MIT computer scientist led development of software for moon mission and earned Presidential Medal of Freedom Margaret Hamilton, the computer pioneer whose software powered the first moon landing, has died, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced on Wednesday. She was 90. In an era before titles such as software engineer and computer scientist became mainstream, Hamilton, who died on 30 September, learned to program under the tutelage of a renowned MIT meteorologist. Continue reading...

'Tender Conehead' Originally described as Agaricus apalus was described by the Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries in 1818, and variously as Conocybe lactea or Conocybe albipes, Pluteolus apalu,...

'remarkable thick-cover' refering to the dense felty fur on the underside of the leaves and on the stems. First described by Joseph Dalton Hooker in 1855, as Olearia insignis. Posthumously published.....

A resort town on Lake Wānaka, popular in summer and in winter, and the main point of access to the Mount Aspiring National Park. Unlike most of New Zealand, the climate is strongly seasonal, with warm...

'southern silent' Originally described in 1897 by Frederick Hutton. NZ's most common alpine grasshopper, found above the treeline in the southern half of the South Island. It has a wide diet but for....

'stiff snow grass' AKA wī kura, Danthonia rigida, Danthonia raoulii, Danthonia flavescens and Danthonia raoulii var. flavescens. Endemic to the lower half of the South Island, usually in montane and.....

'one-woman flowering thorn' - as the ovaries on each flower will produce a single seed. AKA Crataegus oxyacantha, C. apiifolia, whitethorn, one-seed hawthorn, single-seeded hawthorn, may, mayblossom,...

'hill nymph that dries out' - Marasmius mushrooms having an impressive ability to recover from desiccation. Originally described as Agaricus oreades by English naturalist James Bolton in 1792, then.....

'short-spear colour spider' Originally described it as Epeira verutum, by Arthur Urquhart in 1887. The new genus was established by arachnologists D. J. Court and Raymond Robert Forster in 1988. It.....