Nikki Mandow

In 1958, a brilliant former World War II radar technician called Sid Yarrow built New Zealand’s first pacemaker. It was a large-ish rectangular box and could be attached by wires to heart patients. The goal of Yarrow’s device remains much the same 67 year... See more

Take this test. Do you know the Phil Collins song ‘In the Air Tonight’? Can you hear it in your head as you read the title? Listen to the podcast And now, can you hear the legendary drum fill … Did you hear it? DOOM-doom DOOM-doom DOOM-doom duh-DUH Maybe ... See more

When architect and University of Auckland academic Professor Anthony Hōete began testing the ancient Māori building technique known as mīmiro, the results were striking. In mīmiro, wooden supports are fastened together using joints similar to tongue-and-g... See more

In 1842, just two years after the signing of te Tiriti o Waitangi, Governor William Hobson passed New Zealand’s first building regulation – the Raupo Houses Ordinance. It would have perhaps been better to call it the ‘anti-raupō houses ordinance’; it levi... See more