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A recording of Radio New Zealand National from 5am to midnight. The following rundown is sourced from the broadcaster’s website. Note some overseas/copyright restricted items may not appear in the supplied rundown:
19 March 2015
===12:04 AM. | All Night Programme===
=DESCRIPTION=
Including: 12:05 Music after Midnight; 12:30 One in Five (RNZ); 1:05 Discovery (BBC); 2:05 The Thursday Feature (RNZ); 3:05 Fragrance Rising, by Fiona Kidman, read by Stuart Devenie (1 of 2, RNZ); 3:30 NZ Books (RNZ); 5:10 Witness (BBC); 5:50 The Day in Parliament (RNZ)
===6:00 AM. | Morning Report===
=DESCRIPTION=
Radio New Zealand's three-hour breakfast news show with news and interviews, bulletins on the hour and half-hour
=AUDIO=
06:00
Top Stories for Thursday 19 March 2015
BODY:
At least 19 people killed in an attack on popular Tunisia museum; Police test infant formula cans after parents notice possible tampering; Dusty politics enters Northland by-election; Reti's "threats" smack of desperation - Peters; Second Roast Busters report out today; Aid agencies in Vanuatu still scrambling to assess the full damage of Cyclone Pam.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 31'44"
06:07
Sports News for 19 March 2015
BODY:
An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'03"
06:16
Pacific News for 19 March 2015
BODY:
The latest from the Pacific region.
Topics: Pacific
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'55"
06:21
Britain's economy hailed a success
BODY:
With fewer than 50 days until the UK election, today's budget was an all-important reveal for finance minister George Osborne.
Topics: politics
Regions:
Tags: UK
Duration: 3'17"
06:25
Morning Rural News for 19 March 2015
BODY:
News from the rural and farming sector.
Topics: rural
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 3'57"
06:29
Te Manu Korihi News for 19 March 2015
BODY:
The owner of a Māori forestry company is warning the redundancy of workers at one of the country's largest forest contractors will have a huge impact on tangata whenua and other contractors' jobs are at risk; A Far North iwi leader says he has evidence to refute claims by a neighbouring tribe that it has rights over Ngai Takoto lands in the Te Hiku Claims Settlement Bill; The Māori legal profession is calling for better training for tangata whenua to become judges; The Māori King movement and the police are in talks about building a waka or canoe for officers to potentially paddle in future Turangawaewae Regatta events.
Topics: te ao Māori
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 3'36"
06:42
Father purchases infant formula that has been tampered with
BODY:
Tins of infant milk formula are being tested by police to find out if they have been spiked with the 1080 poison after parents noticed what appeared to be tampering with the cans.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 1'25"
06:47
Growing economy will underpin worsening current account deficit
BODY:
The growing economy will continue to underpin a worsening current account deficit, with imports set to grow more strongly than exports.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'07"
06:49
Currencies weigh on dairy auction prices
BODY:
One economist says the stronger American dollar and weaker euro weighed heavily on the weaker dairy auction prices.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'07"
06:51
Bill English optimistic about dairy prices
BODY:
The sharp fall in dairy auction prices this week has again raised questions about New Zealand's dependence on milk and China.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 39"
06:52
Fonterra to expand organic milk business to meet demand
BODY:
Fonterra says there's enough pent-up demand in its key markets to soak up an expected increase in the supply of certifed organic milk solids.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 1'21"
06:54
Short rental supply is continuing in March, driving up rents
BODY:
Trade Me Property says weekly residential rents are likely to continue to rise due to tight supply, particularly in Auckland.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 1'15"
06:55
Ute & van sales economic indicator - industry
BODY:
The motor industry says flash cars are no longer the measure of how well its sector is performing.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'47"
06:57
Markets await US Federal Reserve statement on interest rates
BODY:
Analysts are awaiting the outcome of the United States Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates, which is due out very soon.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 42"
06:58
Morning markets
BODY:
Wall Street is down as investors await the end of a two-day Federal Reserve meeting.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 30"
07:06
Sports News for 19 March 2015
BODY:
An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'03"
07:11
At least 19 people killed in attack on popular Tunisia museum
BODY:
Nineteen people, 17 of them foreign tourists, have been killed by gunmen in a deadly terrorist attack on the Bardo Museum in the Tunisian capital Tunis.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 6'18"
07:17
Police test infant formula cans after possible tampering found
BODY:
Tins of infant milk formula are being tested by police to find out if they have been spiked with the 1080 poison after parents noticed what appeared to be tampering with the cans.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 7'24"
07:26
Dusty politics enters Northland by-election
BODY:
Whangarei MP, Shane Reti is defending a phone call he made to a Northland roading action group telling them to stop protesting during the Northland by-election campaign - or risk getting nothing.
Topics:
Regions: Northland
Tags:
Duration: 5'47"
07:29
Reti's "threats" smack of desperation - Peters
BODY:
Dr Reti, the Prime Minister John Key and National's Northland candidate Mark Osborne all chose not to talk to us this morning but the New Zealand First leader and candidate Winston Peters does.
Topics:
Regions: Northland
Tags:
Duration: 3'28"
07:38
Second Roast Busters report out today
BODY:
The police response to sexual assault complaints by young people will again be under scrutiny when a second report on the Roast Busters investigation is released this morning.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 5'09"
07:42
Full damage of Cyclone Pam still being assessed
BODY:
Aid agencies on the ground in Vanuatu are still scrambling to assess the full damage wrought by Cyclone Pam.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: Cyclone Pam, Vanuatu
Duration: 3'00"
07:45
Future of Pacific tuna fishery under discussion in Auckland
BODY:
Talks get under way in Auckland this afternoon over how Pacific nations can get a bigger cut of the multi billion dollar tuna fishery in their waters.
Topics: Pacific
Regions:
Tags: tuna
Duration: 3'58"
07:51
Government says no free lunches
BODY:
The Government has sent a clear message to New Zealanders - there's no such thing as a free lunch.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'57"
07:55
South Africa thrash Sri Lanka to make CWC semi-finals
BODY:
South Africa is the first team through to the semi-finals of the Cricket World Cup after thrashing Sri Lanka in Sydney last night.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: Cricket World Cup
Duration: 4'18"
08:06
Sports News for 19 March 2015
BODY:
An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 1'57"
08:11
NZ journalist in Tunisia brings us update on museum attacks
BODY:
Seventeen foreign tourists have been killed in a deadly terrorist attack at the Bardo museum in Tunisia's capital, Tunis.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: Tunis
Duration: 3'26"
08:15
Police respond to claim of tampering in milk formula scare
BODY:
Tins of infant milk formula are being tested by police to find out if they have been spiked with the 1080 poison after parents noticed what appeared to be tampering with the cans.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 6'34"
08:21
Aid agencies in Vanuatu attempt to reunite families
BODY:
Aid agencies in cyclone-ravaged Vanuatu are attempting to reunite children and parents from outlying islands who've been separated during their desperate attempts to survive Cyclone Pam.
