Latest Sci-Tech Headlines

While warm and settled conditions will see out the week for most of New Zealand, MetService are forecasting temperatures to drop considerably next week as a new, cooler airmass moves over the country. Much of the South Island will see a dramatic ... Read more...

The global community is rushing to respond to new variants of the novel coronavirus, which appear to spread faster than their earlier counterparts. The Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases yesterday called on the New Zealand Government to begin its ... Read more...

New Zealand English, as spoken, is quite different today compared to 120 years ago. It is thought that children carry the momentum for accent change through the generations and that the transition to school is a key speech change incubator. In a first of ... Read more...

Earth’s ability to absorb carbon emissions through plants could be halved within the next two decades at the current rate of warming, according to a new study from the University of Waikato and Northern Arizona University, USA. Published in Science ... Read more...

New Zealand waters provide an important migratory route for the biggest animal to ever exist, the Antarctic blue whale, according to a study led by a University of Auckland scientist. Hydrophones, or underwater microphones, anchored at the bottom ... Read more...

Groundwater flow and seepage can form large gullies along coastal cliffs in the matter of days, it has been discovered, as per a recently-published paper. An international team of scientists from Malta, Germany, Romania, New Zealand and USA has used drones ... Read more...

A team of scientists have been exploring some of New Zealand’s most remote and rugged coastal zones. Parts of the South Island’s West Coast are so inhospitable to humans that marine biologists simply don’t know what plants and animals are ... Read more...

Overview 2020 was Aotearoa New Zealand’s 7th-warmest year on record. The nationwide average temperature for 2020, calculated using stations in NIWA’s seven-station temperature series which began in 1909, was 13.24°C (0.63°C above the 1981–2010 ... Read more...

With the return trek to the office well underway, it’s nice to know that even if holidays seem to finish as quickly as they started, at least summer continues. Warmer summertime air and a stubborn high have MetService forecasting a pleasant ... Read more...

NIWA’s flagship research vessel Tangaroa leaves today on a six-week voyage to Antarctica, making it one of the few full scientific expeditions to the continent since the global outbreak of COVID-19. The ship leaves Wellington with 20 science ... Read more...