Science Media Centre

The release of a much-anticipated report into the oil and gas extraction technique ‘fracking’ has stimulated public discussion on the regulation of the mining process in New Zealand. Parliamentary Comissioner for the Environment, Dr Jan Wright, yesterday released her report, Evaluating the environmental impacts of fracking in New Zealand: An interim report, which covers the background, […]

In the New Zealand Herald Andy Kenworthy takes a look at seabed mining and the EEZ – an issue covered recently in a Royal Society of New Zealand Emerging Issues Paper. An excerpt (read in full here): Seabed mining: Buried treasure, or fool’s gold? Seabed mining is the business of sucking huge amounts of sand […]

The number of earthquakes in the central United States rose “spectacularly” near where oil and gas drillers disposed of wastewater underground, according to a new study. The new report from the US Geological Survey comes just days after a UK report confirmed a causal link between fracking and seismic activity at a drilling site in […]

The gas and oil extraction method known as hydraulic fracturing – AKA ‘fracking’ – has received increased media coverage in New Zealand recently as concerned community groups and the industry square off over potential environmental and health issues. TVNZ’s Sunday program ran a US-focused segment ‘A Fracking Mess‘ last weekend, which was followed by a […]

Climate change expert James Hansen kicked off his nation wide lecture tour last night in Auckland. His pointed analysis of the world climate and it’s future is gaining increasing media attention and raising serious questions about how our energy choices affect New Zealand’s clean, green image. Dr James Hansen, head of the  NASA Goddard Institute […]

An editorial in the Otago Daily Times discusses the news that the government will establish three large marine reserves, and why it is significant. However, it also cautions that the news cannot necessarily be taken as a sign that the pace of marine preservation is improving. An excerpt: (read in full here) “Areas around the […]

Australian mining expert David Cliff has arrived at the Pike River site, as work continues to try and recover the miners’ bodies. The gag engine, a modified jet engine brought over to try put out the fire burning inside by the mine by pumping in inert, non-flammable gases and starving the fire of oxygen, is […]

UPDATED: Further explosions in the Pike River mine are possible as a volatile mix of gases prevents a rescue crew from entering the mine to retrieve the bodies of the miners who are presumed dead following a second massive explosion yesterday. A number of “inertisation” technologies, such as liquid nitrogen vapourisation are being considered to […]

A second explosion at the Pike River mine this afternoon ended all hope of the 29 missing miners being rescued. A small West Coast community will now face the task of recovering and rebuilding following a disaster of devastating proportions. The Science Media Centre asked trauma and disaster recovery experts to comment on the challenges […]

Three robots may soon be involved in the Pike River mine disaster – an unprecedented number. The first robot, which stalled yesterday due to water damage, was restarted this morning, and managed to travel a kilometre into the mine before running out of batteries.  Before doing so, it captured footage of the helmet of one […]