Taupo dinosaur statue 'Boom Boom' explodes online
Boom Boom, the Taupo dinosaur, is exploding on social media after a rocky start with some rate payers. The near ten metre tall dinosaur scuplture sitting on a large geometric rock is the town's latest attraction. The scultpture first gained attention after the council contributed a one off grant of one hundred thousand dollars, while residents are facing a rates increase of more than eight percent. Now Boom Boom is attracting international attention online. Taupo Mayor David Tewavas spoke to Lisa Owen.
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RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
Take a look inside US Air Force's largest plane - C-5M Super Galaxy
For the first time in more than 40 years, the United States Air Force's largest plane has returned to New Zealand. The behemouth aircraft - the C-5M Super Galaxy - landed at Auckland's Whenuapai airbase last night, delivering the first components for a new C-130J Hercules simulator. The aircraft's wingspan is 67.89 metres and has a maximum take-off weight of just over 381 tonnes. The C-5M Super Galaxy is the US Air Force's largest plane. Photo: Marika Khabazi NZ Defence Force Auckland base commander Group Captain Brett Clayton said the plane's arrival was a great opportunity for the defence force. "The relationship between the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the United States Air Force, and their respective governments, is very strong at the moment and we simply would not have been able to bring out this piece of capability without that relationship. "These aircraft are in hot demand right around the world and so, for us to actually operate, have the ability to bring out the simulator via two missions - one today and then there'll be a further one next week - is really important and means a lot to us," Clayton said. A second delivery for the remaining components of the flight simulator will arrive next week. Photo: Marika Khabazi While the remaining parts for the full-motion flight simulator will arrive next week, he said the technology was expected to be ready for use next year. "The great thing about having a simulator here in New Zealand is that no longer will our crews have to go to the United States to train, and so the primary reason why we have the simulators is to do the initial pilot training, to do procedures that are just too dangerous to conduct in the aircraft and any of our current training that we do from time to time. "The last piece, I suppose, which is really important for us having a simulator here in New Zealand is that we can start to do full mission rehearsal. "Before our crews will deploy on any mission, we can load the environment, we can load weather, and so they can actually go and practice their mission in a safe environment, before they actually go and execute it in the aircraft," Clayton said. In December, the last of five new C-130J Hercules arrived in New Zealand to replace the C-130H Hercules that had been the workhorse of the Royal New Zealand Air Force for 60 years. Clayton said the overall C-130J package is $1.5 billion and the flight simulator is part of that. The C-5M Super Galaxy's nose door deployed. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi For the American crew of the C-5M Super Galaxy, this was their first time on New Zealand soil. US Air Force Technical Sergeant Jeremy Bennett said, after 11 years working on the plane, it had a distinctive charm. "Not many aircraft have flight engineers on them anymore," he said. "This is one of the two aircraft in the air force that still has them, so it's my favorite aircraft - it's the only one I've ever been on. "During my training, I got to be on one and it was love at first sight, the moment I stepped foot on it. "It's just so big. You get on and it's the biggest one - it's not the second-biggest or the third-biggest. "Every plane has its own personality. Some are a bit more finicky and touchy than others, but once you get them going, they just move and move and move - they're really fantastic." "Getting on it and just seeing all the crew roles come together to mesh to really be part of essentially launching a building with wings into the sky is just something special that you don't get to do anywhere else," Bennett said. US Air Force Lieutenant Sean Murray poses in front of the C-5M Super Galaxy. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi US Air Force Lieutenant Sean Murray put into perspective just how big the C-5M Super Galaxy was. "When the C-5 was designed, it was designed to take the original C-130, if you took the wings off and put it inside, and it would just come straight out," he said. "You can move an entire C-130 inside of a C-5, if you take the wings off. He said the aircraft had plenty of room for cargo and crew, with three lavatories and galleys, each with an oven and fridge. "Up in the flight deck, there's actually a lot more room. "Typically, we came down here with 14 crew. We have 25 spots, so you end up getting a lot of room and we have six bunks. "We have his-and-her throttles up there, so there's a lot of room separated even between the pilots. It's actually pretty comfy up there and it's a really nice plane to fly." The C-5M Super Galaxy will remain at Whenuapai until Friday, when it'll return to the United States, via Hawaii. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
