Adventure Ausrama Blog

Darwin got it right. Well actually he may not have. Fossils of early humans do not alter basic scientific thought in relation to evolution, Finds do not show a linear development toward advanced Man. Evolution though does tend to predict what new discoveries show. Claims that a particular fossil find is a breakthrough are just not true. New dinosaur fossils, however, tend to be groundbreaking with regular identification of new type of dinosaurs. Indeed, they seem to have roamed on every continent. The whole book on dinosaur evolution has not yet been written. Time will tell how clear an understanding of it we can get.  It seems evolution of dinosaurs is clearer than that of humans. New research teams need to be formed to go to all parts of the world and seek answers to evolution of mammals and reptiles, if indeed dinosaurs were reptiles. Some specialists today even question this view. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://adventu

It is amazing how people will see something new, then run with it to the extreme saying this will change the world. This is true for virtually all non-fossil energy producing systems, but all of them have drawbacks and none have revolutionized the power sector. The two major problems have been high cost and non constant energy production during the 24 hour period. Scientists have worked on hydrogen systems for decades and success seems very distant. It is not being accepted for widespread use. Actually, hydrogen is a "byproduct" of energy production. When electricity is generated by any method the excess not used at a point in time is passed through water. It splits into oxygen and hydrogen via electrolysis with the fuel stored to be used in the future. When hydrogen is recombined with oxygen, electricity is generate. Heat from the process can also be used directly for heating purposes. As with other environmentally friendly electricity producing methods time will tell if

For a century now people have been assuming that robots will arrive and become commonplace in the home.  Manufacturing has its industrial robots but helping robots in the home have not become reality.  The problem is not so much being able to construct the physical aspects of a robot, it is the intelligence, the "brain", that is the big issue. By doing 25,000 runs on a computer to build up experience, it was found that biological intelligence was structure into a network of modules.  This is a breakthrough finding for artificial intelligence.  Modules means alternatives can be chosen to meet a problem.  This is what makes humans and animals so difficult to understand. Apparently, all things evolve via modules.  Such networks have not solely appeared out of intellectual necessity.  Modules can be joined together with shorter network connections, using less to make more.  Evolution is not wasteful.  In the computer simulation, once a cost for network connections was added mo

Be careful the next time you quietly curse a magpie attacking you during breeding season. It may know what you are thinking. Why is it that the birds seem to know the personalities of individuals walking by? If you have fed them in the past they appear to remember you and let you go on by unhindered while swooping down onto the heads of other people. Crows have been observed hiding food from other crows. This is not due to stress as was once believed. There is still contention between the two opposing groups of scientists. Tests on scrub jays it was claimed proved that they were hiding food from more dominant Jays. This was really a hypothesis, not real proof. The other group claims that birds are conscious of others and what other may be seeing, like humans. In their tests bird were allowed to hide peanuts in a litter of corn cobs. If another bird was watching they later came back and re-hid the peanuts. When they buried peanuts on their own they rarely re-hid them. This

We have heard so much about how scientists are going to clone a mammoth. For many this idea remains "pie in the sky" - a lot of talk and no action. There is plenty of mammoth raw material around to do tests on. The problem is getting good DNA that can be cloned. Scientists are jumping up and down again with the recent find of a frozen mammoth in Siberia. They say this time their will be "living cells". This is very optimistic. The new mammoth will probably be like all the others. Only partial DNA will be found. Even though bone marrow has been identified this time, cloning is a long shot. No living cells have so far been found in any extinct animal, as far back as 10,000 years when mammoths roamed the Earth. There are problems in analyzing human DNA even though the human genome is known. The complete DNA of mammoths has not yet been determined. A prize is offered by the X Prize Foundation for the first cloned extinct animal. Scientists can hope I s

The common view on climate change (CC) has shifted. This is due to the shocking weather in the US over the last few years. A survey of respondents at Yale University shows those who believe that global warming is happening has increased from 57 per cent in 2010 to 66 per cent currently. People with common views have been identified: Alarmed - 13% Concerned - 26% Cautious - 29% Dismissive - 10% Disengaged - 6% Doubtful - 15% These figures were obtained in 2011, a year before the Yale study which noted the changes as follows: Alarmed - 13% Concerned - 26% Cautious - 34% Dismissive - 10% Disengaged - 2% Doubtful - 15% Other important opinions in each group include: Alarmed - 57% = Extremely sure CC is happening Dismissive - 94% = Strongly dstrust Pres. Obama ........ " .... - 70% = Strongly distrust climate scientists All Respondents - 58% = US could afford to act

