Memorial To A Friend
A sculpture in memorial to pioneering New Zealand plastic surgeon Archibald McIndoe will be created by Martin Jennings, whose war hero father was one of McIndoe’s grateful guinea pigs. Jenning’s own father was one…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Where Do We Come From
A two-year study, called “The longest journey — from Africa to Aotearoa”, could provide a snapshot of the lineage of all human history, according to biological anthropologist Lisa Matisoo-Smith, who is leading the research…
It’s About Flying People
Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe is one of 20 people profiled in this month’s Monocle, in a feature which explores who “would be ideal collaborators.” “Make sure you know who to call…
Metal Work Wins Steel Oscar
Inventors of the world’s first container tilter, New Zealand company A-Ward, have won this year’s Swedish Steel Prize for the MiSlide, a flexible system for compressing and packing metallic scrap in containers….
Film Moving Economy
“For better or worse, Key’s government has taken extreme measures that have linked its fortunes to some of Hollywood’s biggest pictures, making this country of 4.4 million people, slightly more than the city…
Unexpected Tourism Drawcard
The international publicity from recent eruptions at Tongariro’s Te Maari crater may actually be helpful, according to local tourism operators. Te Maari crater erupted for about five minutes last week, emitting a plume of…
Change At the Top
Former AIA head New Zealander Mark Wilson, 46, has been appointed chief executive of Britain’s second-largest insurer, Aviva. Wilson ran AIA – the Asian arm of US insurer AIG – between 2006 and 2010….
Real and Unreal Worlds
“As the Wellington premiere of The Hobbit approaches, New Zealand’s picturesque landscapes are set to take centre stage once again,” Charles Anderson begins in a story for the International Herald Tribune. “Ten years ago,…
Running on Sunshine
Tokelau has become the first country to have all its electricity needs met through renewable energy sources. The pacific nation — which is administered by the New Zealand government – was running an archaic…
Magic Manifested
Hedge fund billionaire Julian Robertson Jr. first visited New Zealand in 1978 on a year-long sabbatical from his asset manager’s job at Kidder, Peabody. The year in New Zealand turned out to be fruitful….
Non-farmers Get Look In
“The only truly global New Zealand company, with annual revenue of almost $20 billion, Fonterra operates in 100 countries and has 10,500 farmer-owners,” The Economist writes. “Rabobank of the Netherlands ranks it the world’s…
Greener Pastures
Retailers in Britain should sell New Zealand-produced lamb if they want to help protect the environment, experts claim in a report called ‘Climate Change and Food Systems’. The suggestion, likely to outrage British farmers,…
Imagine the Growth
Growing ties between New Zealand and China are giving new optimism to everyone from coffee chains and jade producers to organic farmers, universities, tour operators and real estate brokers. The increasing number of Chinese…
Revival Vest a Finalist
The James Dyson Award has nominated 22-year-old Victoria University graduate James McNab as one of 15 finalists in its 2012 design competition. After the death of McNab’s friend Jacob Beck-Jaffurs, who suffered a shallow…
Vertigo Top Yacht
New Zealand has won awards at the latest International Superyacht Society (ISS) Design Awards, held in Fort Lauderdale in Florida. The winner in the category ‘Sailing yacht 40m +’ was won by the ketch,…
Belief in Emerging Markets
Taranaki-born businessman Stephen Jennings, Renaissance chief executive, is one of the “world’s smartest money” affirming that the next big emerging market may be Africa. “It is the only region in the world where growth…
Fit for the Job
Former Gatorade president New Zealander Sarah Robb O’Hagan has taken on the same role at Equinox, the New York City-based fitness company. “This is a case of building on the momentum that…
Up on the Plane
New Zealand-founded company Gibbs Sports Amphibians will introduce a new off-roader on to the market this week, the Quadski, which is equipped with retractable wheels and a BMW motorcycle engine. Gibbs’ chairman Neil Jenkins…
No More Allergies
AgResearch scientists have genetically engineered a cow to produce anti-allergy milk. They hope the technique, which uses a process called RNA interference that reduces the activity of certain genes without eliminating it completely, can…
