Blue Straggler Stars Found in the Milky Way Bulge
We now know that dark matter exists. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has also identified blue straggler stars in the Milky Way. These stars don't show their age. Their color hides their true age. This is the first time they have been found in the core of the Milky Way.
Not much is known about blue stragglers. Accepted theory is that they develop from binary pairs. The larger of the pair strips material from the smaller one. Hydrogen is activated which causes the larger star to undergo nuclear fission thus making the star blue.
Blue stragglers are rare in the Milky Way because the central bulge of the system stopped making new stars billions of years ago. Aging stars and cool red dwarfs exist in the Milky Way now. Giant blue stars were thought to have exploded into supernovae in the distant past. The presence of blue stragglers throws a spanner into the works of current models of star formation.
Not much is known about blue stragglers. Accepted theory is that they develop from binary pairs. The larger of the pair strips material from the smaller one. Hydrogen is activated which causes the larger star to undergo nuclear fission thus making the star blue.
Blue stragglers are rare in the Milky Way because the central bulge of the system stopped making new stars billions of years ago. Aging stars and cool red dwarfs exist in the Milky Way now. Giant blue stars were thought to have exploded into supernovae in the distant past. The presence of blue stragglers throws a spanner into the works of current models of star formation.
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Science
It May Not Be a Wise to Take Polypills
As if we aren't taking enough medication, "combination" pills are now being made. Normal healthy people don't need to take "just in case" medication. After all anyone could be knocked down by a car and killed. Furthermore, many medications clash with each other producing dangerous chemicals when mixed.
The latest polypill is for heart attacks. It contains statins, aspirin, and two blood pressure drugs. Tests show that the incidence of heart attacks can be reduced by half if the multi-pill is taken regularly due to lower cholesterol and blood pressure. It is also claimed that colon cancer will be less frequent in test subjects, which seems rather odd considering the slim relationship between cholesterol and cancer.
If a person is fit and healthy it would probably be wise to leave things as they are because all medications have side effects, and tests done so far are only looking at short term results. Tests were only for 12 weeks. How can one draw such conclusions for only a three month period? A test for frequency of heart attacks needs to be done for at least ten years.
The latest polypill is for heart attacks. It contains statins, aspirin, and two blood pressure drugs. Tests show that the incidence of heart attacks can be reduced by half if the multi-pill is taken regularly due to lower cholesterol and blood pressure. It is also claimed that colon cancer will be less frequent in test subjects, which seems rather odd considering the slim relationship between cholesterol and cancer.
If a person is fit and healthy it would probably be wise to leave things as they are because all medications have side effects, and tests done so far are only looking at short term results. Tests were only for 12 weeks. How can one draw such conclusions for only a three month period? A test for frequency of heart attacks needs to be done for at least ten years.
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Health
Australian Busiesses Must Move to the Internet
Australian retailers are in a corner with people turning to the Internet to make purchases. With rents near zero for Internet sellers and high rents for retail shops the odds are stacked against local stores.
Travel agents are the ones hit the hardest. It is so easy to buy an airline ticket online. Next are bookshops. They cannot compete with Amazon, though some Australian bookshops are selling online as well. Pharmacists are up against large cut-price online sellers in the US. However, chemists can still rely on the highly subsidized cash cow called the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Some Australian businesses are becoming paranoid. A woman was accused by a bookshop proprietor of making a list of books to buy on the Internet. A sports retailer asks for a deposit before customers try things on.
Things are changing so fast. Major stores in the US are allowing goods purchased online to be returned at city outlets. Australian businesses must make the move to the Internet now, or they will go to the wall.
Travel agents are the ones hit the hardest. It is so easy to buy an airline ticket online. Next are bookshops. They cannot compete with Amazon, though some Australian bookshops are selling online as well. Pharmacists are up against large cut-price online sellers in the US. However, chemists can still rely on the highly subsidized cash cow called the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Some Australian businesses are becoming paranoid. A woman was accused by a bookshop proprietor of making a list of books to buy on the Internet. A sports retailer asks for a deposit before customers try things on.
