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New Laser Processing of Uranium Is a Danger

The last thing the world needs is an easier way to enrich uranium. There is nowhere to put the used uranium and the disaster in Japan shows the potential risk and damage from nuclear power stations.

A new laser enrichment process has been developed by General Electric. It enables production of enriched uranium cheaper, quicker and in larger amounts. It is feared that "rogue" states will get hold of the knowledge and make uranium for nuclear bombs.

Claiming that nuclear power is a way of reducing greenhouse gases is ridiculous. If more power plants are built more will be at risk from natural disasters. Vast tracts of land will be left uninhabitable as in Japan. It is ironic that GE has made this leap forward in partnerships with a Japanese company, Hitachi.

They are talking now about turning the damaged power plant back on because the country cannot manage without it. Workers there will have to wear full-protection suits all day every day to generate electricity.

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Science

Dog Chick

"I did have one very large egg."

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Funny Animal Photos

More Disabled People Suffer Other Illnesses

Disabled people have poor health generally. A report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare have made this "Discovery". It is only common sense really. Living with a permanent disability has to be tough and a drain on the body's resources. The stress of living makes these people dependent on cigarettes and food, so they tend to be overweight.

On a scale of health, the greater the disability the worse the general health. Living with constant pain is a problem 40 per cent of them face. Only four per cent of other Australians suffer constant pain.

Having a disability is not the only problem. Nearly 70 per cent of the group have up to four other chronic health conditions such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, asthma, diabetes, mental illness and arthritis. Ninety nine per cent knew they were ill compared to 31 percent of the rest of the population who said they were in poor health.

The Government crackdown on disabled people under 36 who have to work at least part time appears to be misplaced.

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Health

Dog Wants Horse

"I could eat a horse."

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Funny Animal Photos

Labels: bite , dog , eat , food , horse , jaw , meal , mouth , teeth , yawn

Your Dog Could Be Taken

People want dogs. They really do. Apart from pit bull crosses used for fighting, pedigree and cute dogs are also being taken by "admirers". There was a time when you just tied your dog up outside a shop and when you came back the pet was still there, but not today. Do this and you may never see your beloved friend again.

When thieves in the UK break in to steal your car keys they are likely to take the family dog as well. In the US dogs are stolen from parked cars and when they go for a run in the park with their owners.

Microchips are no deterrent. The new owners never take dogs to places where chips can be scanned. Unchipped dogs are resold. Some are held for ransom money to be paid.

Introducing laws making microchipping compulsory only works when dogs reach a shelter, and this only happens when the new owners have lost interest in them.

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Society

Dancer

"I can dance!"

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Funny Animal Photos

Elephants Can Solve Problems

Only a few animals including humans experience the "aha" moment. That is when there is an attempt to solve a problem and a mental moment occurs when the solution is identified.

Tests were set up for elephants to retrieve food through the bars of their enclosure. Unfortunately, they didn't use poles provided to them to pull the food towards them. When elephant use their trunk to pick things up they lose their ability to smell the food, so they don't bother.

Another test was worked out which left the trunk free: food was hung up above the elephant's heads and objects to stand on were put inside their pen. A young elephant rolled a cube under the food, placed his front feet on the cube then grabbed the tasty treat. He later rolled the cube down a hill, put it under some flowering tree blossoms and promptly stood on the cube to reach the food. This shows application of a concept to different situations. When the cube was taken away he used a tire or ball to reach suspended treats.

Oddly, two females in the same pen as the test elephant did not attempt to reach the food at all. Maybe they weren't interested.

Elephants are intelligent creatures especially when doing forestry work. They know what their handlers want them to do. This test shows that they also have insight into problems and can solve issues that confront them.

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Science

Floating Dog

"I call this a floater."

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Funny Animal Photos

Whales Took an Evolutionary Leap Forward

Eons ago ancestors of whales made a major leap forward in evolution of their mouths. Whales living today can filter-feed in large amounts because the lower jaw is flexible in movement.

Ancient fossils such as Janjucetus hunderi do not have such a mobile lower jaw. The development of this attribute probably initially evolved to consume large living prey. It began with a wide upper jaw and normal teeth - no comb filters. Erich Fitzgerald from the Museum Victoria in Melbourne has created a family tree showing whale evolution.

The way whales feed is unique. It is believed that sucking when feeding still takes place, a left over from the days of the wide upper jaw.

A big question is why whales went back into the sea in the first place.

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Anthropology

Dog Headache

"How's that?"
"No, I've still got a headache."

