Adventure Ausrama Blog

Forget your plastics. There is a naturally occurring material with better properties. It is produced in the nests of the Australian masked bee. The substance is resistant to fire and repels water. Furthermore, it is very strong. A company called the Humble Bee located on New Zealand is reverse-engineering the cellophane-like material in an attempt to create a biodegradable substitute for plastic.  If successful, world pollution will be substantially reduced. We are so dependent on things made from oil. The little bees sourced from Noosa in Queensland hold out great hope for a reduction in such products. A way of trapping the Hylaeus nubilosus has been developed by Chris Fuller of Kin Kin. Veronica Harwood-Stevenson has spent her house deposit and winnings from the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency's Bright Ideas Challenge on the project. It is in the early stages. Ways of manufacturing are being studied. The aim is to initially make outdoor apparel and ...

Just when you thought the game was over a new species has been identified in Australia. In the darkest depths of tropical north Australia where there are wild crocodiles roaming freely a new waterlily has been found. A team of Australians and representatives of Kew Gardens in London scoured the Western Australian land searching for something new. It is amazing that  it was not identified before. The water flower is a beautiful purple and white. It was in an isolated spot situated in an oasis of water near Gibb River. The Kimberley region is surely the place to be with new dinosaur fossils located there. Botanists have given the waterlily a common name: peony flora. A scientific label will soon be determined. The plant seems to be plentiful. A "pond" was completely filled with the pretty flower. Further searches in other water bodies brought to light many more. Oddly, a specimen of the Lilly has been at Kew Gardens and was believed to be a hybrid. Now i...

Bushmeat is not just a problem in Africa. Asian countries have the same problem, as the demand for meat from wild animals increases. Taking animals from tropical forest changes the whole ecosystem. It is common sense really. As the number of creatures feeding on vegetation and other animals decline there is an abundance of vegetation growth and remaining fauna.  More growth kills off food for these animals. While some plants increase, others decline.  Even the amount of vegetation not consumed can fall.  Uneaten vegetation crowds out growth for all, so saplings do not grow tall. Plants need animals to disperse seeds. Consequently, the variety of plants falls. Just two decades ago the Lambir Hills National Park in Sarawak was pristine. There was an abundance of animals and trees. Now all the large animals have been killed off by hunters after a profit. Once such dramatic change occurs there is no way back. The large animals will not breed back to original number...