Griffin's Gadgets

Featured image: Sciblogs goes shopping: new ‘Consuming Science’ Series

Sciblogs goes shopping: new ‘Consuming Science’ Series

Peter Griffin • Nov 27, 2017

Science sells.  You don’t have to look far in the supermarket to see that advertisers have cottoned on to this fact. Technical sounding jargon, endorsements from experts and references to ‘clinically proven’ results are everywhere you look. Sometimes you just wish someone could cut through hype and give a clear steer on how best to spend … Read More

Featured image: The scientific effort to take out our biggest pests

The scientific effort to take out our biggest pests

Peter Griffin • Nov 16, 2017

Nearly 18 months on from the previous government announcing Predator Free 2050, an ambitious goal to eradicate our most destructive invasive pests, the research that will underpin the strategy has been unveiled. Predator Free 2050 Ltd is the company that was set up to invest in predator eradication and steer the major scientific effort that will be required to achieve … Read More

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Featured image: Simon Upton – New Zealand science like an ‘exotic botanical garden’

Simon Upton – New Zealand science like an ‘exotic botanical garden’

Peter Griffin • Nov 10, 2017

The Crown Research Institutes are 25 years old and they celebrated yesterday with a series of talks and a showcase of their science at Te Papa in Wellington yesterday. Labour’s Research, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Megan Woods, a former Plant & Food employee herself, gave a fairly measured speech that strayed little from the science and research-related commitments made … Read More

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Featured image: Auckland botanist inspires science award name change

Auckland botanist inspires science award name change

Peter Griffin • Nov 01, 2017

The New Zealand Association of Scientists this evening presented their annual awards in Wellington, honouring some of the country’s top researchers with a suite of prestigeous medals. Dr Lucy Cranwell See full details of the winners below. One nice surprise was to see the Association’s science communicator’s medal, which has been won in recent years by scientists including Michelle Dickinson, … Read More

Featured image: Fonterra’s blindspot – synthetic milk

Fonterra’s blindspot – synthetic milk

Peter Griffin • Oct 13, 2017

Last year I found myself sitting on a plane beside a Fonterra executive who was bound for Chicago, where the dairy giant’s US operation is based. I asked him what he considered to be the biggest issues the company faced. He immediately mentioned “trace-ability” and giving Fonterra’s customers confidence in the safety of its products, something that is rightly … Read More

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Featured image: Forget fake news – the bigger problem in science is PR hype!

Forget fake news – the bigger problem in science is PR hype!

Peter Griffin • Aug 18, 2017

Thousands of scientific journal papers are being published every week and their authors and institutions are often under intense pressure to generate interest in the research beyond the world of peer review. Research leader Professor Sally Dunwoodie from the Victor Chang Institute with her team. Credit: Victor Chang Institute That can be a healthy thing – it is increasingly … Read More

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Featured image: The political parties and where they stand on science

The political parties and where they stand on science

Peter Griffin • Aug 11, 2017

With the Metiria Turei controversy behind us and ‘Jacindamania’ fading, it may be time for policy positions from our political parties to get more of an airing. Yesterday saw the New Zealand Association of Scientists and the New Zealand Public Service Association team up to give the major political parties and TOP candidate Geoff Simmonds the opportunity to … Read More