Topics: Pacific
Regions:
Tags: Cyclone Pam, Vanuatu
Duration: 4'29"
08:26
Damage in Vanuatu now scaled up to 90%
BODY:
RNZ reporter Koroi Hawkins is in Port Vila.
Topics: Pacific
Regions:
Tags: Vanuatu, Cyclone Pam
Duration: 3'39"
08:29
Government too slow returning to democracy
BODY:
A government proposal to allow Canterbury ratepayers to once again elect some regional councillors is being seen as too slow a return to democracy.
Topics:
Regions: Canterbury
Tags:
Duration: 2'57"
08:33
Markets Update for 19 March 2015
BODY:
A brief update of movements in the financial sector.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 1'43"
08:35
Former inmate says Mark Lundy confessed to him in jail
BODY:
A man known as Witness X, who has numerous convictions for dishonesty offences and violence, has told a jury Mark Lundy told him he wouldn't be in jail if his daughter hadn't seen what he was doing to his wife.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'57"
08:43
NZ banker on the run from FBI, New South Wales Police
BODY:
Police in Australia are hunting for a New Zealand banker who's believed to have fled to the United States.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 3'52"
08:47
New service hopes to end the growing threat of identity theft
BODY:
A new service is being launched today for people who fear their identity has been stolen or misused - a problem estimated to affect 190-thousand New Zealanders every year.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 3'58"
08:50
Te Manu Korihi News for 19 March 2015
BODY:
A Far North iwi leader says he has evidence to refute claims by a neighbouring tribe that it has rights over Ngai Takoto lands in the Te Hiku Claims Settlement Bill; The owner of a Māori forestry company is warning the redundancy of workers at one of the country's largest forest contractors will have a huge impact on tangata whenua, and other contractors' jobs are at risk; The Māori legal profession is calling for better training for tangata whenua to become judges; The Māori King movement and the police are in talks about building a waka or canoe for officers to potentially paddle in future Turangawaewae Regatta events.
Topics: te ao Māori
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 3'30"
08:55
Concern over river and lake health in Waikato
BODY:
The Waikato Regional Council's efforts to save local rivers and lakes are falling short and locals are demanding change.
Topics:
Regions: Waikato
Tags:
Duration: 3'33"
08:58
Ceremonies in Turkey mark anniversary of important naval battle
BODY:
A solemn ceremony in Turkey has marked the 100th anniversary of the naval battle that the Allies lost and which led to the Gallipoli campaign.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: Turkey, Gallipoli
Duration: 1'22"
=SHOW NOTES=
===9:06 AM. | Nine To Noon===
=DESCRIPTION=
Current affairs and topics of interest, including: 10:45 A Needle in the Heart, by Fiona Kidman (4 of 5, RNZ)
=AUDIO=
09:08
Dyslexia and youth offending
BODY:
Chief Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft discusses the link between youth offending and learning difficulties. Guy Pope-Mayell is the chairman of the Dyslexia Foundation of New Zealand.
Topics: education, crime, health, disability, life and society, politics, law
Regions:
Tags: Youth Court, dyslexia, youth offending
Duration: 30'04"
09:21
Solar energy could be cheaper than coal and gas within 10 years
BODY:
Dr Patrick Graichen, Director of the Agora Energiewende, German energy think tank charged by the European Climate Foundation with finding ways to overhaul the energy system in favour of renewables. It has released a study on the Current and Future Cost of Photovoltaics which finds they will become cheaper much more quickly than most experts have predicted and will continue to do so.
Topics: climate, technology
Regions:
Tags: solar energy
Duration: 10'30"
09:45
UK Correspondent Jon Dennis
BODY:
Inquiry into child abuse in the UK and the last budget before the general election.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: UK
Duration: 7'32"
10:08
Tech journalist, Kim Zetter: the world's first digital weapon
BODY:
In 2010 the US was waging warfare against Iran over its nuclear programme through a computer virus that affected a uranium enrichment plant. Stuxnet was the world's first digital weapon which was designed to exploit certain industrial systems. In her book Countdown to Zero Day, technology and cybercrime journalist Kim Zetter explores how the Stuxnet virus was executed and discovered - and what it means for digital warfare and the targeting of vulnerable utility systems like nuclear plants, power grids and oil pipelines.
Topics: technology, crime
Regions:
Tags: Stuxnet, computer virus, zero day, Zetter, hacking
Duration: 28'37"
10:37
Book review: 'Havoc' by Jane Higgins
BODY:
Published by Text Publishing. Reviewed by Carole Beu.
Topics: books
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 4'50"
11:09
New technology commentator Robbie Allan
BODY:
Smart kitchens, the Apple watch, a round up from SXSW Interactive, Tinder's new paywall, Microsoft has announced plans to kill Internet Explorer.
Topics: technology
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 17'04"
11:26
Lisps - when should parents be concerned?
BODY:
Speech and Language therapist Christian Wright discusses lisps, and when parents should be concerned.
Topics: health, disability, life and society, language
Regions:
Tags: lisps, parenting, speech
Duration: 19'03"
11:46
TV Reviewer, Regan Cunliffe
BODY:
Regan Cunliffe critiques SVOD (Subscription Video On Demand) services and the X Factor scandals - has it helped the ratings?
Topics: media
Regions:
Tags: television
Duration: 13'44"
=SHOW NOTES=
09:05 Dyslexia and youth offending
Chief Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft discusses the link between youth offending and learning difficulties.
09:30 Solar energy predicted to be cheaper than coal and gas within 10 years
Dr Patrick Graichen, Director of the Agora Energiewende, German energy think tank charged by the European Climate Foundation with finding ways to overhaul the energy system in favour of renewables. It has released a study on the Current and Future Cost of Photovoltaics which finds they will become cheaper much more quickly than most experts have predicted and will continue to do so.
09:45 UK Correspondent Jon Dennis
Jon Dennis reports on the independent police watchdog to investigate allegations that Scotland Yard covered up child abuse from the 1970s to the 2000s.
10:05 Technology journalist, Kim Zetter, on the world's first digital weapon, which was used by the US to hack Iran's nuclear programme
In 2010 the US was waging warfare against Iran over its nuclear programme through a computer virus that affected a uranium enrichment plant. Stuxnet was the world's first digital weapon which was designed to exploit certain industrial systems. In her book Countdown to Zero Day, technology and cybercrime journalist Kim Zetter explores how the Stuxnet virus was executed and discovered - and what it means for digital warfare and the targeting of vulnerable utility systems like nuclear plants, power grids and oil pipelines.
10:35 Book review: 'Havoc' by Jane Higgins
Published by Text Publishing. Reviewed by Carole Beu.
10:45 The Reading: 'A Needle in the Heart' by Fiona Kidman
Esme has a sewing machine needle floating around her body. Over the years we trace the ups and downs of her life, a complex weave of heart ache and a lost childhood. Just as she composes herself, the needle stirs up old memories (4 of 5, RNZ)
11:05 New technology commentator Robbie Allan
Smart kitchens. Do we even want these kind of innovations?
