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Psychedelics Should Be Used to Treat Depression
Perhaps the drive to ban drugs is misplaced. The war is being lost anyway. Since the 1960s research on psychedelic drugs has been frowned upon. However, recent findings show benefits from imbibing these chemicals which come mainly from mushrooms.
Psychedelics alter perception so that an individuals sees strange things that are not there. A side benefit is an improvement in mood. Anxiety and depression tend to disappear. Research in the US and Europe is really taking off. Oddly, although the drugs have been banned they are not addictive.
Australia is not following the lead. It is still stuck in the past with talk about psychedelics being hushed up. A further problem is that chemicals derived from mushrooms and cacti are not patentable. There is no big money in it.
The harm done by regular intake of psychedelics is near zero. Quite different from the common belief. Many of the elderly suffer from psychological problems. If these can be solved by putting the aged into a better state of mind a lot of good will be done.
Conservation
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Asian Tiger Mosquitoes Moving To the Australian Mainland
With climate change insects move geographically. New regions open up to be populated. Warming of the Australian mainland has taken place. The Asian tiger mosquito has been found on Thursday and Horn islands in the Torres strait close to Australia itself.
Dengue and chicungunya are the greatest dangers. These diseases can be fatal. There is no way the mosquitoes can be stopped. They will move into Australia proper. Spraying insecticides will only slow them down. They won't fly to Australia. They will be brought here on small boats moving all over the Torres Strait.
The threat is serious. Once established in Australia Asian tiger mosquitoes will be spread by humans as far south as Tasmania. They prefer a cooler climate than the main dengue host, Aedes aegypti. Tigers will carry dengue, however.
The outside-life of Australians is under threat. Having a barbecue will be a dangerous pastime. Recently it has been established that mosquitoes are not native to Papua New Guinea. They came from Indonesia, so migration is normal for the insect.
Environment
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US Jet Pilot Pursues UFO - Government Admits the Incident Happened
A pilot is ordered to fire on a UFO. It is official. The British Government has announced that an American pilot operating in the North Sea was ordered to fire on a UFO. It happened a long time ago, May 1957. However, the fact that it was announced is a step forward, because so many people believe governments are covering up the truth.
The UFO was moving erratically and the pilot fired all of his rockets. In response, the UFO Just travelled faster than the rockets, away into the distance. British radar operators had first seen the object on their screens and the pilot was sent to find out what it was. When the pilot was ordered to fire every weapon he had at the UFO he was concerned and questioned the order. A confirmation was sent.
Milton Torres was the member of the United States Air Force involved. Now retired, he has spent over 50 years trying to get the true story released. A believer in UFOs to this day, he says: "It was some kind of alien space craft. It was so fast. It was so incredible". Apparently, the craft was extremely large - as big as an aircraft carrier.
When he returned to base a man in civilian clothes told him not to discuss this with anyone, particularly his commanding officer. So the government was covering up, not the air force.
But this is not the end of the story. It has been said that the US military was experimenting with phantom radar signals and this was an example of such a test. Radar is not solid, however. The UFO was. It seems the public will get no more information from the government.
The UFO was moving erratically and the pilot fired all of his rockets. In response, the UFO Just travelled faster than the rockets, away into the distance. British radar operators had first seen the object on their screens and the pilot was sent to find out what it was. When the pilot was ordered to fire every weapon he had at the UFO he was concerned and questioned the order. A confirmation was sent.
Milton Torres was the member of the United States Air Force involved. Now retired, he has spent over 50 years trying to get the true story released. A believer in UFOs to this day, he says: "It was some kind of alien space craft. It was so fast. It was so incredible". Apparently, the craft was extremely large - as big as an aircraft carrier.
When he returned to base a man in civilian clothes told him not to discuss this with anyone, particularly his commanding officer. So the government was covering up, not the air force.
But this is not the end of the story. It has been said that the US military was experimenting with phantom radar signals and this was an example of such a test. Radar is not solid, however. The UFO was. It seems the public will get no more information from the government.
Conservation
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Developing Australia's North is Just Pie in the Sky
The "opening-up" of northern Australia is pie in the sky by both leading political parties. Unless billions of dollars are put into the north development will not take place. The Ord River Irrigation Scheme is an example. However, the scheme is not a real success. Salinity is rising and destroying productive land.
Are the political parties planning to build dams? No, not in new northern regions! Neither is putting forward substantial money for investment. Kevin Rudd's promise to extend the Ord River Dam will only drag up more salt. Just telling people to move north is a silly idea. Like the draw to Western Australia there must be financial incentives. The mining boom there means better paid jobs.
Those suggesting development of northern Australia don't even study the climatic and geographic realities. Tropical soil is very thin. It barely covers the surface. To grow any plant in large quantities thick fertile soil is needed. Tropical soil may be fertile but there isn't enough of it.
Making the Northern Territory a special economic zone with reduced taxes will not bring agriculture to the region. And there is no skilled workforce for factory work. Most countries are now finding special economic zones do not benefit them. The zones don't put money into a nation's financial "kitty". Indeed, they are a drain on national revenue. Companies move there just to dodge paying tax - no extra jobs.
Conservation
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Sea Levels Fall in Eastern Australia
It seems the Earth is trying to balance out global warming itself. There could be a natural balance level that the planet is attempting to reach. In Australia an unusual phenomenon has taken place.