Things are changing so fast. Major stores in the US are allowing goods purchased online to be returned at city outlets. Australian businesses must make the move to the Internet now, or they will go to the wall.
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Internet
Radiation From Mobile Phones Is Dangerous
New evidence shows that mobile phones really are dangerous. Even the average user can suffer from brain damage, lower sperm count and altered DNA. Just 4 hours of continuous use will preempt the brain's capacity to repair itself.
When scientists originally said that pulsed digital signals from cell phones cause DNA breaks they were condemned for making it up. Now proof is very strong. Apparently, the industry has known about situational damage from mobile phone use for years. They have intentionally hidden the truth.
Research on insects shows that DNA fragmentation occurs in ovarian cells. Insects do have ovarian cells. This reduces the insects' capacity to breed. Long term exposure kills cells completely. Other work with rats shows bone damage to fetuses from just six minutes of radiation per day. And rats had memory loss. From this work it can be deduced that children are more at risk.
When scientists originally said that pulsed digital signals from cell phones cause DNA breaks they were condemned for making it up. Now proof is very strong. Apparently, the industry has known about situational damage from mobile phone use for years. They have intentionally hidden the truth.
Research on insects shows that DNA fragmentation occurs in ovarian cells. Insects do have ovarian cells. This reduces the insects' capacity to breed. Long term exposure kills cells completely. Other work with rats shows bone damage to fetuses from just six minutes of radiation per day. And rats had memory loss. From this work it can be deduced that children are more at risk.
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Internet
Seals Losing Fur
Hair loss may be embarrassing for humans but for fur seals it can be life-threatening. Clumps of fur are falling out of fur seals' coats in Bass Strait. Without even protection over their bodies they will die of cold. The problem was identified in a study of seals on Lady Julia Percy Island. Given the sames term as human hair loss, alopecia, the disease began in 1989.
Sea lions don't need fur to keep their body temperature up as they have blubber. Fur seals on the other hand do not store blubber.
The amount of loss for each fur seal was photographically recorded and thermal imaging showed a loss of 6.6 degrees in areas where clumps of hair had fallen out. Such affected seals were in poor health. Mainly males and juvenile were affected. Seals predominantly suffer from the disease in spring/summer. Molting each year does not cure it. Just why alopecea has affected the seals for more than two decades is not known.
Sea lions don't need fur to keep their body temperature up as they have blubber. Fur seals on the other hand do not store blubber.
The amount of loss for each fur seal was photographically recorded and thermal imaging showed a loss of 6.6 degrees in areas where clumps of hair had fallen out. Such affected seals were in poor health. Mainly males and juvenile were affected. Seals predominantly suffer from the disease in spring/summer. Molting each year does not cure it. Just why alopecea has affected the seals for more than two decades is not known.
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Nature
Dark Energy Exists
Dark energy is no longer theory it is fact. Evidence from 200,000 galaxies confirms the hypothesis that dark energy is pulling the universe apart. It is a constant in that it pushes uniformally causing steady expansion of the universe.
Einstein was correct after all. He said there was a force pushing out stopping the universe from collapsing. This was known as "Einstein's biggest blunder'. He had to enter something into an equation which stopped the universe from collapsing. Though he didn't use the term "dark energy", this was the force he was talking about. He was wrong about the universe being static but he quickly revised his ideas when Edwin Hubble found that the universe was expanding. Gravity is no longer accepted as the force driving the universe apart. Gravity cannot push and pull at the same time.
Calculations show that dark energy makes up 74 per cent of the universe. Dark energy is not he same as dark matter. There is 22 per cent of dark matter out there. This leaves 4 per cent for all the atoms making up physical things.
