Science Media Centre

Overnight in New York, an independent report was released which recommended a major overhaul of procedures and management of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The report, undertaken by a 12 person team from the InterAcademy Council which represents the world’s major science academies, outlines some sweeping changes, such as the installation of an executive committee [...]

US research suggests children who were exposed to organophosphate pesticides while still in their mother’s womb were more likely to develop attention disorders years later.
Organophosphates have been linked to neurobehavioral deficits in children but this new research is the first to examine the influence of prenatal organophosphate exposure on the later development of attention problems.
The [...]

The Science Media Centre sought comment from experts on the 60 Minutes piece Living Proof, which examined the story of Alan Smith, who was treated with intravenous doses of vitamin C while close to death suffering with the H1N1 virus and made a full recovery.
Professor John Fraser, Head of School of Medical Sciences, University of [...]

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) faces a legal challenge by climate sceptics group the Climate Science Coalition which is taking the Crown Research Institute to court over the accuracy of its climate data.
UPDATED 2PM: In a statement of claim which the coalition says it has filed with the High Court at [...]

A gene that confers resistance to nearly all existing antibiotics has been found in bacteria in India, Pakistan and the UK, and appears to be spreading internationally as patients travel abroad to seek elective surgery, according to a study† published today in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases.
The authors of the study say that the spread [...]

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill appears to be largely over, with news that three quarters of the oil released during the approximately four months of the spill, has gone.

Most of the oil has evaporated, with what is left apparently being quite diluted.  Heavier remnants are either floating on the surface, or have washed up [...]

NOTE: Further comments added
The UK’s Food Standards Agency is investigating claims that milk from the offspring of a cloned cow is on sale in British supermarkets, according to a statement released overnight. European Union rules on novel foods ensure no products from clones’ offspring can be sold legally [...]

People who suffer mental illness between 18 and 25 are more likely to experience a range of negative economic effects later in life, according to research from the University of Otago.
Studying 950 people born in Christchurch, researchers found that those who reported suffering from a psychiatric disorder (depression, anxiety disorder, substance dependence, etc) in early [...]

NIWA has published its climate outlook for the next three months:
“La Niña conditions for the rest of 2010″
The equatorial Pacific is now in a La Niña state, which is likely to continue until the end of the year.
Early spring temperatures look to be at, or just below, normal for much of the country, and [...]

Global stocks of phytoplankton — the foundation of the marine food web, and drivers of the ‘biological pump’ that sequesters carbon in the deep ocean — have been falling for last hundred years, according to a study published today in the journal Nature.
The study suggests phytoplankton have declined by nearly 40 per cent since [...]

Wrangling over water issues
Polluted rivers, dirty dairying, greening the MacKenzie Country, dams for hydro-power and water allocation — these are just some of the big water issues that have been in the headlines in recent months.
Although freshwater is relatively abundant in New Zealand, uneven distribution of water resources and increasingly intensive use have led to [...]