Waste not, want not
In our rush through modern life, we leave behind a mountain of rubbish that gets a little higher every year. The problem starts in our homes—so does the solution.
In our rush through modern life, we leave behind a mountain of rubbish that gets a little higher every year. The problem starts in our homes—so does the solution.
Fish in Otago’s Taieri River suggest it may once have been two separate rivers.
Like the aperture of a camera lens, bats change the focus of their sonar beam by widening their mouths.
Plants are growing and shedding leaves at different times than just a few decades ago.
Deep in the Mackenzie Basin, the world’s rarest wading bird roams free in the wild, unaware that behind the scenes, a handful of people are trying to solve a problem: how to protect a species that refuses to be contained?
Scientists have discovered what causes a beefsteak tomato’s stem cells to snowball out of control.
Privahini Bradoo ditched a promising career in neuroscience to find a solution for electronic waste.
Those eager to be transported back in time will appreciate the historic townships and relics left behind by Otago’s pioneers. Along the way you can expect to be welcomed by charming locals, served mouth-watering meals, and told stories about the beautiful places they call home. All while experiencing real, heartland New Zealand. Once complete, the trail will allow cyclists an opportunity to explore and discover some of New Zealand’s most secluded and rustic rural settings at a relaxing pace without sacrificing the comforts of home. Cyclists are currently able to ride from Kingston through the towns of Garston, Athol and Lumsden to Mossburn via a wide smooth trail. This section is 85 kilometres long and takes two days. The trail from Mossburn to Mavora Lakes is still in the planning stage. Riders are advised to take a shuttle for this section rather than ride on the road. From Mavora Lakes, a quiet 48-kilometre-long gravel road leads to Walter Peak Station on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. This section is open and ready to ride. The historic Earnslaw ferry then takes riders across Lake Wakatipu to Queenstown. Note that the only accommodation currently available at Mavora Lakes is camping. When fully completed, the Around the Mountains Cycle Trail will be a 180-kilometre, four to five day trip.
Oliver Sacks, the neurologist and author, died yesterday (Sunday) aged 82. Since he learned he had terminal liver cancer earlier this year, he has been writing some poignant personal essays for The New York Times that have touched a chord with many readers. (Affection for Sacks, author of books with such memorable titles as The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, An Anthropologist on Mars and Island of the Colorblind) seems boundless. He estimated he received 10,000 letters a year. "I invariably reply to people under 10, over 90 or in prison," he once said.
A humble New Zealand shellfish with an out-sized foot and a reputation as an aphrodisiac powers a local economy, a $50-million-dollar export industry and an active black market. Recently, a trade in methamphetamine has sprung up in support of poaching efforts. Who will win the battle for control of paua?
Nothing says spring like the start of the whitebait season this past weekend. But aficionados might pause, fork in midair, if they heard freshwater ecologist Mike Joy's comments connecting whitebait and another native species that has been in the news in a culinary connection: kereru. Both are threatened, so, from a biodiversity point of view, eating whitebait is functionally equivalent to snacking on kereru: it hastens the decline. Unlike kereru, however, 'bait can be bought from the supermarket.
At a recent marine sciences conference, I heard the latest update on Maui's dolphin from University of Otago dolphin expert Liz Slooten, and it was not pleasant listening.
Unaffected by Varroa, tolerant of cold and able to pollinate in enclosed spaces, bumblebees offer new hope for New Zealand’s primary industries. If only we knew how to build a nest they wanted to live in…
Whenever there's a hint of an aurora in New Zealand skies or a supermoon is rising or an interesting conjunction of heavenly bodies occurs (Jupiter and Venus this month), the event makes headlines. The universe fascinates us—and so it should.
By taking a lateral approach, brainless blobs of plasma created the natural world.
The detritus of 19th-century family life accumulated underneath a Wellington cottage and came to light more than a century later.
On living without pretence in the wild world.
Storms in May and June brought heavy rain and flooding to Kāpiti and Dunedin. Are the events connected?
