Laurie Winkless

Science: Bedtime procrastination, 'splash-free' urinal

Science commentator Laurie Winkless joins Kathryn with three quirky recent studies: procrastinating before bedtime might be bad for you, the tiny jelly-fish relative that jets through water and physicists have designed a 'splash-free' urinal. Laurie…

Understanding how polyolefins biodegrade

Researchers investigate commonplace polymers with an eye to the microplastics crisis Polyolefins are the most common class of polymers produced globally. Used mainly for single-use applications like food containers and disposable utensils,…

Carbon dots enable real-time, non-invasive renal imaging

Monitoring kidney function might get less invasive Our kidneys perform a lot of functions. Alongside their main job of removing waste from blood and transforming it into urine, they control the production of red blood cells, make hormones and…

Mapping the temperature of heated nanotubes

Plasmon spectroscopy answers key questions for future electronics The outstanding electrical, thermal, chemical and mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have seen them used – and proposed for use – in a wide range of applications. Their…

Science: Ocean warming, heavy metal planets, VR wine

Science correspondent Laurie Winkless joins Kathryn to talk about new research into how fast are oceans are warming - and the impact it might have. She'll look at the discovery of a heavy metal in the atmosphere of two, ultra-hot gas giants and how…

The ‘15-Minute City’: What They Are And How To Build Them

Focusing on making amenities more accessible to city dwellers comes with a host of benefits If you’re an urbanite, how long does it take you to get to a supermarket? What about a public park, pharmacist, or primary school? For proponents of the…

Hybrid harvester captures energy from sunlight and raindrops

Could solar windows harvest energy from the rain? In recent years, renewables have gone from playing a relatively minor role in the world’s energy landscape, to a central one. Thanks to growing economies of scale, solar, wind and hydroelectric…

Science: Pesticides and bee brains, low-gravity droplets

Science commentator Laurie Winkless joins Kathryn to look at how commonly-used pesticides can impair honeybees' ability to navigate. Researchers gave wild-caught honeybees sugar - while others got pesticide-contaminated sugar and then made them walk…

Understanding how biocomposites degrade in sunlight

Choosing the right natural fibre can have a big impact Bio-based composite materials have been used since time immemorial – at various points in history, homes, infrastructure and tools have all been constructed from clays and stones combined with…

Colorful films stretch back to the 19th century

Imagine stretching a piece of film to reveal a hidden message. Or checking an arm band’s color to gauge muscle mass. Or sporting a swimsuit that changes hue as you do laps. Such chameleon-like, color-shifting materials could now be on the horizon,…

Crumbling Away: How Climate Change Could Accelerate Corrosion

Critical pieces of infrastructure may fail sooner in the coming decades, warns study ivil infrastructure is increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The floods of 2021 saw cities including London, Zhengzhou, and New York temporarily…

Science: Air pollution + poor health

Science correspondent Laurie Winkless joins Kathryn to talk about a new study which has looked at the effects of air pollution on the health of New Zealanders and calculated the 'social cost' of human-made air pollution at $15.6 billion per year.…

Monitoring greenhouse gases using graphene

Photoelectric detector could be a low-cost route to detecting atmospheric pollutants “Climate change is widespread, rapid, and intensifying”, wrote the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in August 2021. The only way to limit its impact…

Paper-based graphene biosensor for urine testing

Your next medical test could be biodegradable Throughout history, paper has been used in a wide variety of applications – it’s the perfect substrate for paints and inks, a key ingredient in construction materials, and the basis of many products used…

We Are Not Doing Enough To Make Our Cities Healthier

International team of scientists urge action at all levels of society Last year, I interviewed Distinguished Professor Billie Giles-Corti, Director of the Healthy Liveable Cities Lab, for a piece on walkability. During our conversation, she mentioned…

Large-scale friction bearing inspires novel nanogenerator design

Tribologists boost power output by keeping friction low Friction and triboelectricity may seem inseparable – after all, the triboelectric effect can also be described as contact electrification, i.e. “the transfer of electronic charge between two…

Harvesting electricity from seawater can be sweet

Sugarcane-based generator could power electronic devices For more than a century, generating electricity was an inherently polluting exercise, involving the burning of coal and gas to heat water, which in turn, powers steam turbines. In more recent…

Biodegradable electronic devices for wildlife conservation and lifestock management thanks to clever proteins

News MBIE funds research into a new generation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. In 2019, the world’s mountain of electronic waste, or e-waste, reached its peak-to-date: 53.6 million metric tons, equivalent to the mass of 150 Empire…

Producing technology-critical materials for a low-emission future

News MacDiarmid Institute scientists try to tip the carbon balance in NZ’s favour. Across the world, numerous countries have developed lists of ‘critical minerals’ – materials that are of strategic importance to that economy, because of how and where…

Rethinking Our Cities To Tackle Climate Change

We are living in a climate crisis, and the time for action is now. That was the rather sobering headline that accompanied the publication of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Written by 278 experts,…