Science Media Centre

Writing for the Dominion Post‘s Business Day, Jon Morgan holds up solid new research as an example of why science findings is important. You can read the full article from PLoS ONE here. Excerpts (read in full here): Science still the key to our future Scientists by nature are cautious. The thoroughness of their methods [...]

Textiles scientist Stewart Collie talks to the Otago Daily Times about the money-spinning potential of a new wool dyeing process  developed by his team at Agresearch. An excerpt: (read the full article here) State science company AgResearch says it will commercialise a wool dyeing process which allows vibrant colouring of wool fabrics and could potentially [...]

Kiran Chug writes in the Dominion Post about AgResearch ending its cloning trials, due to the death rates of laboratory animals. While AgResearch will no longer be cloning animals, it will still be developing its transgenic cattle, sheep and goats, intended to produce pharmaceutically-useful proteins which cannot be easily made any other way. An excerpt: [...]

Catherine Harris writes in BusinessDay about encouraging early results suggesting that sauvignon blanc extracts can help avoid sunburn. The research, being undertaken by AgResearch for kiwi company NZ Extracts, looked at the grape seeds from sauvignon blanc grapes grown in Marlborough – a major regional waste product. An excerpt: (read in full here) Early results [...]

Former Agresearch CEO Andy West talks to Paul Holmes about where the focus needs to be in science sector investment. An excerpt: (Click here to read the transcript or watch the interview) PAUL Now, you see, why would you pour your money into R and D, actually? Is there any actual evidence that spending more [...]

Carolyn Enting writes for the Dominion Post about a new, reversible, two-colour wool fabric to be presented at this week’s New Zealand Fashion Week. Developed by AgResearch, the wool’s colours are produced in a single dyeing, and the CRI is looking for business partners to help it commercialise this, and other high-tech textiles. An excerpt: [...]

AgResearch scientists have developed a new fabric which enables the martial artists wearing it to fight for longer. The fabric, made of a special woollen weave, is more lightweight, stronger, more comfortable, and allows better freedom of movement than the tightly-woven cotton generally used. An excerpt: (read in full here) “The wool fabric was developed [...]

Soil carbon and cutting emissions Did you know that there’s more carbon in the dirt beneath our feet than in the air above our heads? Soils hold at least twice as much carbon as the atmosphere, and they also store more carbon than the world’s forests and other vegetation combined. Although soil carbon has been [...]

Some of the research into the development of genetically engineered (GE) clover which could reduce pastoral greenhouse gas emissions will be done overseas, says AgResearch. The aim of the research is to switch on a specific gene in white clover which would reduce methane emissions and nitrogen waste, provide livestock with extra protein, and improve [...]

Aussie-bound space capsule due Scientists in the desolate South Australian outback are preparing for the touch down of a Japanese space capsule, which is scheduled to arrive on Sunday night. The Hayabusa capsule is the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid, which it did in 2005, intercepting the Itokawa asteriod. But scientists won’t know [...]