Chemistry
Pacific Scientific: The secrets of Samoan plants
Today we have an episode from the ABC series Pacific Scientific.
The series travels across the Pacific to meet researchers tackling different problems – from climate change to protecting baby… Audio
Our Changing World – A tricky trap for redback spiders
Invasive redback spiders are highly venomous, threatening both people and New Zealand’s native species. A team of scientists is developing a cunning tool to trap male redbacks, by concocting an… Audio
Our Changing World – Redback spider trap
Australian redback spiders found their way to New Zealand in the 1980s.
These dangerously venomous spiders are now found in Central Otago and New Plymouth, where they pose a risk to both people and… Audio
Our Changing World – Keeping track of ozone
Almost 40 years on from the first reports of the Antarctic ozone hole, and 35 years since the Montreal Protocol to ban CFCs came into effect, what’s going on with the ozone hole? How does it form? How… Audio
Fungal foray-ing and the search for new antibiotics
Could the answer to one of our most pressing health needs be hiding in Aotearoa’s bush? On Our Changing World this week, Liz Garton heads out on a foray to discover some of our fungal gems, and she… Audio
Our Changing World – Plasma jet technology
Dr, Taniela Lolohea of the Auckland University of Technology speaks about his research into low temperature plasma jet technology surface coatings. Audio
The promises and perils of chemistry research
Two stories about the promise and perils of chemistry research. From a team recreating Renaissance beauty recipes in the hopes of rediscovering a 'miracle ingredient', to a researcher investigating… Audio
Investigating the toxicity of synthetic cannabinoids
Toxicology PhD student Lucy Thomsen is looking at why certain synthetic cannabinoids are so dangerous. First created by scientists with the intent of making medicines, they have now been co-opted by… Audio
Rumplestiltskin
In this whimsical episode, MacDiarmid Institute Principal Investigator and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Auckland, Duncan McGillivray tries to work out how Rumpelstiltskin made straw… Audio
Our Changing World - Careful consistent chemistry
This New Zealand sea week Our Changing World finds out about one of the longest running ocean chemistry studies in the South Pacific Ocean. Audio
Jumbonium
Good news, everyone! Dr Nate Davis, Associate Investigator and Senior Lecturer in Physical Chemistry at Victoria University of Wellington brings us the science - or lack of it - behind Jumbonium from… Audio
Honey fingerprints and plant powers
Claire learns about honey fingerprinting while Katy Gosset meets a scientist studying the anti-microbial properties of some native plants. Audio
Using chemistry to uncover the past
Chemical isotope analysis is a powerful technique - Dr. Charlotte King explains to Claire how she uses it to reconstruct past lives of forgotten people from the Otago gold rush. Audio
Our Changing World - Using chemistry to reconstruct past lives
Dr. Charlotte King explains her work using chemical isotopes to reconstruct past lives of forgotten people from the time of the Otago gold rush. Audio
Flubber
Flubber has been around since 1961 when the mad scientist Professor Brainard discovered the flying rubber. It got a re-vamp with Robin Williams in the late 90s, but how realistic is it? Audio
Calling Home: Peter Croot in Galway
Dunedinite Professor Peter Croot has seen a fair bit of both land and sea during his time as an internationally-respected chemical oceanographer, having lived and worked in the USA, Sweden, Germany… Audio, Gallery
Materials: Fact or Fiction - Corrodium
Bill Jia is a PhD student in a MacDiarmid Institute research lab at the University of Auckland studying Chemistry. He joins is to give us his scientific take on Corrodium from Ben 10. Audio
How fresh is the air we breathe?
New Zealanders make take it for granted that we live in a clean, green part of the world but just how fresh is the air we breathe? Many Kiwis would be surprised by what we're breathing in, says… Video, Audio
Photopharmacology 'lighting the way' for new treatments
Using light to activate or deactivate drugs, photopharmacology, is a relatively new area of medicinal chemistry, with a key advantage being the high degree of control over the time and place where… Audio
Sir Paul Nurse: What Is Life?
Nobel prize-winning geneticist Sir Paul Nurse's latest book, What Is Life?, explores the question of what we as humans share with all other living things on this planet. Audio
