Early Development of nuclear-powered thermal stations was driven by rising demand for electricity and the need for security of supply. The oil crisis of the early 1970s moved France and some other countries to invest heavily in nuclear power development, so that today France generates about 80 per cent of its power using nuclear reactors....
Flowering broom gilds the shattered slopes of the wild middle section of the Clarence River, where it runs between the Inland and Seaward Kaikoura Ranges of Marlborough. Paddlers on multi-day rafting trips down this remote river must dig deep to guide their craft through the rapids that dot its serpentine course....
You could say that Selena kept herself warm in the most exotic sleeping bag in New Zealand. Researchers John Dowding and Elaine Murphy uncovered her dwelling while working in Fiordland’s Eglinton valley. “When we looked inside,” recalls John, “we found a bowl of feathers from some of the most endangered native forest birds in the country, including […]...
Hail a cab in Auckland or other large New Zealand centre and, chances are, the driver will be from Asia, particularly from the Indian subcontinent. Immigrants have become a major force in taxi industries the world over, but how has this come about locally?...
Joseph Hatch was one of New Zealand’s most tenacious entrepreneurs. He set up the southern-most steaming works in the world and the oil it produced brought significant wealth, first to Invercargill, then to Hobart. It was just a pity that Hatch, who listed his occupation as “oil factor”, meaning oil agent, chose to extract that […]...
A century has passed since 1905, a watershed for physics. In that year, the quantum theory of light was first described in a paper dealing with the photoelectric effect. A subsequent flurry of investigation on this theme—with considerable input by the same author—led to the revolutionary development of quantum mechanics....
In Early August 1838 the whaling brig Nimrod, out from Sydney, arrived in the Bay of Islands with 300 barrels of oil. Nimrod’s skipper was 24-year old William Butler, the runaway son of a Dorset clergyman....
Rotokawa, 10 km north-east of Taupo on the route to Broadlands, is among the hottest of New Zealand’s thermal areas. It is also one of the most dangerous. On still days poisonous gases collect in depressions, setting invisible traps for unwary birds and rabbits and any too-casual humans....