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Funny Animal Photos

Labels: cold , day , dog , dogs , headache , husky , ice , sky , snow , sun

University of Queensland Blunders on Data

New research shows excessive watching of television is bad for your health. This is commonsense really. When you are watching TV you aren't doing anything physically. It is claimed that for every hour of TV one's lifespan is reduced by 22 minutes.

Many people watch eight hours of television each day, so the calculation is,

8hrs x 30Years x 365Days
-------------------------------- = 3.7 years lost.
65.5(22 minutes) x 365Days

OR,

8hrs x 365days 30yrs = 87600hrs total

87600hrs x 22mins
------------------- = 32120hrs total
60

32120hrs
--------- = 3.7 years lost
24 x 365

Just how did they reach this specific conclusion? Apparently obesity and diabetes were mentioned; then the figure was just fished out of the air.

They chose a ridiculous figure of two hours of TV every day over a lifetime. No one watches this tiny amount. They even decided that men were affected more than women: 1.8 years lost for men and 1.5 for women. Because women live longer the calculation should show a greater loss for them!

The University of Queensland should be careful about releasing such nonsensical information. The institution will lose all respect.

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Society

How Do Dogs Fly?

"How do you do that?"

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Funny Animal Photos

New Genomes Could Be Dangerous

There is a lot of excitement about synthetic biology. That is the creation of designer organisms. Many people are concerned, however, fearing the making of monsters that cannot be destroyed, but new developments improve health care and reduce the reliance on non-renewable resources.

New body parts are being made from a patient's own stem cells. GM food crops have been accepted after some early resistance. There are clear benefits for society from these scientific achievements. What is not so clear are the possible dangers from creation of completely new genomes to produce fuel, food, polymers and drugs.

Making new life forms that could reproduce is the area which frightens most people. There isn't much doubt that science will progress. At the moment purpose built creations are limited to 10 genes. This barrier will soon be surpassed.

There is always danger that new things will be misused. We will just have to hope that rules and regulations will prevent this. It seems that science will continue to move forward and not much will be done to stop technical advances.

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Science

Frozen Horse Rider

"Hold it!"

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Funny Animal Photos

Filefish Blends in Perfectly With Coral

It's well known that fish living near coral are colored the same as Othe background for protection from predators. The Harlequin filefish (orange spotted filefish), Oxymonacanthus longirostris, goes to extremes to blend into the coral it lives in.

The fish has a hook on the back of its head that it uses to hook onto coral so it can sleep in peace. The shape with the polka-dot blue and yellow spots on its body perfectly match the coral it lives in. Its fin is the same color as the coral's growing tip. It blends in so well predators just swim past them.

When fish use shape and color to match background coral the system is called masquerading. Using color alone is called crypsis. Insects look like plants that they live in, but coral fish have perfected camouflage.

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Science

Cats Door

"Hey stop shovin'"

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Funny Animal Photos

Surgery the Only Cure for Baldness

Bald men try just about anything to turn back a receding hairline. For some, hair loss is at the back and they don't know it until a "friend" tells them. For others the hairline goes out like the tide.

All manner of things are tried from hair tonics, to laser and LED treatments. Some medications offer some hope but they do take away some of your "maleness". The only real solution is transplanting of hair follicles from the back of the head to to the bald area. This is time consuming surgery and the result is new hair spread very sparsely over the bald spot.

For centuries a search has been on for the Holy Grail of baldness cures. Because it is really a hormone problem a lot of work has been done on this. Unfortunately, there are side affects and the mere stopping of further hair loss is the best that can be expected. Stress also causes baldness. Of course, for this there is no treatment.

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Society

Cat Not Real

"Hey I know it ain't real!"

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Funny Animal Photos

Woodside Petroleum Will Destroy Dinosaur Footprints

Ancient dinosaur tracks may be destroyed by gas companies moving into the Kimberleys. In the Dampier Peninsula near Broome more than 15 different kinds of dinosaurs foot prints are "embedded" into the landscape. They are in 130-million-year-old sandstone.

Woodside plans to open up the area for natural gas development. Just bringing people there opens up the tracks to damage. Arguments are raging all over Australia at the moment between natural gas companies and farmers who fear damage to their pasture from polluting chemicals used in the search process. Companies can just open a farm gate, drive in and start drilling - no permission is needed.

New dinosaur footprints are being found at the Kimberley site, notably of the very large sauropods nearly a meter in diameter. The varied prints are in different layers. They have been laid down over an extended period of time.

Woodside is saying better quality tracks are found well away from their intended development and losing some footprints is unimportant. The company is obviously ignorant about scientific research. All finds in relation to dinosaurs are important.

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Science

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