✴ Conservation by Ty Buchanan ✴
Large Asteroid Craters Found in Australia
Australia has always been seen as remote. Yet new new things are being discovered about its history. It has been identified as the "target" of one of the world's largest asteroid impacts. Two craters found by Andrew Glikson and his team are thought to have been caused by a large meteor which broke into two pieces.
Each crater is 200 kilometers in diameter. One of these craters on its own is larger than the impact in Mexico: the Central American collision wiped out the dinosaurs. It isn't the biggest, however. The Sudbury comet did a great deal of damage, but the world's widest crater is the Vredefort in South Africa.
The twin craters in Australia have been flattened out over eons of time. They were found by geothermal research. It appears that asteroid impact covers the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia, a very large area. Seismic traverses is going to be applied next. This will hopefully bring new things to light.
If the asteroid damage in Mexico caused mass extinction, the severe disruption in Australia would have destroyed life as well. Its age has not yet been determined. The question is: Did the dinosaurs survive the catastrophe or were they long gone by then?
✴ Technology by Ty Buchanan ✴
Mosquitoes Spread to New Regions
Insects and animals are moving to different regions. As climate changes with Queensland and Western Australia becoming tropical far down the coast insects are leaving their native areas. Mosquitoes are in epidemic proportions in Brisbane and they are even reaching Sydney.
More than a million people a year die from malaria. Many recover but become very sick. The illness does return to sufferers in future years. It is not just the warmth that attracts mosquitoes thus spreading the disease. A hotter climate means more rain that the insects thrive in. They breed in pools of water trapped in all kinds of crevices.
Certain kinds of mosquitoes transmit different disease. Dengue fever, Yellow fever virus, chikungunya, West Nile virus, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria are all spread by mosquitoes. They get to new regions in people's belongings due to increasing world travel.
The dangerous insect is taking over virgin ground rapidly. A few years ago the chikungunya virus was not found in America. It is now established in North, Central and South America. Even cooler European countries are now at risk. The Asian Tiger Mosquito is predicted to get to mainland Australia very soon. It brings dengue fever, Yellow fever virus, and chikungunya fever. At the moment Ross River Virus is the most common mosquito born disease in Australia. This could soon change.
✴ Biology by Ty Buchanan ✴
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