Earthquakes and twitter

There is something about Wellington

This lovely video, filmed & edited by Ro Tierney on August 15th 2011, says something about New Zealanders. Well, about Wellingtonians, at least.

Where else do you find people venturing out into the snow in shirts?

Mind you, as a born and bred Wellingtonian I assure you this snowfall was unique.

Snow on Cuba Mall in central Wellington (HD) on Vimeo on Vimeo

Thanks to Lyndon Hood (@lyndonhood)

Sharing a chemical moment

I must admit when I read the headline “Women Sharing a Chemical Moment in Time” my mental image didn’t include scientists. I guess that indicates that different popular meaning given to the word “chemical.” But, in reality all our moments are chemical, aren’t they?

This is an invitation to local women chemists to a function kicking off the International Year of Chemistry. And why especially women? Well this year is the centenary of Marie Curie’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry. (She had already received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903).

Wellington

You are invited to breakfast at the Southern Cross Bar, 39 Abel Smith Street, Wellington On Tuesday 18th January from 8:00 am

To mark the start of the International Year of Chemistry. A major theme of IYC2011 is Women in Chemistry because this is the centenary of Marie Curie’s Nobel Prize.

Please RSVP attendance to Joanne.Harvey@vuw.ac.nz

For the breakfast/brunch menu, see http://www.thecross.co.nz/menus

This is the first major event of the International Year of Chemistry 2011

– a worldwide breakfast for women in chemistry next Tuesday the 18th of January. New Zealand, of course, gets to kick it off so this is an exciting opportunity to network with others in your local area as well as initiating an international celebration. When we finish our breakfast, we will hand over (a “chemical handshake” via Skype) to Australia, and so on as each country partakes.

Looks like fun.

See also:
Year of Chemistry 20011. New Zealand’s focus on the International Year of Chemistry.
More information at IYC website Women Sharing a Chemical Moment in Time.

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The Challenge of the Human Brain

This looks like a fascinating lecture. Professor Richard Faull FRSNZ, Director of the Centre for Brain Research at The University of Auckland, is presenting the Royal Society of NZ  Distinguished Speaker lecture series this month.

He is a leading expert on neurodegenerative diseases of the human brain.  His research provided the first evidence the diseased human brain can repair itself by the generation of new brain cells and led to new insights into the treatment of brain disease.

I am a bit late on this. The first lecture is tonight in Dunedin and already booked out. However, here are the details of the series. They are all free and open to the public. Good news for those who can’t make any of the lectures – the Auckland lecture will be recorded by RNZ and broadcast in November:

Wellington

6pm Thursday 2 September
Soundings Theatre (previously listed as Te Marae) Te Papa Museum, Cable Street, Wellington
Refreshments and questions in Expresso Cafe after the lecture

THIS LECTURE IS NOW FULL

Dunedin

6pm Thursday 9 September
Hutton Theatre, Otago Museum, Great King Street, Dunedin

Christchurch

6pm Friday 10 September
Christchurch Art Gallery Auditorium, Worcester Boulevard, Christchurch

THIS LECTURE IS NOW FULL

Hamilton

7.30pm Thursday 30 September
Gallagher Concert Chamber, Academy of Performing Arts, University of Waikato Campus (entry via Gate 2b on Knighton Road), Hamilton

Auckland

6.30pm Wednesday 13 October
Auditorium, Auckland Museum, The Domain, Parnell, Auckland (entry via the Southern Entrance, car parking available in the Domain and also in the Museum underground car park $8)
This lecture will be recorded by Radio New Zealand for broadcast as part of the ‘Talking Heads’ lecture series in November.  Entry to the Auditorium will not be permitted after the start of the lecture. (Auckland lecture only, not all lectures)

For more details go to the RSNZ web page 2010 Distinguished Speaker: The Challenge of the Human Brain

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NZ Atheists Swap Buses For Billboards

This from the NZ Atheist Bus Campaign:

The NZ Atheist Bus Campaign will unveil billboards with friendly atheist slogans in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch this week.

The campaign has chosen the three winning phrases from more than 900 public submissions of billboard slogans. “We’re excited about this opportunity to promote these thoughtful slogans and hope they’ll get people to stop and think.” said Simon Fisher, spokesperson for the Campaign.

While the precise wording of the three new slogans is intended to be a surprise, Mr Fisher says that all three designs will include the text “There’s probably no God, now stop worrying and enjoy your life”
borrowed from the successful UK bus campaign.

With the launch of the billboard campaign, the organisation is also reopening its call for donations from people who want to see the billboards moved to other cities. “While the bus campaign would have been limited to main centres, the great thing about these canvases is that once printed they can be toured to other centres” said Mr Fisher.
“If a community wants to put one of our billboards up in their area they can contact us, arrange a location, and we’ll be delighted to lend them the canvas”.

