Science Media Centre

A media report from the weekend suggests a link between the Earth’s rotation and an increase in intense earthquakes. The report follows a conference presentation last month by two US researchers who suggest a slowing of Earth’s rotation is correlated with an increase in earthquakes of magnitude 7 or higher. The SMC asked experts to comment on […]

New Zealand researchers have found the active ingredients in commonly-used weed killers can cause bacteria to be less susceptible to antibiotics.  The study builds upon research published in 2015 that found three common herbicides, including Round-up, caused E.coli and Salmonella to become less sensitive to antibiotics. The new research, published in Microbiology, investigated which ingredients were responsible and found it was the […]

To reach New Zealand’s Predator Free 2050 goal, researchers have been considering gene-editing techniques to rid the country of invasive stoats, rats and possums. In a perspective article, published today in PLOS Biology, researchers from New Zealand and the USA explore the repercussions if these pests were inadvertently spread outside our borders. They say that […]

After months of speculation, the results of the ABS poll on whether Australia should legalise same-sex marriage are in, and the yes vote won. The Australian Bureau of Statistics released the results from the postal survey on Wednesday, which showed an overall result of 61.6 per cent ‘yes’ with 79.5 per cent voter turnout. The […]

Some of the adverse events reported after the rollout of the HPV vaccine in New Zealand are likely to have been related to news coverage rather than the vaccine itself, according to a new Australian study.  Looking at the past seven years, the researchers found that whenever news coverage spiked, the following month saw the […]

2017 is set to be in the top three hottest years on record, with record-breaking extreme weather, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO’s) provisional statement on the state of the climate. Released to coincide with the start of the United Nations climate change conference in Bonn, the statement said 2017 was set to be […]

A total of 133 research projects have been funded in the latest round of the Marsden Fund, for a total of $84.6 million – an increase over last year’s $65m. The Fund received a boost in the 2016 Budget of an additional $66m over four years, which allowed more proposals to be funded and increased the success […]

In a study of 325 couples going through fertility treatment, women who ate fruits and veggies with higher pesticide residues tended to have fewer pregnancies and live births after IVF, according to a US study. The authors say their study is the first of its kind in humans and needs to be confirmed by further […]

Climate change will impact human health, both directly – through heat waves and weather events – and indirectly by challenging our mental health, according to a new report from Royal Society Te Apārangi. The third in a series looking at climate change from New Zealand’s perspective, the report also found that climate change would likely […]

The Labour-New Zealand First coalition will undertake to increase spending on research & development to 2% of GDP over ten years, according to the agreement released yesterday. New Zealand’s level of gross spending on R&D is currently 1.3%, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), lagging the OECD average of 2.4%. Labour’s own R&D […]