Ken Perrott • Oct 25, 2018 •
The 1980s were an eventful time in New Zealand. Older readers may remember the Springbok tour, the behaviour of Mr Muldoon, the National Party Prime minister in the early 80s, the snap election (over a proposed nuclear-free bill), the election of Labour in 1984, the French terrorist bombing of a ship in Auckland harbour, the local terrorist bombing of the … Read More
Guest Author • Jan 22, 2018 •
Sascha Meinrath, Pennsylvania State University and Nathalia Foditsch, American University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. The internet may be an international system of interconnecting networks sharing a rough global consensus about the technical details of communicating through them – but each country manages its … Read More
Guest Author • Jul 26, 2017 •
Neera Bhatia, Deakin University The tragic case of Charlie Gard, the British infant whose parents have just ended their legal fight to send him to the US for experimental treatment, has captured global attention. The case is significant for a number of reasons, both in the huge amount of publicity it has attracted, its progression … Read More
Guest Author • Jun 03, 2017 •
By Bill Hare, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research In the short term, the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement will certainly have ripple effects globally. But rather than fatally undermine the Paris Agreement, it will likely cause other countries to reaffirm their firm commitment to the full implementation of the climate deal. We are already … Read More
Guest Author • May 15, 2017 •
By Rod Lamberts, Australian National University In 2016, conservative, pro-Brexit, British politician Michael Gove announced that people in England “…have had enough of experts with organisations from acronyms saying that they know what is best and getting it consistently wrong”. In the US, Donald Trump famously doesn’t believe any expert who doesn’t agree with … Read More
Guest Author • Apr 19, 2017 •
By Peter Ellerton, The University of Queensland Which is more important, a fact or an opinion on any given subject? It might be tempting to say the fact. But not so fast… Lately, we find ourselves lamenting the post-truth world, in which facts seem no more important than opinions, and sometimes less so. We also tend … Read More
Guest Author • Apr 04, 2017 •
By Andy Miah, University of Salford It’s not an easy time for scientists to talk to the wider public. The US president, Donald Trump, has called global warming “bullshit” and a “Chinese hoax”. In the UK, leave campaigner and MP Michael Gove famously declared that people “have had enough of experts”. But now UK MPs have published … Read More
Guest Author • Mar 28, 2017 •
From the NZ March for Science Organisers Since the Science March on DC was first announced in January, after the inauguration of Donald Trump as the President of the USA, scientists and people who care about science in New Zealand have been working together behind the scenes to make sure that when we march for science and knowledge, and … Read More
Guest Author • Mar 07, 2017 •
By Paul Ralph, University of Auckland On January 30 – three days after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order restricting immigration from several predominantly Muslim countries – an American scientist employed by NASA was detained at the US border until he relinquished his phone and PIN to border agents. Travellers are also reporting … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Jan 26, 2017 •
[A follow-up of sorts is given in the Footnotes.] Better people offer to do better, not remove or block what they can’t compete against. Yesterday the Trump administration gagged several scientific institutes from communicating with the public. Grants were frozen to the EPA. And more. Are these Republications so frightened that their ideas can’t stand up against evidence that they need … Read More