Can we really "kill 99.9% of germs"?
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3815 16th Jun 2013
The idea of exterminating all household bugs is not only a waste of time but also dangerous.
Rebecca Priestley
(@RKPriestley) Rebecca Priestley is a science writer and historian with a particular interest in New Zealand’s science history. Her anthology, The Awa Book of New Zealand Science, won the 2009 Royal Society of New Zealand Science Book Prize and Atoms, Dinosaurs & DNA: 68 Great New Zealand Scientists, co-authored with Veronika Meduna, won the Elsie Locke Award for Children’s Non-fiction in 2009. Rebecca curated The Art of Science, a joint exhibition between the Royal Society of New Zealand and the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, which opened in March 2011. As well as her regular science column for The Listener, she writes the occasional book review or travel feature and is working on two books: one about New Zealand’s nuclear and radiation history and the other an anthology of Antarctic science.
How should I clean my recycling?
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3814 6th Jun 2013
What’s the best way to clean greasy plastic items for recycling, and how clean do they need to be?
The pattern of tiny feats
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3812 23rd May 2013
City traffic engineers could learn a lot from brainless slime mould.
Fusion for the future
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3811 16th May 2013
An experimental plant aims to develop nuclear fusion as a source of clean, sustainable electricity.
Breeding ground for new plants
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3810 9th May 2013
Developing crops with favourable characteristics is important for future-proofing horticulture.
Hue’s on first
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3809 2nd May 2013
There’s a lot more to colours and how they work than meets the eye.
Number crunchers
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3808 24th Apr 2013
How physics can help predict the movement of sharemarkets.
Black is the new green
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3807 18th Apr 2013
Turning waste biomass into carbon holds promise for tackling climate change.
Telling tales about science
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Science
Issue 3806 11th Apr 2013
A rollicking read, poetry and a celebration of Antarctic research: science writing is alive and well.
To catch a bus
Subscriber contentBy Rebecca Priestley in Travel
Issue 3805 4th Apr 2013
It’s possible to get around Los Angeles using public transport – but take a book.