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Andrew Katsis: Not all chimps are chumps
Not all chimpanzees are created equal. Not only are some more intelligent than others, but about half of this variation is genetically inherited.

'Super Black' is the new black
Puritans, Goths, avant-garde artists, hell-raising poets and fashion icon Coco Chanel all saw something special in it.

Meet the superhero scientist
As a young child growing up in the UK, Hong Kong and the US, Dr Michelle "Nanogirl" Dickinson was fascinated by science and superheroes.

Scientist chips in with potato record
Stunt scientist Tom Pringle last night claimed a Guinness World Record by using a potato bazooka to fire nine potatoes through a tennis racket in three minutes.

Meet a jellybean super-taster
Maddie Hannah, 8, earned the title of "super-taster" after triumphing at a jellybean science experiment, hosted at the NZ International Science Festival in Dunedin.

Alzheimer's blood test hope
A blood test to predict if someone will develop Alzheimer's within a year has been created, in a breakthrough that raises hopes that the disease could become preventable.

Earth's violent volcanic past preserved in Antarctic ice sheet
Some of the biggest volcanic eruptions of the last 2,000 years have left their indelible mark deep within the pristine ice sheet of the Antarctic, a study has found.

John Armstrong: Moa no goer, but Cunliffe must wish dead ducks could fly
Trevor Mallard's mind-boggling suggestion to harness science to bring the moa back to life will likely end up being much-a-dodo about nothing, writes John Armstrong.

NZ scientist's trip to Branson's island
A young Kiwi scientist has spent the past few days playing chess with Richard Branson on his private island and being served lunch in the pool via a sushi boat.

Is climate change destabilising Iraq?
This winter was not a good one for farmers in the Fertile Crescent.

El Nino looking more likely
The chances of an El Nino playing with our weather this summer have become more likely, according to a just-released report from the World Meteorological Organisation.

Microscopic beings could prove colossal to science
Scientists are searching in an unlikely place for the next big breakthrough - New Zealand's postcard hot springs.

Surprise at rare frog number
The discovery of 44 critically endangered Archey's frogs just a few kilometres from Whangamata has heartened an amphibian expert.

Disco clam's groovy moves
A sea floor diva known as the “disco clam”, which earned its name from vivid displays of flashing light, has revealed the secrets of its dazzling moves.

Researchers to bore major fault
The world is turning to New Zealand's most threatening fault to better understand the levers that cause catastrophic earthquakes.

Earth smashes record for heat
Driven by exceptionally warm ocean waters, Earth smashed a record for heat in May and is likely to keep on breaking high temperature marks, experts have said.

Whaling's 30 year impact on Humpback
It will take another three decades for the Southern Hemisphere's humpback whale population to recover from the slaughter of the whaling era, scientists say.

Superpowers - close to reality?
University of Auckland senior lecturer Dr Michelle Dickinson, reveals five ways that science is bringing comic-book superpowers closer to reality.

Zoos drive animals crazy
In the mid-1990s, Gus, a polar bear in the Central Park Zoo, alarmed visitors by compulsively swimming figure eights in his pool, sometimes for 12 hours a day.

Pride of NZ: Plant expert with growing reputation
Environment category: Colin Ogle is Wanganui's go-to man on all things botanical and has dedicated years to the area's parks and bush.

Stag party finds 3m-year-old 'elephant'
It's The Hangover-meets-Jurassic Park. While most stag parties involve paintballing, the pub or a strip club, one group of friends spent did some impromptu palaeontology.

Eerie spiderweb photo goes viral
An eerie photo of millions of spiders fleeing flooded farmland in Hikurangi last week has gone viral, after it was posted by a popular science Facebook page.

Is this the end for the dentist's drill?
Fillings and the dentist's drill could soon become just an unpleasant memory thanks to a new technique aimed at rebuilding damaged teeth.

Bob Forlong: Responsible GM approach will remain
The regime governing genetic modification in New Zealand is one of the strictest in the world, writes Bob Forlong.

Einstein vs quantum theory
Albert Einstein may be most famous for his mass-energy equivalence formula E = mc2, but his work also laid down the foundation for modern quantum mechanics.