Blog

By Niklas Pollard, Ludwig Burger, Jonathan Allen, Reuters Nobel prize for medicine winners Victor Ambros (left) and Gary Ruvkun (right). Photo: AFP/JOSEPH PREZIOSO US scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun have won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of microRNA and its crucial role in how multicellular organisms grow and live. Their work helped explain how cells specialise and develop into different types, such as muscle and nerve cells, even though all the cells in an individual contain the same set of genes and instructions for growing and staying alive. "The Nobel's, you know, there's a word we use for Major League Baseball, it's called 'The Show'. Which means it's not any show, it's THE show," Ruvkun told Reuters, describing what it was like being thrust into th...

By Brendan O'Brien, Reuters Residents board up a store in St. Petersburg ahead of Hurricane Milton's expected landfall in the middle of this week in Florida. Photo: BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP As Hurricane Milton strengthened to a Category 5 storm, Floridians scrambled to prepare for its arrival this week near Tampa, where it may bring blistering winds, life-threatening storm surge and torrential rains to the Gulf Coast for the second time in two weeks. Milton strengthened to the most powerful category of storms as it churned through the southwest Gulf of Mexico, about 1183km from Tampa. It was packing sustained winds of up to 257kph, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm was expected to turn northeast on Wednesday (NZT) and head toward the populous Tampa-St. Petersburg area, making l...

Earth sits in dried cracked mud before metropolis Photo: Bruce Rolff Three of New Zealand's Pacific neighbours have asked the International Criminal Court to consider "ecocide" an international crime. In September, Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa made a formal submission to the world's highest court, asking it to put the worst environmental destruction by humans on a par with genocide and crimes against humanity. It follows a push in recent years to make ecocide a globally punishable offence and moves by some countries - particularly in Europe - to include it in their own statutes. So what kind of destruction would "ecocide" apply to? And what's the process the ICC has to follow? Stop Ecocide International chief executive Jojo Mehta told Nine to Noon host Kathryn Ryan the term was coined in th...

The Manawanui sank off the south coast of the island of Upolu on Saturday. Photo: Supplied / Profile Boats Nearly 1000 tonnes of diesel fuel were onboard HMNZS Manawanui when it sank, the Chief of Navy says. The Manawanui sank off the south coast of the island of Upolu on Saturday, after running aground, catching fire and capsizing. The immediate focus was on the safety and recovery of its crew, with attention now turning to salvage and environmental mitigation. Rear admiral Garin Golding told Morning Report there were different types of fuel on board the ship, the largest being 950 tonnes of automotive gas oil. "It is a diesel fuel ... a light oil of commercial diesel quantities." A dive team will on Tuesday assess the condition of the stricken ship and if there are any leaks, he said....