Wayve Genius Alex Kendall Makes Forbes 30 Under 30
New Zealander Alex Kendall, 27, who went to the University of Cambridge to pursue a PhD in Computer Vision and Robotics, and today serves as the CTO (and co-founder) of London-based Wayve, an AI…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
How Our Space Industry is Causing Turbulence
Life on the Mahia Peninsula used to be quiet: surfing beaches, historical monuments, and good snapper fishing, Eleanor Ainge Roy writes for The Guardian. Then space came to town. Four years ago, Rocket Lab’s Peter…
Physicist Stephen Parke Makes Maths Discovery
Three physicists, including one New Zealander, wanted to calculate how neutrinos change. They ended up discovering an unexpected relationship between some of the most ubiquitous objects in maths, Natalie Wolchover reports for online publication,…
Four NZ Tech Superstars Bound to Become Global
New Zealand is a country that immediately brings to mind a number of images upon its mention, London-based music and culture magazine The 405 reports. Jaw-dropping nature, a beacon of stability and commonsense governance…
Otago Scientists Explain Loch Ness Mystery
The most famous photo of the Loch Ness monster has long been discredited as a hoax, but University of Otago scientists have come up with a new explanation for other sightings of the elusive…
Rocket Lab Aims to Catch Boosters with Choppers
New Zealand-founded California-based Rocket Lab wants to use a helicopter to “catch” the first stage of its Electron rocket as it floats toward the ground with a parachute, according to Robert Mogg reporting for…
Statistician Hadley Wickham Wins Global Award
Hadley Wickham, a statistician from Hamilton who is now based in Houston, Texas, has won the international 2019 COPSS Presidents’ Award. The prize is awarded annually to a statistician under 40 in recognition of…
New Zealand Study Looks At Robot Racism
The reason for shades of technological white in the creation of robots may be racism, according to new research undertaken by the Human Interface Technology Laboratory New Zealand (HIT Lab NZ) and published…
Barbara Rae-Venter’s Revolutionary Cold Case Crime Breakthrough
Auckland-born genetic genealogist Barbara Rae-Venter has become the go-to expert for law enforcement agencies hoping to crack the cases that defy traditional investigative methods, according to a profile in the San Francisco Chronicle by…
On the Anniversary of Ernest Rutherford’s Find
“In 1907, a New Zealander named Ernest Rutherford moved from McGill University in Canada to the University of Manchester. There, he conducted a series of experiments where he fired alpha particles at different materials,”…
Pioneering Facial Reconstruction Work Of Harold Gillies Carries Graphic Warning
The pioneering work of Dunedin-born surgeon Dr Harold Gillies is graphically displayed in a Daily Mail spread featuring the facial reconstructions of soldiers wounded in WWI. Under the headline “The rebuilt faces of war:…
Rocket Lab Now Building Customisable Satellites
Small satellite launcher, New Zealand-founded Rocket Lab is getting into the business of making satellites in addition to launching them. The company has announced that it is offering a new service to customers: a…
Rocket Lab’s Peter Beck at TED in Vancouver
Peter Beck is a space entrepreneur with a rocket and launch pad in New Zealand that has permission for flights “every 72 hours for the next 30 years”. Beck recently spoke at the TED…
Air NZ Uses 3D Printing to Install Spare Part
“Air New Zealand’s exploration of 3D technology for parts and tools has ratcheted up a notch after it successfully ordered a 3D bumper protector for seats from Singapore and had it made and installed…
Your Apples May Soon Be Picked By Laser-Shooting Robots
Roboticists are creating crop-specific machines to harvest fruits and veggies. One of these inventions is “the apple-picking robot, a metallic farmer that just graduated from R&D and won a job in a New Zealand…
40,000-Year-Old Log Explains Earth’s Mystery
A 40,000-year-old 60-tonne kauri log discovered during excavations for a new power station in Ngāwhā could explain a mysterious global event, which may have dramatically changed the Earth’s climate. Scientists in New Zealand believe the…
New Zealand Farmers Herd Sheep with Barking Drones
In New Zealand, farmers are using drones to herd and monitor livestock, assuming a job that highly intelligent dogs have held for more than a century, and though the robots have not replaced the…
Blockchain Tech Opportunites Abound for Aotearoa
A new report commissioned by New Zealand’s innovation agency, Callaghan Innovation, suggests the country is fertile ground for blockchain tech. The crown entity has published an opportunity report on blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT)…
24/7 Geohazards Monitoring Centre Debuts in NZ
