University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau, is New Zealand’s highest-ranked, largest and most comprehensive university. It is the only New Zealand university ranked in the Top 100 in the QS World University Rankings, and 137th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. It is also ranked sixth globally in the Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings and ranked first in 2019 and 2020. Around 35 percent of the top-ranked academic researchers in New Zealand are at the University of Auckland.
New Zealand has increased its GST several times since it was introduced, so why does Australia find it so hard?
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Tim Hazledine, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
When long-time Kiwi expat John Clarke was asked why he left New Zealand, he said: “Because it was there.” Clarke at least knew what being “there” meant, in contrast to most of his new compatriots, whose…
At loggerheads: but Obama and Putin must come to terms over Crimea.
EPA/Alexei Nikolsky/RIA Novosti/Kremlin Pool
Ashok Sharma, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
The United States has denounced the Russian involvement in Crimea as “a brazen military incursion” and its annexation of the territory as “nothing more than a land grab” by Moscow. In the pre-referendum…
Is Jakarta governor Joko Widodo the next Indonesian president?
EPA/Bagus Indahono
Chris Wilson, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau and Ashok Sharma, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Between April and July this year, the world’s first and third largest democracies, India and Indonesia, will go to the polls. Opinion polls tell us that both countries will almost certainly see a change…
Within eight months of taking office, South Korean president Park Geun-Hye embraced her predecessor’s green growth strategy and now champions the so-called Green Growth 2.0 policies.
EPA/Kim Min-Hee
Like Australia, South Korea had a change of government last year. And like Australia’s, Korea’s new government was keen to distance itself from its predecessors’ legacies – particularly its “Green Growth…
Stormy weather hits New Zealand’s capital, Wellington.
Flickr.com/wiifm69 (Sean Hamlin)
Jim Salinger, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
A recent headline – Failed doubters trust leaves taxpayers six-figure loss – marked the end of a four-year epic saga of secretly-funded climate denial, harassment of scientists and tying-up of valuable…
The closed-door policy wins the TPP few friends.
Public Citizen
Jane Kelsey, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
The secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, a free trade agreement being hammered out between twelve countries, has received another broadside from Wikileaks. The third leak in three months, this…
People report symptoms from wind farms even when the wind turbines aren’t in operation.
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Fiona Crichton, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Despite at least 19 reviews of the scientific evidence universally concluding that exposure to wind farm sound doesn’t trigger adverse health effects, people continue to report feeling unwell because they…
First tools, then power tools, then we rule the world.
Mick Sibley/University of Auckland
Gavin Hunt, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau and Alex Taylor, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
While the species of the crow family - including jackdaw, magpie, crow, rook and raven - are renowned in myth and legend for their intelligence, a scientific basis for this has been hard to establish…
Not only has the way we look at our mobile devices changed, but they’re starting to look back at us.
andres.thor
Apple’s latest and greatest - the iPhone 5s - met a muted reception last week in San Francisco. Although the device’s admittedly evolutionary-not-revolutionary updates target early adopters and high-end…
Details have emerged of the US National Security Agency’s anti-cryptography effort, via whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Ole Spata/EPA
In the wake of the latest New York Times/Guardian UK/ProPublica triple team effort breaking news of America’s National Security Agency’s (NSA) anti-cryptography effort Sigint, a new level of social contract…
It’s not hard to see that caging people indefinitely behind razor wire does considerable harm.
AAP
Linda Briskman, Swinburne University of Technology and Scott Poynting, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
It was a foolish moment when prime minister Bob Hawke promised that by 1990 no child in Australia would be living in poverty. After all, what are the solutions to child poverty, to crime, to educational…
Childhood has become the critical period when socioeconomic inequalities in overweight emerge and strengthen, the study found.
MaST Charter
Children from low socioeconomic backgrounds are already more likely to be overweight by age four than median income families, but the differences become much more marked as childhood progresses, a new…
Around 60% of complaints against doctors are about the quality of care that was provided.
Image from shutterstock.com
Health commissions and medical boards should publicly disclose the details of complaints against doctors when multiple allegations of misconduct or inappropriate behaviour are made, experts say. The call…
There’s conflicting evidence about both the efficacy and the safety of taking calcium supplements.
it thatswitch/Flickr
Reema Rattan, The Conversation and Charis Palmer, The Conversation
A clash between supporters and detractors of calcium supplements for better bone health is leading to conflicting headlines, leaving the public unsure about whom to believe. Osteoporosis is estimated to…
Exposure to infrasound, at the level produced by wind turbines, is an ordinary occurrence.
Flickr/Wavy1
Fiona Crichton, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
A surge in health complaints linked to wind farms could owe more to increased discussion of health risk than the low-level sound generated by the actual turbines, according to a new study. The study by…
Hashtags embody the “digital” aspect of news.
uwgb admissions
With #PillarofDefense, Israel this week launched the world’s first-ever hashtag-driven social media military offensive in Gaza Strip, followed by action on the ground. In direct response, the defensively-worded…
Samsung is a major player in technologies that will deliver future telecommunications services.
Robert Schlesinger/EPA
Sung-Young Kim, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
In light of the much-publicised dispute over handset design patents between Apple and Samsung, many commentators have cast Samsung as the “fast-follower”, while Apple is pushing at the frontier of innovation…
There’s a broad base of public support for government action against smoking in New Zealand.
Barbara Walton/AAP
The tobacco industry has launched an advertising campaign against the New Zealand government’s proposal to introduce plain packaging of tobacco products. According to the media campaign, plain packaging…
Academic writing doesn’t have to be old and dusty.
Wyoming_Jackrabbit
Helen Sword, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Imagine that the editor of a widely-read magazine or, say, The Conversation has heard about your academic research and invited you to contribute an article. But you only know how to produce stodgy, impersonal…
There’s no evidence suggesting that a calcium-rich diet causes heart problems.
Rachel James
Ian Reid, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
People taking calcium supplements to mitigate their risk of developing bone disease (osteoporosis) may be doing more harm to their health than good. That’s because a growing body of research shows the…
Professor, Head of School of Learning Development and Professional Practice, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau