Our Changing World

00:26:17

Building New Zealand's RNA capabilities

Our Changing World ·

2026/06/08

Scientists had long been exploring RNA technology as a way to make vaccines before it had it’s breakout appearance during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, interest in the potential uses of RNA to make vaccines and disease treatments has bloomed. In late 2023 a government-funded platform began work to enhance New Zealand’s capacity to design and make RNA. Three years in, how is the platform going? Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis

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00:27:57

Working towards a pest free Purerua-Mataroa peninsula

Our Changing World ·

2026/06/01

One peninsula to the north of the Bay of Islands is home to an estimated three thousand Northland brown kiwi. The Pest Free Purerua-Mataroa project aims to reduce predators numbers on the peninsula and defend its narrow neck from re-invasion. Working across a patchwork of landuse and landowners, the team are using AI traps and technology to help catch the remaining pests. But one feral cat continues to elude them, and the ongoing threat to kiwi from pet dogs is proving tricky to solve. Sign up to

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00:26:33

Hydrogen detectives

Our Changing World ·

2026/05/25

Could the answer to the current fuel crisis be right under our noses? On Our Changing World this week, Sharon Brettkelly talks to some of the scientists analysing ultramafic rocks in places like Lake Pupuke on Auckland’s North Shore and gases from various hotspots around the country, in the hopes that one day hydrogen could power local communities. Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.Learn more:New Zealand already has hydrogen

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00:25:26

How can Aotearoa eliminate cervical cancer?

Our Changing World ·

2026/05/18

The World Health Organisation has set an ambitious goal to eliminate cervical cancer. New Zealand health experts are optimistic we can do it, but suggest there are challenges to achieving that aim.Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.Learn more:Listen to The Panel Plus with Wallace Chapman, discussing the release of the Cancer Society's election manifesto and treatment options for cancer.Read about the Matariki Fund's plans

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00:28:06

Looking to a wild future for kākāpō

Our Changing World ·

2026/05/11

Today kākāpō breed on three remote islands, each bird wears a transmitter and they are carefully monitored and minded. But the ultimate goal of the kākāpō recovery programme is to restore the mauri of the kākāpō – to have them back in our forests as wild, nameless birds. What are the steps to get there, and how can science help keep kākāpō safe through this transition? Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.Learn more:Kākāpō need new

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00:27:18

A time of change for kākāpō

Our Changing World ·

2026/05/04

So far, 2026 has been the biggest kākāpō breeding season of all time, with more chicks hatched than ever before. The current challenge is to keep them all healthy as they grow into juveniles, and get added to the adult population. But what comes after that? Claire Concannon reports on the future of kākāpō from one of the breeding islands.Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

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00:28:04

A taste for science

Our Changing World ·

2026/04/27

The food you see on the supermarket shelves doesn't end up there by accident. It's often been rigorously tested for likeability. This week on Our Changing World, Liz Garton finds out about the science behind those decisions, given that individual taste can be very varied. Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.Learn more:Export markets are a key consumer group. Look at who’s eating our food with this story from RNZ’s Farah Hancock.Our

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00:26:32

Keeping the South Island Psa-V free

Our Changing World ·

2026/04/20

In 2010 the Psa-V bacterial disease was found in a Bay of Plenty kiwifruit orchard. This was the beginning of a terrible ordeal for many kiwifruit growers. It devastated crops, resulting in the loss of hundreds of jobs, and hundreds of millions of dollars. But though it spread to some other areas in the North Island, it never made it across the Cook Strait. Claire Concannon learns about the science behind keeping this microbe out of Te Waipounamu. Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly

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00:26:38

The unexpected potential of ketamine

Our Changing World ·

2026/04/13

Ketamine was first developed as an anaesthetic, and today is taken by some as a party drug. But since 2000, research has emerged showing it is also helpful as a medication for some people with treatment-resistant depression. While initial studies used ketamine injections, recent research has shown the advantages of taking it in oral form. Now clinical trials are underway to determine if a New Zealand-developed ketamine pill is safe and effective enough to get the regulatory tick. Sign up to the Our

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00:26:17

Building an army to stop a stink bug invasion

Our Changing World ·

2026/04/06

In the Auckland suburb of Mt Albert there's a particular brand of doomsday prepping going on. Our Changing World visits the Bioeconomy Science Institute to meet some scientists figuring out how to build an army of Samurai Wasps just in case Aotearoa is invaded by Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs.Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.Learn more:MPI's website has more detail on the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug and what to do if you find

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00:26:37

Monitoring plastic pollution in Northland, and the...

