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Displaying items 1 - 30 of 104 in total

  • Resurrecting Wellington’s Flowers of the Underworld

    Audio 11 Nov 2025

    Until a chance discovery in 2024, nobody had seen Dactylanthos taylorii, AKA te pua o Te RÄ"inga “the flower of the underworld†in the Wellington region for more than a hundred years. These unique… Audio

  • SS3 - OCW - Tune into nature: Underdogs under the ledge

    Audio
    science environment
    9 Jan 2025

    In New Zealand, lizards are as fascinating as they are endangered - there are 125 species and most of them give birth to live young and they’re true wildlife underdogs - so rare and out of sight… Audio

  • Our Changing World – A tricky trap for redback spiders

    Audio
    science
    14 Nov 2024

    Invasive redback spiders are highly venomous, threatening both people and New Zealand’s native species. A team of scientists is developing a cunning tool to trap male redbacks, by concocting an… Audio

  • Looking to the future for a low-lying wetland

    Audio
    environment climate
    11 Jul 2024
    A man wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a bright green colllared t-shirt stands on the edge of a wetland pool framed by long grass and vegetation. He is side on, holding a long pole and using an electronic device with a wire extending down towards the water. It's a sunny day and the water is still.

    Climate-change-induced sea level rise is happening. What will this mean for our low-lying wetlands? Will they get eroded away – releasing more carbon? Or will they grow at the same rate, and hold… Audio

  • Drones for pest control

    Audio
    science conservation
    13 Jun 2024
    A black and white aerial image taken with a thermal camera mounted on a drone, showing the greyscale scrubby landscape and a bright white outline of a wallaby.

    Aotearoa is a country plagued by pests, but conservationists are hoping advances in drone technology could turn the tables. Producer William Ray looks at how drones are being trialled in controlling… Video, Audio

  • Turning the tide – what it takes to take out rats

    Audio
    Pacific science
    25 Apr 2024
    An image of an island in the middle of the ocean behind a stylised kelp illustration

    Kate Evans visits a passionate team as they carpet a remote volcanic island in Tonga with poisoned bait, hoping to eradicate rats. What does it take to complete this kind of project, what are the… Audio

  • New Zealand’s Antipodes Islands – remote, wild, and special

    Audio
    science conservation
    15 Feb 2024
    An inflatable zodiac dinghy motors across dark blue ocean towards the craggy steep cliffs of an island with golden first light breaking over the horizon on a clear sky.

    An ambitious project to rid the remote Antipodes Island of introduced mice proved successful in 2018. Claire Concannon visits the spectacular subantarctic island to meet the locals – from penguins to… Audio

  • Summer science: Kākā in Wellington

    Audio
    science conservation
    4 Jan 2024
    A large brown parrot sits on a railing covered with crumbs with Wellington city buildings in the background.

    Kākā numbers are skyrocketing in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington thanks to conservation efforts. The summer science series continues with a walk through Zealandia to find out why you shouldn't feed… Audio

  • The Great Ireland vs New Zealand Bird-off: Part 2

    Audio
    science conservation
    14 Sep 2023
    A streetfighter-style graphic showing a northern lapwing on the left with the word 'Ireland' overlaid, and a kiwi on the right with the words 'New Zealand' overlaid. There is a 'vs' in between the two images, and the words Part 2 above the lapwing.

    The Great Ireland vs. New Zealand Bird-off returns for part 2 to decide once and for all which island nation boasts the best birds. Our avian aficionados return to argue their case in front of judge… Audio

  • The great Ireland vs. New Zealand bird-off: Part 1

    Audio
    science environment
    7 Sep 2023
    Image is like a computer graphic fighter versus set up. There's a northern lapwing on the left with the word Ireland. Vs in the middle, and on the right a picture of the kiwi but NZ over it.

    Welcome to the great Ireland vs New Zealand bird-off. Two islands, a world apart – but which country has the better birds? Two bird nerds champion their nation's birds across four categories in an… Audio

  • Battling weeds with biocontrol

    Audio
    science environment
    1 Jun 2023
    Three people inspect plants sprouting out of plastic pots in a shade house.

    In Aotearoa we talk a lot about mammalian predators attacking our native wildlife, but other insidious pests are quietly taking over – weedy plants. Tackling these weeds using chemical and mechanical… Audio

  • Bats vs cats

    Audio
    science conservation
    2 Mar 2023
    long-tailed bats, or pekapeka-tou-roa.

    New Zealand's native long-tailed bat, pekapeka-tou-roa, is going strong in Franklin, south of Auckland. But these tiny mammals are threatened by introduced predators, especially cats. Producer Liz… Video, Audio

  • Summer science: Rabbits and other pests

    Audio
    history science
    12 Jan 2023
    Rabbit skins drying on a fence (1929)

    We continue our summer science series with an episode from RNZ's The Aotearoa History Show. In the first episode of season two, the show burrows into the story of rabbits and other pests introduced to… Audio

  • Summer science: Two stories about genetics

    Audio
    science environment
    22 Dec 2022
    9502646 - dna strand modern design, bright and colorful

    Two stories about genetics produced by students at the University of Otago's Department of Science Communication. Amanda Konyn investigates whether gene editing has a role in future pest control… Audio

  • Bringing back nature to Nelson

    Audio
    science environment
    1 Sep 2022
    A small parakeet sits on a bird feeder with sunflower seeds. It holds a seed in its beak.

