Paper Jets

By Michelle Robinson & Kirsty Johnston People are still afraid to report on dolphin deaths due to repercussions from the fishing industry, a University of Otago zoology professor says. A critically endangered Maui's dolphin was found dead by a member of the public in Taranaki last week. The dolphin, of which only 54 are believed to be left, was found by a member of the public on Thursday or Friday on a beach near Pungarehu, south of New Plymouth. It was collected by the Department of Conservation and taken to Massey University for an autopsy. It's not yet known if the dead dolphin is a Maui or closely related Hector's dolphin. A latest population survey found a couple of Hector's mingling further north than usual with the Maui's dolphin. Otago professor Liz Slooten said it would be "hard to get information out of the tiny community of Parihaka''. It would be the second Maui's dolphin found dead in Taranaki this year. Another, a fe...

SLOW BUZZ: Honey bees have shown their usually impeccable sense of time is slowed under general anaesthesia. An Auckland study using honey bees to prove the jet-lag effects of anaesthesia is creating quite a buzz. Drugged-up honey bees were used in tests at Cornwall Park and Mangere to show how their usually impeccable sense of time was slowed under general anaesthesia, with the results of the Auckland University study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' latest issue. "It sounds unusual to you, but it's quite sensible to use bees," lead researcher from the Department of Anaesthesiology and School of Biological Sciences, Dr Guy Warman, said. "They have a time sense unlike any other creatures. They can know exactly what time of the day they think it is by a range of functions including their 'waggle' dance and by following the direction of the sun." The bees were trained to travel to a specific food source...

Kiwi kids are being confronted with substandard school toilets. A survey of 68 Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill primary school found some without soap, hot water or disposable towels or hand dryers. One school had no soap, five had no toilet paper in any toilets, six had no way to dry hands – and 49 had "deficient hygiene facilities". "Good hand hygiene is one of the most effective ways of preventing infectious diseases," Southern District Health Board medical officer Dr Marion Poore said. "But it's hard to expect people to wash their hands if the facilities aren't clean and tidy. In the southern climate, having only cold water can be a turn-off to hand washing." The Otago University and health board research assessed availability, functionality and provision of hand basins, soap and hand dryers. The results were published in Oxford University's Journal of Public Health this month. The Ministry of Education recommen...

The vital signs are good so, sweating and nauseated, I clench surgical tongs and start operating. It's all fake for me but for trainee obstetricians and gynaecologists at Middlemore, this couldn't be more real. The first of its kind in the country, LapSim laparoscopic simulators allow trainees to hone their skills without setting foot in a theatre. A study in Denmark, where the simulators are mandatory, found those who trained on them, performed surgery in half the time of other novices. Middlemore's obstetric and gynaecology senior medical officer Douglas Barclay is confident with his new tools. He undertakes simulation after simulation when the Sunday Star-Times visits, ranging from removing gallstones to an ectopic pregnancy. "I can teach you in a morning," he promises. Virtual or not, my palms are sweating before I even grab hold of the free-moving scissors and tongs to perform the intricate task of clamping a blood vessel. "Boys are bett...

SARA QUILTER ~ Tailor Skincare owner, based in Wellington (29) She imagined she might one day own a café with some friends, something fun. It never crossed Sara Quilter’s mind that she would come up with New Zealand’s first probiotic serum with anti-ageing benefits. Bottles of New Zealand wine were being carted into Sara’s Wellington store ahead of the launch of her whizzy new skincare product Renew, when we spoke. “I was quietly obsessing over probiotics since I started out,” the young businesswoman says. “Last year I came across a cutting edge extract that stimulates the skin’s renewal process. The active ingredient is the probiotic lysate ‘pro-renew complex’ and the second is grapeseed extract.” That quote might have gone right over some readers’ heads, but Sara has been busy tapping away at skincare chemistry since she was an early 20-something, fresh from completing a psychology postgrad at Victoria University. “I was working at the Department of Internal Affairs’ co...

JAZ GARNER ~ Makeup artist, dancer + model based in Auckland (23) Jaz has been experimenting with makeup since she could reach her mother’s black lipstick at age four. Nowadays her makeup artistry is splashed across the pages of magazines and featured on our TV screens. Her bag is stocked with the likes of Yves St Laurent and Giorgio Armani and a stack load of MAC. And she doesn’t like to leave the house without a few lashings of mascara, under-eye concealer and “a nice little lip stain”. At the family home, you could probably still dig up some ‘Oompa Loompa shots’ of a teenage Jaz trying on her mum’s Thin Lizzy. “Oh gawd…” But Jaz’s diary was packed with enough clients that she managed to turn freelance at the tender age of 21. She earned her stripes at the MAC counter at Auckland Airport, having initially left her New Plymouth home for the big smoke at 17 to study dance at the Excel School of Performing Arts. The modelling came a bit later, through contacts she picked u...

KARLA MORRIS ~ Nails and makeup artist of New Plymouth (29) She’s been in the business less than a year but Karla  Morris’ nail designs shot to international fame when  they featured on Kim Kardashian’s app and website  this year. “It’s what I’m known for now,” the Inglewood nail technician laughs. Not that she minds the attention in the least. So popular are her hand-painted manicures that she’s opening her own studio above Rig66 at 33a Elliott Street in New Plymouth. Karla was heading to America on holiday when she thought how great it would be to gain some experience under nail artist to the stars, Britney Tokyo, and flicked her an email to see what would happen. To her surprise, Britney emailed straight back. Now Karla’s nails have featured on a video of Britney working on Kim’s nails, when Kim K gave a nod to the fan art. “Kim may not know me, but its nice to know she has featured my work,” Karla says. “I’m not obsessed with the Kardashians but I would love ...