Adventure Ausrama Blog

Members moves on from the Australian Wine Society. It seems just about everybody is investing in vineyards. The wine industry has drawn in big investors and hobbyists. Unfortunately, people do not think before they jump in. They are seeking to fulfill a dream: there is a certain amount of glamour involved in saying I am a wine maker, a vintner. There is a world glut of wine, particularly the cheap ones. Nations have pushed to establish new vineyards. It has had the aura of a local car industry or airline. Newcomers enter the industry all the time without doing any research and little training. Too much drinking not enough thinking It is not surprise to hear that the oldest wine club in Australia founded in 1946 is literally in the red, by a shocking amount. It owes a staggering $4.2 million to its wine producers. It operates as a distributor, buy and selling, though ostensibly not-for-profit. Supermarket chains sell nearly all wine in Australia and in a situation of overs...

HEALTH It seems just about everybody is investing in vineyards. The wine industry has drawn in big investors and hobbyists. Unfortunately, people do not think before they jump in. They are seeking to fulfill a dream: there is a certain amount of glamour involved in saying I am a wine maker, a vintner. Too much drinking not enough thinking There is a world glut of wine, particularly the cheap ones. Nations have pushed to establish new vineyards. It has the aura of a local car industry or airline. Newcomers enter the industry all the time without doing any research and little training. It is no surprise to hear that the oldest wine club in Australia founded in 1946 is in the red, by a shocking amount. It owes a staggering $4.2 million to its wine producers. It operates as a distributor, buy and selling, though ostensibly not-for-profit. Supermarket chains sell nearly all wine in Australia and in a situation of oversupply they don't pay much for it. These major players ...

Stem cell treatment improves chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD. Stem cells are magical in the things they can do. Just about every ailment they are aimed at succumbs to them. It could be that in the future it will be the most-used method of treatment.  There is a case for fast-tracking treatment to help those with chronic illnesses. Two patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were injected with adult stem cells. After only a month they improved. A study of nine people also having the condition were given stem cells taken from bone marrow. Inflammation was reduced significantly. There has not been any method of treatment for COPD until the use of stem cells came to the fore. It is estimated that nearly 15 per cent of Australians over 40 have the disease.  This is incredibly high and hard to believe. The major symptom is difficulty breathing. A reduction in inflammation improves lung function. Dr Moodley who announced the research findings said the ...

Sudden death in young people has a genetic cause - Long QT syndrome. There is a predilection for some young adults to suddenly die. In a way it is similar to cot death: until now the cause was unknown. The "disease" has been identified and is called Long QT syndrome. A third of sudden "unexplained" deaths in people up to their mid thirties die of heart rhythm complications due to the inherited illness. The heart problem is not always evident in autopsies. Parents can also die of the condition in later life. The faulty gene runs in families and is generally passed on to some offspring. A gene testing study of children having symptoms of heart disease is showing that many carry the gene.  Ongoing monitoring of youngsters is saving lives.  However, there is no official program that tests all children.  Some, of course are not diagnosed early and it is these who are at risk of sudden death.  It is heart breaking for a family to lose a child in this way, ◆ Genetic...

Chemistry brings forth a new color called YInMn blue (yttrium, indium and manganese). All the colors are known. Well, you just write a computer program, give it a graduated scale of each primary color, then let it hold one color constant while going through all combinations of the other colors. However, making a specific color for a product is a problem. Chemicals are usually combined to produce the required shade. A new vivid shade of blue has been discovered. It is called YInMn blue (yttrium, indium and manganese). It will most likely to be used for plastics and commercial coatings. Created by accident, as most new things are, it will liven up our lives - maybe! Researchers were looking for materials with magnetic properties for use in computer drives. They used "manganese dioxide" as a base and mixed it with other chemicals. After heating the compound to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit they tipped it out and to their amazement saw an almost iridescent blue po...

Biology - 100 million unnamed species exist on the planet. We know that many species on the planet are dying out. Apparently, we have nothing to fear. Though 2 million species have been named, a massive 100 million more are out there. This does not include currently unnamed bacteria. Each living creature is placed in a species category because it has independent evolutionary lineage. A horse and donkey for example are different species, but they both have a common ancestor. If they do breed their offspring are infertile. There is debate about this with claims that some mules have had young. This gets into the argument about Neanderthals breeding with humans when they have a different number of chromosomes. Interbreeding should not be possible. Brewer's Sparrow The problem with naming is that animals from two species can look virtually identical. The African elephant is a misnomer. There are actually two species: the bush elephant and the forest elephant. One...

David Cameron regrets the day he entered politics. The Queen is tough. She will seemingly live forever. However, there is one thing that could diminish her driving force to continue ruling. That is the independence of Scotland. She will have one man to thank for that - David Cameron. Her Highness was pleased when the referendum two years ago favored Scotland staying in the UK. Indeed, Mr Cameron was praised by the Queen in a private audience. The Queen stands over David Cameron like she made Maggy Thatcher wait Things are much different now. Shame on the Prime Minister for even offering the Scottish referendum and the poll on separation from the EU. He did it just to save his political life. That is selfishness indeed. He will go into history as the man who caused the breakup of the United Kingdom. Just as Tony Abbot will be known as the PM who killed Australia's Holden car. If they were both in the same room, there would be a terrible smell! The first S...