to evolve from
animal to language (the only characteristic that differentiates us from
animals). A debate taking in Chomsky and Pinker asks which came first as a
communicated symbol - gesture or word? "Dr Michael Corballis, a
psychologist at the University of Auckland, believes the gesture came first, in
fact as soon as our ancestors started to walk on two legs and freed the hands
for making signs."
(15 July 2003)


Third Culture Kiwi guides lodestar
New Zealander Tim Radford (the "doyen" of UK science editors) is the Guardian's
science editor and recently introduced their new weekly
science supplement, Life. Radford has been the paper's general science editor
since 1988, as well as its arts and books editor - living proof, that
"the two cultures thing" does not exist. Multidisciplinary by nature: "As a New Zealander he
had seismology, vulcanology and animal husbandry as a natural part of his
environment." Life is already being hailed
as a "lodestar" by the British science press.
(3 May 2003)


Icarus down-under
Richard - "Bamboo Dick" - Pearse profiled in China Daily as New
Zealand celebrates the centenary of his (world?) first flight. Says biographer
Gordon Ogilvie; "He was an inventive phenomenon in a small community where
farming was everything. If you couldn't farm, you were an idiot. And yet he
chose to do the unthinkable - to fly." For the NZEdge profile on Pearse
click here.
(27 March 2003)

Believe the hype
The Hyperfactory continue their good work at the forefront of SMS technology.
Australian and British buyers are showing great interest in the company's
SMSJukeBox application, which has already gained over 70,000 members in New
Zealand through ClubZM.
(8 March 2003)


"It's life James, but not as we know it"
Time devotes a special issue to
DNA and its discoverers, including NZ born scientist Maurice Wilkins. This year marks
the 50th anniversary of the Nobel Prize winning and paradigm shifting findings of Crick, Watson, and
Wilkins: "The revolution they started is just now accelerating." See
the NZEDGE profile of Wilkins here.
(17 February 2003)


Science cynics and bad
news
Denis Dutton plays
scientific advisor to the president in Edge.org's hypothetical survey
on issues facing governments in 2003. His counsel? Do away with the
scare-mongering and cynicism typifying science (and its media coverage) today
in favour of "[choosing] wisely when it comes to supporting pure science,
along with research that can give us beneficial technologies." A
challenge to all "Cassandras of the labs."
(4 January 2003)


Cheese guaranteed to please?
NZ scientists have genetically modified cows to produce high-protein milk
for the country's cheese industry. The altered protein-levels would allow
cheese-makers to produce more of their product from the same quantity of milk,
and at a significantly faster rate. The radical innovation has its detractors.
Greenpeace spokesman Steve
Abel: "Consumers have rejected GE food crops the world over, GE dairy
products will most certainly meet the same fate. There is no point producing
something that nobody wants to buy."
(26 January 2003)


Bamboo Dick: first flyer
"What's all the fuss about the Wright Bros? All good Kiwis know New
Zealand's Richard Pearse got there first." With the centenary of his
flight looming, Debbi Gardiner, writes in Salon about his place in
history and NZ culture: "Amid all the hoopla, the centenary still makes
me a bit sad. Poor Great-Uncle Dick. Had he been an American, not a New
Zealander, his greatness would surely have been recognized sooner. And yet the
fact that he was a New Zealander, and one ostracized by the locals, may well
have what made him so determined to fly. Click here
for the NZEDGE feature on Pearse.
(22 August 2002)

Windbreakers
NZ's belching animals: Kiwi scientists have worked out how to reduce greenhouse emissions from cow
emissions. "Lowering New Zealand's methane emissions is necessary if the
antipodean country is to meet its targets under the Kyoto Protocol, the
international treaty that aims to reduce human influence on the global
climate." Belch-restricting efforts also featured in National
Geographic.
(07 May 2002)

 Pleasantville 2002: Deep impact
The release of NZ company Deep
Video Imaging's new ActualDepth 3-D monitor is being likened to the dawn of
colour television in the 1950s, with Deep Video aiming to be to the
monitor what Dolby was to sound technology: "The added dimension of colour is very
important, and depth is even more relevant". Company chief technologist Rj
Siegel explains the many uses planned for the invention: to unclutter the cockpits
in military tanks, to give perfect perspectives for studying tumors in the
doctors' surgery, and for use in public kiosks, casino slot machines and digital
wristwatches. "It is the real 3-D, not the illusion of 3-D".
(4 April 2002)

Zen and the art of motorcycle design
The revolutionary John
Britten V1000 bike featured in a story in Germany's top news magazine Focus
on the 'The Art of the Motorcycle' exhibition at the new Rem Koolhaas designed Guggenheim,
Las Vegas. And in CycleWorld
the Britten V1000 bike owned by roving motorcyclist Jim Hunter is described as
balancing the qualities of ying and yang.
(January 2002)

"Call me Dr Johnson"
Adventure-seeking Kiwi scientist, Mark Johnson, tags 60-foot sperm whales in the
Gulf of Mexico. Shrugging off comparisons with Captain Ahab (I've already been given three copies of Moby Dick",
complains Johnson. "Never read it") he modestly qualifies his
profession as modern science, not some gothic quest for
immortality or riches. Johnson, formerly an electrical engineer with an Akld Uni
PhD, hopes the survey will dramatically expand the knowledge of the behaviour and
genetics of the sperm whale.
(13 December 2001).

Coal ignites NZ dinosaur theory
Scientists think coal from the West Coast of New Zealand
provides new evidence that an asteroid caused the extinction of dinosaurs.
(26 November 2001)


Virtual
magic
US-based Kiwi Mark Billinghurst has won the entertainment section of the
Discover Magazine Innovation Awards with his 'magicBook' virtual reality
invention. 'magicBook' looks like a normal book, but when seen through
a hand-held viewer, 3D images pop up from the pages. Check out the Discover
story, an earlier
article explaining the technology, or the project's homepage.
(10 September 2001)

Eco-powering Taranaki
Small-scale mixed-source energy generation at Pioneer Village "brings a
little closer the prospect of freeing consumers forever from rising power bills
and the guilt of contributing to pollution and climate change."
(16 July 2001)

Market in (3D) sight
Prototypes of New Zealand-based Deep Video Imaging's revolutionary actualdepth
monitors are due to be built by early next year.
(22 June 2001)


In the Xbox
Set to revolutionize gameplaying, Microsoft's up-coming Xbox
will have tools and middleware developed by Auckland-based Right
Hemisphere. The New Zealand company has signed with Microsoft to create custom versions of
its Deep Paint 3D and Texture Weapons applications for Xbox development.
(24 May 2001)

Dream catcher
New Zealand-born psychotherapist Helen McLean turns dreams into
reality
writing multiple books and creating work-place training based on what your brain does
at night.
(8 April 2001)


Vege contraceptive
Scientists at Canterbury's Lincoln University are trialling GE carrots as
possum birth control.
(7 April 2001)

Edge Vista
Search engine Alta Vista opens an Edge-portal
devoted to New Zealand content on the web.
(16 March 2001)
Dolly, the next generation
PPL Therapeutic, the company behind Dolly and the cloned piglets, seeks
backing to buy a farm in New Zealand. If all goes to plan, Dolly#2 will be a good kiwi girl.
(17 March 2001)
Environmental energy
A proto-type has been built for New Zealand's first alternative power plant,
using water to power a dual-cell hydrogen power station designed to supply
energy to a timber company.
(27 February 2001)

Face the message
New Zealand tech-designers LifeFX's Facemail programme spreads the word
about a deal with major photo company Kodak.
(15 February 2001)

Bird DNA
"The first ever functional genome sequences from an extinct species have been
mapped by scientists at Oxford University. The mitochondrial DNA sequences were
obtained from two giant moa and a Madagascan elephant-bird."
(13 February 2001)

LifeFX
Auckland University's digital-face email-reading technology attracts interest
after the institute invested in the Boston-based firm that's commercialising the
product.
(01 February 2001)


Virtual COO
New Zealand sport-viewtechies Virtual Spectator have appointed
veteran sports exec Alexander Brown as President and Chief Operating Officer.
(16 January 2001)


Watch for the splash
MIR is scheduled to descend into the South Pacific "up to 2000
kilometres (1 250 miles) off the coast of Australia...the same distance off the
coast of Australia are New Zealand, the French territory of New Caledonia, the
Solomons and Vanuatu."
(26 January 2001)


Flat out
Chaos and interacting sound waves power new-generation flat speakers. New
Zealand's Soundlab is at the head of the pack in sound-delivery
technology.
(21 December 2000)

Download a friend
Auckland-developed
virtual faces read your email in your own voice. Download for free at lifeFX.com.
(11 December 2000)

Meteorologist dies
James M. Austin, Dunedin-born and educated TV meteorologist, MIT teacher and
D-day weatherman, died in Boston
aged 85.
(30 November 2000)
Wave action
A South Pacific-style reef in Bournemouth is the brain child of Prof Kerry Black
of Waikato University. The big waves will help turn the resort into the next
"coolest city in the universe".
(19 November 2000)


Avvid attention
New Zealand Government Departments
can talk to each other with maximum efficiency, thanks to AVVID, "one of
the largest end-to-end IP telephony networks in the world."
(24 October 2000)
E-e-e-e-readiness
Search to view
Kiwis are on to it online. This has been confirmed by a Vic University study that lists NZ among the top
four countries in the world for e-commerce and connectivity. The edge
has the world's fastest internet growth.
(11 October 2000)

Fair go, mate!
Game theory is used
by many branches of the social sciences to help explain some the seemingly
irrational behaviour of humans. Paul Walker, a New Zealand academic, has
constructed a time-line of the development of games theory and our sense of fairness.
(09 September 2000)

One blind mouse
Following the lead of New Zealand company Pulse Data, Israeli firm VirTouch
has developed a Braille mouse for blind computer users.
(23 January 2001)

From the Z-files: Kiwi squeezes gold from cabbages
26 yr-old PHD student Chris Anderson has developed a way of extracting gold
from cabbages grown on old mine tailings - and he is confident that the method
will be commercially viable.
(13 May 2000)
Rutherford and Oliphant: the physics of the affair
From tree-pruning to atom bombs, on the death of physicist Sir Mark Oliphant
the Guardian remembers the contribution his friendship with Sir Ernest
Rutherford made to Twentieth Century science, "[Oliphant's] greatest
personal triumphs in science came in the 1930s, when his friendship with the New
Zealander Ernest Rutherford was at its height."
(18 July 2000)

Organic
Expert
Export
Organic farmer Evelyn Eng-Lim is introducing the organic lifestyle to Singapore
and hopes to set an example for other farmers to follow, "If other farmers
see that it is commercially viable, then they will be convinced to go organic as
well." For advice she turns to a New Zealand expert in biodymanics
agriculture, Mr Peter Procter.
(16 July 2000)
Kiwi lamb aims for UK ready-meal market
"In one of many initiatives, a New Zealand meat company is expected to
announce soon that it has completed the first successful trace of meat sold in
England back to a single farm in New Zealand using DNA finger-printing
techniques.
(10 April 2000)

