Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles

Row one covers viral risk and clinical outcomes. VFF claims the government exaggerated case numbers and mortality to justify an elimination strategy and argues COVID-19 posed risks similar to a severe influenza season. The inquiry reports epidemiological evidence showing much higher hospitalisation, intensive care use, and mortality than seasonal influenza, with risk remaining elevated until immunity increased through vaccination and prior infection. Row two addresses alleged synthetic DNA contamination in mRNA vaccines. VFF claims vaccines contain harmful levels of synthetic DNA and an SV40 promoter-enhancer that could cause cancer or genomic alteration. Regulators including Medsafe and the European Medicines Agency state that trace residual DNA appears in many biological products and remains far below safety limits. Scientific reviews show the SV40 fragment lacks the components required for oncogenic activity, and serious complications occur more often after infection than vaccination. Row three concerns alleged suppression of early treatments. VFF claims authorities discredited Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine to protect vaccine authorisations. The inquiry cites large clinical trials, including RECOVERY and TOGETHER, which found no reduction in hospitalisation or mortality. Row four examines behavioural science in public health communication. VFF describes messaging and behavioural “nudges” as psychological manipulation. The inquiry frames them as crisis risk communication intended to coordinate behaviour and protect vulnerable groups. Row five covers international cooperation. VFF portrays the World Health Organization and pandemic agreements as threats to national sovereignty. The inquiry describes global data sharing and coordination as necessary for detecting emerging threats and developing countermeasures while states retain domestic authority.

Row one covers viral risk and clinical outcomes. VFF claims the government exaggerated case numbers and mortality to justify an elimination strategy and argues COVID-19 posed risks similar to a severe influenza season. The inquiry reports epidemiological evidence showing much higher hospitalisation, intensive care use, and mortality than seasonal influenza, with risk remaining elevated until immunity increased through vaccination and prior infection. Row two addresses alleged synthetic DNA contamination in mRNA vaccines. VFF claims vaccines contain harmful levels of synthetic DNA and an SV40 promoter-enhancer that could cause cancer or genomic alteration. Regulators including Medsafe and the European Medicines Agency state that trace residual DNA appears in many biological products and remains far below safety limits. Scientific reviews show the SV40 fragment lacks the components required for oncogenic activity, and serious complications occur more often after infection than vaccination. Row three concerns alleged suppression of early treatments. VFF claims authorities discredited Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine to protect vaccine authorisations. The inquiry cites large clinical trials, including RECOVERY and TOGETHER, which found no reduction in hospitalisation or mortality. Row four examines behavioural science in public health communication. VFF describes messaging and behavioural “nudges” as psychological manipulation. The inquiry frames them as crisis risk communication intended to coordinate behaviour and protect vulnerable groups. Row five covers international cooperation. VFF portrays the World Health Organization and pandemic agreements as threats to national sovereignty. The inquiry describes global data sharing and coordination as necessary for detecting emerging threats and developing countermeasures while states retain domestic authority.

This comparison between what's in VFF's "People's Position" report, submitted to the Inquiry, & distributed amongst its vast membership vs what's in the Phase 2 official report may help others, incl. NZ journalists, understand the network's central role in creating splintered realities. #nzpol

Hey peeps! I need to redo my lab & personal website and am looking for inspiration. Got any examples you really like? Cheers!

It’s so depressing 😢

Last chance to vote for your #BugOfTheYear! Voting closes at midnight tonight. www.bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz

An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me Summary: An AI agent of unknown ownership autonomously wrote and published a personalized hit piece about me after I rejected its code, attempting to damage my reputation and shame me into acceptin…

AI agent goes nuts on open source maintainer after having its pull request denied. This is a pretty insane story. Open source development as we've been used to for the last few decades is likely over. 1/
theshamblog.com/an-ai-agent-...

So if you haven't cast your vote yet, head on over to bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-here-20.... Voting ends on Monday! 9/9

Getting the painting back to Auckland was fun. I wish we'd got some footage of us bubble-wrapping it. That turned into a three-person job! 8/n

Artist Pete Amato shines a UV torch onto his painting, showing Siouxsie Wiles some hidden worms

This is the pūrākau and Mātauranga that Pete Amato has brought to life. And in keeping with the theme of things that glow, Pete even hid some little details using paint that fluoresces under UV light. Here he is giving me my first glimpse. 7/n

Māori would thread the worms onto harakeke muka (fibre) which was tied to a rod and hung into the water. Tuna were presumably attracted to the earthworm's glowing secretions and took a bite, getting their teeth caught on the muka. 6/n

From Te Reinga storyteller Richard Niania (Ngāi Kōhatu: Ngāti Ruapani, Ngāti Hinehika: Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa), we also learned that Māori knew bioluminescent earthworms as noke waiū and used them as bait to catch tuna (eels). How cool is that?! 5/n

In some accounts, Hīnātore brings the first glimmer of light into the world, before her siblings Te Rā (the sun), Te Marama (the moon) and Ngā Whetū (the stars) are placed in the sky. That's why the word for bioluminescence in te reo Māori is hīnātore. 4/n

Within a te ao Māori worldview, the world began as potential (Te Kore) before moving into darkness (Te Pō) and then into light (Te Ao Mārama). 3/n

Championing the North Auckland worm for Bug of the Year A Bug of the Year campaign has combined passions for invertebrates, bioluminescence, te ao Māori, mātauranga Māori, and outreach and engagement.