We have had a lot of rain in coastal regions, while inland it remains dry. The arid regions have soaked up the excess water only gradually releasing it to the ocean, so sea levels have not increased. Indeed, sea level has fallen 7 millimeters.
Damaging floods cost Queenslanders millions of dollars. It was so bad that insurance companies refused to reinsured low-lying towns. Even the dry Northern Territory had floods. One of two very close La Ninas was the strongest ever recorded. The year 2012 was rain, rain and more rain.
This is not something that global warming critics should put forward as a natural solution. Only in Australia does the unusual geographic structure of the continent exist. Humid air moved slowly east but moved as far south as Melbourne, pushing up rainfall 20 per cent. Tropical air has never reached Melbourne before.
The fall in sea level is only a blip on the rising graph. The average rise is 3.2 millimeters a year. By the end of the century ocean levels are expected to increase by 820 millimeters, up from previous estimates of 590.
Rising use of carbon fuel may make sea levels rise even more. The oil "boom" in the US threatens all the good work being done by environmentalists to change behavior. Higher production has pushed "peak oil" well into the future. Enthusiasm for non-carbon power sources is waning.
Conservation
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Angus Cattle Carry a Dangerous Recessive Gene
There are serious problems involved in breeding top class cattle for the market. Like in breeding budgerigars recessive genes coming together can cause some young to be victims of early death.
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In creating the "perfect" animal, weaknesses have been seen in Angus cattle. The disease is call Development Duplication (DD). Its general name is polymelia. Embryos are dying and some are born with extra limbs.
In creating the "perfect" animal, weaknesses have been seen in Angus cattle. The disease is call Development Duplication (DD). Its general name is polymelia. Embryos are dying and some are born with extra limbs.
The disease is common in all cattle, but selective breeding has increase its prominence in Angus cattle. Some affected animals have had operations to remove extra limbs. This is complicating the issue particularly if they are used for breeding.
Tests are available to identify the recessive gene causing the problem. It occurs at a rate of 3 per cent in the Angus breed. Pairing a sire with the recessive to a dam without it produces a normal calf. The recessive gene is passed on, however, not eliminated. It is believed that the presence of the gene has improved growth and fertility. This is a dangerous path to follow. Keeping something deleterious for perceived market benefits.
Conservation
Australpithecus sediba Is Not an Ancestor of Man
The Announcement that skeletons found in South Africa belong to a new species of Man is premature. They were found in a cave near Johannesburg. The "new species" was named Australopithecus sediba. It was claimed to be the "rosetta stone" into the past. They were also the most complete skeletons ever discovered. The creatures walked upright, had long arms and powerful hands. Unfortunately, they were small brained.
Paleoanthropologists not involved in the find say the name chosen is just a "wastebasket" category. They are not ancestors of Man. Furthermore, some animals in the species could have had larger or smaller brains. It could still be transitional in evolution to Man, but very distant.
It may fit into Homo. Perhaps it is a sister species to Homo habilis. The brain size of Australopithecus sediba is the same as Homo floresiensis, the Hobbit, of Indonesia. The features in sediba are similar to those in other Homo species. Paleoanthropologists put very early finds in Homo. Sediba is not so unique as to have a lineage of its own. Indeed, Australopithecus africanus is older than sediba and africanus does have unique lineage. Sediba is too primitive to be a direct ancestor of Man. Older Homo species have features more like Man than sediba.
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Conservation
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Global Warming Threatens Native Marine Species
As meteorologists tell us that natural disasters are becoming regular occurrences due to climate change, so the threat to certain animals species increases. Marine animals are in serious danger. The sea is warming up.
It is accepted that whales beaching themselves is "normal". However, dugong doing the same thing is not. CSIRO which is always at the forefront of Australian research says that south-eastern and north-western sea regions around Australia have become significantly warmer.
As some species move or even die out and new species arrive the ecological dynamic is disrupted. Death from new diseases becomes the norm. New species eat the food that native creatures eat, so marine animals that have been in the same place for thousands of years are doubly threatened.
The future looks bleak. The climate could level off and remain changed but stabilize. On the other hand, change could be ongoing and the variation in marine species could decline. This could affect food supplies for people.
Conservation
Finding a Partner Online Does Not Bode Well
Finding a life partner online is not a good thing. From the start there is a culture clash if each of the parties come from different countries. Visiting someone for periodic short periods in their own culture is not a good way to see if a couple will get along permanently. Even worse, if pregnancy is the result of these short visits there is a high probability that court action will have to be taken to settle a custody dispute.
A case in point is a an Australian man who married a Japanese woman because she fell pregnant while he was seeing her in Japan. They married in Australia and the marriage had broken down. Like most custody battles the woman gained custody. Whether the child will be brought up in Australia or Japan is not known. In court the judge said both parties had exaggerated how bad the other party was.
It seems the main problem is the diets of people from different cultures. Apparently, the husband hated rice and the wife would only cook rice. This may seem trivial. but diet is important to individuals and they cannot just change and like something they were not given while they were young.
An understanding could have been reached by the husband if he had agreed to cook his own meals. However, Australian culture clearly nominates the female as the one who does most of the cooking for a household. The husband's role extends only to doing the odd barbecue. The husband also claimed that the wife was always shouting and hitting him. A thing not usually done in public in Australia.
Just why some Australian men prefer Asian women as wives is not clear. Perhaps they see such women as being subservient. As this man found, this view can be entirely wrong.
Conservation
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