Nine To Noon for Friday 7 July 2023

 

09:05 DOC pulls the plug on Toyota Kiwi Guardians programme

The founder of a programme that encouraged Kiwi kids to get into the great outdoors says he can't understand the rationale for pulling the plug on it. Mick Abbott set up the Kiwi Rangers programme with partner Carli Richter in 2009, with help from the University of Otago and Otago Institute of Design and the support of local Department of Conservation Rangers. It was taken over by DOC in 2014, and became the Toyota Kiwi Guardians Programme.Tens of thousands of kids took part in nature-based adventures and actions at sites all over the country, with the opportunity to earn medals. But last Friday Toyota and DOC announced the quote - "difficult decision" -  to wind up the programme from August 1. Mick, who's also a professor of Landscape Architecture at Lincoln University, says he can understand the department's need to focus on biosecurity - but says efforts still need to be made to encourage younger generations into the outdoors.

 

09:20 Covid's long tail: How to get kids back into the classroom

The pandemic may no longer be the daily disruptor that it was, but its impact is still being felt every day in the classroom. A recent report from the Education Review Office said NCEA achievement rates have fallen, with some students more than a year behind where they should be. Those from poorer communities were the furthest behind. Absences are also a serious issue - with regular attendance dropping to 40 percent last year before returning to 51 percent by its end. So what will it take to support kids back into the classroom, and to help get their grades back to where they were pre-pandemic? Dr Jesse Dvorchak says similar things are happening in the US. That's where she's based as head of Digital Assessment and Evaluation at Cambridge Assessment International Education. She'll be presenting to principals and teachers in New Zealand later today on how best to assess where students are at following years of Covid disruption, while ensuring all students are heard and included.

09:30 Time observed to be slower in early universe

A team of scientists, including a Kiwi, have for the first time observed the early universe running in extreme slow motion, unlocking one of the mysteries of Einstein's expanding universe. Because of the accelerating expansion of space, time in the early universe - when it was just a billion years old, is perceived as being five times slower than it is today. It's the first time the effect has been observed since it was first predicted by Albert Einstein more than a century ago. Quasars are supermassive black holes at the centres of early galaxies, and it was by unlocking their mysteries that the team was able to use them as 'clocks' to measure time near the beginning of the universe. Kathryn speaks to Professor Geraint Lewis, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Sydney and lead author of the study. He worked on this with University of Auckland statistician Brendon Brewer.

09:45 Asia  correspondent Ed White

Vietnam has banned the new Barbie movie because the American movie is said to feature a scene with a South China Sea map showing the nine-dash line. This is used on Chinese maps to illustrating its claims to parts of the South China Sea. After years of testing and negotiations Japan has finally won international approval to release treated nuclear waste into the Pacific Ocean.  And Beijing has a new foreign relations law designed to strengthen Xi Jinping's hand in responding to western technology and trade sanctions.

 

10:05 Forensic entomologist Paola Magni on how bugs can help solve crimes

Dr Paola Magni has always been fascinated by the natural world despite being raised in an apartment in Italy in a dense urban area. As far back as she can remember she was always curious about everything around her and fascinated by worms, maggots and all insects life. Now the very bugs she observed as a child are helping to solve crimes. and her scientific prowess has been used in cases before court in her homeland Italy, and since moving to Western Australia she has been involved in forensic cases there. Paola Magni is based at Murdoch University in Perth

10:35 Book review: The Birthday Party by Laurent Mauvignier

Martene McCaffrey of Unity Books Auckland reviews The Birthday Party by Laurent Mauvignier, published by Fitzcarraldo Editions

10:45 Around the motu : Andrew McRae in Hamilton

A medical school for Waikato is back in the mix after National announces it will go ahead if they are elected. And Waikato University's long awaited new development, The Pa, is due to open on Monday. Hamilton Gardens has been named by Trip Advisor as one of the top one-percent of travel experiences in the world. And a majestic 200-year old waka celebrates 50-years of being on display at Waikato Museum.

 

 

11:05 Music reviewer Jeremy Taylor

Fine new releases from singer-songwriter royalty Lloyd Cole and PJ Harvey, and an unreleased gem from the Breeders' now 30 year old classic album 'Last Splash
 

11:30 Sports commentator Dana Johannsen

A fall from grace for pole vault guru Jeremy McColl, who this week copped a 10-year ban for serious misconduct, sports commentator Dana Johannsen explains what led to the unprecedented sanction. And there have been amazing Kiwi athelete performances in Europe in recent days. The stand-out was Zoe Hobbs notching up the qualifying time for the Paris Olympics, but Dana says there were also impressive showings from Eliza McCartney, Hamish Kerr and Tom Walsh. 

Dana Johannsen is Stuff's National Correspondent specialising in sport. 

11:45 The week that was

Comedians Pinky Agnew and Irene Pink have a few laughs and take us through the week that was: The plumbing vans some drivers are mistaking for police. And  a hidden safe's secret contents uncovered under a false floor in Lower Hutt, and now on their way to the rightful owner. Plus, Auckland's elusive, lawn-destroying pig has finally captured - but not before leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.