Nine To Noon

Later this year Auckland will play host to a robotics conference of around 600 researchers, an ambitious plan hatched while the country's borders were closed, that has paid off. Some major companies have been attracted down-under for the event, which is a bid to establish New Zealand as a world-leading country in robotics. Kathryn speaks to roboticist and Auckland University senior lecturer Dr Minas Liarokapis who is organising the event, which will be one of the first times global leaders in the field will meet in person since pre-pandemic.

An aviation expert says the Civil Aviation Authority has been oversimplifying the rules around drone safely in its advertising - and it's fuelling a public backlash against drone operators. Dr Isaac Henderson is a lecturer at Massey University's aviation school and chair of UAVNZ, and is concerned at recent CAA advertising which states there are "no-fly zones" for drones. He says such terminology is misleading, and that when certain requirements are met, drones can be operated, but he says such blanket messaging ends up with the public reporting legitimate drone operators to police - and in some cases leading to threats against them. Kathryn also speaks to Colin Aitchison, operations manager for GCH UAV, a company offering aerial photography and asset inspection using drones. He says threats toward commercial operators like himself have become extremely common.

Comedians Te Radar and Irene Pink with a mix of lighter stories including Lorde having a swim in the Potomac River, which hasn't gone down well with some Washington DC locals.

The All Blacks resilience is set for another test, the Warriors pull the curtain down on a season to forget at a full stadium and what NZ Boxing 's open gender category means for the sport.

Time Out Bookstore's Jenna Todd reviews Isaac and the Egg by Bobby Palmer, published by Headline Publishing Group.

Serhii Plokhy is a professor of Ukrainian history at Harvard University and a leading authority on the Cold War and nuclear history. He's written a number of books on the subject, including Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy. Serhii Plokhy is the pre-eminent historian of that event, and the book is a definitive history of the world's worst nuclear disaster. His new book Atoms and Ashes: From Bikini Atoll to Fukushima is a history of the nuclear age, told through six of the biggest disasters; Bikini Atoll, Kystym, Windscale, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. Professor Plokhy tells Kathryn how the spectre of nuclear accidents still remains today, now more so than ever. Another nuclear disaster could be unfolding in Serhii Plokhy's own hometown; Zaporizhia, after Russian soldiers invaded Ukraine and occupied the nuclear power plant in February.

Can art increase awareness of our coexistence with non-human inhabitants - including fungi, plants and animals? A new exhibition at Wellington's City Art Gallery aims to do this. At Thresholds opens tomorrow - it's free for all - and features a mix of historical, recent and commissioned works by a big range of local artists. It includes photography, video, painting, sculpture and installation. Curator Moya Lawson says At Thresholds aims to provoke conversations around climate change and the importance of understanding different life forms to aid in the survival of all species.

Can art increase awareness of our coexistence with non-human inhabitants - including fungi, plants and animals? A new exhibition at Wellington's City Art Gallery aims to do this. At Thresholds opens tomorrow - it's free for all - and features a mix of historical, recent and commissioned works by a big range of local artists. It includes photography, video, painting, sculpture and installation. Curator Moya Lawson says At Thresholds aims to provoke conversations around climate change and the importance of understanding different life forms to aid in the survival of all species.

Being a registered Zoo or wildlife park in New Zealand doesn't automatically guarantee best practice for animal protection. Karen Fifield is the Chief Executive of Wellington Zoo and she was also recently apppointed Vice President of World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. WAZA is a global alliance whose members are dedicated to the care and conservation of animals and their habitats around the world. She says protecting wildlife is a key plank of being an accredited member of WAZA, and it ensures facilities are progressive and do work beyond breeding animals. Zoos and wildlife parks here have to meet Government guidelines and minimum standards around containment, but Ms Fifield says that's different to conservation and protection measures.

The government may be close to removing the mask mandate in all but the most high-risk health settings. This week, the Ministry of Disabled People sent an email to disability support providers asking for feedback on a proposal to "significantly narrow" where masks have to be worn. The organisations were given only 24 hours to provide feedback to the government. Disability support providers believe that if the government is considering removing the mask mandate in healthcare settings, then they will also likely be removed from other, less risky, environments like retail and hospitality. The government here is due to consider its Covid traffic light settings in two weeks. Kathryn speaks to Melissa Smith, chief executive of CCS Disability Action, the largest disability support and advocacy organisation in New Zealand.