Fish Fossil Sheds More Light

There are new facts about the evolution of fish. An ancient fish fossil has provided preserved muscle tissue. European and Australian scientists have examined a placoderm fossil 380 million years old. Early fish did not have moving jaws with joints. Their mouths were fixed partially open, though they could still move.

Jaw structure was presumed to be like sharks, because that was taken to be a living example. The fossil has changed this assumption. It shows a pronounced shoulder structure. From this girdle neck muscles attached to a dermal joint. So the head moved relative to the body but the jaw did not. Sharks do not have joints in the neck - their necks are flexible.

Another difference is musculature in the abdomen much like four-limbed vertebrates such as horses. Rather than being a evolutionary step for four-legged animals it was fully developed by placoderms, the first vertebrate with armoured plates and no teeth.

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Climate Change Could Make Timid Animals More Aggressive

Climate change can cause changes in behavior. As water becomes warmer so some species of fish become aggressive. Some fish are inherently timid while others are bold. In experiments on fish from the Australian Barrier reef, when water was slowly warmed normally timid fish became aggressive. Their rate of activity increased as well. Evolution has created fish that fit into a niche where survival depends on a fish being very careful about its surroundings. If they openly attack larger fish it could mean the smaller ones will be eaten.

It is possible that similar changes will occur with reptiles, amphibians, ectotherms and even mammals. If timid animals become bold then they could be killed off by predators or by humans using harvesting equipment trying to catch other animals for food. Only a very small increase in temperature led to the change.

In the tests, fish were bred in captivity then released into holding tanks where the water was slowly warmed. They had no chance to socialize with wild fish. When the water was cool the fish hid in plastic pipe. As the water heated up the fish ventured further from the protective pipe.

Certain assumptions can be made from this research. As the Arctic ice disappears, Polar bears wandering near small towns in Alaska, Canada and Northern Europe could become more brazen in their search for food from garbage cans and dump sites. They could kill humans more frequently in their anger. Similarly, rats living in these cold climes may not just die of shock when hit. They could turn on people and fight back.

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Brave New World of Criminal Investigation

We are entering a brave new world where DNA will be accurately read to predict eye color, distance between the eyes and nose shape. This will greatly improve police work in solving serious crime.

Even knowing whether a suspect is bald is helpful. Genes contain single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs).  These can now show whether someone is probably bald. We have some way to go because of the complex interaction of male and female chromosomes.

A rough composite picture will be soon be available. This can be used to screen out suspects. Facial metrics is advancing rapidly. Analysis of insulin-like growth hormone (IGF-1) and human growth hormone (HGH) can give a rough picture of build and height.

The importance of mitochondrial DNA which passes along the female line is well known. This can predict ancestry using Y chromosome (NRY) and autosomal markers. Patterns for Europeans, white Americans and East Asians have been identified.

In the future the crime rate could be significantly reduced and we could live in societies that are much safer than today's dangerous milieu where we are afraid to go out at night. A safe world - that is something hard to imagine.

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"Darn, they left early"

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The Part-time and Casual Culture

Despite the boom times in Australia which has finally peaked, a significant proportion of working Australians do not have permanent full-time positions. This is because both sides of politics have freed-up the hiring contract between employers and employees.

The claim that bank holiday and annual leave pay is included in the casual rate is rubbish. People are hired for a per hour fee. No moneys are set aside for rest day payment.  Part-time employees can be called in to work at any time of the day or night.

Even in management the market is distorted. Tests to find the "ideal" personality to do the job have never been tested in the real world. They have been written by university people who teach and must write a certain number of papers for "respected" journals.

Governments are reducing employment in the public sector. When they have to get the work done in future by the private sector the real cost will become apparent.  While contractors offering specific skills do well, many are not making a profit.  Many private contractors, for example truck drivers, run at a loss. As they work, their debt to the banks increases. Ultimately they may have to sell their homes to clear their debt. Furthermore, they have to take drugs to stay awake because they drive day and night. In effect they are forced to break the law.

Today, production runs are getting shorter. This is due to improved production-line machinery. If the line is run for a few years the world market can be flooded. Restricting production by monopolies becomes a genuine profit maximizing policy.

The future job market looks spasmodic and uncertain. The forced superannuation policy of government will break down as the newly unemployed take early payments from their retirement fund to survive in the present.

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Ready for Take Off

What time does it take off?

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Cat Colored Spew

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Spread of Malaria to Man from Other Apes - Just Theory

Gorillas caused it. Scientists say mosquitoes split into a new form capable of infecting humans when Man and chimpanzees had a common ancestor. This is a myth. It is not based on fact. Bonobos have also been singled out for blame despite no parasites being found in bonobos or western gorillas, though some parasites were found in chimpanzees and eastern gorillas.

Before conclusions can be drawn on such research evidence of this mystery ancestor must be found first. This is all hearsay. How can present day apes be responsible for current malaria infection. Gorillas are only found in very small parts of Africa, not all around the world.

This wreaks of leaps of faith not science. It is no better than religious beliefs based on prophets who probably never existed. It is scientific fact that evil spirits do not cause disease, yet millions of people believe that a man, Jesus, cured illness by casting out spirits.  Note, everyone is entitled to follow a religion.

