Flora Feltham wrote an early version of our cover story when she was living on Wellington’s predator-free reserve Mana Island with her husband, then a DOC ranger. The couple spent two years on the island, often alone, spanning Feltham’s first pregnancy and 10 months of their baby’s life. An incredible honour, she says, but it […]...
A diabolical gamemaker scatters 85 flags across the Pisa Range. He assigns each flag a certain number of points. Some are buried in brambles, others hidden in gorges. Some, fiendishly, will lead you away from fresh water. You have 24 hours, and a map. Go....
Flying robots are taking to the skies in greater numbers—performing tasks such as tracking critically endangered Māui dolphins and collecting data on extreme weather events. But they can’t fly well in windy conditions, and don’t have the battery capacity to power long flights. Birds, on the other hand, can wheel and soar in even the […]...
As glaciers retreat, they lose invisible ecosystems formed of microbes—before we’ve had a chance to get to know them. Bacteria thrive just about anywhere, but nobody has investigated the microbiome of alpine glaciers on a global scale, says geologist Mike Styllas, leader of a three-year, round-the-world expedition to study ice-loving microbes on 200 glaciers in […]...
Roger Smith banks hard, circling the spires of the Pinnacles, and rockets up the Whakapapa Glacier, just metres off the ground. Sitting in the seat next to him, I feel a rush of adrenaline as we rise over the saddle and look down upon the crater lake, shimmering like a dropped jewel. Turning now, we […]...
At last the apparently endless clouds are drawing off the country and we are again being permitted to see the stars. Orion, lord of the summer nights, is already visible in the east as the sky darkens, and he will dominate our heavens until lost in the afterglow of autumn sunsets. Uniquely amongst the constellations, […]...
Decades ago, red admiral butterflies all but abandoned Auckland city. Now, united by two retirees and a tolerance for stinging nettles, dozens of volunteers are doing everything they can to bring the butterflies back....
