Nine To Noon for Friday 21 April 2023

 

09:05 Harbourmaster on new ferries: "there will be teething problems"

The Cook Strait ferries have been plagued by problems in recent months - in particular the ageing Interislander fleet, which is to be replaced by two so-called "mega ferries", due for delivery in 2025 and 2026. The new ferries are being built in South Korea currently and will be significantly longer, wider and heavier than the current ships. The Marlborough sounds community watchdog, Guardians of the Sounds, has concerns over the new ferries, saying they're too big to travel through the narrow Tory Channel, and if an accident happens no adequate rescue capability exists. Kathryn speaks with Guardians of the Sounds Chairman, Tim Healey, and Marlborough Harbourmaster, Captain Jake Oliver, who is involved in simulation testing for the new ferries and predicts there will be teething problems.

09:30 Making maths add up: the neuroscience behind how children learn

As children's numeracy continues to decline, there's an argument to introduce traditional teaching methods earlier, like lining up numbers in columns.One maths consultant has slammed our maths education as "worse than useless", saying children unable to answer a simple  rends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) test equation could be better off guessing. The Government had instigated a maths action plan and a common practice model for literacy and numeracy. It's also giving schools a temporary alternative to new online literacy and numeracy tests that many teenagers have found too hard.  Kathryn asks Education Hub founder Dr Nina Hood if we could we be teaching maths in a more effective way?  And what's the cognitive science behind how children learn?

09:45 Pacific correspondent Koroi Hawkins

RNZ Pacific Editor Koroi Hawkins discusses the situation in West Papua, as the Indonesian military escalates it status to "ground combat ready", following a clash with the West Papuan Liberation Army over the weekend . Also the Cook Islands road to decriminalising homosexuality, French Polynesia's first round of territorial elections brings success for the pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira party; Niue welcomes its first visiting yachts in three years this week, and the Fiji government is charting a new economic direction.

10:05 Machines Behaving Badly: Toby Walsh on the tricky ethical issues AI raises

We let machines decide many of our day to day decisions - which is the fastest way to get to my destination? What song should I play next, which TV series would I like? But what happens if artificial intelligence steps in to make even harder decisions for us? Which treatment should a patient have, what sentence should a criminal receive? These are the issues explored by Australian IT expert Toby Walsh in his new book, Machines Behaving Badly. Toby is a Laureate Fellow and Scientia Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of New South Wales and CSIRO Data61. The book looks at how AI is being built and developed by a small group of people with their own flaws and biases, controlled by multi-billion dollar companies, with little to no regulation or oversight. Yet if we could address some of these issues now, Toby Walsh argues, AI could usefully liberate us from what he calls the four Ds: the dirty, dull, difficult and dangerous. Toby Walsh is appearing at the Auckland Writers Festival next month. 

10:35 Book review: Wild Places by Katherine Mansfield

Cynthia Morahan reviews Wild Places by Katherine Mansfield, published by Penguin Random House

10:45 Around the motu: Mary Argue in Wairarapa

Greytown has a new multi-million dollar medical centre, but is facing an acute shortage of GPs, long waiting times for appointments and conditions going undiagnosed. Wairarapa Times Age Chief Reporter, Mary Argue tells Kathryn about it,  and other stories from the region, including the Masterton Street, where residents are forced to use portaloos because the drains are so bad.

11:05 Jewellery-themed gems with Grant Smithies

Grant marks Nelson Jewellery Week by playing jewellery-themed gems  from The 3Ds, Anderson Paak and The Stone Roses, alongside a dusty lost classic from Auckland band The Pet Rocks that's taken 25 long years from recording to release.

11:30 Sports commentator Sam Ackerman

Sam Ackerman joins us with sports news and events that are tickling the nation's interest.

He looks at a head-to-head contest with world championship connotations, the end of an All Black experiment and a long-awaited homecoming, New Zealand's Commonwealth Games hosting ambitions and the funniest sports cheat moment of the year.

11:45 Books in the bathroom?

Comedians Te Radar and Kathryn Burnett look back on the quirky stories of the past week, including whether it is okay to keep books in the bathroom.

 

Music played in this show

Track: Nothing Compares to You
Artist: Prince
Time Played: 10:40 

Track: See-Line Woman
Artist: Nina Simone
Time Played: 10:43