Apple watch. What's the deal and why does it cost $10,000?
Round up from SXSW Interactive.
Meerkat – a new app that lets users broadcasting live from their mobile phone.
Tinder's new paywall – red-hot dating app tinder has introduced new features that require users to pay.
Sending handwritten cards from your email address.
Microsoft has announced plans to kill Internet Explorer.
Net neutrality decision upheld in the US – what it means.
11:25 Lisps - when should parents be concerned?
Speech and Language therapist Christian Wright discusses lisps, and when parents should be concerned.
11:45 TV Reviewer, Regan Cunliffe
Regan Cunliffe critiques SVOD (Subscription Video On Demand) services and the X Factor scandals - has it helped the ratings?
===Noon | Midday Report===
=DESCRIPTION=
Radio New Zealand news, followed by updates and reports until 1.00pm, including: 12:16 Business News 12:26 Sport 12:34 Rural News 12:43 Worldwatch
=AUDIO=
12:00
Midday News for 19 March 2015
BODY:
The IPCA criticises the police investigation into a teenage sex ring. Aid workers in Vanuatu plan to immunise one thousand children a day.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 15'08"
12:17
GDP growth remains robust
BODY:
The pace of economic activity has eased slightly, but remains robust.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: gross domestic product, GDP
Duration: 1'23"
12:20
Sky City gets lease on new carparking next to Adelaide Casino
BODY:
Sky City Entertainment has secured a car-parking agreement as part of a 610-million-Australian-dollar development of the plaza adjacent to its Adelaide Casino.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags: Sky City Entertainment
Duration: 1'32"
12:21
Mainfrieght upgrades forecasts
BODY:
The transport and logistics company, Mainfreight, is picking a higher full year underlying profit.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags: Mainfreight
Duration: 37"
12:22
Wynyard Group seeks dual listing on ASX
BODY:
Wynyard Group will seek a dual listing on the Australian Stock Exchange.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags: Wynyard Group
Duration: 1'12"
12:23
Fliway share price set at $1.20 each
BODY:
Fliway has successfully concluded a bookbuild for an intital public offering of shares, setting the price at 1-dollar-20 a share.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags: Fliway
Duration: 58"
12:24
Midday Markets for 19 March 2015
BODY:
For the latest from the markets we're joined by Belinda Stanley at Craigs Investment Partners.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: markets
Duration: 2'20"
12:26
Midday Sports News for 19 March 2015
BODY:
The South Africa cricket captain AB de Villiers has echoed the sentiments of the Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum in proclaiming spin bowling could hold the key to World Cup success.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'27"
12:34
Midday Rural News for 19 March 2015
BODY:
News from the rural and farming sectors.
Topics: rural, farming
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 8'15"
=SHOW NOTES=
===1:06 PM. | Afternoons===
=DESCRIPTION=
Information and debate, people and places around NZ
=AUDIO=
13:08
Your song - I Love You Suzanne
BODY:
Liz from Wellington has chosen 'I Love You Suzanne' by Lou Reed.
Topics: music
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 12'47"
13:21
New Zealand A to Z - AmDrams
BODY:
Today's A to Z explores New Zealand's Amateur Dramatic Societies. Jenny Quin is vice president of Upper Hutt Musical Theatre. Craig Ogilvie is the marketing manager and board member for Showbiz. Grant Meese is an Auckland based freelance director
Topics: music, arts
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 38'45"
14:08
Kiwi Slang
BODY:
Stephen Adams talks Kiwi on the BancFirst (Oklahoma) Ad
Topics: media
Regions:
Tags: Kiwi Slang
Duration: 2'26"
14:10
Solar Storm! - Bob Evans
BODY:
A massive solar storm has caused an impressive aurora, most easily seen in the south of the country. Bob Evans runs the Aurora and Solar section of the Royal Astronomical Society.
EXTENDED BODY:
A massive solar storm has caused an impressive aurora, most easily seen in the south of the New Zealand, but there is also aurora activity in the Northern hemisphere.
Bob Evans runs the Aurora and Solar section of the Royal Astronomical Society, and talks to Simon Mercep about the phenomena.
The aurora over Dunedin on Tuesday night, photos taken at Andersons Bay. You can see the International Space Station satellite as a streak on the right hand side of the top photograph, and a squid boat fishing on the left hand horizon.
Photos by Afternoons listener Nicola Pye.
Topics: science
Regions:
Tags: solar storm, Aurora, astronomy
Duration: 9'28"
14:20
Afghan Adventures - Heidi Godfrey
BODY:
For more than a decade this country has built a particular relationship with Afghanistan. That's because of the Defence Force, which has worked in reconstruction and training in a country which has long suffered from conflict. Now another New Zealander, involved in a different type of work, has just returned from Afghanistan. Heidi Godfrey says she wants to dispel any notions that it's a dangerous place to be.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags: Afghanistan
Duration: 11'05"
14:46
Feature album - Silk Degrees
BODY:
Boz Scaggs - Silk Degrees
Topics: music
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 13'52"
15:10
The Expats - Simon Moffatt
BODY:
This week's Expat is Simon Moffatt, who is living and working (and skiiing on a daily basis) in Banff, Canada
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: Banff, Canada
Duration: 14'10"
15:46
The Panel pre-show for 19 March 2015
BODY:
Your feedback, and a preview of the guests and topics on The Panel.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 12'52"
21:34
Spider Chatter on the Web
BODY:
Massey University zoologist Anne Wignall explains how web-building spiders use vibrations to communicate and to make sense of their world.
EXTENDED BODY:
By Veronika Meduna Veronika.Meduna@radionz.co.nz
‘Webs are an extension of their sensory system. They can tell all sorts of things about their world from the vibrations in their web.' _Anne Wignall
Spider courtship can be a deadly affair. As the smaller male enters the female’s web, he risks being mistaken for prey and eaten on the spot. Somehow, he has to convince her to delay her usual predatory response.
Unlike jumping spiders, whose vision is extraordinary, web-building spiders don’t see all that well. Instead, they rely on vibrations to make sense of their world and to communicate.
Anne Wignall, an evolutionary biologist at Massey University, has tuned into the courtship chatter of male Argiope spiders and found that they produce a vibratory shudder, perhaps the equivalent of a cautious knock on the door, as they enter the web of the object of their desires. The larger and usually aggressive female stops and listens out for more.
'We can pretty safely say that their main sense is vibration. All web-building spiders tend to have quite poor vision and they hang out in webs most of their time. Silk is a really excellent substrate for transmitting vibrations. Vibrations are physical movements of a substrate and it just passes easily through the web.'
Female spiders “read” the vibrations through slit sensors on their exoskeleton, mostly on their legs, and sensory hairs across their body. Their detection of minute oscillations is so accurate that they can even tell the weather.
