The Best of 2014 - This Way Up
This Way Up is on its Christmas break and back on air on Saturday 24 January 2015.
In the meantime, to while away some sunny summer hours, we've hand-picked some of our highlights from 2014. Try as we might, we couldn't find any single, neat, unifying thread that ties them all together. But these are the kind of stories we enjoy telling the most; out of the studio, away from fixed microphones, in 'the field' (wherever that 'field' happens to be!).
Collection items
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Racing robots at Robot World 2014, South Korea
Robot World 2014 was recently held in Seoul, South Korea. We meet Professor Jacky Baltes from the University of Manitoba in Canada at these robot races. Audio
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David Smith - miniature bottle collector
1 Feb 2014David Smith is the proud owner of a huge collection of miniature bottles. Audio
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Wrappers' Delight
More than 100 young farmers are growing tasty food on a disused football pitch at Epuni Primary School. With project co-ordinator Julia Milne of the Common Unity Project Aotearoa, schoolchildren and… Audio
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Speed skating
25 Oct 2014Bill and Cheryl Begg are a husband and wife team training generations of speed skaters in Timaru. Audio
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Locksport
29 Nov 2014Locksport turns picking locks into a competitive sport. Derek Robson runs a monthly locksport get-together. Audio
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eBikes
We look at the global e-biking boom, with electric bikes becoming a common sight on New Zealand's roads and bike trails. With Ted and Margaret Watson, Neil Pollett and Simon Kennett. Audio
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3D printing
Roberto Carvalho loves 3D printing. He builds his own from scratch at home in Lyttelton, and is trying to spread the word on 3D printing in schools. Audio
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Foldscope
Manu Prakash and his team at Stanford University have designed the Foldscope. It's a cheap, easy-to-use microscope that costs less than a dollar to make and folds out from a piece of paper. Audio
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Arduino: open source hardware
Arduino is a cheap microcontroller, a bit like a computer, that you can program to do things. We're speaking to one of Arduino's inventors, Massimo Banzi, and also to Mayur Panchal and Baxter and Kahu… Audio
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Wikihouses
The "Wikihouse" is a new global open source building movement that's trying to revolutionise how we build our homes. Designers Danny Squires and Martin Luff are hoping wikihouses can play a part in… Audio
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Urban archaeologists
Katharine Watson of Underground Overground Archaeology is an urban archaeologist using the Christchurch rebuild to find out what life was like in 19th century Canterbury. Audio
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Birdstrike
In New Zealand there are around 400 birdstrike incidents every year, and globally they are on the rise. We visit the bird management team at Christchurch Airport to see how they're dealing with the… Audio
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Interisland magician
5 Jul 2014Magician Nigel Kennedy's been entertaining passengers on board New Zealand's interisland ferries for nearly 25 years. Audio
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Canelés de Bordeaux
We make the French sweet treat Canelés de Bordeaux with Eric Hausser, the owner and head patissier at the French Can Can bakery. Audio
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The art of making sauerkraut
The Chinese were eating it 6000 years ago, the Ancient Romans consumed it and it was a staple for Captain Cook. Pip Martin and Emily Williams teach the art of sauerkraut fermentation. Audio
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Ramen
The tasty noodle soup that's becoming so popular that it's being tipped as the new cupcake! With Asher Boote and Tsubasa Takahashi of The Ramen Shop, and ramen historian Barak Kushner of the… Audio