Einstein was correct after all. He said there was a force pushing out stopping the universe from collapsing. This was known as "Einstein's biggest blunder'. He had to enter something into an equation which stopped the universe from collapsing. Though he didn't use the term "dark energy", this was the force he was talking about. He was wrong about the universe being static but he quickly revised his ideas when Edwin Hubble found that the universe was expanding. Gravity is no longer accepted as the force driving the universe apart. Gravity cannot push and pull at the same time.
Calculations show that dark energy makes up 74 per cent of the universe. Dark energy is not he same as dark matter. There is 22 per cent of dark matter out there. This leaves 4 per cent for all the atoms making up physical things.
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Science
Australian Moths and Butterflies Are Barcoded
Australian moths and butterflies are being barcoded. There are 10,000 species in Australia and 65 per cent of them have been coded, 28,000 specimens in all. They are not flying around with a tag on them. DNA is analyzed then recorded with an image of a specimen in a barcode system.
The database is a combined project by the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) and CSIRO's Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC). It is the first time such a system has been used to categorize a group of insects in a country. This is the beginning. Plans are in train to record most organisms worldwide.
The technology has been used to determine if wrongly named fish are being sold. It will be used to identify dangerous pests coming into Australia. Species will now be more effectively categorised in research.
The database is a combined project by the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) and CSIRO's Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC). It is the first time such a system has been used to categorize a group of insects in a country. This is the beginning. Plans are in train to record most organisms worldwide.
The technology has been used to determine if wrongly named fish are being sold. It will be used to identify dangerous pests coming into Australia. Species will now be more effectively categorised in research.
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Science
Taxi Licence Test Is Too Difficult
Making entry tests for such things as taxi driver licences or new residents has really gone off course. This is not restricted to Australia. The US test for residency has been shown to have incorrect answers to key questions. New migrants to Australia complain about the relevancy of some questions. In regard to the test for a taxi licence in Queensland one in six is failing despite many being Australian born.
The Queensland test is extensive with reading, writing, numeracy. speaking and listening all being evaluated. Just how this improves taxi service and safety is unclear. It should be adequate for drivers to understand what customers are saying and to be able to communicate satisfactorily in return. It seems the whole job is tested as well. Map reading, following verbal directions, determining fares, giving change and solving situational problems are all thoroughly checked. It is known that many people are stressed and nervous doing such examinations. Even normally intelligent and adaptable people can fail.
Queensland taxi drivers are saying the test is too extensive and unnecessary. Even Australian born drivers with decades of experience are not passing. Many say it is a show test, a gimmick developed by bureaucrats. Many things tested for can only be learned on the job, after drivers have a licence to use. Experienced drivers are also being caught out because they must sit the examination when renewing their licences. One driver who had driven taxis for most of his life failed and said that's the end for me I will have to live off the pension now.
The Queensland test is extensive with reading, writing, numeracy. speaking and listening all being evaluated. Just how this improves taxi service and safety is unclear. It should be adequate for drivers to understand what customers are saying and to be able to communicate satisfactorily in return. It seems the whole job is tested as well. Map reading, following verbal directions, determining fares, giving change and solving situational problems are all thoroughly checked. It is known that many people are stressed and nervous doing such examinations. Even normally intelligent and adaptable people can fail.
Queensland taxi drivers are saying the test is too extensive and unnecessary. Even Australian born drivers with decades of experience are not passing. Many say it is a show test, a gimmick developed by bureaucrats. Many things tested for can only be learned on the job, after drivers have a licence to use. Experienced drivers are also being caught out because they must sit the examination when renewing their licences. One driver who had driven taxis for most of his life failed and said that's the end for me I will have to live off the pension now.
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Society
The Poor Have to Live With High Rents
The poor in Australia are doing it tough. While the economy is booming the price of housing has continued to rise. Despite the recent levelling off, further increases are forecast. With the higher valuation come higher monthly mortgage repayments and rental payments must keep up with this. Only one per cent of low income earners can afford to pay such rents. If you are on welfare and cannot get public accommodation forget it - you have to live on the street, unless you live with relatives and friends who can put a roof over yours head.