Tasmanian devils have a unique form of cancer. It is the only type that is contagious. Just how it is transmitted is the unknown factor. Scientists studying the disease now believe it should be reclassified as a parasite. Though at first glance it seems to be a cancer it has many characteristics of a parasite. The parasitic cancer stays in a host until the sufferer is irretrievably damaged then it will move on to a new host. It uses the Tasmanian devils predilection for violence to spread itself. It remains alive by sticking to the teeth. When devils fight they snap at each others' mouths causing blood to flow. It is really a new category of disease. Though a cancer it not in other animals. A parasite will exist in many animals. The disease originated in one female devil during the 1990s. Just how it originated is not known. It is such a difficult disease to treat. The Tasmanian devil could reach its demise in less than 15 years. http://www.adventure--australia.blog

Australian astronomers are searching for planets in other solar system that could sustain human life. Dr Charley Linweaver says Mankind is reaching the beginning of the end. It's time to look for a way out at least for a small group of people.  The number of planets identified orbiting other suns now exceeds 750. Though a few of these could be like the Earth, exact information is lacking. The objective of getting people to such a distant destination is way "off the planet" at present. We do not have the technology to get people in orbit around other planets in our own solar system, let alone reaching a far away planet and landing safely. Finding an identical planet to Earth is just not possible. This planet is a freak in regard to the universe. Most planets do not have life because they are regularly hit by asteroids and even other planets. Sending probes to  a possible twin planet would be a waste of time. It would literally take a lifetime to get a message ba

Some people assume too much. This applies to the scientific sphere where people can "get ahead of themselves" and make claims about achievements that are only in the "possible" stage. Science is advancing very fast, but some things are still out of reach. People in positions of power due to wealth or public office can make the wrong decision. A group of 100 scientists have been put together by Dmitry Itskov a Russian entrepreneur to download, or upload depending how you look at it, human minds into robots. This is fairy tale stuff. They expect to complete this within 10 years. This is probably at least 30 years away. These human/robot "things" Itskov has called Avatars. He claims it will mean immortality for humans who agree to have their minds "implanted" into robots. This is a silly point of view. Unless consciousness is transferred as well there is no immortality. Claims that consciousness will be transferred with the mind are no

It is presumed that planets are changing orbital speed at exceedingly slow rates and it will take millions of years for any significant alteration in the "balance" of orbits in the solar system. This theory has recently been confounded. Venus was thought to be in a fixed orbit of 243.0185 days, but when astronomers went looking for it, it was found 20 kilometers further back than it should have been. Calculations showed the orbit had slowed by 6.5 minutes. This will mean that computer computations will have to be altered for future planetary probes to Venus. This is a drastic rethink for scientists. For some reason Venus is affected more by fierce weather conditions and planetary gravitational interaction than other planets. There could be a simpler explanation. Venus could be travelling at different rates in its orbit due to getting close to other planets. It could be a normal slow down period. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustrali

Climate models are presumed to be far too complicated for the layman to understand so they are left to the experts. However, the models save lives and valuable infrastructure. The complicated lines of code make predictions about future weather patterns. Just a few decades ago weather could not be forecast for two days ahead. Currently, five day forecasts are common and they are reliable. Even seasonal outlooks are treated as valid. For examples, we have been told in Queensland that there will be a wet summer. The all-seeing weather bureau is counted on to provide information about strong winds, hailstorms, cyclones and even the direction of forest fires. To get an accurate prediction, up to date and correct data must be fed into the models. Computers are getting larger all the time and more complex models are being formulated. This is a complex job. Scientists need to draw on many specialized fields in physics, mathematics and computer science. No university offers a course te

