Science
Nasa balloon grounded
![SUPER-PRESSURE: A Nasa balloon similar to the one to be launched at Wanaka.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/4/6/8/0/l/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.14680s.png/1427056887007.jpg)
A Nasa balloon launch attempt has been cancelled due to wind, disappointing a small crowd gathered at Wanaka Airport.
Drone maps lagoons
![Mapping the
inter-tidal area
and vegetation
of the Wairau
Lagoons, in
Marlborough,
using drones
and field work
are, from left,
Cawthron
Institute
scientist Dr Paul
Gillespie,
Moyang Li, Lisa
Peacock and
Celine Dufour.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/4/6/8/h/w/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.14684o.png/1427056867466.jpg)
The Wairau Lagoons bared a striking resemblance to the Transformers movie during the first survey of its kind in the region.
West coast is tsunami 'blind spot'
![07-CHP-Sport/David Hallett/The Press
Speights Coast to Coast two day event. Going down to the edge of the Tasman sea before the start.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/4/6/7/a/b/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.146762.png/1427062511350.jpg)
Long thought to be "benign", the Tasman Sea appears to have faced catastrophic tsunami events.
King Richard III to get a more regal farewell
![COFFIN AND KINGMAKER: Michael Ibsen, a 17th generation nephew of King Richard III, poses with a facial reconstruction of the king.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/h/v/c/2/e/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1465xq.png/1426988611477.jpg)
Furniture maker Michael Ibsen is used to clients asking for custom-made pieces, but not a coffin for a king.
A rare sight: A total solar eclipse
![A solar eclipse is viewed by ESA's Sun-watching Proba-2 minisatellite, using it's SWAP imager to capture the Moon passing in front of the Sun in a near-totality, in this handout image provided by the Royal Observatory of Belgium March 20, 2015. SWAP views the solar disc at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths to capture the turbulent surface of the Sun and its swirling corona. REUTERS/ESA/Royal Observatory of Belgium/Handout via Reuters TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. NO SALES. NO ARCHIVES. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/4/6/1/k/x/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1461i4.png/1426884792910.jpg)
Selected spots in Europe have  experienced a total solar eclipse, one of three celestial events taking place.
Familial cancer breakthrough
![REVOLUTIONARY: Otago University Professor Parry Guilford says researchers have identified drugs that could successfully treat or even prevent deadly familial stomach and lobular breast cancers](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/4/5/x/2/3/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.145uir.png/1426818287165.jpg)
Kiwi researchers have found a potential cure to deadly familial stomach and lobular breast cancers.
Why haven't we been to Mars?
![WELL RED: ESA probe Rosetta withmysterious Mars in the background.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/1/k/g/w/d/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.145lj8.png/1426722318238.jpg)
Bowie asked back in 1971 'Is there life on Mars?' We still don't really know.
An aurora of rare grandeur
![The aurora over the Mackenzie District, taken by Maki Yanagimachi.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/4/5/g/2/w/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.145ipe.png/1426710503439.jpg)
The colourful light show seen above parts of New Zealand was one of the best aurora displays in years, an expert says.
A disturbance, far, far away
![The incredible view from Wanaka](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/4/5/a/y/g/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.145e6o.png/1426652203333.jpg)
Severe geomagnetic storms like this cause havoc on earth, but this one's just put on a beautiful show.
Cyclone keeps NASA balloon on ground
![STUCK AT AIRPORT: A Nasa Balloon similar to the one to be launched at Wanaka once Cyclone Pam has passed.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/4/3/f/7/l/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.144yy0.png/1426473811304.jpg)
Space agency's balloon faces another day of waiting at Wanaka Airport.
NZ's weird and wonderful creatures
![NEW TO SCIENCE: Syracosphaera pemmadiscus, an ultra-tiny member of a group of microalgae called coccolithophores.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/4/4/x/t/r/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.144xrj.png/1426467204244.jpg)
Niwa biologists have discovered 141 new marine creatures in the past three years.
Godwits go the distance
!["ENTHRALLING": Keith Woodley surveys the godwits of Miranda.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/4/3/9/n/t/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1438di.png/1426332032359.jpg)
These birds use NZ as a summer layover on an incredible long-distance migration.
Magnetic field probes launched
![Nasa launches an unmanned rocket carrying satellites to boost its mission to better understand the magnetosphere.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/4/3/j/1/0/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.143guq.png/1426223623063.jpg)
New satellites to map explosions triggered by criss-crossing magnetic fields around Earth.
