Latest news with #New Zealand
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Everyone's talking about the Perseid meteor shower – but don't bother trying to see it in Australia or NZ
In recent days, you may have seen articles claiming the 'best meteor shower of the year' is about to start. Unfortunately, the hype is overblown – particularly for observers in Australia and New Zealand. The shower in question is the Perseids, one of the 'big three' – the strongest annual meteor showers. Peaking in the middle of the northern summer, the Perseids are an annual highlight for observers in the northern hemisphere. As a result, every year social media around the world runs rife with stories about how we can enjoy the show. For an astronomer in Australia, this is endlessly frustrating – the Perseids are impossible to see for the great majority of Australians and Kiwis. Fortunately, there are a few other meteor showers to fill the void, including a pair that will reach their peak in the next seven days. What are the Perseids? Every year, Earth runs into a stream of debris laid down over thousands of years by comet 109P/Swift–Tuttle. The comet swings around the Sun every 133 years or so, shedding dust and debris each time. Over the millenia, that material has spread to create a vast stream. Earth starts to run into debris from Swift–Tuttle in mid-July, and takes six weeks to pass through the stream. When the dust and debris hit Earth's atmosphere, the resulting meteors create bright streaks in the sky – a meteor shower. For most of that time, the dust we encounter is very widely spread, and so few meteors are seen. Around August 12, Earth reaches the densest part of the Perseid stream and the shower reaches its peak. The Perseids aren't even the 'best' meteor shower Comet Swift–Tuttle last passed through the inner Solar System in 1992. With the comet nearby, Earth encountered more dust and debris, making the Perseids the best meteor shower of the year. In the decades since, the comet has receded to the icy depths of the Solar System, and the peak rates for the Perseids have fallen off. The 'best' (most abundant) meteor shower of the year is now the Geminids. However, for people in the northern hemisphere, the Perseids are still well worth looking out for. The curse of the spherical Earth All meteor showers have a 'radiant"– the point at which meteors seem to originate in the sky. This is because, for a given shower, all the debris hitting Earth comes from the same direction in space. The debris from comet Swift–Tuttle crashes towards Earth from above the north pole, and at an angle. As a result, for people at a latitude of 58 degrees north, the Perseid radiant would be directly overhead in the early hours of the morning. If a meteor shower's radiant is below the horizon, you won't see any meteors – Earth is in the way, and all the dust and debris is hitting the other side of the planet. It's exactly the same reason you can't see the Sun at nighttime. Given the location of the Perseid radiant, it will never rise for observers south of 32 degrees. This means anyone below that line will never see any Perseids. In theory, anyone north of 32 degrees south latitude can see the Perseids – but there are other complications. The higher a shower's radiant is in the sky, the more meteors you will see. This is why the Perseids can't put on a great show for people in Australia. Even in the far north of Australia, the Perseid radiant remains low in the sky at its highest. For most Australians, the Perseids will be a spectacular disappointment. Look for these meteor showers instead If you're keen to see a meteor shower from Australia or New Zealand, it's best to cross the Perseids off your list. Fortunately, there are other options. Every May, Earth passes through debris left behind by comet 1P/Halley, creating the Eta Aquariid meteor shower – only visible in the hours before dawn. For Australian observers, that's the second best shower of the year. At the end of July each year, two minor meteor showers reach their peaks: the Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids. This year, they peak on 29 and 30 July, with the best views coming in the hours around midnight. It's a perfect time to head out to a dark sky site and relax under the stars – the centre of the Milky Way is high overhead in the evening sky, and these two showers provide some added fireworks to make the sky extra special. Then, in December, comes the true "best shower of the year' – the Geminids. Reaching a peak on 14 and 15 December, the Geminids always put on a spectacular show. Unlike the Perseids, it can be seen from all across our island continent and in Aotearoa. If you really want to see a great meteor shower, skip the Perseids and plan to head somewhere dark this summer, to spend a couple of nights relaxing under the stars. This article is republished from The Conversation. It was written by: Jonti Horner, University of Southern Queensland Read more: Astronomers have spied an interstellar object zooming through the Solar System Astronomers have discovered another puzzling interstellar object − this third one is big, bright and fast After 50 successful years, the European Space Agency has some big challenges ahead Jonti Horner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
RNZ News
11 hours ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Positive reactions to University of Waikato medical school
Local business, community, and medical leaders are reacting positively to the announcement of a new medical school at the University of Waikato. The government announced yesterday it will fund 82.5 million dollars towards the school, with the university paying the remaining 150 million, backed by philanthropists. Libby Kirkby-McLeod reports. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
11 hours ago
- Health
- RNZ News
'We cannot miss this moment': Waikato medical school must address health inequities