“They can tell how windy it is because wind will produce this low-frequency noise in the web. They can detect prey struggling in the web, often how big the prey is or what type it might be, and they can listen to the courtship songs of males as they go into the web."
To decipher the spider talk, Ann uses a machine called a laser vibrometer, which sends out a laser beam that is reflected off a thread of silk. As the silk vibrates, the laser light changes and this signal is then converted into a sound file that she can listen to.
A fly hitting a web sounds like a massive impact – a loud high-amplitude bang. “Once the spiders detect that in the web you often see them tense up and become really alert. They are listening for more information.”
The initial impact is like a signal, she says, while the later vibrations once the insect is caught give the spider more information about where in the web it was caught and how big it is. Unlike the messy, noisy vibrations of struggling prey, spider courtship signals are very deliberate and rhythmic movements. To a female spider, these repeated shudder vibrations deliver an instant message to say “don’t attack me, I’m not food, just wait for more information”.
Some predators use this finely tuned signalling to their advantage. There are some spiders and even one insect, the assassin bug, that have learned to pluck the silk to generate vibrations that mimic the small and tired movements of prey. Once the female pounces, expecting a meal, she becomes prey instead.
Anne Wignall says she now wants to hone in on particular aspects of the information the females are listening to, such as the males’ mating thread dance. “If things are going well, he’ll cut out a section of the female’s web, using his mouth to cut the silk threads, and he’ll build a single thread across that gap, called a mating thread. He’ll then hang upside from it and begin plucking it with his legs.”
To explore the finer details of vibration-based courtship communication, she uses an electromagnetic shaker – an instrument otherwise used by engineers to test bridges – to play back signals to females at different frequencies and amplitude, in the hope of deciphering the best pick-up lines.
Spider webs are thought to have evolved once insects started to fly. “But once spiders started building webs, the males had the pressure on them to go into the females’ predatory trap, which is a dangerous place to be. That affected how they communicate with the females … to identify themselves without being attacked.”
Experiments show that if you play back courtship vibrations of the wrong species of male into a female’s web, she will still respond appropriately and delay her predatory response.
'That’s quite amazing in terms of courtship signals because often we think of courtship as being this great division between species because it makes sure that you don’t end up mating with the wrong species. So this is interesting in terms of the evolution of communication in spiders.'
Topics: science
Regions:
Tags: spiders, spider web, vibrations, communication, evolution
Duration: 15'58"
=SHOW NOTES=
1:10 Your Song
I Love You, Suzanne by Lou Reed. Chosen by Auntie Hiatus (#AUNTIERADIO)
1:20 New Zealand A to Z - AmDrams
Today's A to Z explores New Zealand's Amateur Dramatic Societies
Jenny Quin is vice president of Upper Hutt Musical Theatre
Craig Ogilvie is the marketing manager and board member for Showbiz
Grant Meese is an Auckland based freelance director
2:10 Kiwi Slang
Stephen Adams talks Kiwi on the BancFirst (Oklahoma) Ad
2:13 Solar Storm! - Bob Evans
A massive solar storm has caused an impressive Aurora, most easily seen in the south of the country. Bob Evans runs the Aurora and Solar section of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Photograph sent in by listener, of the aurora over Dunedin on Tuesday night, from Andersons Bay. You can see the International Space Station satellite as a streak on the right hand side, and a squid boat fishing on the left hand horizon. Photo by Nicola Pye
2:20 Afghan Adventures - Heidi Godfrey
For more than a decade this country has built a particular relationship with Afghanistan. That's because of the Defence Force, which has worked in reconstruction and training in a country which has long suffered from conflict.
Now another New Zealander, involved in a different type of work, has just returned from Afghanistan. Heidi Godfrey says she wants to dispel any notions that it's a dangerous place to be
2:30 Festival Review - Justin Gregory
Justin and friends review the Auckland Arts Festival
2:45 Feature album
Boz Scaggs - Silk Degrees
3:10 The Expats - Simon Moffatt
This week's Expat is Simon Moffatt, who is living and working (and skiiing on a daily basis) in Banff, Canada
3:20 BBC Witness - Suite Francaise
As the film of the best-selling book by Irene Nemirovksy, Suite Francaise, is released in cinemas Witness hears the extraordinary story of the manuscript which lay undiscovered in an old suitcase for more than 50 years after Irene Nemirovsky's death in Auschwitz. We hear from her great-granddaughter, and from the man who eventually published Suite Francaise, Olivier Rubinstein
3:35 Our Changing World - Veronika Meduna
Spider courtship can be a deadly affair. As the smaller male enters the female's web, he risks being mistaken for prey and eaten on the spot. Massey University zoologist Anne Wignall finds that courting males pluck the web's strings to deliver their best pick-up line
Stories from Our Changing World.
3:45 The Panel Pre-Show
With Jim Mora, Zara Potts, Ellen Read and Gordon McLauchlan
MUSIC DETAILS
Thursday 19 March
YOUR SONG:
ARTIST: Lou Reed
TITLE: I Love You Suzanne
COMP: L.Reid
ALBUM: The Very Best Of
LABEL: BMG 166046
NZ A - Z
ARTIST: Jesus Christ Superstar
TITLE: Hosanna
COMP: Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice
LABEL: Polydor 521589
ARTIST: Michael Crawford/Sarah Brightman
TITLE: All I Ask Of You
COMP: Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice
ALBUM: The Phantom Of The Opera
LABEL: Real Useful 543 928
ARTIST: Madonna
TITLE: Buenos Aries
COMP: Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice
ALBUM: Evita
LABEL: Warner 246432
FEATURE ALBUM:
ARTIST: Boz Scaggs
TITLE: Lowdown
COMP: David Paich
ALBUM: Silk Degrees
LABEL: Not Stated
ARTIST: Boz Scaggs
TITLE: What Can I Say
COMP: Boz Scaggs David Paich
ALBUM: Silk Degrees
LABEL: Not Stated
ARTIST: Boz Scaggs
TITLE: Lido Shuffle
COMP: Boz Scaggs David Paich
ALBUM: Silk Degrees
LABEL: Not Stated
AFTER 3PM
ARTIST: Bedouin Soundclash
TITLE: When The Night Feels My Song
COMP: Bedouin Soundclash
ALBUM: Read About The Music Where it Really Matter
LABEL: NME 844459
ARTIST: Jefferson Starship
TITLE: Miracles
COMP: BMG 123247
ALBUM: Gold (hits)
LABEL: BMG 123247
PANEL HALF TIME:
ARTIST: Bedouin Soundclash
TITLE: When The Night Feels My Song
COMP: Bedouin Soundclash
ALBUM: Read About The Music Where it Really Matter
LABEL: NME 844459
ARTIST: Meghan Trainor
TITLE: Dear Future Husband
COMP: Meghan Trainor/Kevin Kadish
ALBUM: Title
LABEL: EPIC 501688
===4:06 PM. | The Panel===
=DESCRIPTION=
An hour of discussion featuring a range of panellists from right along the opinion spectrum (RNZ)
=AUDIO=
15:46
The Panel pre-show for 19 March 2015
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Your feedback, and a preview of the guests and topics on The Panel.