Despite similar campaigns being run internationally, the organisation’s plans to place ads on buses in New Zealand hit a brick wall earlier this year when NZ Bus accepted and then rejected the billboards, leading to the Campaign’s decision to take the issue to a tribunal. “The Campaign is still committed to the discrimination case against NZ Bus through the Office of Human Rights Proceedings. “We have kept funds in reserve for a bus advertising campaign if this is successful.” said Mr Fisher.

Interested Kiwis can see the billboards in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch from Friday this week.

For more information and to donate, see NZ Atheist Campaign

Thanks to Toby Ricketts for the photos of two billboards just installed in Christchurch.

UPDATE:

Here’s one billboard I missed:

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Deniers in denial over climate information

I have been a little surprised at how some local bloggers have been getting all emotional about the “climategate” scandal in the UK, and particularly New Zealand climate change information coming from our National Institute of Water and Air, NIWA.

Well, not really too surprised. The ideological orientation of these bloggers suggest they would take up the line they do. They are usually quite unsympathetic with science and scientists. No, mainly my surprise is about the way they restrict their information to only a few sources (confirmation bias) and are prepared to attack the integrity of our scientists without searching for and reading what they have to say.

Climate change deniers live in glass buildings

There seems to be a big mobilisation of climate change deniers at the moment. Someone on Twitter described selective use of stolen emails, “Climategate”, as pre-Copenhagen smears. They added a quote from Churchill which I think is very apt: “A lie is halfway round the world before the truth can get its pants on.”

Most of the local media seems to be taking a relatively balanced approach to the Climategate email issue (see for example A climate scandal, or is it just hot air?). However, we now have  a “controversy” manufactured by the local Climate Science Coalition an Climate Conversation Group. A group of climate change deniers, none of them climate scientists themselves, who attempt to cast doubt on the science produced by real climate scientists. This started with a press release (Are we feeling warmer yet?). picked up and promoted by Ian Wishart (a local conspiracy theorist and climate change denier) and some local conservative and religious apologist blogs (see for example I confess I now believe in manmade Global Warming, Climate scientists caught lying and New Zealand not warming?).

Basically, it was a manipulation of raw data from NZ weather stations to support their preconceived claim of no temperature change over time. Accompanied by a claim that NIWA has dishonestly adjusted the same data to produce a temperature change.

The issues, and the scientific facts, are well covered by Garth at Hot Topic (NZ sceptics lie about temp records, try to smear top scientist) and items at the NIWA web site. I recommend reading these.

Richard Dawkins in Auckland next March

This guy leads an extremely busy life. I know he is promoting his recently published books The Greatest Show on Earth and consequently gets into book tours. But his publishers certainly work him hard.

Next March (Wednesday 10th) he is speaking in Wellington during the Writers and Readers Week at the NZ International Arts Festival (see Richard Dawkins in Wellington next March). Just announced is an appearance in Auckland on Saturday 13th March. But on Sunday 14th March he will also be speaking at the Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne!

I am a little bit younger than him but I couldn’t stand that pace.

Anyway, details of the Auckland appearance are:

Saturday 13th, march, 2010

The University of Auckland Fisher & Paykel Auditorium, Owen G Glenn Bldg, 12 Grafton Rd, Auckland

Richard Dawkins LIVE! The Greatest Show on Earth

The University of Auckland is pleased to present one of Britain’s foremost science writers Richard Dawkins in his only Auckland appearance.

Richard Dawkins will be introduced by Brian Boyd, The University of Auckland’s Distinguished Professor of English. He teaches a course in Literature and Science that includes Richard Dawkins’s The Blind Watchmaker.

About Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins will present evidence for his argument that evolution is an incontrovertible fact. In his new book The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution, the renowned evolutionary biologist and outspoken atheist takes on creationists, including followers of “intelligent design” and all those who question evolution through natural selection.

Tickets will be available from iTicket (go to RICHARD DAWKINS LIVE! – iTICKET). The Auckland Alumni pre-sales have sold out but you can pre-register for sales to the general public starting November 30th.

I wonder where else in New Zealand he will speak?

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Richard Dawkins in Wellington next March

Auckland got Richard Dawkins by video this year when he announced the winner of the inaugural Royal Society NZ science Book of the Year award.

Next March Wellington will get him in person. Dawkins will be speaking during the Writers and Readers Week at the NZ International Arts Festival.

Details (evening of Wednesday March 10 at the Wellington Town Hall) are at the Arts Festival website. Tickets can also be booked from there.

Something to look forward to?

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Galileo, Darwin and the new enlightenment

Here are two interesting talks in Wellington next Sunday?

1.00 pm to 4.00 pm, Sunday 25 October 2009
Mezzanine Floor, Wellington Central Library