The real problem is not the cost of actually building a house. Modular housing can be purchased, but people who have new houses put up do not chose such basic designs. Rental housing is largely designed for the wrong people. Unless government takes the lead and actually builds modular housing for the poor the situation will stay the same. Costs involved in getting land ready for construction is the real problem. Land levelling and servicing is very expensive. Councils are the main reason for this. There is no competition is regard to charges. A builder must pay fees to councils at council set rates.
Without established affordable housing it is virtually impossible for a person to contribute to society by holding down a job. Even when learning job skills rents are very high for accommodation near educational institutions. User certainly pays in this regard. Low income earners are also competing with each other to get the cheapest third of advertised rentals. Plenty of houses are available in rural areas of course. Living off welfare payment is almost mandatory there because there is no work. By definition where there is work rents are high.
The real problem is not the cost of actually building a house. Modular housing can be purchased, but people who have new houses put up do not chose such basic designs. Rental housing is largely designed for the wrong people. Unless government takes the lead and actually builds modular housing for the poor the situation will stay the same. Costs involved in getting land ready for construction is the real problem. Land levelling and servicing is very expensive. Councils are the main reason for this. There is no competition is regard to charges. A builder must pay fees to councils at council set rates.
Without established affordable housing it is virtually impossible for a person to contribute to society by holding down a job. Even when learning job skills rents are very high for accommodation near educational institutions. User certainly pays in this regard. Low income earners are also competing with each other to get the cheapest third of advertised rentals. Plenty of houses are available in rural areas of course. Living off welfare payment is almost mandatory there because there is no work. By definition where there is work rents are high.
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Society
Australian Aboriginals Were Not Dying Out
When Europeans landed in Australia it was said that the Aboriginals were already a dying race. After 40,000 year of successful domination of the this land their population was actually growing. Though not changing in a European sense, into industrialization, over several centuries they could have formed larger federations of tribes.
Cave paintings in the Sahara show people with boomerangs as well as bows and arrows. Apparently, the Australian Aboriginals did not find bows and arrows that useful on the new continent but the boomerang suited them well. The boomerang could be easily carried on long hunts. Running with a bow and a sheath of arrows over the shoulder or in the hand was too cumbersome. There is no reason to believe that they had not had the bow in times passed.
Anthropologists estimate that the Aboriginal population grew from a quarter of a million 10,000 years ago to a million in the eighteenth century. This increase is quite fast in historical terms and there is no solid explanation for it.
Something had to be improving in either an environmental or societal way. How could life remain difficult for 30,000 years then suddenly get better? They did adopt fish farming. This would improve life for people on the coast. They had no need to build fixed settlements. There was always another fresh area to move on to.
People spread from Africa, usually along the coast as they used up resources at each place. When they arrived in Australia the land was so vast this type of competition ended. It must have been a hard existence at first. As "tricks" for surviving became cultural knowledge things obviously improved.
Cave paintings in the Sahara show people with boomerangs as well as bows and arrows. Apparently, the Australian Aboriginals did not find bows and arrows that useful on the new continent but the boomerang suited them well. The boomerang could be easily carried on long hunts. Running with a bow and a sheath of arrows over the shoulder or in the hand was too cumbersome. There is no reason to believe that they had not had the bow in times passed.
Anthropologists estimate that the Aboriginal population grew from a quarter of a million 10,000 years ago to a million in the eighteenth century. This increase is quite fast in historical terms and there is no solid explanation for it.
Something had to be improving in either an environmental or societal way. How could life remain difficult for 30,000 years then suddenly get better? They did adopt fish farming. This would improve life for people on the coast. They had no need to build fixed settlements. There was always another fresh area to move on to.
People spread from Africa, usually along the coast as they used up resources at each place. When they arrived in Australia the land was so vast this type of competition ended. It must have been a hard existence at first. As "tricks" for surviving became cultural knowledge things obviously improved.
