Adventure Ausrama Blog

Health: We know the correct foods to eat but we ignore it. Understanding good nutrition is very easy. Eat plenty of vegetables in as wide a range as possible. Have meat about every other day. Only eat processed food if you have to for social reasons. That couldn't be simpler could it? However, people are still looking for fad ways to change their body to idealized proportions. We also know the best way to live our lives but we ignore it. People like the taste of takeaway food and consume it in extreme amounts. Frozen processed meals contain huge amount of added sugar, salt a already processed ingredients. Young people do not buy and prepare fresh vegetables for cooking anymore. Most of us also do not do enough exercise. Many imbibe alcohol while watching a downloaded movie just about every night. There isn't much doubt that eating copious amounts of tasty food is a pleasant pastime. Food certainly isn't consumed to stay alive. It is an end in itself...

Chemistry: Psychedelic drugs are again in vogue to treat addictions and PTSD. What goes around comes around. That's how history is. Things that were old become young and "new" to a rising generation. Remember in the 1960s when experimentation with psychedelic was condemned as dangerous? Well now in many Western countries a lot of regulated trials are being done. It has been found that the drugs are effective in treating addiction of things like alcohol dependency and cigarettes. Those who suffer from anxiety and depression can also benefit. Whether taking psychedelic drugs in addictive in itself is not yet clear. The most interesting and successful discovery was 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA) for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Victims of sexual assault, emergency responders, and police showed amazing results when given MDMA along with intensive psychotherapy. It is hoped that the Federal Drug Administration will enable it to be used...

Technology: Telstra is being dishonest and is treating Australian consumers like fools. Telstra is doing something that the federal government did not foresee. The telco is only using half of the nation's copper wiring originally laid a century ago. In Australia there are two pairs of telephone wires in the cable laid to each house. This was to enable each house to have two telephone connections. The system worked well with ADSL: each phone could have its separate modem and ADSL service. With the NBN this has all changed. When the NBN began its roll out it allowed Telstra to set the rules. Telstra chose the rule: ONE PROPERTY ONE NBN CONNECTION. This is fine if you have a detached house. However, if you have a granny flat that has its own phone because the main telephone line has been split at the box on the house, one line will be scrapped and will no longer be used. It will lay dead in the ground forever due to Telstra's policy. Furthermore, if you rent out...

Anthropologists say the Hobbit of Flores did exist. The naysayers have had to accept that the Hobbit discovered on the island of Flores in Indonesia did exist. They survived until about 15,000 years ago. Anthropologists should have taken notice of local folklore. Stories were handed down to the present about tiny "people" raiding food crops at night. Remains have been closely examined by scientists. It was a tiny version of Australopithecus a human predecessor which lived in Africa from 4.5 million to 2 million years ago. The creature grew to small stature because it was trapped on an island. Short legs made it hard for them to walk but they did nonetheless - large trees do not grow on Flores. Despite having a small brain Homo floresiensis  developed stone tools to a complexity equalled only by humans. Its teeth were closer to human teeth than any other ape-like pre-human. This accounts for its naming as homo rather than Australopithecus . The real mystery ...

Culture: Gold demand falls with the rise of artificially whitened teeth. Have you wondered why bystanders interviewed by TV news crews all seem to have terribly bad teeth. The yukky yellow makes it look as thought they have not cleaned their teeth for a year. However, the natural color for teeth is a yellow off-white, not dazzling white. Movie stars and nearly all celebrities in the public eye have their teeth artificially whitened. When they choose the shade of white they all obviously choose the brightest white they can get. A great boon for dentists but bad for the mineral industry. The demand for gold for filling teeth has fallen by 60 per cent in the last decade. Gold "amalgam" is no longer popular. People with gold fillings looked disgusting anyway. The dark color looked too much like tooth decay. New ceramic filling materials in many shaded of white triggered the initial dislike of gold. Whiter than white is the "here to stay" fad. ...

Your general outlook of is genetically linked, Whether you suffer from depression or are happy. Depression can be an inherited trait. Research has shown this to be the case, so could a happy personality also be genetic? Of course, it will have not effect on creativity. Many high achievers through history has suffered from dark periods in their lives. It could be said that perpetually happy people have nothing to strive for and are less likely to leave their mark, unless they have careers as comedians. Happy people do seem to have certain genes, however. Three gene variants are linked to a happy outlook, while two are causative factors for depression. A whopping 11 variants are responsible for neuroticism. If you are a pain in the .... to everyone else it could be those dozen or so genes - there is bound to be another gene in there somewhere. The above findings were identified in a major study involving 3,000 participants. It was concluded that genetic causation was weak. ...

SAnthropology: we have evolved to be on guard on the first night when sleeping in a new place. Man is still a hunter. We may live in cities and believe we are advanced but our genes have evolved to survive in the wild outdoors beneath the starlit night sky. If we move into a new environment getting a good night's sleep on the first night is a problem. Our brain is "on-guard" against unknown dangers. This phenomenon is in all animals. One hemisphere of the brain will sleep while the other remains on sentry duty. This "first-night-effect" is permanent. There is no cure because it isn't an illness. After the first night the brain adapts, records the new environment and deems it to be safe. Tests show that the left hemisphere sleeps lighter in a new situation. Slow-wave activity is weaker than the right hemisphere. Furthermore, the default-mode network which involves mind wandering is more active. This indicates that the brain is checking th...