Adventure Ausrama Blog

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

Sixteen per cent of income of Australian tertiary institutions comes from Chinese students . It isn't the case of can these education bodies afford to lose the money. The real issue is, can Australia afford to have Chinese interference in Australia's internal affairs? Pro-mainland-China students in Australia It is clear that China has established a network of Chinese in Australia , some Australian citizens others short- term stayers, who spy on us and manipulate our politicians. Let's face it, under the Coalition government the education system in Australia has become a money-making machine with education chiefs blatantly touring Asia on bended knee pleading for more paying students. India is the growth region. Discounts are given to get them to study in Australia . Most Indians want residency but this is not easy to get. So some remain in Australia illegally. China, on the other hand, will always be the largest market. Universities say they are p

Pesticides have side effects on animals and humans. A particular  neonicotinoid pesticide is making birds lose weight . In Canadian research crowned sparrows were given low and high amounts of imidaclprid on seeds. Even birds on the low dose lost weight within six hours compared to a control group. The high amount killed some birds. It seems that appetite is suppressed. White-crowned sparrow The aves who received the low dose had transmitters attached and were released. Those on the low dose did not leave for three days and those on the high dose left in four days. The control birds flew within half a day.  It is believed that imidacloprid had to be worked out of the body. Only a minuscule amount of the pesticide stopped the birds from eating. Earlier research has shown that imidacloprid kills bees. It means the whole bird and insect family is susceptible to the pesticide. Something has to be done. Both groups of birds ate agricultural seed from crops and fattened up befo

Denisovans were similar to humans . A finger bone has been found that is human-like. Neanderthals had quite different fingers than Homo sapiens. Only five fossils remain of Denisovans a little finger, a mandible and three molars. Despite artistic depictions of the hominid it is not know what they looked like. Denisovans  were much further ahead in their development than Neanderthals. It seems that  Denisovans  and humans followed a similar evolutionary path , while Neanderthals became large animal hunters and developed muscular bodies. Neanderthal could have taken on dangerous animals and survive while humans would succumb. Though  Denisovans  branched off from Neanderthals , just why they became more like humans is not known. Maybe common habitats make for creatures of the same ilk. There is evidence that the three types of apes interbred. This is a mystery in itself because the missing Y Chromosome would make fertile progeny impossible. What many scientists do not tak