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Editor's Choice
Falling space debris poses an escalating risk as spacecraft get stronger and more heat resistant
When it comes to space debris, what goes up is coming down more often – and not safely. When spacecraft launch, some components, including nonreusable rocket boosters, are jettisoned to…
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Editor's Choice
Changing climate law to prevent civil cases removes a key protection for NZ citizens
The government’s plan to change the law to bar claims for harms from greenhouse gas emissions shuts down New Zealand’s most important climate tort case, meaning it will never be…
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Editor's Choice
The government wants to save $463m by tightening disability support to school students. What’s going on?
The federal government has announced a new “safeguard” around how funding is spent to support school students with disabilities. The budget papers say there is an issue with “inaccurate claiming”…
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Editor's Choice
Will future missions to the Moon be sustainable? It may depend on whom you ask
There’s a new space race to the Moon, and this time the ambitions are not just to visit but to stay. NASA’s Artemis program aims to establish a long-term human…
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Editor's Choice
Astrophysicists use ‘space archaeology’ to trace the history of a spiral galaxy
Billions of years ago, a young spiral galaxy began to grow in a crowded part of the universe. It pulled in gas and small companion galaxies, slowly building up the…
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Editor's Choice
How much is a bat worth? Protecting these tiny insect‑eaters isn’t just good for farms – their deaths cost taxpayers and the wider economy
Most Americans tend to think about bats only around Halloween, but the U.S. economy benefits from these furry flying mammals every day. Bats pollinate plants, including many important food crops,…
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Editor's Choice
A ‘super El Niño?’ Why it’s too early to forecast one with certainty, but not too soon to prepare
Talk of a “super El Niño” developing in 2026 is gaining momentum, with concerns rising that this climate pattern could bring extreme rainfall, heat, drought and destructive flooding around the…
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Editor's Choice
People with premenstrual dysphoric disorder have higher rates of suicidal thinking, planning and attempts
People with premenstrual dysphoric disorder – a more serious form of premenstrual syndrome, commonly known as PMS – are more likely to experience suicidal thoughts and behaviors than people without…
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Thoreau the scientist – how environmental research informed ‘Walden’ and later works
The steam locomotive chugged its way toward Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Aug. 15, 1859. On board was an impatient young scientist wanting to understand the math and science governing how river…
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Editor's Choice
Why Trump’s $2 billion buyoff to cancel offshore wind farms is a bad deal for American taxpayers and the US energy supply
The U.S. is in a bizarre situation in 2026: It’s facing a looming energy shortage, yet the Trump administration is making deals to pay offshore wind developers nearly US$2 billion…
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Editor's Choice
Help! I’m almost finished school but don’t know what I want to do next
As Year 12 students pass the halfway point of their final year, the question of “what next?” can start to loom large. Some students have a clear plan: a course…
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Editor's Choice
Like solar, most of the first home battery subsidies went to the wealthy. We need a fairer approach
Australia is in the grip of a record-breaking battery rush. Last week Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced that more than 380,000 home batteries have been installed since July last year.…
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Editor's Choice
In an ant colony, the queen isn’t in charge. So who is?
Imagine trying to build a house without a blueprint, find a shortcut through an unfamiliar city without a map, or govern a large organisation with no leaders and no meetings.…
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Editor's Choice
NZ’s costly fees‑free scheme did little to widen access to tertiary education – new study
The government’s decision to scrap the one-year fees-free tertiary scheme in this month’s Budget will be contentious. Some will see it as a sensible saving, others as another blow to…
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Editor's Choice
A deep‑ocean climate plan wins rare EPA approval, but is sinking plants in the sea the answer?
Innovators who are working on ways to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to fight climate change are having a tough time lately. Their biggest supporter, Microsoft, recently began…
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