The school is due to open in 2028, with an initial roll of 120 students. Photo: Supplied A new medical school at the University of Waikato must deliver for Māori, says a Waikato-based Iwi Māori Partnership Board. The government announced on Monday it had approved $82.85 million in government funding toward the school, with the university chipping in more than $150m. The school would open in 2028, with an initial roll of 120 students. Te Tiratū Iwi Māori Partnership Board (IMPB) represents 114,000 whānau Māori in the wider Waikato region. The 15 IMPBs were established in 2022 initially to support the Māori Health Authority and to advocate for whānau and communities in their regions. When the authority was disestablished they picked up some of its responsibility . Te Tiratū co-chair Tipa Mahuta said the investment in the medical school marks a significant opportunity to address long-standing health inequities and workforce shortages in the region - especially for rural, Māori and underserved communities. Te Tiratū co-chair Tipa Mahuta Photo: Supplied/Sarah Sparks But she said this can only be realised if Māori health workforce development, cultural safety, and equity are embedded as foundational pillars in the new medical school's design, training model, and governance. "Whānau across Waikato have told us time and again: they want to see more Māori health professionals-people who understand our values, our lived experiences, and our ways of being as Māori. "Cultural safety is not a nice-to-have. It is essential to clinical excellence, trust, and good health outcomes. If patients don't feel safe, they disengage-and that can cost lives." An artist's impression of the new Division of Health Precinct at the University of Waikato, which will be home to the New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine. Photo: Supplied Te Tiratū urged the government, Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand, Hauora Māori Directorate and the University of Waikato to work closely with iwi, hapū and community partners to shape a graduate school that delivers on its promise - not only to grow the GP workforce of clinical placements across the country, but to heal a system given Māori die on average at least seven years before non-Māori. "We cannot miss this moment. A third medical school must reflect a third way-a culturally grounded, equity-driven, future-facing model of training that serves all New Zealanders, starting with those most underserved," co-chair Hagen Tautari said. Te Tiratū was ready to partner and contribute to the new 'Division of Health' health precinct opening on the University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato campus, he said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
12 hours ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Rural practices will benefit from new Waikato medical school
The New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine will be located within a new Division of Health Precinct. Photo: Supplied The announcement of a new medical school at the University of Waikato has been welcomed by local business, community, and medical leaders. The government confirmed yesterday it will fund $82.5 million of the school , with the university paying the remaining $150 million, backed by philanthropists. Waikato Chamber of Commerce chief executive Don Good said he had no concerns about the university being able to secure the money needed to get the New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine off the ground. "There are some very wealthy families in the Waikato that you probably have never heard of, and they are very community-minded," he said. Good said people who make money in the Waikato put it back into the region. While he spoke warmly about people in Waikato, he was not so impressed with some of the actions of those outside the region. He said there had been a long-running campaign against a Waikato medical school by the existing medical schools in Auckland and Otago. But the Dean of the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences in Auckland Professor Warwick Bagg told Morning Report that while the university put forward its case against a third school, it was pleased that the government had invested so heavily in medical student training. "If you are a patient waiting to see a doctor you are going to be pleased that in the years to come we will have more locally trained doctors to see, I think that's really good news," he said. An artist's impression of the new Division of Health Precinct at the University of Waikato, which will be home to the New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine. Photo: Supplied Kawhia is a small coastal settlement west of Ōtorohanga, where John Burton has been a local GP for 33 years. He said he was thrilled the new medical school was happening and he wished it had happened 20 years ago. Dr Burton has trained many student doctors over the years and said he enjoyed it. But he said rural practices currently spent a lot of time training the wrong people and he was looking forward to students who were not coming from the big cities. "We have a lot of medical students come here, down from Auckland, and they all say they love it, it's wonderful experience, but for the majority of them they're Aucklanders and this is a foreign world for them and although it's a lovely adventure, it's not what they're going to end up doing." Rural Health Network chair Dr Fiona Bolden said students from rural areas who trained rurally were six times more likely to work as a rural doctor. Down the country a bit from Kawhia, Waitomo mayor John Robertson said a Waikato-based medical school was a positive announcement for young people in his town. He said proximity to training opportunities was important. "The fact that it's so close is an advantage, and for some students they can live in the area, get a bus up to Hamilton each day," he said. A University of Waikato spokesperson told RNZ the New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine would be located within a new Division of Health precinct. Detailed designs were underway and work was expected to start later this year after the main contract had been awarded and the building consent had been received. The university said it also had plans for dedicated student accommodation next to the Health Precinct for medical school students. The first students are expected to be welcomed in 2028. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
18 hours ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
What you need to know about recent changes to schools and education