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Duration: 12'52"
16:06
The Panel with Ellen Read and Gordon McLauchlan (Part 1)
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Topics - what the Panelists Ellen Read and Gordon McLauchlan have been up to. The Independent Police Conduct Authority report finds deficiencies in the Police handling of the case. Feminist commentator Dr Deborah Russell joins the Paenl with her assessment of the report. A yin and yang economy with strong domestic demand pulling against a weaker export sector. What's going to give?
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Duration: 27'23"
16:07
Panel intro
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What the Panelists Ellen Read and Gordon McLauchlan have been up to.
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Duration: 4'59"
16:12
IPCA report on "Roastbusters"
BODY:
The Independent Police Conduct Authority report finds deficiencies in the Police handling of the case. Feminist commentator Dr Deborah Russell joins the Paenl with her assessment of the report.
Topics: crime
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: roast busters, Independent Police Conduct Authority report, IPCA Report
Duration: 4'59"
16:23
Two-speed economy
BODY:
A yin and yang economy with strong domestic demand pulling against a weaker export sector. What's going to give?
Topics: economy
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Tags:
Duration: 2'41"
16:26
Local body democracy
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Is a mixed-model of elected and appointed councillors the way to go? Or will it erode the will of the people? We ask the major of Ashburton District Angus McKay.
Topics: politics
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Tags: Angus McKay
Duration: 8'36"
16:36
The Panel with Ellen Read and Gordon McLauchlan (Part 2)
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Topics - what the Panelists Ellen Read and Gordon McLauchlan have been thinking about. Two contestants on the reality TV show The Bachelor have now been outed as having criminal convictions. Is it a deliberate ratings grab or shoddy production? Find out what TV critic Jane Bowron thinks. A pregnant woman was refused alcohol service when she was out for dinner. What do the Panelists think? The EDAP will ask young people about their drinking in the hope some of them will wake up and realise they may have a problem. Stuff says "Hundreds of dreams have been stolen by thieves nicking coins from the wishing well at Pukekura Park's fernery."
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Duration: 22'59"
16:37
Partner, husband, wife, lover, other half, significant other
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Partner, husabnd, wife, lover, other half, significant other. Are you ok with any of these terms?
Topics: life and society
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Duration: 7'13"
16:44
Panel says
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What the Panelists Ellen Read and Gordon McLauchlan have been thinking about.
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Duration: 5'15"
16:50
Arresting viewing
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Two contestants on the reality TV show The Bachelor have now been outed as having criminal convictions. Is it a deliberate ratings grab or shoddy production? Find out what TV critic Jane Bowron thinks.
Topics: media
Regions:
Tags: reality TV, The Bachelor
Duration: 4'17"
16:54
Pregnant woman refused wine
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A pregnant woman was refused alcohol service when she was out for dinner. What do the Panelists think?
Topics: law
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Tags: glass of wine, pregnant woman, Nichola Hayes
Duration: 2'21"
16:56
Emergency Department Alcohol Project
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The EDAP will ask young people about their drinking in the hope some of them will wake up and realise they may have a problem.
Topics: law, health
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Tags: drinking
Duration: 1'49"
16:58
Stolen wishes
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Stuff says "Hundreds of dreams have been stolen by thieves nicking coins from the wishing well at Pukekura Park's fernery."
Topics: crime
Regions:
Tags: nicking coins
Duration: 1'20"
=SHOW NOTES=
===5:00 PM. | Checkpoint===
=DESCRIPTION=
Radio New Zealand's two-hour news and current affairs programme
=AUDIO=
17:00
Checkpoint Top Stories for Thursday 19 March 2015
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Multiple failures by police investigatiing a teenage sex ring. Waitemata's District Commander admits to failings and stepping up the aid mission in Vanuatu.
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Duration: 18'17"
17:08
Multiple failings by police investigating teen sex ring
BODY:
The police watchdog has found the Waitemata's Child Protection Team failed to properly investigate a teenage sex ring in which girls as young as 13 were sexually violated.
Topics: crime
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: roast busters, IPCA Report
Duration: 2'59"
17:11
Waitemata's District Commander admits to failings
BODY:
Waitemata's District Commander Bill Searle says he accepts that the officers who investigated the girls complaints did not get it right.
Topics: crime
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: roast busters, IPCA Report
Duration: 6'18"
17:17
Defence opens in Prasad trial
BODY:
In the Auckland High Court a forensic scientist says Shalvin Prasad was most likely unconscious and lying down when he had petrol poured over his body and was set on fire.
Topics: crime
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: Shalvin Prasad, murder trial
Duration: 4'15"
17:26
NZ medical team figures out what to send to Vanuatu
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The Vanuatu government will start handing out aid to cyclone-ravaged villages tomorrow, amid criticism it's been sitting on its hands while supplies stock up in warehouses.
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Tags: Vanuatu, Cyclone Pam
Duration: 4'24"
17:35
Today's market update
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The New Zealand dollar has remained relatively steady after a sharp rise early this morning.
Topics: business, economy
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Tags: markets
Duration: 2'07"
17:38
Tourism spending boosts economic growth
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A jump in tourist spending has helped underpin economic growth.
Topics: economy
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Tags: tourist spending
Duration: 3'36"
17:41
Workers at Harvestpro told they're out of a job
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Workers in Northland at one of the country's biggest logging companies were told they were out of a job when they turned up to work on Tuesday morning and were left stranded in the forest.
Topics: business
Regions: Northland
Tags: Harvestpro
Duration: 3'38"
17:44
Lundys' relationship back under the microscope at murder trial
BODY:
A High Court jury has heard that Mark Lundy told a police officer he'd been a 'bit of a naughty boy' when he used a prostitute.
Topics: crime
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Tags: Mark Lundy
Duration: 2'27"
17:50
Hauraki iwi fears mining will pollute waterways
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A Hauraki iwi, Ngati Tamatera, fears its tribal waterways could become polluted because of mining work by a company running tests at Karangahake, south of Paeroa.
Topics: te ao Māori
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Tags:
Duration: 3'24"
17:53
Police Minister says officers' failings make for grim reading
BODY:
The Police Minister says today's report into the police's mishandling of their investigation into a teenage sex ring in Auckland makes for grim reading.
Topics: crime
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Tags: roast busters, IPCA Report
Duration: 3'22"
18:07
Sports News for 19 March 2015
BODY:
An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
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Duration: 3'13"
18:12
Multiple failings by police investigating teen sex ring
BODY:
The police watchdog has found the Waitemata's Child Protection Team failed to properly investigate a teenage sex ring in which girls as young as 13 were sexually violated
Topics: crime
Regions:
Tags: roast busters, IPCA Report
Duration: 2'29"
18:14
More from Police Commissioner Mike Bush
BODY:
Here's the Police Commissioner Mike Bush.
