David Ackerley, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Bacterial DNA extracted from soil includes many genes whose function remains unknown. The novel enzymes these genes code for could be useful in efforts to clean up persistent pollutants.
Ahead of Friday’s final election results, the most likely outcome is National and ACT will need to add NZ First to form a right-wing coalition government. These are the results and seats to watch.
Bringing together worker, business, and government representatives helped set clearer rules for everyone on public holidays. We need to try that same approach to lift NZ’s poor productivity.
Preliminary findings show that managed retreat, structural flood protection and climate-resilient development projects are most at risk of maladaptation.
A conflict resolution expert – and rugby fan – explains how the game can restore spectacle and avoid farcical and dangerous mismatches due to players being sent off.
Considered a pipe dream not too long ago, research on RNA therapeutics is progressing rapidly. Now a new manufacturing protocol will help researchers to advance the technology.
Manufacturers have too much legal freedom to sell products that don’t last or are hard to repair. It’s time local law caught up with global efforts to address this environmental and consumer issue.
Stringent measures are needed to prevent plastic pollution. But concerns about carbon leaching from plastic waste would be better aimed at emissions from producing more plastic in the first place.
Amanda Reilly, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
This Labour weekend we celebrate the eight-hour workday. But with technology blurring the line between job and home, we need to ask why our workplace law hasn’t kept pace with other countries.
Mike Joy, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Phoebe Barnard, University of Washington
Ecological overshoot is driven by human consumption and a belief in endless economic growth. Could the marketing and media industries that feed those habits also help change them?
Beneath the obvious policy differences between Labour and National lies a tacit consensus on fundamental economic settings. Until that changes, political choice will be constrained.
The final outcome of the general election may not be known for two weeks. But one thing is clear: the country has resoundingly rejected the government that led it through the pandemic.
With final results awaiting the inclusion of special votes, the shape of New Zealand’s next parliament hangs in the balance. Here are the variables in play.
New Zealand has swung decisively back to the right at the 2023 general election. With official results pending, it seems National and ACT can still form a government without the help of NZ First.
Alexandra Sims, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Current laws governing policing don’t take into account the capacity of AI to process massive amounts of information quickly – leaving New Zealanders vulnerable to police overreach.
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University