Why is the sky blue? Why do stars twinkle? Why did the apple fall to the ground? What happens if ...
After a heated contest, New Zealand’s Bird of the Century was named in November 2023 – the puking and pompadoured pūteketeke. The victory isn’t just for ...
Infectious diseases have been a feature of life and death throughout history. Humans have been treating infections for millennia, including use of materials with antimicrobial properties ...
An overhaul of the conservation laws of Aotearoa could allow Māori to resume traditional harvesting practices of some native species. This article was originally titled Can ...
Associate Professor Fiona Petchey, Deputy Director of the University of Waikato Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, is researching ways to refine the marine calibration curve used for converting ...
A more precise timeline now shows Aotearoa was first settled in the North Island before the settlers expanded south and then retreated again when the climate ...
The most controversial feature of the New Zealand flora is the plethora of small-leaved trees and shrubs with wiry interlaced branches. This article has been republished ...
On 20 July 1969, around 600 million people stopped to watch humans first set foot on the Moon. The words, “That’s one small step for man, ...
This Connected article by Sophie Fern covers the discovery of Squawkzilla – a giant parrot that lived in New Zealand 19 million years ago. Two leg ...
This Connected article by Priscilla Wehi and Hemi Whaanga explores how early Māori named and grouped the plants and animals they found around them. Discover what ...
This Connected article recounts an important story from the oral tradition of Tainui. It tells of how the iwi’s ancestor Whakaotirangi first brought kūmara and other ...
Florence Nightingale, who was born 200 years ago, is rightly famed for revolutionising nursing. Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) was a social reformer and statistician and is regarded ...
This comic biography tells the story of Betty Batham. Betty was a pioneering female scientist and the founder of the New Zealand Marine Studies Centre in ...
Gallium is perhaps best known as a metal that is a solid when you pick it up and melts when it sits in your hand. Elemental ...
Mercury – named after a Roman god known for speed and agility – is a chemical element that has fascinated humans for thousands of years. Mercury ...
Gold is the stuff of dreams and legends. Empires have been toppled for it, pirates have plundered it and misers have hoarded it. But what does ...
Cobalt is a chemical element – a substance that contains only one type of atom. Its official chemical symbol is Co and its atomic number is ...
If asked to name a famous Kiwi scientist, most New Zealanders will reply with Ernest Rutherford. He is featured on the New Zealand $100 note, and ...
New Zealand – isolated islands or part of a continent? New Zealand – the country – has a total land area of 268,000 km2 . Zealandia/Te ...
Weather has been important for human survival throughout history, affecting a wide range of human activities such as travel, navigation, events and celebrations, planting, harvesting, hunting ...
Microbes – friend or foe? Some microbes are essential to life, while others cause sickness in plants and animals, including humans. For decades, we have kept ...
Lately I’ve noticed something odd happening in the world of science. For the first time in my lifetime, scientists are under attack. Simon Lamb This is ...
It’s less than 200 years since people first stepped foot onto Antarctica. Explore this timeline to see some key dates in the early discoveries of this ...
Microscopes let us view an invisible world – the objects around us that are too small to be seen with the naked eye. This timeline provides ...
Use this timeline for a look at some of the historical aspects in the development of our understanding of gases and plasmas. 1644 – Invention of ...
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