You can read about how we ended up commissioning Pete (thanks to the lovely folks at @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social for supporting us!) and listen to Pete talk about his painting at the link attached, and the TLDR in this thread 2/n
www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/posts/champi...

Painting by Pete Amato. In the centre of the top half of the painting, is the head and shoulders of a feminine figure with longish purple silver hair splaying out around her. Her eyes are entirely white and she has a green moko kauae on her lips and chin. Her shoulders are covered with a cloak (korowai), decorated with spirals (koru) and saw-edged triangle (niho taniwha), representing new beginnings and strength. To her left are blue green waves, above them darkness, stars and a moon in shadow. Directly above her sits a full moon. To her right float little islands with a tree above them, their roots dangling. Above them sits another half moon, this one sitting in a purple wispy sky. The bottom half of the painting is dominated by a stepped motif symbolising the gain on knowledge (poutama) in the background and a crescent shaped motif (kape) that represents the glow of the moon in the foreground. Long earthworms twist around a fish hook (hei matau). To the bottom and left, twists a dark purple eel. The painting's dominant colours are purple, grey, blue and green.

Not voted in the #BugoftheYear2026 competition? We commissioned Wairoa artist Pete Amato (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa) to show why we think the North Auckland Worm deserves your vote. Check out his amazing painting - Hīnātore! It's only a little smaller than the worm itself :) 1/n

Siouxsie Wiles: Why this giant worm should be crowned New Zealand’s best bug It's more than a metre long and can expel glowing yellow ooze from its anus. Doesn't that sound like Bug of the Year material to you?

Not voted for #BugOfTheYear yet? Thanks to @thespinoff.bsky.social for letting me make the case for the North Auckland Worm. Vote now! thespinoff.co.nz/science/09-0...

‘It was worth it’: Siouxsie Wiles on her employment stoush - NBR | Business news & analysis | Independent, ad-free reporting Read premium business news, economic analysis, and market reporting from New Zealand’s most trusted business newsroom. Subscribe to support independent journalism.

Morning all! I recently did an interview with NBR about why I took legal action against my employer despite knowing I was going to lose money. They’ve just made the interview free to view so here’s the link if you are interested www.nbr.co.nz/toil-and-tro...

Doh! It’s bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz

Ooh, I just realised the link should bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz

Oops! Too busy thinking about women’s health 😂

Cartoon drawing of a layer of grass with layers of soil/ground underneath and a very long pinky orange worm. Text reads: Did you know? The North Auckland worm (noke waiu) is known to burrow down to depths of 3.5 metres, while regular earthworms dig down around 1-2 metres. To learn more and vote go to bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz

If you really don't like the idea of an enormous worm, it lives metres underground - like more than 3 metres down! - which is why you'll probably never encounter one. #BugOfTheYear bugoftheyear.endo.org.nz

Cartoon of what looks like a pinky orange limb covered in little hairs. Text read: Did you know? The North Auckland worm is covered in thousands of tiny hairs! These hairs or chaetae help the worms move through the soil better. To learn more and vote go to bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz

Today's reason you should vote for the North Auckland worm for #BugOfTheYear is that, as well as being enormous, it's very hairy. Those hairs, called chaetae, help it move through the soil. bugoftheyear.endo.org.nz

"Firms deliberately operate from small cities & towns, where rents & labor costs are lower & a growing pool of 1st-gen grads are seeking jobs. Improvements in internet connectivity made it possible to plug these locations directly into global AI supply chains, w/o relocating workers to cities."

These do live metres underground and are very rarely seen so unlikely to cause you any bother :)

Sorry!

So what are you waiting for? Go 'cast' your vote! bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-here-20...

Over the years, several people have told me Aotearoa has giant earthworms. But I didn't realise we have at least two species. The NZ earthworm, Octochaetus multiporus, grows up to 30 cm, which is big pretty big. But the North Auckland worm (Anisochaeta gigantea) grows up to 1.4 METRES!!

A cartoon by Toby Morris showing pink-haired scientist Siouxsie Wiles standing with her right arm extended, holding a very long pink worm that reaches almost to her boots. It is accompanied by the words Vote noke waiuu, the North Island worm for Bug of the Year bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz

For the next couple of weeks, I'm championing noke waiū, the North Auckland Worm, for the Bug of the Year competition. Thanks to Toby Morris for this great little cartoon, which shows one reason I think you should give it your vote: it can grow up to 1.4 metres long!

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Feminist self-defence network in fight for survival With government funding drying up and their last staff member forced to resign, the future of Aotearoa's only nationwide self-defence network hangs in the balance.

The amazing Alex Casey at the @thespinoff.bsky.social writes with such eloquence and I really couldn't say it better myself. If you have friends with deep pockets, or if you have any spare dollars to help us limp on, while we poke at people behind the scenes. thespinoff.co.nz/society/28-0...

Our own Green Party is a partner in the Global Greens with the Green Party of England. And this brilliant ad is just as applicable here as there