Extinct Dolphin Had Tusks Fish Wise to Avoid
The waters off New Zealand 25 million years ago were home to early baleen whales, megatooth sharks and human-size penguins. Now researchers are adding a bizarre dolphin to the mix that may have used…
Tag Archives: University of Otago
Antipodes’ Penguins Lay Eggs Doomed to Die
In 1998, a team of researchers made the three-and-a-half day trek to the isolated Antipodes Islands in the South Pacific to study one of its few residents: the enigmatic and endangered erect-crested penguin. “These…
Otago Scientists Explain Loch Ness Mystery
The most famous photo of the Loch Ness monster has long been discredited as a hoax, but University of Otago scientists have come up with a new explanation for other sightings of the elusive…
Why Some of Our Famous Flightless Birds Can’t Fly
University of Otago researchers in association with colleagues from Harvard University have discovered new evidence of what made some of New Zealand’s iconic birds such as the kiwi and extinct moa flightless. Dr Paul…
Extinct Penguins Wiped out by Hungry Humans
The discovery of two extinct penguin subspecies in New Zealand is a cautionary tale of the threats faced by the waddling birds in the wild. Veronique Greenwood reports for The New York Times. For thousands…
NZ Study Confirms Environmental Benefits of Building Cycleways
“A new study by researchers from the University of Otago, Wellington and Victoria University has confirmed that building cycleways benefits the planet because swapping four wheels for two leads to a reduction in carbon…
NZ Researchers Argue James Bond Has Drinking Problem
Researchers from New Zealand’s University of Otago and the UK’s University of Oxford “have published a study in the Medical Journal of Australia’s Christmas issue which they say proves that Ian Fleming’s fictional character…
Fiordland Penguins Make Mammoth Migrations
Every December, the Fiordland crested penguins, Eudyptes pachyrhynchus, which live on the South Island, disappear, Jason Daley reports for the Smithsonian journal. A new satellite study shows the penguins migrate up to 7000km to…
Prehistoric Toothless Whale Among Oldest of Its Kind
A fossil found in South Canterbury is now one of the earliest members of the filter-feeding family of behemoths known as baleen whales. Modern baleen whales include many of the world’s largest cetaceans, such…
Sperm Race Helping Save Sugar-Lapping Hihi
“It’s likely you’ve never heard of a hihi, let alone seen one in the wild. Also known as stitchbirds, these colourful little critters are a true taonga. They’re only found in New Zealand, and…
Misfiled Piece of Brontë Brother’s Work Found in NZ
The first Brontë manuscript identified in New Zealand has been restored to its place in literary history thanks to university researchers. The fragment of Branwell Brontë’s work was misfiled as a letter in the…
Creative Activities Can Boost Well-Being
“Everyday creative activities like writing poetry or making new recipes can boost well-being as well as creativity in young adults” according to a study conducted by New Zealand’s University of Otago, reports…
Rare Whales Seen off Dunedin Coast
For the first time in New Zealand waters an extremely rare grouping of Shepherd’s Beaked Whales, one of the least known cetaceans in the world, has been spotted from a University of Otago research…
New Zealand Fur Seal Population Increasing
The New Zealand fur seal population seems to be recovering after being pushed to the brink of extinction, according to a recent NZ government report. “I went to Kaikoura in 1984 and all I saw…
Researchers Identify New Fossil Whale Species of New Zealand
Researchers from the University of Otago have identified three new whale species that once lived in New Zealand. The “researchers’ discovery and description of the Tokarahia kauaeroa and Tokarahia lophocephalus whales helps to fill in an important gap…
University of Otago Study Discovers Way to Boost Generation Reliability from New Zealand Wind Farms
A recent study conducted by the Department of Geography, University of Otago, has proposed a way to boost generation reliability from New Zealand wind farms. After analysing New Zealand’s wind circulation patterns speed data from…
Fjords Crucial to Carbon Burial
An Otago University study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, has found fjords could play a very important role as a driver of atmospheric CO2 levels at times when ice sheets are…
Research Looks at Preventing Genetically Inherited Cancers
Deadly stomach and breast cancers that are genetically inherited could be treated or even prevented with existing drugs identified by Otago University cancer researchers. The researchers said their research showed that the key genetic mutation…
