Science Media Centre

Pipe dream or economy booster?
The news yesterday that a group of wealthy businessmen including Warehouse founder Stephen Tindall and Trade Me founder Sam Morgan are leading a $900 million bid to build a 13,000km fibre optic cable between Australia, New Zealand and the US has created a lot of buzz.
The prospect of an internet without [...]

The science behind the catch
As we head into Sea Week and New Zealanders digest the message of the hard-hitting documentary The End of the Line which suggests we may be heading towards a “world without fish”, the SMC is gathering fisheries experts to look at New Zealand’s fisheries and their sustainability.
Every year, the country faces [...]

Leading scientists examine GM issue
As part of a Science Media Centre briefing for journalists to be held on Tuesday, Agresearch chief scientist Steven Goldson will lead a panel of experts looking at the potential benefits and risks of introducing genetically modified pasture crops in New Zealand.
The Royal Society has prepared a paper on the subject [...]

Nutrigenomics – what is it exactly?
Genes, diet and gut health will be the focus of discussion in Auckland next week as scientists, nutritionists and food technologists gather for a conference looking at what the latest research says about how foods affect gene expression and therefore human health.
It is early days for nutrigenomics, but a group [...]

DNA Pioneer in SMC briefing
As New Zealand forensic scientists prepare to mark 20 years of DNA testing in New Zealand the Science Media Centre is pleased to host an online briefing for journalists featuring one of the founding fathers of DNA forensics, Dr Peter Gill. As this Times article explains, Dr Gill was part of [...]

Lancet kills MMR paper 10 years on
The move by London-based medical journal The Lancet to retract a ten year old paper that suggested a potential link between the MMR vaccine and autism in children effectively ends one of the longest running medical controversies of recent decades.
The retraction from The Lancet editor Richard Horton follows a [...]

CRI Taskforce set to give its verdict
The CRI Taskforce, set up by the Government to review the structure of the country’s Crown Research Institutes, is set to release its recommendations after presenting them to the Minister for Research, Science and Technology, Dr Wayne Mapp on February 15.
Taskforce chairman Neville Jordan said the review had confirmed [...]

Clinton’s science advisor jets in
Expect New Zealand’s unease with genetic modification and options for alternative energy production to be in the spotlight next week as the Government hosts a high-powered series of science workshops featuring key officials from the US Government.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton may have postponed her New Zealand visit scheduled for [...]

Down to the wire for carbon deal
Climate negotiators and heads of states will reconvene in a few hours with the aim of removing the hundreds of square brackets from a draft emissions reduction agreement.
If the first week of the COP15 meetings was dominated by the split between the developed and developing nations, week two hasn’t [...]

As COP15 gears up for its final big day, the deadlock has been broken, with the negotiations moving forward on a two-track basis.

With the Danish presidency having given up on trying to create a consensus around a draft text aimed at combating global warming, the negotiations have split down two tracks; one the Kyoto Protocol, [...]