Topics: crime
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Tags: roast busters, IPCA Report
Duration: 4'02"
18:18
NZ to send military ship to Vanuatu
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The Navy ship Canterbury will head soon to cyclone-devastated Vanuatu.
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Tags: Vanuatu, Cyclone Pam
Duration: 2'34"
18:21
NZ and Vietnam agree to double trade.
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New Zealand and Vietnam have agreed to try to double trade between the two countries by 2020.
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Tags: Vietnam, trade
Duration: 4'15"
18:28
Labour accuses Shane Reti of lying
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Labour is accusing the Whangarei MP Shane Reti of having misled roading campaigners about taking their plea to Cabinet.
Topics: transport
Regions: Northland
Tags: dusty roads
Duration: 3'47"
18:37
Audit of child protection team after police failings
BODY:
The child protection team with Waitemata police is under scrutiny in case it's still making mistakes, following its multiple failings in the so called Roastbusters inquiry.
Topics: crime
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: child protection, roast busters, IPCA Report
Duration: 3'46"
18:40
Disability advocates call for review of services and funding
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Parents of children with disabilities say there needs to be a culture change within Government, and a review of how it supplies services and funding to families with disabled children.
Topics: disability
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Tags: funding, services
Duration: 4'07"
18:44
Australia running pop up hospital
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The aid mission in Vanuatu ramps up tomorrow with large quantities of supplies going into cyclone-ravaged villages, amid criticism it's been sitting in warehouses.
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Tags: Vanuatu, Cyclone Pam
Duration: 2'53"
18:46
MPI urges parents to remain vigilant for tampered tins
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The Ministry for Primary Industries is urging parents to remain vigilant in looking for infant formula tins that may have been tampered with in the wake of the 1080 poisoning threats
Topics: business
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Tags: ecoterrorism, 1080
Duration: 2'42"
18:50
Te Manu Korihi News for 19 March 2015
BODY:
A Hauraki iwi, Ngati Tamatera, fears its tribal waterways could become polluted because of mining work by a company running tests at Karangahake, south of Paeroa; The company, New Talisman Gold Mines, is making it clear no contaminates would end up in the water; East coast tribes and the Māori language community are mourning the death of a "fighter of Te Reo Māori"; The Government is introducing special leglislation for a joint venture between Riccarton Park Racecourse Trustees and Ngai Tahu Property to develop areas of land on the edge of the racecourse ready for around 600 new homes.
Topics: te ao Māori
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Duration: 3'30"
18:55
Today In Parliament for 19 March 2015 - evening edition
BODY:
Questions and urgent debate about IPCA report into Roastbusters. MFAT officials up before Foreign Affairs Committee.
Topics: politics
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Duration: 5'10"
=SHOW NOTES=
===7:06 PM. | Nights===
=DESCRIPTION=
Entertainment and information, including: 7:30 At the Movies with Simon Morris: Current film releases and film related topics (RNZ) 8:13 Windows on the World: International public radio features and documentaries 9:06 Our Changing World: Science and environment news from NZ and the world (RNZ)
=AUDIO=
19:12
Mathematics
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Making the numbers add up is Dr Dillon Mayhew from Victoria University's School of Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research - mathematics is different from other sciences.
Topics: science
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Tags: mathematics
Duration: 21'04"
20:41
Electronic Music
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The evolution of music made with devices powered by electricity and/or computers, with Paul Berrington aka DJ B-Lo. From Léon Theremin and Karlheinz Stockhausen's early experiments, through movements in industrial cities such as Chicago, Detroit and Sheffield, and up until the networked society of today, electronic music is always linked to technological change.
EXTENDED BODY:
The evolution of music made with devices powered by electricity and/or computers, with Paul Berrington aka DJ B.Lo. From Léon Theremin and Karlheinz Stockhausen's early experiments, through movements in industrial cities such as Chicago, Detroit and Sheffield, and up until the networked society of today, electronic music is always linked to technological change.
Follow B.Lo on Soundcloud.
These Hopeful Machines - more about the origins of electronic music.
Topics: music, history
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Tags: electronic music, Varese, stockhausen, Schaeffer.
Duration: 20'08"
20:59
Conundrum Clue 7.
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Listen in tomorrow night for the answer.
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Duration: 20"
21:59
Conundrum Clue 8.
BODY:
listen in tomorrow night for the answer.
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Duration: 22"
=SHOW NOTES=
7:10 Mathematics
Making the numbers add up is Dr Dillon Mayhew from Victoria University's School of Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research – mathematics is different from other sciences.
Image left: Dr Dillon Mayhew
7:30 At the Movies
=SHOW NOTES=
=AUDIO=
19:30
At The Movies for 19 March 2015
BODY:
Simon Morris looks at the latest sci-fi from South Africa's Neill Blomkamp, of District 9 fame. He also reviews a new film directed by actor Alan Rickman, A Little Chaos, and a brilliant little British film called Still Life.
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Duration: 23'45"
7:30 At the Movies
Films and movie business with Simon Morris.
8:10 Windows on the World
International public radio documentaries - visit the Windows on the World web page to find links to these documentaries.
8:40 Electronic Music
The evolution of music made with devices powered by electricity and/or computers, with Paul Berrington aka DJ B-Lo. From Léon Theremin and Karlheinz Stockhausen's early experiments, through movements in industrial cities such as Chicago, Detroit and Sheffield, and up until the networked society of today, electronic music is always linked to technological change.
B-Lo on Soundcloud.
9:06 Our Changing World
=SHOW NOTES=
Coming Up On Our Changing World on Thursday 26 March
We’re out at night on Mount Hobson on Great Barrier Island in search of one of our most threatened seabirds – the black petrel, and we’re also testing some tough gels and taking a night walk looking for glowing limpets.
=AUDIO=
21:06
Measuring Gravity With Atoms
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A gravimeter is an instrument that measures local gravity and Mikkel Andersen is developing one that uses atoms instead of springs or light
EXTENDED BODY:
by Ruth Beran
Cheap lasers such as those found in CD players and a thorough understanding of how atoms and light work could be a game changer when it comes to measuring gravity.
Precise measurements of gravity allow geoscientists to predict volcanic activity and measure the earth’s composition without drilling – but while current gravimeters use springs or light, University of Otago atomic physicist Mikkel Andersen says his revolutionary machine will use atoms.
“There is no atomic gravimeter on the market yet,” says Mikkel, although there are other research groups working on similar projects.
He has been working with his team on the project for more than four years now and it may be a few more before a commercial device is ready. Mikkel and his team have worked on other groundbreaking research which involved individually trapping atoms, you can listen to that story here.
Mikkel's gravimeter uses atom interferometry. Interferometry may be familiar from experiments using light.
When two waves overlap, and light is a wave, the waves interfere and cause dark and bright parallel lines.
“What works for light also works for atoms,” says Mikkel who is a researcher at the Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies. “According to quantum mechanics all things are waves at the fundamental limit. And so are atoms, that we usually consider as small balls.”