Out of Africa theory of evolution
The Economist ponders the 'where did we come from' question, referring to
the out-of-Africa theory first developed by New Zealand biochemist, the
revolutionary Allan Wilson, and his colleague Rebecca Cann. They studied genetic
material from a variety of people worldwide to controversially conclude that all
human beings descended from one "lucky mother" in Africa 200,000 years
ago.
(July 2000)


Dectectors search for nuclear material
The world's first nuclear monitoring station is being established in New
Zealand.
(9 March 2000)
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Purple potato on the gravy train
Plant and Food Research, New Zealand's sole potato breeder, has developed a new
purple skinned potato as one of 16 new cultivars bred by the company. Purple
Heart, as the potato is called, is smooth and large with a relatively high
yield, which manager Ivan Lawrie believes will have strong appeal. "We
think it will have a niche in the gourmet restaurant trade and among the health
conscious." The new potato has a distinctive speckled purple flesh inside,
and Plant and Food Research is claiming that it may have added health benefits,
including antioxidants like anthocyanin, typically found in blueberries,
beetroot, red cabbage, and purple grapes and believed to have cancer fighting
properties.
(11 April 2009)


Making more milk
New Zealand scientists at AgResearch have discovered some keys to dramatically
increasing milk production in the country's cows. Researchers investigated the
potential of epigenetic regulation, or changes in gene expression caused by
chemical changes to DNA, to manipulate mammary function, to significant success.
Most promisingly, Epigenetic changes are often inherited from one generation to
the next, and can be triggered by environmental cues. "Our research will
lead to novel approaches, such as nutritional interventions for manipulating
epigenetic mechanisms. Not only will that enhance the lifetime lactation
performance of dairy cows, but may also enhance the lactation performance of
their calves," says Dr. Juliet Singh, the leader of the project. AgResearch
is teaming up with Livestock Improvement Corporation, which has large databases
on New Zealand cow populations, enabling further understanding of how the
mammary gland responds to environmental cues for enhanced milk production.
(2 April 2009)


Electric rules
"In New Zealand, an idea has been floated to convert up to 60 per cent of
the country's automobile fleet to electric vehicles, which would be e charged
with wind power," writes daily trade publication Environmental Leader.
"If about 2.5 million of New Zealand's 4 million vehicles were electric,
they could run off 3,000 MW of wind generation, which is roughly three times the
amount of wind power capacity already in place or under construction in New
Zealand, according to the New Zealand Herald. Mitsubishi and Meridian are
partnering to bring an electric vehicle to New Zealand. New Zealander Ed Kjaer
has been director of the Electric Transportation Division at Southern
California Edison (SCE) since 1999. Kjaer's company now operates America's
largest private fleet of pure battery electric vehicles. In mid-March, Kjaer
showed President Barack Obama around his workplace where President Obama
announced a grant of US$2.4 billion to stimulate the electric vehicle industry
in the US. Prior to joining SCE, Kjaer participated in marketing and advertising
for Mazda Motor of America and on the launch of Acura Automobiles for American
Honda Motor Company.
(25 March 2009)


Fresh sense
Supermarket giant Tesco has signed on to use fruit labeling technology developed
by New Zealand packaging specialists ripeSense. The color-coded labels let
shoppers know how ripe a fruit is by responding to aromas released by fruits
during the ripening process. A red label indicates a crunchy fruit; orange means
firm, and yellow means juicy. The convenience of the RipeSense packaging is
hoped to help lagging fruit sales compete with other snack categories, with
studies showing that 85% of pear buyers believing that RipeSense will increase
the frequency of their fruit purchases. Tesco is launching the new labeling on
their pears, and, assuming its success, will be labeling avocados and other
fruits in the same way. A number of other chains have also expressed interest in
the technology, which was developed in 2004.
(26 January 2009)


Awarded for imagination
New
Zealand mineral chemist Dr Alan Reid, 77, has won the Ian Wark Medal in
acknowledgement for his outstanding contribution to Australia's prosperity
through the advancement of scientific knowledge. One of a number of notable
instances in Reid's career was his invention of the AMCRO solar energy absorber
surface, which maximises heat retention in solar panels. Another was his
development of the automated mineral analysis system, QEMSCAN. Reid, who also
has a mineral named after him - the high-pressure mineral reidite - was born and
raised near the volcanoes of Tongariro National Park, where he would set off to
investigate the effects of eruptions, and that later he became an alpine guide
on the South Island's Fox Glacier. "Your imagination doesn't start from
nowhere," Reid says. "It's opened up by life's experiences." For
much of his career, Reid worked at the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) where he was the director of the CSIRO
Institute of Energy and Earth Resources.
(5 November 2008)


Pig cell go-ahead
New Zealand's Living Cell Technologies, a company founded by Aucklander
Professor Bob Elliott, who has pioneered research in the treatment of type-1
diabetes, has been given approval to trial the transplantation of
insulin-producing pig cells into humans. Islet cells from the pancreas of pigs
are coated with a seaweed gel and implanted into the abdomen of patients to
manufacture insulin and help control their blood sugar levels. Professor Elliott
said that his reaction was one of huge excitement and relief. "This is a
world first," Elliot said. "It will do something that I think all
diabetics have been wanting, which is a self-regulating cell able to produce
insulin on demand and stop producing when it's not needed." The implants,
to be marketed as DiabeCellB, have been tested at relatively low dosages on a
handful of volunteers in Russia since June this year.
(21 October 2008)


Leave your hat on
The Christchurch-designed 2c Solar Light Cap is trialled by a Chicago
Tribune reporter who dons the headgear for a camping trip on the Mississippi
River. "Part of the appeal of sleeping in the woods for a few days is to
turn off the day-to-day gadgetry that consumes our lives," he writes.
"But I offer another item, perfect for camping or any outdoor activity
where you need to shed a little light in the dark night: a hat with a
solar-powered brim that turns into a flashlight. Available online, the 2C Solar
Light Cap, which is charged in sunlight, looks like an ordinary baseball hat,
but the brim is slightly thicker because two solar-powered lights sit
underneath." The hat will be available in American shops later this
year.
(29 July 2008)


Powered by fruit
Kiwifruit rejected for damage or inferiority is used as cattle feed throughout
New Zealand, but Crown Research Institute, Scion and ZESPRI Innovation
scientists are reconsidering its use as a potential biogas able to generate
electricity. ZESPRI scientist Alistair Mowat says the fruit would be composted
in a large chamber to form a gas. "Biogas could be used to power the
packing sheds and the cool storage of the kiwi fruit. And we see an opportunity
to off-set between five and 10 per cent of the carbon footprint from kiwi
fruit," Mowat says. Each year about 15 million trays, or 10 per cent of the
country's total crop, are rejected because the fruit is spoiled.
(13 July 2008)


Midas works on merino
Victoria University researchers have added particles of pure gold and silver to
fine merino wool in the interest of haute couture. The researchers demonstrated
the first scarf dyed with gold nanoparticles at the 2008 Nano Science and
Technology Institute convention in Boston. Lead researcher Professor
Jim Johnston said the development would be akin to being clothed in pure
gold or silver. "We want to create a fashion icon, like Louis Vuitton or
Gucci, where the logo will speak for itself," Discovery News quoted
Johnston as saying. He estimated that the scarf made of the wool displayed at
the conference "hot off the loom," would cost between up to $US300
($NZ405). Though expensive, the actual procedure was simple. "This whole
area of nanotechnology can be done in a bucket with cheap chemicals at room
temperature," Johnston acknowledged, "but what we are getting out is
something of a very high-end value."
(14 June 2008)


Flaming britches
James Watson, head of Massey University's school of history, philosophy and
politics in Palmerston North and author of agricultural study, 'The Significance
of Mr Richard Buckley's Exploding Trousers', won an Ig
Nobel prize in 2005 for discovering that sodium chlorate becomes violently
explosive when combined with organic fibres, such as cotton or wool. In the
1930s, the white crystalline solid was used by many New Zealand farmers as a
weedkiller to destroy ragwort. Watson writes: "Numerous farmers and
farmworkers discovered for the first time that smoking could be hazardous to
their health, as items of their clothing lit up when they did. In a New Zealand
version of Blazing Saddles, one farmer found that the seat of his pants was
starting to smoulder as he was riding his horse."
(27 May 2008)


An intelligence question
James Flynn, Emeritus Professor of Political Studies at the University of Otago
and moral philosopher, says human intelligence has improved over the last
century, rather than declined as was widely thought. "But," Flynn
says, "we have to rethink exactly what we mean by intelligence. For what
the IQ gains really give us is a cultural history of the 20th century and an
insight into the gulf that separates our minds from those of our
ancestors." Flynn estimates that genetic advantage in individuals accounts
for 25 per cent of the variation in intelligence scores, and that the rest is
determined by environment. But he goes further to suggest that the environment
acts as a kind of echo chamber for genetic endowment, so that such advantage as
exists is amplified by social conditions. Flynn's 2007 book What is
Intelligence? "Paints a dynamic picture of what intelligence is and the
role of a person's genetic background, physiology and neurology, immediate
environment and broader social factors."
(11 May 2008)


Aquaflow ahead of the curve
A Blenheim-based company could hold the key to the world's energy crisis,
according to a recent Guardian article. Aquaflow
Bionomic Corporation has patented a cleansing process known as
bio-remediation that extracts biofuel from wild algae. "Wild algae is one
of the ubiquitous units of nature," says Aquaflow partner Nick Gerritsen.
"If you leave a bucket of water outside, the water will turn green as it is
settled by wild algae. We realised very early that we needed to create a model
that took advantage of wild algae feedstocks." Aquaflow describes its
process as cheap, practical and accessible, and its end product as suitable for
both domestic use and transport. The rest of the world is already catching on:
Shell has announced a joint algae harvesting venture with HR Biopetroleum, the
Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative is seeking an algae-based
biojet fuel, and an "algae summit" held in San Francisco last month
drew more than 300 delegates.
(9 January 2008)


Rotorua reveals anti-warming weapon
A scientific breakthrough in NZ could play a major role in combating global
warming. A group of microbiologists at Hells Gate in Rotorua has discovered a
new bacterium that eats methane - one of the key contributors to global warming.
Scientists have long puzzled over why the methane produced geothermally at Hells
Gate does not reach the surface. The answer appears to be the newly named
Methylokorus infernorum bacterium. "Potentially it [the bacterium] could be
used to combat methane emissions," said study participant Dr Matthew Stott,
while adding that the technology will take several years to develop. Stott
believes that the bacterium will be most useful in helping landfills and
factories reduce their methane output.
(23 November 2007)


NZ neuroscientists spark alcohol rethink
A new study co-authored by two NZ researchers suggests that long-term, moderate
alcohol consumption can help improve the memory. The study, which was published
in The Journal of Neuroscience, was undertaken by Maggie Kalev, a
research fellow in molecular medicine and pathology at Auckland University, and
Matthew During, a professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical
genetics at the Ohio State University College of Medicine. "We decided to
study if beneficial effects of low-dose alcohol drinking already shown by others
could be mediated through the mechanism of increasing NR1 [a sub-unit of memory]
expression," said Kalev. "We thought it was worth pursuing, since
ethanol drinking is such a common pattern of human behaviour." The study stresses
the issues associated with excessive alcohol consumption.
(26 September 2007)


