Adventure Ausrama Blog

Australia is one the world's major producers of wheat. If climate change reduces national output there will be widespread consequences. The economy will suffer with the need to import wheat. Internationally, a wheat shortage will put prices up and many poor people will have to go without. On the positive side some regions of Australia will get more rain. People will still be able to "fatten up" on sugar and rice, despite research showing that sugar contains no nourishment whatsoever for the human body. Two centuries ago a group of British sailors was shipwrecked on the west coast of Africa. The ship was beached. Even though the ship had a full load of West Indian sugar they all died of malnutrition. Getting back to the main point. There will be competition for arable land pushing land prices up. There is also a link between the land and sea. Climate change will reduce the fish catch. Living in the bush will become impossible with farming failing to prop...

Capitalism is a good thing - or so we believe. The world is getting more obese. Large international companies that produce high-sugar, high-fat products are buying out local distribution firms in developing countries to dominate the market. More than a Quarter of China's population is obese. Twenty years ago each Chinese person consumed only two teaspoons of sugar a day. Currently, China keeps a sugar bank, The government is terrified that a sugar shortage will lead to social unrest. Mexico is becoming fatter than any other nation on Earth. Coca Cola practises price segmentation. In cities where income is higher, coke costs more than average. Poor rural regions get coca cola at a much cheaper price. Young children suffer from malnutrition while their parents are overweight. Sugar and fat consumed regularly is a killer. Diabetes is increasing at a rapid rate. In developing countries medical care is poor, so diabetes goes untreated and people die. There can only be one...

This subject is topical at the moment with the Olympic Games in full swing. The triathlon is a popular sport where spectators admire the determination of athletes to push through the pain barrier and keep on going to the finish. Little work has been done on understanding how much damages is done to the body. The half triathlon also called the intermediate or Standard distance run at the Olympics has become popular with many who just want to keep fit. Tests show significant reduction in knee extensor and flexure muscle strength at the end of an event. The ability to jump up off the ground is also reduced. Considering dehydration and stores of carbohydrates which have been lost it is no surprise that weakness continues for some time after competing. However, dehydration was only minor in tested athletes. It seems the fat and muscle loss is the main cause. Participants in triathlons should concentrate on ingesting carbohydrates as well as fluid. Keeping blood glucose high has been...

We are consuming sugar in increasingly greater amounts as more of it is being added to processed food. Some blame the obesity epidemic on sugar intake alone because people on high-fat, low-carb diets lose weight. There is an unclear link between high sugar intake on levels of heart disease and diabetes. Whether high-carb causes cancer is even less clear. Half of table sugar is fructose which causes fat to build up on the liver. The liver is put out of balance so the body's insulin level is raised. More palmate is also created by the liver which leads to heart disease. Hypertension is believed to increase breast cancer and cancer of the colon. The combination of high blood sugar, excess body fat and high blood pressure in a patient is called metabolic syndrome. Sufferers ultimately get very sick. Mankind in the natural state has relied on tubers, fruit, meat and fish for sustenance. Sugar is a new substance and human beings do not have natural resistance to cope with it...

Yet another plant is suggested as a savior for our fuel hungry future. Agave is a succulent, normally used to produce the alcoholic drink tequila. Its use to make this drink is no coincidence - agave is rich in sugar. It is ideal for making ethanol. Australia is looking for a plant that will grow in arid areas. Sugarcane will grow on marginal land but not in semi-desert regions. Agave will grow where it hardly ever rains, so it will not take fertile land away from food growers. A pilot test farm has been established at Ayr in Queensland. Agave is a winner. It gives back five times more energy than is used to produce it. And it makes less greenhouse gas than the manufacture of sugar cane ethanol. Corn is widely used at present to make ethanol. The quality, however, is variable. Ethanol from agave is superior. Another benefit is that the woody by-product from the plant can be used in making the motor vehicle fuel. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysau...

Despite claims that growing crops for fuel is pushing up food prices the University of Queensland and Carolina's Clemsen University have signed an agreement to develop biofuels. The work will revolve around transforming sugar cane residue into fuel using algae. A pilot plant is to be built in Queensland. More research on cellulosic monomer conversion will be done. Clemsen University has concentrated on converting sorghum and switchgrass into ethanol. A new base called loblolly pine is also being examined. This combined project will benefit both institutions. Pooling funding and resources will speed up projects. Despite possible drawbacks of biofuel it is intended to seek further funding and press on with research. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://www.feeds.feedburner.com/AdventureAustralia http://www.technorati.com/blogs/ http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sci...

While I agree with Dr Jennifer O'Dea's view that a tax on take away food is useless in reducing obesity, I strongly disagree that obesity is exaggerated. Look around; there are overweight children and adults at every turn. She admits that children from low income families have twice the rate of obesity of those from middle and upper income families. The reason why this is so should be ascertained. It is hard to believe that small income families spend more on junk food in real and proportional terms. Dr O'Dea says we should not become emotional about the issue because that is unscientific. Perhaps we do need to be more emotional. The scientific approach is not doing much good. It is true that the problem should be tackled from the top - down. It is parents who can impress upon their children to eat better. Today, high sugar food is so readily available. In the 1960s and before many families didn't have a refrigerator. When children wanted a sugar fix they had...

At last - a solution to Australia's can toad problem. Decades ago the pest was introduced from Hawaii to combat bugs that were attacking sugar cane, but instead of eating the target beetles the cane toads went about settling down here and have been destroying the native habitat ever since. Cane toads have recently reached Perth in Western Australia. Now they are established in every Australian state. Everything has been tried to kill them from hitting them with sticks, gassing them with carbon dioxide, to freezing them. None of this has had any effect on their numbers. A way has now been found, however, of killing off the pests. Placing a few teaspoons of cat food next to ponds in the Northern Territory attracts meat eating ants. When the baby can toads appear from the pond they are eaten by the ants. Most native creatures are affected by the poisonous toxin put out by can toads. Fortunately, the ants are fully resistant. All the toad eggs hatch at the same time, so if you activate...