Applications are open for our next Science Media SAVVY courses with the SMC also soon to launch a series of short SAVVY courses drawing on the wisdom of visiting experts.

Our two-day intensive Science Media SAVVY course will be held on the campus of the University of Waikato August 7-8 and the Centre for Brain Research at the University of Auckland, November 20 - 21.

Check out the details here, including a course breakdown, testimonials and pricing details. Increased funding from MBIE means we can now offer the course at the reduced price of $595 + GST per person and offer not one but two science media scholarships for post graduate students. 

The workshops see a maximum of 12 scientists at any stage of their career learn the skills to prepare their key messages, cope with print and broadcast interviews, delve into new media and build their media profile.

In the coming months, short SAVVY courses will draw on the expertise of visiting scientists and journalists covering areas like scientists as media personalities, science blogging, podcasting, video and animation production. More details will be supplied in the near future.

The SAVVY workshops and short courses are designed to help scientists gain the confidence and skills to communicate their science effectively, via the media and the plethora of new media channels that are available to them.

They are offered in tandem with our free resources for scientists, the Desk Guide for Scientists: Working with Media and Sciencemediasavvy.org - our collaboration with the Australian Science Media Centre that features dozens of videos and tip sheets on all aspects of science communication. 

Contact the SMC to find out more about Science Media SAVVY and how we can help you.  

Scientist are planning to drill deep in the Alpine Fault to learn more about the fault and its regular - at least in geological terms - earthquakes.

GNS Science, in collaboration with a number of New Zealand and international partners, is preparing to bore 1.8km deep into the Alpine Fault at a site near Franz Josef. Researchers hope to gain valuable insights from rock samples taken near the boundary where the Australian tectonic plate is pushed into, and under, the Pacific plate.

The Alpine Fault ruptures on average every 330 years, plus or minus 90 years, producing earthquakes of about magnitude 8 that cause strong ground-shaking throughout much of the South Island.

 
"The Alpine Fault saves up all its energy for one big showdown every few hundred years. In between its big ruptures, it stays locked and produces minor earthquakes and tremors," Dr Sutherland said in a media release.

By comparing rocks retrieved by drilling with rocks exposed at the surface, the research team hopes to discover how the Earth's crust deforms during earthquakes. They will also learn about chemical and physical changes occurring at various depths inside the fault zone.

You can watch a video of Dr Sutherland explaining the project here, and read a round up of news coverage of the Alpine Fault drilling project on the on the Science Media Centre website.

A shaky week for the Ring of Fire 

If anyone was unsure of the value of the upcoming drilling project, the flurry of quakes around the Pacific this week should serve as a reminder of how little we know about earthquakes and the geologic process that cause them. 

A series of three quakes shook the Kermadec Islands on Tuesday, the strongest 6.9 in magnitude. A number of DOC staff on the Islands were fortunately unharmed according to Radio NZ.

Also on Tuesday morning (NZT) a 7.9 earth quake struck the Aleutian islands off the coast of Alaska, prompting local tsunami warnings. No major damage was reported. 

Closer to home, 4.9 and 4.8 quakes rattled the lower North Island yesterday morning and afternoon respectively.  

A controversial and previously retracted study on the toxicology of genetically modified corn and herbicide has been republished in a new journal, reigniting debate over the results.

Coming as a sort of third act in what is now known as the Séralini Affair, the republication of the study follows months of heated debate over the study, publishing standards and food safety testing in general.

The research, initially published almost two years ago, details a study in which rats were fed a diet containing Roundup pesticide and maize genetically modified to be resistant to the herbicide. Lead author Gilles-Éric Séralini and his colleagues argued that the results showed the GM maize combined with the pesticide caused tumors in rats.

When published in Food and Chemical Toxicology in 2012 the paper's design, methodology and use of statistical tools attracted a great deal of criticism from the scientific community.The small number of rats used in the study and use of the Sprauge Dawley rat strain, which prone to developing tumours, were two of the key concerns raised by the study's many detractors.

In the face of this vocal criticism paper was eventually retracted by the journal, a move usually reserved for fraudulent or accidentally erroneous results. The authors did not agree to the retraction, sparking off further debate about whether a study, once published, should be retracted under such circumstances.

The research group has now republished the study in the open access journal Environmental Sciences Europe.

The SMC contacted experts for comment on the republished paper.

Associate Professor Peter Dearden, Director of Genetics Otago, Laboratory for Evolution and Development, University of Otago comments:

"The republication of this paper, and the rebuttals presented, have not changed my opinion. I am not convinced that the original paper indicates any danger of genetically modified food. I do think, however, that this research needs to be continued."

Prof Thomas Lumley, Department of Statistics, University of Auckland, comments:

"Although I do not find it convincing, I am pleased that the study is being republished. While I think it would have been reasonable to reject the paper initially, I was uncomfortable with a retraction that was not based on any new information or any accusation of wrongdoing, and said so at the time."

Extensive commentary from experts in New Zealand, the UK, Australia and Canada is available on the Science Media Centre website.