Wiki World

There Are Side Affects From Allergy Medications

Allergic reactions are increasing in epidemic proportions across the world and the real cause is still unknown. Sinusitis from hay fever affects twice as many people as it did ten years ago. Medications no longer seem effective as those with sore eyes and runny noses dose themselves up on corticosteroids and anthistamines.

This is not only costing millions in lost man-hours as the afflicted stay at home, but the cost of medications is skyrocketing. Sufferers cannot cope with the seemingly never ending symptoms. They cannot live normal lives. For example, if students are affected during school leaving exams their grades can be lower. They are stuck with the low grades for ever. Antihistamines cause drowsiness. This leads to more accidents at work and road accidents.

The cause could lie in our diet of processed food. Children with ADHD improve when they are treated with antihistamines. Drowsiness for them is not a problem. Autistic children also get better when their intake of processed food is reduced and they are given probiotics.

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Health

Dog Find

"It's not in here. It must be in the shed."

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Funny Animal Photos

Cockatoo Makes and Uses Tools

It was believed that Man was the only toolmaking animal. In recent times many animals have been seen using tools like wood and rocks mainly to access food.

A cockatoo named Figaro kept in captivity in Austria has been using tools to get food. Birds are extremely intelligent creatures. It is known that they mimic sounds such as the human voice. Some can even understand the meaning of basic sentences. Figaro creates tools, modifying tools specifically to get small pieces of food placed outside his cage.

Other bird species observed using tools are crows, ravens, woodpecker finches and Herons. A captive New Caledonian crow used wire rather than wood to reach into crevices for grubs. Northern blue jays have used shredded paper to gather up food pellets. In the wild they do not use tools at all.

Tool use is not a specific function developed at a particular point in time by a species. It a a general function of high intelligence. To access food, many smart animals can make and use tools. Man the toolmaker is not unique.

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Ornithology

Singing Pets

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

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Funny Animal Photos

Fossilised Eggshells Are Ideal for Extracting DNA

Jurassic Park is getting closer to reality. Australian scientists have managed to get DNA from fossilised eggshells of extinct birds. The Team warns though that bringing ancient creatures back to life is a long way off. Particles of fossilised eggshells from Australia, New Zealand and Madagascar were used in the research.

A target species was the Moa bird which lived in New Zealand into the 18th century. Another was the Elephant Bird which went extinct in Madagascar during the 17th century. Older birds were also worked on: the New Zealand Duck, Australian Owl and an Emu which was 19,000 years old. Work on older fossils did not come up with usable DNA, but the relatively recent ones did give promising results.

Techniques used were the usual reduction of samples and polymerase amplification. These were very short pieces of DNA obtained from minute samples. Eggshells were found to be even better than bones and hair for storing DNA.

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Science

Listen to the Zebra

"Just a word in your ear"

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Funny Animal Photos

New Lizard Found Near Perth

Despite the idea that everything is known about everything, the area of discovery is still wide open. Just outside of Perth in the sand dunes a new species of lizard has been found. It has been given the name Ctenotus ora.

There are concerns that it will not be around for much longer. New housing is encroaching upon the coastal plains skink's land. The lizard was identified during an Australian National University study into biological diversity in the Perth region.

Just how many of the lizards are out there is not yet known, so their prospects of survival is still an open question. The area of sand dunes where they live is getting smaller. Unless the state government steps in to stop it, urbanization will see most of the dunes concreted over.

The southwest of the state has not been explored in great depth. Other new species are probably waiting to be brought to light. Though people have been there a long time, concerns about work and shelter have been the priority not biological research.

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Biology

Cat at Rest

"Can't you find somewhere else to lie down."

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Funny Animal Photos

New Classification System for Bird Species

Birds are the most diverse creatures on Earth. Not only have they changed into different species on large continents, they have also adapted specifically to environments on islands.

A new classification system is in the form of a circle with increasing diversity as one moves out in time from the center. different types of birds are correctly located on the figure covering a period of 50 million years.

There is not one specific ancestor. "Base" species take the form of a circle of time moving out from the center and new kinds of birds branch off directly to the outer edge. Fast evolving birds are in red; slower ones are drawn in blue.

Significantly birds such as woodpeckers often split into new species, while hornbills, for example, did not. There was more diversification in the Western Hemisphere. Furthermore, species did not proliferate in the tropics because the climate remained stable there over a long period.

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Biology

Strong Cat

"I have to keep my strength up."

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Funny Animal Photos

Correct Spelling and Grammar Is Not Necessary

Language proficiency in English speaking countries is falling. It is only recently that eBooks have taken off and people have gone back to reading pages of words in grammatically correct sentences. Even the new wave of e-reading is under threat as computer users transform the written word into the spoken word with software. A classic book can now be listened to on the way to and from work.

Though texting is decreasing in popularity it is partially responsible for the failure of young people to learn correct spelling and grammar. Even dictionaries have a problem is choosing whether to cover words that are phonetically clear but are not accepted generally by the majority of writers. If such words become very popular, dictionary creators will have no choice but to include them.

