Andy McKay

Native lizards protected as condition of road construction near Levin A four-hectare section of forest and grassland will soon become home to a population of lizards.

A few of us had been wondering what this predator proof fence was for over the past few months. Good to finally hear about it.

Also RNZ still using my northern grass skink photo that I sent to Lynn Freeman back in 2019. Do they just own it now? 😂

www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

You can't fit thousands of job seekers into tens of jobs.
And while Luxon might call himself sorted, the country isn't, even if he doesn't want to do anything about it.

The trouble is, any talk around this just further feeds the conspiracy theorists. "See! We were right!"

Article about the US government battling Antifa.

Article about the US government battling Antifa.

Article about the US government battling Antifa.

I watched Eddington last night without knowing much about it and it was great.

Insane/unsettling how the news is lining up with it over the last week or so.

They're already invasive up here and on Kate McAlpine's Environmental Weeds list.

Some genius planted tonnes of them around playgrounds. Below photo shows dozens of seedlings coming up in bark mulch in a playground.

I'm trying to decide what's worse: the asbestos or the phoenix palm?

Roseate spoonbills will splash their wings through the water as part of their beauty routine. Here's one doing so mid-splash, facing straight ahead towards the camera. I really love this shot. #birds

Psilocybin during the postpartum period induces long-lasting adverse effects in both mothers and offspring - Nature Communications The treatment potential of psilocybin for postpartum depression was investigated in a preclinical mouse model. Here the authors show both acute and long-term effects of psilocybin in mothers and their offspring who were exposed via lactation.

🍄 Psilocybin risks after childbirth

A mouse study found that psilocybin given during the postpartum period increased anxiety in mothers and caused long-term anhedonia in their offspring.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#SciComm #Neuroscience 🧪

It's all Talley's. At least it used to be when I toured the factory ~18 years ago. They process all the other companies on contract. AoNZ is too small to have lots of frozen vege factories.

Recovery of local seedlings after successful conservation! Photo credit: Island Conservation

Recovery of local seedlings after successful conservation! Photo credit: Island Conservation 🌏

Press Release: Staggering Recovery of Plants and Seabirds on Marshallese Islands Just One Year After Rat Removal - Island Conservation Astonishing results from our work to restore sites in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, boosting climate resilience and ocean health!

"After only one year, the transformation is dramatic. A colony of 2000 Sooty Terns, where there was previously none, were feeding hundreds of chicks. We also counted 1000’s of native Pisonia grandis tree seedlings across just 60 12m monitored plots on the forest floor—in 2024 we found zero." 🌏

Regionally vulnerable Korthalsella lindsayi (leafless mistletoe) growing on poataniwha (Melicope simplex) in Kiripiti Reserve.

Sowed saltmarsh ribbonwood, large-leaved milk tree, akeake, and poataniwha today. The poataniwha is being grown to host the regionally vulnerable Korthalsella lindsayi (leafless mistletoe). The akeake and poataniwha are from Kiripiti Reserve, one of the few known wild sites left on the Kāpiti Coast.

DOC expects to make $1 million from paid parking trial at South Island tourist spots The first 20 minutes will be free with a rate of $5 per hour after.

Conservation should not be user pays. Sure, national parks overseas have visitor and parking fees but free access to nature used to be something we could be proud of. Sad to see DOC forced to do this to meet funding shortfalls. #nzpol

www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

your core users are people who have already demonstrated a willingness to abandon a more popular social media site for another, in the most part for disliking the politics of the people who run it. write this on a big whiteboard somewhere in the office

The average urban tree canopy across all towns and cities in Aotearoa New Zealand is 19%. Great research here from @jamorgenroth.bsky.social and Dr Ning Ye. www.canterbury.ac.nz/news-and-eve...

MSL10 is a high-sensitivity mechanosensor in the tactile sense of the Venus flytrap - Nature Communications The Venus flytrap, a carnivorous plant, catches prey by sensing touch. Here, the authors show that DmMSL10 functions as a high-sensitivity mechanosensor in sensory hairs, initiating long-range calcium and electrical signals required for trap closure.

🌿 The Venus flytrap’s secret touch sensor

A new study reveals that the protein MSL10 acts as a highly sensitive mechanosensor in the Venus flytrap. It enables the plant to detect touch, fire electrical signals, and snap shut on its prey.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#SciComm #Plants 🧪

Gold

Don't believe the spin. Pollution from the gas export plant is destroying the ancient Murujuga rock art. The ABC’s report that a top statistician quit a study into whether Woodside’s North West Shelf gas plant was destroying the Murujuga rock art after the WA

Today, the ABC reports that a top statistician quit a study into whether Woodside’s North West Shelf gas plant was destroying the Murujuga rock art after the WA govt misrepresented his team’s key finding.

“Someone who had a key role is saying what we've long known. WA govt misrepresented the facts"

sound on

Old growth kahikatea and mātai growing side by side.

Old growth tōtara and mātai growing side by side.

When planting canopy species we tend to space trees out 5m plus but now I'm wondering if we should plant a little mātai buddy for every kahikatea and tōtara. 🌏

Growing up in Taranaki I had a few mates work as chicken catchers for Tegal. One caught salmonella and he couldn't eat chicken for well over a decade.

Iwi-led conservation project Raukūmara Pae Maunga awarded $6m funding boost But other conservation programmes were also relying on that same funding.

Awesome news! www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Some info here www.landcareresearch.co.nz/discover-our...

Yeah, mine too

They've been released throughout North Island but don't seem to have survived South of Taranaki.

Tradescantia with yellow leaf rust.

Tradescantia leaf beetle.

Nice to find a double whammy today of tradescantia leaf beetle feeding on tradescantia infected with yellow leaf rust. 🌏

Public Webinar - Myth Busting De-Exctinction - Genomics for Aotearoa New Zealand Myth busting de-extinction to sort fact from fiction. In this public talk, Associate Professor Nic Rawlence will provide a New Zealand perspective around claims of de-extinction.

Genomics for Aotearoa New Zealand - Public Webinar 14th October
@nicrawlencenz.bsky.social will be giving a public webinar on myth busting de-exctinction.

The webinar will run from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm including time for questions.

Please boost this to help reach a broad audience. 🙏

Based on the RNZ responses it seems a reasonable conclusion that at least one decision-maker at RNZ holds TERF views. How else can they not see the issues here?

Why has trust in news fallen? The answer is more complicated than we thought Trust in news media is not exclusively linked to trust in authorities because news isn't just another institution - it's the democratic expression of the public interest in things.

I mean, this was on RNZ just 6 weeks ago:

www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-...

wHy arE jOUrNaLiStS oNe oF thE LeAsT tRUsTEd prOfFeSsIOnS iN nEw ZeALaNd??????