South Wairarapa Rebus Club

Rebus Club member, Dr David Woodhams, challenged the group’s August meeting to consider the ethical issues surrounding our developing capability of editing human genes.

Early genetic engineering involved the joining of DNA from different species and subsequently inserting the hybrid DNA into a host cell, often a bacterium. 

A common example, dating from 1978, is the production of insulin by bacteria into which the human insulin gene has been inserted. Until then, a single gram of insulin for treatment of diabetes, equivalent to about 28,800 units, required its extraction from eight kilograms of pancreas glands taken from more than 50 slaughtered pigs or cows. 

Another example, more controversial, is the development of crop plant varieties that are resistant to herbicide.

In 2002 the method which bacteria have evolved to make themselves immune to viral attack was discovered, known by the acronym CRISPR, and from this discovery scientists have learned to insert genetic material into human genes with convincing precision. 

There are two forms of genetic editing. 

One embraces treatment that influences the DNA only of the cells of an individual – the edit can’t be passed on to descendants – that’s somatic treatment. 

The other, germline editing, specifically includes the ability to pass on the edit to succeeding generations. Therein lie the ethical challenges. … Continue Reading

Astros shoot for moon with World Space Week

Star Safari at Ponatahi.

With South Wairarapa and Carterton a newly accredited Dark Sky Reserve, it comes as no surprise that World Space Week is now an exciting event on the regional calendar. 

Local World Space Week runs from October 3 to 10 with local space science educators, Star Safari, hosting a range of events during the week designed to inspire people and help them learn about the night sky.

Destination Wairarapa Product Development Manager, Chrissy Cummings said the World Space Week program highlighted the Astro tourism opportunity in the region, one that Destination Wairarapa looks forward to helping businesses explore.

“Astro tourism is demonstrably successful in dark sky reserves around the world, and this presents a clear roadmap for businesses in Wairarapa. 

“These World Space Week events serve to highlight such opportunities within our community, while continuing to promote Wairarapa as a Dark Sky Reserve nationally,” she said.

“We have a burgeoning Astro tourism industry in the region, and we are exceptionally lucky to be home to a number of passionate astronomers dedicated to space education and experiences. This presents extensive opportunity for local businesses, whether that be through establishing new ventures or partnering with those that already exist.”

A recent “Connections” speed-dating business to business event, hosted by Wairarapa Dark Sky Reserve, designed to connect current Astro operators with other businesses, drew a full capacity response.

If you are interested in learning more about Astro tourism in the region, contact Chrissy via

Chrissy@wairarapanz.com

Under The Martinborough Stars

Most people know that the sun is a star, and the stars are other suns further away. But are they really like our sun? Kinda, yes, but let’s dig deeper. 

In astronomy it’s often said that the sun is an average star. But it’s also not average for other reasons. How does our sun really compare to other stars? G type stars like our sun only account for around 5% of the stars in the universe. Commonly seen, but not that common. The most common stars are M type, red dwarfs that make up about 80% of all stars and are far smaller and fainter than the sun. Our closest neighbour, Proxima Centauri is one of them (not to be confused with Alpha Centauri A and B) Conversely, the most massive stars are very rare and just one hypergiant could fit hundreds of millions of suns within its roughly spherical volume. So, there’s an incredible range of sizes and brightness’s out there. 

OH BE A FINE GIRL (OR GUY), KISS ME…..…sorry. Just using an old-fashioned mnemonic for remembering the spectral classifications of stars. Like Never-Eat-Soggy-Weet-bix. Anyway, it’s OBAFGKM, with O being the hottest (blue) and M being the coolest (red). Replace your shower dials with blue for hot, as it should be. With our sun as a G type star, it’s on the cooler side in terms of the variety of temperatures star surfaces can be. Around 5600 Kelvin or 5300 celcius. Hot, but not that hot. Stellar cores can be millions of degrees Celsius. 

Our sun could most justifiably be called average in the fact it’s in the ‘main sequence’, doing what all stars do at first, happily fusing hydrogen to create helium. It will do so for a few billion years more. The Hertzsprung – Russell Diagram is very important in astronomy. It’s a graph plotting star temperature against luminosity (brightness). It demonstrates how the bulk of stars observed, fit somewhere along the main sequence, which looks like a sloping diagonal band among other regions of giants and dwarfs. These giants have transitioned into fusing heavier elements, and white dwarfs are ‘dead stars’. The glowing core leftover and our sun’s eventual fate. 

Here’s a couple more reasons our sun might not be so average. It’s still the only G type star we know of with so many planets. That is probably due to limitations in discovery so far but it may also be a bit special in that regard. More than half of the stars you see in the night sky are doubles. Binaries. They have an orbital partner. We think of our cycles of day and night as perfectly natural but there are plenty of planetary configurations  around other stars that would get some pretty funky day-night cycles, if any at all. So let’s be grateful for our mild tempered and relatively stable sun, the night and the ability to see other stars in all their different types. But let’s not be grateful for clouds. They can all disappear for a while. 

Pump Track team hits big target

The Martinborough Pump Track project has hit the halfway point of fundraising for the project, with $125,000 of its quarter-million budget in the bank. 

This huge milestone has been an incredible effort by the Martinborough Youth Trust team. 

Terry Sue & Pat who have been writing grant applications and exploring as many avenues as possible for funding but also boosted by the local community who have been donating and fundraising to get us to this midway point.

The pump track project was the seed of an idea post the Waihinga Centre Park upgrade.

There were gaps in what was on offer for local youth, especially older kids and the idea that resonated with many came to the table.

The long journey to get to this point started by taking the idea to the South Wairarapa District Council and then working through the stages to achieve the location.  Then designer TrailPro, with extensive expertise in pump tracks came down to visit the site and meet some senior school kids to get a good understanding of what we wanted to achieve and the community element.  … Continue Reading