Confessions of a chemistry geek
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3838 21st Nov 2013
Through story-telling, Deborah Blum sheds light on the important subject of science.
Rebecca Priestley
(@RKPriestley) Rebecca Priestley is a science writer and historian with a particular interest in New Zealand’s science history. In her weekly science column she explores contemporary and historical scientific issues, reports from scientific field trips, and responds to readers’ questions. Her anthology, The Awa Book of New Zealand Science, won the 2009 Royal Society of New Zealand Science Book Prize. Atoms, Dinosaurs & DNA: 68 Great New Zealand Scientists, co-authored with Veronika Meduna, won the Elsie Locke Award for Children’s Non-fiction in 2009. Rebecca’s most recent book, Mad on Radium: New Zealand in the Atomic Age, was published by Auckland University Press in 2012. Her next book will be an anthology of Antarctic science. Rebecca has degrees in geology and the history of science and is a senior lecturer in the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences at Victoria University of Wellington.
Look, Ma, no wires
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3837 14th Nov 2013
New Zealand scientists’ pioneering use of inductive power transfer technology has huge potential for electric vehicles.
Genes and the nature of nurture
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3836 7th Nov 2013
We’re stuck with the genes we inherit but the world we grow up in can be changed.
Rise of the jellyfish
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3835 31st Oct 2013
Jellyfish and sponges look set to rule the ocean.
One night out stargazing
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3834 24th Oct 2013
Alongside aesthetics, astronomy and health, there’s another incentive to reduce light pollution.
The end of the world as we know it?
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3833 17th Oct 2013
The breakdown of Western civilisation is highly likely, say two visiting US academics.
The Big Bang and the early universe
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3832 10th Oct 2013
Can anything go faster than the speed of light?
Outlook: warmer
1 Comments Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Current Affairs
Issue 3831 7th Oct 2013
Alarmists might be relieved by the latest IPCC climate change report but sceptics shouldn’t take heart.
The Bird of the Year
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3830 26th Sep 2013
Weka, tern or storm petrel? Which of the 35 entries will win Bird of the Year?
Becoming a citizen scientist
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3829 19th Sep 2013
You don’t have to be an expert to contribute to important scientific research.