How does one model a pandemic?
By Christian Yates With basic mathematical models, researchers can begin to forecast the progression of diseases and understand the effect of interventions on disease spread. Disease has afflicted humans ever since there have been humans. Malaria and tuberculosis are...
What is a virus? How do they spread? How do they make us sick?
By Lotti Tajouri Viruses are the most common biological entities on Earth. Experts estimate there are around 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 of them, and if they were all lined up they would stretch from one side of the galaxy to the other. You can think of...
Does far-right extremism still threaten New Zealand?
By Paul Spoonley In the hours after the Christchurch mosque attacks on March 15 last year, I wrote that I hoped New Zealand would finally stop believing it was immune to far-right extremist violence. A year on, I’m not sure enough has changed. I’ve researched...
Bushfires: Can ecosystems recover from such dramatic losses of biodiversity?
By Darren Evans The impacts of climate change – in particular, the consequences of the increasing frequency of extreme weather events on all life should be abundantly clear. The sheer scale and intensity of the Australian bushfire crisis have led to apocalyptic scenes...
Why did White Island erupt and why was there no warning?
By Shane Cronin Why did White Island erupt and why was there no warning? Shane Cronin explains what happened. Five people have been confirmed dead, 31 remain in hospital with injuries and eight are still missing after sudden volcanic eruptions on Whakaari/White Island...
Are trackless trams the answer to our rail problems?
By Peter Newman Trackless trams v light rail? It’s not a contest as both can improve our cities, says Peter Newman. A Greenpeace video of me plugging a trackless tram that went viral with 4 million hits has caused a few eyebrows to be raised over whether I think light...
Why isn’t my professor Pasifika or Māori?
By Tara McAllister & Sereana Naepi The number of Māori and Pasifika students attending New Zealand universities has been increasing steadily, but for many of these students, they will not be taught by Māori or Pasifika throughout their degree. The number of Māori...
Is El Niño becoming stronger?
By Mandy Freund, Ben Henley, David Karoly, Helen McGregor & Nerilie Abram El Niño has rapidly become stronger and stranger, according to new research involving coral records. The pattern of El Niño has changed dramatically in recent years, according to the first...
Who is leading the way to zero carbon?
By Pep Canadell, Corinne Le Quere, Glen Peters, Jan Ivar Korsbakken & Robbie Andrew Eighteen countries from developed economies have had declining carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels for at least a decade. While every nation is unique, they share some...Subscribe by Email
Completely spam free, opt out any time.
This form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
