Future-ish: New Zealand

Strike a Position | New and Noteworthy in the world of Politics
by Sean Schmidt

Here at Future-ish, we have long been advocates for scientists, designers, and cultural leaders getting engaged with politics and event better, running for public offices. This desire even inspired us to start our Public Intellectual Service & Advocacy (PISA) List in 2007. So we were thrilled to follow the path of Jacinda Ardern throughout 2017.

In October 2017, Ardern became the Prime Minister of New Zealand. At age 37, she is now the youngest female head of government in the world. There are many impressive milestones in Arden's career path to New Zealand's Prime Minister but one item on her resume jumped out to us right away, Ardern was/is a DJ, an amateur DJ mind you, but still a DJ (more on Ardern's DJ credentials here.

I'm certainly not the first to note that modern DJ's serve an increasingly important role on society and thus their position in our society continues to be elevated. Obviously, as artists they can choose, mix, and create audio and visual experiences that truly inspire. In addition, they have become historians, philosophers, influencers, and advocates for some of the most pressing social and environmental challenges facing our world. Take DJ Spooky for example.

So the very fact that someone with "DJ" on their resume has risen to the level of world leader has us jumping for joy...to a really great beat obviously.

Ardern's election adds to what seems to be a growing trend: nations electing young, progressive leaders. Clearly youth alone is not the qualification, North Korea disproved that theory several years ago (though that situation was not an open election). Canada's Justin Trudeau and France's Emmanuel Macron were the other recent young leaders elected to heads of government. All were quite early in their political careers when elected and all are still quite early in their terms so how they perfor in these roles is remains to be seen.

There is certainly no expectation that these young world leaders will make everyone happy, no politician ever can. But early signs seem to indicate the 'more' people are 'happer' than they have been in recent years. The reference to the United States' John F. Kennedy (JFK) presidency is often made whenever another young leader enters the political arena and that reference has been made to all three of the young leaders mentioned above. Though JFK was not perfect by any means, his passion and vision for an inclusive future did inspire supporters and opponents alike. Hopefully these new young leaders will do the same.

In Ardern's case, she already has succeeded in addressing complex challenges and bringing adversaries together. One thing we do know about DJs is that they know how to get a room full of very diverse people active and inspired. And yes, they also tend to keep everyone happy.

And cheers to more individuals with science, design, and/or culture credentials being elected to office!

NewsFusion | 031

Science...

Scientists in Brazil create robot-like machine to help spinal injury patients | NPR
ScienceDebate offers 20 questions for US 2016 presidential candidates | Science Debate
The physics of those amazing gymnast flips in the Olympics | Wired

Design...

Letter signed by over 100 designers in support of Apple teaches the US Supreme Court about design law and the role of design in tech | Quartz
A brief history of athletic wear and fashion in the Olympics | Jezebel
Sports-themed architecture, town planning, and other arts used to be competitive sport in Olympics | Curbed

Culture...

Maori worldview leads New Zealand to grant personhood to lands and rivers | NY Times
2016 World Nomad Games just around the corner, September 3-8, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic
Shifting Sands Reveal ancient Hawaiian Petroglyphs at Waiʻanae on Oahu | MauiNow

Old AND New - Modern Wedding with Māori Haka Goes Global

Aaliyah and Ben Armstrong. Image credit: Stacey Leah Photography
It's the wedding ceremony that's gone global and its everything Future-ish is all about.

New Zealand's Aaliyah and Ben Armstrong both share Māori ancestry so Ben's best man decided to incorporate a haka into their wedding ceremony. Friends filmed it, Westone Productions edited it, Ben posted it on his Facebook page on January 20th, 2016, and then the Facebook Page "I'm proud to be Tongan" shared it. Within a few days, the video had been viewed over 30 millions times.

Haka is a traditional Maori posture dance. Often used in war or other challenge situations, it also makes appearances in important community or life events, such as weddings, to honor those involved.

Incorporating a haka into a thoroughly modern wedding ceremony is exactly the sort of thing we want to highlight here at Future-ish. There is certainly the aspect of walking in two worlds that is often mentioned in such situations...which in itself has many layers of inspiration. But for us, it also points out the need to bring culture back into conversations of shaping the future and creating an inclusive future.