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Anthropology
Blaming Australian Business for Inaction is Futile
It is claimed by "specialists" that Australian business failed to plan for the high dollar. They carried on without cutting basic running costs. With over 60 per cent of businesses being involved in international trade this is deemed to be a "sin". The American Express FX International found less than 40 per cent did nothing.
The research body said it was surprised at this. It is hardly surprising in the real world where costs are kept as low as possible on a constant basis. How can a business have a program to tackle this problem when it is a daily matter of trading? Common sense would inform you that not much can be done. The market sets the price. The high dollar means firms get less profit when they receive payment in foreign currency. Running costs inside the international barrier in Australia continue to rise. Most international trade is done in US dollars and this has become very weak.
It isn't much good longing for days passed when the exchange rate was less than 50 US cent to the Aussie dollar. It is quite astonishing that the employment rate is so high when times are really tough for manufacturing and retail. Prices are being cut to the bone, apart from food which people must have. Saying firms should have locked themselves in with future exchange contracts is dwelling on something that is impossible to change. The dollar is high and it is too late. Not much can be done now. Australian industry will shake itself out with bankruptcies until survivors can benefit from a weaker dollar which appears to be a long way off.
The research body said it was surprised at this. It is hardly surprising in the real world where costs are kept as low as possible on a constant basis. How can a business have a program to tackle this problem when it is a daily matter of trading? Common sense would inform you that not much can be done. The market sets the price. The high dollar means firms get less profit when they receive payment in foreign currency. Running costs inside the international barrier in Australia continue to rise. Most international trade is done in US dollars and this has become very weak.
It isn't much good longing for days passed when the exchange rate was less than 50 US cent to the Aussie dollar. It is quite astonishing that the employment rate is so high when times are really tough for manufacturing and retail. Prices are being cut to the bone, apart from food which people must have. Saying firms should have locked themselves in with future exchange contracts is dwelling on something that is impossible to change. The dollar is high and it is too late. Not much can be done now. Australian industry will shake itself out with bankruptcies until survivors can benefit from a weaker dollar which appears to be a long way off.
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Business
Giant Ants in Ancient North America
Big insects once roamed the US. They were very big. Ants were the size of small birds 50 million years ago. They are thought to have crossed the arctic land bridge that once existed between Europe and the US. The Green River site in Wyoming has given up many new finds in the past.
Bruce Archibald of Simon Fraser University in British Columbia noted that the fossil was similar to one found in Germany. Only the queen of the Dorylus wilverthi species of ant living today reaches this size. Fittingly, the new ant has been named Titanomyrma lubei. Louis Lube found the specimen. While this ant is big for North America, big ants probably lived in other parts of the world because large fossils of other creatures have been found there.
Large ants only live a tropical climate in the present so North America was tropical millions of years ago. It is a mystery how they crossed the temperate Arctic region then. For brief periods this area became quite warm, up to 8 degrees Celsius, though not tropical. Bursts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from sediment was the culprit. With two sources for ancient giant ants now known it may be possible to identify where they originated.
Bruce Archibald of Simon Fraser University in British Columbia noted that the fossil was similar to one found in Germany. Only the queen of the Dorylus wilverthi species of ant living today reaches this size. Fittingly, the new ant has been named Titanomyrma lubei. Louis Lube found the specimen. While this ant is big for North America, big ants probably lived in other parts of the world because large fossils of other creatures have been found there.
Large ants only live a tropical climate in the present so North America was tropical millions of years ago. It is a mystery how they crossed the temperate Arctic region then. For brief periods this area became quite warm, up to 8 degrees Celsius, though not tropical. Bursts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from sediment was the culprit. With two sources for ancient giant ants now known it may be possible to identify where they originated.
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Science
Tasmanian Tiger Did Not Fill the Evolutionary NIche of a Dog
It was believed that the Tasmanian Tiger perished in mainland Australia due to the dingo taking over their habitat. New findings show the dingo did not directly compete with the marsupial dog. They had different ways of getting their food.
