Science Media Centre

Science funders need to keep on supporting “blue skies” research — fundamental work that may have no apparent immediate application to industry — says the first woman scientist to take home New Zealand’s most prestigious science medal, biochemist Professor  Christine Winterbourn. The Rutherford Medal — with a $100,000 cheque — was presented to Prof Winterbourn, [...]

Glaciers, neurobiology, Maori TV and algebra are just a few of the subjects to explored by the recipients of this year’s round of grants from the Marsden Fund – New Zealand’s largest ‘blue skies’ research funding body. Announced today, a total of 88 research projects have been allocated $53.8 million of funding in this year’s [...]

Decisions on where to invest more public money in research are “political”,  says the head of the national science academy, Dr Garth Carnaby. As president of the Royal Society, he had tried to set out for politicians the different “value propositions” for public intervention in alternative areas. “There are a wide range of views in [...]

ONLINE MEDIA BRIEFING: Wed 6 July 10.30 AM Soil, water, energy, air, wildlife and minerals — they underpin our economy, but go largely unrecognised when it comes to tallying up the balance sheet. Recent steps by policy-makers in the UK and locally are making concrete efforts to move away from a purely economic valuation of [...]

Kent Atkinson (NZPA) reports in Business Day on the upcoming application by the Pastoral Genomics group for a conditional release of GM forages, in particular clover and ryegrass. The application, however, has raised concerns amongst some groups who worry that the altered genes could spread into non-GM pasture species. An excerpt: (read in full here) [...]

New Zealand scientists are preparing to begin applications for the use of ‘cisgenic’ pasturage – clover and ryegrass which has been genetically modified, but without using genes from other species. It is hoped that the fact that the plants contain no genes from other species will make the the meat and milk from cows fed [...]

ONLINE BRIEFING: Tues 2 March 2010, 10:30 a.m. Drought-resistance, reduced greenhouse gas emissions intensity, superior nutrition for livestock — these are some of the benefits promised by researchers developing genetically modified pasture crops. But will these be enough to convince farmers — and the wider public — to accept GM pastures? No GM pasture crop [...]

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 [...]

British scientists are calling for billions to be invested in crop research and for the development of genetically modified crops to meet the estimated 50 per cent increase in production that will be required to feed the world in 2050. The Royal Society of London report Reaping the Benefits: Science and the Sustainable Intensification of [...]

Last night, New Zealand’s top scientists were celebrated at the annual Science Honours dinner, hosted by the Royal Society at Te Papa in Wellington. The event was timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Ernest Rutherford first learning that he’d been awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. The evening’s theme extended to include an [...]