Matt Heath & Tyler Adams Afternoons

Snowball can headbang, vogue and body roll as well as, if not better than, any rhythmically inclined human. Never mind he's covered in feathers.The sulphur-crested cockatoo broke big on YouTube in 2007 for his toe-tapping, head-bobbing performance to the Backstreet Boys' "Everybody." But after spending a decade studying his wide repertoire of bangs, hops and lifts, researchers suggest that parrots and humans share a tendency to dance when the music moves them.Ever the entertainer, Snowball performed 14 unique dances when prompted by music, according to findings published Monday in Current Biology. It's evidence that some birds are capable of sophisticated cognitive control and a level of creativity previously unseen in other species.The study follows a 2009 paper that found a head-bobbing Snowball possessed an advanced musical beat perception compared to other animals that synchronize rhythms for mating purposes, like frogs or crickets.Researchers weren't able to rule out then whether Snowball had imitated the movements of his human owners or if he could adjust his head-bops to different tempos. Toe-tapping and head-banging are characteristic of parrot mating rituals, so it was difficult to draw any conclusions about the cognitive implications, study author Aniruddh Patel told CNN.But shortly after that study concluded, Snowball's owner (and co-author of the more recent paper) Irena Schulz contacted Patel after her bird had begun to explore new moves he's devised himself in response to music.To test whether Snowball could incorporate a variety of body parts when music played, a trait only humans had ever exhibited, the team filmed him as he boogied to two seminal '80s standards with different tempos: "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," each played three times.Schulz watched from the same room and gave scattered verbal encouragement but refrained from moving herself.Researchers mapped the more than 20 minutes of movement frame by frame and noted 14 distinct dances and two combinations, all performed to the beat of either song. Among the most frequent were the "downward" move, the team's term for his signature head bob, the "headbang with lifted foot" and his take on "voguing," in which Snowball rapidly waved his head side-to-side with one claw in the air.Researchers aren't sure just how Snowball learned to master a breadth of movements, but they suggest birds in the avian order shares five traits with humans that facilitate their tendency to dance, including the ability to imitate movement and a tendency to form long-term social bonds.Snowball's choreography suggests that spontaneously breaking into dance to the beat of a song isn't uniquely human, but it is surprising that birds possess the cognitive complexity to dance instead of closer animal relatives like primates, Patel said."Parrots are unusual because these complexities are coming together in their brains," he said. "When these capacities come together, it leads to the impulse to dance."Parrots are known imitators who've been captured on film swaying and bobbing to music in the past. But to perform a dance learned from humans, they'd have to map the movement within their own motor system, a sophisticated feat of neural processing.The diversity of movement could also mean the birds are capable of creativity unique from other living things and even other birds: While most animal creativity derives from a need to obtain an immediate physical benefit, like food or a mate, Snowball danced to interact with his "surrogate flock" of human caregivers and reinforce social bonds, researchers said.Snowball is the first bird to be studied in this way, so it's difficult to conclude whether the findings extend to other parrot species. But it's a start to unlocking more about the evolution of musicality in humans, Patel said.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern joined Si and Phil. They talked about the pressures of being the Prime Minister, relationships within the collation, getting on with those across the aisle, and being a mother.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

'Notorious' gang member Puk Kireka who struggled to find a job due to his distinctive face tattoo talks to Si and Phil about his new job as a personal trainer, his work to turn his life around, and the second chance he needed to do just that.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Black Cap and cricket commentator Kyle Mills talks with Simon and Phil about whether the Black Caps having wives and partners at the World Cup could be a distraction.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Cowan from The Parenting Place talks with Si and Phil about how to navigate all the modern minefields of being a parent.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Continuing technological advances is making it more difficult to keep people safe.The latest in "deep fake" technology is DeepNude - an app that uses AI to transform an image of a clothed woman into a realistic rendering of what she might look like naked.DeepNude surged in popularity after being covered by Vice last week, swamping its anonymous creator's servers. It was soon offline, but not before a claimed half-million downloads.The software's author initially promised it would be back online after a few days, but has now indicated it will be knocked on the head, posting "If 500,000 people use it, the probability that people will misuse it is too high. The world is not yet ready for DeepNude."It is just the latest in a new wave of technology that blurs the lines between fiction and reality, and is making it harder for people to safely navigate the internet.Netsafe CEO Martin Cocker joined Simon Barnett and Phil Gifford to talk about how people can avoid these apps and how parents can keep their children safe.