Dingos were brought to Australia from Asia in recent times. It is not native to Australia. The demise of the Tasmanian tiger on the larger part of Australia 3,000 years ago was coincidental. Settlers in Tasmania feared their cattle and sheep would be slaughtered so they eradicated the quite timid animal in the early twentieth century.
Dingoes are wild dogs that run for long periods running down their prey. Tasmanian tigers were not distance runners. They ambushed sick and young animals. The tiger's skeletal structure was more like cats than dogs, particularly the elbow joint which was feline in character. The dingo has elbows that lock, while the marsupial dog had a flexible joint. This undermines the theory that the Tasmanian tiger filled the evolutionary niche open in Australia due to the absence of a native dog.
Dingos were brought to Australia from Asia in recent times. It is not native to Australia. The demise of the Tasmanian tiger on the larger part of Australia 3,000 years ago was coincidental. Settlers in Tasmania feared their cattle and sheep would be slaughtered so they eradicated the quite timid animal in the early twentieth century.
Dingoes are wild dogs that run for long periods running down their prey. Tasmanian tigers were not distance runners. They ambushed sick and young animals. The tiger's skeletal structure was more like cats than dogs, particularly the elbow joint which was feline in character. The dingo has elbows that lock, while the marsupial dog had a flexible joint. This undermines the theory that the Tasmanian tiger filled the evolutionary niche open in Australia due to the absence of a native dog.
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Science
Teachers Bonus a Waste of Money
There isn't much doubt that the bonus scheme for teachers will not work. Like the mystique of "time and motion" where the claim is made that human productivity is linear and is an increasing curve, it's a pipe dream! Machinery can only be speeded up so much before parts start flying off in all directions and everything shuts down for maintenance. Furthermore, when task are done too quickly a lot of "non-size" rubbish is produced. While output in some industry can be improved, for paper carriers such as teachers this is virtually impossible.
Some teachers are better than others and for the main part this is innate: it is not learned and never can be. The only measurement is the quality of students that are lucky enough to be taught by them. Even then, tying down the factors that do improve matters is not easy to identify. Usually. students have an affinity with a teacher; thus they are prepared to work harder. It is not the teacher who is putting in more effort - it is the student. Testing students to deduce the performance of their teachers will also drive a wedge between teachers and students. Considering only one in ten teachers will benefit from the bonus scheme it is divisive for teachers themselves. Industrial strife is just down the road.
Overall, it is a silly exercise. Why should the Government, the taxpayer, pay more? Will good teachers be paid more for what they are already doing? It seems so. Why single out one sector of employment for a reward that everyone else doesn't get purely because it is motivated by one person, Julia Gillard? Apparently it has to do with good teachers being virtuous people. It is not much use holding out one group as an example if there is no intention to apply it to the whole workforce. Paying good teacher more will not make lesser beings respectful toward them. It will make the average teacher angry. Let's not go back to pet projects like in the Howard and Rudd eras.
Some teachers are better than others and for the main part this is innate: it is not learned and never can be. The only measurement is the quality of students that are lucky enough to be taught by them. Even then, tying down the factors that do improve matters is not easy to identify. Usually. students have an affinity with a teacher; thus they are prepared to work harder. It is not the teacher who is putting in more effort - it is the student. Testing students to deduce the performance of their teachers will also drive a wedge between teachers and students. Considering only one in ten teachers will benefit from the bonus scheme it is divisive for teachers themselves. Industrial strife is just down the road.
Overall, it is a silly exercise. Why should the Government, the taxpayer, pay more? Will good teachers be paid more for what they are already doing? It seems so. Why single out one sector of employment for a reward that everyone else doesn't get purely because it is motivated by one person, Julia Gillard? Apparently it has to do with good teachers being virtuous people. It is not much use holding out one group as an example if there is no intention to apply it to the whole workforce. Paying good teacher more will not make lesser beings respectful toward them. It will make the average teacher angry. Let's not go back to pet projects like in the Howard and Rudd eras.
