With many of thespeakers elderly

With many of thespeakers elderly, and already over a dozen languages lostwhen Rosetta Stone outlet epidemics ravaged the islands in the early 20thCentury, some of the remaining languages will soon begone.Tape is one of these languages - with only 10-15elderly speakers remaining. Naman is spoken by only 20people. Unua-Pangkumu and Aulua are two languages withabout 800 speakers each. Although substantially more thanTape and Naman, the future of both languages remainsuncertain.Conserving these endangered languages will helpconstruct a wider understanding of how the languages of thePacific inter-relate, and contribute to our overallunderstanding of how language has developed.Researcher:Professor Terry Crowley (away on Malakula until October 30)Department of General and Applied Linguistics University ofWaikatoAssociates: Dr Elizabeth Pearce, VictoriaUniversity of Wellington, Dr Martin Paviour-Smith, MasseyUniversityFunding: Year 1: $113,000 Year 2: $110,000 Year 3: $110,000WHAT LIES BENEATH Magma in the TaupoVolcanic ZoneThe discovery of magma at the heart of NewZealand's volcanic zone will give geologists a world-classopportunity to study the earth's behaviour.Not previouslyseen in a continental rift setting, the magma feeds the Central North Island's volcanoes, and will give geologistsan exciting opportunity to explore the mechanics ofcontinent formation.Using explosives to cause artificialearthquakes, a research team lead by Associate Professor TimStern of the Victoria University of Wellington will use theresults to uncover the structure and shape of the earthbeneath us, and predict how it could move and erupt in thefuture.Principal Researcher: Associate Professor TimStern, School of Earth Sciences, Victoria University ofWellington Associates: Dr Stephen Bannister, IGNSProfessor John Gamble, University College, Cork, Ireland DrDavid Okaya, Dept of Earth Sciences University of SouthernCalifornia Professor Euan Smith, School of Earth Sciences,Victoria Rosetta Stone Japanese University of WellingtonFunding: $200,000 peryear for three years STICK INSECTS STICK AROUNDIt'sbeen a while since some stick insects had sex. Say, a fewmillion years. So, how do they manage to - well, stickaround?Out of New Zealand's 22 species of stick insect,one group (Acanthoxyla) has seven species that clonethemselves to survive. Asexual species have been believed tobe evolutionary dead because not only don't they adapt, but eventually mutations in the gene stock accumulateuntil the species dies out.But it appears that thesestick insects may have been going strong for more than amillion years. And, despite not having sexual reproductionto rely on, several different species of asexual stickinsect have evolved - an extremely rare event in animalbiology. What's going on?Dr Thomas Buckley is determinedto find out. The recipient of a Marsden Fund Fast-Startgrant for recently-graduated researchers, he will collectand examine genetic variation in the New Zealand stickinsects. Then, he will look at what has happened to theirclose cousins - stick insects that do reproduce sexually.With his results, he hopes to find out why some stickinsects are sexy, and some aren't. Researcher: Dr ThomasBuckley Landcare Research, AucklandAssociate: Dr BenjaminNormark, University of MassachusettsFunding: $50,000 peryear for two years SPERM SECRETS STUDIED New researchinto sperm may ultimately lead to treatment for infertile couples.In 1978 the first Rosetta Stone Portuguese IVF baby was born and the dreamof family life became a reality for many. But the search toimprove fertility has never ceased.Now, 25 years later,Dr Larry Chamley and Dr Andrew Shelling of the Departmentof Obstetrics and Gynaecology want to know if SPRASA - a protein they discovered last year - will help.