For us, it's clear that haka at weddings will continue to be practiced throughout this century and for centuries to come. It will be incorporated into more Māori weddings held in Aotearoa (the accepted Māori name for New Zealand), in other parts of the world, and yes, perhaps someday on one of Saturn's moons.

>> View the original video here

Additional info:

Jones, K. 2016. Emotional wedding haka moves New Zealand bride to tears: video and photos. The KnotM.
Tapalaeo, M. 2016. Millions fall in love with wedding haka. Daily Mercury
BBC. 2016. Wedding haka moves New Zealand Maori bride to tears. BBCM/li>

From Mālama Honua to Manaiakalani Schools | High Tech Legacy and Future in Polynesia

A fusion of ancient futures is apparent in this story from ʻŌiwi TV about the arrival of the Mālama Honua crews in Aotearoa at Pt. England Beach near Aukland. Students from the Manaiakalani School Cluster (a group of 12 schools that share the vision of future-focused learning in connected communities that embrace the digital world) met the Mālama Honua crews with songs and ceremony.

Russell Burt, principle of the Pt. England School referred to the journey of legend of Maui-tikitiki-a-tāranga and his journey to Aotearoa in which he used the Manaiakalani constellation to navigate and called it "ancient wisdom with high-end Polynesian tech". He went on to say, "ancient wisdom applied to new technology equals fantastic opportunity and future and a happy outcome, an outcome of enormous endurance of incredible epic proportions."

Later in the video, David Lassner, President of the University of Hawaii System adds "its not traditional versus modern, its using modern and traditional together to prepare these kids for the future."

Manaiakalani: High-end Polynesian Tech from Oiwi TV on Vimeo.

Futurazzi | Māori Moment for William and Kate

Here at Future-ish, we love when worlds collide. That's precisely what happened with Prince William and Princess Kate visited New Zealand in April 2014. Like many guests, William and Kate participated in a traditional Māori greeting ceremony, or pōwhiri. The cross-cultural exchange was particularly striking given the couple's Western attire juxtaposed with the traditional Māori attire which can include face and body tattoos and painting.

The ceremony included the hongi, a traditional Māori greeting in which participants presses noses and forheads together to exchange ha (the breath of life). Both Prince William and Princess Kate took part in the hongi with local Kaumatua (Elder), Lewis Moeau and others.

Image credit: Tim Rooke

Future-making Māori Role Models

If there was a prize for websites we here at Future-ish love, Love, LOVE, it would go to Māori Future Makers, a new website supported by Te Puni Kōkiri (the New Zealand Ministry for Māori Development) that features 30 outstanding Māori scientists, designers, and cultural leaders shaping the future.

The goal of the website is to provide role models from diverse fields and industries to inspire other Māori youth and adults to pursue higher levels of education, training, employment, enterprise, and innovation. To accomplish this, each of the individuals shares personal stories about their motivations, challenges, opportunities, and successes they faced in working towards their academic and professional aspirations. There is also valuable information and unique resources on education, training, and professional development on the website as well.

SeanChron - Pōwhiri Starts Filming of The Hobbit

I finally got around to watching The Hobbit this last weekend. I know, I am WAY behind on this.

In addition to being really pleased with the movie (though quite long and quite 'Hollywoody'), I was especially pleased to see something in the production video segments that are part of Peter Jackson’s Video Blogs on the making of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey that are part of The Hobbit Blog.

Here at Future-ish, we are all about science, design, and culture shaping the future. It is the culture part of the equation that is often the hardest element to ensure gets included in discussions of future-shaping people, projects, and ideas. We also always do our best to seek out stories of culture playing a role in shaping the future. We also do our best to honor the people, place, and host culture of places where we live, work, play, and travel. So, when I saw a Pōwhiri (a Māori Welcoming Ceremony) in Production Video #1 (see below, about seven minutes in), I literally jumped out of my comfy couch. Best of all, it is clear in the video that Peter Jackson, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, and the entire cast and crew appreciated the unique value the Pōwhiri added to the entire project.

This is a great real world example of honoring people, place, and the host culture "in a good way" as is often said. Just imagine if every film project was started by asking the host culture of the location to participate in a welcoming event. It allows both sides of the project, the host culture and the guests, to start things off the way these things should be started off. Kudos to Peter Jackson, lets hope this catches on across the industry and becomes a best practice...or even better, a standard.

