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Aboriginals Arrived in Thousand on First Arrival - Questionable

An archaeologist, Alan Williams, has a controversial theory. He believes that people first arrived in Australia from Asia in their thousands. It was not a small group. There is no proof for this. It is just his belief.

There is a problem with this: How did "Asians" know that land was over the horizon? It must have been first discovered by a few people in one or even two boats. It also presumes that they made the return journey to Asia to tell everyone - very unlikely.

His estimate puts the Aboriginal founding population at 3000 people. This would have been a virtual "armada" of new arrivals all at one time. This premise is too far fetched to believe.

Making estimates about how the Aboriginal population grew is prone to distortion because the general population declined after the arrival of Macassans and Europeans. The highest population level is "pulled out of the air" and put at 1.2 million before the opening-up of the continent. This is not a proven figure. Determining population growth to this level can only be supposition.

Professor Joe Dutch says that European arrival did not impact that much on Aboriginals as they were mainly in the north. Europeans moved into the south of the country.

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Society

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The Flores "Hobbit" had a Small but Sufficient Brain

The "miniature" humans on the island of Flores in Indonesia have had extensive tests performed on them. Their remains have been examined in detail. While their brain was as small as an orange it was large enough for them to develop many skills. At a third of the weight of modern-day people it was in proportion.

The world of the "Hobbit", Homo floresiensis, was composed of pygmy animals, so it was a natural environment for them. They would not have perceived themselves to be small.

This sub-species developed from one of the first branches of humans that walked upright, going back two million years. Their direct forebear, Homo erectus, was larger than modern humans. It roamed over a large part of Asia.

Isolation on a small island led to dwarfism occurring. All mammals progress this way when trapped in a limited domain, though reptiles get larger. It was doubtful that they hunted the much bigger reptiles. If their environment was more challenging they would have developed larger brains. A small brain was sufficient. They did use flaked stone points in their weapons. This points to Homo erectus having such knowledge.

Early Hobbits first arrived on Flores 95,000 years ago, before humans moved out of Africa, so they possibly shared the world with Homo erectus with no challenge from Homo sapiens. The problem is the gap between the demise of Homo erectus at 300,000 years ago and the branching off of the large version of the Hobbit. Apart from Homo erectus no direct ancestor has been found.

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Evolution

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Fossil Find Shines Light on an Ancient Whale

A fossil find in Victoria, Australia, throws light on the origin of baleen whales. The artifact is 25 million years old. It is the 45 cm long skull of Mammalodon colliveri. Information about it has remained open since its discovery in 1932.

Though it had teeth it spent its time sucking mud in the search for prey on the seafloor. A short, blunt snout made this possible. This type of feeding led to the filter method of modern whales. The baleen whale was only three meters long, a far cry from the monsters that followed. Its ancestors though were also very large.

Other fossils have been found in Torquay, Victoria, notably Janjucetus hunderi which was unique to the area. This region is believed to be the cradle of tiny whales. Some form of isolation must have occurred for this to happen.

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Paleontology

Horse Buys Trailer

"This trailer is a little small. Have you got something larger?"

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Funny Animal Photos

Don't Hurt Small Animals

"Please don't hurt me!"

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Funny Animal Photos

Campaign To End Sale of Battery Eggs

Environmentalists launch a campaign to stop the sale of battery eggs. This involves "pestering" consumers in supermarkets who are about to buy battery eggs. The environmentalist will not win the war. They will just make consumers angry. Radio advertisements will have the same effect.

If battery eggs are banned the price of supermarket eggs will increase from $2.50 to $10.00 a dozen. The government will also have the burden of compensation for battery farms which are forced to close.

The campaigners believe that consumers need to be educated about chickens living in tiny pens. People already know this. They don't need to be force-fed the truth. They also know that cows must be kept alive for blood to be drained from the body after they are knocked out. This doesn't stop them buying beef.

European countries are trying to change, but the supply of free-range eggs is insufficient to meet demand. Not enough businesses are prepared to re-invest in bigger cages. Furthermore, a recent university study showed that battery hens were not stressed.

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Society

Poor Dog

"What a poor example of a dog."

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Funny Animal Photos

Small Igloo

"Come on inside with us mum."

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Funny Animal Photos

Small Dog, Big Dog

"You think you're so big don't you?"

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Funny Animal Photos

Large Birds Are Scared Away by Low-Pitched Noise

You would think that birds are happy to live near humans as they can get easy access to food. Unfortunately, this is not the case, particularly for large birds.

Sound drives them away. Traffic noise and heavy machinery are the culprits. Larger birds use low-pitched songs to communicate. This is drowned out by engines and clunking machines.

Birds and nests were counted near natural gas wells. Compressors on the wells run day and night. The noise is like a reving motorcycle. Thirty species of bird were surveyed. The number of large birds was very low. Small birds have high-pitched songs that can still be heard over rumbling machinery, so their lives are unaffected.

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Biology

Safe Mouse

"I'll be safe in here."

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Funny Animal Photos

Small Dog, Small Chair

"This is a nice thought, but...."

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Funny Animal Photos

Cat Danger

"Aren't you afraid I might fall down that crack?"

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Funny Animal Photos

Potential Future Disaster From Nanotechnology

There is danger from future widespread use of nanotechnology. It is seen as the new savior to save the world from food shortages and so on. But like bio-fuel production it could do more harm than good. CSIRO is calling for more study of nanotechnology. This is despite the fact that no country has yet examined safety issues involved with it.

Nanotechnology creates "micro-fine" products that have no safe disposal system. If they get into the environment there is not telling what damage they could do.

Risks are seemingly endless: use by terrorists; environmental damage; self-reproduction (goo everywhere); even the future of Mankind on this planet could be under threat.

Once a material has been modified or a new nano-product created it becomes a permanent structure. It must be chemically altered to make it safe. A nano-substance is not inert. It will act on the environment if it can. At the moment there are no restrictions. Developers can do what they wish. Let's hope regulations are put in train before a disaster occurs.