The Wire with Manny

Ilena spoke to Professor Bruce Robertson, from the Zoology department at the University of Otago, about the first ever study to genomically sequence kākāpō. The study was conducted with researchers from Sweden and New Zealand. Researchers looked at how the inbreeding of kākāpō on the small Stewart Island has, over a long time, been surprisingly positive in reducing harmful mutations. Bruce talks about what these findings mean for continuing efforts to sustain the population of the severely endangered kākāpō. 

In this final piece investigating Climate Change in New Zealand, Conor looks beyond Earth into space - to New Zealand's MethaneSAT space mission. He speaks to two familar voices, NIWA's Dr. Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher and the University of Auckland's Professor David Noone about the topic, going into detail about what the mission is and it's overall goals. They also speak about international connections and putting New Zealand on the world stage, scientifically.

For the first piece with Dr. Mikaloff-Fletcher, click here.

For the second piece with Professor David Noone, click here.

Neighbourhood Watch reports on the Covid-19 outbreak in the community of Wilcannia in rural NSW, potential vaccine passports for international travel, and the NSW government's plan to reopen the economy.

This week on the Wednesday Wire we had a packed show, beginnning with Zazi's her regular talk with ACT Party’s Brooke van Velden. This week they talked about the leader of the ACT Party, David Seymour, tweeting out a priority vaccine code for Māori on Monday. Zazi then spoke with Green Party’s Dr. Elizabeth Kerekere to get her perspective on David Seymour’s tweet as well. Next up, Frances talked to Professor Jaqueline Beggs of the University of Auckland about the kererū and native birds in our backyards. Zazi then spoke with Trustee and spokesperson for the Autistic Collaboration Trust, Yawn Bettin, about a submission made to the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill on behalf of the Autistic community. Finally, Frances had her regular segment Dear Science with AUT Professor Marcus Jones. This week they talked about the US COVID origins report, arctic warming linking to cold winters, and about NASA confirming the Mars rover collected its first rock sample.