Our Changing World

In the last week, Hurricane Otis hit southern Mexico with little warning, and Cyclone Lola set a record for the earliest category five cyclone in the southern hemisphere. Climate change is making work tricky for weather forecasters. What might be in store for our upcoming El Niño summer? Last week in southern Mexico Hurricane Otis made landfall near the city of Acapulco as a category five h...

Could your burger one day come with a plankton patty? Alison Ballance visits the Cawthron Institute's collection of more than 750 different strains of microalgae, where scientists are investigating these teeny organisms for new food ingredients and powerful painkillers. Imagine a future where your burger comes with a plankton patty. Or where you are prepped for a hospital operation with an algal a...

In the ever-shifting streams and channels of a braided river, creatures must adapt to change. Claire Concannon joins a researcher on the spectacular Cass River near Tekapo for a spot of electrofishing and bird counting - part of a project seeking to understand this complex ecosystem and the threats it faces. It's a blue-sky spring day in the Canterbury high country. The sun beams and the wind...

Giant penguins weighing up to 150 kilograms once roamed the waters around New Zealand. Claire Concannon speaks to a palaeontologist and learns about penguin evolution, extinct species that dwarfed today's emperors, and why Aotearoa is such a great place to study these birds that 'fly' through the water. Evolution spins out some crazy designs. Bats that can hunt in the dark using echolocation, spid...

What happens to our muscles as we age? Claire Concannon finds out why muscles get weaker as we get older, and speaks with a researcher investigating why Olympic athletes live up to three years longer than the general population. Claire also meets a scientist studying what happens to muscles in children with cerebral palsy, seeking clues that could help. 'Use it or lose it!' is the rallyi...

The southern New Zealand dotterel is a true underdog of the bird world, with just 126 individuals at last population estimate. Claire Concannon tags along with a team of researchers attaching trackers to the birds. Their mission is to figure out where the dotterels go to breed, so these "plump little tomatoes" can be protected from introduced predators. As the tide closes in on Awarua Bay in South...

Broccoli and chocolate. Prawns and vanilla. According to food pairing theory, these culinary matches should go together as well as macaroni and cheese, or peanut butter and jam. But do they really? Senior producer Justin Gregory meets two researchers digging into the sensory science of food. Hungry? How does a nice meal of milk chocolate and asparagus sound? Or maybe prawns and vanilla? Kiwifruit...

The Great Ireland vs. New Zealand Bird-off returns for part 2 to decide once and for all which island nation boasts the best birds. Our avian aficionados return to argue their case in front of judge Claire Concannon. Who will fly to victory? Listen to find out - plus learn about the crazy life cycle of the cuckoo and the weird feathers of the kiwi, among many fascinating facts and tales from the w...

Welcome to the great Ireland vs New Zealand bird-off. Two islands, a world apart - but which country has the better birds? Two bird nerds champion their nation's birds across four categories in an avian battle for the ages, with Claire Concannon judging the best of the feathered best. Which country will emerge victorious? Listen to find out. Two islands, a world apart. One sits at the edge of the...

We've probably all experienced a little bit of tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, at some stage in our lives. But for some people this phantom sound in their brain can be loud, and permanent, and completely debilitating. Claire Concannon speaks to a group of scientists at the University of Auckland who've been researching ways to help for years, and have developed a digital therapy with promising t...

Dr Kate Thomas has exercise on the brain. As an exercise physiologist, she researches how exercise and fasting can change the energy sources our brain uses. And as an ultramarathon runner, she chases that runner's high on gruelling mountain races. Dr Kate Thomas is a self-described "exercise evangelist". An exercise physiologist, she spends her time researching the impacts exercise has o...

How can swaying buildings help diagnose breast cancer? Katy Gosset meets a team of engineers taking inspiration from earthquake engineering to design a new, cost-effective device to help detect breast cancer. Listen to find out how the device works, and how it could help more women get tested sooner. Every year, more than 3,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer, according to the Cancer Socie...

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the rediscovery of the takahē. Claire Concannon sits down with former Our Changing World presenter and takahē superfan Alison Ballance to chat about her new book, Takahē: Bird of Dreams. Plus, we replay Alison's 2018 episode marking the 70th anniversary of the momentous rediscovery, and discuss what's happened in takahē conservation since. On 20 November 194...