New maths and English curriculum has begun rolling out this year. Photo: Unsplash/ Greg Rosenke Explainer - It's been a year full of changes in the educational system, with announcements and new initiatives coming nearly every week from the coalition government. What has been announced and what's coming up soon? Here is a roundup of just some of the major announcements we've seen in 2025 that will affect students and educators: The new maths curriculum and English curriculum for primary school-aged students began this year. It's all part of the first steps in the government's long-term push for what it's calling a "knowledge-rich" curriculum . The government also previously announced moves towards teaching structured literacy skills to students. The drafts of the secondary English and maths curriculums are also out for feedback. Education Minister Erica Stanford. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii The government announced it would no longer build open-plan classrooms , moving away from the policy which Education Minister Erica Stanford called too noisy and distracting for children. While there has been negative feedback from schools on open-plan learning, Stanford said, surveys by the Council for Educational Research showed most teachers who worked in the structures liked them and believed their students benefited from learning in that kind of environment. New classrooms will be built using standard designs that prioritise flexibility, like glass sliding doors that can open a class when it is time to collaborate and close it for focused learning. Erica Stanford speaks to students at a Wellington school. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii The government is also allocating $140 million to tackle truancy with a new school attendance service . The funding boost is aimed at supporting more schools and reaching double the number of students over the next four years, according to Associate Education Minister David Seymour. He said the new attendance service would address chronic absence and focus on keeping students in school when they return. Transitioning to the new attendance service would start at the end of the year and be fully in place from early 2026. Charter schools have returned to New Zealand this year under the coalition government . They were previously shut down by former Education Minister Chris Hipkins in 2018. Seven of the publicly-funded, private schools opened in Term 1. The Charter School Agency said the charter school authorisation board was considering 52 applications from organisations wanting to set up new charter schools next year, as well as two applications from state or state integrated schools wanting to convert. A new school property entity is being set up to manage building, maintaining, and administering the school property portfolio. Stanford said the new Crown agent will sit separate from the Ministry of Education, which will keep responsibility for education policy and network decisions. Announcing the launch of the New Zealand School Property Agency, Stanford said schools had been kept waiting for classrooms and refurbishments they badly needed. A new 600-student primary school was also announced for Massey in Auckland . The government announced $28 million will be spent on building more "safe, warm and dry classrooms" for tamariki in Māori full immersion schools. Twenty new classrooms will be built across four providers, and work will begin on the first stage of a new school north of Auckland. The new development, for Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngāringaomatariki in Kaiwaka, will eventually have 19 classrooms. It was announced in this year's budget that the Kāhui Ako - Communities of Learning - scheme was to be disestablished . The scheme grouped schools together to work on common problems with extra pay for one principal to oversee each group and for select teachers to share good practice between and within schools. A report said there were 220 Kāhui Ako, involving 1958 schools and 1506 early learning centres, and more than 4000 teachers received extra pay for Kāhui Ako roles. From November, eligible student-visa holders will be able to work more hours a week , from 20 to 25 hours, and work rights will be extended to all tertiary students in approved exchange programmes. The government will also consider introducing a short-duration work visa of up to six months to allow international graduates who do not qualify for post-study work rights time to seek jobs under the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) pathway. It would also look at updates to make it easier for students to apply for multi-year visas. The goal was to boost tertiary education's annual economic contribution to $7.2 billion, by lifting enrolments from 83,700 in 2024 to 119,000 in 2034. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Education Minister Erica Stanford visit Sherwood Primary School in Browns Bay, Auckland. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi There were several big spending announcements in this year's budget. Stanford said new education initiatives in the Budget totalled $2.5 billion over four years, though about $614m of that total was reprioritised from "underperforming" initiatives. The government's total spend on early childhood and school education would grow by roughly $400m to $19.85b in 2025-26, but drop to $19b and $18.9b in subsequent years. There was also a $720m increase for learning support. The increase included $266m to extend the early intervention service from early childhood through to the end of Year 1 of primary school, including employing 560 more early intervention teachers and specialists and helping an additional 4000 children. It also included $192m over three years to provide learning support coordinators in 1250 more primary schools, $122m to meet increased demand for the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme for students with the highest needs, and $90m to build 25 new satellite classrooms for specialist schools. Stanford said the government was building up to adding 2 million extra teacher aide hours by 2028. The other big education initiative in the Budget was $298m for curriculum, nearly half of it targeted to maths and literacy, and about $76m for a new standardised reading, writing and maths test for schools. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
