Our Changing World

How fast - and how completely - could Antarctica's smaller western ice sheet melt in a warming world? An international science team, led by Aotearoa New Zealand, set out to investigate whether two degrees of warming could already be a tipping point for the frozen continent. Antarctica is losing ice at an accelerating rate, particularly in some parts of West Antarctica. How did the small and more v...

Allergenic pollen is a big trigger for New Zealand's high rates of hay fever and asthma. But for 35 years, we've had no current data on pollen levels. Until now. Justin Gregory talks to a team who want to change that. The view is what you notice first. It's takes time to get up to the roof of the Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hera but once you're there, it's worth it. A...

Giant kelp is disappearing from Wellington Harbour. Love Rimurimu is aiming to restore lush underwater kelp forests with an ambitious and collaborative replanting effort. Claire Concannon dives in to the wonderful world of seaweeds. The aquarium room at NIWA is awash with sound. A pump system hums, clicks and splashes as it circulates water through large tanks like the Wellington bucket fountain....

In the final instalment of the summer science series, science communication students tackle two controversial topics: medicinal cannabis, and AI consciousness. In our final instalment of the summer science series, we have two more stories from science communication students. Each year, science communication students at the University of Otago's Department of Science Communication are tasked w...

Should we intervene to prevent hybridisation between an endangered species and its common relative? In this week's summer science episode, two students from the Department of Science Communication at the University of Otago tell stories of science controversy: the conservation conundrum of hybrids, and the relationship between western science and mātauranga Māori. Each year, science communication...

Kākā numbers are skyrocketing in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington thanks to conservation efforts. The summer science series continues with a walk through Zealandia to find out why you shouldn't feed these inquisitive parrots. Our summer science series continues with a story from Samantha Lloyd-Evans, a student from the Centre for Science in Society at Victoria University of Wellington. Samantha take...

The summer science fun continues with an episode from RNZ podcast Voices. Meet Gaia Dell'Arriccia, a scientist originally from the south of France who studies the seabirds that live around Auckland's coastlines. A seabird colony at night is a noisy place. But it's also an incredible experience to have thousands of birds flying around you, says seabird scientist Gaia Dell'Arriccia. The su...

The summer science series kicks off with an episode from award-winning podcast Black Sheep, about a backyard inventor called Victor Penny who sparked sensational headlines about death ray inventions in 1935. In 1935, a series of extraordinary newspaper articles claimed a backyard inventor called Victor Penny was trying to build a death ray for the New Zealand government. Follow Our Changing World...

This week on Our Changing World RNZ podcast producer, and occasional dinosaur correspondent William Ray visits Ngā Taniwha o Rūpapa Dinosaurs of Patagonia, a special exhibition at Te Papa Museum to discover the surprising link between the giant dinosaurs of Patagonia, and prehistoric New Zealand. Follow Our Changing World on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRADIO, Google Podcasts, RadioPub...

Off the coast of New Zealand, deep underwater, the seafloor shifts in landslides and slow-motion earthquakes. Claire Concannon meets two researchers investigating geological phenomena that could pose a tsunami risk to Aotearoa New Zealand. Follow Our Changing World on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRADIO, Google Podcasts, RadioPublic or wherever you listen to your podcasts Underwater lan...

Go behind the scenes at the National Geohazard Monitoring Centre, where a team of analysts are on alert 24/7 for earthquakes, volcanic activity, tsunamis and landslides. What happens when a natural disaster strikes? It could be the headquarters for a rocket launch, or the control centre for a highly coordinated operation. One wall is full of large monitors, information updating in real time. Camer...

Mohua are bright yellow forest birds - but despite their eye-catching plumage, they can be tricky to spot flitting high in the forest canopy. Claire Concannon visits the Makarora mohua population, where a team of conservationists and scientists are testing acoustic machine learning to identify individual birds. Follow Our Changing World on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRADIO, Google Pod...

Varroa mite parasites cause major problems for honey bees - and beekeepers. Now, New Zealand researchers are investigating a new type of RNA-based treatment that could make treating varroa mite infestations easier, as well as better for the bees and the environment. Varroa destructor mites are bad news for honey bees. Not only do they attack the bees by chewing on a vital organ called the fat body...

New video series: A turning point in the fight to preserve Aotearoa's natural environment. If you enjoy listening to Our Changing World, we reckon that you might be keen on a new video series just released on RNZ. The Turning Point is about the new generation of kaitiaki across Aotearoa taking on the challenge of protecting and restoring our natural environment, paving the way to a more hopeful fu...

Claire Concannon meets GERALDINE, the Gigantic and Extremely Radical Atmosphere-Lacking Device for Interesting and Novel Experimentation. Plus, a team of scientists and engineers designing plasma rocket thrusters for space travel with super-conducting magnets. GERALDINE loiters at one end of the giant lab space. Metal, shiny, round and very large, she's been purposely built to help scientists...

A Moriori musician, an ethnomusicologist and the Hokotehi Moriori Trust are part of a team helping to revitalise Moriori culture with 3D-printed replicas of traditional bone flutes from Rēkohu the Chatham Islands. Claire Concannon finds out more about the Moriori, music and manawa project. A born and bred Chatham Islander, from the largest island, Rēkohu, musician Ajay Peni says the wildness, the...

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...