The Week in Detail: Taxes, kauri, and Peter Ellis

Every weekday, The Detail makes sense of the big news stories. 

This week, we looked at the irreverent Ig Nobel Prize, political jockeying over tax cuts, new developments in the fight against kauri dieback, the 30-year-long journey to clear Peter Ellis' name, and the creative and cunning ways people cheat at competitive sport.

Whakarongo mai to any episodes you might have missed. 

The Ig Nobel Prize and the quirky side of research

Last weekend, the Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to scientists Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and Barry Sharpless, for discovering reactions that let molecules snap together to create new compounds.

It's a discovery to be proud of, for sure. But you know what those researchers didn't do? Win a prize for researching the mating habits of constipated scorpions. 

That honour went to Solimary García-Hernández and Glauco Machado from the University of São Paulo in Brazil. And it's not a Nobel Prize - it's an Ig Nobel Prize.

These awards, which were announced in mid-September, might not be held in quite the academic esteem as the Nobels. So what's the point to this research, which some might uncharitably describe as pointless, or wasteful?

Emile Donovan spoke to AUT chemistry professor Allan Blackman.

Taxing times: What's on the table for tax cuts?

A record tax take and a lower than expected deficit - the political debate over tax cuts is ramping up, a year out from the next election.

When the government opened its books last week, it revealed the tax take topped $100 billion for the first time, while the deficit of $10 billion was half what Treasury predicted in May.

All the more reason to cut taxes, says National; but Finance Minister Grant Robertson says now is not the time.

Sharon Brettkelly talks to tax expert Terry Baucher about our current tax rules and how they favour the wealthy, what National will do to change them and why the Labour government isn't cutting taxes for low and middle income earners

Kauri: The fightback against dieback

Five years ago, it was estimated one in five trees in the Waitākere Ranges were infected with kauri dieback disease.

Local iwi, Te Kawerau ā Maki, imposed a rāhui in late 2017, followed up a few months later by Auckland Council's decision to close the forest to the public.

But what's happened since then?

Walking tracks have been upgraded and reopened; there are new techniques to monitor and detect the disease remotely; and scientists know much more about how the pathogen that causes the disease works.

Sarah Robson speaks to Auckland Council kauri dieback biosecurity manager Lisa Tolich and research co-lead Marion Wood.

Peter Ellis' faith finally repaid

Investigative journalist Melanie Reid was with Peter Ellis in 1993, the night before a jury convicted him on 16 charges of abusing preschoolers at the Christchurch Civic Creche.

Even then, despite the depth of feeling against him, Ellis was convinced he would be cleared of the charges. 

Instead, he was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in jail.

Last week, the Supreme Court quashed his convictions in an unprecedented posthumous decision.

Now, for the first time, several hours of footage from Reid's secret interviews with Ellis are being released in a series called 'Peter Ellis, the creche case and me' on Newsroom. She speaks to Sharon Brettkelly.

The wild world of cheating in elite sport

For as long as there's been sport, there've been cheaters.

But some forms of cheating are more creative than others. 

Take the latest scandal to rock the chess world: when Magnus Carlsen, the world number one, lost to 19-year old US upstart Hans Niemann, he accused his opponent of cheating. 

But how, one may ask? One theory was that Niemann was receiving directions from an external computer via vibrations from anal beads.

Emile Donovan speaks to Wellington Chess Club president Bill Forster about Niemann, and delves into other infamous elaborate cheating scandals with RNZ's Clay Wilson and Jamie Wall.

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