|
Water "bottom lines" under scrutiny
A public discussion document aimed at agreeing national objectives for freshwater management attracted extensive comments from scientists and freshwater experts when it was launched in November.
 In this, the final week of consultation, a further round of experts and interested groups have made their views known.
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Dr Jan Wright came out strongly critical of the existing proposal.
"The big challenge is the nitrate runoff from the large scale conversion of land to dairy farming," said Dr Wright. "Leaving this pressure unaddressed will result in a worsening of water quality in the short to medium term and make the job of improving it much harder and more expensive in the long term."
Trout anglers called on the government to heed scientists' warnings and make requirements more stringent.
""Our scientists suggest the bottom lines for ecosystem health are too low to sustain fish life," said NZ Federation of Freshwater Anglers president David Haynes.
Meanwhile, the NZ Freshwater Sciences Society's submission underlined the fundamental requirement for regional bodies to "maintain or enhance" water quality, and cautioned against "bottom lines" being used as an excuse to let water quality degrade.
Public submissions on changes to the national freshwater management policy statement closed 4 Feb. Officials are analysing submissions, and expect their ministers to take advice to Cabinet by the middle of the year.
Collected media coverage can be found on the Science Media Centre website.
|
On the science radar this week...
|
|
Fast food regulations needed - report
An international report highlighting New Zealand's growing consumption of fast food - and subsequent growth in waistlines - suggests that more regulation is need to curb the obesity epidemic.
 The report, commissioned by the World Health Organisation and published in their monthly research bulletin, analysed changes in obesity and fast food consumption in 25 OECD countries over the decade 1999-2008.
The authors noted a consistent link between increases in fast food purchase per capita and increases in the mean body mass of country's citizens.
New Zealand did not perform well in the analysis, winning the dubious honour of ranking No. 1 in terms of increasing mean BMI and coming fourth in increased fast food consumption (after Canada, Australia and Ireland).
 | |
Figure from the report showing NZ had the largest increase in BMI and fourth largest increase in fast food purchases, compared to OECD countries, 1999-2008.
|
The link between obesity and fast food by is hardly front-page news, but an additional factor examined by the report, market regulation, offered some insight into potential solutions to rein in the obesity epidemic.
The authors found that the countries like New Zealand that had the largest increases in obesity and fast food consumption were also the ones with the most open markets in terms of regulations relating to food and agriculture. Conversely the countries with minimal increases in weight and fast food consumption, for example Italy and Belgium, were those with the most regulations.
The authors conclude that government regulations hindering the spread of fast food consumption might help to mitigate the obesity epidemic - a view shared by public health academics in New Zealand.
Writing on the Public Health Expert blog, Prof Tony Blakely from the University of Otago, Wellington, commented:
"Does this mean that we should tighten the reins a little on market freedoms around fast food - just as our society does already with tobacco, alcohol and thousands of consumer products covered by safety regulations (from car design to fire safe children's pajamas)? This might make sense - given we know society is generally concerned about obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer."
Collated media coverage of the report is available on the Science Media Centre website.
|
" There's a belief in the invisible hand of the market but unfortunately the invisible hand of the market is putting fat around our waists at the moment. "
|
Policy news and developments
Science Challenges: The Government this week issued a request for proposals for research funding for the second tranche of New Zealand's National Science Challenges.
Forestry consultation: MPI has opened public consultation on proposed changes to the East Coast Forestry Project which aim to curb coastal erosion through tree planting..
|
|
New from the SMC
Bali deaths: Australian experts provide insight into the suspected scromboid fish poisoning which claimed two lives in Bali. New bird flu: UK experts comment on reports of a new bird flu strain in humans in China.
Fast food report: is regulation the key to slowing NZ's increasing fast food consumption - and growing waistlines?
Water rules: The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is calling for clarity in proposed freshwater standards.
|
|
Sciblogs highlights
Some of the highlights from this week's Sciblogs posts:
|
|
Research highlights
Some of the research papers making headlines this week.
Vitamin C for the big C? - High doses of intravenous vitamin C can boost the cancer-killing effect of chemotherapy in vitro and in mice, reports a new US study. Vitamin C has long been used as an unorthodox therapy for cancer and the findings from this study add to recent evidence suggesting that vitamin C should be tested as an anti-cancer agent in larger clinical trials. However, an accompanying commentary article from NZ authors warns that vitamin C therapy requires further study and may not provide benefit for all types of cancer.
Social media makes you seem smarter: A new social learning study hints that social media use might makes us smarter by amplifying the diversity of information we access. But it doesn't justify using Facebook all day - the effect is only superficial. People copy useful information from their peers, but fail to copy the analytical thought processes needed to arrive at such information independently.
Journal of the Royal Society Interface
Bionics: once more with feeling: Nine years after an accident caused the loss of his left hand, a Danish man became the first amputee in the world to feel - in real-time - with a sensory-enhanced prosthetic hand that was surgically wired to nerves in his upper arm. European scientists now report on the the first successful tests of the revolutionary prosthetic with sensory feedback.
Science Translational Medicine
Milk production affected by fetal sex: Cows produce more milk for daughters than they do sons, according US research examining data from nearly 1.5 million cows. Mothers which gestated back-to-back daughters produce as much as 450kg more milk over the first two lactations than those that give birth to two sons. The authors note the sex-specific differences go far beyond agriculture; these differences may have ramifications for the human infant formula market.
Attractive cyclists the fittest: A new study has examined the relationship between attractiveness and endurance performance in a unique sample of the male population - elite cyclists that raced the 2012 Tour de France. Based on hundreds of attractiveness ratings, researchers found that it seems the handsome guys finish first, leading them to suggest the link between looks and performance has been shaped by selection in our evolutionary past.
Biology Letters
|
|
Upcoming sci-tech events
For these and more upcoming events, and more details about them, visit the SMC's Events Calendar.
|
