Adventure Ausrama Blog

The long held "belief" that humans came out of Africa 60,000 years ago has now been officially announced as wrong by scientists. Migrations had been regularly been pushed back as far as 120,000 years before the present. It seems migration was constant not in waves. New research methods detect Homo sapiens in Asia very early, particularly in China. Genetic traces of these people are very low in modern humans. This indicates that the initial movement was slow from Africa. Later it became of a flood of Inquisitive searchers of new regions beyond. The early arrivals interbred with Denisovans and Neanderthals. These humans were taller and slender than those who came later. Neaderthals made tools from large flakes while humans technology involved lighter, finer cutting blades and spear heads. This was probably because Neanderthals were more muscular and tended to bash the quarry to death. Humans were more creative, carving antlers and bone. They made ivory flutes. C...

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN body, makes absolutely stupid findings. It says coal use will have to be completely stopped within 22 years or Australia's Great Barrier Reef will be destroyed. Saying that all cars will have to stop by 2050 is also ignoring reality. Without coal power stations most electricity production will cease. Using oil to create electrical power pushes the same amount of greenhouse gases into the environment as coal. Solar and wind will never make enough current to power air conditioners, fridges and ovens. Hydro just gives a starting base to major city demand. Tidal is just for small villages. Nuclear is a danger unto itself - never viable. The world will continue on its merry way. The standard of living will be maintained. Future generations will suffer. It is obvious that the Great Barrier Reef will die. The whole planet will become toxic. We face this: inundation of coastal cities as the oceans rise due to melti...

Our grandchildren will not enjoy the natural environment as we do. Yes, visits are organized for sightseers, but at least we have something to look at. We ignore the damage we do at our peril. This couldn't care less attitude has to change. Water shortages will become normal in urban areas and country regions. Ironically, Australiasia is experiencing a lot of rain at the moment. Will this continue? Perhaps the nation is becoming more tropical. However, El Niño will return eventually. When the weather is hot, plants and people do not do so well. There is plenty of food available in Western countries now. This could change with a persistent drying climate. The West does not seem to care about those suffering famine in Africa. Starvation and malnutrition could happen at home. Animal and plant biodiversity also suffers from severe change. In the last decade 50 percent of native animal species have died out in Australia. When an organism meets its demise the whole ecosystem ...

The continent of Australia distorted by the seasons continents are not static. They are pliable and change shape. In Australia it is called the continental wiggle. Ocean water moves in line with the seasons. It causes measurable deformation.    distorted earth seasons summer continent The Earth is not a perfect sphere. It is lopsided. This disrupts the flow of the ocean. From April on, Australia is "pushed" to the east. This changes in October when it is pushed to the west and a bit to the north.       shape continent seasons earth winter summer distorted Continental measurement is determined by two satellites. It may be only millimeters but the Australian continent is moving. During the northern hemisphere winter, build up of snow and ice makes the Earth "top-heavy", which creates changes in the ocean.    seasons distorted summer winter The planet's center of mass moves to the South Pacific when the ice melts. Australi...

Evolution speeds up with cosmic activity. Most people assume that we are isolated here on this tiny planet called Earth. However, throughout the ages life has been impacted by what goes on out there in the cosmos. Humans would not be dominant in the world today - considering we got down to less than a hundred souls when the climate suddenly took a new direction. An arrow piercing a supernova? When astrophysical phenomena such as black holes send out x-ray flares it affects earthly evolution. It has estimated by computer modelling that two supernovas occurring close together increased radiation on marine life by a factor of three. This is a major change that nascent intelligent life had to adapt to. Radiation sends out muon particles which hit the ground. More of them alters the environment. DNA mutation will speed up, so evolution becomes more rapid. This would account for the sudden disappearance of established species and takeover by new ones. The dark clouded...

Science sees life on Saturn's moon Titan. Looking for alien life on planets like our own is tunnel vision. Believing that life can only exist on planets in the "sweet" belt is silly. The universe is a place of commonalities, yes. However, it has many types of environments from the very cold to the extremely hot. Saturn's moon, Titan, could have microbial life even though it is indeed frigid. The body has all the chemical requirements for life creation to occur. Titan is a carbon copy of Earth, except the lakes and rivers are methane not water. Much of new science is bringing down temperatures so that chemical reaction can be controlled, so it is nonsense to premise that there is not sufficient energy for molecular interaction to happen at -179C on Titan. The key chemical hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is present on Saturn's satellite. Martin Rahm of Cornell university holds that the clouds of Titan could absorb energy from the distant Sun. The energy w...

