Guest Work

Mining companies are required to return quarried sites to their ‘natural character’. But is that enough?

Guest Author • Nov 27, 2020

• ecological restoration,
• mining,
• remediation

Shaun Rosier, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand has more than 1,100 registered quarries. Some of these mined sites are small, rural operations, but a significant number are large and complex, and within a city’s urban boundaries. As part of the resource consent application for a mining project, quarry operators are usually issued with a … Read More

5 reasons why banishing backpackers and targeting wealthy tourists would be a mistake for NZ

Guest Author • Nov 26, 2020

• Environment,
• Sustainability,
• tourism

James Higham, University of Otago and Hazel Tucker, University of Otago Raise your hand if you’ve ever travelled for weeks or months as a backpacker on a limited daily budget. Keep your hand up if you were made welcome in the places you visited on your OE, enjoyed chance encounters and experienced the generosity of strangers. And did those … Read More

‘Courageous’ investment means innovation stays in NZ, not sold off overseas

Guest Author • Nov 24, 2020

• business,
• industry,
• innovation,
• investment

Jessica C Lai, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Jesse Pirini, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand is in an economic recession and the government is trying to spend its way through it with direct investment to boost the economy and jobs. At the same time, the Reserve Bank of New … Read More

SpaceX’s Starlink satellites are about to ruin stargazing for everyone

Guest Author • Nov 22, 2020

• Amazon,
• satellites,
• SpaceX,
• Starlink

Samantha Lawler, University of Regina I walk outside my rural Saskatchewan house before dawn and look up, expecting to have my breath taken away by the sheer number of stars overhead. I’m a professional astronomer, but I still appreciate naked-eye stargazing as much as an eager child. This is the first place I’ve lived that’s dark enough to easily see … Read More

How to choose the right Christmas gift: tips from psychological research

Guest Author • Nov 21, 2020

• Christmas,
• gifts,
• presents,
• Psychology

Adrian R. Camilleri, University of Technology Sydney Christmas is a time of celebration, relaxation and gift giving. But choosing gifts can also make it a time of stress and anxiety. The wrong gift can actually do more harm than good. Here is some advice, based on decades of research, on how to side-step such pitfalls. Why do we … Read More

Secondhand clothing sales are booming – and may help solve the sustainability crisis in the fashion industry

Guest Author • Nov 17, 2020

• clothing,
• fashion,
• second-hand clothing,
• Sustainability

Hyejune Park and Cosette Marie Joyner Armstrong, Oklahoma State University A massive force is reshaping the fashion industry: secondhand clothing. According to a new report, the U.S. secondhand clothing market is projected to more than triple in value in the next 10 years – from US$28 billion in 2019 to US$80 billion in 2029 – in a U.S. Read More

New data privacy rules are coming in NZ — businesses and other organisations will have to lift their games

Guest Author • Nov 17, 2020

• Data,
• privacy

Anca C. Yallop, Auckland University of Technology Most people these days are aware that what they share online is both valuable and vulnerable. Data privacy has become a major concern for consumers and corporations alike. The issue will come to a head when New Zealand’s Privacy Act 2020 comes into force on December 1. The legislation replaces and updates … Read More

New cyclone forecasts: why impacts should be the focus of hazardous weather warnings

Guest Author • Nov 11, 2020

• cyclone,
• forecasting,
• natural disasters,
• Pacific islands,
• weather

Sally Potter, GNS Science November 12 marks the 50th anniversary of Cyclone Bhola, the deadliest weather event on modern record. When this storm made landfall over Bangladesh, it coincided with a lunar high tide. The subsequent storm surge killed at least 300,000 people. This month also marks the start of the cyclone season in the Pacific. The outlook … Read More

How we discovered three new species of penguin in the Southern Ocean

Guest Author • Nov 07, 2020

• DNA,
• penguins,
• species

Jane Younger, University of Bath When you think of scientists discovering new species, you might imagine searching the Amazon rainforest for new types of insect or the depths of the ocean for undiscovered crustaceans. But these days most new species we discover are found hiding in plain sight. Such “hidden” species can look so similar to … Read More

How to live in space: what we’ve learned from 20 years of the International Space Station

Guest Author • Nov 03, 2020

• International Space Station,
• Manned spacecraft,
• space

Alice Gorman, Flinders University and Justin St. P. Walsh, Chapman University The fictional ‘Brick Moon’ was constructed from bricks because they are heat-resistant. NASA November 2 marks 20 years since the first residents arrived on the International Space Station (ISS). The orbiting habitat has been continuously occupied ever since. Twenty straight years of life in space makes the ISS … Read More