Adventure Ausrama Blog

One evolved feature in an animal can affect another feature. Of course, the environment is the main factor in determining which feature wins out. Some animals have developed hibernation to survive harsh winters, but this can affect foetal development. Bears in particular are born very small because of a short pregnancy due to hibernation. Pandas have this trait even though they do not hibernate. They carry the genes for hibernation, though it is not expressed. Oddly, panda cubs are born weaker than other bears. Adult pandas are 900 time larger than their newborns. This ratio is higher than other bears, though polar bear have a ration of 400:1. Mammals generally have a ratio of 26:1 overall. It seems that baby pandas are born prematurely as the norm. Their bones are underdeveloped. This is making survival of the species difficult. Without help from humans the species would have become extinct. Keywords: panda, science, bears, species, birth, news, animals, pandas,

Over recent years there has been a host of controversial claims about fish oil, calcium and glucosamine. The questions are do these supplements do any good and do they all have to be taken? Some doctors say take them and other GPs say claims about them are nonsense. Some tests have been done. It has still not been proven that taking calcium prevents deterioration of bones in old age. And there is no proof that glucosamine gets into joints thus reducing pain. Tests on fish oil offer some hope of benefit. During research into omega 3 (which is in fish oil) on young children a potential benefit came to light. It seems that premature birth is delayed when fish oil is taken. Omega 3 prolongs pregnancy. Subjects who took the supplement also had larger babies. Their birth date was later than predicted. Of course, this brings up another question: Are heavier babies healthier? As the cause of premature birth is unknown perhaps this benefit overrides the perceived consequences of la