Adventure Ausrama Blog

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

In the 20th century it was accepted that Australian Aboriginals had first arrived more than 50,000 years ago. Then science brought this forward to perhaps 40,000 years from the present. New research puts the date to at least 43,000 years in the desert. A rock shelter in the Australian Western Desert had human habitation until the end of the most recent Ice Age. Researchers now agree that occupation of Australia goes back over 60,000 years. A hafted multifunctional tool found at the desert site shows the tech was used 15,000 years earlier than believed. Aboriginal culture did advance technologically as they spread right across the continent probably within 10,000 years of their arrival. Rock art was developed in recent times, but it was a culmination of evolving adaptation. ◆  ANTHROPOLOGY   ◆ Tys Outback Amusing Animal Pics Odd Weird Things Reviews ● Vista Computer Answers . . . . . . . . ..........................

The fossil of a fish much like a piranha appears to be the earliest flesh-eating fish. It was found in Germany. Having teeth similar to a piranha it lived 150 million years ago. Remains of its victims were found nearby. It mainly ate the fins of fish. Evolving to consume only fins was a survival mechanism. Fish that were attacked did not die immediately. They survived to provide a meal another day. The hunter's teeth were triangular. With serrated edges, they were ideal for cutting flesh. Initially, bony fish could only bite chunks of flesh out of prey or swallow them whole. Slicing of flesh appeared much later. The hunting method of the fossilized fish was identical to modern-day piranhas. Injuries to the attacked were the same. The ancient specimen was a sea dweller. Piranhas live only in fresh water. Oddly, some piranhas are vegetarians mainly eating seeds. They are a normal food for South American people who say they taste like any other fish. It is not understood why they

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN body, makes absolutely stupid findings. It says coal use will have to be completely stopped within 22 years or Australia's Great Barrier Reef will be destroyed. Saying that all cars will have to stop by 2050 is also ignoring reality. Without coal power stations most electricity production will cease. Using oil to create electrical power pushes the same amount of greenhouse gases into the environment as coal. Solar and wind will never make enough current to power air conditioners, fridges and ovens. Hydro just gives a starting base to major city demand. Tidal is just for small villages. Nuclear is a danger unto itself - never viable. The world will continue on its merry way. The standard of living will be maintained. Future generations will suffer. It is obvious that the Great Barrier Reef will die. The whole planet will become toxic. We face this: inundation of coastal cities as the oceans rise due to melti

Live to be 150 years old. But can you afford it? To live that long will take genetic manipulation and intensive drug therapy. Research has shown that the primary thing extending life is diet. Remove processed food completely and you will live longer. That is all processed food. New evidence shows that people did live into their eighties centuries ago. Note, there were no processed foods then. Meat and vegetable were eaten every meal. Even bread kept the attributes of the grain. What brings the average life-span down is the large number of people dying in accidents. Suicide is another factor. Improved health care will extend life over coming decades. That is if taxpayers can afford it, which is doubtful. Much is said about good genes predisposing a person for a long life. However, personality is important. How you choose to live determines longevity. Good food. regular exercise and mixing socially are major factors. It is important to be positive. Keeping the brain acti

From what you read you would think that genetic science is going ahead in leaps and bounds. Really it has been stuck in the same place for a decade. Ninety percent of human genes are not studied because they are too complicated. These genes impact on people just as much as the 10 percent of "easy" ones. Most genes are inside cell nuclei so they are difficult to get to. However, dealing with the obvious is not sustainable. The 90 percent have to be studied. Hardly any funding at all is allocated to lesser known gene research. Scientific papers keep on regurgitating the familiar. PHD students have tunnel vision. Industry can provide a firm basis to examine the known. The little known has no industrial foundation. A study to apply existing learning tools to the neglected genes failed as people moved back to what is safe. Clearly, scientific principles are not being applied. Critical knowledge to identify what is true about DNA is being selectively ignored. Throwing out the