Find out how drone chainsaws could actually improve health
Researchers from the University of Canterbury have successfully developed chainsaw drones. It comes off the back of eight years of development aiming to build drones that can traverse complex environments. The team has heard from multiple businesses that agree these drones could vastly improve the health and safety of their staff. Computer science professor Richard Green led the project.
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RNZ News
9 hours ago
- RNZ News
15,000 students compete in Times Tables Rock Stars Mathematics competition
The education minister was a keen observer as thousands of school pupils around the country were put through their mathematical paces. About 15,000 students, between the ages of 7 and 13, took part in the Times Tables Rock Stars Mathematics competition on Thursday morning. The event consisted of two corresponding 30-minute questionnaires across the North and South islands, involving about 300 schools. James Meagher and Erica Stanford competing against each other and putting their maths skills to the test. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Education Minister Erica Stanford and South Island Minister James Meagher watched competition proceedings at Christchurch's Somerfield Te Kura Wairepo. School principal Meagan Kelly said her students were "very focused" ahead of the competition. "This is the second Rock Star competition that we've done, so they're pretty keen, they're pretty well practised, and they do love it," she said. "That sense of competition is really amazing, so they really enjoy that." Students at Christchurch's Somerfield Te Kura Wairepo competing in the maths competition. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon The UK-based competition has been touring the world. Underlining the high-pressure nature of proceedings, the event was live-streamed over YouTube. The times table competition was also rejuvenating old rote learning techniques, Kelly said. "There is a bit of a revival in that we want them to have all of these facts locked into their brains, so it makes maths later on, a little bit easier for them as things get more complex." Ten-year-old Haval said he was put to the ultimate test. "I'm not at my best today. I'm usually 70 to 80 questions a minute, now I'm 40 to 50." Other pupils RNZ spoke to explained the competition was both "exciting, challenging, and nerve-wracking". Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Stanford and Meagher were later strapped to their devices, their math skills were put under scrutiny in the ultimate North-South battle, as several pupils watched on. "We've got a South Island representative here in Minister James Meagher, I'm representing the North Island. But maths is the winner on the day right," Stanford said. It is understood Stanford earned bragging rights over her junior minister. Although it was all fun and games on Thursday, problem-solving of a different kind has been needed by Stanford. Eighteen errors were discovered in brand new ministry-funded maths resources. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Mistakes include incorrect sums, a wrong number labelled in te reo Māori, and incorrectly saying "triangles" instead of "rectangles" in an answer. Speaking to reporters, Stanford defended the failure, explaining the sector had moved fast. "There was a very small handful of errors found by keen-bean mathematicians, good on them," she said. "These are existing resources and it was likely they were there for some time. "Actually we've been responsive, receptive. We've gone out to the classrooms and the schools and said if you find anything we'll fix it immediately, which we have. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
12 hours ago
- RNZ News
Is AI the future of deciding prices?
Delta Airlines has hit turbulence after it publicly stated it wants AI to set 20% of its domestic ticket prices by the end of the year, raising concerns about so called survellience pricing. Delta has since issued a statement saying it does not intend to use AI to leverage individual consumer-specific data such as prior purchasing activity, but several senators are still concerned they're working on legislaton to stop it happening. Professional teaching fellow at the University of Auckland and an expert in the use of AI and digital technologies in marketing, Patrick Dodd spoke to Lisa Owen. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
Techday NZ
14 hours ago
- Techday NZ
netQ & Feenix launch New Zealand-first resilient multicloud transit
netQ has announced a partnership with Feenix on the delivery of its Smart MultiCloud Transit service, aimed at providing New Zealand enterprises with simplified, resilient, and cost-efficient cloud connectivity. Growing multicloud adoption Research by Forrester has found that 90% of enterprises across Australia and New Zealand are utilising multi-cloud strategies, increasingly seeking to improve workload portability and reduce dependency on single vendors. Datacom's recent report also shows local businesses are moving toward hybrid and multi-cloud arrangements tailored to specific workloads, indicating a shift from an earlier "cloud-first" approach. netQ and Feenix's Smart MultiCloud Transit has been described as the first New Zealand-native cloud service designed to address the challenges associated with these evolving environments. The service targets enterprise users working with major providers, including AWS, Azure, Oracle, Google Cloud, and Catalyst Cloud, aiming to streamline cloud access and reduce network complexity. Details of the service The service provides a range of features, such as seamless cloud-to-cloud connectivity, end-to-end service diversity for uptime, burstable bandwidth to meet variable demand, pooled bandwidth pricing across connections, and reduced reliance on existing Megaport infrastructure. The design incorporates Multi-Cloud Routers (MCRs) located in Auckland, Sydney, and Melbourne, with the goal of lowering latency and reducing the need for offshore routing. "What makes Smart MultiCloud Transit different is that it's not tied to a single cloud or architecture," says Aaron Cottew, Chief Revenue Officer at netQ and the architect behind the new capability. "It gives businesses the freedom to shift workloads between environments without reengineering their entire network. It's secure, cost-efficient, and built for scale." An example cited by netQ highlighted savings of over a quarter of a million New Zealand dollars by a client who migrated from Megaport, with improved performance and redundancy. Cottew commented, "One customer moved from Megaport to Smart MultiCloud Transit and saved over a quarter of a million dollars over three years – with better performance and redundancy. That's the transformation we're enabling." The product's architecture has been purpose-built to counteract the "accidental multicloud sprawl" that is becoming more common as organisations add new cloud services without an overarching network design. The approach includes burstable bandwidth, calculated with 95th percentile billing, meaning enterprises only pay for peak capacity during genuine high-demand periods, such as monthly backups. Focus on local requirements The emergence of local cloud regions, including Microsoft Azure's investment in New Zealand, has raised demand for connectivity options that suit businesses now managing deployments across both New Zealand and Australia. netQ says it has designed the service with these evolving needs in mind, focusing on supporting compliance, cost efficiency, and resilience requirements for sectors such as finance, healthcare, and government. "This service came from our desire to escape the lock-in and inefficiency of traditional connectivity," says Cottew. "With Feenix's delivery capability, we've created something that's ready to reshape enterprise networking in NZ, and in particular, one that aligns with the evolving demands of New Zealand's digital economy." Encryption and future capability Growing customer requirements for encrypted cloud access are also being addressed. Cottew remarked, "We are now implementing MACSEC encryption for customers requiring high-speed encrypted cloud access." Looking forward, netQ's roadmap for Smart MultiCloud Transit includes additions such as automation, expanded security features, and application-layer intelligence. The company is positioning the service as a platform for ongoing development, instead of a fixed solution. "This is just the beginning," says Cottew. "With Smart MultiCloud Transit, we're helping customers gain the visibility, control, and agility they've been missing – without the price tag or complexity they expect."
