Wiki World: Western Australia

Showing posts with label Western Australia. Show all posts

New Lizard Found Near Perth

Despite the idea that everything is known about everything, the area of discovery is still wide open. Just outside of Perth in the sand dunes a new species of lizard has been found. It has been given the name Ctenotus ora.

There are concerns that it will not be around for much longer. New housing is encroaching upon the coastal plains skink's land. The lizard was identified during an Australian National University study into biological diversity in the Perth region.

Just how many of the lizards are out there is not yet known, so their prospects of survival is still an open question. The area of sand dunes where they live is getting smaller. Unless the state government steps in to stop it, urbanization will see most of the dunes concreted over.

The southwest of the state has not been explored in great depth. Other new species are probably waiting to be brought to light. Though people have been there a long time, concerns about work and shelter have been the priority not biological research.

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Biology

Parents and Children Hit by New WA Drug Laws

Western Australia is about to fill up its jails and children's care homes in the war on drugs. New legislation will jail parents and take away children for the cultivation of one cannabis plant. The jail terms are mandatory for the manufacture of small amounts of other drugs.

The conservative government has certainly lived up to its ideals of trying to turn back the clock a century or so. Transportation to a far off land could be next for "criminals". An earlier Labor government had decriminalized minor marijuana use. Just why the WA government would want to change a situation that seemed to be working is the real question. The premier must know that tough regulation like in the US has failed, totally. If legislation worked, such action would be justified

Even in the UK, people found with a small amount of drugs on their person are given a warning the first time it happens. Only serial offenders are jailed. This is the best idea. Target the dealers not individuals who in many cases are experimenting. We let people damage their health by smoking tobacco. Allowing them to cultivate a small amount of marijuana for their own use is akin to that.

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Society

Whales Sing a Different Song

It was believed that all whales spoke the same language like a bird species, for example, where all the birds have the same song. New observations show that whales sing different songs depending on where they live in the world.

Humpbacks on either side of the Indian Ocean do not sing the same song. Western Australian whales would not be able to "understand" whales in Madagascar. The two groups have been isolated from each other for a long time.

It would be expected that whales in the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere would differ, but the Indian Ocean whales are quite close to each other. The southern whales only have one similar song theme. A song is a series of themes.

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Biology