Guest Author • Jun 17, 2021 •
Ella Henry, Auckland University of Technology While I am always happy to celebrate any accolades my country and city might garner on the international stage, seeing Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau awarded the top ranking in a recent “most liveable cities” survey left me somewhat flummoxed. In particular, I would argue that many Māori whānau in Auckland do not enjoy … Read More
Guest Author • Jun 15, 2021 •
Ruggiero Lovreglio, Massey University Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) aren’t just for gaming anymore, they’re also proving to be useful tools for disaster safety research. In fact, they could save lives. Around the world, natural and human-made disasters such as earthquakes, bushfires and terrorist attacks threaten substantial economic loss and human life. My research review looked … Read More
Guest Author • Jun 15, 2021 •
Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato The revived debate over whether COVID-19 could be the result of an accidental release from the Wuhan Institute of Virology may never be adequately resolved. Either way, we risk not seeing the wood for the trees. While the World Health Organization (WHO) reported in February such a leak was “extremely unlikely”, it … Read More
Guest Author • Jun 11, 2021 •
David Haworth, Monash University The black swan is an Australian icon. The official emblem of Western Australia, depicted in the state flag and coat-of-arms, it decorates several public buildings. The bird is also the namesake for Perth’s Swan River, where the British established the Swan River Colony in 1829. The swan’s likeness has featured on stamps, sporting team … Read More
Guest Author • Jun 11, 2021 •
Katharine M. Donato, Georgetown University; Amanda Carrico, University of Colorado Boulder; and Jonathan M. Gilligan, Vanderbilt University Climate change is upending people’s lives around the world, but when droughts, floods or sea level rise force them to leave their countries, people often find closed borders and little assistance. Part of the problem is that today’s laws, regulations and … Read More
Guest Author • Jun 11, 2021 •
James Bell, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Rob McAllen, University College Cork, and Valerio Micaroni, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Deeper than most scuba divers can safely work and above where most underwater robots are designed to descend lie some of the most poorly studied ecosystems in the world. Between 30 and 150 … Read More
Guest Author • Jun 08, 2021 •
Marilyn J. Roossinck, Penn State Every time there is a major disease outbreak, one of the first questions scientists and the public ask is: “Where did this come from?” In order to predict and prevent future pandemics like COVID-19, researchers need to find the origin of the viruses that cause them. This is not a trivial task. The … Read More
Guest Author • Jun 08, 2021 •
Jason Paul Mika, Massey University and Regina Scheyvens, Massey University Excitement among Cook Islands tourism operators and officials at the opening of quarantine-free travel with Aotearoa New Zealand was understandable. The impact of the pandemic on the island nation’s economy has been massive and will be felt for a long time. But it wasn’t long before a local … Read More
Guest Author • Jun 04, 2021 •
Elias Garcia-Pelegrin, University of Cambridge Magic tricks can teach us about how the brain works. Magic capitalises on very specific blind spots in people’s attention and perception so the techniques that magicians use to trick audiences are particularly interesting to psychologists like me. Misdirection, for example, relies on the control of the audience’s attention to fool them. A … Read More
Guest Author • Jun 04, 2021 •
Seema Patel, Nottingham Trent University There’s growing concern about concussion-related injuries in contact sports like rugby and American football. Several high-profile collisions between participants and a growing body of research about their impact have drawn attention to the adequacy of the safety protocols in place to protect players. Since 2020, the debate has taken a … Read More