Science Media Centre

Following the release of a new information paper on earthquake engineering, the media have examined new challenges in building safe structures. The paper,  released this week by the Royal Society of New Zealand, was titled “The Canterbury earthquakes: Answers to critical questions about buildings”. The document represented input from several expert groups -the Royal Society [...]

As more buildings in Christchurch are tagged for demolition, NZ Herald reporter Paul Harper looks at what the future holds for the city’s planners and how they might be informed by the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Conference currently being held in Auckland today. Update: The conference has also received coverage on TV3′s morning show Firstline, which [...]

Engineers are calling for a rethink in building design and standards in the wake of the Christchurch earthquakes. Designing to save buildings as well as lives would improve the resilience of crucial infrastructure following high magnitude quakes. A major gathering of earthquake engineers from New Zealand and overseas kicks off in Auckland tomorrow (14-16 April). The [...]

Dr Peter Stafford is a New Zealander born in Christchurch now working as the Willis Research Fellow RCUK Fellow / Lecturer in Modelling Engineering Risk Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering Imperial College London. He was born in Christchurch and has family and friends living in the city. He completed his undergraduate degree and his [...]

A well-developed understanding of seismic hazards and how to construct earthquake-resilient buildings was crucial to avoiding loss of life in September’s 7.1 magnitude earthquake near Christchurch, say scientists who have evaluated the quake damage. In January, more than 200,000 people were killed when a similarly-sized earthquake struck Haiti. The main difference in quake outcomes – [...]

Kyoto focus in Cancun climate talks Predictably fraught negotiations appear to have dominated the COP16 climate summit in Cancun, Mexico, as representatives from 190-odd countries try to come to agreement on how to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The overall goal of the conference is to progress the hastily-drafted Copenhagen Accord that was put together at [...]

The annual Engineering Excellence Awards took place last night in Wellington, in what proved to be a very entertaining (and quite educational) evening. The awards were set up in 2005 as a way to recognise, and reward, the engineering achievements of both people and organisations in New Zealand.  They are split into two primary groups: [...]

Eloise Gibson of the New Zealand Herald and Kiran Chug of the Dominion Post report on the top science award given to NZ scientist Professor Peter Hunter at the Royal Society’s annual Science Honours Dinner. The Rutherford Medal, which comes with $100,000 in prize money,is the country’s top science award, and was given to Professor [...]

Anthony Doesburg, of the New Zealand Herald, writes about a report released last month by the British Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), a large, and venerable, organisation. The report proposed three new ways of postponing the effects of climate change: artificial trees, incorporating photobioreactors into building structures, and solar radiation management. An excerpt: (read in [...]