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Brush Cat

" Humans won't do it.  I will brush myself. " . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Funny Animal Photos Vista Computer Solutions Blog ------- Australian Blog ------- ALL BLOG ARTICLES · ──► ( BLOG HOME PAGE) 🐬

Fish Fossil Sheds More Light

There are new facts about the evolution of fish. An ancient fish fossil has provided preserved muscle tissue. European and Australian scientists have examined a placoderm fossil 380 million years old. Early fish did not have moving jaws with joints. Their mouths were fixed partially open, though they could still move. Jaw structure was presumed to be like sharks, because that was taken to be a living example. The fossil has changed this assumption. It shows a pronounced shoulder structure. From this girdle neck muscles attached to a dermal joint. So the head moved relative to the body but the jaw did not. Sharks do not have joints in the neck - their necks are flexible. Another difference is musculature in the abdomen much like four-limbed vertebrates such as horses. Rather than being a evolutionary step for four-legged animals it was fully developed by placoderms, the first vertebrate with armoured plates and no teeth. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://w...

Climate Change Could Make Timid Animals More Aggressive

Climate change can cause changes in behavior. As water becomes warmer so some species of fish become aggressive. Some fish are inherently timid while others are bold. In experiments on fish from the Australian Barrier reef, when water was slowly warmed normally timid fish became aggressive. Their rate of activity increased as well. Evolution has created fish that fit into a niche where survival depends on a fish being very careful about its surroundings. If they openly attack larger fish it could mean the smaller ones will be eaten. It is possible that similar changes will occur with reptiles, amphibians, ectotherms and even mammals. If timid animals become bold then they could be killed off by predators or by humans using harvesting equipment trying to catch other animals for food. Only a very small increase in temperature led to the change. In the tests, fish were bred in captivity then released into holding tanks where the water was slowly warmed. They had no chance to socializ...

Hat Bird

" I'm going out. " . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Funny Animal Photos Vista Computer Solutions Blog ------- Australian Blog ------- ALL BLOG ARTICLES · ──► ( BLOG HOME PAGE) 🐬

Sliding Cat

" I'll do my fishing line from the ceiling trick " . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Funny Animal Photos Vista Computer Solutions Blog ------- Australian Blog ------- ALL BLOG ARTICLES · ──► ( BLOG HOME PAGE) 🐬

Brave New World of Criminal Investigation

We are entering a brave new world where DNA will be accurately read to predict eye color, distance between the eyes and nose shape. This will greatly improve police work in solving serious crime. Even knowing whether a suspect is bald is helpful. Genes contain single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs).  These can now show whether someone is probably bald. We have some way to go because of the complex interaction of male and female chromosomes. A rough composite picture will be soon be available. This can be used to screen out suspects. Facial metrics is advancing rapidly. Analysis of insulin-like growth hormone (IGF-1) and human growth hormone (HGH) can give a rough picture of build and height. The importance of mitochondrial DNA which passes along the female line is well known. This can predict ancestry using Y chromosome (NRY) and autosomal markers. Patterns for Europeans, white Americans and East Asians have been identified. In the future the crime rate could be signifi...

The Part-time and Casual Culture

Despite the boom times in Australia which has finally peaked, a significant proportion of working Australians do not have permanent full-time positions. This is because both sides of politics have freed-up the hiring contract between employers and employees. The claim that bank holiday and annual leave pay is included in the casual rate is rubbish. People are hired for a per hour fee. No moneys are set aside for rest day payment.  Part-time employees can be called in to work at any time of the day or night. Even in management the market is distorted. Tests to find the "ideal" personality to do the job have never been tested in the real world. They have been written by university people who teach and must write a certain number of papers for "respected" journals. Governments are reducing employment in the public sector. When they have to get the work done in future by the private sector the real cost will become apparent.  While contractors offering specific...