Adventure Ausrama Blog

Genetics: Scientists work on whales instead of cattle. Work on cattle genetics has shown the way to determine the sex of whales using a sample taken from blow holes. Specimens are composed of water and mucous membrane material.  They are collected from the sea by people in dingies, canoes and kayaks. The process involves scooping with a six-metre long carbon-fibre pole. A team of researchers has enjoyed the chance to get away from working with cattle. They have also done a genetic study of koalas. Improving cattle and meat are their priorities, however.  A few hundred samples are to be taken.  This compares to a half a million already collected from cattle. While blow hole samples are used for whales, hair is taken from cattle. Researchers have identified favourable traits for cattle from DNA. The real problem is getting these into cattle. Farmers are the ones who breed animals, not researchers. It is no surprise to find the more direct work on whales a welcome change. ◆

Chemistry: Life began near an active volcano in a freshwater puddle. Use your imagination and assume that life began in a puddle of fresh water near an active volcano. Molecules begin to "see" each other and unite into a larger whole. They become membranes, the envelopes of future life. Like a chicken's egg the membrane shell is the holding structure where chemicals are assembled for incubating lifeforms. RNA was the first significant biological molecule. This has a basic form of repeating subunits. A simple molecule perhaps. but difficult for a primitive Earth to "create". Yet it came into existence. Membrane were required for chemicals to grow into RNA. The fatty, lipid molecules in membranes formed easily. Lipids assist the building of RNA, then it forms a protective coating. This was the first primitive cell. As soon as some RNA replicated, lifeforms began to evolve becoming more complex. This occurred in fresh water which was heated and coo

Australiana: Live in a Queenlander house to get a good night's sleep. There isn't much doubt that the Australian climate can wear you down. This is not so much the case in winter, but those rainy cold days in Melbourne are off-putting. It is the hot balmy nights that are a burden with many people not getting enough sleep. Some would say that they wake up with a hangover when they didn't drink any alcohol. Humans have evolved to only fall asleep when body temperature dips. If there is hot air around you that puts a kibosh on that. You get dozy, momentarily drift off, then quickly wake up. It is the surrounding heat that keeps you awake. The problem in Australia is that we build the wrong kind of houses. They are based on the English. The double brick has been dropped in favor of brick veneer. A visitor to this country wonders how the the roof can be finished before a brick is laid. Brick are only for looks. However, bricks take in heat during the day and st

Retail: Kogan is more expensive after dealing with return issues which are very common for this online only store. Noting it specializes in cheapies. You may think that buying from Kogan's online store in Australia is wise because you can get some low priced bargains.  When all of the pitfalls are considered it is obvious that purchasing goods from Kogan is more expensive than getting similar goods from nearby retailers, even if they are $50.00 more expensive.  And that is all there is in it, say for a new laptop for example.  Note shipping cost! Go on, throw your cheap trash Ruslan! If you get a faulty product from Kogan the company will make it extremely difficult to solve the problem.  They will not under any circumstances give a refund even though Australian consumer law is broken in the process.  They will insist that you pay the return freight cost with expensive tracking that will cost you at least $60 for a wonky laptop. The best option is to pay with PayPa

Science: Fagus Nothofagus gunnii is Australia's only temperate deciduous tree. Australia has always been very hot. So hot in fact that only a few deciduous trees ever evolved. True some have been brought from other countries and the trees do grow in the cooler regions of Australia today. However, except for small pockets in the tropics evergreens predominate. Trees which drop there leaves prefer a fixed unchanging climate. Australia is where the unexpected happens. Like the present where we are having a long hot end to summer and it is unusually wet. Evergreens can adapt and take off when conditions are favorable. When deciduous trees lose there leaves it could rain heavily, but they can no longer absorb the moisture. Conversely, putting out leaves when it dry for months on end is totally ineffective. Hold onto your leaves is the moto. When it rains evergreens are ready to push on to further growth. Australia has one lonely temperate deciduous tree. And wouldn&

Technology: Google must pay Optus to get ads on its network. Optus in Australia is planning to block ads on its network. This is a blow to companies like Google who are trying to bring down the system by banning ad blockers from its app store. Google's actions will not change anything. Many browsers are making ad blockers a built-in feature. If companies want to advertise they will have to send a popup to users to turn off their blockers to view the site. Of course, users will move on to another site. Don't be fooled though by carriers blocking ads. They will take money from adverrisers to let ads through, only to be blocked by individual users' local blockers. Power! Telcos do not have that much power. The market will not turn back now. Carriers do have power over Facebook, Google, and news organizations. They will have fork out "blackmail" money to telcos who will say no pay now show . Companies like Shine in Israel are in a new market. Shine been

Biology: monitoring of levels of polluted in the air is needed. Want to lose weight? Just stop breathing. It is as easy as that. Pregnant rats in China got fat because they breathed in polluted air.  People face the same problem.  Babies being born fatter may be desired.  However, it could indicate a lifetime of illness for those living in polluted regions. The rat's cholesterol went through the roof. They also became insulin resistant with diabetes just a short way down the track. Livers and lungs were inflamed. The longer they breathed the bad air, the fatter they got. Baby rats from the pregnant females were much sicker. Inflammation per se is directly related to obesity which is a precursor to diabetes, or even synonymous with it. Cancer, stroke and heart attacks are related to bad air. Poor health from polluted air is not just a Chinese problem. Western countries do not monitor bad air very intensely. A case in point is Brisbane in Australia where it is mea