Adventure Ausrama Blog

Arriving Europeans plundered Australia for human bones to show in their museums. They took skeletal remains of thousands of Aboriginals. Not surprising the descendants of the deceased Australians want to bury them in this country. Because most "specimens" were taken over recent centuries, the DNA in them is still detectable. Tests are being done to compare DNA from bones with Aboriginals living today in order to find matches. The work is being done by Griffith University in Queensland. Though only a few matchups have been done in the world - remains were returned to North American Indians using the method - native people are interested in doing it. Tapij Wales an elder of the Thanynakwith people in Cape York requested tests be done. The main problem is that many claiming Aboriginality today have a mix of European and Aboriginal genes. Moreover, many natives were removed by European settlers to other regions. The arrival of new settlers was a violent period in Australia...

All children are taught in history class about the Eureka Stockade but they do not learn about the Darwin Rebellion. The Northern Territory was annexed by South Australia in 1863. In 1911 the federal government took control of the NT. Dr John Gilruth was appointed administrator. He had great plans to develop the territory, but he was aloof and would not listen to the community. The administrator was involved in opening a meat works and would not negotiate pay. Consequently Vesteys Meatworks failed. On December 16, 1918 Dr Gilruth refused to allow two bartenders working at the Victoria Hotel the night off to go to a party celebrating the end of WWI. The union leader Harold Nelson went to the police station and got a permit for a protest. A month after the hotel incident a group of men marched from Vesteys Meatworks to Government House. The small group of protesters grew into a crowd of thousands. Things got out of control. People demanded the resignation of the administrator. Dr Giru...

The Australian government is in trouble over its planned introduction of My Health Record, a centralized storage of personal medical history. Closure of the opt-out date has been pushed forward several times. There is no way the government can continue to claim that the system will be secure. This is impossible. The weak link in the chain is human. Doctors, nurses and general hospital staff will have access. They will be able to print out any one's record and take a copy home. International criticism revolves around the outdated methods to be used. The main storage medium will be PDF. Searching these for significant insights into a patient's history will be problematic. Ease of searching is paramount. Systems to be adopted in the US and China have separate computer codes for different medication, test results and diseases. This improves searching by clinicians. The FHIR system was developed in Australia but it is the only country not adopting it. As always, Australian ...

Why do people put up with their sugar craving when there is something that can stop it in its tracks? Sweetness is one of the things that the tongue detects very well indeed. We love to consume sugary food and the enjoyment is never satiated. Two thousand years ago Gymnema Sylvestre,  a woody vine, was used to treat "honey urine" (diabetes). It is bitter to taste but it is very effective. Once taken, no sweetness is tasted anymore. it disappears. The craving stops. The gymnema is potent. Acids numb the sweet receptors on the tongue. Molecules in the acids are similar to receptors that register sweetness. They block sweet detecting taste buds. A lot of research has been done and it really works. The product has been put into lozenges sold in the United States. They are called Sweet Defeat. Plans are in train to export the supplement to other countries. It is not dangerous in any way so it does not have to pass tests done for drugs by the FDA. ◆  ANTHROPOLOGY   ◆ Tys ...

When humans first arrived in Australia, sea level was much lower than it is now. People could have taken the Northern route through Sulawesi, island hopping across the sea, then reaching Papua New Guinea which was joined to Australia. It is the most logical path because land could always be seen in the distance in times of good weather. The southern route is much more difficult in terms of resources and energy. It involves travel across large islands of the Indonesian archipelago from Sumatra to Timor then a considerably long sea journey to the northern part of Australia. Early arrivals obviously did not plan their journey, so using the easiest and most effective route was not an issue. They just moved east to new pastures as resources were depleted with new people moving into inhabited regions. It is possible that Australia was reached by travel along both routes. Artifacts in the rock shelter at Madjedbebe in Australia have been dated at 65,000 years before the present. Not much ar...

The Green Revolution occurred in the 1950s and 1960s. High-yielding types of wheat and rice were developed. It impacted greatly on the developing world. Chemical fertilizers and managed irrigation added to output. With the population rising on the planet, we badly need a new green revolution. Work is being done on rice specifically modified to produce heavy grain heads that will grow in cabinets where a perfect natural environment is created. For ten years, universities in eight countries have been pushing toward this brave new world of food production. The research consortium is headed by Oxford University and is funded by Melinda and Bill Gates. The aim is improved food production so investigative barriers have been broken: rice is being re-engineered with genes from corn and maize. Less fertilizer and water will be needed. Current Yield will be increase by 50 percent. In Western countries wheat is by-far the most consumed crop. However, more rice is eaten world-wide than any othe...

Being tall has its benefits. Seeing over the top of a crowd is one. Reaching the top shelf is another. However, there are problems such as a higher propensity to get cancer. A taller body has more cells. This increases the risk of cancer. Research using existing databases proved this to be true. A seven foot tall basketball player is twice as likely to get cancer as a person five foot tall. Moreover, melanoma risk increases with height. Tall people should get their health checked more frequently. Being tall is determined by genetics, by your mother's diet when carrying you and by intake of good nutrition when growing up. It should be noted that obese people have more cells. The study used height as a proxy for the research. Some illness such as mouth, stomach and cervical cancer are not affected by height. Mainly because they are caused by particular viruses. Higher rates of thyroid cancer and melanoma are a real issue for tall people. It seems that the growth hormone main...