Calls for ban on taking seafood from Whangaparāoa coastline as rock pools pillaged
People with buckets by the rock pools at Army Bay. Photo: MARK LENTON / SUPPLIED Whangaparāoa residents and iwi are calling for a ban on taking seafood from Auckland's Army Bay as they say what was once an "abundance of sea life" was now gone. Local iwi Ngāti Manuhiri was considering asking the minister for a rāhui or halt to collecting seafood from the area to give it time to regenerate. Long time Army Bay resident and founder of the Protect Whangaparāoa rock pools group Mark Lenton, said in the past two years there had been mass stripping of the rock pools at Army Bay with large groups turning up, sometimes in mini buses, with all sorts of tools and buckets to harvest all the kai moana they could find. He told Checkpoint urgent action needed was needed to protect the bay and other beaches too. "I walk the rock pools daily and there has been an abundance of sea life in the rock pools [in the past]. Over last Summer, I started seeing more people on the rocks with buckets and tools taking everything out of these pools." He said he had seen people using tongs and chisels to remove limpets and even piano wire to remove sea weed and sea anemone from the rocks. "There's a large element of poaching both day and night... it's more concentrated poaching at night. "They arrive in cars, mini buses sometimes, with all forms of tool and equipment." Last Sunday evening, he said he saw a group of 15 people on the rocks about 8pm, who were intercepted by some locals before the sealife could be removed. "They're taking cushion stars, limpets, crabs, sea anemone, everything goes into the bucket. Starfish at Army Bay. Photo: MARK LENTON / SUPPLIED "The pools used to be an abundance of life... like any Kiwi I have a love of the ocean and that started with rock pools." Lenton said it needed to stop and he believed a rāhui could be the answer. "A rāhui would be great, secondly, we need a legal ban for at least two years restricting all gathering at rock pools for that time." He acknowledged two years may not be long enough for the sealife to recover but said it was a step in the right direction. It was a really good chance for New Zealand and Fisheries NZ to take a stand, Lenton said, and show the country would not tolerate that kind of behaviour. "There should be no rules in 2025 that allow people to strip rock pools bare on any part of our coastline." A group of people at the Army Bay rock pools. Photo: MARK LENTON / SUPPLIED Chief Executive of Ngāti Manuhiri, Nicola Rata-MacDonald MNZM, said the iwi had been considering further options to protect shellfish and other taonga species since 2018. "Covid-19 temporarily paused this kōrero, but the need has become urgent as pressure on our rocky reefs and intertidal areas has escalated. "While the rāhui itself is not a legal closure, it works in tandem with legislation. Together they bring the strength of both cultural practice and government regulation. "This is why it is important that we all work together - iwi, agencies, and the wider community - to uphold the rāhui and the closure, so that our moana and taonga species have a chance to recover." Rata-MacDonald said the iwi was seeking closure of the entire eastern coastline of the Rodney Local Board Area and Hibiscus and Bays Local Board Area. "Once our application is lodged, it is for the Minister to consider and approve. We are seeking the maximum closure period of two years, though the final decision rests with the Minister." Enforcement would be the responsibility of Fisheries NZ, she said. "One way members of the public can potentially contribute is by applying to become honorary fisheries officers, which helps strengthen protection efforts. At the same time, our kaitiaki and volunteers will be focusing on education and awareness - working with the community to build understanding and support for the closure." Fisheries NZ regional manager for the north, Andre Espinoza, said he was grateful for information from the public relating to any suspected illegal fishing. But he noted the compliance rate in Auckland for recreational fishers when inspected was at 94 percent. People could report any suspicious or illegal fishing activity by calling 0800 4 POACHER (0800 47 62 24). Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
NZ film, TV industry weighs pros and cons of Artificial Intelligence