Open to Experiment
For one year, New Zealand-born filmmaker Sam Muirhead, 28, is to abandon all copyrighted products and instead make use of only open source products. Muirhead’s goal is to raise awareness outside the world of…
Oily Attractions Off Shore
Three New Zealand exploration blocks, owned by Anadarko Petroleum, could hold up to 150 million barrels of crude oil or trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, according to a company executive. “There’s significant…
Profiting From Here On In
Chief executive of Virgin Media New Zealander Neil Berkett, 56, is at No. 51 in the Guardian’s annual Media 100 list which ranks the industry’s most powerful people. It has been a landmark year for…
Flights Back to the Ice
Antarctica Sightseeing Flights is offering the first commercial flight from New Zealand to Antarctica – 33 years after the Erebus disaster. The tourism operator will take a chartered Boeing 747 from Auckland to the…
Potheads Lose Brainpower
A study of marijuana’s mounting neuropsychological effects over time tracked a group of 1037 children born in New Zealand for 38 years from the times of their births in 1972 and 1973. Adults who…
Big on Exports
New Zealand is now the world’s 10th largest wine exporter, despite producing only 1 per cent of the world’s wine, according to the latest figures, which saw exports hit a record $1.18bn in the…
Kids Love Monkey Avatars
The children’s social-networking site, London-based MiniMonos, which was invented by Wellington entrepreneur Melissa Clark-Reynolds, has just been selected with five other emerging British digital startups as part of the BBC Worldwide business-mentoring programme dubbed…
A Question of Morals
University of Otago researchers have challenged a landmark US study, undertaken by Yale University, that indicated infants are born with a moral compass that enables them to recognize “good” and “bad” behaviour. The American…
Looking at the Cold Hard Facts
In a tour de force of glacial geology, Columbia University’s Dr Aaron Putnam and his collaborators have been reconstructing much of the Holocene history of a group of mountain glaciers in New Zealand. Their…
Voyage of Discovery
Wellington science historian and writer Rebecca Priestley is blogging about her trip to the Kermadec Islands on the HNZMS Canterbury for the Scientific American. “We’re sailing north along a chain of underwater…
Appealing to the Crowds
New Zealand-born screenwriter Mark Staufer has hit his $75k target on crowdfunding site Kickstarter for a project called The Numinous Place, which will be released as an ebook and app for iPhone,…
Small Business Expansion
New Zealand business software company Greentree featured in the Guardian’s ‘Small Business Network’ section. “Greentree is special,” CEO Peter Dickinson says. “What makes it special is the wonderful community of…
Google Buys New Zealander’s Social Media Company
Google has purchased social media marketing company Wildfire Interactive for a reported US$250M. Wildfire Interactive was created by New Zealander Victoria Ransom and Alain Chuard four years ago and has gone on to become…
Fish For a New Middle Class
More New Zealand seafood is headed to Thailand as consumer appetite grows. The South Pacific nation is poised to capitalise on Thai consumers now having more baht in their pockets and their increased appreciation…
Illegal Downloads Halved
Internet piracy rates in New Zealand have halved since the introduction of the controversial “three strikes” rule, the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (Rianz) says. The rule allows fines of up to $15,000…
More Halal Burgers for UAE
New Zealand fastfood chain BurgerFuel has opened its fifth flagship outlet in the Mall of the Emirates. BurgerFuel Worldwide CEO international markets Chris Mason said: “Mall of the Emirates attracts over 30 million visitors…
Safety First with Al Bundy
New Plymouth-born actress Melanie Lynskey, 35, appears in cartoon alongside Married with Children and Modern Family star Ed O’Neill in the latest Air New Zealand airline safety video. Melanie seems a little … disappointed…
Prospering in a Free Market
General manager policy and advocacy of the Federated Farmers of New Zealand Mark Ross discusses the benefits of cutting farm subsidies in New Zealand and, together with the editor of the Cato Institute’s
Edgy Stay on Mars
A group of six New Zealanders recently completed a two-week simulated mission at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Hanksville, Utah. The three men and three women of the KiwiMars team…
