Nicholas Agar, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
We’re on the way to making machines that appear and act human, and can think for themselves. So how will they react to our behaviour towards them, especially the bad behaviour?
Research has shown that gender is not biological but a product of culture.
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Teaching young children about the history of gender and offering them more options for identity expression would help to curb gendered stereotypes and sexism.
Justice minister Andrew Little (left) said that the “year and a day” rule can no longer be justified because of medical advances that keep people alive for longer.
AAP Image
New Zealand’s parliament this week passed an amendment to the crimes act, abolishing the “year and a day” rule. This raises questions about any proposed euthanasia laws and homicide more generally.
In July 2018, public servants went on strike to demand fair wages.
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Last year, more than 70,000 workers walked off their jobs in New Zealand – the highest number of people on strike since the late 1980s. The reasons for the strike wave are political and economic.
Participants noted that Māori and Pasifika research was considered less rigorous.
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Jonathan Barrett, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Establishing artists could benefit if New Zealand introduces a proposed capital gains tax that excludes any profit made on the sale of collectables and artworks.
New Zealand is one of few countries without a capital gains tax and the proposal to introduce one prompted outrage.
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Samuel Becher, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
The European Union has enacted a systematic plan to give people more control over their personal data online. But despite these efforts, privacy agreements remain largely unreadable.
Endocrine therapy is currently the most effective form of treatment for oestrogen-dependent breast cancer, but a significant proportion of patients relapse.
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A new breast cancer test predicts whether a patient will benefit from endocrine therapy, allowing patients and their doctors to make better treatment decisions.
South Africa’s runner Caster Semenya, the current 800-meter Olympic gold and world champion, arrives with her lawyer Gregory Nott (right) for hearings at the international Court of Arbitration for Sport.
EPA/Laurent Gillieron
The International Association of Athletics Federations wants athletes who have differences of sexual development to medically reduce their testosterone levels. But this may be in breach of human rights.
If doctors questions evidence-based medicine guidelines, they are often viewed as incompetent practitioners.
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Kevin Dew, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Ageing populations and efforts to medicate to prevent disease are both factors that have driven up the use of pharmaceuticals, but we have inadequate means of reporting side effects.
Tourism is putting some natural sites under increasing pressure.
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Can tourism ever be sustainable? Only if operators and consumers start looking beyond the idyllic postcard images and take undesirable consequences of tourism into account.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern meeting with the Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Li Keqiang during last year’s ASEAN summit.
AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
New Zealand’s decision to block Huawei from its 5G cellular networks due to security concerns is likely to be just the first of many that challenge Wellington’s relationship with Beijing.
Many universities use tutorials to complement lectures.
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Jan Feld, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Nicolás Salamanca, The University of Melbourne y Ulf Zoelitz, University of Zurich
As students return to campuses this week, new research shows universities could save money by not asking professors to teach tutorials because they are no more effective than student instructors.
The issue of consent leaves room for interpretation by judges and juries.
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In New Zealand, sexual crimes are describes as “crimes against religion, morality and public welfare”, not as crimes against a person. This disparity in language underscores the inequity in how the law treats women.
The Treaty of Waitangi promised Māori British subjecthood.
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Alex Taylor, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
New Caledonian crows are famous for using tools to reach a reward. Now scientists have confirmed they can plan several steps ahead, like a chess player contemplating a series of moves.
A new climate model combines data on ice loss from both polar regions for the first time.
Mark Brandon
Nick Golledge, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Climate scientist predict that the combined effect of ice loss in Greenland and Antarctica will be more extreme weather, with impacts on agriculture, infrastructure and human life itself.
The emperor penguin can grow up to 45 kilograms, making it the largest living penguin species.
Veronika Meduna
Genetic information extracted from fossil bones of two extinct penguin species shows the geological emergence of islands plays a role in penguin evolution.
February 6 marks the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s foundation document.
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Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University