Adventure Ausrama Blog

Dead fish on South Australian beaches gives bad conservation image. When marine animals wash up on the shore dead what does a state government do about it? It tries do deny it and cover it up! Maybe it will stop in time - unfortunately it continues. The thousands of small fish dead on the beaches are bad enough, but dolphin corpses are found as well, even some penguins. The location is on the South Australian coast near the Port River, Adelaide.  Recently, a grieving female dolphin was seen nuzzling her dead baby, a terrible sight. A concerned PHD student, Nikki Zanardo, is investigating the issue. There is a worrying mystery here. Why has the state government sent dolphin samples to New Zealand? Tests could have been done in South Australia. If herbicides or industry poisoning is at fault, it will all come out eventually. You cannot hide anything today. It is not right that consumers are allowed to eat seafood when there is a possibility that dangerous biologic...

Technology: Scramjet is tested at Woomera. Technology never stands still. Mankind progressed very slowly for centuries, but now things move forward at a rapid pace. Air transport could change dramatically in coming decades. The US and Australia are testing a hypersonic rocket that can travel at five times the speed of sound. Because of the angle of liftoff, together with takeoff and landing speeds, you couldn't really enjoy a lunch and drink while sitting in your seat. Woomera in South Australia is the busy testing site. The project is not aimed at space flight. Passenger travel is the main goal. A journey from London to Sydney is estimated to take two hours. The arduous passage though would mean taking your meal preferably after the flight. Australia helped develop the scramjet which uses oxygen from the atmosphere for power as the jet rockets upward. Consequently, it does not have to carry heavy and expensive fuel. Tests began in 2009. Norway and Germany are ...

Brewing goes high-tech. Well at least it does for small breweries. There is nothing worse than gulping down a cool stubbie and getting a flat, foul tasting experience. This seldom happens, of course, due to testing of the product in its creation. Invisible Sentinel has made a fantastic new product that solves most of the problems. A tiny device like a pregnancy tester called  brewPal  fits comfortably into your hand.  It analyses a beer's DNA and shows only one of two findings: either the beer is clear, or it has a spoiling infection. When you exercise, lactic acid builds up in your body. This makes you feel tired. Excess lactic acid is also the cause of "off" beer. Unwanted bacteria produce the acid. Lactobacillus and Pediococcus are resistant to hops so they thrive in the brew. Oddly, some beers need these bacteria. Culturing beer in the lab was time-consuming, especially in the hunt for Lactos and Pedis . It takes a week. Small companies c...

I've been on fizzy drink since this lab test began!   ✿   ✴  Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan   ✴ http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com/atom.xml . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Light affects us in many ways. Nordic countries have light treatment for citizens who suffer from a depressive outlook due to lack of sunshine during winter. Their circadian rhythms are disrupted. Recently evidence points to the fact that color is important as well. A study on mice indicates that color signals reaching the eyes are "stored" in the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the brain. It was thought only sunlight was responsible for setting the body clock. This has been brought into question, however. The research controlled the brightness of artificial sky and also added color blended into the level of brightness. With only dawn sunlight in the test room mice seemed confused and their body temperatures lagged behind the norm by 30 minutes. When orange and blue was added to the dawn light the mice were perfectly normal in behavior and temperature. It seems the light/color information is stored in suprachiasmic neurons in a special way. Biopsies show a ti...

Water dousing is not a scientifically proven method of finding minerals.  CSIRO's chief executive officer has suggested that dousing be put to the test scientifically.  Over the years it has been put to the test and found wanting. Personal experience has highlighted this when a water bore contractor used the system and did not find water.  He said that he would have to drill deeper and I would pay for it.  I waved the contract at him and said there is no mention of a surcharge in this - you guaranteed to find water. The claim of 80 per cent accuracy is not true.  It is based on heresay and after the fact selection of results.  It is like ghosts and life after death.  There is no scientific proof that these are real. The main use of divining is to locate water.  As former chief of CSIRO Land and Water John Williams says, “We know where the water is. The trouble is there isn’t much of it."   Dr Larry Marshall is a trained sc...

A lot of work is going into stem cells research. Anything we can learn about them is important for future human transplants. There have been some claims that have been proved wrong. However, we are moving forward in understanding how organs can be created from them. A significant breakthrough has been made in Australia while investigating zebrafish. Scientists have found out how hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) important in bone marrow and blood are made. The stem cells replenish immune cells in the blood. At present hematopoietic stem cells are used to treat leukemia and myeloma. It will probably be possible to treat other cancers in blood vessels, muscle and bone. Furthermore, diabetes, spinal problems and degenerative disorders cold also be treated. The discovery is important. "Buddy" cells were observed while the hematopoietic stem cell were being created. Ironically, the scientists were investigating muscle development when they noticed the "hel...