Predictions of the West’s decline are nothing new. Mindful of how the mighty Roman Empire had imploded, observers on both sides of the Atlantic have long watched for cracks in their own cultural enterprise. Oswald Spengler’s The Decline of the West, first published in 1918 was, however, the first book to systematically investigate why civilisations collapsed. More recently, in Guns, Germs and Steel, Jared Diamond explained the historical dominance of Eurasia largely in terms of ecology. For Diamond, the West owed its rise not to inherent superiority but to the distribution of plants and animals and other accidents of nature. Diamond was followed by Ian Morris, whose magisterial Why the West Rules—For Now, elevated the importance of geography. ‘Chaps’ are essentially the same the world over, argued Morris. Which just leaves us with ‘maps’ to make sense of history. Jim Penman will have none of it. His new book, Biohistory: Decline and Fall of the West, proposes a new key to understanding the rise and fall of civilisations: temperament. The notion that economic and political systems reflect the prevailing temperament is not original; what Biohistory introduces is the idea that different temperaments have a biological basis—one that changes over time, defining our culture and determining our identity. “Biohistory takes issue with the idea that differences between peoples can be explained by genetics, such as the idea that Europeans and East Asians are more intelligent,” says Penman. Genetically, humans are very similar, he says. What makes the difference is the way in which genes are switched on or off by the environment. “These epigenetic differences can make people more or less hard-working, rigidly dogmatic or open to change, peaceful or violent, timid or forceful, honest or corrupt, accepting or rejecting of brutal authority, and much more.” Drawing on studies of animals, including baboons and gibbons, Biohistory shows that, among other things, food restriction lowers testosterone, reducing sociability and improving learning and the drive to explore. Importantly, it also makes people capable of impersonal loyalties, and this is profoundly important—large societies will be more stable if people are loyal to institutions (such as banks) and distant rulers they have no kinship ties to. Successful societies are those that are able to mimic the effects of food restriction, even in times of abundance, says Penman. And one of the most effective tools for doing that is religion, with its emphasis on chastity, fasting and discipline. “Scientists such as Richard Dawkins preach that religion is the outdated superstition of another age, without value or purpose in civilised times. But a better understanding of the science indicates that religion is the essential driving force behind human civilisation, which would not be possible without it,” says Penman. “Religious teachings not only help people to cooperate better in large groups, they create the very temperament that is needed if civilisation is to flourish. That is why the decline of religion is a danger sign for any society.” But food shortage alone is not the full story. Dangerous environments in which food supplies are highly variable trigger further adaptive behaviour that proves useful to civilisation—chief among them aggression and a high degree of organisation. Penman claims that biohistory is the first explanation for the rise and fall of civilisations able to be scientifically tested. However, the twists and turns needed to fit theory to historical events is not always convincing. According to Penman, World War I was largely caused by a surge of testosterone across a highly patriarchal Europe, combined with the transmission of anxiety from mothers to sons. In support of this, he quotes Ernst Junger, whose Storm of Steel famously elevated war into a mystical experience. Buy why Junger and not fellow German Erich Maria Remarque’s harrowing All Quiet on the Western Front? Or any of the English war poets… all of whom have a contrary take on the meaning of war. World War II produced another generation of “stressed infants” growing up in peace time, says Penman, and he is obliged to find their aggression both in the Vietnam War and in the “massive and often aggressive student protests” (calling them largely peaceful anti-war protests would not serve his purpose). Similarly, he views Tiananmen Square largely as “a further surge of student unrest”, rather than as an impulse toward democracy. Economic and religious decline, a growing gap between rich and poor, disillusionment with politics, increasing obesity and infertility, and a loss of national identity all suggest to Penman that the West is in terminal collapse. The remedy? Perhaps, says Penman, individuals could take a “supplement” to reactivate the triggers of civilisation that no longer work. There is no doubting Penman’s seriousness of purpose, and Biohistory does offer valuable insights into human behaviour. But attempts to present it as a unified field theory of history inevitably weaken the argument. And the appeal to eugenics will, for some, make it a bitter pill to swallow.
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