Adventure Ausrama Blog

Biological research shows genetic resistance to Tasmanian devil disease. The Tasmanian devil is an animal unique to Australia. It Once resided all over the continent. Perhaps is was easy for Aboriginals to catch for food. It cannot run very fast. It could just have died out due to a warming of the country. Tasmania is its only natural home today. Their raucous cries led to them being named devils by European settlers. They are violent to each other though attacks on humans are virtually non-existent. Scavenging for food is their number one priority. A facial disease began in the species in 1996. It was unusual in that it is the only known cancer transmitted from animal to animal. Tasmanian devil numbers fell by 80 per cent in twenty years due to Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease (DFTD). Extinction was predicted. However, it was noticed that some animals survived without getting the disease. Genes were examined and these devils had five genes not present in ...

How did the Western world get into the situation where the female in a broken relationship gets, well, just about everything that the male has accumulated? When a relationship ends the man's life is ruined. Not only has he got to pay for the keep of his children, with access to them being blocked in many cases, but he has to keep the female ex-partner until she decides to actually marry another man. A young man in his late twenties discussed his situation with me the other day. He was left a house by his father who died suddenly at quite a young age. The man married three years ago and has a child. His wife left him and arranged a divorce. She claimed legal aid. He tried to get it but it was refused. The divorce has just been finalized. His ex-wife got the house, a house to which she did not contribute. He had to find rental accommodation which he thought was to be short term. Now it is permanent. He is faced with the rental burden for the rest of his life. After he pays for the...

People living in different places "breed" at different rates. Reasons put forward are level of income, education of women and access to contraceptives. Family size has also changed at various places in history. The adventurous ones who ventured far and wide had more children than those who remained in established urban centers. This is particularly the case for British and French settlers in North America. Resources were more plentiful in new unsettled regions. For example, buffalo and native animals could easily be shot and eaten on the spot. New settlers were also healthier, being active for most of their lives. An examination of Canadian records since 1608 shows that couples on the outer edge of expansion had 20 per cent more children than those remaining in established regions. They also married younger. The pioneer contribution to the gene pool was four time greater than those who settled in populated areas. Church records were the main data source. If the numb...