We all love a good crunchy apple – but how do they stay like that for months after being picked? The Our Changing World summer science series continues with an episode of Here Now. Kadambari Raghukumar travels to Hawke's Bay to find out from South African-born scientist Nicolette Neiman. For plant physiologists like Nicolette, the thrill is in finding ways to make that possible – delivering a crunchy fruit fix to the world almost any time of the year.
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This week on the summer science series we play an episode of Country Life called Dollars for Nature. Can biodiversity credits fix New Zealand's conservation woes? In June, the government announced they were supporting the expansion of a voluntary credits nature market through pilot projects across New Zealand. Sally Round found out more.
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Nobody knows how many feral cats roam New Zealand, but estimates are in the millions and they’re a major threat to our native species. They've infiltrated almost every landscape, from coasts, to farms, to National Parks like Fiordland. Plus they’re wily and trap-shy, making them a tricky predator to tackle. RNZ's In-Depth reporter Farah Hancock speaks to some people on the front lines of the battle against feral cats.
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In this episode:
00:00 – 00:59 Introduction to bonus episode
01:00 – 03:24 Background to feral cat problem
03:40 – 10:30 Playing ‘poos clues’ & trapping cats with hunter Victor Tinsdale
10:40 – 15:00 Daniel Cocker on how cats are threatening the dotterels on Rakiura
15:20 - 16:20 Farah explains how secondary poisoning works
16:30 – 19:42 Objections to 1080 use on Rakiura, and efforts to address these
20:18 – 24:08 Brad Windust with cat poo smelling dog Wero
24:09 – 24:44 Credits
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On three small predator-free islands off the coasts of Fiordland and Southland, preparations are underway for what many hope will be the biggest breeding season ever for the kākāpō. Alison Ballance returns to report on New Zealand’s most famous parrot in the Kākāpō Files Season II. She chats to Claire about why this season of the podcast is shaping up to be quite different to the first. Plus, analysts from the Science Media Centre summarise the massive science sector changes that have happened this year, and what is on the horizon for science in 2026.
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The wetlands and surrounding forests of Te Awarua o Porirua, or Porirua Harbour, were once rich food baskets for Ngāti Toa Rangatira. But decades of development throughout the catchment - large-scale deforestation, road and rail building and urban growth - have brought sediment and pollution into the harbour, damaging the habitat. Veronika Meduna meets some of the team working to restore the harbour to its former plenty.
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What does a ‘good day’ look like for you? Researchers are using wearable sensors and wellbeing surveys to understand how lifestyle patterns impact life satisfaction. Perhaps this can help us plan for more ‘good days’. Plus, with the help of an EEG study, one neuroscientist graduate considers how social media use might be impacting his brain.
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This upcoming summer is likely to be the biggest ever kākāpō breeding season, and RNZ will be following the twists and turns as they happen. The kākāpō files with Alison Ballance return for a second season.
New Kākāpō Files II episodes will appear when news breaks on the Wild Sounds and Kākāpō Files podcast feeds. Don't miss out. Find and follow them now.
Our freshwater ecosystems are facing numerous challenges. Many of New Zealand’s lakes have lost much of their native underwater plant life. At the Ruakura ‘tank farm’ in Hamilton, researchers have been working on a project to help restore the freshwater forests.
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Mary de Winton, Earth Sciences New Zealand
References:
NIWA’s RotoTurf webpage.
Oil and water don’t mix — unless surfactants step in. At Auckland University of Technology, a team of chemists has created a new kind of surfactant made from wood pulp rather than fossil fuels or palm oil. They hope that the cosmetic industry will be interested in this greener way to make smooth creams and lotions. Plus, what do geothermal spring microbes have to do with smelly wine?
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Until late 2024, nobody had seen te pua o Te Rēinga “the flower of the underworld” in the Wellington region for more than a hundred years. A chance discovery of a small struggling population has kick started a race to protect the plants and help them return.
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An invasive species has taken hold in the Waikato River, and it’s multiplying fast. Gold clams, tiny but relentless, are now found along a large stretch of the awa, where they threaten water infrastructure, and native species. Where might it invade next, and can we control it?
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New Zealand’s marine search and rescue region stretches from Antarctica to north of Samoa. If someone goes missing without any means of communication, that’s a lot of ocean to search. Now researchers and the New Zealand Defence Force have teamed up to develop and test a low-tech, no-battery device that can be picked up by radar – including that beamed down by satellites orbiting Earth.
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In this episode:
01:30 At Mission Bay Beach Dr Tom Dowling demonstrates the device
03:40 In the University of Auckland’s Space Institute lab the team explain the device design, and how it works.
10:00 Dr Tom Dowling talks about the radar reflector trials in Campbell Island and Omaha beach
13:00 Dr David Galligan, director of Defence Science and Technology on why DST is interested in the device
19:00 The satellites are the second side of the equation. Dr Tom Dowling explains how that works.
