Wiki World

Man Fined for Drink Driving, a Horse!

You may think that having a drink and riding a horse is perfectly alright, but you would be wrong! If you are over the alcohol limit (the level for drivers of motor vehicles) then you will be charged for "drink driving".

A hydraulic-hose fitter in Mount Isa has been fined $900 for riding a horse after drinking. He thought he could get around being disqualified for three years for driving his car while intoxicated.

He had already gone home. Yet he chose to go back for more drink. That is when he was caught by police. The man has now got the message and will not ride the horse while intoxicated again.

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Society

Sheep Kid

"I know your only a sheep, but I still love you."

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Funny Animal Photos

Magic Mushrooms Could Be Beneficial for Mental Health

Shamans of Central and South America used "magic" mushrooms when they supposedly took a journey into the life beyond. In this zone they made claims of being able to forecast the future. A test was done by the American Dr Andrija Puharich who held hands with a shaman as they took the mushroom together. Puharich reported that he and the shaman went down spiral stairs into the underworld. In other words they actually shared a mystical trance state. If this really occurred it means that people do not lead separate lives from each other. One person can drift into ecstasy when they take a drug, but two people? That puts a different perspective on things.

Psilocybin, the chemical in magic mushrooms, was thought to excite the brain but new findings show the chemical reduces brain activity by suppressing neural firing in communication hubs, while at the same time stimulating the frontal cortex. Shamans and witchdoctors have taken drugs from plants they collected to give them spiritual powers for centuries. These drugs are now being tested to find out if they can be used to treat depression, anxiety and mental health in general.

The brains of a group of people were scanned with fMRI while they were under the influence of Psilocybin. Results showed that blood flow was reduced to communication centres. With these centres desensitized there would be a tendency for the mind to wander. The sense of self would also be reduced. Users of the drug say their ability to recall events that happened in the distant past was improved. There are plans for tests on cancer sufferers to determine if taking psilocybin can lessen anxiety in patients.

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Health

Dog Not Listening

"I am not listening!"

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Funny Animal Photos

The Month in Which You Are Born Affects Later Life

Horoscopes may be the formulation of words that can mean just about anything, but the month you are born in does affect your behavior. This can be taken further - the season in which you are born dictates temperament, longevity and susceptibility to disease.

Obviously a baby born in winter is liable to catch a cold. This can sometimes be life threatening. A summer baby will probably be happier and more active. Research in England shows that 17 per cent of men are obese if born from January to March. This falls to 9.4 per cent for those born from October to December. It is because winter babies lay on more fat which stays on for life.

Age does affect how we turn out, however. American tests show women under 45 who were winter babies were risk takers and became bored quickly. On the other hand Women over 45 lost their curiosity and were no longer bored, a reversal of behavior. Serotonin and dopamine level are believed to be the cause of this. These fluctuate over time.

Summer babies have a greater chance of being schizophrenic. Spring babies are generally taller. Apparently, more sunshine increases the level of melatonin in mothers which stimulates production of the growth hormone. There is a downer for spring babies: they are more likely to get multiple sclerosis. Autumn babies live longer. Furthermore, autumn and winter babies are prone to allergies.

Don't worry if you were born in winter: data is (are) just data anyway. And as many scientist will tell you - lying with statistics is common practice.

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Society

Cats Play Piano

"You play low. I'll play high."

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Funny Animal Photos

Tasmanian Glow Worms Can Tell the Time

Glow worms can tell the time. Yes it's true! An Australian researcher has found that glow worms "light up" during daylight hours, even though they are in total darkness 24 hours a day.

It is only a Tasmanian species of glow worm, however. Mainland species glow day and night. It is not known how they detect that it is daylight outside the cave.

It is thought that a chimney effect occurs in a cave, whereby air is "breathed" in and out from outside. This probably causes a change in temperature. Glow worms possibly use the temperature stimulus to choose when to glow and when not to glow.

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Biology

Birthday Dog

"You know I'm three mum!."

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Funny Animal Photos

Japanese Whalers Break International Law

The Japanese whaling ship Yushin Maru No.3 has broken international law. While chasing the Greenpeace vessel Sea Shepherd the Japanese whaler crossed into an Australian Antarctic zone. It was within the 12-mile limit of Macquarie Island. The Sea Shepherd has an image of its radar showing the position of the Japanese ship.

In 2008 the Australian Federal Court prohibited the Japanese company carry out whaling in the Antarctic from entering the Australian whale sanctuary. Management of Kyodo Senpaku Kaishu clearly know this, but have their captains been told? The Yushin Maru N0.3 was so busy chasing the Sea Shepherd that it lost contact with the factory ship Nisshin Maru. This is no excuse, however.

Another Japanese whaler Shonan Maru No.2 was tailing the Steve Irwin. What this cat and mouse game is trying to achieve is anyone's guess. After all, it is the Greenpeace ships that are trying to find the chasers. They are doing Greenpeace a favor by staying within view. The Japanese ships can hardly attack Greenpeace vessels to prevent them from locating the factory ship. They could throw some rotten fruit for all the good that would do.

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Law

Carpet Cat

"You did get the right carpet."

