Adventure Ausrama Blog

Biological research shows genetic resistance to Tasmanian devil disease. The Tasmanian devil is an animal unique to Australia. It Once resided all over the continent. Perhaps is was easy for Aboriginals to catch for food. It cannot run very fast. It could just have died out due to a warming of the country. Tasmania is its only natural home today. Their raucous cries led to them being named devils by European settlers. They are violent to each other though attacks on humans are virtually non-existent. Scavenging for food is their number one priority. A facial disease began in the species in 1996. It was unusual in that it is the only known cancer transmitted from animal to animal. Tasmanian devil numbers fell by 80 per cent in twenty years due to Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease (DFTD). Extinction was predicted. However, it was noticed that some animals survived without getting the disease. Genes were examined and these devils had five genes not present in ...

Research shows that capitalism is bad for us. Since the 1970s there has been an increase in mental illness of adults and children. Indications are that it is due to capitalism because the rise has been noted in English speaking capitalist countries and not in non-English speaking non-capitalist nations. About 23 per cent of Americans, Britons, Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians suffered in the last 12 months, but only 11.5% of Germans, Italians, French, Belgians, Spaniards and Dutch.  Could language itself be a factor? Selfish Capitalism has massively increased the wealth of the rich, robbing the average earner to give to the rich. But there is no "trickle-down effect" despite what politicians say. Real wages have decreased in the US over the last three decades. Governments have reduced tax payments of the rich, placing responsibility for payment on low income earners.  Nothing is being done to reduce "middle class welfare".  Many people use the term mid...

When Captain Cook "discovered" Australia in 1770 it was known that Southeast Asians and even Chinese seafarers had landed in Australia. Portuguese and Dutch ships had also stopped to replenish water supplies. It was not considered possible that people had landed in Australia from another continent. In the 1940s mysterious coins were discovered. While some were coins used by the Dutch East India Company others were identified as coming from the Kilwas Sultanate of Tanzania in Africa. They were used in the prominent trading center 1,000 years ago. If Africa was trading using Australia as a location en route Aboriginals could have come into contact with African merchants. Though the coins were found on the fringe of the Australian north coast, getting fresh water would have been important for ships traveling through the waters of the Wessel Islands. Aboriginals would have been curious about any "strange" looking new people. Africans would certainly have been ...

Like the native Indians of North America, Australian Aboriginals have taken solace in alcohol. Since the Europeans arrived, discrimination has been part of their daily lives. Europeans immured in stratified society with strong class divisions treated Aboriginals as less than human. City white people have the same alcohol problems as Aboriginals, but society accepts this as normal. Many Australians of European descent believe that there is a genetics predisposition in Aboriginals. There is no foundation to this. When white people get drunk they fight, steal, and lose control. Aboriginal communities have alcohol prohibition supported by government legislation. If this was to be applied to white citizens there would be a public outcry. The current interference in unemployment payments to Aboriginals in the Northern Territory is definitely unlawful. This is why the board that polices human rights in Australia was suspended. Life is so frustrating for Australian Aboriginals that ...

It may be hard to believe, but Tasmania has a thriving truffle industry.  Perigord, the company that began truffle growing in Australia, has a trained team of dogs to search out the valuable product. Something is damaging the crop.  A beetle related to the European truffle beetle has appeared.  Truffle beetles have not been studied to a great extent.  Until now the fungus has been pest free.  In Europe they are also destroyed by flies, gnats, and larvae.  Because the European truffle has only been here for about thirty years, growing them was easy.  The pests have found them and are attacking.  It seems the local beetle likes them too.  Moreover, the European snail has inadvertently been imported. There is a problem in doing research to identify the culprits.  Truffles must be dug up to be examined before they ripen.  Once brought into the light at this early stage they are no good for the market. Using pesticides as is done in Eu...

Learning has not been linear for human beings. Advancement can be different from one place to another. It is now known from DNA analysis of 5,000 year old skeletons in a French cave that women did not travel into western Europe. Mitochondrial DNA is passed down only from the mother which shows that European women had local ancestry. On the other hand the Y chromosome passed down through males shows movement of males into new European regions. Knowledge of farming came into new areas when the males moved in and mated with local females. Analysis of DNA from 29 skeletons found in France, highlighted this difference between the mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome. Males had moved from the Mediterranean to western Europe. Most of the males in the 29 skeleton group were related, so when the males arrived they stayed on the land with their new hunter gatherer wives. The southern males had a problem: they did not have the lactose tolerant gene of central Europeans. They had to drink f...

What is multiculturalism? It is the acceptance of multiple "micro" cultures within a national culture. Many believe that it is ethnic groups taking on a national culture. This is where the problem arises. In Europe at the moment there is the issue of the burka, worn by traditional Muslims. Furthermore, there is the problem of mosques to be built in New York and Moscow. Some European political parties are taking a stand against multicultural polices, saying they will stop more immigration and even take away the rights of ethnic groups in their own communities. Popularity for banning the burka is increasing. Australia has been suggested as a model for other countries in regard to multiculturalism because of the way ethnic groups have integrated into the wider Australia. But the reason for its success is the way new Australian have been absorbed into society not for the traditions of ethnic groups surviving for generations in this country. As new arrivals looked for homes and wo...

Is a bank tax the same as the Australian minerals tax? Mining companies are playing a dirty game by paying Olympic stars good money to say the mining tax is bad for the country. There isn't much doubt that such a tax is tremendously beneficial to the Australian economy. This is because other countries will quickly follow suit and bring in their own mining tax. Olympians who go for the money will soon lose support of the community. This has happened in the past when celebrities let their political leanings been known. Straight away half the population doesn't like them anymore. If you belong to the public there are certain things you should keep to yourself. People have long memories. Not much is being said about the new bank tax proposed by European countries. However, this is much like the Australian minerals tax. There are dangers there for European countries. If the US doesn't bring in a similar tax, banks will re-register there to avoid paying the tax. Perhaps that is w...