New Zealand Scientists Discover Ancient Toothless Whale
Scientists from the University of Otago have discovered two previously unknown ancient whale species, rewriting the history of marine mammals in the Southern Hemisphere. The 25 million year old whales, dubbed Tohoraata raekohao and Tohoraata waitakiensis, translating…
Alpine Fault Hole Revealing Secrets of Earth’s Crust
An international team of scientists drilling a 1.3-km deep hole into the Alpine Fault in the South Island say they are already gaining valuable insights into the earth’s crust less than a quarter of…
New Zealand Fault Hole Revealing Secrets of Earth’s Crust
Scientists drilling a 1.3-km deep hole into the Alpine Fault in New Zealand’s South Island say they are already gaining valuable insights into the Earth’s crust less than a quarter of the way down. The…
Dunedin Researcher Andrew Highton Wins Oxford Scholarship
University of Otago PhD researcher, Andrew Highton, 25, has won a Nuffield postdoctoral fellowship to Oxford University, where he will continue his immunology research. Highton was “really excited” to gain the fellowship, which provides $83,700…
Jonathan Conway Takes Snow Study High into Canadian Rockies
New Zealand scientist Jonathan Conway, who holds a PhD in glaciology and climatology from the University of Otago, is in the Canadian Rockies on a two-year posting at the University of Saskatchewan’s Centre for…
Toxicologist Claims Alexander the Great Died from Poisoned Wine
National Poisons Centre toxicologist Dr Leo Schep may have unravelled the mystery surrounding the death of Greek king Alexander the Great, who died at 32 in 323BC. Schep thinks the culprit could be poisonous wine…
London Investment Bank Chief has Never Lost Ties to NZ
Investment bank chief executive New Zealander Kent Gardner, who runs London-based Evans Randall, has been living in the United Kingdom for more than a decade and says he never lost ties to…
Vogue Spies Twenty Seven Names
Street fashion blogger and Vogue Australia style blog contributor, Xssat, took a visit to Wellington-based label twenty seven names, to take a look at the brands 2014 autumn/winter collection and to find out a…
Cold, Hard Cash Works Better than Welfare
Giving money directly to the poor is one of the best ways to raise education levels and lift people out of poverty, a study by the University of Otago shows. Development economist Dr Sarah…
Deciphering Clues from Ancient Bones in Cambodia
For the past seven years, New Zealand archaeologist Dr Nancy Beavan has been unravelling the mystery of a graveyard in Cambodia dating back to the Angkor era. At Phnom Pel, more than 100 burial…
Kids TV and Crime Linked
Otago University Professor Bob Hancox has found that the risk of having a criminal conviction in adulthood increases with every hour that children spend watching TV. The New Zealand study followed a group of…
Bond Gets Nastier
Researchers from the University of Otago have analysed 22 James Bond films and discovered that violent acts in the films have more than doubled since Dr No in 1962. In the first 007 film,…
Unexpected Genetic Diversity
Genome sequencing of the first-known four New Zealanders has revealed surprising genetic diversity, according to new research by the University of Otago. The complete mitochondrial genomes of the individuals – found buried at Wairau…
Rethinking Early Education
An analysis of pupils in New Zealand has found that pupils kept out of formal schooling until the age of seven perform just as well as those subjected to normal lessons at five. Academics…
Cambodian Mountain Discovery
Two researchers from Otago University’s anatomy department are using radiocarbon dating technology to unravel the mysteries of a lost culture that once inhabited the Cardamom Mountains in Cambodia. The researchers have dated samples of…
Radical Award For Professor
Christchurch biochemist Professor Christine Winterbourn has become the first woman to receive New Zealand’s top science award in its 20-year history, the Rutherford Medal. Winterbourn, Otago University pathology department’s director of the Free Radical…
Expert Slams Shakespeare Film
Otago University expert on the works of English playwright William Shakespeare Professor Evelyn Tribble has criticised the film Anonymous — which questions the bard’s authorship of his attributed plays — calling it Hollywood “libel.” Tribble said…
Fear the Spud No More
Researchers at Otago University have found that potatoes may not be the fat-gain ogres that many dieticians claim and that when you eat these carbohydrates as part of a meal of meat and vegetables…
