Our Changing World
Stories about science and nature from out in the field and inside the labs across Aotearoa New Zealand.
Episodes
March 16, 2023 • 29 min
The Noises are a conservation success story in the Hauraki Gulf. Claire Concannon joins a team surveying the wētāpunga, seabirds, and other flora and fauna that now thrive on these predator-free islands.
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March 9, 2023 • 30 min
We all get some – but are you getting enough? Claire Concannon investigates the science of sleep and meets a pilot-turned-sleep-researcher helping the aviation industry ensure crew on long-haul flights get some shut-eye.
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March 2, 2023 • 32 min
New Zealand's native long-tailed bat, pekapeka-tou-roa, is going strong in Franklin, south of Auckland. But these tiny mammals are threatened by introduced predators, especially cats. Producer Liz Garton goes on a bat hunt and learns about locals' efforts to keep their pekapeka neighbours safe.
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February 23, 2023 • 29 min
Not everything goes to plan on research trips. And when the trip is to a remote island aboard a navy ship designed to help with disaster relief, and happens to overlap with one of the worst weather disasters in New Zealand... well, things are going to change. Claire Concannon tells the story of Operation Endurance 2023 on Campbell Island.
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February 16, 2023 • 26 min
This week we're travelling back in time 66 million years ago with producer William Ray, to a time when dinosaurs roamed. Join William as he meets two Tyrannosaurus rex fossils at the Auckland Museum and uncovers the story behind the bones.
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February 9, 2023 • 31 min
They can hunt, they can fish, they build little nurseries for their babies. Oh and some of them also engage in a bit of sexual cannibalism. Claire Concannon goes on a nighttime stroll in Kirikiriroa Hamilton to meet some fascinating spiders, and learn all about the weird world of spider reproduction.
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February 9, 2023 • 7 min
With the Bug of the Year 2023 competition coming to the closing stages, it's not surprising that things are getting heated. In this breaking news story we learn how voting preferences have caused a rift in the Painting lab.
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February 2, 2023 • 27 min
What do marine biologists get up to? Some Evans Bay Intermediate school students are learning all about it at the Victoria University Coastal Ecology Lab. Claire Concannon tags along to listen in, and to catch up with Professor James Bell to learn more about his research on sea sponges.
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January 26, 2023 • 29 min
Claire Concannon investigates how luminescence and specialised materials could be key to our growing data storage needs, and visits a test site for native vertical gardens that could cloak the walls of Wellington's city buildings.
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January 19, 2023 • 27 min
In the final instalment of our summer science series, we bring you two stories from the ocean. First we have a story on marine noise pollution from Victoria University of Wellington Centre for Science in Society student, Xanthe Smith. Then, we have an episode on pāua from RNZ podcast Voices, presented by Kadambari Raghukumar.
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January 12, 2023 • 28 min
We continue our summer science series with an episode from RNZ’s The Aotearoa History Show. In the first episode of season two, the show burrows into the story of rabbits and other pests introduced to New Zealand.
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January 5, 2023 • 14 min
As part of our summer science series we bring you an episode of The Otago Chronicles podcast, hosted by Max Balloch. In this episode, Max talks to Associate Professor James Scott from the University of Otago Department of Geology about looking up at the night sky and the hunt for what would’ve been New Zealand’s 10th meteorite.
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December 22, 2022 • 28 min
Two stories about genetics produced by students at the University of Otago's Department of Science Communication. Amanda Konyn investigates whether gene editing has a role in future pest control, while Richard Marks explores why the "eat less, move more" approach to weight loss isn't really working.
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December 15, 2022 • 27 min
MethaneSAT is the first New Zealand government funded space mission. A joint project between the United States' Environmental Defense Fund and New Zealand, the project will see a methane sensing satellite launched into orbit. Science journalist Peter Griffin finds out why and how.
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December 8, 2022 • 24 min
The kākerōri or Rarotongan flycatcher is a South Pacific conservation success story. Once reduced to just 29 birds, it has been rescued from the brink of extinction by a rat control programme managed by the land-owners of the Takitumu Conservation Area in the Cook Islands. Alison Ballance visits to find out more.
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December 1, 2022 • 28 min
If the future of healthcare is personalised genomics, how can we ensure that it is used to lessen inequities, rather than strengthen them? This week, Our Changing World speaks to two of the co-leaders of the Rakieora programme – a pilot to develop a New Zealand specific national database for genomic research.
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November 24, 2022 • 27 min
Genome sequencing has become a household term during this pandemic. This week, we explore how it became an important tool in the fight against Covid-19.
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November 17, 2022 • 25 min
Sunfish are the world's largest bony fish species – and yet scientists know little about their lives. This week, Our Changing World meets a sunfish researcher unravelling mola mysteries and dives into the weird world of sunfishes as a museum specimen is examined and prepared.
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November 10, 2022 • 29 min
Summer is on its way, and this week we're exploring both the power and the peril of the sun. First, we visit the Ultrafast Laser Lab to learn about efforts to create better solar panels. Then, we hear about one professor's quest to teach kids about sun safety using an ultraviolet dosimeter you can wear on your wrist like a watch.
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November 3, 2022 • 26 min
Behind the scenes at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, a "menagerie" of specimens is a treasure trove for curator Dr Matt Rayner, who is researching how the Hauraki Gulf's seabirds are faring using clues from very old feathers.
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