Simon Pollard
Celebrating spiders in a new book for young people
Why is that Spider Dancing? The Amazing Arachnids of Aotearoa which is aimed at 9 to 12-year-old readers. Audio, Gallery
The fiendish jewel wasp and the zombie roach
Few of us has much sympathy for the cockroach, but pity the luckless roach that’s caught by a jewel wasp. Audio, Gallery
Science of Life - Bugs with Simon Pollard
Today insect and spider expert Simon Pollard joins us to look at the science of bugs again. On today's show he will be looking the amazing insects which use camouflage. He takes a close look at the… Audio
Science of Life - bees with Dr Simon Pollard
Bees - honey bees, dancing bees, diplomatic bees - they're incredibly clever and when you watch them up close, they're just fascinating. Audio
Science of Life - Bugs
Today's Science of Life episode is about spiders. Simon Pollard knows a lot about spiders - he's has written children's books about them, was external science advisor to Te Papa and Weta Workshop on… Audio
Spiders and Psuedo-Science
How do we tell the difference between science, pseudo-science, anti-science rhetoric and 'alternative facts'? Dr Simon Pollard, from the University of Canterbury, is giving a talk about the rewards… Audio
Spiders, Spiders Everywhere
What looks like a massive cobweb has been spotted in Bay of Plenty over the weekend. It's reported to look like it covers an area of about 30 meters, at Gordon Spratt Reserve in Papamoa, after many… Video, Audio
The Genius of Bugs
Canterbury University bug expert, Simon Pollard has just released a new children's book on bugs, to coincide with Te Papa's new exhibition, Bug Lab - for which he was the science advisor. His book… Audio, Gallery
Science commentator Simon Pollard on bacteria and evolution
While human generation is usually 20 to 30 years, bacteria can have a generation time of 15-20 minutes. Such a short time span is ideal for showing how evolution works, and the impact of natural… Audio
Science commentator Simon Pollard
Two recent studies which may provide insights into how language evolved, and an insight into how our ancestors got big brains and developed tools. Audio
Science with Simon Pollard
Over the last week, the science section of major newspapers around the world have been reporting about spiders that catch fish and how it is much more common than was previously thought. Why are we so… Audio
Science with Simon Pollard
How our sense of morality confuses our perception of what a 'mind' is. Audio
Science with Simon Pollard
In the skull behind the eardrum is the inner ear which contain remarkable fluid-filled sense organs. These organs send messages to the brain which help to give us a sense of orientation and allow our… Audio