News Archive – Articles from 2010
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Solar power system designed for portable bach
www.massey.ac.nz, 4 March
A solar power system specially designed for a revolutionary new portable building has featured in an exhibition of work by design students in Wellington. The exhibition represents the culmination of a year’s work for postgraduate students from a variety of design disciplines including spatial, textile, digital, graphic, industrial, communications and performance design.
Discussion starters:
• Portable renewable energy systems
• Building design
Analysing the MacDiet
TVNZ Breakfast video, 4 March
McDonald’s have developed a series of approved meals equate to 6.5 Weight Watchers points, but is this a good dietary partnership? Breakfast anayses the diet.
Discussion starters:
• Food and nutrition
• Marketing
A deal between fast food giant and Weight Watchers
www.tvnz.co.nz video, 3 March
McDonald’s have developed a series of approved meals equate to 6.5 Weight Watchers points, but is this a good dietary partnership?
Discussion starters:
• Food and nutrition
• Marketing
Hovercraft ready to take off
www.3news.co.nz video, 2 March
A Nelson inventor has created a flying hovercraft from scratch – a machine which isn’t classed as a plane so doesn’t require a pilot’s licence and which he believes could be commercially viable for transport around farms.
Discussion starters:
• Creative design
• Regulatory requirements
Our online relationships
Tearaway Digital magazine, February
Social networking seems to be here to stay whether we like it or not, but what are the larger effects on the way we interact, and why are opinions on this so divided? This issue was the basis of a survey, produced by Wellington East Girls College students, which found that college students are spending up to nine percent of their waking hours on social networking sites.
Kiwi entrepreneur sets up Facebook ‘for kids’
www.3news.co.nz video, 24 February
Today's children are growing up in an era of email and online games, but Facebook, Twitter and Bebo are no places for little kids. So Melissa Clark-Reynolds, mother and entrepreneur, decided she'd create something to fill that void. The result is MiniMonos, a virtual world where children create a monkey avatar then hang out and have fun.
Discussion starters:
• Values education – sustainability; ethical living.
Flying commercially into space
TVNZ Breakfast video, 23 February
Seven New Zealanders have paid nearly $300 each to become some of the first passengers to board a commercial flight into space with some of the group already preparing to start training for the flight.
Discussion starters:
• Proper / alternative function
• Environmental considerations
• Leisure technology
Google to build mega-fast broadband networks
www.nzherald.co.nz, 11 February
WASHINGTON - Google plans to build a handful of experimental, ultra-fast internet networks around the US to ensure that tomorrow's systems can keep up with online video and other advanced applications that the search company will want to deliver.
Chemical-free cosmetic created in NZ
www.tvnz.co.nz, 10 February
The world of cosmetics is made up of equal parts glitz, glam and science.
Now some Christchurch scientists have come up with a new formula, using an extraction technique that requires no chemicals.
NZ invention wins top US award
www.3news.co.nz, 10 February
Keith Alexander, an Associate Professor of Engineering at the University of Canterbury, has done what all inventors dream of, designed something new that is being used by millions around the world. His spring free trampoline now has global sales of over $30 million a year and has just been voted the top children’s product in the United States.
Discussion starters:
• Outcome development and evaluation – testing and trialing of design ideas
• International commercialization
Fitness gadgets
www.tvnz.co.nz, 10 February
Trying to get fit this summer? Gadget guy Ben Gracewood takes a look at some useful and interesting inventions to help you out.
Coffee cups polluting NZ landfills
www.3news.co.nz video, 10 February
The world drinks 400 billion coffees a year and in New Zealand we throw away 100 million cups a year and the final resting place of those cups are overcrowded landfills. A Wellington boutique coffee shop which sells 40,000 cups a month nationwide - all of which are ending up in landfills has decided to introduce a reusable option.
Discussion starters:
• Sociocultural influences – environmental; economic
Google Buzz to challenge Facebook
www.tvnz.co.nz, 10 February
Google Inc is tapping its huge network of Gmail users and web surfers to create a Buzz that it hopes will help it catch up with online social networking leaders Facebook and Twitter.
Gadget review: Toast n egg, air multiplier and sushi maker
www.3news.co.nz, 9 February
Tefal Toast N' Egg
I've found the perfect invention for single men or those who just don't have time to have a proper breakfast in the morning. Instead of just a toaster, how about a toaster complete with built-in egg cooker!
A Bentley of the future?
www.nzherald.co.nz, 7 February
These could be future Bentleys if their young designers have their way. They are penned by two of the four shortlisted designers in the Bentleys of the Future competition. Two entrants will win a six-month secondment at the Bentley design studio, working alongside Raul Pires - designer of the Continental GT and Mulsanne.
