Adventure Ausrama Blog

It seems odd to me that Tony Abbott has not exempted Catholics from the new compulsory  vaccination law. The only church outside of the new regime is the Christian Science church. Scott Morrison the Social Services Minister tried to keep this a secret. He was stupid to think he could do this. Nothing is secret in politics! Any exemption is folly. People will be queuing up to join the church but never attend services just to get their children in school. There must be a back down on this decision. Just a letter from the church exempts children of members. Court cases are expected by followers of other churches. A court will allow exemption across the board because the decision is discriminatory. Health professionals say the new rules will not work because all children have a legal right to attend school. Can you imagine the uproar if parents just choose to take their children out of school and plant them in front of the TV? There are only 1,400 Christian Scientist

Pollution is a big problem, particularly from industry which pumps unwanted metals into the soil just about everywhere in the world. Getting rid of this had been an issue looking for a solution for decades. The answer could be at hand from a very weird source. Fish sperm has a property making it ideal for the purpose. It literally hoovers up the metal particles. The sperm contains high amounts of DNA. This contains phosphate which strongly attracts metals. The metal/phosphate compound can be taken out with neodymium magnets consisting of trivalent iron, dysprosium and neodymium. In Italy herring sperm was first identified as being useful in cleaning up the environment. With salmon being bred commercially, it is seen as a better source of fish sperm. The substance has been thrown away as waste until now. ✴ Science by Ty Buchanan ✴ http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com/atom.xml . . . . .

More women are moving into academia every year. This is the overall picture. Some areas are still sparsely populated by women. Physics is such a sector of learning. Name a woman physicist - any woman! Few recognise that maths is easier for men, but this is true. There is something about the male hormone that creates this state. Just like women are better at using words. Notably female physics students at the University of Melbourne have admitted that most women do not have the capacity to master physics. There will always be a few exceptions. However, the reality is that generally, women find study in this specialty difficult. Many female students who try physics ultimately end up in chemistry. They do feel more comfortable there. The survey of first year females showed more than 50 per cent had a negative outlook of their chances of succeeding. This makes one wonder why they are in the course. However, some were studying physics as a requirement of other degree

There seems to be a scientific breakthrough every minute. You go onto the Internet and a new claim appears. Some of course is recycled old news. However, new discoveries are made all the time. Despite spending cutbacks in some countries, science seems to be leaping ahead. You would think that just about everything is known about the body. Nevertheless, a new stem has been found. A four continent research enterprise called Project Grandiose has identified the new cell which has been put into the "F-class": the cell has a fuzzy body when viewed on a microscope. It is hoped that the cell can be used in the treatment of injuries and illnesses. The days of using stem cells from afterbirth material are long gone. Adult cells can now be modified for treating various health problems, but this is early research. The only successful treatment to date is for macular degeneration. Targeting modified stem cells is the main problem. They are like tumours and in the wrong plac

Koalas may look dozy and stupid. However, they are really smart. Nature has given them a strong identification for what is good to eat. The nutritional quality of eucalyptus leaves determines the koala population in a given area. Koalas need nitrogen to make energy, though they move very slowly. Without this valuable mineral they would simply not survive. Eucalyptus trees also contain toxins, a potential death threat to the animal. Eight species of eucalyptus were tested . It was found that koalas stayed away from trees carrying toxins and were attracted to those high in nitrogen.  They obviously know what is good them.  The search for food dominates their lives. If this identification of superior food is true for koalas it must be the case for other animals. They are intrinsically guided to sources of higher quality food. Dogs for example do know which type of grass to eat to solve a health problem. It is unusual for dogs to eat grass, but sometimes they do.

Australia steps forward with a "television" channel dedicated to top class science programs. Major science-based organizations will contribute to content. Interviews with leading scientists will be a feature of the channel. RiAus will be free on mobiles. Australian and British program will be shown. Major universities have signed up to help as well as science organizations. There is strong demand for science programs on the Internet. It is hoped that the young will get on board. Hostworks will set up the system. It will advise scientists on how to run the channel. The new programming is aimed at educating Australians generally about science. Unfortunately, no RSS feeds are offered. They will have to correct this for RiAus TV to be widely accepted. ✴ Science by Ty Buchanan ✴ http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com/atom.xml . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Scientists are jumping up and down welcoming the Commonwealth Science Council (CSC) saying it will breed market culture in science. The odd thing is this isn't the market in operation. It is managed interference in free scientific operations. Why should scientific research be managed at all? Another thing is, it will be chaired by the Prime Minister Tony Abbott. What does the PM know about science? The truth is he knows no more than the average person. He is not trained in science. The body will give advice. And you know what they say about advice - it is best ignored. The CSC will not improve the chasm between universities and industry. Academia has a good bond with industry in the US. Just why we cannot do the same in Australia is a mystery. A new referee in the ring like the CSC will not improve the boxing match. Industry and academia remain at odds. The blame really lies on the university side. They still live in their ivory towers being paid huge sums

Water dousing is not a scientifically proven method of finding minerals.  CSIRO's chief executive officer has suggested that dousing be put to the test scientifically.  Over the years it has been put to the test and found wanting. Personal experience has highlighted this when a water bore contractor used the system and did not find water.  He said that he would have to drill deeper and I would pay for it.  I waved the contract at him and said there is no mention of a surcharge in this - you guaranteed to find water. The claim of 80 per cent accuracy is not true.  It is based on heresay and after the fact selection of results.  It is like ghosts and life after death.  There is no scientific proof that these are real. The main use of divining is to locate water.  As former chief of CSIRO Land and Water John Williams says, “We know where the water is. The trouble is there isn’t much of it."   Dr Larry Marshall is a trained scientist.  He should know better suggesti

Western countries are heading for a crisis. Young people are not being taught skills that are of use in the workforce. Australia under Prime Minister Tony Abbott is moving back to the three "Rs" - reading, writing and arithmetic in schools. However, it will take at least a decade for this to take effect. It looks unlikely that future Australian governments will keep this change going. More and more irrelevant subjects are being introduced into an already crowded curriculum. Students are studying different things. There is no uniformity in education. Will we reach a stage where machines run the world and there are no technicians with the skills to repair them? This is a strong possibility. It is just a short step back to primitivism, back to the stone age. Students are not applying to enter the scientific field. Scientists are an aging bunch. Much research funding is channelled to them because they have proven themselves. Bodies with funds do not have any faith i

A lot of work is going into stem cells research. Anything we can learn about them is important for future human transplants. There have been some claims that have been proved wrong. However, we are moving forward in understanding how organs can be created from them. A significant breakthrough has been made in Australia while investigating zebrafish. Scientists have found out how hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) important in bone marrow and blood are made. The stem cells replenish immune cells in the blood. At present hematopoietic stem cells are used to treat leukemia and myeloma. It will probably be possible to treat other cancers in blood vessels, muscle and bone. Furthermore, diabetes, spinal problems and degenerative disorders cold also be treated. The discovery is important. "Buddy" cells were observed while the hematopoietic stem cell were being created. Ironically, the scientists were investigating muscle development when they noticed the "hel