The problem with language is highlighted by the strange and funny errors seen in newspapers because proofreaders are no longer employed. One sees words such "betterest' and phrases like "Thats there job". Obviously, many reporters just do not know correct spelling and grammar. How did they possibly get their degrees in journalism? It even goes further than this: the majority of teachers cannot write acceptable sentences. Pupils have nothing to learn from them.

The rot started with the spread of calculators. Children no longer had to learn to do adding, multiplication. division and subtraction. Learning mathematical tables by rote is not done anymore. It seems that new technology makes oral communication so dominant that the "art" of writing messages can be ignored. This makes learning correct written expression irrelevant.

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Science

Naughty Dog

"I know I shouldn't have done it."

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Funny Animal Photos

Can Mankind Survive the New Technology?

Will Mankind survive the technological change? Since the year 2000 the world has changed extremely quickly. Our social lives have altered forever. At the turn of the century only a quarter of Australians were connected to the Internet. Now three quarters have Internet access with two thirds of these having broadband. Only a third of Australians had mobile phones in the year 2000. Today, just about everyone has one, including children. Verbal communication faded in favor of texting. Even this is now declining in favour of voice and video.`

We bought newspapers, magazines and books for news, general information, instruction and direction mapping. Now we do this over the Internet or by using direction indicators that speak to us. Relationships now begin on the digital information highway. We pay bills without even using a card or cash. And take our favorite music with us everywhere we go.

Even ordinary emailing has been somewhat superceded by Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Skype. The eBook has taken off and become commonplace.

But are we losing something? Yes we are. Verbal communication skills are declining as people go to and from work without actually speaking to anyone. A robotic "Good Day" or "Good Morning" is not enough. The problem is these changes are here to stay. They are permanent and there is no turning back. With the technological revolution, providing information about all people, has come world misery as people live in fear of their lives from those who would blow themselves and others to pieces. The world is now in a state of war and it is going to be that way for some time. Finally we have the economic downturn with a recovery a long way off.

People have also become obsessed with watching other people via television. Anyone will do, celebrity or just anyone. We get the "ooh", "ah" for a day or so as famous people die or get into mischief. There are friends everywhere on the Internet but they are not really people we actually know.

Neuroscientists say children will grow up with brains wired in an odd way. They will be adults with short attention spans who want pleasure and more new pleasures every moment. These "new" people will want a say in everything. Maybe we will reach a point where the masses will not be allowed to choose who governs them. Countries where everyone wants everything are ungovernable.

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Society

Cat Installation

"Oh darn it. Don't say I've got to install, again!"

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Funny Animal Photos

Donkey Attack

People have much affection for the humble donkey. It is seen as being quiet and friendlier than the horse. Donkeys do, however, kick and bite when they are made to do something they don't want to do, or are prodded and poked unnecessarily.

A Swedish lady kept a donkey with her horse. She thought it would make the horse happier and quieter. One day she separated the donkey from the horse. It became violent biting the lady's thumb. Furthermore, its teeth latched on firmly. She could not get it free the animal's mouth. Help arrived and a crowbar was used to pry the thumb away from the vicious bite.

The owner was taken to the nearest hospital and they found no breaks in her bones. She was bandaged, given a tetanus injection and taken home. A week late puss was oozing from the wound - she had not been given antibiotics. A sample taken from her hand showed the presence of Staphylococcus hyicus. This is common is the mouths of horses, but was not known to cause infection in humans.

The experience left the woman with a permanently numb area at the tip of her thumb. When you next feel like patting an animal that appears to be mild and friendly, just of think of the pain endured with the damaged thumb.

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Society

Pushy Animal

"Don't bug me man. Push off!"

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Funny Animal Photos

Where Is the Internet Going?

There isn't much doubt that mobile devices will soon outnumber the fixed PC. It is surprising that it has taken so long. People are tripping over each other to make pre-orders on the iPhone. There will probably be a rush for Microsoft's new offerings. In recent years Google's Android products have been racing forward, generally at the expense of Microsoft, not Apple.

Web developers are slowly making a change as well. Old "easy" website building is a thing of the past. It seems websites have to provide a "traditional" PC type website and have another built-in for mobile devices. There must be an automatic link in the main website so that only the smaller site is sent to mobiles. Though many users have said they prefer looking at traditional sites with a small handheld, even though it means moving around a page to see all the info, download times are just too long for this to continue.

HTML5 was envisaged to make it easier for developers, standardizing code. The opposite has happened. Infighting has occurred between the Internet powers that be in the US and developers choosing to go their own way. They don't like to hear that their good ideas have been dropped by the controlling body. Up to six web architectures are doing the rounds on mobiles. This makes writing apps so complex that it rules out simple web building by the home web builder. New web building software will have to be capable in so many areas. This will make the software program download huge - and expensive.

