Science Media Centre

A genetic analysis of several strains of the Psa bacterium, conducted by American and Italian scientists, suggests a Chinese origin for the bacterium that has caused millions of dollars of damage to the New Zealand kiwifruit industry. However, more data from affected New Zealand kiwifruit are needed to complete the picture.  The new research, published [...]

A new Department of Conservation report estimates there are approximately 55 Maui’s dolphins left, leading experts to call for better protection for the world’s rarest dolphin.    The DOC report is based on DNA analysis of genetic samples collected from dolphins between February and March in 2010 and 2011. The research team collected samples from [...]

The active ingredient in a supposedly legal party drug sold in New Zealand has been revealed to be a Class C controlled substance. An analysis undertaken by the Crown Research Institute ESR, commissioned by TVNZ, indicated that the “party drug” product DIME contains the new drug 25C-NBOMe (also known as Pandora or Cimbi 82), which [...]

Following from last month’s SMC Q&A with earthquake engineers, we have several more earthquake related questions answered by a panel of expert engineers. The engineers include John Hare, president of the Structural Engineering Society, Win Clark, executive officer at the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering, Mark Batchelar a consultant engineer and earthquake engineering expert [...]

A new study of contamination at the Fukushima power plant has identified increased amounts of radioactive plutonium in the environment, but experts are stressing that the resulting levels of radiation are very low and pose little risk to human health. The research, published in the journal Scientific Reports, has identified small amounts of the radioactive [...]

Two solar flares that occurred on the sun on 7 March have caused a large cloud of charged particles (a coronal mass ejection; CME) to hurtle towards Earth. A statement, video and images can be found on the NASA website, with the latest update noting that the CME has reached the edge of the Earth’s [...]

Fruit and vegetable consumption is correlated with changes in skin redness and yellowness. In a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE,   Scottish researchers investigated whether the amount of fruit and vegetables eaten affects skin color. They found that skin redness and yellowness increased with increasing fruit and vegetable consumption over a period [...]

A British doctor found guilty of serious professional misconduct over the MMR controversy has won his High Court appeal against being struck off, but experts stress that the ruling doesn’t reflect a change in thinking regarding the vaccine. Prof John Walker-Smith, a colleague of Dr Andrew Wakefield,  was involved in research which supposedly identified a [...]

On March 11 last year a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit off the coast of Japan triggering a powerful tsunami. Resulting waves reached heights of 40 metres and pushed a wall of seawater inland as far as 10 km in some regions. The human toll was immense, with over 15,000 people confirmed dead and an additional [...]

Heavy rainfall has caused extensive flooding across southern New South Wales and North East Victoria, forcing several communities to evacuate. Widespread, and persistent recordbreaking rainfall was recorded across southeast Australia between 27 February and 5 March 2012, leading to heavy flooding across southeast Australia.  So far, 13,000 people are reported to have been evacuated from [...]

One year after the Tokyo quake and subsequent Fukushima nuclear incident, the Science Media Centre looks back over how events unfolded and how experts around the world responded to the situation. On March 11th 2011 a magnitude  9.0 quake struck off the the eastern coast of Japan, triggering powerful tsunami waves that reached heights of [...]

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