Maths prize for Massey prof
Professor Robert McLachlan of Massey University has become the first
mathematician from the Southern Hemisphere to win the prestigious Dahlquist
Prize. Presented by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM),
the Prize is awarded to a young scientist for original contributions to fields
associated with Germund Dahlquist, a pioneering figure in the study of
differential equations. McLachlan was recognised by SIAM for "his
outstanding contributions to geometric integration and composition
methods". He received the award at the Society's annual conference in St
Malo, France, after a three-month term as Visiting Fellow at Cambridge
University's Isaac Newton Institute.
(13 August 2007)


Tech blogger's global reach
Lower Hutt is home to the world's 28th most popular blog. Richard MacManus's Read/Write
Web, a social networking site devoted to Web 2.0 issues, receives around
25,000 page views a day. "It takes a lot of time to ramp a blog up,"
said MacManus in an
interview with Wellington's Dominion Post. "If you genuinely have an
interest and passion about the topic it will show through and eventually it
might become a revenue stream for you." MacManus recently commented on
Australian PM John Howard's ill-fated YouTube campaign for The Age:
"You have to try to create more of a personal message than the usual stuff
that you find on TV adverts, and the message has to be genuine, straightforward,
and down to earth - and it mustn't look too fake or as if you are trying too
hard."
(8 July 2007)


Mind over matter
NZ neuroscientist Dr Kerry Spackman
is working with Team McLaren to uncover the workings of a racing driver's mind.
"In most sports now, the modern athlete is pushing his brain to the
limit," he says. "Today's F1 car does things almost instantaneously,
and the brain can't keep up. The idea is to rewire its circuits, to supercharge
its processes, so that it's more suited to the task - to turn it from a computer
into a supercomputer, if you like." Spackman became interested in the brain
functions of elite athletes after a chance meeting with racing legend Jackie
Stewart 15 years ago. He now works with sportspeople in many fields, with the
belief that the mind needs as intensive training as the body.
(17 June 2007)


Incredible journey
After decades of international debate, Auckland University researchers have
found the first concrete evidence that Polynesian explorers reached South
America before Europeans. The research team, led by archaeologist Elizabeth A.
Matisoo-Smith, used genetic analysis and radiocarbon dating of chicken bones
found in Chile to show that the fowl originated in Polynesia and not Europe, as
was previously believed. The findings show that Polynesians reached the
continent no later than 1407 - nearly a decade before its Spanish settlement.
"The Polynesian contact probably didn't change the course of prehistory,
but I think maybe it makes us recognize the ethnocentrism in our long-standing
views of the prehistory of the New World," said American archaeologist
Terry L. Jones in the LA Times. "The basic premise has always been
that there was only one civilization capable of crossing the ocean and
discovering the New World ... [these findings show that] the prehistory of the
New World was probably a little bit more complicated than we thought in the
past." The Auckland University study was reported in the journal Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences.
(5 June 2007)


Digging for gold in Antarctica
A team of Victoria and Massey
University scientists has been recognised for their development of portable
nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology in Antarctica. Massey's Robin
Dykstra, Professor Paul Callaghan of the MacDiarmid Institute, Dr Craig Eccles
of Magritek Ltd and Mark Hunter of Victoria University have developed portable
laptop NMR machines capable of assessing the properties of materials such as sea
ice. The machines work by placing a sample into a magnetic field, causing its
atoms to resonate at a particular frequency. They are now being sold around the
world, with applications from construction to the oil industry. Magritek Ltd, a
joint venture between Massey and Victoria formed in 2004, was responsible for
commercialising the team's research. Last month, the company was awarded the
Emerging Gold Award for a company "shining beyond its size" at the
Wellington Gold Business Awards.
(13 May 2007)


Surf secrets revealed
Artificial Surf Reefs (ASR) co-founder Kerry Black has been profiled by CNN.
Black, a former Waikato University professor, has spent the last few years
perfecting the world's first fully adjustable computer-controlled reef. He
expects the technology to revolutionise indoor surfing and to potentially turn
it into an Olympic spectator sport. "I think the sport is going to change
radically," says Black, who cites environmental issues and overcrowding as
already having an impact on its traditional practice. "There are a lot of
surfers now. The quality of the surfers has gotten better so we need to have
better surf breaks ... I think the planet has a really limited number of
resources and surf breaks is one of the things that are limited." ASR's
first indoor reef will be launched at the Ron Jon Surf Centre in Orlando,
Florida.
(1 April 2007)


Landmark brain research
A joint discovery by NZ and Swedish neuroscientists could potentially
revolutionise the study of the human brain. The eight-year collaboration has
succeeded in finding the path adult neural stem cells travel to repair the human
brain, opening up an exciting new field of research that could find treatments
for a multitude of brain disorders. "With the ongoing fostering of emerging
scientists, NZ is producing world-class research which will have far-reaching
implications for the treatment of neurological disorders," says Max
Ritchie, executive director of the Neurological Foundation of NZ. The
groundbreaking study, which made the cover of top industry journal Science, was
led by Professor Richard Faull of the University of Auckland and Professor Peter
Eriksson of the Arvid Carlsson Institute for Neuroscience in Gothenburg,
Sweden.
(15 February 2007)


The kiwi's Darwin connection
A recent book on Charles Darwin compares the launching of his theory of
evolution to a kiwi laying an egg. In The Reluctant Mr Darwin: An Intimate
Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of his Theory of Evolution, author David
Quammen paints the legendary scientist as a painstaking, shy and socially
conservative man dabbling in revolutionary and dangerous ideas. Like the long
and laborious gestation of a kiwi's egg, Darwin's ideas took a great amount of
time to develop and reach fruition. "A female brown kiwi weighs less than
five pounds," writes Quammen. "Her egg weighs almost a pound ... It
seems impossible. How can she carry this thing? How can she deliver? Will it
reward her efforts and discomforts, or rip her apart? … The point is simply
metaphor. Every time I see that X-ray of the mama kiwi, I think: There's Darwin
during the years of gestation."
(20 September 2006)


Something good comes from possums
Scientists at NZ's AgResearch and Otago Medical School may have found the cure
for a common prostate problem and it is largely thanks to NZ's no.1
environmental pest: the brush-tailed possum. According to a study published in
AgResearch's In Touch magazine, the prostate gland in possums is anatomically
identical to that found in humans. The possum's prostate gland grows and shrinks
in accordance with breeding seasons. By studying the brush-tailed possum the
scientists hope to find the trigger which causes the prostate to shrink and then
replicate it in a drug for humans, thus removing the need for invasive surgery.
The research is currently in its third year.
(26 December 2006)


The great indoors
Waikato University's "maverick oceanographer" Professor
Kerry Black is one step closer to making surfing an indoor spectator sport
with the launch of Versareef in Orlando, Florida. While several pools around the
world already feature modest artificial wave systems, Versareef will be the
first to produce swells worthy of the world's best surf beaches. "Our
innovation has the potential to turn surfing into a stadium sport where
spectators can watch top surfers compete on an international circuit," says
Black, who is currently fine-tuning the technology at Florida's Ron Jon Surf
Park. His groundbreaking project is the result of five years researching wave
conditions in the Pacific region.
(24 December 2006)


Another reason to eat your greens
A NZ research team has discovered cancer
fighting properties in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower.
Researchers at the Christchurch School of Medicine and Otago University's Health
Sciences found that compounds called isothiocyanates in cruciferous vegetables
can help kill cancer cells which are resistant to other treatments. "This
has provided us with a very valuable clue," says study leader Dr Mark
Hampton, of the Free Radical Research Group. "Isothiocyanates alter many
different proteins in a cell, but by focusing on proteins that are only modified
by the isothiocyanates that kill the cancer cells, we have discovered a protein
that could potentially control cell death." The ground-breaking study has
been published in the American journal Cancer Research.
(16 September 2006)


Heading the catalogue of life
Dr David
Penman has been elected chair of the governing board of the Global
Biodiversity Information Facility, an international organization working to
develop the world's first free mega-database of all living organisms. The
internet resource, which will help individuals and governments research areas as
diverse as climate change, border control, and species stability, is expected to
be online by February 2006. "I've always tried to defend the role of the
small and ugly, or the underdogs which make the soils function, provide the
nutrient flow and the natural biological controls," says Penman, an
entomologist and research manager for Landcare Research, in Stuff. "The
Department of Conservation will pour a lot of money into a single species like
the kakapo, but to have effect, you've got to have the ecosystem function so the
rimu trees flower. It's a whole system."
(4 January 2006)


Interplanetary fame
Two amateur Kiwi astronomers helped
discover a planet 15,000 light years from Earth using simple backyard
telescopes. Grant Christie and Jennie McCormick are part of a worldwide
star-gazing collective called MicroFUN, led by Andrew Gould of Ohio State
University. The new planet – which is roughly 3 times the size of Jupiter – was
discovered using a technique called gravitational microlensing, when a massive
object in space, such as a star or a black hole, crosses in front of a star
shining in the background and is magnified in the process. Christie and
McCormick share co-authorship of MicroFUN’s paper announcing the new planet to
Astrophysical Journal Letters.
(23 May 2005)


Surf's up
The powerful, curling waves that draw surfers to beaches will soon be breaking inland, thanks to a novel shape-shifting rubber reef that can be fitted to the floor of a swimming pool. The Versareef, developed by New Zealand company
ASR from Raglan and the USA’s Surf Pools, will generate four types of wave, named after the places in which they are typically found: Hawaii, Indonesia, California and Australia.
Company directors Shaw Mead of ASR and New Zealander Dr Kerry Black of Surf Pools spent five years surveying the best reefs in the Pacific to find out which seabed characteristics generate the best surf. "Then we created computer-controlled, movable pool bottoms to mimic those characteristics and generate really powerful waves," says Black. The first three Versareef pools are to be built at the Ron Jon Surf Park in Orlando, Florida, which opens next year. The largest will create a ride of up to 70 metres on 3-metre-high waves - the biggest wave facility in the world. (30 June 2005)


Save the kauri part 2
Belgian researcher Lieven Claessens has discovered another reason to preserve
our native kauri forests. According to Claessens’ Dutch-funded study, which was
undertaken in the Waitakere ranges, the giant trees help stabilise areas
susceptible to landslides and erosion. Planting kauri is a more ecologically
viable and better long-term option than the concrete structures currently being
used to prevent slips.
(17 May 2005)

Cutting edge electronics
NZ GPS innovators, Navman, showed off
their latest creations at Germany’s prestigious CeBit electronics trade fair.
These included the PIN 57, a Windows-based PDA, and the X300, which uses GPS to
tell joggers, skiers and cyclists how far and fast they are travelling.
(10 March 2005)