A new centre providing enhanced monitoring of natural geological hazards manned 24 hours a day in New Zealand has officially opened in Lower Hutt. The National Geohazards Monitoring Centre is a purpose-built facility located on…
Rocket Lab Launches First NASA Mission
New Zealand-founded spaceflight startup Rocket Lab has launched 13 tiny satellites on its first-ever mission for NASA, just a month after acing its first commercial flight. All of the payloads separated from the Electron’s “kick…
124-Year-Old Telescope to be Restored in NZ
One of the world’s most famous Victorian telescopes will be restored and available for public viewing in autumn 2019 at Lake Tekapo after spending five decades in storage. Dallas Poll, who is restoring the 124-year-old…
Flying Pioneer Richard Pearse Never Claimed Honour
New Zealander Richard Pearse may have beaten the Wright brothers, but never claimed the honour. Jeff Glorfeld reports for Australia’s Cosmos magazine. “The story of human flight is filled with many daring characters, and even…
Amy Maslen-Miller a Force for Samoan Scientists
New Zealander Amy Maslen-Miller is a new kind of researcher focused on indigenous agriculture. Young and passionate about what science can bring to food security, she is also keen to understand traditional approaches to…
Rocket Lab the FedEx of Space Industry
A small rocket from a little-known company lifted off last weekend from the east coast of New Zealand, carrying a clutch of tiny satellites, New York Times journalist Kenneth Chang wrote last week. That…
New York Is a Genuine Tech Hub
“In 2003, Craig Nevill-Manning, a computer scientist at Google, wanted to set up an engineering outpost in New York. Google’s top leaders were sceptical, but they told him that he could go ahead if…
Peter Beck Discusses Ambitious Space Plans
In an interview with Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine, Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck discusses his company’s ambitious plans to tap the growing market for transporting satellites into space. He sees a bright future for…
Richard Kavanagh’s Smart Mirror Adopted by L’Oreal
The interactive invention of top New Zealand hairstylist, Sydney-based Richard Kavanagh is set to transform salon visits here and overseas. Kavanagh’s smart mirror allows customers to shop for their style on screen and provides…
Rocket Lab Unveils New Production Facility
“Rocket Lab has expanded its global footprint with the unveiling of a new production facility that ‘rethinks the way orbital rockets are built’”. Space Tech Asia reports. “The new 7,500 sq/m…
Air NZ Debuts Magic Leap Virtual Reality Game
“Air New Zealand has ventured into the world of virtual reality marketing with its Fact or Fantasy concept game that features a world where people witness a giant kauri tree grow, meet a grumpy…
How Magic Leap Is Making the Magic
“When I met Rony Abovitz at Magic Leap’s Developer Conference (aka LEAPCon) in downtown Los Angeles yesterday, I told him it was like meeting all four Beatles at once. He’s defined for me and…
Claudia King’s Automio Shaking Up Tech World
New Plymouth-based legal tech startup Automio, which was founded by Claudia King, has made the Forbes’ list of 60 women-led tech companies, “shaking up” technology across the world. Allyson Kapin, a contributor at Forbes, recommends: researching…
Peter Beck is Changing the Launch Equation
Rocket Lab is aiming high. The California-based company, founded in New Zealand by Peter Beck, plans to make space much more accessible via its 17m Electron rocket, which can loft about 225kg of payload…
Investigating the Visionary Inventor Richard Pearse
“Richard Pearse, a New Zealander, is remarkable for very nearly being the first to fly under power and control. The more remarkable for also designing and making the engine for the aircraft,” Joseph May…
New Zealand to Get into the Space Junk Business
New Zealand is being drawn into the effort to tackle the space junk problem, Peter Griffin writes for Noted. Menlo Park, California-based space mapping start-up LeoLabs has applied for resource consent to build a…
AI Expert Dr Mahsa Mohaghegh Lectures in US
St. Bonaventure University’s cyber security programme recently hosted artificial intelligence expert and STEM advocate, New Zealander Dr Mahsa Mohaghegh as its Lenna Visiting Professor. Mohaghegh is a professor at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) with a…
Why NZ Is an Attractive Destination For Scientists
Our country’s fertile research landscape, combined with a sustained funding drive, makes it a rewarding place to work, according to freelance journalist James Mitchell Crow writing for science journal, Nature. At high tide, the Cook…
Akerei Maresala-Thomson’s App Changing Lives
An app designed by New Zealand-based former gang member turned policeman Akerei Maresala-Thomson, to help migrating Pacific families adjust to their new lives, is now being used by thousands. White Ribbon ambassador and social entrepreneur…
