Some insects communicate using a secret language that we can’t sense – a language of vibrations. Now researchers at the Bioeconomy Science Institute are starting to decode what insects are saying to each other. They hope to harness this knowledge to develop new, chemical-free methods of pest control to help farmers and growers.

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Learn more:

• Insects can also be recruited to help. For example, insects can be released into New Zealand for biocontrol in the effort to combat invasive weeds.
• While we often talk about the impact of invasive mammals on New Zealand’s bird life, they are also a problem for native insects too.
• We’ve got some invasive pest spiders here too, but researchers are trying to figure out if they can trap them by developing a special spider perfume.

Guests:

• Dr Mark MacDougall, Bioeconomy Science Institute
• Dr Lloyd Stringer, Bioeconomy Science Institute
• Pete Mundy, Castle Rock Orchards
• Dr Rachael Horner, Bioeconomy Science Institute
• Dr Bethan Shaw, Bioeconomy Science Institute

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

When do humans begin to interact with the world, and develop our sense of self? When we are born? Or might it start even earlier than that? Our visual systems are a key way that we perceive the world. New findings from the University of Waikato have shown that light can enter the womb and that we might already be learning about the world before we arrive in it.

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Learn more:

• Listen to Our musical minds to learn why, to psychologists, humans’ musical ability is just weird.
• Like our sense of vision, our ability to hear also involves physical inputs from the world around us combined with the processing and prior knowledge of our brains. But sometimes things can go a bit awry, such as happens for those with tinnitus.
• Our visual system is evolved for daylight, but what about those creatures that live in the deep darkness, such as squid.
• Professor Vincent Reid’s early research in this area was covered by RNZ podcast ‘This Way Up’ in 2017.
• Hear more from William Ray in the award-winning Black Sheep podcast series, or in a recent Our Changing World episode about the Flowers of the Underworld.

Guests:

• Professor Vincent Reid, University of Waikato
• Associate Professor Jacob Heerikhuisen, University of Waikato
• William Ray, Janella Espinas, James Espinas Ray

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

A Southland company is growing red seaweed as a supplement that’s been shown to significantly reduce methane emissions in beef and dairy cattle. In our last summer science series episode, Cosmo Kentish-Barnes of the Country Life team heads to Bluff to learn more.

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Learn more:

• You can read Cosmo Kentish-Barnes' story about this topic, Red seaweed cuts methane emissions from cattle, scientists say.
• Cosmo signed off from the Country Life team earlier this year, after 17 years as the show's South Island producer. You can listen to his final episode.
• There are also pāua and whitebait farms operating out of the Ocean Beach Aquaculture Hub in Bluff. Kate Evans visited both ventures in a 2024 episode of Voice of Tangaroa, Fish out of water.

Guest:

• Brent Jackson, production scientist

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Why do we spend more than we need to? Is it mood, FOMO, the desire to impress? Or maybe some tricky behavioural triggers we're not even aware of? Our summer science series continues with an episode of the RNZ podcast Thrift, in which Katy Gosset gets to the heart of the matter with a consumer behaviourist, and shares some tips to stop us spending.

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Learn more:

• You can read about the psychology of spending in RNZ's story: Why do we spend more than we need to?
• Thrift is an upbeat podcast that offers wise ways to beat the cost of living crisis and get the best from your money. Listen to more episodes of Thrift.

Guest:

• Ekant Veer, consumer behaviourist

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

We’d all like to know how to live long healthy lives, and Kim Hill is no different. In this episode of Kim Hill Wants To Know, she talks to geneticist Dame Linda Partridge about the scientific breakthroughs that could mean the end to aging as we know it.

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Learn more:

• In 2023, Our Changing World spoke to researchers about what happens to our muscles as we grow and age.
• Kim Hill Wants To Know sees Kim back asking questions in her inimitable style. She has conversations with guests from around the world about topics that spark her interest and will do the same for you. Listen to more episodes of Kim Hill Wants To Know.

Guest:

• Dame Linda Partridge, geneticist

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

We all love a good crunchy apple – but how do they stay like that for months after being picked? The Our Changing World summer science series continues with an episode of Here Now. Kadambari Raghukumar travels to Hawke's Bay to find out from South African-born scientist Nicolette Neiman. For plant physiologists like Nicolette, the thrill is in finding ways to make that possible – delivering a crunchy fruit fix to the world almost any time of the year.

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Learn more:

• Read Kadambari Raghukumar's article, How do New Zealand apples stay crisp from tree to table?
• Here Now is an RNZ podcast about the journeys people make to New Zealand, their identities and perspectives, all of which shape their life here. Listen to more episodes of Here Now.

Guest

• Nicolette Neiman, plant physiologist

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

This week on the summer science series we play an episode of Country Life called Dollars for Nature. Can biodiversity credits fix New Zealand's conservation woes? In June, the government announced they were supporting the expansion of a voluntary credits nature market through pilot projects across New Zealand. Sally Round found out more.

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Learn more:

• You can read more about biodiversity credits in Sally Round's story, Dollars for nature - can biodiversity credits fix NZ's conservation woes?
• Earlier this year Our Changing World visited the Eastern Whio Link conservation project, which set up its own biodiversity credits scheme - you can listen to that episode here.
• Country Life is an RNZ podcast that takes you all over the motu to hear the extraordinary stories of everyday rural New Zealand. Listen to more Country Life episodes.

Guests:

• Sean Weaver, chief executive at business consultancy Ekos
• Hayden Johnston, general manager for the natural environment at the Ministry for the Environment

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Nobody knows how many feral cats roam New Zealand, but estimates are in the millions and they’re a major threat to our native species. They've infiltrated almost every landscape, from coasts, to farms, to National Parks like Fiordland. Plus they’re wily and trap-shy, making them a tricky predator to tackle. RNZ's In-Depth reporter Farah Hancock speaks to some people on the front lines of the battle against feral cats.

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In this episode:

00:00 – 00:59 Introduction to bonus episode
01:00 – 03:24 Background to feral cat problem

03:40 – 10:30 Playing ‘poos clues’ & trapping cats with hunter Victor Tinsdale

10:40 – 15:00 Daniel Cocker on how cats are threatening the dotterels on Rakiura

15:20 - 16:20 Farah explains how secondary poisoning works

16:30 – 19:42 Objections to 1080 use on Rakiura, and efforts to address these

20:18 – 24:08 Brad Windust with cat poo smelling dog Wero

24:09 – 24:44 Credits

Learn more:

• Read the series of articles and see photos on the RNZ Feral webpage.
• In 2023 OCW spoke to ‘Dotterel Dan’ about the plight of the pukunui, and a tagging study aimed at identifying exactly where they nest on Rakiura.
• In the Catlins, Forest and Bird pest control officer Gavin Whiteis also battling trap-smart feral cats. While in the Wye valley near Queenstown, the Southern Lakes Sanctuary is hoping that new AI tech will help in the battle.
• Kākāpō were moved fromRakiura because of predation by feral cats. As the numbers of these manu grow, hopes are that achieving Predator Free Rakiura goals, including eradication of feral cats, will allow them to return.

Guests:

• Victor Tindale, hunter
• Daniel Cocker, Department of Conservation ranger
• Brad Windust, trapper

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details