This means that atoms can be used, like light, to interfere with each other.
To make atoms interfere, they first have to be laser cooled. Then, using carefully designed laser pulses, the atoms are sent along different paths. Combining them again, the atoms interfere with each other causing an interference pattern similar to that seen when light waves interfere.
What results is a series of very, very narrow lines, similar to what you’d see on a ruler. If the cloud of atoms is allowed to fall under the force of gravity, the parallel lines in that cloud fall too. Working out how far the lines have fallen indicates how far the cloud of atoms has fallen, similar to watching a ruler being dropped vertically. A very accurate measurement of gravity can then be made by using a laser to measure how far the cloud drops in a given amount of time.
Moving the gravimeter to different locations and comparing the small differences in the drop of atoms allows measurements to be made of the variances in local gravity at these different locations.
Two important things enable this instrument to work. Firstly, the time it takes for the atoms to drop can be measured extremely accurately using atomic clocks. Secondly, it’s relatively easy now to make lasers which have an extremely accurate wavelength.
Mikkel and his team specifically use rubidium atoms because the lasers in CD players are close to the main resonance of rubidium.
“They’re very very cheap,” he says. “So we buy 100 for $3.”
The gravimeter at the University of Otago is currently spread over a large two metre long table, but the idea is to create a portable device measuring about 1 metre by 0.5 metre. To do so, the system will need a smaller vacuum chamber, and optical fibre to replace the field of optics which currently directs the laser.
The device will have a price tag of over $500,000 once commercialised and in terms of accuracy, Mikkel says the team is “hoping to at least parallel the accuracy of the best devices presently on the market.”
You can listen to a previous story on using a gravimeter in Antarctica here.
Topics: science, technology
Regions:
Tags: gravity, atoms, instrument, measurements
Duration: 12'46"
21:20
Waitaha Penguin Out, Yellow-Eyed Penguin In
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A new study shows that yellow-eyed penguins colonised New Zealand within just a few decades of the Waitaha penguin becoming extinct
EXTENDED BODY:
By Alison Ballance
A surprising tale of extinctions and arrivals has been unfolding over the last six-or-so years, and it is rewriting our understanding of the impact of early Māori on the New Zealand environment. The latest chapter reveals that as little as 20 years and certainly no more than 100 years may have passed between the time the Waitaha penguin went extinct and the yellow-eyed penguin arrived from the subantarctic and established itself on the mainland.
The researchers, including zoologists Jon Waters and Nic Rawlence, and archaeologist Ian Smith, all from the University of Otago, describe this as ‘one of the most rapid prehistoric faunal turnover events documented’, and it happened within 200 years of Māori settling New Zealand around 1280 AD.
This wasn’t a one-off event – it is paralleled in sea lions as well, with an extinct mainland species being replaced by a subantarctic species. In the case of the giant flightless moa, however, once the birds became extinct there were no populations of similar birds to recolonize.
What is remarkable about the new penguin study is not just the speed with which the extinction and recolonization happened, but that the extinction window coincides very neatly with two independent studies published last year, looking at the date of moa extinctions.
This research has only become possible recently, with the advent of techniques to analyse ancient DNA from midden remains. The recent penguin study also uses radiocarbon dating to accurately date penguin bones found in middens.
Excitingly, the team found two specific instances – at Long Beach near Dunedin, and at Old neck on Stewart Island, where the same site contains evidence that both species of penguin were eaten at different times.
“So we know Māori were occupying Long Beach in the early period, and they ate Waitaha penguin – that’s in layer 4,” says Nic. “There’s a sterile sand layer, layer 3, and then they’re back in the middle-late period, layer 2, and they’re eating yellow-eyed penguin. So we’ve got site specific turnover, not just regional turnover.”
Archaeologist Ian Smith is excited by the possible implications of the findings.
“On the one hand there’s a kind of inevitability about the consequences of harvesting these large animals that have never been subject to human pressure before. And a very large number of those animals … become extinct.”
But Ian says he wonders whether the fact that the second penguin species didn’t become extinct reflects a change in attitude by Māori.
“When a bird comes back from extinction, as would appear to be the case here, there’s an opportunity to interact with it in a different way and perhaps to not harvest it quite so intensely,” says Ian. “And perhaps what we see here is the emergence of a Māori conservation ethic.”
Research on extinctions and arrivals amongst New Zealand marine species began in 2008 when PhD student Sanne Boessenkool identified Waitaha penguin as a new extinct species.
Subsequent work by PhD student Catherine Collins identified a new extinct species of sealion that disappeared about the same time as the Waitaha penguin.
Both studies drew on an extensive fossil collection which has also allowed Ian Smith to quantify how many fish, shellfish, seabirds and marine mammals were eaten by early Māori, as part of the Taking Stock project.
In 2014 Veronika Meduna spoke with Nic Rawlence and Te Papa’s Alan Tennyson about sister ancient DNA research that identified the flightless elephant bird from Madagascar as the kiwi’s closest relative.
The paper 'Radiocarbon-dating and ancient DNA reveal rapid replacement of extinct prehistoric penguins' was published in Quaternary Science Reviews.
Topics: science
Regions:
Tags: native birds, penguins, extinction, marine ecosystems
Duration: 18'08"
21:34
Spider Chatter on the Web
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Massey University zoologist Anne Wignall explains how web-building spiders use vibrations to communicate and to make sense of their world.
EXTENDED BODY:
By Veronika Meduna Veronika.Meduna@radionz.co.nz
‘Webs are an extension of their sensory system. They can tell all sorts of things about their world from the vibrations in their web.' _Anne Wignall
Spider courtship can be a deadly affair. As the smaller male enters the female’s web, he risks being mistaken for prey and eaten on the spot. Somehow, he has to convince her to delay her usual predatory response.
Unlike jumping spiders, whose vision is extraordinary, web-building spiders don’t see all that well. Instead, they rely on vibrations to make sense of their world and to communicate.
Anne Wignall, an evolutionary biologist at Massey University, has tuned into the courtship chatter of male Argiope spiders and found that they produce a vibratory shudder, perhaps the equivalent of a cautious knock on the door, as they enter the web of the object of their desires. The larger and usually aggressive female stops and listens out for more.
'We can pretty safely say that their main sense is vibration. All web-building spiders tend to have quite poor vision and they hang out in webs most of their time. Silk is a really excellent substrate for transmitting vibrations. Vibrations are physical movements of a substrate and it just passes easily through the web.'
Female spiders “read” the vibrations through slit sensors on their exoskeleton, mostly on their legs, and sensory hairs across their body. Their detection of minute oscillations is so accurate that they can even tell the weather.
“They can tell how windy it is because wind will produce this low-frequency noise in the web. They can detect prey struggling in the web, often how big the prey is or what type it might be, and they can listen to the courtship songs of males as they go into the web."
To decipher the spider talk, Ann uses a machine called a laser vibrometer, which sends out a laser beam that is reflected off a thread of silk. As the silk vibrates, the laser light changes and this signal is then converted into a sound file that she can listen to.
