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Our Changing World

with Alison Ballance & Ruth Beran

Thursdays 9 - 10pm

On This Programme

Godwits at Foxton Beach – Part 2

Removing godwits from the net; Phil Battley holding a godwit; processing the birds. (Images: A. Ballance)

Last week on Our Changing World, Alison Ballance joined Massey University’s Jesse Conklin and Phil Battley, and a team of shorebird experts, in a mission to cannon net bar-tailed godwits at the Manawatu Estuary. In part two of that story the cannons are fired, and the team discover how many data loggers they are able to retrieve from 24 godwits carrying them. They are especially interested in four birds that have carried the data loggers for two seasons.

Don’t forget that Keith Woodley’s new book ‘Godwits: long haul champions’ (Penguin Books) is a great source of information about bar-tailed godwits, and that the Asia Pacific Shorebird Network encourages international co-operation in the study and conservation of shorebirds.

Jesse Conklin removing a data logger, and data logger showing the light sensor. (Images: A. Ballance)

Remembering Future Events

Donna Rose Addis (left) and Victoria Martin (right) from the University of Auckland are looking brain activity to determine whether the same region of the brain, the hippocampus, which is known to be associated with memory and the past, is also responsible for imagining future events. Their research may have implications for people with conditions which effect memory like Alzheimer’s disease and amnesia.

Ruth Beran went to meet them, and in the process undertook a modified version of their trial.

Maths and Calcium

At the University of Auckland, a mathematician is doing something rather unusual…for a mathematician. James Sneyd, with a team of others including Merryn Tawhai, is trying to work out what happens in the asthmatic lung. In particular he is interested in how calcium levels (pdf) relate to contractions in smooth muscle and also to saliva secretion. Using large computational models, he is helping experimentalists better understand biology. Ruth Beran meets him in his office to find out more.

Asian Paddle Crabs – Ocean Science Series part 7

In the final story from the University of Auckland’s Leigh Marine Laboratory, Amy Fowler introduces Alison Ballance to two species of paddle crab. Most people will be familiar with the native paddle crab Ovalipes catharus (above left), but in 2000 an introduced species, the Asian paddle crab, Charybdis japonica (above right; images: A. Ballance), was discovered around Auckland. This new species is much more aggressive than the native species, and Amy Fowler is investigating aspects of its biology and breeding behaviour, as well as its interactions with the native species, to try and understand its potential impact.

Astronomy Symposium, Auckland 22 January 2010

The Public Astronomy Symposium is hosted by the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Science. International speakers describe the search for habitable planets in our Milky Way Galaxy; the nature of `dark matteŕ and `dark energý; cosmic structure, black holes, and the early universe; gamma ray bursts, life in extreme environments, new space missions and gravitational lenses. 22 January 9.15 am to 4 pm, Glenn Owen Building, Lecture Room 098, 12 Grafton Road, Auckland City.

Please RSVP by email by 12 January to: astronomy.symposium@auckland.ac.nz

Next On Air Date

Our Changing World will be back on air on Thursday 28 January 2010. Until then, have a great summer.

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