Biotech baby steps
NZ’s recently altered stance on
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) is the subject of an in-depth
Technology Review feature. “NZ, of all places, may have found a solution [to
public and political resistance to GMOs], proving once again that the best ideas
pop up where they are least expected.” According to the article’s numerous US
and European interviewees, NZ’s rigorous regulatory system for proposed agbio
ventures “gives NZers more power to participate in the approval process for
local GMO research and development projects than any other people in the world,”
making it “the gold standard” for government regulators in Europe, Canada,
Australia, and Brazil. The long-term effectiveness of the system - politically,
economically and socially - remains to be seen, but both national and
international proponents of agbio research regard it as a very promising start.
(February 2005)


Google gets Goodger
Google has hired one of the top programmers who
worked on the Firefox project, fueling new speculation that the search giant may
enter the browser business. The Mountain View, Calif.-based search company hired
24 year old Auckland University-educated Ben Goodger, http://www.bengoodger.com/
the lead engineer for the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox stand-alone browser, the
number one competitor for Microsoft's Internet Explorer (25 million download
milestone already achieved). As of Jan. 10, Goodger wrote in his blog Monday,
he's been an employee of Google. Half of his time, said a Google spokesman, will
be donated back to Mozilla so he can continue working on Firefox.
(25 January 2005)

Treasures of the deep
A joint NZ/Japanese exploration of a deep-sea volcano off the NZ mainland has
unearthed a mass of fascinating new life forms. According to a statement by
Geological and Nuclear Sciences Ltd, who headed the venture, the discovery of
colonies of heat-loving micro-organisms “may have potential future applications
in pharmaceuticals, in bioremediation of contaminated sites, and in biomining.”
(18 November 2004)


Eco-adventurer
In 2002, Aucklander Pete Bethune launched a bid to break the world record for
circumnavigating the globe by powerboat. The difference is Bethune aims to do so
using a state-of-the-art biodiesel powered vessel:
The Earthrace. Designed by
Craig Loomes, the 20m race-boat runs on a new generation fuel made predominantly
from canola oil. “A major reason for attempting this record is to place a global
spotlight on biodiesel as a serious alternative to fossil fuels,” says Bethune.
“Of course, we also want to win the record!” The voyage launches in early
2005.
(9 November 2004)


Next stop Nobel?
Professor Paul Callaghan of Wellington
has won the prestigious Ampere Prize.
The biannual award - one of the most esteemed in the international science
community - recognises outstanding work in the field of magnetic resonance. It
is the first time the prize has been awarded to a scientist outside of Europe.
Callaghan is the Alan MacDiarmid Professor of Physical Sciences and Director of
the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology at Victoria
University. "We
are lucky to have someone with the originality and expertise of Professor
Callaghan on our staff," says Vice-Chancellor Professor Stuart McCutcheon in
Scoop.
"Not only is he exceptionally talented but he has a great knack of explaining
his research, and other science, to a general audience and is in great demand as
a guest speaker and commentator around the world."
(6 September 2004)


Interislander
Guardian writer Giles Smith test
drives the Gibbs Aquada and pronounces it “the most fun thing that has ever
happened to cars.” A shining example of Kiwi ingenuity, the Aquada is the
world’s first high-speed amphibian (HSA) vehicle. The invention
recently made headlines around the world (again) after Richard Branson piloted a
modified version across the Channel.
(10 August 2004)


Google and Froogle
Waikato University graduate Craig Nevill-Manning
is Director, New York & Senior Staff Research Scientist for the world's leading search engine company, Google.
Nevill-Manning completed a PhD in computer science at Waikato before taking up a
post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford University. He is now the chief ideas man
at Google's office in Times Square, New York, whose successful developments
include the recently launched product search system, Froogle. In June Nevill-Manning
made a recruitment tour of Australia, as the Google plans to triple its
international workforce over the next 12 months.
(22 June 2004)

MetService nets big fish
The NZ MetService has sold a locally
made weather graphics system to the BBC for a sum rumoured to be in the
millions. The state-of-the-art software package - Weatherscape XT - is the most
up to date version of the system, which is already being used by channels in
Australia,
Europe,
Dubai, Turkey, Beirut, Saudi Arabia and Asia. "That the world's leading weather
broadcaster has chosen MetService staff and products to update its weather
presentation is a real endorsement of our people and their skills, " said CEO
John Lumsden. "The original software development has well and truly paid for
itself, and we've got great hopes for this new version, Weatherscape XT."
(13 March 2004)


No 8 Wired
Singapore's Straits Times focuses on
the entrepreneurial spirit driving NZ's booming science industry. "Over
time, the Number 8 wire came to epitomise a culture of adaptability and
creativity, a 'can-do spirit' of which the Kiwis are proud ... Call it luck of
the draw, or conditioning in a rugged and isolated terrain, but in spite of a
population as tiny as Singapore's four million, NZ has contrived to produced at
least three Nobel Prize winners in chemistry and physiology, a world champion
rugby team in the All Blacks, and a world-class soprano in Kiri Te Kanawa."
Leading
research institutes such as the Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery and Auckland
University's Liggins Institute are luring large numbers of overseas scientists
to NZ, establishing economic and information links (eg. with international
pharmaceutical giant Pfizer) with foreign academies, and
promoting careers in science to NZ youth.
(27 November 2003)


Antarctic archives
NZ’s Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences has received international
funding to drill more than a kilometre beneath Antarctica in order to gain
access to the “untapped record of climate change” held in its sedimentary
layers. Otago University’s Gary Wilson is to head the five-year NZ$40 million
project, which involves penetrating thick layers of ice and up to 900 metres of
seawater before drilling into the seabed itself.
(3 October 2003)


Quantum leap for laser technology
A new laser using a single atom has been developed at Caltech University in
Pasadena, California. According to Auckland University’s Howard Carmichael - who
co-wrote a report on the invention for Nature magazine - single atom
lasers may, in the future, be able to form circuit components for manipulating
quantum information.
(18 September 2003)


Edge: intellectual capital
NZ's nano-tech Nobel laureate Alan
MacDiarmid has been appointed to the newly created James
Von Ehr Distinguished Chair in Science and Technology at The University of
Texas at Dallas. "Alan MacDiarmid's move to Dallas is an important
development for the technology business sector of North Texas". Patron Von
Ehr: "His presence here increases the intellectual capital of the region
and creates intriguing possibilities for innovative collaborative work."
MacDiarmid shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in chemistry with Alan Heeger and Hideki
Shirakawa for their discovery that plastics can be made electrically conductive;
thus creating the field of conducting polymers. See Small
Times for the big news. MacDiarmid on the pioneering scientific spirit
and exploring the unknown: "If five years from now we are doing what we are
planning to do now, then something is wrong."
In May MacDiarmid was made a fellow
of the Royal Society. Portrait above by Marianne Muggeridge.
(01 August 2003)


What lies beneath…
A month-long exploration of the
Tasman Sea by NZ and Australian scientists has uncovered hundreds of new species
of fish and invertebrates. Previously unknown critters trawling the depths
include gelatinous sea cucumbers, fish resembling globs of mucous and the
"the fangtooth" - a creature with teeth longer than its own head.
Classification of the collected species is expected to take until the end of the
year.
(9 June 2003)

Hi-tech NZ
NZ was named 6th most high-tech
nation in an annual survey by the IDC/World Times Information Society Index. The
list - topped by Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands - ranks 55 countries in
their use of information technology in the fields of economic, social and
technological growth.
(23 June 2003)


Journey to the centre of the earth
NZer David J. Stevenson - a planetary
scientist at the California Institute of Technology - has a project up his
sleeve straight out of science fiction, but grounded in the search for science
fact. Stevenson's proposal -
outlined in May's issue of Nature
- is to create a fissure reaching the earth's core, into which an investigatory
probe will be sent. Stevenson: "We know so little about Earth itself. We've
been billions of kilometers out from Earth, but only 10 kilometers into
it."
(14 May 2003)


Free GE or GE-free?
The GE debate steps up a notch as the
government prepares to lift its current moratorium on modified organisms. A
commissioned financial projection of the
pros and cons of going GE (by Business and Economic Research Ltd) warns that farmers could be earning 43% less in ten
years time if GE crops are released. Environment Minister Marian Hobbs calls the
report an "absolute worst case scenario."
(18 April 2003)
Gattaca genetics
Ground-breaking research into congenital birth abnormalities by Otago University
professor Stephen Robertson has been published in leading scientific journal, Nature
Genetics. Robertson has identified a previously unknown gene responsible for
severe malformations in infants. His success makes Otago University the world
centre for future research in the area.
(18 March 2003)


From dreams to (augmented) reality
SMH interviews
"augmented reality" guru Mark Billinghirst, director of NZ's Human
Interface Technology Lab. HIT works in conjunction with Seattle's University
of Washington designing cutting-edge communications technology reminiscent of
Star Wars' virtual projections. Billinghirst: "Twenty years later, we can
now do what [Lucas] showed in the movie for real." Above: Billinghurst's
BlackMagic animation of the America's Cup story.
(3 February 2003)

Cheese to please?
NZ scientists at the Ruakura Research
Centre in Hamilton in a radical innovation have genetically modified cows to
produce high-protein milk for the country's cheese industry. The altered
protein-levels would allow cheese-makers to produce more from the same quantity
of milk, and at a significantly faster rate. Like all things GE the advantages
are not undisputed: Greenpeace spokesman Steve
Abel: "Consumers have rejected GE food crops the world over, GE dairy
products will most certainly meet the same fate. There is no point producing
something that nobody wants to buy."
(26 January 2003)
Kiwi geeks take a stand
In a bid to be "taken seriously," members of NZ's IT community have
requested permission to use geek.nz as a second-level domain in the country. The
office of the NZ Domain Name Commissioner plans to stage public consultations on
the issue over December.
(10 December 2002)

Nature vs. Nurture
The argument over whether environment or genetics plays the bigger part in
creating violent dispositions is moving towards a tentative reconciliation.
London-based research has proposed that the level of a particular gene - MAOA,
which regulates an individual's mood - in conjunction with social history and
environment is the main cause of anti-social behaviour. The evidence is largely
drawn from long-term research by the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and
Development Study on 500 NZ men from birth (they are now in their 20s).
(1 August 2002)
 To
GE or not to GE?
As the ethical, economic and emotional problem of how to approach GE shapes
to be a central issue in the upcoming NZ election a high profile group has
formed to argue for caution and the extension of the moratorium on field trials
of GM organisms. Actor Sam Neill, squash player Susan Devoy, former Federated
Farmers head Sir Peter Elworthy, chef Annabel Langbein and Auckland University
Professor of Bio-chemistry Dr Garth Cooper form the Sustainability
Council of New Zealand.
(8 July 2002)


iEdge
The SMH tries to find the code behind the icon-making, convention
busting, award winning (but secretive) Apple design team after, for the fourth
year running, Apple takes out the British Design and Art Direction Association's
top award for industrial design. "I understand, without knowing for sure,
that it is about six people, one of whom is an Australian and another a New
Zealander ..." There is no i in team, but Kiwi Danny Coster is the edge in
the machine.
(19 June 2002)