Although GM foods have spread quietly throughout the world slipping under lax labelling systems, people are still suspicious of them. Because of the strict ban on their distribution in Europe if something disastrous happen to those who unknowingly consume them, Europeans will have the last laugh. It seems scientists are obsessed with DNA modification of anything they can get their hands on. Wine has been made for centuries from grapes that are perfect for the job. Just why one would want to mess around with the DNA of the humble grape vine is a mystery. For ten years scientists in Adelaide have been trying to modify grapes to make them resistant to mildew. This disease can easily by prevented by spraying with fungicide. There has been limited success in the laboratory. Tests in the field will follow. There is a problem, however, a Significant proportion of Australian wine is sold in Europe, where as mentioned above there is a ban on the sale of genetically modified food. What a

The Hendra virus was first identified in 1994. It killed horses and several veterinary scientists. Oddly, this deadly disease has only appeared in Australia. This is very unusual. Diseases tend to spread across national borders. Outbreaks are spasmodic. Horses in Queensland and New South Wales have died recently in the latest outbreak. Scientists are intensively examining all aspects of the Hendra virus. A dog was found to be a carrier. Though unaffected and quite healthy the dog had to be put down. Promising results have been obtained by using human antibody m102.4 on monkeys who were intentionally infected. The animals remained well for three days before needing treatment. All of the subjects survived. A control group of monkeys who were not given the antibody died. Though unproven, the ailment is believed to be carried and spread by bats. A similar bat borne disease is widespread in India, Bangladesh and Malaysia. The Asian Nipah ailment identified in 1998 is of interes

The sweet potato is a hotel counter-lunch filling. It is something you have when there is no other vegetable left. Most people eat it because it is on the plate. It's flavour can be described as sugary. The only vegetable anything like it is fresh baby peas that can be quite sweet. The sweet potato, however, is far too "sickly" for most palates. This humble vegetable is being revamped. Researchers in Queensland are trying to find varieties that can be grown more economically and which are more suitable for consumers - diametrically opposed goals one would assume. They are looking for more brilliantly coloured kinds, a silly aspiration considering people don't eat colour. It is the taste that is the problem. Seeing pretty red, purple, orange and white skin while you are peeling them is hardly, well, "appealing". Scientists are saying the colours are exciting. Wow! They are also saying that there are interesting flavours. This claim is not soundly

It seems Dinosaurs had vouracious appetities and went around "hoovering up" all the greenery they could find with their heads close to the ground. Discussed in a television documentary by Phil Manning this is now accepted as fact. The Sauropod did not hold its head up like a giraffe. The head was held horizontally to the ground. There is no way blood could have been pumped up high. The heart would have been impractically huge for that to occur. University of Adelaide's Roger Seymor has held the horizontal tack for a long time. A British documentary confirmed this. David Wilkinson in England says the neck of the Brachiosaurus, which was 30 feet long, was far too heavy to hold aloft. The dinosaurs had long necks to conserve energy. The necks could be moved around in the search for food without moving the body. They were as long as was beneficial to save energy grazing. It was not really grazing like a cow, for example. Their neck were long tubes similar to a vacuum cleaner.

It seems humans know just about everything. This is a myth really. A new species of jellyfish has be seen in Coffs Harbour, NSW. It seems the marine creature has been there for a long time. The mystery "object" is a box jellyfish that appears to be totally harmless. It is unlike the Irujandji and is smaller than the dangerous Chironex flecker box jellyfish. Fishermen have been seeing the new jellyfish for sometime but authorities took no notice. A game crew took photos of the animal last week. Finally "professionals" acted and arrangements are being made to catch some specimens. Fish of all kinds are moving south as the temperature of the ocean increases due to climate change. It is believed the visiting jellyfish come from more northern climes. Usually jellyfish do not move south because they can be harmed by rougher seas. They prefer the warm, calmer tropics. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://www.feeds.feed

Scientists are looking to moles to enable Mankind to live longer. No, these are not the animal kind of moles. They are the moles one has on one's body - beauty moles. Rather than saying "Yuk, cover that up", we should be saying "You lucky thing." It seems people with moles have benefits that others do not have. The bones in these lucky ones are, apparently, stronger than usual. It is also claimed that they have less wrinkles making them look up to a decade younger than "non-molers". The Heart, eyes and muscles are stronger as well. The downside is the increased risk of skin cancer. Just live like Count Dracula, stay out of the light, and you should be laughing. Researchers are working on a way to turn moles off so they become less visible. This is good if you have the genes for moles, but what about the rest of us? There is no way we can get the benefits from moles which make the telomeres of white blood cells longer, thus slowing bone deterioration an