Rann – Global Warming “Frightening”
Mike Rann, the Auckland University-educated and former NZBC journalist and now, Labor Premier of South Australia, writes in The Australian that “the world should make no mistake: in 2005, global warming is a real…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Christopher Shaw leads motor neuron research
Professor Christopher Shaw, Professor of Neurology at Kings College London and Otago University graduate in Medicine (1984), is to co-lead a team to clone embryos to study motor neuron disease, in particular those patients whose condition cannot…
Miles Makes Leap to Big Pond
Managing Director of Vodafone NZ, Tim Miles, is to head the $12 billion UK branch from April 2005. According to the NZ Herald, Vodafone went from 1.8 million mobile subscribers in late 2001 to…
SurfAid International Races Aid to Tsunami Areas
SurfAid International a non-profit organization founded by New Zealander Dr Dave Jenkins dedicated to the alleviation of human suffering through community-based health programs, has secured $500,000 worth of medical supplies and equipment, including 10,000 mosquito nets,…
Biotech Baby Steps
NZ’s recently altered stance on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) is the subject of an in-depth Technology Reviewfeature. “NZ, of all places, may have found a solution , proving once again that…
From the Ashes
Air NZ was announced the winner of Air Transport World magazine’s annual Phoenix Award in January. The award is given to an airline which “achieves a commercial rebirth through a life-changing transformation.” After its “near-death experience”…
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, California-based search company hired 24 year old Auckland…
Make No Bones About It
NZ has again opened a new path in medicine, this time in the field of bone reconstruction. Dr George Dias of Otago University’s anatomy and structural biology department struck on the idea of using a material based…
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…
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…
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…
Healer of Body, Mind and Soul
The Guardian pays tribute to Duncan Forrest, NZ born surgeon and renowned anti-torture campaigner. An “outstanding and innovative paediatric surgeon,” Forrest spent his career at the vanguard of surgical developments in spina bifida, hydrocephalus and cleft palate….
Adman Personified
“If you ever wanted to make a feature film about the advertising industry, the adland equivalent of Broadcast News, there would be no contest on who should get the starring role.” Worldwide Saatchi & Saatchi CEO…
Kiwis Breathe Easy
NZ has joined Ireland and Norway in banning the smoking of tobacco in bars, casinos and restaurants. “The 75% of NZers who do not smoke have the right to a smokefree environment, and we congratulate the…
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. ” spent weeks…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Much love for Lovemarks
Tom Peters named Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands (written by Edge co-founder Kevin Roberts) his Business Book of the Half-Decade, calling it “just bloody brilliant.” Lovemarks also made Amazon’s top ten business books of 2004, with…
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…
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…
Prime Real Estate
The iconic Cardrona Hotel in Central Otago is officially on the market, with a $7 million price tag. Built in 1863, the rustic gold rush-era building features 16 guest rooms, an onsite dwelling for the owner,…
Battle of the Titans
Fonterra has made a formal takeover bid for Australian conglomerate, National Foods, earning it the title “NZ moo-nopolist” in the Sydney Morning Herald. The super-company already owns Australian brands Bega, Western Star, Bodalla, Perfect Italiano and Peters…
Iron-will an Inspiration
The inspiring story of Napier mother-of-four, Tracey Richardson, has made headlines around the world. Two of Richardson’s children have cystic fibrosis and, in 2002, she decided to create awareness for the disease by competing in the…
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…
Whinge Benefits
Research undertaken at Victoria University suggests a positive side to gossiping and whining at work. According to the report, “whingeing to a sympathetic co-worker both reflects and constructs the close relationship between team members, thus consolidating the…
Hobblers Anonymous
Paul Kennett of the NZ Police has founded what is believed to be the first broken leg recovery room online. Entitled ‘My Broken Leg,’ the website was inspired by Kennett’s own biking accident and has quickly caught…
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…
For the Love of India
Bollywood heartthrob Shah Rukh Khan – recently hailed by Time magazine as the biggest superstar in the world, with an audience share of 3.6 billion people – launched Kevin’s Roberts’ book Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands…
A Kiwifruit a Day…
Eating kiwifruit can help ward off heart disease, according to new research undertaken in Norway. Polyphenolic compounds in the fruit cut the amount of fat platelets being pumped around the body and thin the blood, thus reducing…
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…
Big Chief Fletcher
Christchurch man Ian Fletcher holds a key position in British government as Director of the International Trade Development Group for the British High Commission. Fletcher oversees the promotion of British business around the world; a massive job…
Taking Care of Business
NZ ranked first overall in the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ report for 2004, ahead of the US, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia. The annual survey decides which countries are best for doing business in based on…
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…
New Findings, New Hope
Doctors at NZ’s Liggins Institute have made a crucial breakthrough in the study of breast cancer. Researchers have discovered a growth hormone in breast cancer cells which determines how quickly the cancer spreads. “We have found a…
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…
Chisholm to Packer
New Zealand-born media supremo Sam Chisholm has resigned as a Director of Telstra to join Kerry Packer’s media group PBL. Chisholm, 64, retains his chairmanship of Foxtel. He was head of Nine in Australia…
Suntan Man
Al Baldwin, 74, has sprayed his last beachgoer. Over the past 30 years, New Zealand-born Baldwin had become a fixture in Surfers’ Paradise beach, spraying an estimated three million beachgoers with suntan lotion. His business was a…
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…
Gamble Pays Off
Business Review Weekly dubs Matthew Slatter “Australia’s most admired new chief executive,” thanks to his remarkable transformation of Tabcorp from “a Victorian-centric pokies and wagering minnow to what will soon be the world’s fourth-largest gambling company.” The NZer…
First and Best
Christchurch businesswoman Elizabeth Deuchrass has won the International Partnership Network’s 7th biannual Global Best Award for the Pacific Ocean region – the first NZer ever to do so. Her company – Elizabeth Deuchrass & Associates Ltd –…
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)…
Back from the Brink and Here to Stay
The Herald profiles NZ’s master business tactician, Burns Philip head Graeme Hart. “Were it not for Mr Hart’s charm and reputation for ego-free business dealings, it would be easy to mistake that supreme confidence for arrogance. He…
Tycoon Teece
Berkeley Planet profiles David Teece, the man dubbed an “economics rock star” by the NZ government and one of the world’s top 50 business intellectuals by global management giant Accenture. As well as advising PM Tony Blair…
Super-mini
Age profiles Paul Hakes of Wellington’s Hakes Marine: the man behind super-maxi yacht, Zana. Hakes’ latest project is a 12m racing boat, which he hopes to successfully export to Australia. “It is a modern design, a fast…
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…
Designs on Nike
NZ company Designer Textiles has won a contract with sports apparel company Nike. Nike has agreed to use Designer Textiles’ merino advanced performance program (MAPP) in manufacturing its ACG range of outdoor sports shoes. The AGC range will…
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…
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…
Honey Power
Professor Peter Molan of Waikato University’s Honey Research Unit was the subject of a BBC feature on the healing power of honey. Molan hopes to take his area of expertise to the world via revolutionary wound dressings,…
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…
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…
World Class
Dr John Bedbrook, President and CEO of American GM crop developer Verdia, has returned to his native NZ as part of the government’s World Class New Zealanders business advisory program. Bedbrook recently spoke at the Bio2004 convention in…
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…