Science sees life on Saturn's moon Titan. Looking for alien life on planets like our own is tunnel vision. Believing that life can only exist on planets in the "sweet" belt is silly. The universe is a place of commonalities, yes. However, it has many types of environments from the very cold to the extremely hot. Saturn's moon, Titan, could have microbial life even though it is indeed frigid. The body has all the chemical requirements for life creation to occur. Titan is a carbon copy of Earth, except the lakes and rivers are methane not water. Much of new science is bringing down temperatures so that chemical reaction can be controlled, so it is nonsense to premise that there is not sufficient energy for molecular interaction to happen at -179C on Titan. The key chemical hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is present on Saturn's satellite. Martin Rahm of Cornell university holds that the clouds of Titan could absorb energy from the distant Sun. The energy would be suf...

Science: the latest meteorite give insight into formation of the solar system Scientists are interested in a space rock. The meteorite crashed into the Australian outback a year ago and has unique features. It is currently in London undergoing tests and will eventually be returned to the Museum of Western Australia. The meteorite is small, only as big as a tennis ball. Because its trajectory was tracked its origin is known. This is unusual: of the 50,000 meteorites that have hit the Earth over the last 200 years  the sources of only 10 have been ascertained. Tracking of the meteorite was carried out by Curtin University, London's Imperial College and the Ondrejov Observatory in the Czech Republic. The point of impact was only 100m from the projected point. Meteorites are the oldest rocks being 4.5 billion years old. Critical information about the formation of the solar system will be gained. ◆ Science by Ty Buchanan   ◆ Adventure Australia Funny Animal ...

A long, long time ago there was a supercontinent on the planet Earth called Rodinia. The continent broke up and gigantic rivers flowed across its landscape. Consequently, the chemistry of the sea was changed. High CO2 levels in the atmosphere fell. Heat was no longer trapped by the greenhouse effect. A very long iceage began with temperatures falling to -50°C. The iceage went on for a long time because the now white planet reflected the sun's energy. Time stood still for rocks. Weathering did not occur. Volcanic activity began but it did not increase C02 by very much. Sea ice stopped sea water from taking up CO2 as it continued to reflect heat away. Some explosive activity must have happened: the change from iceage to greenhouse was sudden. glassy hyaloclastite fell into the ocean releasing phosphorus. This released oxygen into the ocean and the atmosphere. Cataclysms destroy life so life can begin anew. ◆ Chemistry by Ty Buchanan   ◆ Adventure Australi...

Life began on Earth earlier than thought.  There is evidence of life 3.8 billion years ago.  This is only 0.7 billion short of the total life of the planet. A new study has pushed the origins of life back another 300 million years. It seems life began as soon the chaotic period of Earth's formation had settled down. Flecks of graphite were trapped in the crystal zircon.  This microscopic carbon mineral is among the zirconium, oxygen and silicon which is the main structure of the crystal. While trapped graphite is not full evidence of life, carbon is classed as biogenetic - life needs it to begin.  It is believed that the graphite was originally organic before being absorbed by zirconium.  Apparently, Earth calmed down very quickly after formation. Estimates now puts the origin of life on Earth at 4.1 billion years. ◆ Biology Ty Buchanan   ◆ Adventure Australia Funny Animal Photos Funny Weird Things Articles News Reviews ● ...

There is something out there - so NASA says. The U.S. space body announced that life producing water exists on Mars and more information on Pluto is about to come out soon. The New Horizons spacecraft is working perfectly and data collection is continuing. High resolution photographs have been taken of Pluto for some time now. They have been analyzed. Findings will interesting. It seems we are not totally alone. Life seems to be everywhere in the cosmos. Pluto even has its own weather. The "environment" changes like here on Earth. Apparently the planet is geologically active. NASA has only downloaded 10 per cent of the data so far. Some fascinating insights will be made known on Thursday. ◆ Science by Ty Buchanan   ◆ Adventure Australia Funny Animal Photos Funny Weird Things Articles News Reviews ● Vista Computer Solutions Blog                Australian Blog   ★   Adventure Australia ALL BLOG ARTICLES ...