Miraz Jordan

The world seems dark and grim. These 5 links are about bringing a little light. 💡

1. Guardians against the galaxy: Tekapo couple honoured for planetary defence contributions:

   For 50 years Pam Kilmartin and Alan Gilmore have quietly worked to track asteroids that could pose a threat to Earth.

   The couple, now in their 70s, had contributed detailed observations to international planetary defence programmes, using their vantage point in Tekapo and teamwork to swiftly gather unique data.

   Their work saw them jointly awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit, although Kilmartin said she was "terrified" at the thought of receiving the honour.

   "I don't really know how we came to get something like this. We have just been doing what we like for the last 50 years," she said.

   "We kind of feel a bit guilty about being honoured for what is fun for us."

2. Wellington students win big at world's oldest and largest science fair:

   Two Wellington students have won major awards at the world's oldest and largest science fair, held in the United States.

   The pair competed against nearly 2000 students from 70 countries at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Ohio.

   Wellington College Year 13 student Jesse Rumball-Smith took out first place in the behavioural and social sciences category for a smartphone app he developed that detects road risks and helps promote safer driving. …

   Wellington Girls' College Year 11 student Isabelle Aduna won third place in the chemistry section for her project that used fruit and vegetable waste as natural dyes for sustainable solar cells.

3. Via: Bream Bay News, 05 June 2025, Page 6:

   After a successful breeding season last summer with 13 chicks known to have fledged … There are now believed to be 50 NZ fairy tern in existence. For the past 20 plus years the population was thought to be around 40 and on the brink of extinction.

   The population has been given a boost by a specialized breeding programme at Auckland zoo, where eggs are taken from wild nests and hatchedin incubators. The chicks are taught to fish an reared in safety until they are ready to fledge.

4. Cockatoos have learned to operate drinking fountains in Australia | Science | AAAS:

   One flock of cockatoos has learned how to operate human drinking fountains, performing a complex series of twists and holds to release the water into their mouths. …

   To access water, human patrons twist and hold the fountain’s handle, which causes water to spew from a spout embedded inside a rubber top. …

   Every cockatoo exhibited slight variations in its plan of attack. But the general strategy was the same: Each placed one or both of its feet on the fountain’s twist handle, then lowered its weight to twist the handle clockwise and prevent it from springing back up. As the parrots slurped water from the bubbling spout, their sharp beaks often left behind chew marks on the fountain’s rubber top.

5. Auckland's new electric ferries set to make waves worldwide | RNZ News:

   Auckland Transport's first electric ferry has touched water for the first time. …

   the main route the EV Maritime ferries will run will be between Half Moon Bay and downtown Auckland, although they may take the occasional trip to Devonport and Hobsonville Point.

   "They're designed for mid-harbour routes so those are routes between 30 to 45 minutes journey time."

Femicide — Invisible victims: How Colombia plans to support kids orphaned by femicide | Al Jazeera:

According to the United Nations, eight Latin American countries, including Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Ecuador, have passed similar laws to support the dependents of femicide victims.

The need, advocates say, is great. In 2023, the United Nations estimated that 11 women each day were murdered because of their gender in Latin America and the Caribbean region.

I'd never noticed before, but Google Maps does something clever.

I checked a driving distance for a book set in the US and results were in miles. When I checked a New Zealand distance, results were appropriately in kilometres. Good on you Google.

Booming space industry could hurt ozone layer's recovery - NZ study | RNZ News:

The ozone layer is healing because of countries phasing out CFCs - but rocket launches could slow its recovery if the space industry grows as fast as it wants to …

Although most rockets are launched from the Northern Hemisphere, the worst impacts on the protective layer of ozone will be felt over Antarctica, with implications for sunburn and cancer-causing UVB rays reaching people living in Aotearoa.

As the clear nights and frosty mornings of winter bite down it became clear we don't have enough firewood to see us through the next 6–8 weeks …

This morning's task, having already organised the shed, will be stacking the 2m³ of pine when it arrives.

While sorting out the firewood shed I came across this white blob under some pieces of pine.

Closer inspection revealed what it was.

In the local good news department: The Brokenwood Mysteries returns:

The reliably charming local murder-mystery behemoth The Brokenwood Mysteries returns [on 15 June 2025] for an 11th season, with Neill Rea and Fern Sutherland still on the beat solving improbable homicides. In the picturesque fictional New Zealand town with an abnormally high murder rate, it’s up to the affable duo to unearth the shocking truths.

Wow, this is just a very mild cold, but I cooked and ate shepherd's pie for lunch then crashed for the afternoon — 2 hours sleep! 🤧

I will miss glancing up from the kitchen bench and seeing this view through the bedroom window.

After cleaning up for today's Open Home we enjoyed a delicious pizza at the Old Courthouse Eatery:

Chicken, mushroom, blue cheese, sun-dried tomato.

I have a strong suspicion I'm coming down with a cold. Meanwhile, to the southeast, more snowy peaks.

Hah! Looking through some old emails and found this from March 1997 with my first ever domain name (and I still use it!):

key:firstbite.co.nz [digits obscured]

This is your first official test message with your new domain name.

You are now know to cyberspace

We knew it was darned cold this morning, but seeing the nearby snowy mountain tops from the main street in Levin really brought it home.

I'm using the iCab browser for some research and often want to capture the page title and URL for my notes. Claude AI very helpfully gave me an AppleScript I trigger with Keyboard Maestro.

The guts of it:

tell application "iCab"
	tell front window
			set pageURL to url of current tab
			set pageTitle to name of current tab
			set clipboardText to pageTitle & return & pageURL
			set the clipboard to clipboardText
	end tell
end tell