Adventure Ausrama Blog

Carbon dioxide changes behavior. Higher carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could be making us stupid. Research has shown that greater concentration s of CO 2  c auses neurological impairment in fish. Sea water stores the dangerous element - the ocean has become more acidic because of its increased presence. The test subjects were Damsel fish  (Acathochromis polyacanthus) , which live in coral reefs. Half were kept in a normal atmosphere. The other half were put in an atmosphere with elevated CO 2 . Brain chemistry, blood and behavior were measured. The behavior test involved the fish choosing between entering normal sea water or going to water containing injured fish. The smell of the injured fish should have stopped the damselfish from choosing to enter that water. However, the fish exposed to higher CO 2   ignored or did not pick up the chemical warning : the injured fish didn't bother them. This is ground breaking stuff. It could show what will ha...

The echidna is on the list of Australiana. A particular native mammal is everywhere in Australia. It is the great adapter. The ubiquitous echidna is its name. The Short-beaked Echidna, Tachiglossus aculeatus, is even found in the Australian Alps.  Like the anteater its has a long nose, but that is where the similarity ends. They both eat ants. The echidna has no teeth. In some ways it is like a hedgehog, using spines for defence. They have developed a way of safe mating. The male digs a trench. The female get in as does the male. The male carefully lifts the female's tail and while lying on his side pushes his tail underneath her. No harm is done by the spines. Offspring feed by licking up milk that oozes from the mother's milk patches. They do not have nipples. Babies are born without spines. The mother pushes them away when the spines begin to grow at seven weeks. She feeds on ants and continues to return every five days to feed the young. ◆ Aust...

Australia does not need engineers from other countries. The Australian Federal Government is devious in its behaviour to secure cheap engineering workers from overseas for businesses. Shaping the labour market in line with right wing beliefs on the freedom of movement of lower paid employees is normal for the conservative party misnamed the Liberal Party. The mistaken premise of wealth trickling down from the wealthy is also pushed by them. Despite many Australian engineers being unemployed the government is seeking 22 engineers from other countries. This is absolutely stupid and is political bias by the conservatives. However, once in Australia after spending their savings to set up a new life they have to go into the oversupplied labour pool. Put succinctly, they will have to be on welfare payments. The Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, a dimwit at best, has ignored protests from engineering bodies to take engineers off the Skilled Occupation List. The mining boom i...

Nuclear physics used to track australian waterbirds. Australia's native birds are on the decline - those damn humans! Yes, we are destroying the planet and we have to do something about it.  Obtaining data on bird numbers is paramount. Nuclear physics is the answer.  Researchers are examining feathers recently dropped by waterbirds. It provides information on where birds have been and what they have eaten.  The I-TRAX Core Scanner shows chemical changes over time. A mass spectrometer is also used to determine oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen isotopes. Feathers are composed of keratin like hair. Water sources have different chemical composition. This is stored in the keratin, so a map can be created of where birds have been living. The method of feather analysis is much cheaper than leg banding or satellite tracking. Members of the public can contribute. At present scientists are picking up feathers then posting them to the Australian Nuclear Science and Te...

Myopic vision is genetic as well as Environmental - Health. Myopia is a very odd condition. Shortsighted people can only focus at a close distance because their eyeballs have grown too large. It is not so much an illness as a consequence of growing. It is a genetic problem. About 90 per cent of East Asians suffer from myopia. This compares to 25 per cent of Australians. Too much reading indoors is a causative factor. The more years one partakes in education the higher the probability that shortsightedness will occur. Spending time outdoors where it is necessary to focus on things at a distance seems to be preempt the ailment. Getting glasses does treat the condition. However, it can lead to problems in the future. There is a higher possibility of going blind. Detached retinas and glaucoma lead up to this. The age of technology has not been a factor in myopia. Yes, there is a lot of reading on tablets which is detrimental. Whether reading a book or looking at ...

Biological research shows genetic resistance to Tasmanian devil disease. The Tasmanian devil is an animal unique to Australia. It Once resided all over the continent. Perhaps is was easy for Aboriginals to catch for food. It cannot run very fast. It could just have died out due to a warming of the country. Tasmania is its only natural home today. Their raucous cries led to them being named devils by European settlers. They are violent to each other though attacks on humans are virtually non-existent. Scavenging for food is their number one priority. A facial disease began in the species in 1996. It was unusual in that it is the only known cancer transmitted from animal to animal. Tasmanian devil numbers fell by 80 per cent in twenty years due to Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease (DFTD). Extinction was predicted. However, it was noticed that some animals survived without getting the disease. Genes were examined and these devils had five genes not present in ...

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