Scientist Harjinder Singh Wins Illustrious US Award
After 30 years of research in the dairy industry, a distinguished service award was well deserved for Massey University professor and food scientist Harjinder Singh, 60, who last month became the first New Zealander…
NY Times Honours Kiwi 37 Years After Her Death
One of New Zealand’s foremost scientists, astronomer Beatrice Tinsley, has been honoured with a posthumous obituary in the New York Times 37 years after her death. The Times, which is running a series of stories…
ANZ Introduces Digital Human Assistant
“If you are an ANZ Bank customer, chances are that your queries will be answered by ‘Jamie,’ the latest ‘Customer Services Officer’” and the bank’s new Digital Assistant, writes Venkat Raman in an article…
Rocket Lab to Open Second Launch Pad
Silicon Valley-funded space launch company Rocket Lab is planning “to open a second launch site in the United States to complement its remote New Zealand pad.” Charlotte Greenfield reports for
NZ DNA Software Helps Conviction in US Court Case
New Zealand DNA testing software known as ‘STRmix’ “has helped United States prosecutors secure a murder conviction in a Brooklyn courtroom.” Radio New Zealand reports. STRmix untangles complex mixtures of DNA…
Scientists to Lead DNA Hunt for Loch Ness Monster
An examination of Loch Ness using DNA sampling techniques will try to establish exactly what lives in the UK’s largest freshwater body – it may also discover whether there is any scientific basis to…
World’s Longest Emperor Penguin Dive Recorded
Scientists in Antarctica have recorded the world’s longest penguin dive, an astounding 32.2 minutes under the water, a full five minutes longer than the previous record. Emperor penguins, which live only in Antarctica, are the…
Humble Bee Looks at Clean Alternative to Plastics
When New Zealander Veronica Harwood-Stevenson, 33, a trained reproductive biologist, gambled her life savings on research into a rare species of bee, she had no way of knowing whether it would pay off. Harwood-Stevenson had…
Māhia World’s Best Spot for Rocket Launching
“The Māhia Peninsula has been a holidaymakers’ haven for decades. It offers sandy beaches, hot springs and scenic trails. And, for those of a technological mindset, it also offers the world’s first private orbital-rocket-launching…
Flying Taxis Secretly Tested In New Zealand
Silicon Valley-based flying car start-up “Kitty Hawk, backed by Google founder Larry Page, has been secretly testing an electric autonomous aircraft for several months in New Zealand, the company revealed…
Auckland Airport Testing AI Avatar Service
“New Zealand’s Auckland Airport is testing the use of an onscreen avatar to answer biosecurity questions from travellers in a bid to reduce the workload of airport officials,” writes Aaron Tan in an article…
Scientists Assess Surprise Status of Ross Ice Shelf
New Zealand scientists have peered into one of the least-explored swaths of ocean on Earth, a vast region located off the coast of West Antarctica. It is locked beneath a crust of ice larger…
Fossil Poop Reveals Critical Role of Giant Birds in NZ’S Ecosystem
“When the first humans landed on what is now known as New Zealand 700 years ago, they didn’t find mammals. Instead, they discovered giant birds called moas, as well as a host of other…
Peter Beck’s Mission to Conquer Space
Rocket Lab entrepreneur Peter Beck’s recent launch into orbit of the 65-sided, carbon-fibre satellite Humanity Star drew a barrage of flak from scientists. But the New Zealander remains undaunted. Beck explains his decision to Ian…
Why the Tech Elite Love New Zealand
This year, Rocket Lab plans to blast a 56-foot vehicle into orbit on a mission to revolutionize access to space. The rocket “was manufactured in Auckland and will launch from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula,”…
Rocket Lab Launches the Humanity Star
The glittering Humanity Star satellite, which may be the brightest object in the night sky, serves no purpose other than to “make people look up and realise they are on a rock in a…
Julian Oliver Mines ZCash in Harvest Project
Julian Oliver is a New Zealander who uses wind power to mine ZCash – a bitcoin cousin – to fund climate research as part of a project called, Harvest. As the poster child for…
Jonathan Dower Gets a Kick Out of His Game
New Zealander Jonathan Dower, who is a game artist for Helsinki-based Supercell, didn’t just design how people play the real-time multiplayer game Clash Royale – he helped come up with how it looks, too,…
Laughing Kea a Science Story of the Year
Leading scientists pick the dozen most significant discoveries and developments of 2017 – from a steep decline in flying insects to a laughter-like play vocalisation – a warble call – has been discovered in…