The Internet is moving inevitably forward. Data cloud services have made smaller devices possible. Storing things actually on a mobile is no longer necessary. We will have to wait and see if the new fixed system RT from Microsoft is broadly accepted. How many customers will buy something that will only run Microsoft software fixed at the time of purchase? The market could get angry.

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Internet

Mop Head Duck

"Stop calling me mop head."

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Funny Animal Photos

Consuming More Tea and Coffee Prevents Diabetes - Doubtfu

Claims about consuming certain things to improve health are way off beam. Every now and then supposed new research shows that if you eat this or don't eat that your health will improve. Years late we discover that the "experts' were totally wrong and your health was actually damaged. This happened with margarine, milk, eggs and so on.

What is the latest? Well, apparently drinking up to three cups of coffee or tea each day reduces the risk of getting diabetes. Look around. Do you see people who drink these beverages regularly with diabetes? You sure do. There are thousands of them.

The University of Sydney says “If such beneficial effects were observed in interventional trials to be real, the implications for the millions of individuals who have diabetes mellitus, or who are at future risk of developing it, would be substantial.”

Their trials must be wrong. Surely millions of regular drinkers who have diabetes are thinking, "Why me? Why have I got the disease". Eight percent of people in the US have diabetes and many of them drink coffee every day. In fact tea and coffee are two of the most consumed commodities on earth.

When you read the text of research papers two important factors are played down: exercise and weight loss. Another issue is the finding that consumption of decaffeinated coffee reduced risk even more, so caffeine did not "cause" this reduction. Decaffeinated coffee is identical to ordinary coffee in every way except the caffeine level. Could it be that heavy tea and coffee drinkers consume less sweet soda?

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Society

Poor Cat

"I'm feeling a bit poorly."

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Funny Animal Photos

Vampires Could Be Right About Consuming Blood

Maybe vampires have got it right - infusing blood into one's body from a younger person is good for you. Saul Villeda did tests on rats. He injected older mice with blood from younger mice. The mice with ailments related to age got better. They actually became younger looking. Effects of aging were reversed.

It is rumoured that Saul has infused himself with blood from young virgins. Though blood from virgins is really not necessary. Blood from any younger person will do.

He has connected the circulatory systems of young and old mice together for several days. The older mice definitely became younger looking. Autopsies showed a 20 per cent increase in brain stem cell activity for the aging mice.

There is a down side. When the blood systems of mice were joined together young mice actually aged. If this is true. And there is no reason to think otherwise. Factors in blood that cause changes in the aging process could be identified and used as a medicine. It would be unfortunate if the young received remuneration from older people for their blood.

When it was found that a drug-like high could be obtained from playing sounds with different beat rates into each ear, people began using this system to temporarily enter "dreamland". If selling one's blood on the streets becomes the norm, what a frightening scenario that would be.

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Health

Cat Look See

"Can you see it."

"Where?"

"Over there."

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Funny Animal Photos

Watch Out for Fowl Attacks

A three month old boy was brought into the emergency section of a local hospital with deep cuts to his head. X-rays showed skull fractures. In consultation with the boy's parents doctors discovered that the child had been the target of an attack by a rooster.

Such assaults are not uncommon. In another incident a sixteen months old girl had a swollen face and seizures after a rooster went for her head. She had to have intravenous penicillin. An operation was carried out to drain an abscess on her brain. Unfortunately, she died.

Adults have also been attacked. A sixty year old women developed lockjaw after being pecked on the face. She was given a tracheotomy to help her breath. To assist recovery the hospital kept her sedated for a month in a darkened room.

Chickens are dirty creatures pecking around in the dirt. Bacteria thrive on their bodies. Tetanus injections must be given when an attack by a fowl is suspected. People should be watchful of all birds. Even pet birds are unpredictable and can suddenly become violent.

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Society

Dog Teeth

"I do visit the dentist. How did you know?"

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Funny Animal Photos

Men No Longer Have an Identity

It seems women are changing to fit into the new technical society. Men, on the other had, see traditional values fall away and struggle for an identity. The old 40 hour week is gone for ever. Men in particular are working more hours, up to 65 hours a week. They feel that they are always on call to go back to work. There is nowhere to hide. Mobile phones have moved the "work/finished-work" barrier right into the home. Despite more women in the workforce, men feel that they have to work to leave women free to look after children.

Men and women are living separate lives. They are not communicating. Even though couples share the same bed, men feel that they are left out and on their own. They want to have quality time with the children. With the mobile always ringing they don't get the chance.

Mothers are so tied up with their children that they won't even consider taking a part-time job to free up more of their partner's time. Society has been moving too far away from the traditional to meet the demands of modern women. In the process men have been forgotten. Many men now feel that getting married was the worst thing they had ever done. They get no appreciation from their partners and are fiercely told by females that the role of men is to work and provide.

It is sad that many men stay in a relationship because they fear their partners will say that they want a divorce, take over half the property and leave the man financially burdened for life. They earn good money but have to ask female partners if they can spend money on what they want rather than on what they need. Surveys show it is a myth that women spend more hours on domestic duties than men doing formal work.

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Society

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