Although numerous museums have disabused me of the notion that special collections have to be displayed in stodgy, poorly lit, indoor spaces, the idea of an open-air native plant museum like Otari–Wilton’s Bush, in Wellington, still intrigues me. But, when one considers that the root of the word “museum” comes from the Greek mouseios, meaning “of […]...
On October 25, 2004, the New Zealand Herald ran a cover story under the headline “DoC losing battle to save rarest species”, proclaiming that the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DoC) was simply unable to protect all threatened species, and that consequently many might become extinct or key populations die out. The main species to […]...
Writing in the sixth century AD, Gregory, Bishop of Tours, recorded in his Historia Francorum (The History of the Franks) a dramatic story of the weather intervening in the lives of princes. In AD 536 there were three rulers of Frankish kingdoms: Childebert, the king of Paris; his brother Lothar, the king of Soissons; and the […]...
A black-tailed sea hare—just one of the more than 100 species of sea slug that glide through our waters—grazes on the seaweeds that make up its diet. Handsome they may be, but sea slugs have a lot more going for them than just good looks....
It is 100 years since the tiny seeds of a plant known as the monkey peach in its native China were first sown in New Zealand. After making only modest headway in its first half-century of cultivation under the name of Chinese gooseberry, the distinctive green fruit with the stubbly brown skin has since taken […]...
A small robotic orbiter spits a probe at Titan, the most mysterious moon in the solar system....
Riding massive waves of air that form on the lee side of mountain ranges, modern glider pilots may venture higher into the sky than passengers aboard a jumbo jet. The home of South Island gliding, and host to the Perlan Project—an attempt led by American Steve Fossett to soar to 100,000 ft (30,500 m)—is the airfield at Omarama, […]...
The return of the unknown warrior...
Since 1964 the Marsden Point oil refinery has dominated the southern headland of Whangarei Harbour, giving an industrial stamp to the area. Now, new residential and industrial developments compete for space in the vicinity of the refinery, while across the water the residents of Whangarei Heads watch as their own property values go through the […]...
