Science Media Centre

Budget 2013 saw a net increase of around $50 million in science and innovation funding, according to Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce. $130 million of funding has been committed to boosting R&D efforts in companies and start-ups, $107m of which will come from the Government’s internationally focused growth package, with $23m re-prioritised from elsewhere [...]

UK SMC: As the number of human cases of avian flu continues to rise, China and its surrounding regions remain on high alert, and the rest of the world watches the developing situation with great interest. There is currently no indication of human to human transmission, but the severity of illness caused in many patients, [...]

The Government has announced the National Science Challenges – 10 areas of focus over the next four years – $73.5 million in new funding to address them ($133.5 million in total to be spent on research addressing them). The areas of focus are: 1. Aging well 2. A better start 3. Healthier lives 4. High value nutrition [...]

Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Dr Jan Wright has launched a new report, On a pathway to extinction? An investigation into the status and management of the longfin eel. Commercial fishing of native freshwater eels is currently permitted under the quota management system, despite mounting concerns that the iconic endemic longfin eel may be headed [...]

ONLINE MEDIA BRIEFING – FRI 22 MAR The ‘big dry’ continues, with the entire North Island officially declared a drought zone and ongoing water restrictions in many regions. How bad is this drought, and how long is it likely to last? What are the ongoing impacts on soil moisture and river flows, and how much [...]

Is current intensification of land use damaging our waterways beyond repair?  Deteriorating water quality and arguments over access to water resources have been in the headlines a lot this year. Scientists speaking out about clean water and water resource issues have attracted significant attention, not all of it positive. Meanwhile water and land issues remain unresolved, with tensions [...]

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Jan Wright, today released her report on hydraulic fracturing (fracking). The PCE’s report covers the background, environmental risks, current oversight and future implications of the use of unconventional techniques in oil and gas production in New Zealand. The Science Media Centre has gathered comment from scientists and independent [...]

Your genome – the billions of bits of DNA code that make up the instructions needed to make you who you are – is not quite the mystery it once was. The technology required to sequence your genome is now more accessible than ever. Already companies are offering sequencing services for private citizens. But what can [...]

What we feed ourselves and our children will shape the future of New Zealand. The complex problem of obesity – and its potential solutions – is the focus of  the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society (ANZOS), taking place in Auckland this week. And ahead of the meeting, several key [...]

Climate change is simultaneously happening, not happening, man-made, natural, a hoax and the end of the world as we know it – according to the mainstream press. How the media cover climate change was the focus of talk by this week by Prof Raffaell Ocone, Heriot-Watt University, Scotland, which aimed to give an engineer’s perspective [...]