AI was used to alter Adrien Brody's voice in The Brutalist. He won an Oscar for the role. Photo: Supplied Despite fears it may threaten the industry's very existence, Artificial Intelligence has quickly become a commonly used tool in film and television production. In Aotearoa, few rules or regulations are in place to control the rapidly evolving tech. Many in the industry say AI has been a gamechanger for productivity, cutting down time and cost on many tasks, but some creatives are worried their roles may soon become redundant. The spectre of AI first came to widespread attention during the 2023 screenwriters and actors strikes, which included demands that their work couldn't be used to train AI models. Two years later, actor Adrien Brody won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the Brutalist , which was controversial, because Brody's voice was altered by AI to create a more accurate Hungarian accent. Despite the outcry, the use of AI in film production has already been adopted globally, including here in Aotearoa. Owners of Fathom VFX, Rhys Dippie (left) and Damon Duncan. Photo: Supplied / ABC VFX artists Damon Duncan and Rhys Dippie, who co-own Fathom VFX, use to the tool speed up a sometimes tedious job. Previously, when their team were tasked with editing one five-second clip for a film, the process was long and drawn out. In one clip, a cheerleader somersaulted through the air, as other cheerleaders practiced in the background. The problem was it was raining, when it was not supposed to be, meaning every tiny droplet of water needed to be removed from the screen. Normally, this would have taken at least a week, working frame by frame, but Damon Duncan said AI could cut this time down dramatically. "If there is an AI approach or machine-learning approach that can save us time or get us to the result quicker, we will definitely look at it," he said. "One hundred percent of companies in this sphere are doing the same thing." While AI may be a gamechanger for productivity, Dippie said he feared where it would take the industry. "Unfortunately, if we're using bigger teams, we're not going to be competitive, and someone else who's using a smaller team and taking advantage of these tools is going to be winning the job - that's just the unfortunate reality." Duncan's concerns lie within the creative side of film-making. "What it doesn't allow for is education, it allows for answers without questions," he said. "We can teach software, we can teach techniques - we cannot teach things like eye, composition, colour theory, understanding what lenses do, understanding what light does." Screen Auckland chief executive Matthew Horrocks. Photo: Supplied As AI rapidly evolves, Screen Auckland chief executive Matthew Horrocks said it could threaten a large range of jobs within the industry. "The jobs that we should be concerned about are the ones that can be automated and the scope of what can be automated has radically increased," he said. ."Whether that's the first draft of a script or the first pass on a sound edit, or picture edit or VFX - all of those are potentially at risk here." According to Horrocks, it's not all negative, with AI opening doors to an industry notoriously difficult to break into, allowing film-makers to harness techniques that previously could have cost millions. "I think it could be highly beneficial for lower-budget projects and, in an Aotearoa context, we're a territory that's struggled in terms of capacity and budget internationally," he said. "What can be done by VFX in terms of a local company is expanding exponentially and that is incredibly exciting." Film-maker Arthur Machado is more than familiar with AI's abilities, after using it as a production tool for the past three years. In this time, he has made several fully AI-generated short films and advertisements. Despite his enthusiasm for the tech, he doesn't expect it to take over any time soon. "AI can't do all that those techniques can do on their own," he said. "AI is not a replacement for that, it's an addition. "AI can do a bit of everything on its own as well, so it's another option for production tools." Even Machado has his concerns. "It's a tool and that's how I use it., but I do think it's dangerous. There are many ways people could do harm, legislation is key here." In Aotearoa, however, legislation is practically non-existent, an issue NZ Writer's Guild executive director Alice Shearman holds deep concerns about. Shearman said screenwriters were now often asked to adapt AI-generated scripts. With little regulation in place, using AI in this way could be a minefield. "What we can't guarantee is that the data sets training and the outputs that they produce aren't utilising that stolen copyrighted work to generate other work. The moment you put your work into a tool, you can't guarantee that you're going to maintain control of your work." With AI now impacting nearly every aspect of the screen industry, Shearman said it was time for the government to step up. "Our current government is looking at copyright and AI with a wait-and-see perspective," she said. "They're waiting to see what's happening in Australia, they're waiting to see what's happening in the UK and the European territories, and I don't think we can continue to wait and see." She said, if the government didn't step in soon, the impacts on screenwriters could be significant. "The real-world implication is the loss of money or the loss of income for screenwriters, because if they can't prove copyright, they can't earn a living from their work." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