Indigenous Diva: Dame Kiri Te Kanawa

I have been a fan of Maori opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa since high school when I first heard her beautiful soprano voice in the film "A Room With a View" singing Puccini's aria "O mio babbino caro". My iTunes library is full of her pieces and I've had the pleasure of hearing her sing in person several times. I can think of few individuals who have lived in two worlds as visibly as Dame Te Kanawa. She embraces her Maori and New Zealand roots boldly, has sung in operas and recitals around the globe, and today is one of the most beloved opera singers of all time.

(Image courtesy Ravinia Festival)

I recently came across this video below of Dame Te Kanawa singing "Tarahiki", an ancient Maori song/chant about the beauty and strength of the cicada dance. It totally blew me away.

Read more about Dame Te Kanawa on her Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation website, her IMG Artists website, and Wikipedia. There are many more videos of her singing on YouTube as well.

And here is another version with Maori chorus from millennium celebrations in NZ...

A couple other favorite vids of mine...Dame Te Kanawa singing "Pokarekare Ana" in 1990 and more recently for the NZ millennium celebrations.

Rugby, Maori style

The New Zealand national rugby team, the Allblacks, may all dress alike in their black uniforms, but one this is for sure...they will certainly never lose their identity as a team inspired and energized by Tikanga Maori (Maori ways of thiking, being, doing). The Allblacks start each match with their traditional war dance, the Haka. Sport, competition, and warrior-athletes have been a part of human culture for thousands of years around the world so its good to see that the Allblacks and other teams honor both sport and their culture with this modern tradition. A little surfing on YouTube and you'll also find the Somoan national team performing their Siva Tau, as well as Tonga with thier Sipi Tau and Fiji with their Cibi.

Below the Allblacks take on France in 2009:

And here the Allblacks take on Tonga who reply with their Sipi Tau:

Dave Down Under - Out of the frying pan, into the freezer

The latest from Dave...

In my life-time, I've managed to do a lot of traveling, and most of this traveling has occurred in decent chunks of time. This is the longest single trip away from home I've had yet. All said and done, I will have been away for at least eight weeks, and probably closer to ten. That has yet to be determined. However, unlike most of the trips I've had, where I've had essentially one region (city, country, etc) that I've focused on, this trip has me in both Australia and Antarctica. The only thing that they have in common is they are both in the Southern Hemisphere.

At the time of this typing, I am in Christchurch, New Zealand. The United States Antarctic Terminal of the Christchurch airport to be specific. Our flight into McMurdo Station has been delayed by a few hours, so we're all hanging out in a range of cloths. The stupid, new people didn't pack comfy cloths to change into. The smart or experienced people brought standard clothing to change into in the event of a delay. So here I sit typing, in wool socks, insulated Carhart bibs, and thankfully, a short sleeve T-shirt. My ultra warm boots are off. I am uncomfortably warm. But I think there are a handful of people who have it even worse. Next time (God permitting) I will do things a little differently!

This trip started on November 21th, when my adviser, John, and I flew from Seattle to Sydney, Australia. Our end goal was sample analyses at Australia National University (ANU) in Canberra. However, we had a planned layover in Sydney so we could spend some time with John's parents. I only got to meet John's mother, as John's father was in the hospital recovering from a hip replacement. John's mother is a lovely woman, and we had a very nice, albeit short visit in the Sydney suburbs. My favorite aspect of the stay was the fantastic birds that had been trained to show up at 9am and 5pm for daily feedings. Magpies, Kookaburra's, Rainbow Lorikeets all congregated at such close proximity that I sometimes had to back off because my lens wouldn't focus that closely.