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Accident Witnesses May Not Remember the Truth

Witnesses in a trial may reiterate what they believe to be an accurate statement of what happened before their very eyes, but this may be distorted if they were stressed at the time. During a bank robbery or hostage taking they will be stressed if they are the victims.

Certain parts of the brain are known to be affected, when a memory (engram) is created. Once a memory is made and filed, recall of this is the same whether the engram is true or false.

In mice the chemical structure of a memory of a bright flashing light was identified. This chemical "program" was induced in some mice. When electric pulses were applied to the animal's feet for memory recall, those with the program froze in shock, while the others reacted normally. Obviously, the mice deemed the false memory to be absolutely real. Placement of the memory is fixed and immediate.

Human memories tend to improve with age. As time goes by, what actually happened and what really occurred during childhood is rosier. Bad memories affect health. Amnesia could be a safety mechanism to forget a very bad, painful memory.

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Investment in Clean Energy Production Predicted to Rise

It is predicted that the use of solar and wind power will rapidly increase as costs falls. There has been an improvement in the efficiency of wind turbines. Solar panels also put out more power at a lower cost.

Australians have strongly adopted solar power while governments offer high payments for electricity going back into the system. Making an end date of 2026 of such overpayment was a silly idea. It is too far ahead for future governments to guarantee this "lopsided" subsidy that only helps the wealthy. The financial burden has been pushed onto the elderly.

Solar power has hidden costs. Power surges burn out televisions and computers. New ones must be purchased. Many consumers are saying someone has to fix this. Considering solar power generation will fluctuate throughout the day with this is near impossible.

Frank Calabria, CEO of Origin Energy, favors the elimination of all subsidies on clean energy. This indicates a probable back down considering Origin is the largest investor in wind farms. Coal remains the cheapest form of power production in Australia. This economic advantage will continue. Whether new calls for nuclear power are supported is unknown are present.

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New Ways to Repel Sharks

Like South Africa, Australia is known as a region of frequent shark attacks. A lot of research has been done over the years in an attempt to reduce such attacks. Humans are not normal food for sharks. It is when humans behave in a similar way to injured fish that attacks occur.

Electronic pulses and sounds have been tried with limited success. Colored diving suits have also proven to be ineffective, until now. It has been discovered that blue lines on wetsuits disrupts the vision of sharks because they are color-blind.

White stripes also work as a deterrent but in a different way. Poisonous fish have white on their bodies. It tells potential predators that eating them will have dire consequences.

The cryptic wetsuit that "blinds" sharks is aimed at divers, while the white stripped warning suite is for those close to the beach. Diving equipment and surfing gear is also being colored to match the wetsuits.

Though shark attacks cannot be stopped entirely, the number of people injured is certain to fall. Tests at the Oceans Institute in Western Australia has shown that the new suits work very well. The new products will be sold by a company called Radiator.

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Australian Birds Change Breeding Times to Suite the Harsh Climate

Human beings may be having problems with variable weather in Australia, but animals are coping well. Zebra finches, pelicans and woodswallows seem to know when the weather changes. If the Spring comes early they nest early. If it is too dry to breed they hold off until times are better. They change their breeding point by months either way.

When glaciation was at its peak the woodswallow population actually boomed. In boom times there is a larger pool of gene carriers ideal for genetic selection when times become harder. More of the birds die off. Yet, the survivors have traits that suite the changed environment.

Australia has the harshest of climates with long periods of drought. Consequently, birds such as pelicans live a longtime on a meagre diet so they can wait for good times to breed. Zebra finches seem to do well even when times are very hard.

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Changes to Treatment of Young Offenders

The Queensland state government is making drastic changes to the way young people who commit crimes are treated. Young offenders are to be named and shamed. Those punished by being sent to institutions will be transferred to adult prisons when they reach the age of eighteen.

Many of the "young criminals" are victims of crime themselves. Difficult home life has pushed them into crime. Naming them would make their lives intolerable.

The government decision has been made on just one survey. It seems the decision was made before the survey began. Young people are not mature adults. They are growing and learning. Judging them at such a stage in their lives is marking them as bad citizens for life.

Other changes include making fixed penalties for some crimes committed by adults. Judges will not have the discretion to modify the sentences according to prevailing circumstances.

A change that just about everyone agrees on is courts knowing the case histories of adult defendants during a trial. Many offenders get away with crimes simply because their past behavior is not known.

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Microsoft to Offer VPN

Microsoft is going to offer a way for consumers to get around national firewalls. It is aimed at domestic US consumers to access corporate resources but it will make for a revolution in bypassing national restrictions, particularly for music and television programming.

Of course you will need a Windows mobile phone to access the feature. This is a trump card that Microsoft has played. However, like with cloud services when one enterprise gives something extra all competitors provide it as well.

While it is essentially for business use, VPN access will ultimately be used to access local content in countries that restrict it to their citizens. Just how program providers will react to this is not known. This announcement has been a surprise. However, many users pay a few dollars a month for VPNs already. It makes for easy use of programming supposedly blocked for overseas people.

If business gets "free" use of VPNs, the ordinary consumer will want it too. Soon rivals to Microsoft will take it a step further by giving business and general Internet users automatic VPN access.

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