Nanotech NZ - solutions from the small?
Front-running nanotechnology
expert, NZ-born Michael
Kelly, (technology professor, University of Surrey), recently visited
Wellington's MacDiarmid
Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology. Kelly is optimistic of edge
innovation in the field, "There are a whole range of problems which are
more acute in NZ (than elsewhere)." Though he's wary of 'nano-hype':
"It's an insanely difficult discipline... working on nano-materials is
analogous to driving a car blindfolded with the person next to you shouting out
instructions" Kelly is to receive an honorary doctorate from Victoria and take up a
new technology professorship at Cambridge University, where he says he hopes to
put machine into molecule: "technology into nanotechnology".
(23 April 2002)

Deep Video tech
New Zealand company Deep Video Imaging throws away the wacky red and blue
glasses and goes C21st with their multi-dimensional desktop monitor capable of displaying
several layers of information. The first clients
will be in the gambling industry, seducing casino customers with the glitziest slot
machine displays. But this same technology can layer
information on monitors that doctors use during surgery, or that pilots rely on
in the cockpit.
(15 February 2002)


Cell-phone sunblock
SMS sun-safety - who says cell-phones are bad for your health? As
the Kiwi summer heats up Auckland's Hyperfactory, in partnership with
telco Vodofone and cosmetics company Nivea has developed a short-message
service advising cellphone users of ultraviolet levels and burn time
warnings.
(4 January 2002)

Garden-shed grenade guru
The reputation of the garden-shed inventor is upheld
thanks to New Zealand entrepreneur Bill Sharplin who, operating in a "rough
as guts" garage, wins a bid to build and supply practice grenades to the New
Zealand Army.
(20 November 2001)

Jet-powered beer cooler
Washington Post columnist Dave Barry raves about Kiwi
inventor Simon Jansen: "this guy, using science, has found a new,
innovative and, above all, loud way to cool beer, by using a jet engine."
(30 October 2001)

Bridging
the Gap
The Computers in Homes initiative based in Wellington has received international
recognition for helping bridge the Digital Divide. So far, over 300 computers
have been distributed to those who would most benefit. The Stockholm Award
recognises pioneering IT projects that benefit society.
(1 October 2001)
Springsteen: born to shine
New Zealand astronomer names star after star.
(12 July 2001)

Whiff of health
Edge-designed disease-detecting super-nose could lead to a revolution in
doctoral diagnosis, as well as having commercial applications in the oil and gas
industry.
(17 July 2001)


Radio innovation
Christchurch innovators Tait Electronics make product development company PTC's
annual Awards short-list with teched-up radios, the Orca 5000 series.
(24 May 2001)
Smells good
Scientists at Wellington's Industrial Research have been getting a bit
sniffing about their new "electronic nose", designed to help detect
chemical spills and fires.
(11 April 2001)

Rower cola
University of Otago scientists says caffeine consumption prior to exercise
boosts output, making you rower faster, run further and jump higher without even
realising it.
(11 March 2001)
Breaking into privacy?
Will new anti-hacking laws breach the bill of rights? Parliament tries to walk
the tightrope between security and invasion.
(15 March 2001)


Compudigm is
watching you
Wellington compu-data wizards Compudigm nominated for prestigious 2001 Computerworld Honours (Smithsonian)." The nomination recognises the "spectacular success" of
Compudigms Telstra Sydney Olympics Project.
(March 2001)
Real safe
Auckland-based Designer Technology's Mail Marshal is the Pentagon's security system of
choice.
(26 March 2001)


Flying high
The contemporary kite
industry is still riding the buzz generated by New
Zealander Peter Lynn's 80's creation, the kite-powered buggy.
(28 February 2001)
Science star
New Zealand planktonologist Allison Joy Haywood is one of ten international
recipients of a UNESCO-L'OREAL Fellowship for developing research talent.
(28 February 2001)

Philosophical spilt
"Western philosophy starts
with a conflict between reason and faith. But there is no such dichotomy in
Indian philosophy where dharma is a part of philosophy. Everything is
substantiated by reason," says Victoria University Philosophy Professor
Jaysankar L. Shaw.
(31 January 2001)

Family planning, Possums!
David Heath of the Wallaceville Animal Research centre is developing a GM
bug that secrets a substance designed to curtail possums' fertility.
(25 January 2001)
Blinding brilliance?
New Zealand sociologist James Flynn is unconvinced that increasing IQ
results ('the Flynn effect'), actually means we're getting smarter:
"If people were really getting as smart as the test scores suggest,
we should be blinded by brilliance."
(6 January 2001)

Stunning success
New Zealand designed electrical cattle stunner approved in Britain.
(13 December 2000)

e-tax
IRD sets a dodgy precedent, requiring Dominz to hand over personal details
linked to all .NZ domain names.
(1 December 2000)


Virtual success
Virtual
Spectator, the New
Zealand company behind the America's Cup graphics, plans to revolutionise the
way all sport is viewed, allowing spectators to view reconstructed plays from
every angle.
(5 December 2000)

Sex and art
Cantab Professor Denis Dutton considers art, sex, and evolutionary psychology,
suggesting the brain can be seen as a kind of home-entertainment system; a
status symbol, like a big new stereo, designed to make potential mates feel frisky.
(2000)

Root problem
ICANN, the US agency that registers regional suffixes like
.nz, is trying to
charge for its services. The Internet Society of New Zealand has threatened to look elsewhere for root service, raising the spectre of an alternate
internet.
(25 November 2000)

Against the grain
New Zealand scholar Aurelia Mulgan's The Politics of Agriculture in Japan
launches a "brutal assault on antifactual strategies such as
rational-choice theory, but also [a] brusque rejection of social science as
science".
(24 October 2000)

Clean green methane
While some countries battle automobile emissions, New Zealand scientists at the
Rumen Microbiology Unit, Palmerston North, are working on producing a gas-less
sheep. It's a tricky business though: "There's no point in getting rid of
the methane if the sheep do not survive," says team leader Keith Joblin.
(30 October 2000)


Dr MacDiarmid and his fantastic electric plastic
New Zealand's Nobel duo becomes a trio; Masterton-born and Wellington-educated
chemist Alan
MacDiarmid has joined Ernest
Rutherford and Maurice
Wilkins as a Nobel Prize (chemistry) laureate. MacDiarmid and his two colleagues
discovered conductive
plastics which have been a key factor in the development of important
everyday enablers like mobile phones, photographic film and solar cells.
(10 October 2000)
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All that Jazz
The rapid growth of New Zealand's premium new apple variety Jazz has reached
another milestone this year with over 1.2 million cartons of apples forecast to
be exported in 2009. Revered for its outstanding flavour profile, crunch,
transportability and storage characteristics, Jazz has become a favourite for
international buyers and consumers, making it New Zealand's fourth largest
export apple variety by volume. Jazz continually commands a significant premium
size for size over other apples in the market and is becoming increasingly
important for both New Zealand and international orchardists in today's
environment. In addition, ENZA has now achieved a year round supply of Jazz for
major Northern Hemisphere retailers, with New Zealand's growing season being
supplemented by licensed growers overseas, which provides an important off
season revenue stream for New Zealand's largest pipfruit exporter.
(16 April 2009)


A bright future
New Zealand was breaking its own records for renewable energy production in the
final quarter of 2008, creating 74 percent of its energy from renewable sources.
Boosted by full lakes, new geothermal plants, and more wind power, renewable
energy produced another 18 percent of the country's energy needs from one
quarter to the next. Hydro-electric power continues to dominate the energy
landscape, producing 59 percent of the total output, and with lake levels 12
percent above average thanks to heavy rains on both islands, energy prices
continue to be abnormally low, even dropping down to a 1 cent/unit on the South
Island last week. Wind power is another light on the horizon, with expected
growth of 50 percent over the course of the next year.
(23 March 2009)


Open up and say ah
The New Zealand Department of Conservation will perform a two-hour necropsy on a
10ft female great white shark at the Auckland Museum in a live operation
streamed online, reminiscent of that performed on the giant squid at Te Papa
last year. Believed to be the first of its kind, the shark will be dissected and
its organs investigated. "It's very exciting, we've never done anything
like this in front of the public before," marine curator at Auckland Museum
Tom Trnski said. "Little is known about the life history of these apex
predators of the ocean, and we hope to learn more about the shark's recent past
before it came into the harbour." The shark was accidentally caught by a
local fisherman after it had become entangled in a gill net in Auckland's
Kaipara Harbour. "We're interested in the gut content to see what the shark
has eaten - it could be anything from seals, penguins, fish or even whale
blubber," Trnski said. "We're certainly hoping not to find any human
bits inside, but you never know."
(6 January 2009)


Waterborne cars are go
New Zealand entrepreneur Alan Gibbs, 69, has opened an amphibious vehicle
engineering and research centre for his firm, Gibbs Technologies in Auburn
Hills, Michigan. Gibbs previewed two of his company's first three vehicles
before an audience of press and politicians. The first vehicle to hit the market
— sometime next year — will be the Quadski, a combination four-wheel
off-road vehicle and jet-ski. It will reach 40 mph on both land and water. Next,
in 2010, comes the Aquada, a three-seat convertible sports car powered by a
175-hp six-cylinder engine that will do 110 mph on the highway and 40 mph as a
speedboat able to tow a skier. "Push a button on the dash panel, drive
straight into the water and you can drive into the water at 10 or 15 miles an
hour," Gibbs said. He is also working on a third vehicle, now jokingly
called the "Humdinger" in homage to the Humvee. It's a large,
Humvee-styled truck intended for the military and civilian first responders that
will go 40 mph on either land or water. See NZEdge features archive page 'Alan
Gibbs — 'Floating an Idea' for more on Gibbs' creations.
(16 November 2008)


Flights of fancy
Chief executive of New Zealand-based Air
Sports Peter Newport is the brains behind virtual game Sky Challenge which
saw two pilots and a gamer race planes through hoops in the clouds above Spain.
Sky Challenge allows competitive aerobatic pilots to fly through a virtual
obstacle course that they see on specially designed LCD screens in their
cockpits. The viewing public, whether on the airfield, TV or Internet see the
animations on screen and can watch the pilots negotiating the technical course,
flying head to head. The Challenge could pave the way for massive online
competitions. "It was amazing to see it come together," Newport said.
"Ernest [Artigas] did surprisingly well against Castor Fantoba, the world
number four pilot (in his class), coming only 1.5 seconds behind him." Air
Sports aims to ramp up the virtual experience in the cockpit. It is considering
projecting images of obstacle courses on to the retinas of pilots. Air Sports
trialled the world's first live video game at Lake Wanaka in December
2007.
(3 October 2008)


Yacht technology for cars
Auckland property developer and yacht maker Jock Freemantle will launch a 2008
version of New Zealand's first super car, the 550bhp BMW V8 Hulme named after
New Zealand's 1967 Formula One World Champion, Denny Hulme. Only 20 to 30 of the
£310,000 car will be built each year and though Freemantle admits that
"there is no rational need for an extremely limited production super car,
experience proves that worldwide there is a demand driven by the emotional
desire to have the best, particularly when coupled to a passion for
motoring". Freemantle's open-top aluminium 550bhp Chevrolet LS7 V8 Hulme
CanAm is due to be launched next year, coinciding with the 40th Anniversary of
Hulme's victory of the USA Can Am Championship.
(15 July 2008)


