"Go ahead. Make my day!"
Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan
New Pedestrian Detection System Applies Car Brakes
We are moving toward a safer driving future. It is not just the development of driver-less cars. Special highways will have to be built for these, so it some time away before it is in common use. Just how "hoons" are going to get their fix with no risky overtaking existing anymore is anyone's guess. No, it is all the research going into improving existing vehicles.
Bosch Australia is working on a system whereby people walking behind a car will automatically trigger the brakes on a reversing vehicle. One company is already going ahead and selling its own version that can be fitted to older cars. Considering rear beepers have been on cars for years would the average driver buy the product? It would be easier to modify existing beepers to apply the breaks and have an override switch. Then, I am only a consumer not a developer. How do I know what I want?
It would be useful if a toddler could be detected in a driveway for example. The family car market could certainly be a target. This device could save lives and prevent serious injury. The Bosch system is not yet refined enough to work above 5km/h and a toddler may not be of sufficient size to trigger the device. Fleet buyers have been approached with no orders being arranged. Similar buyers overseas will probable respond in the same way. The product must detect children and function reliably before it is accepted.
Technology by Ty Buchanan
Cane Toads Go Where They Want
The toads cannot be stopped - cane toads that is. Some do-gooders are pressing the United Nations to act to stop the vermin from moving in to the Northern Territory and Western Australia. This won't do any good, Territories, states and the Federal Government have given up already. Even annual kills have not reduced the population one iota.
Because the pests are moving into the Purnululu National Park, the Wilderness Society is pressing the World Heritage Center in Paris to take action. The Australian Authorities would welcome any extra funding they can get, but it is common knowledge that nothing can be done. World Heritage rules hold states, territories and national governments responsible to control pests in protected parks. In this instance it would be foolish for legal action to ensue. Trapping and fencing will not work.
Australian laboratories are working on a biological control mechanism. Other countries with similar problems are working on a similar solution. Until an answer is found the little varmints will just go where they please. A test that has worked is fencing off water holes, but this also prevents access by animal stock as well.
Because the pests are moving into the Purnululu National Park, the Wilderness Society is pressing the World Heritage Center in Paris to take action. The Australian Authorities would welcome any extra funding they can get, but it is common knowledge that nothing can be done. World Heritage rules hold states, territories and national governments responsible to control pests in protected parks. In this instance it would be foolish for legal action to ensue. Trapping and fencing will not work.
Australian laboratories are working on a biological control mechanism. Other countries with similar problems are working on a similar solution. Until an answer is found the little varmints will just go where they please. A test that has worked is fencing off water holes, but this also prevents access by animal stock as well.
Conservation by Ty Buchanan
Men are Scared of Women Taking Their Assets
How did the Western world get into the situation where the female in a broken relationship gets, well, just about everything that the male has accumulated? When a relationship ends the man's life is ruined. Not only has he got to pay for the keep of his children, with access to them being blocked in many cases, but he has to keep the female ex-partner until she decides to actually marry another man.
A young man in his late twenties discussed his situation with me the other day. He was left a house by his father who died suddenly at quite a young age. The man married three years ago and has a child. His wife left him and arranged a divorce. She claimed legal aid. He tried to get it but it was refused. The divorce has just been finalized. His ex-wife got the house, a house to which she did not contribute. He had to find rental accommodation which he thought was to be short term. Now it is permanent. He is faced with the rental burden for the rest of his life. After he pays for the upkeep of his child and his ex-wife he has hardly anything left.
It is no wonder men of all ages are running scared. They will take a woman out for a meal and a drink, even carry on a relationship. However, when the word marriage is mentioned they are straight out the door, in the car and gone. A single man will stay overnight at a female's home. However, he will only allow her in his home during the day, especially if he owns it. He knows that after a year of living in his house she can claim that they were living as man and wife and get the house.
Modern women are becoming "paranoid" about getting a man. They are becoming desperate: "I go out with so many eligible men", they say,"and none of the men will make a commitment". The reason they won't commit is that they are thinking of their pockets and how they will be emptied.
Society by Ty Buchanan
Hot La Niñas Will be Normal
We are getting very hot conditions with flooding. This is seen by many as unusual. Australia has very hot dry weather followed by cooler wet weather in its regular pattern. There is a 100 year cycle in El Niño and La Niña events. In other words severity peaks every century.
Australia is currently in a transition period. The La Niña could continue or it could change to El Niño. There is presently a lot of rain. Oddly there is also a drought inland. If it were an El Niño cycle things would be a lot worse. It seems global warming is making La Niña years very hot.
Australia is now getting hot La Niñas along with very hot El Niños. This is bad for the whole world because all continents are affected by weather in the Pacific Ocean.
Some El Niños reach a critical temperature with dry periods being severe. Global warming means that more of them will go over this critical point. The average of extreme El Niños has been one in twenty years.
Australians fear hot dry periods. This was the reason for Queensland's over-investment in bringing water to Brisbane. Now many say it was money wasted, but in the future this capital outlay could pay for itself. The hot dry weather will return and 40 degree days could go on for weeks.
Australia is currently in a transition period. The La Niña could continue or it could change to El Niño. There is presently a lot of rain. Oddly there is also a drought inland. If it were an El Niño cycle things would be a lot worse. It seems global warming is making La Niña years very hot.
Australia is now getting hot La Niñas along with very hot El Niños. This is bad for the whole world because all continents are affected by weather in the Pacific Ocean.
Some El Niños reach a critical temperature with dry periods being severe. Global warming means that more of them will go over this critical point. The average of extreme El Niños has been one in twenty years.
Australians fear hot dry periods. This was the reason for Queensland's over-investment in bringing water to Brisbane. Now many say it was money wasted, but in the future this capital outlay could pay for itself. The hot dry weather will return and 40 degree days could go on for weeks.
Climate by Ty Buchanan
Australia Post to Charge for Letter Deliveries
Australia Post is finding that the old model has died. The number of letters has dwindled while parcel deliveries are booming. Rather than use the old monopoly action of subsidizing one sector to support another, Australia Post wants more profit than ever. It is talking about charging for letter deliveries.
In the past, urban areas paid for the cost of deliveries to the thinly populated bush. Companies today are greedy, going for profit in all sectors. Talk about privatizing the postal service is not changing this attitude - it is enforcing it.
Free deliveries for only three days a week is on offer. with a significant weekly charge for full service. As critics have pointed out money will be needed to store all the letters on hold and sorting will become an almighty mess. Another thing for Australia Post to remember is that people who post letters already pay for delivery. The ACCC and the High Court should stop the national postal service charging twice.
The federal government could bring in new laws but there will definitely be a High Court challenge. The High Court has been a tough hurdle to jump over in the past.
Economics Ty Buchanan
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