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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
Zealand’s 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 today’s 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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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.&nbs |