Rodents settle debate
The arrival of Pacific rats in New Zealand decides the debate about the settling
of the country by Polynesians; the findings confirm that settlers arrived
here some 1,000 years later than was previously thought. Radio-carbon analysis
of ancient, rat-gnawed seeds preserved in peat bogs and swamps throughout New
Zealand, has found that humans arrived in A.D. 1280. Study lead author Janet
Wilmshurst, a paleoecologist at the environmental research group Landcare
Research in Lincoln, says the new date conforms with Maori genealogy. "The
oldest evidence we [now] have for the Pacific rat in New Zealand is in very
close agreement with the oldest dated … archaeological sites," Wilmshurst
said. "It's also in agreement with the first wave of [plant] extinctions in
New Zealand, and with the first evidence of widespread lowland
deforestation."
(3 June 2008)


NZ scientists dry their eyes
New Zealand's Crop & Food Research Institute has taken the tears out of
chopping onions. In collaboration with Japanese scientists, the breakthrough was
made using gene silencing technology.
The Institute's senior scientist Dr Colin Eady said his team were able to turn
off the gene that produces the enzyme that causes people to cry. "By
shutting down the lachrymatory factor synthase gene, we have stopped valuable
sulphur compounds being converted to the tearing agent, and instead made them
available for redirection into compounds, some of which are known for their
flavour and health properties," he said.
(1 February 2008)


A sweet alternative
An LA Times health feature discusses the healing properties of NZ Manuka
honey, which is becoming increasingly accepted in international medical circles.
Manuka honey has been cleared for use as a wound dressing and antimicrobial in
both Canada and the USA, and clinical trials testing its effectiveness are
currently underway in Germany, Scotland and South Africa. "In the last few
years, a lot of good science has been done in the area," says Shona Blair,
a microbiologist at the University of Sydney, who studies the antibacterial
properties of honey. Manuka honey has been shown to be particularly effective in
treating wounds that will not heal, such as those suffered by diabetics and
cancer patients.
(10 September 2007)


A NZ space odyssey
A NZ company has plans to launch rockets
into space, carrying scientific packages, DNA and human ashes. Auckland-based Rocket
Lab, co-directed by Peter Beck and Mark Rocket, will start sending its
17-foot carbon-fiber "Atea" rockets spaceward in September 2008.
"New Zealand has the know-how to be part of the global space
industry", says Rocket, an internet entrepreneur who changed his name from
Mark Stevens by deed poll. Rocket Lab has already signed a deal with American firm
Celestis to send human ashes into space.
(14 August 2007)


During breaks new ground
A groundbreaking study by NZ neuroscientist Matt
During has been applauded in leading British medical journal, The Lancet.
During has pioneered a controversial gene therapy for Parkinson's
Disease that involved inserting synthetic copies of human genes into the
brain. His research involved twelve patients who had suffered from Parkinson's
for at least five years and found no relief from other treatments. The results,
which were published in The Lancet, offer new hope for those afflicted by the
disease. "We saw a significant improvement in their motor scores, their
tremors, their ability, their rigidity, their slowness of movement, all those
parameters improved," said During in an interview with NZ's ONE News. Most
of During's research has been undertaken at Weill Cornell Medical College in New
York.
(22 June 2007)


Professional outsider remembered
World renowned mathematician and nuclear fusion sceptic Leslie Woods has
died aged 84. Born in Reparoa, a tiny settlement between Rotorua and Taupo,
Woods was the first student of Seddon Memorial Technical College to win a
scholarship to Auckland University. His studies in mathematics and engineering
were interrupted by World War Two, in which he served as fighter pilot in the
Pacific. On resuming his studies, Woods won a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford,
where he earned a DPhil in computational aerodynamics and a first-class honours
BSc in engineering. A series of prestigious academic postings in Australia and
England culminated in his appointment as chairman of Oxford's Mathematical
Institute (1984 to 1989) and being made professor emeritus in 1990. "In
calling his memoirs Against the Tide: An Autobiographical Account of a
Professional Outsider, the strikingly individual New Zealander Leslie Woods ...
displayed considerable self-awareness," wrote former colleagues Garry Tee
and Graeme Wake in the Guardian. "... [His] robustly disputed publications
on the key question of the generation of energy through nuclear fusion made his
academic career as colourful and combative as his active service."
(7 June 2007)


Fresh perspective on Antarctica
A NZ doctoral student and her Dutch counterpart have initiated a radical new
program to involve the humanities and social sciences in Antarctic research.
Canterbury University's Daniela Haase and Machiel Lamers of the University of
Maastricht launched the Share project
(Social Sciences and Humanities Antarctic Research Exchange) in February, in
honour of International Polar Year. Haase and Lamers believe that the humanities
and social sciences are being under-utilised in studies of the region, arguing
that they have the knowledge and means to assess the current state of
human/environment relations and the legal, political, socio-economic and
cultural situation in Antarctica. They hope to unite researchers working on
Antarctica in areas such as law and policy under the Share banner, thereby
encouraging support and synchronisation in their growing field. The Share web
portal will go live in May.
(3 April 2007)


Auckland prof named UN science laureate
Auckland University professor Margaret
Brimble has been named one of the world's top five woman scientists by the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). As
Laureate for the Asia-Pacific region, Brimble received the US$100,000 L'Oreal-UNESCO
prize for her contribution to the synthesis of complex natural products,
especially shellfish toxins. Brimble set up NZ's first degree in organic and
medicinal chemistry at Auckland University in 1999. "What we do is we look
to nature to find new active ingredients or molecules to develop into new
medicines," she explained in the NZ Herald. "One example is a compound
produced by fungi which kills the bacterium that causes infected ulcers. The
compound occurs in nature. It is produced by the fungi but only in small
amounts. So we then try and make that compound in the laboratory and make
structure analogues similar to that compound that may be better - and that's the
way you develop new medicines." According to Brimble, NZ could become a
powerhouse for pharmaceutical research if enough time and money is invested:
"All we have to do is get one successful drug on the market and we're there
... the first drug for a neuroprotective agent will be a billion-dollar
product."
(24 February 2007)


NZ scientists solve pigeon puzzle
Scientists at Auckland University have solved the enduring mystery of homing
pigeons. "We are now confident that pigeons ... use the intensity of the
Earth's magnetic field to determine position during homing," said Dr Todd
Dennis, who led the research. Dennis and his team released homing pigeons in an
area of NZ where the Earth's magnetic field is naturally distorted, known as the
Auckland Junction Magnetic Anomaly. They predicted that, if the intensity of the
magnetic field influenced the birds' ability to position themselves, they would
be confused by the anomaly upon release. Proving the team's theory, the birds
flew up to four kilometres in the wrong direction before redirecting themselves
towards their loft. The study has since been published in the Proceedings of the
Royal Society journal.
(14 February 2007)


Photonz edges out global competitors
A tiny Henderson-based company is reportedly leading the global race to extract
a brain acid from algae which may offer a cure for depression. Photonz
is growing micro-organisms which produce eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), one of two
highly desirable omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids found in fish which eat the
algae. Along with its close relative DHA, EPA is used to treat conditions
ranging from heart disease and dyslexia to attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder and depression. According to Photonz chief executive Karl Geiringer,
his company chose to focus on depression because NZ suffers from of the world's
highest rates of depressive disorders. "We are using a naturally occurring
organism so we are not genetically engineering anything, and we are inducing it
to produce the EPA in a way that makes it much easier to get out, and we are
using new technology to get it out," says Geiringer. Photonz already has
three patents pending and its financial backers include Warehouse founder
Stephen Tindall.
(27 December 2006)


Drilling for knowledge
Victoria University's Tim Naish is one of a hundred scientists from 40 different
countries working on a map of climate change. The Antarctic Geological Drilling
Program (ANDRILL)
is digging deep below the Ross Ice Shelf to determine how massive ice sheets
responded to past temperature changes. According to those involved, the creation
of a map to show how the Earth may react to higher temperatures is vital.
"We may not understand the future, but we can understand the past,"
says project leader David Harwood of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
(28
December 2006)


Kiwi science up to speed
September 1 saw the launch of the Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network (KAREN)
- a super high speed Internet service linking national universities and research
institutions with their international counterparts. KAREN transmits data at a
top speed of ten gigabytes per second, which is 10,000 times faster than a
standard broadband connection. Run by Crown organisation Research and Education
Advanced Network of New Zealand (REANNZ), KAREN received NZ$43 million in
government funding. "The link is crucial in order to attract and retain
scientists, because it allows a greater level of real time collaboration between
scientists based in NZ, and their colleagues around the world," said PM
Helen Clark at the launch.
(1 September 2006)


Next generation public transport
NZ bus design company, Designline,
has developed a prototype electric commuter bus powered by renewable fuel.
American firm Alchemy Enterprises Ltd is producing the magnesium-based fuel,
which it created with the help of NASA's Jet Propulsion Labs and Cal Tech in
Pasadena, California. Designline has already established a strong international
reputation for producing hybrid vehicles, with customers throughout NZ,
Australia, Asia and Europe.
(8 June 2006)


Learning made easy for all
According to the Guardian, a NZ designed alternative to the computer mouse was
one of the highlights of Bett 2006, the annual ICT in education show held in
London. "Lomak (light-operated mouse
and keyboard) from NZ is the most exciting piece of kit I have seen in a long
time. It is for those who cannot use a conventional mouse and keyboard. It has
three circles - one for letters, one for numbers and one for functions. Using
the head or hand pointer, you pass the light beam over a letter or number and
then over the centre of the circle to confirm the choice." Lomak won both
the product design and consumer product design categories at NZ's annual BEST
awards in September 2005. "Lomak is a revolutionary concept in keyboard
design that provides a new approach to the way a computer is operated … [It]
is an affordable and effective alternative for anyone with a physical disability
that prevents them from using a standard QWERTY keyboard," says the
official website.
(7 March 2006)


Vet feted
Animal welfare and ethics scientist Professor David Mellor has become the first New Zealander to be elected an Honorary Associate of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the highest honour conferred by the College. Mellor is a Professor at the Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Science at
Massey University
and director of the Animal Welfare Science and Bioethics Centre which he established in 1998.


