Author Archives: Antony Steiner

Pluto: Once a Point of Light, Now a World

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Date: Sunday 22 May 2016, at 4pm
Venue: MTG, Tennyson Street, Napier
Admission: Free to members; $5 for non-members

michele bannister

A presentation by Dr Michele Bannister
(Postdoctoral fellow at Victoria University, British Columbia, Canada)

The images returning from the New Horizons spacecraft following its flyby of Pluto show a remarkable world: mountains soaring higher than the Southern Alps, smooth plains bubbling like a slow-boiling pot, glaciers of nitrogen ice, dark ancient terrain. Not to be outdone, its big moon Charon is rifted by chasms and canyons. What was predicted? What did we discover? Many new puzzles await. Come find out!

Dr Michele Bannister is an expert in searching for icy worlds in the outer Solar System and works on the Outer Solar System Origins Survey trying to understand the formation and evolution of the Solar System.  Originally from Taranaki, Michele undertook her PhD searching for bright icy worlds in the southern sky at Mt Stromlo and currently lives in Canada.

Michele is in Napier to take part in the Royal Astronomical Society of NZ’s annual conference on May 21-22, and this meeting is jointly held with RASNZ and the Hawke’s Bay Astronomical Society

HB Astronomical SocietyRASNZ logo

Birds New Zealand 2016 Conference

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Birds NZ

Birds New Zealand 2016 Conference

MTG building, Marine Parade Napier

4-6 June 2016 (Queen’s Birthday Weekend)

Join us for a weekend of interesting lectures and presentations focusing on the study of birds.

Take part in workshops and go out on field trips

Register before 31st March 2016 for early bird discount

Register at www.osnz.org.nz – go to latest news

Any enquiries contact Bernie Kelly, Conference Convener: birds.hawkesbay@osnz.org.nz

Ph 06 870 0837- 0274 461 538

Mysteries of Human Walking

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Date: Tuesday 5 April 2016, at 7:30pm
Venue: Holt Planetarium, Napier
Admission: Gold coin donation

Todd Pataky

A presentation by Dr Todd Pataky,
Associate Professor in Bioengineering at Shinshu University (Japan)

The answer to the seemingly simple question “How do humans walk?” – in what way and by what means – is surprisingly complex and variable. Todd, a recognised expert in this field, and visiting from Japan, will explain some of the key mysteries of human walking, and how scientists are attempting to solve them.

Walking analysisPataky modelling

Todd Pataky earned a Ph.D. in Kinesiology and Mechanical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 2004 and pursued postdoctoral research positions in neuroimaging and biomechanics in Japan and the UK. He is currently an Associate Professor in Bioengineering at Shinshu University (Japan) where his research focuses on the biomechanical applications of continuum statistics. He was a William Evans Fellow at the University of Otago in 2014 and currently collaborates with the Auckland Bioengineering Institute on a Japan Strategic Partnership in Neuro-robotics awarded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

Te Matau a Maui Voyaging Trust

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Seaweek Royal Society Lecture
Date: Tuesday 1 March 2016, 7:30pm
Venue: National Aquarium of New Zealand, Marine Parade Napier
Admission: Gold coin donation

Piripi Smith, Maori navigator and Chairman of the Te Matau a Māui Voyaging Trust

Te Matua Trust picture

For thousands of years, Austronesian navigators (Tohunga) piloted primitive, double-hulled sailing ships called “waka” across vast stretches of the Pacific and Indian Ocean. These highly-trained sailors traveled across hundreds or thousands of kilometers discovering uninhabited islands, creating new colonies, and developing trade networks. What’s hard to believe is that these navigators traversed these great distances using no technology or maps, but instead relying on tuning into the stars, winds and Mother Nature.

Up until modern times, these traditional sailing methods had been preserved by Polynesian peoples. There has been a recent revival of this method of transport, and to prove to the skeptics that the accuracy of guiding “waka” does not rely on luck, a new generation of navigators continues to sail between distant islands with no maps, compasses or GPS systems.

One group in New Zealand that prioritizes the preservation of this tradition is Te Matau a Māui Voyaging Trust, which manages a program called Waka Experience. The organization is led by Chairman Piripi Smith, who is an experienced Maori navigator.

Come hear about the local waka, Te Matau a Maui, and traditional navigator Piripi Smith talk about their Pacific voyages.

 

 

Please direct any enquiries to HBBranchRSNZ@gmail.com

Christchurch Earthquake: Restoration of buildings and applicability in Napier

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5.30pm on Wednesday 17 February 2016
National Aquarium of NZ, 546 Marine Parade, Napier
Entry: gold coin donation

The Hawke’s Bay Branch of the Royal Society of New Zealand, in partnership with the Hawke’s Bay Chapter of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand, presents The 1931 Hawke’s Bay Earthquake Commemorative Lecture, with guest speakers Andrew Masterson and Guy Lethbridge.

