Adventure Ausrama Blog

Australia begins production of potash. It is a large consumer of the salt, but until now has not produced any of its own. Though resources of the compound have always been available to Australian companies they have never processed it. The Australian Potash company has obtained 3 tonnes of potassium-rich feeder salts from the Lake Wells SOP (sulphate of potash) project. The process facility is near Perth. Production of more of it will be carried out over the next three months. Two Chinese MuO off-take partners have joined the parent company. Lake Wells 180km from Laverton is the source of the compound. There is a chain of evaporative ponds that filter it out of raw material. A research project has been set up by Australian Potash with the School of Agriculture and Environment at the University of Western Australia. The newly produced Australian potash will be tested on various WA soil types. The university product will enable the company to engage with the consumer, namely,...

The first singing birds originated in Australia - science. Singing birds originated in Australia. This is true. Just when they moved to other parts of the world is not yet clearly known. Evidence from DNA sequencing and fossils point to this happening approximately 23 million years ago. They first "hopped" from island to island until they reached Indonesia. From there it was easy for them to spread to Asia. The progression to populate the world occurred rapidly, like when humans moved out of Africa.  It took only a few thousand years for the initial "breakout". Birds of song could not leave Australia before 23 million years ago as Indonesia before that time was a small island and there was a huge distance of ocean for the birds to cross to reach other land masses. Half of all bird species are song birds. The only continent where they did not go is Antarctica. This is a mystery because penguins are birds, so the cold barrier is not significant for birds.  Man...

Science: the latest meteorite give insight into formation of the solar system Scientists are interested in a space rock. The meteorite crashed into the Australian outback a year ago and has unique features. It is currently in London undergoing tests and will eventually be returned to the Museum of Western Australia. The meteorite is small, only as big as a tennis ball. Because its trajectory was tracked its origin is known. This is unusual: of the 50,000 meteorites that have hit the Earth over the last 200 years  the sources of only 10 have been ascertained. Tracking of the meteorite was carried out by Curtin University, London's Imperial College and the Ondrejov Observatory in the Czech Republic. The point of impact was only 100m from the projected point. Meteorites are the oldest rocks being 4.5 billion years old. Critical information about the formation of the solar system will be gained. ◆ Science by Ty Buchanan   ◆ Adventure Australia Funny Animal ...