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Education
Man Attacks Youth With a Hedgehog
Don't throw wildlife around! You may be punished for it.
A New Zealand man has to attend court for throwing a hedgehog at a teenager. Mr Singhalargh threw the poor animal five meters at a 15 year old in the eastern North Island town of Whakatane.
The teenager was injured. He got a large red welt and several puncture wounds. The man was arrested shortly afterwards for assault with a weapon, namely the hedgehog.
The police did not say whether the hedgehog was alive before the ordeal, but did say that the animal was definitely dead afterwards.
A New Zealand man has to attend court for throwing a hedgehog at a teenager. Mr Singhalargh threw the poor animal five meters at a 15 year old in the eastern North Island town of Whakatane.
The teenager was injured. He got a large red welt and several puncture wounds. The man was arrested shortly afterwards for assault with a weapon, namely the hedgehog.
The police did not say whether the hedgehog was alive before the ordeal, but did say that the animal was definitely dead afterwards.
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Society
The Government Should Publish the Real CPI Figure
It is about time the Government informed the public about the true rate of inflation and increased payments to those who are entitled to it. Okay, unemployment is low but those living in rural areas depend on it to survive. They can continue to to rely on the unemployment benefit, or they can move to the city. That is the last thing we want - more people living in the major coastal cities.
The problem is that non-essentials are included in the CPI. This offsets the real inflationary increase in the necessities of life. Many do not know that essential goods have increased by a massive 8 per cent over the past year. The high dollar is "hiding" this by making imported non-essentials cheaper. Prices of such goods have actually fallen. Those on low incomes spend a higher proportion of their income on essentials like food, electricity, water, fuel and rent.
Oddly, interest rates are not in the CPI package. Curiously, it was taken out in 1998. In other words both political parties have been covering up the cost of living. Furthermore, Price rises in property are out as well.
Another important thing that the public is not informed of is the practice of discounting a price that hasn't changed (quality adjustment). If the price of something has not increased over a year you would think that this would have zero effect on the the CPI. This is not the case. The price of an electronic product will reduce the CPI even if it has not gone up. How does this happen? It is because the Government discounts the price of this non-essential by saying it is a better product due to technological improvement. It says you are getting more for your money and the price has fallen when it has not. This is purely a value judgement. Measures of inflation should contain factual data only. This is no more nor less than doctoring of figures which benefits the Government. Both political sides alter the CPI to make things seem better. Note how the Coalition passed over the CPI when the GST was introduced? A fully independent body should regularly revue the way the CPI figure is evaluated and this nonsense should stop.
The problem is that non-essentials are included in the CPI. This offsets the real inflationary increase in the necessities of life. Many do not know that essential goods have increased by a massive 8 per cent over the past year. The high dollar is "hiding" this by making imported non-essentials cheaper. Prices of such goods have actually fallen. Those on low incomes spend a higher proportion of their income on essentials like food, electricity, water, fuel and rent.
Oddly, interest rates are not in the CPI package. Curiously, it was taken out in 1998. In other words both political parties have been covering up the cost of living. Furthermore, Price rises in property are out as well.
Another important thing that the public is not informed of is the practice of discounting a price that hasn't changed (quality adjustment). If the price of something has not increased over a year you would think that this would have zero effect on the the CPI. This is not the case. The price of an electronic product will reduce the CPI even if it has not gone up. How does this happen? It is because the Government discounts the price of this non-essential by saying it is a better product due to technological improvement. It says you are getting more for your money and the price has fallen when it has not. This is purely a value judgement. Measures of inflation should contain factual data only. This is no more nor less than doctoring of figures which benefits the Government. Both political sides alter the CPI to make things seem better. Note how the Coalition passed over the CPI when the GST was introduced? A fully independent body should regularly revue the way the CPI figure is evaluated and this nonsense should stop.
