Shaun Hendy • Jul 06, 2018 •
Back in the dark ages, back before there was a Science Media Centre, the Royal Society sent me on a media training course for scientists. This was in the early 2000s, and the country was in the midst of a debate over genetic modification. The course was designed to frighten young scientists, so that if they ever had the … Read More
Peter Griffin • Jul 06, 2018 •
The Science Media Centre is ten years old. Wow. I never expected when we started in 2008, that it would still be around a decade later, such is the often fickle nature of government-funded projects. But the SMC is still going strong and my former colleagues are taking it into its second decade with a renewed sense of purpose … Read More
Peter Griffin • Dec 15, 2015 •
Head on over to Scimex (the Science Media Exchange) where you will find articles about newly published research papers and scientific discoveries from New Zealand, Australia and further afield. Scimex is a free service run by the New Zealand and Australian Science Media Centres that puts embargoed research in the hands of journalists, helps researchers who are looking to work … Read More
Eric Crampton • Jul 08, 2015 •
The Science Media Centre points to some new statistics on drinking during pregnancy. Given the alarming figures they highlighted, I was surprised to see that the actual data looked pretty good.Here goes.First, the highlights from Science Media Centre:The analysis indicated a high prevalence of drinking, including binge drinking, among mums to be. The prevalence of drinking alcohol ranged from … Read More
Mark Hanna • Apr 14, 2015 •
In February this year, an article was published in the Wairarapa Times-Age (both in print and online) headlined Use of natural remedies is on the rise. The article discussed some specific cases of so-called “natural remedies” being used to treat serious diseases, such as intravenous vitamin C for leukaemia and homeopathy to treat various forms […] … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Mar 25, 2015 •
Sciblogs editor Peter Griffin recently gave climate denial activists Bryan Leyland and Bob Carter a “right of reply” to my post pointing out the errors and inconsistencies in a Dominion Post op-ed penned by the pair. Griffin took this action because of vociferous complaints from Leyland, who took offence at my discussion of his expertise […] … Read More
Mark Hanna • Mar 06, 2015 •
Recently I’ve run across a couple of New Zealand companies that sell therapeutic products – one a weight loss pill, the other a jet lag drink – that seem to put marketing first and let science take the back seat. This is by no means new behaviour, but I want to use them as examples […] … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Feb 08, 2015 •
A few days ago, the UK parliament voted in favour of making Britain the first country in the world to permit IVF babies to be created using biological material from three different people. The vote passed by 382 to 128 – a majority of 254 – and is to amend the UK’s 2008 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Apr 16, 2014 •
As expected, the New Zealand government’s response to the IPCC’s Working Group 3 report on mitigating climate change pays lip service to the science, while maintaining that NZ is doing all that can be expected. Climate change minister Tim Groser’s press release said that the IPCC report’s call for intentional cooperation meant that NZ is […] … Read More
Eric Crampton • Nov 14, 2013 •
I can't really blame the journalists. They're effectively in the infotainment business. And if punters are more likely to buy newspapers with scary stories about genetically modified crops than newspapers taking the consensus of scientists that the GMOs that have made it through the regulatory approval processes have had a far more thorough going-over than ones that have used other … Read More