A fly hitting a web sounds like a massive impact – a loud high-amplitude bang. “Once the spiders detect that in the web you often see them tense up and become really alert. They are listening for more information.”
The initial impact is like a signal, she says, while the later vibrations once the insect is caught give the spider more information about where in the web it was caught and how big it is. Unlike the messy, noisy vibrations of struggling prey, spider courtship signals are very deliberate and rhythmic movements. To a female spider, these repeated shudder vibrations deliver an instant message to say “don’t attack me, I’m not food, just wait for more information”.
Some predators use this finely tuned signalling to their advantage. There are some spiders and even one insect, the assassin bug, that have learned to pluck the silk to generate vibrations that mimic the small and tired movements of prey. Once the female pounces, expecting a meal, she becomes prey instead.
Anne Wignall says she now wants to hone in on particular aspects of the information the females are listening to, such as the males’ mating thread dance. “If things are going well, he’ll cut out a section of the female’s web, using his mouth to cut the silk threads, and he’ll build a single thread across that gap, called a mating thread. He’ll then hang upside from it and begin plucking it with his legs.”
To explore the finer details of vibration-based courtship communication, she uses an electromagnetic shaker – an instrument otherwise used by engineers to test bridges – to play back signals to females at different frequencies and amplitude, in the hope of deciphering the best pick-up lines.
Spider webs are thought to have evolved once insects started to fly. “But once spiders started building webs, the males had the pressure on them to go into the females’ predatory trap, which is a dangerous place to be. That affected how they communicate with the females … to identify themselves without being attacked.”
Experiments show that if you play back courtship vibrations of the wrong species of male into a female’s web, she will still respond appropriately and delay her predatory response.
'That’s quite amazing in terms of courtship signals because often we think of courtship as being this great division between species because it makes sure that you don’t end up mating with the wrong species. So this is interesting in terms of the evolution of communication in spiders.'
Topics: science
Regions:
Tags: spiders, spider web, vibrations, communication, evolution
Duration: 15'58"
21:46
The Dark Side of Being An Urban Parrot - Kaka and Lead
BODY:
The kaka from Zealandia Sanctuary are an urban success story, but they are developing lead poisoning, probably from chewing roofing nails and old lead paint.
EXTENDED BODY:
By Alison Ballance
Following the successful introduction of kaka to Zealandia Sanctuary in 2002, Wellington city is now home to hundreds of these curious forest parrots. Unfortunately their inquisitive nature around houses has seen quite a few sick birds admitted to the Wellington Zoo hospital, The Nest, with quite high levels of lead in their blood. The source is probably lead roofing nails, lead flashing on roofs and lead paint on old houses, and the problem arises because lead tastes sweet, and being parrots, kaka are inquisitive by nature and keen on chewing things.
Massey University and Wildbase Hospital wildlife vet student Aditi Sriram is keen to find out when kaka start being exposed to lead, and she suspects it might begin before the chick even hatches.
“Lead would affect chicks much more adversely [than adults] if they were exposed at a young age,” says Aditi. “So we’re trying to work out how chicks get exposed. Is it from their parents feeding them? Or is it vertically transmitted through the egg – the mum deposits lead in the egg shell which is then absorbed by the chick.”
Zealandia volunteers have collected egg shells from Aditi’s study nests, and these are being tested to see if they contained lead. Aditi has then tested the chicks twice, at the age of 15-20 days and again at 45-50 days, to see if the amount of lead in their blood is increasing over time, which would indicate they are being fed food that contains some lead. At the same time she carried out a number of trials to measure their body condition (their size and weight for their age) and test their muscular strength, balance and co-ordination, to see how this related to their lead levels, as there is evidence that chicks exposed to high levels of lead at an early age may be smaller or developmentally impaired.
Although she hasn’t done much analysis yet Aditi reports that chicks from all but four of her study nests had various levels of lead in their blood.
“We found what we consider to be higher lead levels than normal,” she says, “But as yet we haven’t seen any obvious clinical symptons.”
She has also collected feathers, as there is some evidence that birds get rid of toxins from their body into products such as feathers and egg shell.
The next step of the study will be to test the lead levels of healthy adults in the wild, to compare the amount of lead they carry to the sick birds coming into the zoo. Aditi says we do not yet know how much lead a bird can tolerate before it becomes toxic.
Kaka are not the only New Zealand native bird to have issues with lead. The kea, a close relative of the kaka, also suffers from lead poisoning, and some work has also been done measuring lead levels in takahe.
In humans, lead interferes with the development of the nervous system. It is very toxic to children, causing potentially permanent learning and behaviour disorders.
In this Our Changing World story, Alison Ballance finds out about the damage that kaka are causing to trees in Wellington parks and gardens.
Video: Kaka chick co-ordination test
Wildlife vet Aditi Sriram checks the motor co-ordination of a young kaka chick with a ‘righting test” – putting the kaka chick into an unnatural position on its back, and timing to see how quickly it rights itself (in this case, very speedily!)
Listen to the story about lead poisoning in urban kaka below:
Topics: environment, science
Regions:
Tags: native birds, kaka, veterinary science, lead toxicity, poison, Zealandia sanctuary
Duration: 14'07"
21:55
Scott Base Beginnings
BODY:
This programme marks the 50th anniversary of Scott Base, New Zealand's science station in Antarctica.
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This week, the Antarctic Heritage Trust has launched its conservation plan for Hillary's Hut,or Hut A, which was the first building to be erected as part of the construction of Scott Base, New Zealand's scientific station in Antarctica.
Hillary's Hut is the only remaining original building from the time when New Zealand decided to build an Antarctic base to support its involvement in the Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1955-58 and the International Geophysical Year 1957-58. It is designated as a historic monument under the Antarctic Treaty in recognition of its importance in the history of exploration and science in Antarctica.
Click on the audio below to listen to Sir Peter Gluckman, the Prime Minister's chief science advisor, as he sits down in Hillary's Hut to tell Alison Ballance about his connections with Sir Edmund Hillary, whose work in Nepal inspired Sir Peter's early scientific career.
And below, you can listen to Veronika Meduna's documentary about Sir Ed's part in the Trans-Antarctic Expedition, which was the first crossing of the Antarctic continent. The New Zealand team, led by Sir Ed, was to support British explorer Sir Vivian Fuchs by establishing food and fuel depots along the route from the South Pole to Ross Island. Famously, Sir Ed used modified Massey Ferguson tractors to make "a dash for the pole". He and his team (Peter Mulgrew, Jim Bates and Murray Ellis) were the first to reach the South Pole overland since Robert Falcon Scott’s final journey of 1911–12.
This documentary was produced in 2007 to mark the 50th anniversary of Scott Base.
Topics: history, science
Regions:
Tags: Antarctica, Scott Base, Commonwealth Transantarctic Expedition, International Geophysical Year
Duration: 29'20"
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