Icy moon's 100km-deep ocean
![SURF SAFARI: Jupiter's Ganymede moon has an ocean, says NASA, but it's buried under thick ice.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/4/2/v/t/w/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.142v9w.png/1426197180892.jpg)
Ocean discovery means possible lifeforms on Jupiter's icy Ganymede moon.
A six-week journey in 100 seconds
![Whale](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/4/1/9/0/n/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.141tuf.png/1426194935165.jpg)
VIDEO: Six weeks of research in the icy Southern Ocean is distilled in to 100 seconds in this time-lapse video.
Giant ocean on Jupiter moon
![WATER OF LIFE?: Ganymede, bottom, orbits Jupiter.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/4/2/t/d/i/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.142tde.png/1426190848073.jpg)
Jupiter's largest moon discovered to have an ocean with more water than Earth.
Gigantic arthropod was 'a very peaceful guy'
![BIG AND WEIRD: The reconstruction of a filter-feeding Aegirocassis benmoulae from the Ordovician Period feeding on a plankton cloud is shown in this artist rendering.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/4/2/t/d/p/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.142tcx.png/1426190508723.jpg)
It was big. It was weird. And this monster from the primordial seas was also a trend-setter.
Can 1080 kill a child?
![SECURITY MEASURES: Warnings and safety measures were put in place to counter the 1080 threat.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/4/2/s/l/k/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.142smg.png/1426220743406.jpg)
Toxicologist explores how 1080 is and the risk of a child dying from contaminated formula.
Hollywood plot leaps into the lab
![Researchers have implanted false memories into the brains of mice.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/h/v/8/l/h/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.140jm6.png/1426009331762.jpg)
Scientists have successfully implanted false memories in a radical experiment.
Climate change evidence is clear
![BIG LOSS: Tasman Glacier, from the moraine wall. Fifteen per cent of the total ice volume of the Southern Alps has been lost between 1976 and 2008.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/3/z/g/g/3/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.13zfwl.png/1426041702254.jpg)
OPINION: Mankind cannot ignore the evidence on climate change, write David Wratt, Andy Reisinger and James Renwick.
A peacock spider? That's just weird
![PEACOCK SPIDER: Meet Sparklemuffin, the new peacock spider species discovered in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/3/x/y/j/w/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.13y4gb.png/1425755950529.jpg)
Meet Sparklemuffin, the peacock spider so cute it could cure arachnophobia... maybe.
Spacecraft makes history
![MAKING HISTORY: Nasa's Dawn spacecraft heads toward the dwarf planet Ceres in an artist's conception.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/3/x/q/4/l/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.13xqe8.png/1425673458104.jpg)
The Dawn spacecraft is the first human-made object to visit a dwarf planet. Now it's time to look for evidence of liquid water.
The wisdom of orca grandmothers
![An orca pod in tight configuration. Did grandma teach the little ones not to stray?](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/3/w/r/g/x/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.13wrcm.png/1425595060613.jpg)
Why do female orca live long beyond menopause? They still have a lot to offer their families.
Man gets drunk on chips
![OTHER 001 BEER.MELB.011206.BRW.PIC BY JESSICA SHAPIRO... BEER GENERIC, ALCOHOL, FESTIVE SEASON, PARTY, DRINK, DRUNK... BRW/FIRST USE PLEASE](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/3/w/k/p/d/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.13wnu5.png/1425587320471.jpg)
Chowing down on a box of chips sends one British man into a drunken, vulgar state.
Fascination inspiration
![Starry eyed: Dave John Owen has opened a new space centre in Kihikihi to teach Kiwis about astronomy and space exploration.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/3/s/2/r/z/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.13s2nl.png/1425331966854.jpg)
A man with a keen interest in the final frontier has launched his own space centre which aims to educate others on life outside of Earth.
Phone ET, why don't we?
![ET phones home in the beloved 1980s children's movie.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/3/r/v/4/j/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.13rv3k.png/1425180005403.png)
We've been listening to the stars since 1960, and they haven't spoken. Is it time to shout into space?
Follow the gamma-rays
![SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE: Some types of supermassive black holes shoot out jets of electromagnetic radiation including radio waves which can be detected by radio telescopes.](/web/20150324010738im_/http://www.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/3/r/r/g/q/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.13rrdo.png/1425169118251.jpg)
Warkworth's observatory has pinpointed a supermassive black hole in a distant galaxy.