Science Media Centre

A new study in Nature reports that two people with tetraplegia were able to reach for and grasp objects in three-dimensional space with robotic arms that they controlled directly with brain activity. A 58-year-old woman, “S3,” and a 66-year-old man, “T2,” participated in the study. They had each been paralyzed by a brainstem stroke years [...]

Researchers are continuing their quest for detail the remains of the once famous Pink and White Terraces buried at the bottom of Lake Rotomahana. The picturesque terraces, once described as the eighth wonder of the natural world, were buried in the eruption of Mt Tarawera in 1886. This week researchers are heading out on to [...]

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has added diabetes and memory loss to the list of side effects for cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins. This week the governing body for pharmaceuticals in the US, the FDA, announced it was adding several side effects to the information required to be made available with statins, a [...]

A new livestock virus spreading across Europe and panicking farmers in the Norther Hemisphere is unlikely to reach New Zealand shores. The Schmallenberg virus, named after German region where the its was first detected, causes fetal congenital malformations and stillbirths in cattle, sheep, and goats. Spread by the Culicoides midge species, the virus was first identified [...]

New research has found that several commonly prescribed sleeping pills are associated with a more than fourfold increased risk of death, even among those taking relatively low doses.  However, overseas experts and New Zealand authorities are noting that the link may be more complicated than it appears. The new study, published in the journal BMJ [...]

An alliance of major conservation and environmental groups is calling for the establishment of a series of marine reserves around Antarctica, with a particular focus on the Ross Sea. In a report released this week, the Antarctic Ocean Alliance identified 19 areas that should be included within a Southern Ocean network of Marine Protected Areas [...]

Fossils found on the East coast of New Zealand have been used to reconstruct the skeleton of an extinct prehistoric penguin, believed to be far heavier and taller than modern penguins. The giant penguins  stood 1.3 metres tall – 30 cm taller than its nearest modern-day rival, the Emperor Penguin, of Antarctica. With its spear-like [...]

The publication of a list of non-essential, energy-dense, nutritionally deficient (NEEDNT) foods, has received blanket media coverage across New Zealand, highlighting how important food and diet are to a public increasingly aware of the rising rates of obesity. The list, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, was developed to aid medical practitioners working with [...]

The publication of hospital data showing a dramatic rise in infectious disease admissions, particularity among Maori, Pacific Islanders and those in lower socioeconomic groups, has drawn the attention of the New Zealand media. The figures were published in the Lancet by associate professor  Michael Baker and his colleagues from the University of Otago, Wellington. The [...]

An announcement from the Wellington City Council  that it will be examining the city’s earthquake resilience has received wide media coverage just days before the anniversary of the February 22nd Christchurch quake. In press statement released today, the Wellington council announced that a report to be considered by  the  Strategy and Policy Committee next week [...]

In an article for Computerworld, Sarah Putt quizzes the new Minister for Science and Innovation, Steven Joyce, on how the Ministry will be nurturing the ‘science ecosystem’, and what he thinks about IT in schools. An excerpt (read in full here): Expecting an ROI from the Ministry of Science and Innovation “too simplistic”: Joyce The [...]

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