Velocity is Everything
Business leaders have things the wrong way round according to New Zealand-based Kevin Roberts, chief executive worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi. They spend far too much time assessing information and making decisions,…
Strategically Repositioning Business
Investment banking faces a shakeup and only large commercial players and boutiques offering outstanding service will survive and prosper, New Zealander Stephen Jennings, the head of Moscow-based Renaissance Group says. “The industry will end…
Big Plans for the Pacific Rim
Former president and chief executive of Unilever’s Canadian business, New Zealander Christopher Luxon, 41, has been named Rob Fyfe’s successor as CEO of Air New Zealand. Luxon joined Air New Zealand in May 2011…
He Makes Stuff You Want
Professor of mechatronics at Massey University in Auckland Olaf Diegel’s bespoke nylon-bodied guitars are attracting interest from all over the world. An exponent of 3D printing, Diegel’s zany guitar bodies are created using computer-aided…
Servilles Steals the Show
New Zealand-based Servilles came out on top at this year’s Schwarzkopf Professional Hair Expo Awards held in Sydney last week, taking away three of the event’s top prizes. Servilles won in each of…
Breaking More Ice
New Zealand-based clothing company Icebreaker, makers of hand-picked merino wool adventure-wear will open a second Vancouver store in September. “Vancouverites have been such great supporters of Icebreaker, and we think the North…
Sharing in Canadian Energy
The Richard Chandler Corporation has announced acquisition of shares in Canadian energy company InterOil Corporation. The Richard Chandler Corporation is a private investment group based in Singapore and founded by New Zealand-born…
Winning from Within
President of Gatorade New Zealander Sarah Robb O’Hagan is No 23 on Fast Company’s 2012 list of The 100 Most Creative People in Business. No Gatorade shower could extinguish the flaming mess Robb O’Hagan…
Making Small a Virtue
Chief executive officer of Air New Zealand Rob Fyfe, 51, talks to Monocle about the importance of national identity to the airline and staying competitive in the industry. “One of the goals we set…
Case of the Disappearing Stock
“One would never think that sheep could be an endangered animal, at least not in New Zealand,” Global E & C Solutions Marketing’s senior director Manju Bansal writes for Forbes. “Over the last few…
Sustainable Award for Cement Works
Golden Bay Cement has been recognised for its use of bioenergy to reduce CO2 emissions, winning the Renewable Energy category in the 2012 Energy Efficient and Conservation Authority (EECA) Awards. The company has cut CO2…
Honey, It’s a Superfood
The nectar collected by honey bees that forage New Zealand’s manuka bushes, contains unique antibacterial, antiviral, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiseptic, stomach-healing, wound-repairing, and overall health-promoting properties that make it an amazing “superfood” worthy of…
Tracking Space Travel from NZ
AUT University’s Institute of Radio Astronomy and Space Research (IRASR) was contracted in May to track the re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere of the world’s first privately-owned space craft to the International Space Station (ISS)….
Every Living Species Accounted For
In a world-first, New Zealand scientists have accounted for every animal, plant, fungi or micro-organism – more than 56,200 living species and 14,700 fossil species – ever to live in New Zealand over the…
Hypnosis as Anaesthetic
Auckland Regional Pain Service pain specialist Dr Bob Large says he expects hypnosis will be used more widely in the future as a form of analgesia and anaesthesia. Large, who was a guest speaker…
All Systems Are Go
New Zealand’s largest solar power plant, a 68-kilowatt farm, has opened in Drury, South Auckland and “if – or perhaps when – the world’s natural resources run out, New Zealand will be laughing all…
Cambodian Mountain Discovery
Two researchers from Otago University’s anatomy department are using radiocarbon dating technology to unravel the mysteries of a lost culture that once inhabited the Cardamom Mountains in Cambodia. The researchers have dated samples of…
Counting the Bleat
Principal investigator at New Zealand’s Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre (NZAGRC) in Palmerston North, Peter Janssen hopes that by measuring every belch and bleat of their sheepish subjects they can come up…
