Following a recent reorganisation of the nation’s publicly funded science research institution structure, the New Zealand government has this week announced a mandated new pathway for science and technology commercialisation from 2026. Science and technology Minister, Shane Reti says that a more consistent national approach to intellectual property management is needed in order to reward…
Darwin, a biodiversity startup, has recently secured funding to further develop its nature-based solutions platform. The platform leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, to address complexity around biodiversity analysis and footprint assessment for consultancies. The company’s core mission is to assist the private sector to be agents of change in the protection of global…
Surfactants have a wide range of applications within households, such as soap, dishwashing liquid and cosmetics. But the current production process is carbon-intensive and waste water flows containing surfactant can be harmful to the environment. But recently a student team from France has been developing a greener alternative that could replace current surfactant chemicals. Made…
The 2016 Paris Agreement set the amibitious goal of achieving global net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and limiting temperature rise to 1.5 deg C. With the temperature increase limit almost breached this year, analysts and commentators have already set to work digesting the outcomes of the latest climate COP. Some progress is better than none…
Development of fusion energy has been frustratingly just over the horizon for decades. But a New Zealand physics engineering research company delivered on its promise this week by creating first plasma with an edgy reactor design. Now the challenge is to scale the technology. OpenStar Technologies joins the ranks of stellar ventures mythically founded in…
A complex plant alkaloid extracted from the humble daffodil has been demonstrating some extraordinary curative properties in humans. Now with the help of a $4 million investment and a collaborative research project with Lincoln University in New Zealand, the same compound is being investigated as a feed additive to reduce methane emissions from livestock. The…
Metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOS-FETs) form the basis of modern integrated circuits due to their versatility and high density. The foundational technology dates back a century, but it was not until the early 1960s when breakthroughs in semiconductor chemistry allowed the development of the first working transistors, which subsequently evolved into the silicon micro-circuitry that we…
With electric and hydrogen powered vehicles not yet making a substantial impact in logistics and travel, airlines, ship owners and road freight companies have lately been pulling back from commitments to net zero emissions. The big energy companies are also rethinking their sustainable fuels strategies. But with the cost of installing solar energy dropping and…
For over 250 years, a trade route has existed spanning Europe, The Middle East, South Asia and Australasia. Explorers, navigators, scientists and entrepreneurs first set out in earnest from Europe in the latter part of the 18th Century, informed only by sketchy maps drawn up by their predecessors over one hundred years beforehand. Now as…
The notion of metal-organic frameworks conjures up visions of cybernetic organisms self-described as “living tissue over a metal endoskeleton” from a certain well known science fiction franchise. But there’s nothing fictitious about this astounding field of materials science. For Professor Ed Lester from the University of Nottingham, the carbon transition has delivered renewed interest in…
