Guest Work

What’s in a name?

Guest Author • Feb 27, 2019

• golf-ball sponge,
• speciation,
• sponges,
• taxonomy,
• Tethya burtoni

Megan Shaffer Identifying species is not as easy as it seems. Animals are generally distinguished from one another based on differences in their appearances. Generally, organisms that look the same and share similar characteristics are named the same species, and organisms that look different are classified as different species. Though seemingly simple, identifying species based on what they look like … Read More

Remembering the Christchurch earthquake eight years on

Guest Author • Feb 22, 2019

• Canterbury,
• Christchurch Earthquake,
• earthquakes,
• Geonet,
• GNS Science

Today is the eighth anniversary of the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake. Ken Gledhill was the Director of GeoNet at the time and shares some memories from the time and reflects on how GeoNet has been shaped by the quake. Eight years ago on 22nd February, Christchurch was struck by a M6.2 earthquake that caused widespread destruction and tragically claimed the lives … Read More

Zebra’s stripes are a no fly zone for flies

Guest Author • Feb 21, 2019

• camouflage,
• insect,
• stripes,
• zebra

Tim Caro, University of California, Davis and Martin How, University of Bristol Zebras are famous for their contrasting black and white stripes – but until very recently no one really knew why they sport their unusual striped pattern. It’s a question that’s been discussed as far back as 150 years ago by great Victorian biologists like … Read More

Civilization VI: Gathering Storm shows video games can make us think seriously about climate change

Guest Author • Feb 18, 2019

• climate change,
• video games

Noam Obermeister, University of Cambridge and Elliot Honeybun-Arnolda, University of East Anglia A new expansion has added environmental challenges to Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, the latest in a popular series of strategy video games that has been running since the 1990s. The expansion – called Gathering Storm – adds new features to the game, most … Read More

Vets can do more to reduce the suffering of flat-faced dog breeds

Guest Author • Feb 13, 2019

• brachycephaly,
• bulldogs,
• dogs,
• pugs,
• vets

Paul McGreevy, University of Sydney and Anne Fawcett, University of Sydney Veterinarians have a professional and moral obligation to reduce or prevent any negative health impacts of disorders in animals. But what if animals are bred with known disorders? And what if those disorders are a big part of what makes them cute? In a paper, … Read More

New Caledonian crows smart enough to plan three steps ahead to solve tricky problem

Guest Author • Feb 08, 2019

• animal behaviour,
• animal intelligence,
• New Caledonian crows

Alex Taylor, University of Auckland My ideas about animal behaviour were turned upside down in 2002 when I watched Betty, a New Caledonian crow, fashion a hook from a piece of wire and use it to pull a small container with meat from a tube. Betty’s behaviour captivated scientists because it seemed so creative: there was no … Read More

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Old bones reveal new evidence about the role of islands in penguin evolution

Guest Author • Feb 07, 2019

• evolution,
• island biogeography,
• penguins

Theresa Cole; Jonathan Waters, and Kieren Mitchell, University of Adelaide Ever since Charles Darwin’s voyage to the Galapagos, biologists have been trying to figure out what determines the number of species that exist at any point in time. Our research, published this week, provides an answer to this question, at least when it comes to … Read More

Ice melt in Greenland and Antarctica predicted to bring more frequent extreme weather

Guest Author • Feb 07, 2019

• Antarctica,
• climate change,
• Greenland,
• ice sheets,
• sea level rise

Nick Golledge, Victoria University of Wellington Last week, rivers froze over in Chicago when it got colder than at the North Pole. At the same time, temperatures hit 47℃ in Adelaide during the peak of a heatwave. Such extreme and unpredictable weather is likely to get worse as ice sheets at both poles continue to melt. Our … Read More

Just the latest attack on penguins

Guest Author • Feb 05, 2019

• hoiho,
• little blue penguins,
• penguins

Spencer McIntyre Last week, many of us scrolling through newsfeeds or popping on the news were horrified to see that two kororā-little blue penguins were stolen from their nest in Napier and a third killed in the process. Read More

Farmed fish dying, grape harvest weeks early – just some of the effects of last summer’s heatwave in NZ

Guest Author • Jan 30, 2019

• climate change,
• marine heatwave,
• summer temperatures

Jim Salinger, University of Tasmania and James Renwick, Victoria University of Wellington As the Australian heatwave is spilling across the Tasman and pushing up temperatures in New Zealand, we take a look at the conditions that caused a similar event last year and the impacts it had. Last summer’s heatwave gave New Zealand its warmest … Read More

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