Oil and water don’t mix — unless surfactants step in. At Auckland University of Technology, a team of chemists has created a new kind of surfactant made from wood pulp rather than fossil fuels or palm oil. They hope that the cosmetic industry will be interested in this greener way to make smooth creams and lotions. Plus, what do geothermal spring microbes have to do with smelly wine? Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.Learn more:Dr Jack Chen has been on RNZ several times to talk about the chemistry of dishwashing, oven cleaning and laundry detergents.Soap is also a surfactant, which is what makes it good at washing oils off our hands, as well as busting open viruses.The cosmetic industry is not new, and during the Renaissance there were some ‘interesting’ recipes about, but did they have some good ideas?Listen to episodes exploring the use of chemistry in reconstructing past lives, honey fingerprinting, reducing the carbon cost of producing ammonia and creating a perfume to trap invasive spiders.Guests:Dr Jack Chen, Dr Mohinder Naiya, Dr Victor Yim and Josh Van Dongen of Dot Ingredients.Sarah Manners, University of CanterburyGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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Resurrecting Wellington's Flowers of the Underworld
Until late 2024, nobody had seen te pua o Te Rēinga “the flower of the underworld” in the Wellington region for more than a hundred years. A chance discovery of a small struggling population has kick started a race to protect the plants and help them return. Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.Learn more:First Up interviewed Avi Holzapfel about Te Pua o Te Rēinga in 2024In 2020, OCW looked at efforts to resurrect a transplanted population of Te Pua o Te Rēinga at Zealandia.Graeme Atkins is also one of the driving forces behind an effort to help the ngutukākā plant return to the wild, plus the 1769 Garden – a living library of rare local East Coast native plant species.Guests:Graeme Atkins (Ngāti Purou, Rongomawahine)Barrett Pistoll – Greater Wellington Regional CouncilAvi Holzapfel – Department of ConservationRhys Mills - Ngā Manu Nature ReserveBart Cox – Wellington City CouncilGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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The rise of the gold clam
An invasive species has taken hold in the Waikato River, and it’s multiplying fast. Gold clams, tiny but relentless, are now found along a large stretch of the awa, where they threaten water infrastructure, and native species. Where might it invade next, and can we control it? Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.Learn more:Among their other conservation activities, the team at Kids Greening Taupō have taken on the challenge of speaking to every class about the gold clam to raise awareness.MPI’s John Walsh spoke to Paddy Gower on Nine to Noon after last year’s gold clam survey, and more recently to Kathryn Ryan about following the rules to prevent the clam’s spread this trout fishing season.In Auckland, efforts are underway to protect the native kākahi from the threats of introduced fish.Guests:Dr Michele Melchior, Earth Sciences New ZealandKarl Safi, Earth Sciences New ZealandGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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SAR4SaR - The folding, floating search and rescue device
New Zealand’s marine search and rescue region stretches from Antarctica to north of Samoa. If someone goes missing without any means of communication, that’s a lot of ocean to search. Now researchers and the New Zealand Defence Force have teamed up to develop and test a low-tech, no-battery device that can be picked up by radar – including that beamed down by satellites orbiting Earth. Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.In this episode:01:30 At Mission Bay Beach Dr Tom Dowling demonstrates the device03:40 In the University of Auckland’s Space Institute lab the team explain the device design, and how it works.10:00 Dr Tom Dowling talks about the radar reflector trials in Campbell Island and Omaha beach13:00 Dr David Galligan, director of Defence Science and Technology on why DST is interested in the device19:00 The satellites are the second side of the equation. Dr Tom Dowling explains how that works.20:50 Back at Mission Bay Beach Dr Tom Dowling explains how the radar reflector would be an additional part of a kit on a boat and how it would work to narrow down the search area…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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What makes Ruapehu tick, and boom
It’s been 30 years since a dramatic series of eruptions at Mount Ruapehu. In that time, there have been great advances in monitoring and modelling volcanoes – but we still can’t look inside a volcano to see exactly what’s going on. Claire Concannon heads to Wairakei, near Taupō, to meet researchers working on the next best thing: recreating Ruapehu’s eruptions in the lab. Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.In this episode:…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
Dr Claire Concannon follows scientists into the bush, over rivers, back to their labs and many places in-between to cover the most fascinating research being done in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Netherlands