New Zealand retailers have introduced 3D printers to the market and they’re quickly becoming more affordable. The Business Herald trialled one of the plug-n-play ready to use models, the Da Vinci, distributed by Comworth Technologies retailing at $899. 3D printers offer a lot to the future of technology and manufacturing. The model we took a look at is being used in schools, in small businesses and kiwi houshoulds. Companies overseas are also using the equipment on a larger scale to build 3D cars, prosthetic limbs and even houses to give a few examples.

The arrival of Air New Zealand's first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner does not herald the start of lower airfares — but travellers will get access to new international destinations.

The first of 10 of the model touched down in Auckland yesterday and the rest are expected to be in service by 2017.

2013 had Air New Zealand's first Dreamliner flying into Auckland. NZ Herald travelled to Seattle to preview the plane and attend the Dreamliner opening. Video / Alan Gibson / Boeing

Air New Zealand has received its first Dreamliner in a Seattle ceremony before it's flown home to Auckland airport.

It's become the first airline in the world to receive the new 302-seater 787-9 Dreamliner from the Boeing factory in Seattle. Air New Zealand CFO Rob McDonald says the wait's been worth it. He says Air New Zealand has a significant place in the world, when taking into account the number of passengers on board - and how many kilometres they travel. He says the features and economics that first drew the airline to the aircraft are even more valid than ten years ago.

The Herald Rugby team of Gregor Paul and Patrick McKendry along with Radio Sports Nigel Yalden are beneath Hamilton's stadium reviewing the All Blacks 3-0 series win over England.

Auckland War Memorial Museum has added to its collections with the largest ‘exhibition’ of micro-inverter solar panels in the country. Although not on display to the public, 189 solar panels housed on the Museum roof, are now generating enough power each day to light the exterior of the building by night thanks to a partnership with Meridian Energy.

Residents of Pt. Chevalier, Auckland captured what they believe to be a UFO. Courtesy Emma Alexander

Between 2000 and 2013, the Earth was hit by 26 asteroids that exploded with a force of between one and 600 kilotons – an average of one every six months. The asteroids weren't detected in space and only detonated in Earth's atmosphere. The B612 Foundation is a private foundation dedicated to protecting the Earth from asteroid strikes.

It's not often that we get a chance to see our planet's shadow, but a lunar eclipse gives us a fleeting glimpse. During these rare events, the full Moon rapidly darkens and then glows red as it enters the Earth's shadow. Though a lunar eclipse can be seen only at night, it's worth staying up to catch the show. Courtesy NASA Goddard

Four years ago, Google was confronted with a troubling stat: Its male engineers were getting promoted at far higher rates than female employees.

New Zealand internet sensation Jamie Curry and charismatic Kiwi The Mad Butcher are behind two anti-bullying campaigns aimed at teens. Curry, who has more than eight million followers on her Facebook page Jamie's World, has teamed with Netsafe and Google NZ for an initiative called Web Rangers. See more information here netsafe.org.nz/webrangers Courtesy Jamie's World/YouTube

Kiwi ingenuity and a skilful use of tape and glue have helped to bring a rare kakapo chick into the world. The chick - named Lisa One - has hatched on Whenua Hou, or Codfish Island, and is the first kakapo chick to hatch since 2011.

Samsung unveiled its new flagship Galaxy S5 smartphone armed with a fingerprint scanner and a built-in heart rate sensor to defend its place as the world's industry leader.

A newly released Hubble Space Telescope mosaic image shows the nearby spiral galaxy M83 in rich detail, Also known as the Southern Pinwheel, the galaxy lies 15 million light-years away in the constellation of Hydra. Bold magentas and blues indicate the galaxy blazes with star formation, and the galactic panorama depicts stellar birth and death on a vast scale of 50,000 light-years. courtesy Space.com

On the 10th of January 2014, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo completed it's third powered test flight. In command on the flight deck for the first time under rocket power was Virgin Galactic's Chief Pilot Dave Mackay.

Although the moon has remained largely unchanged during human history, our understanding of it and how it has evolved over time has evolved dramatically. Thanks to new measurements, we have new and unprecedented views of its surface, along with new insight into how it and other rocky planets in our solar system came to look the way they do.

Since the early 1990's, astronomers have known that extrasolar planets, or "exoplanets," orbit stars light-years beyond our own solar system. Although most exoplanets are too distant to be directly imaged, detailed studies have been made of their size, composition, and even atmospheric makeup - but how?

A promotional demonstration of KODE Biotech technology.

Richard Easther, Head of Physics at the University of Auckland, looks to the stars; AUT University's Philippa Smith talks about the World Internet Project and learning who we have become online; and the remarkable Siouxsie Wiles juggles her day job as a biologist and her newfound role as the country's leading science communicator.

Vaughan Rowsell, CEO of retail software start-up Vend, forcibly retires some old technology; Angus Allan, the founder of gourmet yoghurt maker The Collective Dairy looks forward to new export markets; CEO Christina Domecq outlines Localist's new focus; and Sarah and Otis Frizzell of The Lucky Taco share their dream of a food-truck city.

Maori Television's general manager of news and current affairs, Julian Wilcox, explains the channel's news priorities for 2014, film-director-turned-webisode-queen Roseanne Liang outlines her screen plans and Miriyana Alexander looks forward to the new challenge of editing the Herald on Sunday.

The goal of this new delivery system is to get packages into customers' hands in 30 minutes or less using unmanned aerial vehicles. Putting Prime Air into commercial use will take some number of years as they advance technology and wait for the necessary FAA rules and regulations. This is footage from a recent test flight. courtesy YouTube/amazon

Once billed as the comet of the century, Comet ISON apparently was no match for the sun. Images from NASA spacecraft showed the comet approaching for a slingshot around the sun, but nothing coming out on the other side. "It does seem like Comet ISON probably hasn't survived this journey," US Navy solar researcher Karl Battams said in a Google+ hangout.

An Atlas V rocket lifts off at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41.The mission is to send the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft on a 10-month journey to explore the Red Planet's climate history. Courtesy: NASA Kennedy Space Center

T8 is a wirelessly controlled bio-inspired octopod robot made with high resolution 3D printed parts. It uses a total of 26 motors: 3 in each leg and 2 in the abdomen. It is powered by the Bigfoot™ Inverse Kinematics Engine which performs all of the necessary calculations for smoothly controlling the motions of the robot in real time. Courtesy: YouTube/Robugtix

One lucky Kiwi gamer will be the first in the world to get his or her hands on the new Xbox One console when it launches next week, but until then the next-generation device will be placed under tight security - in a shark tank at Kelly Tarlton's. Twenty sharks will spend the week looking after the console, to be sealed in a waterproof case.

Telecom New Zealand will launch 4G across parts of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch overnight tonight.

Lydia Ko was at Auckland's Telecom launch of the iPhone5, grabbing one herself, as well as showing off her mini golf skills.

StopWatching.us is a coalition of more than 100 public advocacy organisations and companies from across the political spectrum. This video harnesses the voices of celebrities, activists, legal experts, and other prominent figures in speaking out against mass surveillance by the NSA.