bazzalunatic - Slashdot User

Submission + - Spider spins anit-repellent silk (australiangeographic.com.au)

Submitted by bazzalunatic on Wednesday November 23, 2011 @04:53AM

bazzalunatic writes: The common golden orb web spider wards of ants from attacking it on its web by spinning an ant repellent (pyrrolidine alkaloid) into its silk.

It could be used to develop a new insect repellent for humans

From the article "This study is among the first to show animals incorporating a chemical defence as a response to the threat of predation," says Professor Mark Elgar of the University of Melbourne.

Submission + - New Vaccine Halves Malaria Risk (reuters.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 18, 2011 @11:24PM

An anonymous reader writes: According to a report in Reuters, scientists are celebrating the end of a clinical trial which found a malaria vaccine reduces infection risk by half in children. From the article: 'While scientists say it is no "silver bullet" and will not end the mosquito-borne infection on its own, it is being hailed as a crucial weapon in the fight against malaria and one that could speed the path to eventual worldwide eradication. Malaria is caused by a parasite carried in the saliva of mosquitoes. It kills more than 780,000 people per year, most of them babies or very young children in Africa. Cohen's vaccine goes to work at the point when the parasite enters the human bloodstream after a mosquito bite. By stimulating an immune response, it can prevent the parasite from maturing and multiplying in the liver. ... Cohen said that if all goes to plan, RTS,S could be licensed and rolled out by 2015.'

Submission + - Why chillies are hot and yoghurt put out the fire (australiangeographic.com.au)

Submitted by bazzalunatic on Thursday September 29, 2011 @08:31AM

bazzalunatic writes: The hottest chilli in the world was made by Australians earlier this year, but how did they get the chillies so hot? Seems that worm juice is the key to revving up the capsaicin. And milk and yoghurt are best to douse the heat as they have fats that can absorb the capsaicin — which actually hijacks the neurons that detect heat.

Submission + - Drunken parrots have hangovers worse than humans (australiangeographic.com.au)

Submitted by bazzalunatic on Tuesday September 27, 2011 @08:10AM

bazzalunatic writes: Each wet season in northern Australia dozens of colourful lorikeets have to be rescued because they appear drunk, fall out of trees and even get a hangover-like sickness. No one knows quite what's going on, but the best explanation is they get smashed from fermented fruit.

From the story: "Experts say they are not sure if the lorikeets are actually drunk, but they do have tell-tale symptoms. "They exhibit odd behaviour like falling over or difficulty flying [and] they keep running into things," says Darwin vet Dr Stephen Cutter from The Ark Animal Hospital."

Submission + - Breathlizer detects earthquake survivors (australiangeographic.com.au)

Submitted by bazzalunatic on Monday September 19, 2011 @06:37AM

bazzalunatic writes: With all the earthquakes around at the moment, this device couldn't be more timely. It's a breathalizer that detects the breath and sweat of survivors in the rubble. Better for sniffer dogs and safer.

Submission + - Wild parrots learn to talk from ex-pet birds (australiangeographic.com.au) 1

Submitted by bazzalunatic on Thursday September 15, 2011 @07:25AM

bazzalunatic writes: Be careful what you teach a parrot. Some chatty pet parrots that have escaped back into the wild have taught wild parrots to talk. Seems the phenomenon could be integrated into the flock through generations.

Submission + - Baby red dwarf found just 27 light years away (australiangeographic.com.au)

Submitted by bazzalunatic on Tuesday August 30, 2011 @08:52AM

bazzalunatic writes: Astronomers have found an infant red dwarf star 27 light years away from Earth. It's just 40 million years old. "The star has been known about and studied for the past 15 years, but it wasn't realised it was so young and so close, until now," co-author Simon Murphy, a PhD student from the Australian National University said in the story. More accurate measurements from telescopes have aided the rivsed distances of the star dubbed 'AP Colombae'.

Submission + - AC/DC music attracts great white sharks (australiangeographic.com.au) 1

Submitted by bazzalunatic on Thursday June 02, 2011 @06:23AM

bazzalunatic writes: That's right, great white sharks can be lured underwater to cages by playing hits from AC/DC — specifically "Shook me all night long".

Some shark diving tour operators in Australia have found this curious fact. But it's not just music, as the sharks weren't attracted by other tunes.

One wonders if they'll be turned off by Celine Dion music — a new type of shark repellent perhaps?

Submission + - New chilli is world's hottest (australiangeographic.com.au) 1

Submitted by bazzalunatic on Tuesday April 12, 2011 @10:04AM

bazzalunatic writes: The Trinidad Scorpion Butch T chilli, grown and harvested by an Australian company is claimed to be the world's hottest chilli (1,463,700 SU), surpassing the current Naga Viper chilli, at 1,382,118 SU

Submission + - Unseen moon landing video released (australiangeographic.com.au)

Submitted by bazzalunatic on Thursday September 30, 2010 @08:26AM

bazzalunatic writes: Digitally remastered footage of the moon landing, including high-quality and brighter images of Neil Armstrong stepping off the ladder will be shown for the first time ever to general public at an awards ceremony in Sydney, Australia. The magnetic data tapes seem to have all been lost — erased — by NASA, so all that's left if VHS recordings, which have been restored, giving the best-ever film of the whole moon landing. The publicity over this seems to be pushing NASA into releasing the whole 3-hr recording.

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