Scientists at the Scion Research Institute in Rotorua have developed a way to use sawdust to produce biofuel for the transportation sector. Made with funding from NZ On Air

No place on Earth is safe from the force of Mother Nature but countries on the "Ring of Fire" are certainly most vulnerable.

Parts of New Zealand are sinking at faster rates than others and will be subjected to higher levels of future sea level rise, a scientist says.

Mark Sagar's Baby X technology spin-out has gained US$7.5 million in venture capital funding.

Scientists have revealed astonishing new insights into how the 7.8-magnitude quake affected New Zealand's seabed.

Victoria University earthquake scientist Dr John Townend says Kiwis shouldn't draw any connections between the Japan quake and last Monday's 7.8 Kaikoura quake.

First there were "quake cows", now a lamb has been plucked to safety in Canterbury.

COMMENT: The question of whether there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe has been asked by people for many years.

Acting Civil Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee has been accused of vilifying a Geonet scientist who spoke out about the need for a better tsunami warning system in New Zealand.

The new ISS crew members are NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russia's Oleg Novitskiy and France's Thomas Pesquet.

Canterbury University marine ecologist Dr Sharyn Goldstien has been on the ground investigating what the freshly-raised coast at Kaikoura has meant for ocean ecosystems.

Monday's 7.8 quake was bafflingly complex in some ways, but simple in others. Science reporter Jamie Morton delved into the data to look at what we know so far.

Residents are being warned aftershocks connected to the Kaikoura earthquake will continue for months to years.

Drops of the controversial pest-control poison 1080 have killed at least two dozen endangered kea in recent years.

COMMENT: Being aware of anxiety early on and giving young people the tools to deal with their worries can help prevent more serious problems.

This is the final resting place of 'JS', the 14-year-old British girl who fought for the right to be frozen after her death.

The acting Civil Defence Minister has blasted comments made by the head of Geonet - saying he feels blindsided.

COMMENT: It's often said that through our innovations in science, agriculture and medicine humans have become masters of our biological destiny.

In a Sydney property, a postmodern shaman grows psychedelic plants he says he uses for medicine - plus one man tells of how ecstasy has helped him overcome PTSD.

COMMENT: Your cellphone is packed with pictures, apps and words of your choice but dirt on the outside could let slip your secrets.

Political people are watching the chaos in Washington at the moment. But some people in the science community are watching the chaos in the Arctic.

Some children suffer from completely tangled hair, which, as their parents will attest, can't be combed at all. Scientists now have the answer.

Even after the quakes, eruptions and tsunami scares of the past decade, NZ still has lessons to learn about preparedness, writes Jamie Morton.

The Arctic is superhot, even as a vast area of cold polar air has been displaced over Siberia.

The SingularityU Summit in Christchurch this week was a showcase of all the best and brightest tech coming our way.

It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but researchers in the United States have found that injecting young blood into old bodies gives them quite the pep-up.

Scientists have revealed the extent of uplift on the South Island's northeastern coast - observing that in some places the land was raised by two metres.

Earthquake experts have looked at scenarios for both the capital and Auckland. They've crunched the numbers, finding potentially catastrophic scenarios.

The probability of another plus-7 magnitude quake within the next month has fallen - but the chances of multiple large aftershocks remains a virtual certainty.

Science reporter Jamie Morton talks to GNS Science earthquake geologist Dr Rob Langridge, who has been on the ground mapping damage around Marlborough.