Finger on
the impulse
Researchers at Otago University, in conjunction with Germany’s Ruhr-University
Bochum, have identified individual neurons in the pigeon forebrain that appear
to control impulsive decision-making. The findings could prove invaluable to the
understanding of such neuropathologies as drug addiction, gambling, frontal lobe
syndrome, and attention-deficit disorders, which are all characterized by a
limited ability to wait for a large reward.
(11 April 2005)

A step in the right direction
Hamilton inventor and former chemical
engineer, Brian Goggin, is seeking patents in NZ, the US, Japan, and Europe for
a reinforced metal fuel tank which vents hydrogen gas safely in the event of an
accident. The innovation – which Goggins sees as a step towards the eventual use
of environmentally friendly hydrogen-powered cars – was also reported on in the
New Scientist.
(23 March 2005)

Forecast: international sales
Raglan’s ASR Marine Consulting and
Research has created a new computer-based program to predict long wave
conditions, in what the company claims is a world first. The forecasting system
was developed to help client Port Taranaki better manage its operations. ASR
believes the system could revolutionise ports all over the world and, to this
end, will present it at a high-profile oceanography conference in Madrid in
July.
(20 April 2005)


A method to the madness
An Auckland University research team has shed light on the mystery of human
reproduction with a new study involving yeast. Headed by Matthew Goddard, the
study compares two strains of live yeast, one with normal asexual cells, the
other able to sexually reproduce. The findings show that “sexy” yeast is
able to reproduce more efficiently than its sexless counterpart, which explains
why humans evolved to create offspring in such a “time consuming and
exhausting” manner.
(1 April 2005)

Measuring by memory
A group of Otago University researchers have proven that blind people are
consistently more accurate in estimating the size of familiar objects - such as
a loaf of bread - with their hands than their sighted counterparts. “Surprisingly,
in over one hundred participants with normal vision, a marked overestimation in
object size was demonstrated,” says study co-author Elizabeth A. Franz. “[This
suggests] that the visual-memory representations in sighted individuals might
not be accurate after all.” The study’s findings were published in the
January 2005 issue of Psychological
Science, a journal of the American Psychological Society.
(29 March 2005)


Bright spark
Auckland University's Johanna Montgomery has become the first southern
hemisphere scientist in history to win a prestigious Eppendorf and Science Prize
for Neurobiology. Dr Montgomery was one of 4 scientists to be awarded the prize,
as judged by a team of world-leading neurobiologists and the Editor-In-Chief of
premiere scientific journal, Science. Her essay, Synapses in a State: A
Molecular Mechanism to Encode Synaptic History and Future Synapse Function,
outlines her years of research into the synapses of the human brain, which are
responsible for behaviour, understanding, learning and memory. "I almost
didn't enter it because I didn't think I had any chance of winning, and then I
did win and I was just absolutely rapt," says Montgomery. "The prize
is also a big thing for NZ neuroscience research because it's the first time
anybody in this part of the world has won this award."
(4 November 2005)

Powerful proposition
NZ utility TrustPower plans to construct
what will be the southern hemisphere’s most technologically advanced wind farm
in the Tararua Ranges this year. By adding 40 latest model turbines to its
facility’s existing 103, TrustPower will increase the farm’s energy output to
187.9 MW. If the proposal is accepted, the NZ $220 million project should be
completed by the end of 2006.
(31 December 2004)


Shoo fly, don’t bother me
Massey University scientists have teamed
up with the Centre for Environmental Stress and Adaptation Research at the
University of Melbourne to decipher the genetic code of the dreaded Aussie
blowfly. The study hopes to find a successful method for controlling the pests,
which cost Australian farmers in excess of $160 million a year in lost
production.
(9 November 2004)

This is your wake up call
Researchers at the Canterbury District
Health Board are developing an alertness monitor for drivers, in the hope of
preventing fatigue-related accidents. With the help of Canterbury University’s
Canterprise Ltd, the group hopes to have the device ready for commercial release
by 2006. “It has colossal potential,” says study co-author Richard Jones. “A
system which could monitor a person and detect lapses of consciousness would be
of considerable value in helping to prevent serious accidents.”
(24 November 2004)


Fresh innovation
State of the art fruit packaging from NZ,
ripeSense, has been named one of 36 Coolest Inventions of 2004 by Time
magazine. Co-created by Hort Research and the Jenkins Group, the ripeSense label
detects aroma compounds in fruits and changes colour depending on their
ripeness, thus removing the need for customers to damage fruit by squeezing. The
“intelligent” packaging was initially developed using pears but will be
extended to include avocados, melons, and kiwifruit in the near future.
(21 November 2004)

Leading by example
Despite opposition from home, NZ’s method of funding scientific and
technological development is being used as a model by EU countries looking to
overhaul their outdated research structures. Cordis: “The OECD has
declared the country's framework for allocating funding to research, science and
technology to be one of the best in the world, the World Bank has claimed that
NZ's economy is the best globally for doing business, and New Scientist has
alluded to the country punching ‘way above its weight’ in scientific research …
With its recognition of the importance of basic research and moves to make
research less dependent on government funding, NZ could be regarded as ahead of
Europe in many respects.”
(28 October 2004)

In enduring memory
The NZ Antarctic Society has bestowed a
belated but heartfelt honour on Scotsman Harry McNeish, who was the carpenter
aboard Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance on its ill-fated Antarctic voyage. A
life-size sculpture of McNeish’s pet cat – Mrs Chippy - by NZ artist Chris
Elliot was placed upon his grave at Karori Cemetery in a ceremony designed to
acknowledge the important, and frequently forgotten, part he played in the
expedition. McNeish was one of the only Endurance crew members not to receive
the prestigious Polar Medal, despite ongoing attempts by friends and family to
have him so honoured.
(26 June 2004)

Far and away
A team of
NZ and Japanese astronomers at Mount John Observatory have discovered Earth's
most distant planetary neighbour. The planet - which is about the size of
Jupiter - was located 17,000 light years away, in the middle of the Milky Way
galaxy. Japan's Nagoya University has since promised a new multimillion dollar
telescope for the South Island observatory, which is surrounded by clear, dry
air perfect for star-gazing.
(26 April 2004)


"The New Zealand native who helped open the door to the stars"
William Pickering, one of the leading
figures in US space exploration, died of pneumonia in California aged 92. A
graduate of Canterbury University and the California Institute of Technology,
Wellington-born Pickering rose to prominence as Director of the US Air Force's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It was in this capacity that he oversaw America's
first successful space flight and subsequent decades of planetary discovery. "Dr
Pickering was one of the titans of our nation's space program," said current JPL
director, Charles Elachi. "It was his leadership that took America into space
and opened up the moon and planets to the world." Similarly glowing epitaphs
appeared in the
New York Times,
Guardian,
Sydney
Morning Herald, and
Independent.
"[He]
brought a vision and passion to space exploration that was remarkable," said
NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Science, Ed Weiler, in Pickering's
official obituary. "His pioneering work is the very foundation we have built
upon to explore our solar system and beyond."
(17 March 2004)

Brave new world
A joint Japanese-NZ research expedition
hopes to discover new forms of life 1,850m below sea-level off the north-east
coast of NZ. The team will venture by submarine to the Brothers Volcano, where
warm, mineral-laden water is believed to nurture countless unknown species. The
scientists involved compare the magnitude of their undertaking to NASA’s current
exploration of Mars.
(16 February 2004)


Seeds of discontent
The controversial lifting of a 2-year moratorium on genetically modified crop
trials in NZ has been covered extensively by the Guardian,
BBC, and
Wired. The issue is a divisive one in a country reliant on both
agricultural technology and exports, and its saleable "clean & green" image. The
most widely publicised opposition to the release
of GE organisms was the upfront billboard campaign (above) by Mothers Against Genetic
Engineering (MAdGE) above. Despite receiving a petition of over 55,000
signatures and knowing that two thirds of voters supported an extension of the
ban, the government stood firm on its decision. Said Research, Science and
Technology Minister, Peter Hodgson, "We've
got a regulatory system in NZ (the Environmental Rick Management Authority) that
is determinedly the most precautionary, the most transparent - I think - in the
world."
(19 October 2003)

What will Pinetree think …
The All Blacks are using Telecom’s most state-of-the-art technology in their bid
to win this year’s Rugby World Cup. Coach John Mitchell will be able to view
streamed video footage of multiple angles of the game from the comfort of his
laptop – which can then be used to demonstrate the opposition team’s tactics and
weaknesses in the All Black dressing room at half time. Chris Quin: “What we are doing is trying to take out
as many factors as we can that might advantage being host [of the World Cup]. We
might not be able to change the temperature in Brisbane but we can take a lot of
the other factors out.”
(29 September 2003)


Big idea: atomic imagination
Sir Ernest Rutherford
featured in an Independent story, 'Dawn of the nuclear age.' "No one
has described the atom discovered by Rutherford better than the playwright Tom
Stoppard: 'Now make a fist, and if your fist is as big as the nucleus of an
atom, then the atom is as big as St Paul's, and if it happens to be a hydrogen
atom, then it has a single electron flitting about like a moth in an empty
cathedral, now by the dome, now by the altar.'" The story was extracted
from Marcus Chown's book, The Universe Next Door: Twelve Mind-blowing Ideas
from the Cutting Edge of Science.
(6 August 2003)


Promoting inter-polar understanding
NZ Antarctic scientists are joining
Bulgarian and American researchers at the Canadian high Arctic this year in a
bid to exchange information about their respective poles. By pooling their
findings, the scientists hope to better understand the factors behind global
warming, and convince those with decision-making powers that significant damage
is indeed being done. Ian Hawes of NZ's National Institute of Water and
Atmospheric Research: "I don't get a real strong sense that people at large
are taking it seriously and I guess people in some decision making positions
aren't perhaps taking it seriously until they see it in action."
(28 July 2003)


Edge location: best in show
A personal navigation system produced
by NZ company, Navman, topped the Herald's list of best inventions at
Sydney's Consumer Electronics and Entertainment exhibition. The handheld device uses GPS satellite tracking technology to steer tourists around foreign cities,
giving both audio and visual directions.
(13 June 2003)

Scientists ruminate on ruminants
NZ scientists have joined the fight to
save the planet - from methane. The gas produced by ruminants (cud-chewing
animals) is one of the leading causes of global warming, well ahead of carbon
dioxide and carbon monoxide. NZ researchers are experimenting with feeding sheep
tannin-rich prairie grass, and have made steps towards creating a 'green cow' by
altering the animal's digestive system and removing the microbes behind methane
production.
(18 June 2003)


From trash to flash
A NZ company - Waste Solutions - has provided part of the technology behind a
radical new energy-producing venture in western Sydney. The project in question
is an $AUS36 million power plant which converts organic waste into electricity.
The plant is being hailed by renewable energy advocates as a stepping stone for
further eco-friendly innovation, and is expected to be operating by early April.
(5 March 2003)


Bee conga line
Canterbrian entymologist Barry Donovan has won the prestigious Khwarizmi
International Award, in recognition of his ground-breaking theory on how bees
forage. The award - named after the 9th century Iranian scientist - was
presented to Donovan by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran at a
ceremony in Tehran.
(14 March 2003)

Destruction and creation
Newsday feature on
Nobel-winning NZ scientist Maurice Wilkins documents his
epoch-breaking career shift
from researching weapons of mass destruction to unearthing the secrets of life
itself. Horrified at the results of Hiroshima, Wilkins became (and remains) an
outspoken critic of nuclear weapons, and is now best known for his contribution
to the discovery of DNA.
(28 January 2003)

