Adventure Ausrama Blog

Genetics: Australian Aboriginal stone tools use was made within the Aboriginal gene pool. Australian Aborigines have been isolated on this vast continent for 50,000 until Europeans came and messed everything up. DNA sequencing shows Aboriginals were pure for this whole period. Contrary to the view held by many scientists for centuries, people did not arrive from India 4,000 years ago. Seafarers from India and Southeast Asia did stop here to get fresh water and herbs to treat constipation. Yes, this is true. Data tracing the Y chromosome from father to son shows no Asian genes in their profile. Aboriginals were the first people out of Africa. Once they reached Australia no more came from Asia. The out of Africa theory has now been pushed back 200,000 years. There is no real evidence of where these people went as far back as that. Tasmanian Aboriginals are a mystery. All have now died out so we will never know if they came here before mainland Aboriginals. Their DNA cou

Health: Australian liberal conservative governments keep privatizing medicine There isn't much doubt that the Liberals (read conservatives) would like a completely privatised health system. They look lustfully toward the US and their inefficient structure - the most expensive health mishmash in the world! There is a logic to this "conservative hiding behind liberal sunglasses" behavior. You see, businesses don't like their taxes being "wasted" on something the private sector can run perfectly well, descrimination notwithstanding. Businesses would like this money back in a tax rebate so they can make higher profits, thankyou. Note how Liberal PM Menzies ended free pharmaceuticals brought in by Labor PM Chiffley. Gough Wittlam initiated Medibank after menzies It was just about the only thing he did that worked. This has now been pushed and poked by a series of Coalition governments to become the now private Medicare. No doubt, this political to

Bees don't just take pollen: they physically make flowers release the pollen. The ,  Australian blue-banded bee, Amegilla murrayensis,  and the  North American eastern bumble bee,  Bombus, impatiens,  were compared. Slow motion filming enabled observation of bee behavior. North American bees grabbed the flower anther with their mandibles (hands) then tensed their wing muscles and began to "vibrate' the pollen free. This proces was carried out once per flower Blue-banded bees did not use their mandibles at all. They used their heads, literally. They headbutted the flowers with their heads repeatedly at a very high frequency. The frequency was higher than the North American bee so the blue bee visited more flowers. However, the Australian bee came back several times to the same flower to give it another go. Overall, the blue-banded bee is a more efficient pollinator. If used by growers it could potentially produce more fruit and vegetable. ◆ Biology by Ty Buchanan

Life insurance is a con. We all know that. They take your money. Then when you make a claim they force you into court to make you back down or run you up a huge legal bill. I cashed my life insurance in when they stopped paying the share investment bonus that doubled what you paid in. Now if you close the policy you get back "less" than you paid in premiums. No one is perfect out there, so when they say they will make people have genetic tests before they can take out a policy you should be afraid. The big three insurers say they have not had one complaint from consumers so far. Unfortunately, the ones who had genetic tests have not made any claims yet. There will thousands of complaints when the insurance companies fail to pay out. Thankfully, you cannot be forced to have a genetic test currently. However, you must hand one over if you have already had one - by law. Just why the government made giving up private information compulsory under force of law is a myster

When you get chosen as Prime Minister the first rule is... look after yourself and your mates. For some odd reason the "group of independent deciders supported the Coalition's policy of exempting Australia's wealthiest people from disclosure requirements on a new tax system taking effect in December. Mind you, the ordinary Jack and Jill will have to disclose their data. It seems Malcolm Turnbull is not just a pretty face: he is a crafty sod as well! Let's all head for the Cayman Islands. If its good enough for our PM, it is certainly good enough for the rest of us dinkum Aussies. Kerry Packer the famous now deceased billionaire once said that "it is every Australian citizen's duty to avoid paying tax: I have lived in Australia and elsewhere all my life and have never paid one cent in tax". When he died the Australian Government gave him a state funeral. Guilt is not for the wealth it appears. For the ordinary Joe though, he must be checked and dou

Blueberries aren't that popular in Australia. They are certainly not loved, as in the USA. However, Australian farmers are growing more of them as Australians look for something different. There is also a thriving international market. The Clarence Valley in Grafton, NSW is the main growing region for the product. At present Australian growers supply only a tiny amount of berries to the world. Yet, Australia uses the latest genetic technology to grow good blueberries. Hard quarantine laws stop Australia getting into the China market.  Maybe this is  quid pro quo  for Australia's brick wall against New Zealand growers of fruit and vegetables in general. Four years ago Japan blocked imports into that country. It was only an increase in local demand that saved the industry. Australian blueberry farmers are raising output despite there being no real overseas target market in sight. The recent summit at Coffs harbour did not change the existing state of affairs.

Though heat itself may damage the Great Barrier Reef, higher levels of acidity due to raised temperatures will not increase coral bleaching. Too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere ends up absorbed in the surface of sea water. This raises acidity. There is not a direct relationship between acidification and coral bleaching . However, the kinds of animal life present in an area will be changed by more acid conditions. The whole ecosystem of the reef will be altered forever. Both heat and more acidity will cause this. Tests have been done with the national sea simulator which gives quite specific results. The Sea Sim is new technology. It is being given test runs at present. Acidification and heat together do not raise coral bleaching. This is a major finding. Scientists are now going down a new path. The new premise came from a combined research program using the Sea Sim and hands on tests off the coast of Papua New Guinea; so coral itself is relatively safe, but

On Tuesday 13th of October the Australian communications surveillance system comes into effect. Apparently, privacy will end for all Australians. Contrary to this view, I believe Australians are smart enough to opt out. There is no way the Australian government can stop the use of  VPNs, nor the resetting of a modem to Google's 8080. The government does not have jurisdiction over Google, i.e., it cannot ban it! This data, though extremely large, will always be incomplete and a waste of money. Anybody who intends to do something "underhanded" will obviously avoid the system. . Furthermore, what about Australians who have their websites on servers in other countries? This information is outside of the local loop. You can also create a site on oversees servers.  Some users will choose to do nothing and allow their information to be collected, however. Abuse of power will happen from the start. Uncontrolled bodies like the Australian Federal Police as with

The Australian government is interfering in the democratic process of California. Currently, the state has laws that allow the import and sale of kangaroo products. Conservation lobbyists say international law protects all endangered species. There is one major problem with this stance : kangaroos are not endangered. Indeed, they are pests like rabbits and camels. The law in California expires in January. Assemblyman Mike Gipson intends to extend it and add a clause allowing the sale of parts for shoes and soccer balls. Funds nave been allocated by the Australian government to the Kangaroo Industries Association of Australia which pays for a California lobbyists company to keep trade open. Ethically, being a private body, the Industries Association of Australia should not accept government funding while lobbying to gain economic benefit. However, their claim that a cull is needed on Kangaroos is correct. If you want to know the real situation about kangaroos ask an Aus

The trade deal between Australia and China is off to a bad start. Australia becomes an open market for quack traditional Chinese medicine. China is already responsible for the demise of African animals because of superstitious beliefs about curative properties of ordinary parts of animal bodies. The trade deal between Australia and China is off to a bad start. Australia becomes an open market for quack traditional Chinese medicine. China is already responsible for the demise of African animals because of superstitious beliefs about curative properties of ordinary parts of animal bodies. Australia has not even policed homeopathy properly. Constituents are diluted into insignificance where they cannot possibly have any effect. They are harmless at best. Homeopaths live well on treatment based on a mythical foundation. Under the agreement between China and Australia Chinese herbalists will be allowed to register and set up shop in Australia without any accreditation.