Andrew Masterson is Business Development Manager of Mainmark Ground Engineering (NZ) Ltd in Christchurch. They were the lead contractor who worked with a consortium of international experts from New Zealand, Australia and Japan, to re-level the Christchurch Art Gallery following the February 2011 earthquake, using technology that was developed as a result of the Japanese earthquakes. Guy Lethbridge is a Director of Strata Group Consulting Engineers Ltd in Hastings, a structural engineering consultancy involved in strengthening buildings in Hawke’s Bay and Christchurch.

Their talk will describe re-levelling of the Christchurch Art Gallery and the potential application of levelling technology in Napier after an earthquake event. They will comment on the latest geological mapping underway in Hawke’s Bay and potential implications, and compare pre- and post-earthquake foundation designs, processes and outcomes.

Art Gallery Composition HR JOG + JG A5[1]

The Christchurch Art Gallery, with a graphic of the Jet Grout Machines installing the cement stabilised columns, and the JOG Computer Controlled Grout Injection system lifting the building back to its original inclination.

Contribute to New Zealand research to discover life-saving medicines

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Experts predict that within ten years we will have run out of antibiotics. As antibiotics are used to prevent infections in patients having surgery and cancer chemotherapy, as well as to treat infectious diseases, Director General of the World Health Organisation Margaret Chan has called this “…the end of modern medicine as we know it”. The world urgently needs new antibiotics, and the Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab at the University of Auckland needs our help to find them. Microbiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles, who gave one of our lectures in Napier on 12 November, heads the Superbugs Lab.

Most antibiotics come from microbes living in the soil, beginning with the discovery of penicillin from the fungus Penicillium. New Zealand has a treasure trove of unique fungi that have never been searched for new antibiotics. The Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab is working with scientists from Landcare Research to find new antibiotics, by screening their collection of fungi for species that can kill antibiotic-resistant superbugs like MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and E. coli. It costs approximately $250 to test each fungus, and they have over 9,000 fungi to test, so please support them and help discover more of these life-saving medicines.

You could do some fund-raising within your school (e.g. a mufti day) and donate the money you raise to this research. $250 will enable them to test one fungus, and the Lab will tell you how far the fungus you sponsored progressed through the tests. It does not have to be $250 – every dollar helps towards testing another fungus, and potentially finding a life-saving antibiotic.

To make a donation, go to: www.givingtoauckland.org.nz/fungi

Zealandia: Earth’s 8th continent

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The Geoscience Society of New Zealand’s 2015 Hochstetter Lecture

Dr Nick Mortimer, GNS Science, Dunedin

Thursday 15 October 2015 at 7.30 pm
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, corner Vautier and Dalton Streets, Napier

Entry: gold coin donation

WorldContinents are the largest solid objects on the Earth’s surface. In this illustrated talk Nick will summarise the scientific case that there are not seven but eight continents: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South America and Zealandia. Although Zealandia is 4.9 million square kilometres in area, it has literally lain hidden because 94% of it is under the sea. In the talk Nick will also speak about how Zealandia became the world’s most submerged continent and why its continental identity is important to science and to society.

Nick MortiNick Mortimermer is a geologist at the Dunedin office of the Crown Research Institute GNS Science. He first graduated in geology in 1980 and was awarded a Ph.D in geology in 1984. In his 26 year career he has carried out land- and ship-based field work throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand and Zealandia and has gained expertise in many aspects of geology, including structural geology, tectonic evolution, geochemistry, geochronology, mineralogy, petrology.   He recently co-authored a Penguin book on Zealandia with his colleague Hamish Campbell. He is a senior editor for the NZ Journal of Geology and Geophysics.

Geoscience Society Each year the Geoscience Society of New Zealand chooses as its Hochstetter Lecturer a New Zealand earth scientist who has recently completed a major study, and who has a reputation as a good, informative speaker. Emphasis shall be on the dissemination of new concepts and/or of important information which modifies existing interpretations. The lecture is given at major centres around the country and should be of interest to both professional and amateur audiences.

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Fossils: Rock Legends

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Fossils: Rock Legends

A presentation by James Crampton of GNS, Lower Hutt, and School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University, Wellington

rocksPaleontology is the science of fossils.  Like all science, it is concerned with discovery and interpretation of the world (and universe) around us.  For paleontology, that discovery starts in the layers of rock exposed on mountainsides and in river beds, where we find fossils that have been preserved and hidden for millions to hundreds of millions of years.  Fossils are an incredible source of knowledge and understanding: from them we learn about the unique history of life on this planet, the wonderful coincidence of conditions that makes life possible, and the terrifying events that have destroyed life.  We also learn about climate change, sea-level rise, earthquakes, tsunamis, and the fossil fuels that sustain our society.  In this talk I will try to convey the excitement (and hazards!) of initial fossil discovery, and then give a tour through the sorts of scientific discoveries that follow.

Date: Tuesday 5 May 2015, 7.30pm

Venue: National Aquarium of New Zealand, Marine Parade Napier

Admission: Gold coin donation

James will be in Hawkes Bay to support the HBBRSNZ education programme Geology Rocks! with thanks to the Royal Society of New Zealand, the Hawkes Bay Branch of the Royal Society, Hawkes Bay Regional Council and TAG Oil.

Please direct any enquiries to HBBranchRSNZ@gmail.com