Adventure Ausrama Blog

The conclusion reached by Bill Schopf that tiny carbon-rich filaments in Pilbara rock of Western Australia show the presence of fossils is now proved to be incorrect. There has been debate about the issue since Bill Schopf made his announcement. Tests indicate that they are just rocks. Professor Martin Brasier first highlighted the problem in 2002, when he claimed that the rocks were part of a high-temperature thermal vein. In other words they were not sedimentary in nature. New high-spacial resolution examination indicates stacks of clay-like mineral plates in the rocks' structure. Carbon has been absorbed into the worm-like chains giving the impression of cell walls.  Carbon distribution was completely wrong for microfossils. The "mischievous" clay plates are the culprit in leading scientists astray in their findings. Authentic microfossils just as old as the Shopf example have recently been found in Western Australia, so the claim for the oldest fossi...

People expect treatment of animals to be free. This is a fact. That is why there is a high suicide rate for veterinary surgeons. The suicide rate for vets is four times higher than the rest of the population. In cities people take their pets to the vet when there is serious injury or illness or when an animal is at death's door. If their pet dies while being treated or operated on it is the norm, expected, that the vet will wave charges. And again, after a pet is put down it is deemed to be rude for the vet to charge a reasonable fee. Rural regions operate in a different way. Veterinary surgeons are on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. At lambing time they are rushed off their feet. Every farmer pays 3 months after service, so vets are in debt to the bank from the start. The days of paying with eggs are not gone either. Meat is often offered as payment. Why do people train to be vets? They obviously love animals, like the technical side of the job, or have community spirit. They ...