20:50 Back at Mission Bay Beach Dr Tom Dowling explains how the radar reflector would be an additional part of a kit on a boat and how it would work to narrow down the search area…
It’s been 30 years since a dramatic series of eruptions at Mount Ruapehu. In that time, there have been great advances in monitoring and modelling volcanoes – but we still can’t look inside a volcano to see exactly what’s going on. Claire Concannon heads to Wairakei, near Taupō, to meet researchers working on the next best thing: recreating Ruapehu’s eruptions in the lab.
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Two years ago, the Australasian crested grebe, the pūteketeke, took out the title of New Zealand’s Bird of the Century. But when the Paris billboard got swapped out, and 'Lord of the Wings' ads no longer peppered Wellington's bus stops, who stuck around? Claire Concannon meets two dedicated grebe supporters battling different challenges at two Central Otago lakes.
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In this episode:
00:06 – John Oliver’s pūteketeke campaign
01:15 – Richard Bowman at Lake Hayes
16:45 – Markus Hermanns at Lake Wānaka
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From the public service sector to businesses to individuals, AI’s uptake across New Zealand has been rapid. And it’s not just large language models. Claire Concannon meets researchers who are harnessing different kinds of artificial intelligence to boost aquaculture, prepare for a measles outbreak and assist in urban conservation. But alongside the benefits sit potential harms. How can we try to minimise them in our AI future?
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In this episode:
01:00 – Introduction to Dr Andrew Lensen and about AI
06:00 – Professor Bing Xue and applied AI for aquaculture
09:15 – Dr Fiona Callaghan models measle outbreak scenarios
13:30 – Dr Andrew Lensen and the kākā project
18:30 – Social and ethical issues of AI…
This week, an underwater mystery connecting New Zealand and Ireland - the puzzle of the disappearing sponges of Lough Hyne. In the late 1990s/early 2000s James Bell was doing PhD research on the sponge communities that coated the underwater cliffs of this small sea inlet in West Cork. When he returned 15 years later, they had vanished. Why did they disappear, are they starting to recover, and can they be helped to return? Now a Professor at Victoria University of Wellington, these are the key questions that James, and PhD candidates from his lab, have been working to answer.
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In this episode:
00:00 – Divers return, introduction to Lough Hyne and its scientific history.
02:50 – James Bell on his early research at Lough Hyne and the surprising disappearance of sponge communities.
05:15 – Gabi Wood and Kea Witting get ready to dive at Whirlpool Cliffs.
06:30 – James Bell explains the unique tidal regime of Lough Hyne that means it has many diverse habitats.
09:00 – Gabi Wood is collecting water samples to study sponge feeding and nutrient levels.
11:00 – What caused the sponges to disappear.
14:00 – Kea Witting is investigating sponge community recovery.
21:00 – Experiments to help the sponges return…
Need a nature fix? RNZ now has a podcast feed dedicated to our beautifully produced series telling stories from te taiao nature. Check out the Wild Sounds feed – now playing Voices from Antarctica, featuring Alison Ballance reporting from the frozen deep south.
Find and follow Wild Sounds on your favourite podcast platform, or listen on RNZ
In March 2024, a satellite built to detect the potent greenhouse gas methane launched into orbit – backed by New Zealand to a final total of $32 million. MethaneSAT aimed to pinpoint large leaks from oil and gas fields, since plugging these is considered an easy climate win. But an add-on mission was investigating whether the satellite could pick up the smaller, more diffuse methane emissions from agriculture. Our Changing World joined the New Zealand-based team testing this capability – before disaster struck. With MethaneSAT uncontactable and lost in space, what did the mission deliver?
This episode was updated on 6 October to include the correct total figure of the New Zealand's contribution to MethaneSAT of $32 million.
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In this episode:
00:00 – 03:08: Introduction
03:08 – 05:38: A methane-measuring device takes off from the airfield
05:38 – 16:32: Ground-based methane measurements with the EM-27
16:32 – 25:29: What went wrong, and what data MethaneSAT did collect…
In March 2024, a rocket launched from Florida carrying New Zealand’s first science payload to the International Space Station. The small cube, named Lucy, is a protein crystallisation lab developed by Dr Sarah Kessans from the University of Canterbury. Protein crystallisation is often the key first step in figuring out a protein structure, and the unique fluid conditions of microgravity in low Earth orbit helps the process. Working with several collaborators, Sarah is trying to develop a commercially viable crystallisation lab in space. Plus, Dr Brian Russell is creating AI tools to help space companies make critical decisions around astronaut health and safety.
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An elaborate game of carbon ‘I spy’ is happening on the streets of Wellington. With their brand-new mobile carbon lab, Earth Sciences New Zealand (formerly GNS) can detect things like carbon dioxide and methane as they drive around. This allows them to pinpoint where emissions are coming from. Plus, with radiocarbon measurements, they can understand what amount of the carbon they detect is coming from fossil fuels. It all helps to ground-truth our estimates of what’s happening in our urban environments.
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