    Alison Ballance visits the Brook Waimārama sanctuary, and discovers that the old saying "many hands make light work" is particularly true when it comes to community conservation. A relatively new… Audio

  • Summer Science: Voices - To spray or not to spray

    Audio
    science environment
    20 Jan 2022
    Apple generic. Generic bin of Hawke's Bay apples.

    Summer science continues with a play of a science related episode from RNZ's Voices podcast. In 'To spray or not to spray' we meet Tim Vandervoet as he investigates ways to reduce insecticide use in… Audio

  • Sniffing out cancer

    Audio
    science health
    11 Nov 2021
    Frieda detecting prostate cancer cells in solution.

    Claire visits the team at K9 Medical Detection Charitable Trust to learn how their dogs are being trained to detect bowel and prostate cancer. Audio

  • The kaka's return

    Audio
    science environment
    16 Sep 2021
    Orokonui Ecosanctuary

    The return of South Island kākā to the the Ōtepoti Dunedin area has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Claire Concannon hears about the tragedies and the triumphs, and the plans for what comes next.

    …
  • 2: Defiance / Remove and Protect

    Audio
    environment
    17 May 2021
    Fight for the Wild - Episode 2: Defiance

    New Zealander’s have drawn a line in the sand, announcing they will rid the nation of rats, stoats and possums by 2050, but what will it take to get there? Video, Audio

  • Award for using DNA to better understand plants & animals

    Audio
    science environment
    12 Nov 2020
    University of Otago geneticist Neil Gemmell.

    Geneticist Neil Gemmell has won the 2020 Hutton Medal for using DNA & new genomic technologies to better understant plants & animals. Audio

  • Enemy #1 - brown marmorated stink bug

    Audio
    food science
    24 Oct 2019
    A brown marmorated stink bug on a damaged pear in Italy, where the bug has become a major pest.

    Italy is suffering from a brown marmorated stink bug invasion. Damian Christie heads there to find out what New Zealand learn from their experiences. Video, Audio

  • Our Changing World for 24 October 2019

    Audio
    food science
    24 Oct 2019

    Italy is experiencing an invasion of brown marmorated stink bugs that is crippling the fruit industry. What can New Zealand learn from their experience? Audio

  • A bridge between science & mātauranga Māori

    Audio
    science te ao Maori
    17 Oct 2019
    Dr Ocean Mercier, from Victoria University of Wellington, winner of the 2019 Callaghan Medal.

    Dr Ocean Mercier's work bridging the worlds of science and traditional Māori knowledge has been recognised with the 2019 Callaghan Medal for science communication. Audio

  • Detector Gadget the conservation dog

    Audio
    environment
    8 Aug 2019
    Conservation dog handler Sandy King with her rodent detector dog Gadget, at work on Whenua-Hou - Codfish Island. The wooden box contains a rat trap.

    Detector Gadget is a dog with a job. She is a conservation dog trained by her handler Sandy King to sniff out rodents on predator-free islands. Audio

  • Kākāpō chicks growing up

    Audio
    science environment
    5 Aug 2019
    When kakapo chicks reach 150 days old they graduate to being juveniles. They won't be counted as adults until they are four and a half years old.

    The kākāpō chicks are graduating to being juveniles and only seven birds are still sick with aspergillosis, in ep 23 of the Kākāpō Files. Audio

  • Restoring Fiordland's 'island lifeboats'

    Audio
    environment
    25 Jul 2019
    View from the shore of Coal Island, looking up Preservation Inlet in Fiordland's remote southwest.

    The Department of Conservation and volunteer groups, including the Coal Island Trust, are hard at work removing pests such as stoats and deer from Fiordland's many islands. Audio

  • Our Changing World for 25 July 2019

    Audio
    environment
    25 Jul 2019

    The Department of Conservation and groups such as the Coal Island Trust are taking pests off Fiordland islands and reintroducing rare species. Audio

  • Predator Free NZ - dream or reality?

    Audio
    science environment
    20 Jun 2019
    New Zealand has the ambitious goal of getting rid of seven species of predators by 2050 to help preserve native biodiversity.

    A panel of five experts debate what it will take to turn the idea of a predator-free New Zealand by 2050 from a dream into a reality. Audio

  • Our Changing World for 20 June 2019

    Audio
    science environment
    20 Jun 2019

    A panel discussion on 'Predator Free New Zealand - dream or reality' with five experts in pest biology and large scale eradication porjects. Audio

  • Fluorine - the non-stick element

    Audio
    science
    20 May 2019
    No caption

    Fluorine is a highly toxic green gas that is the main ingredient in non-stick teflon coatings. In ep 27 of Elemental, Prof Allan Blackman from AUT, says that fluorine has very different properties… Audio

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