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Economics
Sweet Potato Is Being Improved
The sweet potato is a hotel counter-lunch filling. It is something you have when there is no other vegetable left. Most people eat it because it is on the plate. It's flavour can be described as sugary. The only vegetable anything like it is fresh baby peas that can be quite sweet. The sweet potato, however, is far too "sickly" for most palates. This humble vegetable is being revamped.
Researchers in Queensland are trying to find varieties that can be grown more economically and which are more suitable for consumers - diametrically opposed goals one would assume. They are looking for more brilliantly coloured kinds, a silly aspiration considering people don't eat colour. It is the taste that is the problem. Seeing pretty red, purple, orange and white skin while you are peeling them is hardly, well, "appealing". Scientists are saying the colours are exciting. Wow! They are also saying that there are interesting flavours. This claim is not soundly based because no formal taste tests have been done.
A fatter kind is being worked on. A quick perusal of the local greengrocer would indicate that size is not really an issue. There are some monsters out there already. Like giant pumpkins such monstrosities are usually only fit for the rubbish bin.
Those doing the study admit that the sweet potato being produced is of very high quality. If that is the case why bother working on improvements? Surely, research on more main-stream vegetables like the standard potato is more logical than trying to improve a vegetable that is at best only a fill-in on the dinner plate.
Researchers in Queensland are trying to find varieties that can be grown more economically and which are more suitable for consumers - diametrically opposed goals one would assume. They are looking for more brilliantly coloured kinds, a silly aspiration considering people don't eat colour. It is the taste that is the problem. Seeing pretty red, purple, orange and white skin while you are peeling them is hardly, well, "appealing". Scientists are saying the colours are exciting. Wow! They are also saying that there are interesting flavours. This claim is not soundly based because no formal taste tests have been done.
A fatter kind is being worked on. A quick perusal of the local greengrocer would indicate that size is not really an issue. There are some monsters out there already. Like giant pumpkins such monstrosities are usually only fit for the rubbish bin.
Those doing the study admit that the sweet potato being produced is of very high quality. If that is the case why bother working on improvements? Surely, research on more main-stream vegetables like the standard potato is more logical than trying to improve a vegetable that is at best only a fill-in on the dinner plate.
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Science
Ancient Marsupial Found With Specialised Teeth for Eating Snails
Evidence of the existence of specialised ancient marsupials have been found in Australia. They had teeth that were "hammer-like" for crushing snail shells. Lizards living today in rain forests have similar teeth. They had premolars like the teeth in humans located between the molars and canines. Researchers could not determine at first what the strange teeth were used for. It was the first time that such teeth had been found in marsupials.
Like the Tasmanian tiger a marsupial which filled the role of native dog in Australia, so this marsupial more than 10 million years ago, lived in the niche that the pink-tongued skink holds today. This wet rain forest lizard is quite large, about 40 cm in length, so it's ancestor would have been a tough competitor.
The extinct marsupial became extinct when the weather changed in Australia and inland rain forests receded toward the coast. Lizards could survive in the new environment. The marsupial could not.
Riversleigh in northern Australia, a rich source of marsupial fossils, was where the find was made. Indication are that the marsupial was not plentiful even in prehistoric times because so few fossils of the animal have been found.
Like the Tasmanian tiger a marsupial which filled the role of native dog in Australia, so this marsupial more than 10 million years ago, lived in the niche that the pink-tongued skink holds today. This wet rain forest lizard is quite large, about 40 cm in length, so it's ancestor would have been a tough competitor.
The extinct marsupial became extinct when the weather changed in Australia and inland rain forests receded toward the coast. Lizards could survive in the new environment. The marsupial could not.
Riversleigh in northern Australia, a rich source of marsupial fossils, was where the find was made. Indication are that the marsupial was not plentiful even in prehistoric times because so few fossils of the animal have been found.
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http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com
Science
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