Adventure Ausrama Blog

Genetically modified things are dangerous. Whoops! But we are already using them. GM crops have already crossed with normal plantings in adjacent farms. The producers of the GM seeds are suing these farmers for using the crossed seed which they claim belongs to them. Dogs were given a virus that had been genetically modified: the DNA integrated into the host genome. Oncogenes were activated. The virus entered into cells that influence cell growth. The affected cells' rate of division increased dramatically. Modified viruses are a popular way of treating people now. Practitioners had a ho hum attitude to this. It has to changed. The final result of such treatment will probably be cancer. Researchers have known for decades that tests on very young mice were detrimental. However, they pushed blindly ahead. The project on the dogs has been concluded. Calls were made to continue for another five years to discover whether the canine develop tumors. Vested interests stop it. Ultimatel...

The Yeti and Sasquatch are not the only apemen out there. Even Singapore has it very own hairy hominid. He has been named the Buki Timah monkey man. Twelve kilometers from the most populated part of Singapore lies pristine rainforest on the Bukit Timah mountain. People even today get lost in the nature reserve because it is so dense. But tourists flock to the jungle around the summit. Sightings of the creature go back over 200 years. An upright walking animal with a face like a macaque was seen in 1805. It should be noted that a similar creature was recently filmed in an alley in eastern Europe - believed to have escaped from a lab. During WWII Japan occupied Singapore and Japanese soldiers had many sightings. The only photo claiming to be of monkey-man taken is 1905 is not convincing. A closeup shows it is probably a bulldog in a driveway. The "monster" was seen rummaging through a rubbish bin. Searching bins for food is common long-tailed macaque behavior. With so man...

One evolved feature in an animal can affect another feature. Of course, the environment is the main factor in determining which feature wins out. Some animals have developed hibernation to survive harsh winters, but this can affect foetal development. Bears in particular are born very small because of a short pregnancy due to hibernation. Pandas have this trait even though they do not hibernate. They carry the genes for hibernation, though it is not expressed. Oddly, panda cubs are born weaker than other bears. Adult pandas are 900 time larger than their newborns. This ratio is higher than other bears, though polar bear have a ration of 400:1. Mammals generally have a ratio of 26:1 overall. It seems that baby pandas are born prematurely as the norm. Their bones are underdeveloped. This is making survival of the species difficult. Without help from humans the species would have become extinct. Keywords: panda, science, bears, species, birth, news, animals, pan...

It seems some scientists fall into the trap of believing they are "all knowing" and they know the truth about things. Professor emeritus William Romoser says he has photographic proof that creatures like bees and reptiles exist on Mars. His areas of specialty are viruses in arthropods, and entomology. He suggests that he can see fossilized remains and living things on the Mars' surface. Just how he can differentiate a fossil from "skeletal' remains in less that perfect low resolution photos is a mystery. His prize "fact' is in a photo of the Mars lander's track. He sees something like an insect. To most people it looks like a stone. Human beings have evolved to put order into what is seen. That is why the ancients saw animals in the stars of the night sky. The propensity to make sense of patterns is called pareidolia. It could be said that it is when scientists take their work home with them. Examining the same animal in the laboratory...

A 5,000 year old skeleton of a woman suffering from non-genetic dwarfism is found in China. Skeletal dysplasia resulted in proportionate dwarfism where the whole skeleton is small. It is rare in humans. Pediatric onset hypopituitarism and hypothyroidism is an underactive thyroid and pituitary gland. This individual would need support from others to survive. It indicates that a tight social structure existed in the community. Of course, the society did not know that iodine would have prevented the ongoing damage to the person's body. Even today Chinese people suffer more from iodine deficiency than Westerners because it is lacking in their diet. There is contentious debate among archaeologists about the treatment of those with dwarfism in Ancient Chinese society. Confucian texts written in the 4th century B.C. say that those with deformities were accepted as equals. However, accounts two centuries later indicate that people with dwarfism were pushed out to live with othe...

The Australian government has opened the way for Australia to have nuclear power stations. The Liberal/National Party government (note these are not liberals: they are right wing conservatives) plan to lift the ban. Anthony Albanese leader of Labor says that the ending the ban is fantasy. Why would Australia even want such a dangerous electricity generation system when it is fourth on the planet in coal reserves and is ranked even higher on quality coal. Just like Donald Trump this business government is in gaga land. Their fantasy is to put power stations and hide the waste on Aboriginal land - let Aboriginals die of radiation poisoning. We have only to look to Japan to see what can happen. Remember Chernobyl and One Mile Island? People are filling up the planet. There nowhere to pur contaminated waste. The current Australian government treat Aboriginals as third class citizens even after illegal immigrants. Aboriginals have had their unemployment benefits taken away. Their wiv...

You are taking a walk in the bush and there it is in front of you - cubed poo. Is there an answer to this puzzle? There is now. Australian biologists have discovered how the wily Australian wombat does it. The answer lies in wombat intestines which are unique. Dr Allyn Martin, Dr Scott Carver and Dr Ashley Edwards of the University of Tasmania were awarded the lg Nobel Prize for physics for this achievement. The lg awards are given for things that make you laugh, then think. The prize giving was held at Harvard University. In the first research project to find out how cube is produced, It was noted that wombats have very long intestines about 10 meters long. More water is taken in Wombat intestines than in humans. Rather than the anus determining the shape of poo Wombat intestines make the cube shape. Wombat intestines stretch uniformly. There are also two groove along the intestines. These grooves create some rigidity allowing the intestine between them on each side to stretch ou...