Boiling water and the stench of sulphur hardly seem a combination conducive to life, yet some bacteria thrive in such hostile environments. Biologists are beginning to think that the first life forms ...

Carrying a red hold-all, 22-year-old Neil Roberts strode through the darkness towards the doors of Wairere House in Wanganui—home of the ‘Wanganui Computer’. It was some 25 minutes past midnight on ...

This massive buttress stands below Pilot Point Road, and one can see down the coast to White Cliffs and Mt Taranaki. Sand scour prevents the growth of mussels and algae on most rocks. Sea caves are ...

First introduced in the 1870s for hedges, African boxthorn soon went rogue. It thrives in coastal areas, as it can handle dry, salty, sandy, windy, hot and cold conditions. Up to six metres tall, it ...

In 1859, after Charles Darwin mooted his monstrous, marvellous idea, people quickly set to work misunderstanding it. Victorian naturalists had hitherto accepted that the objects of their fascination ...

Paul Moon keeps a schedule so tight he caught himself putting aside hours in his diary to sleep. It’s perhaps ironic that a histo­rian may be so short of time, but it becomes a precious commodity when ...

Here we are—a nation of parents, grandparents and children all in the same boat, together at home. He waka eke noa. Every day of the lock-down we will post a story or video and set of activities that ...

Lampreys have done without bones—even jaws—for 360 million years, making do instead with a mouthful of rasps designed for shredding. But those teeth are no match for a new and invisible enemy. Are ...

A cave beneath Mt Albert, was found to have become a dumping ground for rubbish. One hundred kilometres below Auckland, a vast reservoir of magma seethes, still testing the crust that keeps it captive ...

This insect was snapped by New Zea­land Geographic Trust’s inaugural young gun Bryce McQuillan, while holidaying in Port Waikato over Christmas. McQuil­lan thought it was a weta, although the presence ...

New Zealand’s 11 wilderness areas offer adventure, solitude and a glimpse of the world as it was. But what does the future hold for what one tramper termed our “hunting grounds for the imagination”?

The planting of Russell lupins as sheep feed in the Canterbury high country is triggering a clash between farming and conservation values. In early summer, photographers jostle for space on the ...