News

NZ’s top researchers recognised in Royal Society Te Apārangi awards

John Kerr • Oct 11, 2017

• awards,
• callaghan,
• hector,
• hutton,
• Royal Society,
• Royal Society Te Apārangi,
• rutherford

New Zealand researchers working at the cutting edge of their fields have been recognised at the Royal Society -Te Apārangi Research Honours Dinner. The annual awards dinner hosted by the Royal Society -Te Apārangi took place in Auckland last night and saw awards conferred not just to scientists and researchers, but also teachers and students. This years’ awards dinner also marked an important anniversary for … Read More

We need to get serious about mens’ health, say NZ doctors.

John Kerr • Oct 08, 2017

• gender,
• health inequalities,
• males,
• masculinity,
• mens health

Kiwi blokes have a lower life expectancy than women, are more likely to fall foul of accidents and certain diseases, and are less likely to seek medical advice. It’s time to sort out men’s health, say a group of New Zealand doctors. Prof David Baxter and colleagues tackle the topic of men’s health in the latest issue of the New … Read More

Rugby pros feel the pain later in life, but no regrets

John Kerr • Sep 29, 2017

• arthritis,
• joint replacement,
• joints,
• osteoarthritis,
• osteoporosis,
• retirement,
• rugby,
• sports

Elite rugby players are a pretty fit and healthy bunch, but new research suggests the strain of top-level rugby can take its toll on the body later in life. A new University of Oxford study, published today in Scientific Reports, finds that retired elite rugby players are more likely to suffer from osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, joint replacement, and site-specific joint replacement … Read More

Limiting warming to 1.5 °C, we can do it – scientists

John Kerr • Sep 19, 2017

• carbon,
• climate change,
• co2,
• emissions,
• greenhouse gas emissions,
• paris 2015

The global warming limit set at the 2015 Paris Climate Summit is still possible, say scientists, but we need to redouble our efforts if the Earth’s atmosphere is to limbo under the ambitious boundary. In an article published today in Nature Geoscience an international team of climate scientists reports a re-assessment of complex Earth System Models. Crunching the numbers in light of new … Read More

Prenatal genetic screening risks information overload for parents

John Kerr • Sep 11, 2017

• designer babies,
• fertility,
• IVF,
• NIPT,
• Non-invasive prenatal testing

A new report from New Zealand bioethicists warns that prenatal screening technology is developing exponentially – and we need to think hard about how we use it. The Judging Genes & Choosing Children report, funded by the New Zealand Law Foundation, digs into the ethical, legal and social issues posed by a new era of genomic testing for … Read More

Your chance to help shine a light on important science-related issues

Peter Griffin • Aug 31, 2017

• Aotearoa New Zealand Science Journalism Fund,
• PressPatron,
• Science journalism

Sciblogs has joined the PressPatron platform, a crowdfunding service that makes it easy for people to make one-off or monthly payments to support content they are passionate about. We know that Sciblogs readers and those of you that comment here and in our Facebook group and on Twitter, are passionate about quality, evidence-based coverage of science-related issues. Read More

New ‘fat vs. carbs’ study could be misleading for Kiwi diet

John Kerr • Aug 30, 2017

• Carbohydrate,
• carbs,
• cardiac,
• Diet,
• energy,
• fat,
• Health,
• heart,
• Mortality

Chowing down on a high-carb diet could be worse for your overall health than eating a high-fat diet – if you believe the media coverage of a new international study. But a New Zealand expert warns the dietary implications of the findings aren’t that simple, especially for Kiwis. The study The new research, published yesterday in the Lancet, comes … Read More

Gene drives could wipe out island pest populations – study

John Kerr • Aug 10, 2017

• biological control,
• conservation,
• gene drives,
• genes,
• mice,
• rats,
• sterility

An entire island population of invasive mice could be eradicated by the single release of 100 engineered mice carrying ‘gene drives’ which spread infertility throughout a population. The finding comes from a new study which used computer simulations to investigate how gene drives – essentially sets of ‘selfish genes’ which are more likely to pass on to the next … Read More

Rockstar physicist Brian Cox coming to New Zealand

John Kerr • Jul 31, 2017

• Brian Cox,
• live show,
• physics

Professor Brian Cox, one of the world’s most famous physicists and science communicators, is coming to New Zealand with a blockbuster live show.  The softly-spoken British scientist is bringing his record breaking live science show to New Zealand in November, for the first time. It will play at the ASB Theatre in Auckland on Tuesday 7 November. Lateral Events, the … Read More

13

DNA shows tiny tardigrades are just as cool as we thought

Jean Balchin • Jul 28, 2017

• arthropods,
• bacteria,
• DNA,
• genomes,
• HOX genes,
• nematodes,
• Tardigrades

New genome sequences have revealed exciting new information about the origins of tardigrades as well as the genes that underlie their extraordinary ability to survive in extreme conditions.  A team of researchers led by Mark Blaxter and Kazuharu Arakawa from the universities of Edinburgh, Scotland and Keio, Japan respectively, have carefully stitched together the DNA code for two … Read More