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A young female Arctic fox has shocked scientists by travelling over 3,500 km (2,175 miles) from Norway to Canada in just 76 days.The journey took her from Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago, which sits between mainland Norway and the North Pole, to Ellesmere Island, Canada, according to research published in the journal Polar Research.Scientists from Norway's Polar Institute, which fitted the Arctic fox with a satellite transmitter, say it undertook one of the longest dispersal events --a movement from the birth place to a potential breeding location -- ever recorded for the species.Researcher Eva Fuglei said the team couldn't believe what they were seeing as they tracked the fox."We didn't think it was true," said Fuglei in a statement.It covered an average of 46.3 km (28.8 miles) per day, and amazingly travelled 155 km (96.3 miles) in just one day as it crossed the Greenland ice sheet.This is the fastest rate recorded for this species, 1.4 times faster than the previous known record held by an adult male Arctic fox that was tracked in Alaska.Scientists believe the fox may have sped up as it crossed the ice sheet due to limited foraging opportunities.However it slowed down significantly on two occasions, covering less than 10 km (6.2 miles) per day for 48 hours.This may be due to physical barriers on the sea ice, bad weather, or good feeding opportunities.Experts have previously speculated that the Arctic fox may eat crustaceans from open water.The fox left Spitsbergen on 26 March 2018 and arrived in Canada just over two months later.Its current whereabouts is unknown as the transmitter stopped working on 6 February 2019.The Arctic is undergoing important changes as warming temperatures affect the ice.It is heating up twice as fast as the global average, causing massive melting of sea ice and opening up the area to exploration.Russia is set to tow a floating nuclear power plant to the Arctic port town of Pevek next month as part of plans to expand its interests in the region.These plans have sparked concerns in the US, which also sees economic opportunities as Arctic sea ice melts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Celebrity chef and entrepreneur Nadia Lim talks with Si and Phil about Dancing with the Stars, home cooking, family life and her new venture.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dry July is a fundraiser that challenges you to go alcohol-free and raise funds for people affected by cancer.Funds raised for Dry July will benefit Look Good Feel Better, a charity that provides free, community-based programmes for any person, facing any cancer, at any time.To chat more about Dry July, General Manager of Look Good, Feel Great Clare O'Higgins joined the show.LISTEN TO THE AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is adding to its ranks by extending invitations to 842 new members of the film industry.The invitees, which make up people from over 59 countries, not only include some familiar names but also exemplify the Academy's push for better inclusion.Half of the invited members for 2019 are women and 29 per cent of them are people of color.They include recent Oscar winner for "A Star Is Born," Lady Gaga, who was invited to be a part of both the acting and music branches, and actress Marina de Tavira, who received a supporting actress nomination this year for "Roma.""Spider-Man" Tom Holland, "Us" actor Winston Duke, "Marshall" and "This Is Us" star Sterling K. Brown are among some of the other actors invited to join.Directors like "Crazy Rich Asian's" Jonathan M. Chu and "Late Night's" Nisha Ganatra were also invited.The news comes as the Academy has been fighting a stigma that its membership is out of touch with the times and disproportionately male and white, as evident by the #OscarsSoWhite controversy from 2016 and the recently tried (and failed) attempt to include a popular film category.Despite the latest moves, only 32 per cent of members are female - and 16 per cent are people of colour - double what it was four years ago.This year's Oscars ceremony was triumphed for its inclusiveness in recognising the film "Black Panther" with technical awards and honouring actor Rami Malek, who is of Egyptian descent, with the best actor statue for "Bohemian Rhapsody" -- even if eventual best picture winner "Green Book" was marred in controversy.The Academy's more than 6,000 members in 17 branches of the film industry make up the voting body for the Oscars.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Simon Barnett and Phil Gifford chat with All Blacks Captain Kieran Read on the RWC and the release of the new All Black's Jersey. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The world's oldest heritage railway is offering free rides to locals stranded by roadworks.Roadworks on 19 kilometres of road between Abergynolwyn and Tywyn in the Welsh region of Gwynedd have led to a reduction in public transport services.In order to help those locals out, the Talyllyn Railway has offered free rides to passengers between the two spots.The railway opened in 1865 but entered into the hands of volunteers in 1951 as steam was removed from the main network in the UK.It has been operating every since, and the 40 minute ride offers more people a chance to experience the scenic route. "Public transport links are vital in rural areas and we are delighted that the railway can serve the community in this way as it has done for the past 150 years," general manager Stuart Williams told the BBC.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"It is a great privilege and pleasure to be on this station and to be together again and to have you as a family."After months of anticipation, Simon Barnett and Phil Gifford have reunited on Newstalk ZB.The two Christchurch-based radio veterans have come together after 13 years apart on the airwaves, after hosting ZM's breakfast show for 11 years from 1992 to 2003. "A fairly open minded duo", Barnett brings 30 years of experience in breakfast radio, while Gifford has worked as both a print and radio correspondent. The two promise a family atmosphere for the show, though Barnett says that family means they "sometimes they fight, sometimes they cry, sometimes they kiss and make-up".LISTEN TO THEIR INTRO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.