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Funny Animal Photos

Pharmaceutical Medicines in Short Supply

People are taking more prescription drugs. Western countries including Australia make them easy to obtain because they are heavily subsidized. As developing countries move forward they too are inclined to make medications available to everyone. We take it for granted that all medicines will be "out there" ready to buy.

Last year in the US 196 common drugs were in short supply. Less than 100 ran short in 2006. Most of the medications were for anaesthetic, cancer or anti-infection use. Recently, shortages became apparent in Australia. Use of alternative drugs is not ideal. Side effects and less effective treatment occur.

It seems pharmaceutical manufacturers are only interested in producing products with safe patents that have high profit margins. When patents expire and governments want cheap generic drugs they are becoming harder to obtain. Governments are economically inelastic when it comes to what they will pay. They offer drug companies a fixed amount - take it or leave it. If there is no profit margin, in the future there will be no drugs.

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Health

Dog Fight

"Whoa! That was sudden."

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Funny Animal Photos

Dolphins Practice Whale-Talk at Night

Dolphins and whales are related. When dolphins are sleeping they show this. In the day they are quite unlike whales. Dolphins show off by jumping, swimming and catching balls. At night, however, they appear to "speak" a whale language.

The sounds they express closely resemble the humpback whale song. They only do this after they have heard the song. The song was in a soundtrack played during a performance for the public. This is an indication how all mammals deal with new things. The brain works on new things below the level of consciousness.

So well imitated were the whale sounds that tests done on them by volunteers showed people thought they were real whale sound. Dolphins mimic other types of sounds during the day, but they tend to zero in on whale sounds at night showing the evolutionary link.

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Marine

Beaver Looks Down

"What you doin' down there?"

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Funny Animal Photos

Cleanliness Causes Type 1 Diabetes

First we have a clean childhood leading to Crohn's disease. Now we have cleanliness causing type 1 diabetes. Both, apparently, are caused by the same thing - the lack of "bugs" in the stomach.

In the case of Crohn's disease it is the absence of worms. With diabetes it is too few bacteria. Tests on mice showed that a completely germ free environment when young increased the frequency of mice developing type 1 diabetes. Much fewer mice got diabetes when exposed to bacteria.

Future treatment could involve people taking medication containing bacteria. Potential sufferers of diabetes can already be identified by testing their genetic make-up.

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Health

Cat Watches TV

"What rubbish they put on TV during the day."

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Funny Animal Photos

Male Bower Bird Deludes the Female

Human males often lie to female partners to make them bond more and ultimately become a lifelong mate. Whether the female is aware of this doesn't seem to matter. Even when she knows, her affection is stronger than accepting she has been duped.

Male great bower birds also deceive females. He makes an intricate, often beautiful, structure to lure a prospective mate. First a bower is constructed which consists of twigs piled on top of each other. Then a walkway is built with an arch big enough for both birds to walk through. The final sweetener is the cache of rocks, shells, bones and fruit.

The male bird carefully places each piece of the cache either further away or at the front of the display to look better from the perspective of the female. He picks up each article waving it in front of her. The deception is that large objects are place further away and small objects are placed toward the front.

She is transfixed by his display and while "hypnotized" he mates with her. Sometimes she is not impressed and will not go into the swoon state. To prevent this, males will trash the work of rivals. Males of other species such as gray parrots, mistle thrush and pigeons deceive females as well.

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Wildlife

Penguin and Seal Debate

"What do you mean it's your spot?" It ain't your spot!

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Funny Animal Photos

Global Warming Changes Fish Behavior

Animals will not only die if they remain in regions affected by global warning, they will not know what they are doing. Research shows that rising carbon dioxide changes the behavior of fish.

Carbon dioxide makes the acidity of ocean water rise. Like humans, fish rely on nerve cells to "perceive" the environment they live in, like detecting hot and cost, pain or painless. They also have to rely on environmental cues to behave in a particular way. Fish smell predators so they normally move away from them, but high acidity in the water makes the smell attractive. Small fish move too close to predators, so they are easily caught and eaten.

Fish behave this way due to their nerve cells trying to maintain a balance with the environment. With a rise in carbon dioxide and acidity, bicarbonate and chloride levels rise inside nerve cells, so a feeling of security is not turned off by the smell of predators. A switching chemical, GABA, becomes irregular opening nerves which suddenly release all of the bicarbonate and chloride. This causes dramatic changes in fish behavior.

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Biology

Subliminal Advertising Actually Works

For years we have been told that subliminal messages on television and in films has no affect on us. Now we are informed that they do indeed work very well.

It is known that people pick up signals by intuition from other people. For example, poker players seem to know when their opponent has a good or bad hand. They don't know how - they just do.

A study sandwiched a subliminal picture for less than 50 milliseconds between two "normal" images. The subjects could then choose between two symbols, one being the sandwiched picture, to win money. The result was, subjects actually made money. MRI scans done at the time identified the ventral striatum region of the brain being the most active during the intuitive tests.

The research shows that subliminal advertising having a reward system attached can increase sales of a product. We can anticipate an increase in subliminal advertising.

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Society

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