Aug 13, 2018 | Science & Technology
By Matthew Hall New Zealand’s most sacred tree is under threat from disease, but the response so far has been slow, as Matthew Hall explains. Tāne Mahuta is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest living being – but the 45m tall, 2,500-year-old kauri tree is under severe...
Aug 7, 2018 | Politics & Society, Science & Technology
By Michael Graw Microbial ecology expert Michael Graw discusses what we should be doing to combat wildfires. The West is burning. A spate of wildfires in California killed 10 people on Monday, in addition to the 8.5 million acres of the western United States that had...
Jul 19, 2018 | Science & Technology
By Elizabeth Boakes & David Redding Extinction is a natural process, but it’s happening at 1,000 times the normal speed. Does this mean we are experiencing a sixth mass extinction event? When Sudan the white rhino was put down by his carers earlier this year, it...
Jul 12, 2018 | Science & Technology
By Douglas Sheil, Mike Bruford, Serge Wich, and Stephanie Spehar New research has shown that Orangutans have been adapting to humans for 70,000 years. If you are very lucky you might have seen an orangutan in the wild. Most people have only seen them on television. In...
May 10, 2018 | Science & Technology
By Theresa Laverty Doctoral candidate Theresa Laverty looks at how bats could guide humans to clean drinking water in places where it is scarce. Desert life depends on reliable access to water. In Namibia’s stark Namib Desert, where I spent 18 months doing research...
May 8, 2018 | Science & Technology
By Christopher O’Bryan, Eve McDonald-Madden, James Watson, Neil Carter Predators are helping farmers and reducing car crashes with surprising results. Humans may be Earth’s apex predator, but the fleeting shadow of a vulture or the glimpse of a big cat can cause...
May 2, 2018 | Science & Technology
Professor Simon Thrush from the Institute of Marine Science at the University of Auckland talks about his big question, “how do we restore marine ecosystems?” Thrush’s current research interests focus on the ecology of coastal ecosystems, how they respond to...
Apr 24, 2018 | Politics & Society, Science & Technology
Dr. Daniel Hikuroa from Māori and Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland talks about his big question, “Why are we killing our rivers?” Hikuroa’s research addresses fundamental foundations and applications of knowledge, particularly with respect to...
Apr 5, 2018 | Politics & Society
The world is facing a water crisis. The World Bank and the United Nations have reported that some forty percent of the world’s population is now affected by water scarcity. Two billion people rely on unsafe drinking water, and some 700 million people are at risk...
Apr 4, 2018 | Science & Technology
A major University of Otago-led study into an ancient climate change event that impacted a significant percentage of Earth’s oceans has brought into sharp focus a lesser-known villain in global warming: oxygen depletion. The study is the culmination of a major...