"That's the letter E isn't it? Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com/atom.xml http://www.technorati.com/blogs/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vista Computer Solutions Blog        Australian Blog ★                          ALL BLOG ARTICLES · ──► ( BLOG HOME PAGE) Share Article

Witnesses in a trial may reiterate what they believe to be an accurate statement of what happened before their very eyes, but this may be distorted if they were stressed at the time. During a bank robbery or hostage taking they will be stressed if they are the victims. Certain parts of the brain are known to be affected, when a memory (engram) is created. Once a memory is made and filed, recall of this is the same whether the engram is true or false. In mice the chemical structure of a memory of a bright flashing light was identified. This chemical "program" was induced in some mice. When electric pulses were applied to the animal's feet for memory recall, those with the program froze in shock, while the others reacted normally. Obviously, the mice deemed the false memory to be absolutely real. Placement of the memory is fixed and immediate. Human memories tend to improve with age. As time goes by, what actually happened and what really occurred during childhood...

For many years we have heard nothing but good things about test tube babies, how they are strong and grow faster, etc. Maybe the "authorities" are telling us what we want to hear, with women choosing to have children later in life. Older women having babies had their age taken into account when measuring birth defects. If they smoked this was also given a mathematical allowance. This could be distorting the true picture. There has been a change in the way the "art" of test tube babies is done. Today, an individual sperm is injected into an egg. In the normal fertilization process only the fastest, healthiest sperm is successful. Evaluation of babies shows that birth defects occur in "injected" babies at a rate of 10 per cent. This compares to 6 per cent for naturally conceived babies. Couples who choose the older form of freezing embryos had normal rates of healthy babies. The attempt to get more embryos by injecting sperm, ICSI, seem...

"I'm telling you. Read the handbook!" http://vistacomputersolutions.blogspot.com/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Funny Animal Photos

If you are human, knowing one's enemies is easy. The brain evaluates another person as to whether he/she is friendly or not. It may be necessary to work alongside an enemy but the enemy tag still remains. Insects do not have have such advanced brain power to discriminate friend or foe. Ants need a frame of reference to identify who they have to attack. When an ant from a colony meets an ant from another and they fight, the ants keep a memory of the enemies' odor. This occurs even though they may be of the same species. The "smell of fear" is passed on to fellow ants in the same colony. Ants also use scent to know other ants in their colony. In tests individual ants were familiarized with individuals from another colony. They could see each other. Actual contact was prevented. When 20 intruders were placed near to the other colony they were attacked despite attackers knowing the other ants. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaus...

While some doctors are not in favor of yoghurt saying it is just milk gone sour, others are now claiming it assists in the prevention of heart disease. Apparently, it slows the build up of plaque in the arteries. Daily consumption of yoghurt in moderate amounts reduces the thickness of artery walls. Consuming cheese and milk had no effect. Tests were only done on elderly women, but the effects are believed to be the same for men. Not much research has been done into the effects of dairy products in regard to disease prevention. The positive result of yoghurt has increased interest in dairy food and more tests will be done. 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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Food

For many years it was believed that pork was fatty and if eaten regularly would lead to weight gain. A new study has shown the opposite to be true. Overweight people were split into two groups. One group was given 1050g of lean pork each week. The other group was provided with 750g a week. Even with this little difference in pork intake, after six months there was a noticeable change in the high-intake group. Those eating more pork actually lost fat from their abdomens. Waists were narrower. Body composition improved over the whole body. So weight can be lost without dieting if you eat more pork. A further benefit from eating more pork is the high thiamine level. Many overweight people have type 2 diabetes which can lead to thiamine deficiency. Tests are now being done with chicken and beef to compare with pork. It could be that the high-protein diet due to eating the pork was beneficial. Maybe similar results in regard to weight loss will eventuate from eating more chicken...

Making entry tests for such things as taxi driver licences or new residents has really gone off course. This is not restricted to Australia. The US test for residency has been shown to have incorrect answers to key questions. New migrants to Australia complain about the relevancy of some questions. In regard to the test for a taxi licence in Queensland one in six is failing despite many being Australian born. The Queensland test is extensive with reading, writing, numeracy. speaking and listening all being evaluated. Just how this improves taxi service and safety is unclear. It should be adequate for drivers to understand what customers are saying and to be able to communicate satisfactorily in return. It seems the whole job is tested as well. Map reading, following verbal directions, determining fares, giving change and solving situational problems are all thoroughly checked. It is known that many people are stressed and nervous doing such examinations. Even normally intelli...

It has been said that memorizing answers is not good preparation for university. This is based on the premise that much tertiary work is research and evaluation. But what about exams? Semester examinations can contribute from 10 to 50 per cent of a subject, depending on who creates the "set up" of a course. Lecturers set exams based upon their own knowledge. They can't help themselves. It is like an artist who paints a crowd. On close perusal of the picture you can see many instances of little artists everywhere. In other words painters tend to create images of themselves. University lecturers test students on their own knowledge - they have their own pet areas. Students can benefit from this. They can take a recording device into lectures. Indeed, many institutions record lectures for students who miss them for unforeseen reasons. It is possible to buy devices that play back speech very fast. They have a tone control to normalize the pitch. Students can play lectures ove...