Adventure Ausrama Blog

Say cheese for me. No, you are not having your photograph taken. The world's oldest solid cheese has been found. It is 3,200 years old and was discovered in Egypt. Unfortunately it is diseased and cannot be eaten. The "slab" was owned by the mayor of Memphis Ptahmes in the 13th-century BC. It has been lying around in his tomb all this time. Put in with the official at the time of his death, it was carefully wrapped in canvas. Though it was identified as cheese. Whether it was made from cow, goat or sheep milk is not known. If anyone had eaten it they would have become very ill because it contained the bacterium of the deadly disease brucellosis. The presence of brucellosis have now been pushed back over 3,000 years. It has not been determined if it was a delicacy, maybe used as medicine or the tasty food was commonly consumed as ordinary meals. Dr Greco also identified the most ancient Italian olive oil and the earliest wine. Research continues in the Egyptian tomb...

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...

Despite this being a "scientific"age, not everything is known about the technology of the past.  New research shows that adoption of new things was quite rapid in the 19th century  For example, a dye was being used industrially only four years after its invention. Examination of purple threads from dresses by molecular spectroscopy shows that shows that it was widely used by consumers. Before synthetic dyes were developed only royalty could afford purple dresses as existing dyes were made from molluscs. After analysis using thin layer chromatography, energy dispersive x-ray and enhanced Raman spectroscopy a dye was identified in three dresses as being methyl violet. It was invented in 1861 and in shops by 1865, Even today getting a new product to market is usually only done with computer related merchandise. ◆ Chemistry by Ty Buchanan   ◆ Adventure Australia Funny Animal Photos Funny Weird Things Articles News Reviews ● Vista Computer ...

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 sc...

Gorillas caused it. Scientists say mosquitoes split into a new form capable of infecting humans when Man and chimpanzees had a common ancestor. This is a myth. It is not based on fact. Bonobos have also been singled out for blame despite no parasites being found in bonobos or western gorillas, though some parasites were found in chimpanzees and eastern gorillas. Before conclusions can be drawn on such research evidence of this mystery ancestor must be found first. This is all hearsay. How can present day apes be responsible for current malaria infection. Gorillas are only found in very small parts of Africa, not all around the world. This wreaks of leaps of faith not science. It is no better than religious beliefs based on prophets who probably never existed. It is scientific fact that evil spirits do not cause disease, yet millions of people believe that a man, Jesus, cured illness by casting out spirits.  Note, everyone is entitled to follow a religion. http://www.adventu...

The era of academic journals being closed off from the general public by financial barriers is coming to an end. Publishers are terrified by this. It means they will have to get funding from other sources rather than annual subscriptions. There will be a time limit placed on articles, so after a short period they will have to be released so everyone can read them. This move is being put forward by the UK government. It is pushing for open access from the very beginning of publication. Unfortunately, the government intends to make authors pay publishers. This is unrealistic. Admittedly, university lecturers are in a secure financial position. However, scientists find it difficult to get funding and allocating part of income on publication is another financial burden. Universities are saying that the government is looking after publishers, protecting their income while passing the cost onto educational institutions. Martin Hall says we must move forward to get full funding in ...

You wouldn't think that finding out how to carry a mug of coffee without spilling it would be a subject for analysis by scientists, but you would be wrong.  Rouslan Krechnetnikov took it upon himself to solve this disruptive daily issue. This area of study dawned upon him when he watched people struggling with mugs of coffee at a fluid dynamics conference. He thought that the solution wasn't simple.  It was a complex scientific problem.  The coffee carriers gender, age and health would affect the solution. Tests included walking in a straight line with coffee in hand while looking at the mug or looking ahead.  A sensor in the mug measured spillage of coffee.  Conclusions were that one should walk slower and, wait for it - watch the mug not where you are going. This sounds like advice leading one to disaster.  "Watch your heads and laps everybody someone's coming who doesn't know where he's going!  Why don't you get a cup you fool? " http://www.adven...

It is known that the climate change caused by an asteroid hitting the Earth 65 million years ago led to the extinction of dinosaurs and the rise of mammals. Other extremes in climate pushed humans to move out of Africa. The National Research Council in the US has released a report calling for funding for more research into climate change and the human movement issue. Paleoanthropologists and geologists plan the following program: find new fossil sites with remote sensing tools to determine when new species arose: drill ancient lake beds in Africa for more information on human evolution: develop regional models on how climate differed in parts of Africa over the last 100,000 years: and educate the general community on how climate change led to Man moving across the world. A meeting is to take place on 31st March next year to discuss the determinations of the report and how such a program can be initiated. The first priority, of course, is funding. The present economic climate do...