Back to the future
Canterbury University's Andy Cockburn
is leading a team of computer scientists in redesigning the back button function
on computers. In a bid to up the popular button's efficiency, Cockburn and co.
have reprogrammed web browsers so that the current hierarchical stacking system
of index pages is replaced by a chronological one. The team has been in talks
with Microsoft and Netscape, but Cockburn isn't expecting a revolution any time
soon: "It would be a bold move to challenge the back button right
now."
(3 January 2003)
Hi-fi goes hi-tech
More Hyperfactory innovation.
Popular NZ dance music radio station - GeorgeFM
- has introduced a streaming SMS system to interact with their audience.
Listeners can now text their requests, queries, and feedback directly to the DJ,
cutting out the time delay and unreliability of on-air phone calls. GeorgeFM's
Jeff Kay: "SMS fits with the station's image and speaks in the same
language as our audience."
(2 August 2002)


Louder than words?
Michael C. Corballis, Auckland University psychologist, is "the latest
proponent of a controversial idea known among language experts as 'gestural
theory.'" His most provocative idea: the inception of speech was a
"cultural invention, like writing" rather than "a cognitive Big
Bang."
(8 June 2002)

Evolutionary Edge
Victoria University philosopher, Kim Sternley, climbs out of the primordial mud
of academia with his survey of the frought battlefield that is evolutionary
theory. In Dawkins vs. Gould he "exploits the real-life
'punch-up' evolutionary theory has become as a result of the two differing
thinkers." Time will tell (!) the outcome of the debate, but "the real
payoff of his [Sternley's] book, in any case, is its precise outline of the
debate's logic."
(26 May 2002)
IT - NZ untapped
Columnist for leading US IT Industry zine InfoWorld raves after visiting
NZ, "New Zealand is a marvelous country populated with some of the most
talented people in computing. Part of the irrational exuberance [of the dot com
bubble] was expressed by tossing dollars at problems that should have been
solved with less money and more intelligence. This is where New Zealand and
countries like it have an advantage over the United States. They can't afford to
throw money at problems, so they think the problems through and solve them in
the most cost-effective manner ... New Zealand remains at the bleeding edge of
network computing." As Lord
Rutherford remarked: "We don’t have the money, so we have to
think".
(9 May 2002)

Camera 'on the ball'
Developers at Otago Polytech say they are close to producing
a practical version of a video camera capable of being fitted inside a rugby
ball. "We thought, wouldn't it be good to see on the screen what the ball
sees as it goes into the line-out?" says Peter Broke, one of the developers
who envisages that the ball-cam will have training and broadcasting potential.
(22 November 2001)

Virtual Spectator is Simply Red
Fans can watch the latest Simply Red concert from all angles live
via the internet thanks to rapidly growing Kiwi software company Virtual
Spectator. "Watching live footage from the concert they can create
their own unique broadcast event -- cutting between different camera angles
and even going backstage to watch from the wings," the company says.
(28 September 2001)

Positive
reinforcement
Researchers from the University of Otago have been published
in the totem of scientific veracity, Nature magazine. The paper builds on the notion
that positive reinforcement helps the acquisition of learned behaviours.
Archived story
(6 September 2001)


Polished knowledge
"Digital Libraries hold the possibility that we might regain perspective on
the billions of pieces of information in the web ocean." In particular, DL
system Greenstone, created by Dr Witten of Waikato University, offers an online experience
as efficient and effective as asking your local librarian...
(16 July 2001)


Hot shit!
Renewable Energy Corporation, powered by New Zealander Paul Williams' organic
waste energy generation technology, signs to put power-plants next to pig farms
in North Carolina. The plants will gasify pig manure and burn the gas to create
steam which will be used to generate electricity. Excess steam will then power
industrial processes at the farms where the pigs will be busy creating more raw
material.
(27 June 2001)

Climate change challenge
"The climate models are only useful if the science is correct, and so far
they have simply not been validated. They predict far more temperature increase
in the lower atmosphere than satellites are measuring," says Auckland
University climate-change skeptic Chris de Freitas.
(7 April 2001)

Perfect pitch
Need good grass? Call in the experts from the New Zealand Institute of Turf.
(4 April 2001)


Renewable energy
The US could look at New Zealand's hydroelectricity as a model for cleaning
up its act.
(29 March 2001)

Innovation I2B
Carter Holt Harvey enters the technology services market with software
designed to breed innovation in large corporations.
(20 March 2001)

Mega-Catch
New Zealand Envirosafe Technologies' mega-catch mosquito trap looks
like a "harmless, black plastic birdcage", but, to a mosquito, it
looks and smells exactly like a juicy human target.
(14 March 2001)


Old birds
Entering into the debate over cloning, Dr. Alan Cooper of Oxford comments
that, despite the moa-mapping efforts of his team, "it is crucial that we do
not become complacent and start assuming that we will be able to bring things
back to life if they do become extinct".
(13 February 2001)

Actually into it
New Zealand company Deep Video
Imaging teams with Philips to incorporate actualdepth(TM) technology in next generation
Philips
monitors, creating "a new information display paradigm".
(7 February 2001)

Johnny Appleseedless
Scientists at the New Zealand Horticulture and Food Research Institute have
pin-pointed the gene that creates seedless apples. They hope to develop a commercial
variety using the gene to switch off seed production.
(5 February 2001)

Ocoloco in the Wairarapa
Wairarapa company Siliconblue has scooped venture funding for its Ocoloco
software, designed to replace physical Web servers with a combination of
software and service.
(5 January 2001)


PPL piggies
PPL (Scotland, US, NZ) presented the world with five cloned piglets - the
beginning of interspecies organ donation and top five important science event
2000.
(18 December 2000)

Controversial language
The "anthropological treasure trove of the Pacific" is a breeding
ground for academic debate. University of Auckland researchers Russell Gray and
Fiona Jordan have adapted DNA mapping techniques and applied them to language
families, creating a new picture of the way the Pacific may have been settled -
but not everybody is convinced by their evidence.
(26 December 2000)

Berg ahoy!
Kiwi Nigel Jolly heads a team of eleven sailing into Antarctic waters in
search of a giant iceberg. The crew are hoping to film the berg inside and out.
(28 December 2000)


Cold shoulder
Warming-swarming says Wellington scientist Vincent Gray, whose anti-global
warming beliefs challenge scientific orthodoxy.
(25 December 2000)

Digital planet
New Zealand is the leading edge of the digital planet, with the highest IT spending
(per capita) in the world.
(22 November 2000)


SPF15+ orchards
The phrase apple-red cheeks will no longer apply to New Zealand apples coated in
kaolin clay to ward of the sun. "The kaolin-based product has cut sunburn
damage on apples in half."
(8 November 2000)


Drink up
High-calcium milk Anlene, manufactured by New Zealand Milk, is shown to ward
off osteoporo sis in Asian women. Dairy exporters
will have to bone up on their Asian languages to spread the word.
(31 October 2000)

TAPping into productivity
Synapse TAP, the alternative computer input system designed by Kiwi Neil Scott of Stanford, doesn't just allow disabled workers to perform jobs:
TAP's voice and gesture-guided system gives users a edge over their able-bodied
counterparts.
(2 October 2000)


NZ 3-D LCD
Images on your monitor create the illusion of depth, but remain flat. Now a
Kiwi company, Deep Video
Imaging, has created a new kind of double-skinned
monitor which delivers true depth of field and allows the display of two
applications at once. The technology is expensive, but has been described as
"drop dead incredible looking".
(25 September 2000)
Kiwi cunning conquers IQ test
In a Sunday Times report noted science commentator Bryan Appleyard
ponders the limits of DNA science and why 'designer intelligence' is not such a
good thing, using the evidence of New Zealander James Flynn and his famous
'Flynn Effect'. Flynn introduced doubt about the consistency of IQ tests by
applying old tests from the 1920s to modern children, who did incredibly well,
in fact unbelievably so.
(13 August 2000)

Cyberpunk sisters
Female hackers have proved so elusive that they slip under the radar of
sociologists. ABC News investigates part of an underground subculture
better known for the misogynistic stink of a high school boys' locker room -
geek girls using hacktivism to overcome sexism in the wild wired west, including
a connected Kiwi code-named Blaise.
(26 July 2000)


Immunising roadkill to protect livestock?
Imagine a countryside filled
with possum traps, not designed to kill, but to entice the pesky pest in for a quick
facial spray to vaccinate them against bovine TB. Hailing some edge thinking the
Guardian writes: "It is not that fanciful. Tests in New Zealand are well
under way to treat possums, blamed for spreading bovine TB in cattle."
(19 July 2000)


Dotcom carnage paves the way for Kiwi hard science
USA Today speculates that the dotcom slump will see investors'
interest return to science-based research companies, including LifeF/x,
which is creating realistic-looking, computer-generated talking heads for use
on Web sites. The company is building on years of bio-medical engineering
research developed at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and MIT.
(22 June 2000)

Kiwi innovation solution to Indian sea erosion
"The State Minister for Minor Irrigation Kumar Bangarappa
informed that
a permanent solution to arrest sea-erosion in the coastal belt of the Mangalore district would be evolved as per the New Zealand model."
(17 June 2000)

Innovative Computer mapping to curb crime
New Zealand police are,
introducing a high-tech solution to
beat burglaries. They are using a NZ$6million computer-mapping
programme to allow police to zero in on burglars' homes as well as
break-in hot spots, said Justice Minister Phil Goff, who has been burgled
twice himself.
(8 June 2000)

Travelling with Cruise Control
If Kiwi Jonathan Kruse has his way, road-tripping tourists will never have to
fumble with the map or guide-book again. Using global positioning systems,
information about your location and relevant tourist attractions, meshed with
evocotive music and sounds, along with voice-overs about NZ's past, is relayed
through the vehicle's stereo ...
(8 May 2000)

Ernest Rutherford a particle in Twentieth Century's great scientific debate
Without Quantum mechanics most of the Twentieth Century's science and
technology would not exist, yet our understanding remains vague and the debate between
Einstein and Bohr over
first principles was vigorous and unresolved. Bohr's theory developed when he joined Rutherford's team in
1912 and was set the task of solving Rutherford's unstable atom.
(May 2000)
New Zealand firm launches Braille CE notebook
New Zealand -
Christchurch-based Pulse Data International has launched a
notebook computer with word processing, personal organizer and e-mail software
for blind people.
(17 April 2000)

Talking computer opens net for the blind
Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind demonstrator Marcel Oats said on
Friday that the BrailleNote computer, developed by Pulse Data International, was
a breakthrough that could be the equivalent of a laptop computer for blind
people.
(15 April 2000)

Wall of tyres to check sea-erosion
Indian Minister of State for Minor
Irrigation Kumar Bangarappa, in an effort
to find a simpler, cost-effective alternative to a full-fledged concrete
sea-wall, has come up with this idea, following the example of New Zealand.
(4 April 2000)

Stirling effort
British energy companies are looking
at the Stirling engine produced by NZ company WhisperTech. By 2025, 13m
households in Britain could have their own little power station installed with
this technology.
(02 September 2000)


Bodytalk: It's all in the hands
Do gestures help us find the right word, or is there a deeper meaning?
Michael Corballis from the University of Auckland studied primates and children
to find the answer to why we can't keep our hands still.
(8 April 2000)
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