Adventure Ausrama Blog

science Interesting things abound about Australia. It is a unique continent being isolated from the other land masses for millions of years. Animals have evolved with unusual behaviors. The cute, tiny Antichenus gets so high on testosterone that the little fellow doesn't eat or drink. He mates until he dies. The ugliest fish live in the deep sea off Australia's coast. They have large eyes, a necessity where light is almost total nonexistent.  Land creatures have evolved where some beauty is required to facilitate mating.  living in the darkest depths means seeing your mate is not so important, but large eyes, huge jaws and venomous spines are. Tourists and locals know about the deadly creatures living here. Oddly, Funnelweb spiders are not dangerous to dogs, cats, mice, lizards or snakes. An unlucky human can die if bitten by this spider.  Muscles in our bodies fibrillate.  Unsynchronized contraction of heart muscles can kill us. Bundaberg is the home of the world

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

Early traditional legends describe mermaids:  supernatural beings that lived in the sea, a combination of human and fish. As time went on, they were described as having a human body and a fish’s tail. But where did the mermaid legend come from?  For centuries, sailors travelled the oceans and returned to their homelands with tales of exotic creatures from distant shores, one of which was the mermaid. These sailors had been on the high seas for months. They may have been dehydrated, suffering from sunstroke, ill or simply lonely.  They saw creature with smooth bodies and long flowing hair swimming through the water. Mermaids! Of course to our eyes a dugong ( Dugong dugori ) does not look much like a mermaid. But to a lonely sailor with the sun in his eyes, these graceful aquatic human-like creatures could have captured the imagination. The long flowing hair was possibly sea grasses, which the dugong feeds on.  In an early record in his book, A Voyage to New Holland , the explorer C

personally, I do not fear sharks nor am I protective of them. However, they should be left alone to live their lives their way. Ecotourism is restricting their freedom to roam. Any country that can do it, is doing it to bring in the tourist dollars. More than eight billion people a year go seeking experiences in supposedly protected areas, which are commercialized. This is like the whole population of the planet trampling over pristine environments, because that is exactly what a high number of visitors do. Crazy tourists actually swim with sharks. Let's face it, Man is dinner to sharks. This is the rule of things. The dangerous creatures come very close to swimmers. They are becoming domesticated. Note, many dog owners have been attacked by their pet! More, complete strangers have been mauled. Tourists are affecting the natural selection of sharks. To attract them to tourist boats they are fed. Consequently, they have a better chance of survival. The man

"Not like that!  Like this." Funny Animal Photos penguins comparing talking not like that Adventure Australia Funny Weird Things Articles News Reviews ● ✤ Vista Computer Solutions Blog ✤ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . penguins talking practising practicing not like that this do watch me look

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"Keep me away from that water!"   ✿   ✴  Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan   ✴ http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com/atom.xml . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Clams along the United States' eastern coastline are suffering from cancer. Like the "bug" in the Tasmanian devil it spreads from individual contact. Rogue cells jump between clams by floating in the water. The most common cancer of clams is leukemia - the sea creatures have a circulatory system. The find happened because Carol Reinisch of Massachusetts Marine Biology Laboratory (who works on soft-shell clams) asked Stephen Goof of Columbia University to look for clams getting cancer by a  virus. He was shocked to discover a toxic cell that spreads cancer all along the eastern seaboard. Only two other cases of the spread of cancer by cells are known. One is decimating the Tasmanian devil. The other is transmitted sexually in dogs. At present Geoff Goff's research is supposition. A lab experiment which shows cancer spreading by a cell in water has not yet been done. Scientists will soon carry out the relevant test. Then we will know whether someth

While new animals are regularly identified, all species of seadragons were thought to be known. Indeed, it has been 150 years since all were classified. A surprise was on hand for Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Western Australia Museum. A new type of seadragon was found off the WA coast. A sample had been in a lab untested since 2007. The latest DNA testing system enables new kinds of creatures to be singled out. Named Phyllopteryx dewysea , the new seadragon is bright red in color. This is an ideal color for camouflage in deep water. No one expected a new type, so it remained undetected until the new technique made 5,000 X-ray slices of the sample. The Ruby Seadragon has a distinct skeletal structure. It increases the number of known seadragon species by 50 per cent, because there were only two other kinds of this mysterious animal previously. ✴ Technology by Ty Buchanan ✴ http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogsp

Though jellyfish have no brain, intelligence is built into their bodies. They appear to act on instinct to changes in the environment. Whether they have consciousness is not known. They swim better than any other creature. Swimming against the tide is their forte. Detecting the direction of currents was thought to be impossible without sight, yet jellyfish do it. Rhythmically moving their heads and forcing water out from their bodies, they are a jet-propelled swimming machine. Most believe that jellyfish just drift. This is not the case, They head straight for their destination, for example, usually in groups. Somehow they know that there are others of their kind with them, though they do not have eyes. Perhaps the animal uses the Earth's magnetic field as well as ocean currents to know where they are. Some scientists have suggested they use infrasound. ✴ Science by Ty Buchanan ✴ http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blog