If You Sit Down You Die

Humans are built to stand up all the time. How ridiculous this sounds, but this is what scientists say. You will die younger, get diabetes, and fall victim to cancer if you sit down too much. Doing exercise wont stop it apparently. Even sitting down at any time is damaging. This is "silly science" because though people sit down longer than ever before they also live longer. Statistics prove this.

Scientists say the body only functions "normally" if we are standing. They cease if we sit down. If these body operations work when we are standing what proof is there that they are really necessary? There is no proof. This is just a whim and let's hope it soon passes before people bring cases to court against employers.

There is no more ardent a person against smoking than an ex-smoker. Guess What! The main researcher on all this stuff, Professor Levine, has taken to standing all the time. This bloke is a bit of a nutcase, an obsessive compulsive if there is one - he walks around the room like in the old movies with an almighty long telephone cord. He also invented machines where you can keep walking or cycle while still using a computer. Health and safety has deemed these device too dangerous to use.

Levine wants to change the world like all obsessives. "What you need to do is to create an overall environment of health." Yeah, like those people selling ordinary tea that supposedly makes you lose weight. Beware, the Professor has four large US companies on board to find out how much can be saved in dollars by walking around all the time. You could be next on the test list.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Hello Tiger

"Hi Bill!. How are you doing mate?"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tasmania Has Outdated Laws on Freedom of Speech

Tasmania has draconian old fashioned laws against freedom of speech. If a person wants to comment on the Internet about the upcoming state election he/she must leave address and name on the website. Digital Tasmania, Electronic Frontiers Australia, Civil Liberties Australia and the Australian Privacy Foundation have condemned the law. What is Facebook to do when it has a policy of keeping the identity of those who comment, private.

Many people like to talk about political issues without letting others know how they vote. This is to avoid harassment or potential damage to their careers because of public perception.

It seems most Tasmanians do not know of the law and are ignoring it anyway. Some political candidates are also making comments without giving their names. Tasmania's Electoral Commission says that people must abide by the law. Those making comments must leave their names in the "about me" spots on Facebook for example.

If anyone is brought to court over this matter the political party that wins the election will be thrown out at the next election for sure.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Pup in Safe Paws

"I'll keep you safe, son."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

New Weapon to Fight Cane Toads

At last - a solution to Australia's can toad problem. Decades ago the pest was introduced from Hawaii to combat bugs that were attacking sugar cane, but instead of eating the target beetles the cane toads went about settling down here and have been destroying the native habitat ever since. Cane toads have recently reached Perth in Western Australia. Now they are established in every Australian state.

Everything has been tried to kill them from hitting them with sticks, gassing them with carbon dioxide, to freezing them. None of this has had any effect on their numbers. A way has now been found, however, of killing off the pests. Placing a few teaspoons of cat food next to ponds in the Northern Territory attracts meat eating ants. When the baby can toads appear from the pond they are eaten by the ants.

Most native creatures are affected by the poisonous toxin put out by can toads. Fortunately, the ants are fully resistant. All the toad eggs hatch at the same time, so if you activate the ants you win the battle. The ants kill 98 percent of baby toads in the first two minutes. Eighty percent of survivors die of inuries during the next day.

Already do-gooders are complaining, saying ants killing toads is inumane. One species killing another is as natural as it can get. What else can be done? Are we expected to give them a packed lunch and send them on they way?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Great View Dog

"Wow! What a great view."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Cane Toad Survives a Plane Flight Across the Country

Australian cane toads really get around, in most unlikely ways. A cane toad got into a golf shoe then survived a plane trip from Brisbane to Perth. It stayed in the shoe six days before being discovered by the shoe's owner.

Apparently, this is not unusual. The pests are very tough and resilient.

In the above case, quarantine authorities would not comment, though a spokesperson did try to make out that it was a tree frog. The owner of the shoe lived in Brisbane for many years and said it was definitely a cane toad.

It seems cane toads won't have to walk across the top of Australia (as they steadily are). Crossing the country is far easier by plane.

Cane toads are intelligent as well. It is known that if water is scarce they will follow a cow drawing moisture from cow pats until the cow eventually reaches a river or dam.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Cat Needs Help

"Get me out of heeeeeeeeeere!"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bull Ants Feed at Twilight

Bull ants do not feed during all daylight hours. Observation has shown that they feed at twilight. When the sun is brighter for longer, for example in summer or there is no cloud cover, they forage for food later in the day. When the sun is darker, earlier, they search for food sooner in the day. It was believed that all insects fed according to circadian rhythms, but this does not seem to be the case.