Every year, tens to hundreds of seabirds fall out of the sky across Auckland city. Disoriented by the bright lights, Cook's petrels crash-land and collide with buildings - but a dedicated group of volunteers hit the pavement to rescue them. Join us on 'Petrel Patrol' and go behind the scenes at a bird hospital, where squid smoothies and bath time help the seabirds find their wings again. The concr...

Are all snowflakes really unique? What makes some snow better for skiing? And what's the difference between snow and hail? Join Alison Ballance and Katy Gosset as they hit the slopes of Mt Ruapehu and discover a science wonderland of snow. You've probably heard the poetic fact that every single snowflake is unique. This might be true on a molecular level, but doesn't quite pan out for ma...

Nuclear fusion is a holy grail for researchers seeking clean energy. This week we head to the south of France with ABC science journalist Carl Smith in this episode from the Strange Frontiers series. Here, a multi-billion-dollar collaboration between several countries called ITER is trying to make industrial-scale nuclear fusion a reality. What if we could create bountiful supplies of energy with...

Tauranga-based producer Justine Murray dons some gumboots and meets some teeny-tiny cockles as she joins a team surveying the Waihi estuary. Professor Kura Paul-Burke is weaving mātauranga Māori and western science together to address questions that local iwi have about the health of the estuary, and what can be done to improve it. There are many signs in the taiao (natural world) if you look clos...

Have you ever had a catchy tune you just can't get out of your head? Most of us can imagine sounds - music, voices, environmental noise - to varying degrees. But about 1% of people can't imagine sounds at all. This lack of auditory imagery is called anauralia. Claire Concannon meets a team of researchers investigating this newly described phenomenon, and speaks to a musician who experiences anaura...

In September 2022, two New Zealand patients became the first in the world to participate in a phase 1 clinical trial testing a new therapy for a rare neurogenetic condition called myotonic dystrophy. Claire Concannon learns about the trial, and how a new Neurogenetic Registry and Biobank covering 70 conditions is helping to connect New Zealand patients with international research. Our genes contro...

Here in Aotearoa, it's the winter solstice: the shortest day (and longest night) of the year. We're marking the occasion with an episode celebrating the starry night sky. Podcaster Max Balloch looks up in search of stories told through constellations, and finds that light pollution is smudging out the stars for many New Zealanders. What can be done to restore our connection with the night sky? For...

Rats giggle. Dogs wag their tail. How do other animals express joy? You can't ask them, so researchers have to find other sneaky ways of figuring out animal emotions. Professor Ximena Nelson is studying how curious and intelligent kea, New Zealand's alpine parrots, might show positive feeling. Some rats giggle when their bellies are tickled. Researchers have known it for some time now, though it r...

There's nothing like a good birthday party, especially one filled with games and fun activities. The Auckland Bioengineering Institute might have missed their 20th birthday due to Covid-19, but they were determined to throw a good ole shindig. Claire Concannon visits to find out what they've been up to for the past 20 years, and what the plan is for the next two decades. How do you throw a good bi...

In Aotearoa we talk a lot about mammalian predators attacking our native wildlife, but other insidious pests are quietly taking over - weedy plants. Tackling these weeds using chemical and mechanical means only gets us so far, so researchers and conservationists also look towards the plants' natural enemies to help. Claire Concannon visits a group of Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research scientists i...

This week we're digging up the dirt on the surprising complexity of soil. From top-notch compost to dung beetles to kauri dieback, join us on a fascinating tour of the world beneath our feet with presenters at the Wild Dunedin Festival of Nature. Professor Amanda Black is a big picture thinker. She likes the idea that we are just tiny dots in a vast universe. Little surprise then that her science...

Claire Concannon meets the latest addition to the Zealandia ecosanctuary family - toitoi, or common bully. Zealandia CEO Dr Danielle Shanahan explains why these little fish will be an important part of the freshwater ecosystem, and what their ambitious 100 year plans are to restore the mouri or lifeforce of the entire Kaiwharawhara catchment. The native birds are loud and proud at Te Māra-a-Tāne,...