Rnz: Our Changing World

We're saying farewell to the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (aka SOFIA) this month. The mission, which was partially based in Christchurch, wraps up after a decade of observing comets, stars, planets, and the moon. In July 2017, Alison Ballance boarded the Boeing 747 with a flying telescope for one of its research flights.

In a future that is free of fossil fuels, where will we source all the products that we get from the petroleum industry? Scientists at the forest research institute Scion think that trees might provide the solutions we need.

In a room in the Manaaki Whenua building in Auckland are rows and rows of shelves, with cardboard boxes containing an array of weird and wonderful dried fungi. Claire Concannon visits to learn how and why these specimens are kept, and finds out about its sister culture collection, which is helping in the defense against invading plant pathogens.

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 fenced sanctuary, the Brook Waimārama team is now at the exciting stage of bringing native wildlife back into the area, including orange-fronted parakeets - kākāriki karaka - and giant land snails.

Claire Concannon catches up with Dr. Taniela Lolohea of Auckland University of Technology. He is researching in the relatively new field of low temperature plasma surface coatings, and explains how it can be used to create customised surfaces for many purposes. But he is also investigating ways to encourage more Pacific students in science, including by developing projects that might be more attractive for them.

While we might have heard all we ever want to know about viruses in the last few years, the truth is, known viruses represent less than zero point one percent of the estimated total of viruses out there. Claire Concannon meets a team from the University of Otago trying to increase our knowledge of virus diversity, so that we can better understand their evolution.

Edin Whitehead inherited a love of birds from her father and became captivated by the majesty of seabirds on a trip to the Subantarctic Islands. Now a PhD student at the University of Auckland, she is trying to figure out how best to help the birds of the Hauraki Gulf, who are facing many threats, including warming waters.

The Auckland University of Technology Living Laboratories project is all about investigating how best to grow back native forest. At Pourewa creek, this collaboration between AUT and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei involves planting blocks with different nursery plants and measuring individual tree growth and biodiversity indicators over time. They hope to figure out the recipe to cheaper and faster regeneration of native bush.

The most extreme places in Antarctica give rise to the toughest and weirdest types of life. From creatures living a very different chemical life to ours at underwater methane seeps to the secret tools bacteria use to keep their DNA safe from the harsh conditions of the dry valleys.

The eruption of Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai in January triggered a tsunami of unprecedented proportions, impacting the entire Pacific. How did this volcanic eruption lead to a tsunami detected across the globe, including as far away as the Mediterranean? Science communicator Ellen Rykers speaks to the scientists unravelling the secrets of this rare phenomenon.

With their antler-like mandibles, Helm's stag beetles often get stuck in to one another. But they are fighting a bigger battle too - against predators and habitat loss. PhD student Luna Thomas is studying these little known endemic insects. She hopes her work will add to our sparse scientific knowledge, and maybe help some of the other native stag beetle species, some of which are critically endangered.

The New Zealand data science programme, Taiao, aims to help researchers make sense of environmental data so they can make useful predictions to guide good decisions. Claire Concannon meets the team at the University of Waikato where the programme is hosted. And a group in the Auckland Bioengineering Institute are researching a new needle-free jet injector design that they think might lead to a happier future for those with needle phobia.

PhD student Kiamaia Ellis describes crayfish as a vulnerable taonga species. Local iwi in Tauranga believe the crayfish population is decreasing because of urban, industrial and harvesting pressures. But Kiamaia is keen to be a part of the solution, so she's studying the resilience of pēpi kōura / baby crayfish. She wants to understand how these tiny species that take eight years to become an adult are able to thrive based on a kaitiakitanga or guardianship approach.

Working with the community and local schools, the Karioi Project aims to turn the tide on biodiversity loss in their area. In recent years they've rallied around the grey-faced petrel, or Ōi, who they hope to help return to the maunga.

Two stories about the promise and perils of chemistry research. From a team recreating Renaissance beauty recipes in the hopes of rediscovering a 'miracle ingredient', to a researcher investigating New Zealand's deadliest synthetic cannabinoid.

The Nevis Fault is a sleeping giant fault, one that awakens only every 10,000 years or so. This week, a team of geologists use paleoseismic trenching to answer questions about this fault and to figure out the pattern of past earthquakes.

It's Prime Minister's Science Prize time! We meet some of the people awarded the 2021 prizes for their mahi.

Researchers from the University of Waikato are tackling the tricky question of how to restore native biodiversity in our urban areas.

We join Marine Science PhD student Namrata Chand on her Autumn field work collecting seaweed samples to learn more about this 'underdog of the ocean'.

Pūtahi Manawa / Healthy Hearts for Aotearoa has an ambitious goal - to close the inequity gaps in heart health. Researchers in this Centre of Research Excellence explain the gaps that exist and how they plan to address them.