Activity in the nest was affected by cloud cover. But outside activity that involves feeding occurs at twilight. Obviously, they are feeding during these short intervals to avoid predators. Most animals that eat ants would be inactive at twilight.

Tests were done at ANU in Canberra. Bull ants were put in containers where diffused light was altered. It was found they only fed when the light was set at a particularly low level. Evolution does take some winding paths. This shows though that evolution develops in a rational way.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Worry Dog

"There are so many things to worry about - the mortgage, job security."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Hypnotic Dog

"You are feeeeling sleepy, veeeery sleepy."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Humans Wiped Out Australia's Megafauna

Humans destroy more things in the environment than climate change. This is especially the case in Australia where over the last 50,000 years people have wiped out the county's megafauna. Before Aboriginals arrived flightless birds, large reptiles and giant marsupials lived a carefree existence.

Humans slaughtered the large animals in a very short period of time. More accurate dating of bones shows that megafauna died out abruptly. When the giant creatures were in large numbers there is no evidence of human tools. After the Diprotodon, Australia's largest marsupial, large kangaroos and flightless birds died out stone tools appeared. Accurate dating shows they did not exist at the same time even though they were found together at certain locations. When humans became settled the large animals were gone. The odd thing is that humans and megafauna must have coexisted for at least 5,000 years. But this is a very narrow window to find evidence of both living side by side.

This gives weight to the theory that the arrival of modern Man in the Americas caused the demise of the mammoth. Though there is a problem with the American story. Megafauna "ruled" during the ice age which occurred 12,000 years ago. Its seems that when the ice ages ended life changed for the large animals. The climate was then well and truly against the survival of mammoths, short-faced bears, giant bison and sabor-toothed tigers. Some megafauna, however, continued to survive in Kansas, and Nebraska after the ice age period. The skeleton of a giant beaver has been found dating from 10,000 years ago. So Man could still be the culprit.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Cat Going Out

"They are always going out without me. So this time I'm ready."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Singing Pets

"We sing for our supper. Lah, luh, lah, luh, lah."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Fish Are Intelligent and Can Remember

For years scientists told us what we wanted to believe - that fish have short memories in line with one lap of the fish bowl. Now the truth has got out. They are intelligent creatures who can learn to do things and can even deceive other animals. Once attacked, if they escape, they remember which predator tried to kill them. Unlike humans, however, there is a cost when they use they intelligence. If they are given one fish for food they are very efficient in catching it, but if given two types of prey they apparently become confused and their effectiveness declines.

Fish interact in a social way. They recognize familiar others and modify their behavior accordingly. Siamese fighting fish will take advantage of a weak fighter by observing fish fights and readily attacking the weaker fish. Fish that clean others act busy when potential "customers' are watching. In a way they advertise.

The myth about fish having no memory or even intelligence is most likely promulgated to justify fishing, when fishermen say it is alright to jab in a hook or gut a fish because they don't feel any pain.

An example of fish learning occurred when Professor Charles Erikson fed fish after calling to them by saying "fish-fish". When he returned five years later he called to them and some fish came to the surface expecting food. Other examples include trigger fish which use tools to trick prey that hunt them, and frillfin which jump back into rock pools to avoid birds.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Mop Head Duck

"Stop calling me mop head."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Fossil Find Throws 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.


. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Locked in Dog

My owners locked me in. I guess I'll have stay here until they let me out."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Horse Buys Trailer

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

Bees Calculate Energy Expended When Getting Pollen

Bees calculate how much energy they need to get pollen. To survive, bees must run on a "profit" basis. They must not use more energy in obtaining nectar than energy the nectar provides. Bees were given the choice of travelling along two pathways to get nectar. One pathway was 10 meters long, the other 20 meters. However, the "scenery" of the 10 meter pathway was designed to trick the bees into perceiving that it was the furthest distance away.

When the bees returned to their fellows in the nest they told them with a waggle dance which pathway to use to get more pollen. Despite the 10 meter pathway appearing to the bees to be further away they told other bees to go to the feeder in the 10 meter pathway. Somehow, they had worked out that it used up less energy to go to this feeder than the one on the other pathway.

It is believed that bees have "calorimeters" built into their brains. They do not judge energy expenditure solely based on distance travelled. A partly covered pathway would be given the okay over a pathway out in the weather for example.

Bees are smart little critters and we can learn a great deal from them.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .