Adventure Ausrama Blog

New technology automates sexing of chicks. Fattening up male chicks is a waste of resources. Furthermore, having to manually check the sex of chicks that are sold to producers is a costly burden. There must be an easier way. In Europe a way of determining the sex of chicks while still in the egg will revolutionize the industry. Female chickens fatten up much quicker than males. Moreover, males do not lay eggs. It may be possible to on-sale the "rejected" eggs for production of egg powder. The new system is 95 per cent effective after the ninth day of gestation. The way male chicks are disposed of at present is not pretty: they are crushed alive by an industrial crusher. At first, Wouter Bruins of the Netherlands had the aim of ending this mass euthanizing. Now it is seen as a potential extremely profitable enterprise. Sexing can be done at the rate of 4,500 an hour. ◆ Technology by Ty Buchanan   ◆ Tys Countr y Amusing Animal Photos Odd Weird Thin...

The sex of central bearded dragon hatchlings is determined by the prevailing temperature during incubation. Some females carry male genes and behave like males. They are more confident and active than other females. The "tomboys" also have more offspring. Australian central bearded dragon Of great interest is how genetic and climatic factors affect gender. In lab test incubation, if the temperature was over 32 degrees females with male chromosomes hatched as females. Below 32 degrees the dragon expressed its genetic disposition and hatched as males. High temperature females were larger than males which is normal for the species. It appears that male type behaviors of these females is genetically determined. Some of the females were even bolder than normal males. Male chromosomes affect the brain which is driven to express male traits. Only one other animal has the feature of environmental and genetic factors determining sex - the skink. Other animal...

Sociology: women make more profit on eBay by selling at lower prices. Men and women are the same - well not really. There may be a drive to make the workplace equal for both sexes. However, there are clear biological differences and thought processes are not the same. Certain parts of the brain are preferred by either sex.  What is involved in selling? Description and layout are paramount. Relevant and stimulating pictures are required. The correct price to sell adequate volume of a product and make a profit are also essential. Men and women see these factors differently. An examination of eBay shows that women sell the same products at lower prices than men. Considering people can easily find the cheapest product in a category because of the way eBay is designed, women managers will make more sells. Researchers said that buyers have lower expectations of women sellers. This is a red herring: buyers do not normally look to see whether a seller is a man or woman. ...

You would think that the medical profession would be equal for both sexes in regard to career opportunities by now. Unfortunately, this it not the case in Australia. It occurs even though medical schools have reached gender parity for enrolments. In many schools women are in the majority. Leadership positions are still dominated by men. This is more so specialty areas. Old cultural values have inertia: the US, UK and Canada have the same problem. In Sweden research has shown that women medicos seek high positions just as much as men. Yet even there men dominate leadership and specialties. The average for women CEOs in Australian hospitals is only 12.5 percent. This is absurdly low. Female deans of medical schools and government chief medical officers average about 30 per cent. Women in specialty stands at 16 per cent: they are overwhelmingly in pathology, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology holding just over half of these positions nationally. Female surgeons number abou...

Do you like to go outdoors in the morning, stretch your arms and listen to the birds singing?  Chances are the bird sounds come from male birds.  The "new" theory is that females evolved not to sing to protect their eggs and young from predators.  Is is only a theory of course.  There is no substantial proof. It is supported by one case say scientists.  The fairywren's clutch is considered the most likely to fall prey to a predator during breeding time because she sings constantly.  This is weak proof.  Birds like humans can choose to remain silent.  Why hasn't she evolved to remain silent when breeding?  There is a reason why fairy wren females sing while sitting on eggs.  They do so to "talk" to their mates, who answers back with a similar but slightly different song. Quail eggs were planted in the field and a recording of fairywren chatter was played back.  We have a correlation folks: predators ate the eggs.  The more so...

One of Australia's best-lmown spiders is the Redback Spider Latrodectus hasseltii , a close relative of America's Black Widow Spider.  It is easily identified by the wonderfully striking orange/red slash on its glossy black (sometimes brown) body.  The Redback Spider was immortalised in Slim Newton’s 1972 hit song Redback on the Toilet Seat:                     There was a Redbnck on the toilet seat                        When I was there last night,                        I didn't see him in the dark but boy                        I felt his bite. It Probably wasn't a male spider that bit the man in the toilet. Only the female that bites. A male redback is only about a tenth of the female's size.  He has fangs but they usually can't p...

Early European settlers were amazed by the emu.  Governor Lachlan Macquarie was so impressed that, in 1822, he sent two emus as gifts to the Governor-General of India, the Marquis of Hastings.  When Macquarie set sail from Australia back to England on the ship Surry, he wrote that voyaging with the passengers were "pets" that included six emus, travelling in roomy well aired pens  well-aired pens. The animals were to be given as gifts to friends and patrons of Governor Macquarie back in England. Unfortunately many of the pets, including one of the largest emus died on the trip. In l791 John Harris, who arrived in the new colony as a surgeon, wrote that emus were swifter than the fleetest of greyhounds. Emu eggs were described as dark Green with little black specks the of pins.  It is a little larger than goose eggs.  The emu is Australia’s largest bird standing up to 2 metres high. lt has wings but it can°t fly. lt can run really quickly around 50 kilometres pe...

Many children have a form of epilepsy that is genetic, handed down from a parent. Female-only epileptic syndrome is a case in point. It is rare but it remains a debilitating problem.  At birth babies seem to be normal, but in a few months they begin having seizures. e Australian scientists have pinned down the genetic mutation responsible for its expression. Professor Gecz says that the 19 (PCDH19) gene is the mutation triggering the ailment. Females have two X chromosome which determines their sex. This duality of X triggers epilepsy in girls. The main issue with female-only epilepsy is that it causes intellectual disability because seizures cause damage. A deficiency of the allopregnanolone hormone is the main factor in the onset of the ailment. This is an effect caused by the genetic disposition. When the hormone is brought back into balance at puberty permanent damage has already been done. The research continues.   ♣ ◆   Economics by Ty Buchan...

Men and women in hunter gatherer societies had very defined roles. Men hunted for protein, namely meat. Women sought tubers and berries for long term family sustenance. Some scientists are saying that male and females were more equal in prehistory. This not really the case. Women, for example, could not go on the hunt with men. Males would not remain home with the women unless sickness prevented the hardships of seeking wild game. A women who did not find a mate had to remain home, unwanted, with her birth family. Indeed close breeding was frowned upon. Mates were invariably found in an unrelated group. Scientists have mistakenly confused female independence in decision making,  which supposedly pushes them to choose an outside mate, with women knowing that it is the wise thing to do, while males are dumb and stupid about this. The attraction between cousins is well known - thus the term "kissing cousins". Why would women have superior ideals than men. ...

The bower bird is seen as a very common bird in Australia. However, in many ways it is special, particularly the satin bowerbird. The males of this species has dazzlingly bright blue eyes. This contrasts with the dark black body which has a sheen. They are very intelligent and have a complex courting ritual. The color blue controls their life. The male builds an archway comprising two pillars out of twigs, fruit, feathers and flora on the ground. It is decorated by sticking bright objects onto it with saliva, even things made by humans. When a female is within range the male struts his stuff, offering her all sorts of pretty trinkets that he has gathered. He makes chattering and hissing sounds while she examines his "things". If she likes what he displays mating will take place in the bower. The male is so obsessed with bower making that the female has to build the nest on her own. After laying precisely three eggs she will raise the young alone. ✴ Biology by Ty Buc...