Our Changing World ·

2026/03/30

Our Changing Word heads to Whangārei to speak to a Northland Regional Council scientist whose been using stormwater drains to estimate the scale of our plastic pollution problem. Plus, just outside Christchurch, one of New Zealand’s biggest lakes is home to the ‘canary in the coalmine’ of wetlands. The secretive and elusive Australasian bittern seems to be in trouble - how can we help? Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.Learn

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00:26:14

The tree keepers

Our Changing World ·

2026/03/23

In Dunedin the local tree crop association has been looking after a heritage apple orchard, but some mixed up labels meant they weren’t quite sure what varieties they had. A chance encounter at a public open day sets one young researcher on a scientific quest to ID them all. Plus, in a nursery in Rotorua, a propagation scientist is figuring out the best way to grow a native tree from cuttings. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

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00:30:41

How to grow a kiwi

Our Changing World ·

2026/03/16

Take a (very) large egg, some insects (plus specially developed food), and a safe place to put on weight for a while. This is how you grow a kiwi, and improve wild survival rates from 5% to 65%. With over 2,600 hatches across their 30 year history, the National Kiwi Hatchery have a lot of experience under their belt, but there's always more to learn from our iconic national bird. Our Changing World visits the hatchery to learn how they combine conservation and eco-tourism to help grow kiwi numbers

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00:26:22

Iwi-led conservation in the Kaimai Mamuku ranges

Our Changing World ·

2026/03/09

In the Kaimai Mamuku ranges iwi-led conservation projects are tackling pests, removing weeds and planting natives to restore their whenua. Ngāti Hinerangi’s Wairere Mahi project has been trapping around the Wairere falls, and restoring a nearby system of lakes. The projects were born from the Jobs for Nature fund established by the government during the Covid-19 pandemic. But with that fund now finished where will the money to support future conservation work come from? The Manaaki Kaimai Mamuku

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00:26:34

The thorny issue of the long-spined urchin

Our Changing World ·

2026/03/02

A native species is taking over a jewel-in-the crown marine reserve. But what can be done? Centrostephanus, the long-spined urchin, is munching its way through the world-renowned rock walls and kelp beds of the Poor Knights Islands. DOC, University of Auckland scientists and a local hapū are running removal trials to investigate whether this might be a way to manage its march. Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.…Go to this

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00:25:24

The Democratisation of Space?

Our Changing World ·

2026/02/23

New Zealand is third in the world for the number of orbital rocket launches from our shores, sitting just behind the US and China. Phil Vine discovers some of the challenges raised by our push into the unknown and how it is changing the final frontier.Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.Learn more:Through a science experiment on the ISS, New Zealand researchers have been taking advantage of the unique conditions in low earth orbit

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00:25:38

Science for future fashion

Our Changing World ·

2026/02/16

We know there are issues with sustainability within the fashion industry - can science help create a better future? Claire Concannon visits the Bioeconomy Science Institute in Rotorua to learn how New Zealand scientists are contributing to a massive multi-national project aimed at shaping the textile industry of tomorrow. Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.Learn more:UPWEARS has their own research project page if you want to learn

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00:26:26

Going for eradication - Predator free South Westland

Our Changing World ·

2026/02/09

Since 2018 there's been a massive effort underway to clear over 110,000 hectares of South Westland of possums, rats and stoats. As the pest numbers have dropped the native flora and fauna seem to have flourished. The eradication stage is now nearing completion, and the focus is switching to maintenance. What will it take to keep the pests out long-term? And what can be learned from this large-scale project that could be used elsewhere in Aotearoa? Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter

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00:26:14

Insect vibes

Our Changing World ·

2026/02/02

Some insects communicate using a secret language that we can’t sense – a language of vibrations. Now researchers at the Bioeconomy Science Institute are starting to decode what insects are saying to each other. They hope to harness this knowledge to develop new, chemical-free methods of pest control to help farmers and growers. Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.Learn more:Insects can also be recruited to help. For example, insects

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00:26:32

Sight in the womb

Our Changing World ·

2026/01/26

When do humans begin to interact with the world, and develop our sense of self? When we are born? Or might it start even earlier than that? Our visual systems are a key way that we perceive the world. New findings from the University of Waikato have shown that light can enter the womb and that we might already be learning about the world before we arrive in it. Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.Learn more:Listen to Our musical

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