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Our Changing World headlines with summaries.
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Caesium - the time-keeper
12 Apr 2019A second, the basic unit of time, is defined by caesium, which is also useful for dating things. Find out more about caesium's role as a timekeeper, in ep 15 of Elemental with Allan Blackman from AUT.
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Turning up the heat on enzymes
Biology professor Vic Arcus is trying to tease out how enzymes are able to speed chemical reactions up.
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Cadmium - colour and quantum dots
8 Apr 2019Cadmium has featured in red traffic lights, rechargeable batteries and now has a role in quantum dots, according to Allan Blackman, from AUT, in ep 14 of Elemental.
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Bromine - the colour purple and poison gas
5 Apr 2019The story of bromine is one of the color purple, the Dead Sea and an early poison gas used in the First World War, says Allan Blackman from AUT, in ep 13 of Elemental.
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Science of a 'mega mast' & planning wide-scale predator control
4 Apr 2019This summer has seen a 'mega-mast' mass seeding event in New Zealand's forests and DOC is now planning its largest-ever predator control operation to save rare birds.
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Kākāpō chicks still hatching
2 Apr 2019Most of the 72 kākāpō chicks are thriving in wild nests, the males are winding down their booming, and there are 7 fertile eggs still to hatch, in ep 15 of the Kākāpō Files.
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Boron - made by cosmic rays, useful in the kitchen
1 Apr 2019Made by cosmic rays and supernovae, used in ovenproof cookware, and a key ingredient in the strongest acid ever made. Allan Blackman from AUT explores boron in ep 12 of Elemental.
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Bismuth - an unusual heavy metal
29 Mar 2019Bismuth is a heavy metal that expands when frozen, and can be used to levitate trains and soothe upset guts, as Allan Blackman from AUT explains in episode 11 of Elemental.
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Caves reveal past climate change
28 Mar 2019Caves are a subterranean library of past climate change records, captured as water dripping from above creates flowstones and stalactites.
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Beryllium - sweet and precious, but deadly
25 Mar 2019You'll find beryllium in precious jewels and a space telescope mirror, but just don't inhale the dust - all in episode 10 of Elemental, with AUT's Professor Allan Blackman.
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Kotahitanga and kākāpō
22 Mar 2019Kākāpō chick numbers continue to climb. The latest tally is 64 chicks, including one named Kotahitanga, meaning unity and solidarity. Ep 14 of the Kākāpō Files.
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Berkelium and the synthetic heavyweights
22 Mar 2019The heaviest elements on the periodic table have only ever existed fleetingly in the lab, so Allan Blackman from AUT has grouped them all together in episode 9 of Elemental.
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Barium - never found on its own
18 Mar 2019Barium is never found on its own in nature, as it loves buddying up - but a version of it is found in hospitals. Allan Blackman from AUT reveals barium's secrets in episode 8 of Elemental.
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Fat happy kākāpō chicks
15 Mar 2019Thirty four kākāpō chicks are putting on plenty of weight in wild nests as the rimu fruit ripens, and 23 chicks are also being hand-reared, in episode 13 of the Kākāpō Files.
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Astatine - awfully rare
15 Mar 2019No one has ever seen astatine, which shares the distinction of being one of the rarest naturally-occurring elements on earth. Find out more with Allan Blackman from AUT in episode 7 of Elemental.
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We need to talk about climate change, says science prize winner
James Renwick loves talking about the science underlying climate change, and this willingness has won him the 2018 Prime Minister's Science Communication Prize.
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PM's science prize winners include a crime-busting software team
12 Mar 20192018 Prime Minister's Science Prizes awarded to crime-busting software used in forensics labs, a climatologist, a young physicist, a primary teacher and a bioengineer.
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Young physicist wins the PM's Future Scientist Prize
14 Mar 2019Modelling granular materials such as corn and salt has earned Onslow College physics student Finn Messerli the school's third Prime Minister's Future Scientist Award.
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Crime-busting software package wins PM's Science Prize
14 Mar 2019An ESR software package that analyses complex crime scene samples containing DNA from multiple people, has won the 2018 Prime Minister's Science Prize.
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Arsenic - the well-known poison
11 Mar 2019Arsenic is a well-known killer that was once dubbed 'succession powder'. Join Allan Blackman from AUT in episode 6 of Elemental, a journey through the periodic table.
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Argon - every breath you take
8 Mar 2019Argon is in every breath you take and its inertness is its best feature, as we discover with AUT chemistry professor Allan Blackman, in episode 5 of Elemental.
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Kākāpō helpers
7 Mar 2019Volunteers from around the world are helping the kākāpō team, with tasks ranging from feeding birds and people, looking after the power system on Whenua Hou and studying kākāpō sperm. We meet them in…
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Bull kelp genes and earthquake uplift - a surprising connection
7 Mar 2019New research shows that bull kelp along a tectonically uplifted stretch of coast south of Dunedin has a surprisingly different genetic signature to the kelp on either side.
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Antimony - takes lives, saves lives
4 Mar 2019Antimony can be used to take lives - and to save lives. Check out episode 4 of Elemental with Professor Allan Blackman from AUT.
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