Why is the sky blue? Why do stars twinkle? Why did the apple fall to the ground? What happens if...
After a heated contest, New Zealand’s Bird of the Century was named in November 2023 – the puking and pompadoured pūteketeke. The victory isn’t just for...
This Connected article by Sophie Fern covers the discovery of Squawkzilla – a giant parrot that lived in New Zealand 19 million years ago. Two leg...
This Connected article by Priscilla Wehi and Hemi Whaanga explores how early Māori named and grouped the plants and animals they found around them. Discover what...
This Connected article recounts an important story from the oral tradition of Tainui. It tells of how the iwi’s ancestor Whakaotirangi first brought kūmara and other...
Florence Nightingale, who was born 200 years ago, is rightly famed for revolutionising nursing. Her approach to caring for wounded soldiers and training nurses in the...
This comic biography tells the story of Betty Batham. Betty was a pioneering female scientist and the founder of the New Zealand Marine Studies Centre in...
Gallium is perhaps best known as a metal that is a solid when you pick it up and melts when it sits in your hand. Elemental...
Mercury – named after a Roman god known for speed and agility – is a chemical element that has fascinated humans for thousands of years. Mercury...
Gold is the stuff of dreams and legends. Empires have been toppled for it, pirates have plundered it and misers have hoarded it. But what does...
Cobalt is a chemical element – a substance that contains only one type of atom. Its official chemical symbol is Co and its atomic number is...
If asked to name a famous Kiwi scientist, most New Zealanders will reply with Ernest Rutherford. He is featured on the New Zealand $100 note, and...
New Zealand – isolated islands or part of a continent? New Zealand – the country – has a total land area of 268,000 km2 . Zealandia/Te...
Weather has been important for human survival throughout history, affecting a wide range of human activities such as travel, navigation, events and celebrations, planting, harvesting, hunting...
Microbes – friend or foe? Some microbes are essential to life, while others cause sickness in plants and animals, including humans. For decades, we have kept...
Lately I’ve noticed something odd happening in the world of science. For the first time in my lifetime, scientists are under attack. Simon Lamb This is...
It’s less than 200 years since people first stepped foot onto Antarctica. Explore this timeline to see some key dates in the early discoveries of this...
Microscopes let us view an invisible world – the objects around us that are too small to be seen with the naked eye. This timeline provides...
Use this timeline for a look at some of the historical aspects in the development of our understanding of gases and plasmas. 1644 – Invention of...
Shellfish numbers have been plentiful for centuries and important kai for Northland Māori, but industrial harvesting and canning had a devastating effect on toheroa numbers. I...
Māori ancestors possessed a wealth of astronomical knowledge that they referred to as tātai arorangi. The knowledge was important for many aspects of daily life, from...
Discovery, science and heritage Antarctica has long been a location of intrigue and adventure – even before humans were sure it actually existed. People predicted the...
In November 2014, the European Space Agency (ESA) Rosetta Mission landed a space probe called Philae onto the surface of Comet 67P, while Rosetta continued to...
Thomas William Walker, known to many as ‘Prof’, was a key player in the evolution and development of modern New Zealand soil science. As well as...
Muriel Bell became a public figure, during and after the Second World War, by trying to improve the health of New Zealanders through good nutrition. Her...
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