Many New Zealand businesses and organisations can learn crucial lessons from the corporate failures underlying the Pike River Coal mine tragedy, Christchurch author and journalist Rebecca Macfie says.
Dunedin film-maker Paul Trotman this week urged University of Otago researchers to avoid swamping the public with facts and, instead, to tell stories when communicating medical science to the community.
It is important for New Zealanders to better understand China's moves to boost its influence by using ''soft power'', rather than economic or military strength.
Some encouraging progress is being made by the country's 20 district health boards in the fight against child poverty, Children's Commissioner Russell Wills says.
Prof Diego De Leo, the director of the Australian Institute for Suicide Research, sees hopeful signs in a recent substantial fall in the overall suicide rate in New Zealand and many other countries.
Dunedin scientist Simon Cox has just finished co-ordinating a big new geological map which includes Ross Island and the Dry Valleys region in New Zealand's Antarctic Ross Dependency.
Major advances have already been made in protecting babies after brain injuries but there is strong potential to make further big advances, Prof Terrie Inder, a leading US-based medical researcher and neonatologist, said yesterday.
Despite previous research suggesting that very low birth weight (VLBW) babies could be impaired by their small start in life, a new University of Otago study shows they are actually doing ''pretty well'' by early adulthood.
The Toitu Otago Settlers Museum has attracted more than 307,000 visitors since it reopened its doors late last year after its redevelopment. Museum officials earlier said there had been 301,084 visitors until the end of October, a period of 11 months since the reopening.
Visits by two large cruise ships, container vessels and a logging ship contributed to a busy weekend at Port Otago.
An Otago ACC support group has gained a $10,000 New Zealand Law Foundation award to prepare a report to the United Nations over claimed non-compliance with a UN Convention on rights of the disabled.
Dunedin faces ''very serious'' challenges arising from continued job losses but the city can lure many more ''new settlers'' here through its attractive lifestyle and vibrant cultural life, Jolyon Manning says.
Facing continued funding pressures, the Otago Museum is forming closer links with the Toitu Otago Settlers Museum and other Dunedin cultural institutions.
The new $2 million electron microscope at the University of Otago is causing a stir among researchers and could help pave the way for a new generation of anti-cancer therapies.
Rob Urquhart may ride a bicycle six days a week in his job as a Mosgiel postie, but he still definitely has distance running in his blood.
University of Otago microbiologist Prof Gerard Tannock has been awarded a prestigious James Cook Research Fellowship to support innovative studies into bacterial communities in the gut and their role in health and disease.
Poverty must be tackled if New Zealand is to greatly reduce its relatively high rheumatic heart disease rate, cardiologist Dr Satupaitea Viali said yesterday.
Australian paediatrician Prof Kim Mulholland says Western governments and other organisations that are supporting vaccination programmes in developing countries should also ensure some key related research is undertaken.
Despite dramatic improvements over the past two decades, there is no room for complacency about major health challenges still facing many Asia-Pacific countries, Prof John Crump says.
Despite some positive features, the proposed Vulnerable Children's Bill is likely to generate many extra costs, and fails to address the wider poverty issues adversely affecting many children and their families.