Nine To Noon for Thursday 23 May 2024

09:05 Sextortion expert and Meta whistle blower Paul Raffile

In the past year Netsafe says it has had 1800 reports in New Zealand of people being victim to sextortion online - 88 percent of them men. It's part of an explosion of cases globally in the last year. It comes in the form of an online interaction where victims are convinced to send intimate details such as a nude photo. The scammer then threatens to share the images unless the victim pays up in the shape of money, cryptocurrencies or gift cards. In the worst cases young men in the US have taken their own life, as reported by New Zealand journalist Olivia Carville in Bloomberg in April. Online security expert Paul Raffile had a job offer at Meta - as an investigator into human exploitation - rescinded after he publicly criticised Instagram for failing to protect children online. He's been tracking the Yahoo Boys - the moniker for the people behind these scams - and has found guides online with word-for-word scripts on how to carry sextortion scams out. Paul speaks to Kathryn about what unfolded with Meta and the dangers he wants parents to be aware of when their children use social media platforms. Netsafe chief executive, Brent Carey, says the blackmail scams are here in New Zealand and they are a major concern for the organisation.

 

09:20 Plunket responds to more criticism of service

Plunket responds to research which finds new mums are being let down by post natal services when it comes to mental health. Well Child Tamariki Ora, is a free postnatal service administered by Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora. Plunket is the main and only nationwide provider. Mothers are transferred to the care of the service when their babies are 6 weeks old for four to eight home visits. Massey University researchers collected 420 stories about families' experiences with the Well Child service around the country. One of the co-authors Dr Angelique Reweti, told Nine to Noon yesterday that many mothers reported feeling their mental distress was overlooked by an emphasis the baby's physical health, and that many mums felt judged by their Plunket nurse. Health New Zealand, Te Whatu Ora, says the research reflects changes that it is already making to our maternity and early years services. Zoe Tipa is Plunket's Chief Nurse.

09:30 Machine learning can "revolutionise" ICU patient outcomes: specialist

A new study has found machine learning can significantly improve patient outcomes in the ICU. Wellington intensive care specialist, Professor Paul Young, also Deputy Director of the Medical Research Institute, conducted the study with American colleagues. Their focus was on understanding how critically ill adults on life support respond to individualised oxygen targets- a treatment provided to millions of patients around the world each year. He says by harnessing machine learning algorithms, they were able to generate precise predictions about how varying levels of oxygen would impact mortality rates among ICU patients on life support.  He says the discovery is nothing short of revolutionary.

09:45 UK: Rishi Sunak sets election date, blood scandal inquiry

UK correspondent Dan Bloom joins Kathryn to look at reaction to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's rain-drenched announcement that the country would go to the polls on July 4. is it a gamble? The inquiry into the UK's tainted blood scandal has found British authorities and the public health service knowingly exposed tens of thousands of patients to deadly infections through contaminated blood and blood products. And the former Post Office head Paula Vennells has broken down in tears as she appeared before a public inquiry into the treatment of sub-postmasters.

 

Dan Bloom is senior author of Politico's London Playbook 

10:05 Prof Cat Bohannon on who really drives evolution

Columbia University Professor Cat Bohannon asks how it was that the male body became the scientific default in her new book Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution. By exploring the 'Eves' of our evolutionary history, she makes the case for the female body's critical role in what makes us, 'us'.  Professor Bohannon says for centuries the female body has been overlooked in scientific and medical research and the result is a world calibrated for the male body - from over-airconditioned offices, car crash test dummies, pharmaceuticals and medical practice .

10:35 Book review: Meantime by Majella Cullinane 

Harry Ricketts reviews Meantime by Majella Cullinane published by Otago University Press 

10:45 Around the motu : Robin Martin in Taranaki

The Environment Court has cleared the way for NZTA to acquire part of a Taranaki farm for the Mt Messenger project. Farmer Tony Pascoe says it’s a bitter pill to swallow. There is discontent between seabed miners and the offshore wind sector in Taranaki, Robin has the details. And a 100 metre long suspension bridge on Taranaki Maunga has been unveilled.

11:05 Tech: Microsoft's creepy Recall feature, AI Summit in Seoul

Technology commentator Peter Griffin looks at the rise of the AI PC, including the debut this week of Microsoft's Copilot+ PCs and the Recall feature that keeps track of everything you see and do on your computer. He'll also look at the follow up to the Bletchley Park Declaration on safe AI, which is the AI Summit in Seoul. Sixteen tech companies have signed up to the voluntary standards - but does that mean it's lacking teeth?

Peter Griffin is a Wellington-based science and technology journalist

11:25    Tamariki wellbeing and ways to document it 

Gratitude journals have been embraced by some adults in recent years - but what about children? An electrician turned writer, and an Auckland teacher have now created a wellbeing journal for tamariki - Piki te Ora. Hira Nathan trained as an electrician, it is still his day job,  but has always had a passion for writing. He has already written a bilingual gratitude journal for adults- Whakawhetai. And now Hira has teamed with Pike te Ora co author, Jessie Eyre who is a teacher at Western Heights School in Henderson.

11:45 Screentime: Copa 71, Jim Henson: Idea Man, French Film Festival

Film and TV correspondent James Croot joins Kathryn to talk about Copa 71 on the pioneering women that attended the 1971 Women's Football World Cup that was witnessed by record crowds  - who then got written out of history. He'll also look at Disney's new doco on the life of Jim Henson, and James also details some of his picks of the French Film Festival.

James Croot is the deputy editor of TV Guide