Raiding the Global Pantry
Martha Jeffries, producer/director of New Zealand-made food and travel series World Kitchen is a self-confessed foodie with wanderlust, who had a “very Hutt upbringing”, growing up in Pinehaven and attending Sacred Heart…
Revolutionary Gel
University of Otago scientists have developed a ground-breaking gel for healing wounds after sinus injury derived from a polymer named chitosan extracted from crab-shell and squid. According to researchers, the new gel has the…
Anti-cancer Effects
Otago University scientists have found that children who regularly drink milk are up to 40 per cent less likely to suffer from bowel cancer. The researchers found that drinking nearly 250ml of milk daily…
Ginseng dilemma solved
Otago University senior chemistry lecturer Dr Barrie Peake has come up with a way to prove that Wisconsin’s ginseng really does comes from Wisconsin, putting an end to fraud in places like China, where…
Proof in the pudding
The pavlova is a New Zealand-invented dessert, and the proof is in the dictionary entry. An argument dating back generations between Australia and New Zealand over which of them invented the pavlova appears to…
Humanitarian career
Wellington doctor Adrick Baker, 69, has devoted a large part of his career to serving thousands of poor villagers for free in northeastern Bangladesh, opening a free health centre in Kailakuri, which has since…
Citrus solutions
The University of Otago’s Free Radical Research Group claim vitamin C can help curb the growth of cancer cells. “Our results offer a promising and simple intervention to help in our fight against cancer…
Do the Dracula
Otago University researchers from the Wellington campus conducted a trial in the capital at the tail end of the swine flu pandemic last August which has found that the majority of people still don’t…
Moa Eggshells Tell All
Scientists in New Zealand and Australia have extracted the DNA from the fossil eggshells of 3000-year-old moa. It is the first time that scientists have succeeded in extracting ancient DNA from the fossilised eggshells…
Referendum in Sight
New Zealand is due to hold an election referendum in 2011 to enable the population to decide between using AV or the current ‘first-past-the-post’ system. Ken Ritchie, the chief executive of Britain’s Electoral Reform…
Marriage Good for You
University of Otago clinical psychologist Kate Scott led a study of the effects of marriage on 34,493 people across 15 countries finding that it really is good for you and reduces the risks of…
Living with Fur
New Zealand researchers, including Professor Malcolm Sear of the University of Otago, have found those who lived with dogs and cats for significant periods of time were less likely to develop allergies, compared with…
All in this Together
The Age of Stupid producer Auckland-born Lizzie Gillett, 31, spent five years working on the climate change drama-documentary with McLibel director Briton Franny Armstrong “working through obstacles as they come up: from difficult…
Without Distraction
A long-term University of Otago study comparing the achievements of 900 boys and girls attending both single-sex and co-educational secondary schools has shown that boys perform better when attending single-sex schools. “These findings are consistent with the…
Spreading the word
New Zealand is the most peaceful country in the world and Americans might want to consider moving here suggests The Washington Post. According to the 2009 Global Peace Index released by an Australian-based research…
Influenza Expert
New Zealand virologist Richard Webby has provided an expert perspective on the swine flu outbreak. Now based in Memphis at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Webby is the head of a WHO Collaborating Centre…
Moa Meals Uncovered
University of Otago postgraduate Jamie Wood collects moa dung, or coprolites, which he finds on tip-offs from hunters who report findings of moa bones. Alan Cooper of the University of Adelaide, who specialises in…
Whisked Debate
Helen Leach, an academic at Otago University, is hoping to settle the origins of the pavlova with recipes found in a 1933 Mothers’ Union cookbook and in a 1929 rural magazine, both calling the…
Distractions of Youth
Otago University intelligence researcher professor James Flynn is the author of a study published online by the journal Economics and Human Biology which looks at how British teenagers’ cognitive skills have changed over a…
Pre-Human New Zealand
Paleontology researchers from the University of Adelaide, University of Otago, and the NZDEC have begun to paint a picture of ancient life on the New Zealand islands by investigating the feces of the giant…