Early the next morning, we were off onto another plane to Canberra, where we would be working on our low level Cl-36 samples. The reason I was there in particular was my seawater samples that required long runs, and my experience running particle accelerators allowed me to be of assistance while we ran overnight. Keith, the director of the accelerator facility, hosted John and I. Our first couple of days in Canberra were relatively quiet. I packed sample cathodes and read quite a bit. When we were scheduled to start up, on a walk through, I noticed a water puddle underneath a primary bending magnet. This delayed our startup a bit. After the cooling water hoses had been replaced, we started turning everything else on. After the initial tuning of the accelerator, something dropped out. The power supply associated with the very same magnet died. This problem was one that killed our ability to run that day, and most of the next. After more reading and simply keeping myself busy, we finally got up and running, and Keith started teaching John and I how to run the accelerator. This allowed us to run overnight and make up for some of the time we lost to the break down. We ran my seawater chlorine samples all night, and processed some of the data. The quality of the data exceeded our expectations. Keith had done a superb job of letting the sample chamber bake out lingering chlorine from past runs, and by running the samples for some time, we were able to get excellent statistics. These samples probably have the lowest Cl/Cl36 ratios ever successfully measured with this statistical quality. Ever. So this is pretty exciting, and John and I made it through a fairly long night on coffee and the excitement of getting such fantastic data! That morning, Keith showed up at 8am to relieve us. We went home and slept for about 4 ½ hours, and went back in to the lab to see the rest of the results. All in all, it was a pretty exciting couple of days. My MS is pretty well ensured, with the last few months of paper writing, and this data collection. John thinks another paper to a prominent journal is in order, and there is much more work to be done that will fit in nicely with my PhD pursuits. John left for Sydney to spend time with family on Saturday, and I stayed with Keith through Sunday to wrap up logistics and help out in the lab.

Monday morning (Dec 1st), I dropped off my cold weather gear at a freight service to ship it to New Zealand, and then I was off in my rental car to Jervis Bay to go hunt down wildlife and check out the famous coastline. I enjoyed being lazy while there. Belinda, the owner of the backpacker I was staying in, found me lazing on the couch with my laptop quite often. It was nice to have a leisurely schedule of going out and taking pictures, chilling on the couch sorting pictures, going out for dinner and beer (by myself unfortunately), and hanging out with Tim, Maria, Vanessa and the other Swiss girl who's name I don't recall at the moment. I went out on a whale watching cruise, and only saw dolphins, spent copious amounts of time at Booderee National Park where I saw heaps of birds, an echidna and kangaroos. On my way back (Dec 4th), I swung by Pigeon House Mountain, and did a high speed ascent. I surprised myself by doing ~1,500 vertical feet in 46 minutes. And it was a lovely hike. On a clearer day, the views would have been spectacular.

That evening, I flew to Brisbane where Tracy, and ex-girlfriend lives. She and her husband Adrienne picked me up at the airport and we all went out for a late dinner and beer. Upon leaving the plane, I was hit by the wall of heat and humidity. Canberra and the coast were still warming up, but Brisbane was already there. This marks the beginning of about three weeks of continuous sweating! Tracy and Adrienne took me out to Fraser Island for off-roading adventure and stunning beaches (I got to drive on fluffy sand beaches which are notorious for bogging inexperienced drivers). We also went out to the Mt. Coot-tha Botanical Gardens, the Glass House Mountains, and a handful of other city activities, including checking out the in-city riverfront rock climbing wall. Yup, ~50 feet high, the wall extends ~200 meters along the riverfront, and affords what looks like ~50 routes, maybe more.

Valerie flew in on Thursday the 10th, and had a meeting at University of Queensland with a colleague who is doing similar research on Friday. Saturday afternoon Tracy, Val and I all drove down to Evans Head, and small town south of Byron Bay. We got down there that evening so we could be up bright and early for our kayak tour of the Evans River estuarial region. Sergio, a friend of Tracy and Adrienne's runs kayak tours there, and we got a very personalized tour, and learned a tremendous amount about the local eco system. On our way back home, we stopped in the famous Byron Bay, a hippie enclave turned beach resort hotspot.

That night, we repacked and prepared for our 6am flight to Cairns. Stacy and Daniel picked us up at the airport and we drove up to Port Douglas where they have an apartment. I think I've rambled a little too much at this point, so I'm going to save the juicy details of our time in the Daintree for my post to the website, so here's the quick version:

I got to see two adult and three baby cassowaries, a goanna (monitor lizard), Boyds Forest Dragons, fruit bats, praying mantises, stick insects (one of which walked over my face), crazy spiders, and amazingly camouflaged katydids. Almost all of which I was able to photograph to some extent. We all went out to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef, where we saw sting rays, a cuttlefish, giant clams (one was almost three feet long), stunning coral, and a usual assortment of amazingly colorful fish. Daniel and I also did a creek walk up to a beautiful set of waterfalls.

Ok, I'm all typed out. Sorry for making this so long. I'll be posting more details and pictures on the web site some day… not sure when.

I hope everyone is well!!!

Ciao!
Dave

More photos from Dave...