Feb 05, 2018  -  It’s Monday, the week has just begun and already we’ve been handed some pretty incredible news.  One of the world’s biggest cruise lines, Royal Caribbean International, has vowed to cut single-use plastic on its cruises.  This is a pretty phenomenal step forward by a major industry player, and we imagine the transition to environmentally-friendly materials won’t be easy.

Feb 05, 2018  -  February Global Speakers Summit 2018 ‘From Leader to Legacy: A Global Journey’  New Zealand’s only Global Speaking Fellow and international bestselling author on entrepreneurship, Mike Handcock, is urging small business owners to dial back on social media in favour of authentic relationships and purposeful business – which are the real keys to successful business.

Feb 05, 2018  -  West Coast start up Reefton Distilling Co. is gearing up to produce premium quality spirits from the middle of the year after a successful capital raise through their crowdfunding equity offer.  Co-founders and Directors Patsy Bass and Sean Whitaker said that they were "absolutely thrilled", by the optimism and support from their investors, many of whom are a part of the local West Coast Community. They went on to announce that as at 10pm (NZST) on Sunday 4th February, the Equity Offer had raised over $1,125,000.

Feb 04, 2018  _  The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union has today released the full breakdown (available here) of Callaghan Innovation’s entertainment expenses for 2015/16.Earlier this month, we revealed Callaghan spent $304,000 on ‘entertainment’ in 2015/16. We can now confirm this was mostly purchases at cafes, bars and restaurants, and we have obtained receipts and explanations for the biggest purchases, showing booze forms up to 40% of a typical Callaghan dinner bill.

Feb 4, 2018  -  A year after its tiny, experimental rocket failed to reach orbit a year ago, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully launched (via Engadget) an experimental rocket into orbit this weekend, the smallest ever to do so.

According to JAXA, the launch was a demonstration experiment, that carried the TRICOM-1R — a three-unit cubesat— into lower Earth orbit, where it will observe the Earth with a set of cameras. Now in orbit, JAXA says that its status is “nominal.”

With its successful launch, the SS-520-5 is the smallest rocket to ever deliver a satellite into orbit. The vehicle is a SS-520 sounding rocket that’s been modified with a third stage, which helped bring the satellite into orbit.

The mission is part of a movement in the space industry towards using smaller vehicles to deliver tiny payloads. New Zealand company Rocket Lab successfully launched its first small rocket called Electron last month, delivering four satellites into orbit, including the disco ball-shaped Humanity’s Star. Small rockets designed to carry small payloads like the Electron and Japan’s SS-520-5 are designed to help bring down the cost to get to orbit, paving the way for small companies that can’t afford to hitch a ride into orbit on rockets from companies like SpaceX, Orbital ATK, or United Launch Alliance.

Source:  TheVerge    ||  February 03, 2018  |||

Feb 03, 2018  -  Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers has vowed to eliminate use of nonrecyclable plastics on aircraft and at head offices and bases. It will also introduce a voluntary carbon offset payment for customers when booking.  The low-cost carrier said it planned to switch to biodegradable cups, wooden cutlery and paper packaging onboard, and make its head offices, bases and operations plastic free.

Feb 02, 2018  -  Ford may be looking at removing as much metal as possible from its cylinder heads, if new patent applications by the company published early February are any indication.

Feb 2,  2018  - You've doubtless seen those little LEDs that can be fastened to a bicycle's spokes, that create a ring of light when the wheel is spinning. While they do make the bike much more visible at night, they're one more thing that needs batteries. Arara wheel lights, however, are powered by frame-mounted magnets.

Feb 2, 2018  -  Dassault Systèmes has been ranked first by Corporate Knights in the 2018 Top 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World (Global 100) index.  The Corporate Knights Global 100 index is recognised globally as the gold standard for corporate sustainability analysis.

Jan 31, 2018  -  Gender-balanced tech firms are up to 40 percent more profitable and it is important that Kiwi companies and leaders acknowledge and accept that when hiring staff, the new executive director of Tech Women NZ says.