Hendra virus battle continues

A new study on African bats provides a vital clue for unravelling the mysteries in Australia's battle with the deadly Hendra virus.

The study focused on an isolated colony of straw-coloured fruit bats on islands off the west coast of central Africa. By capturing the bats and collecting blood samples, scientists discovered these animals have antibodies that can neutralise deadly viruses known in Australia and Asia.

The paper was published 12 January, in the journal PLoS ONE, and is a collaboration of the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge, the Zoological Society of London and the CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory.

Hendra virus in Australia and Nipah virus in Asia are carried by fruit bats and sporadically "spill over" into people with tragic consequences. The findings of the new study are significant as they yield valuable insights for our understanding of how these viruses persist in bat populations.

Cambridge PhD student Alison Peel explains, "Hendra and Nipah viruses cause fatal infections in humans, but we currently understand very little about how the viruses are transmitted from bats to other animals or people. To understand what the risk factors for these 'spill-overs' are, it is crucial to understand how viruses are maintained in bat populations. The ability to study these viruses within an isolated bat colony has given us new insight into these processes."

It was previously believed that these viruses were maintained in large interconnected populations of bats, so that if the virus dies out in one colony, it would be reintroduced when bats from different colonies interact. The new study indicates that a closely related virus is able to persist in a very small and isolated population of bats. This is the first time this has been documented in a natural wild population, casting doubt on current theories.

Peel added, "Although Hendra and Nipah viruses are relatively new to science, it appears that bats have lived and evolved with them over a very long time. We hope that by gaining a better understanding of this relationship, we may then be able to understand why it is only within the last 20 years that spill-over to humans has occurred."

Sonic for Aussies Only

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog, JWT Sydney and SEGA have launched a multiplatform campaign based around an augmented reality app that can be used in conjunction with out-of-home, TV, magazines, online banners and websites. The campaign has launched exclusively in Australia and the Sonic Vision app is only available in the Australian iTunes store.

The 'Sonic Vision - Catch the Blue Blur' iPhone app allows fans to capture Sonic in the real world by locating augmented reality markers around the country using built-in maps and GPS.

To catch Sonic, players can point their iPhone at a poster and a gold ring appears on screen. Sonic speeds past onscreen and players have to respond quickly to capture him. The markers also appear on websites, banners, in magazines and on TV.

SEGA is also distributing Augmented Reality Markers to bloggers and gaming websites encouraging them to be part of the campaign by voluntarily embedding the markers within their pages to attract Sonic Vision players.

Fans can also submit their points to a leaderboard and follow the progress of other players, win Sonic prizes and share their scores on Facebook.
 "JWT has recognised the rising prominence of mobile amongst gamers and created an experience that is a fitting celebration of a gaming icon like Sonic the Hedgehog," said SEGA marketing manager Neroli Baird.

The campaign also coincides with the much anticipated release of Sonic Generations for Nintendo DS, PS3, Xbox 360  PC. Sonic Generations delivers the definitive gaming experience for Sonic fans new and old and is considered the ultimate celebration of 20 Years of Sonic gaming.

Who are Australians

Who are Australians ? How do Australians see themselves? How are we as a nation, culture and society, perceived by others.

 Australia is a product of a unique blend of established traditions and new influences. The country’s original inhabitants, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, are the custodians of one of the world’s oldest continuing cultural traditions. They have been living in Australia for at least 40 000 years and possibly up to 60 000 years.

Australians like to think that we are a proud egalitarian nation, built on the backs of convicts, immigrants and farmers. We value hard work and mate ship and believe in a fair go. Sure, the tall poppy syndrome is alive and well, and we can cut somebody down very quickly, we have a habit of dumbing it down or veering towards mediocrity, in order to protect equality among all Australians.

There is a over-humility in people in Australia, where people can sometimes forget about making their own lives good, because we are trying so hard to make our community's life better.
 

We school our children with vocational training, and the Outcomes Based Education ethic, we create people who really do grow up, with the ability to think critically, and to approach life from the standpoint of generalists.
As adults the way we discuss  national issues is really impressive. Comparing the discourse we have here, to what they have in the USA and other countries around the world, is like comparing day with night. Back there in Kansas, every passionate discussion is formed in an artificial political way. Over here, in Australia, caring is a prime directive and we know how to discuss and understand the systems which are involved in the national issue which is the topic that day.

We invite immigrants to Australia, from all around the world, no matter what political or religious persuasion, they are allowed to engage in  prevailing social  political conversations and can contribute to debates and decisions which face us. As much as we love this country, none of us would pretend that we have "perfection" we are all living in a continuous experiment, hopefully refining our society for the better as we go.

Everyone is expected to uphold the principles and shared values that support the Australian way of life. These include:

• respect for equal worth, dignity and freedom of the individual
• freedom of speech and association
• freedom of religion and a secular government
• support for parliamentary democracy and the rule of law
• equality under the law
• equality of men and women
• equality of opportunity
• peacefulness
• a spirit of egalitarianism that embraces tolerance, mutual respect, and compassion for those in need. 
• Australia also holds firmly to the belief that no one should be disadvantaged on the basis of their country of birth, cultural heritage, language, gender or religious belief.

Australian SAS Special Air Service Regiment

The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR but commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army.

The Australian Special Air Service was established on 25 July 1957 as the 1st Special Air Service Company.

Only 16% of applicants will pass the SASR selection course.

Since their beginnings in 1964, the SASR has lost more men in training than in combat due to the nature of their training regime

SASR Squadrons rotated through Vietnam on one year long deployments until the last Squadron was withdrawn in October 1971. During its time in Vietnam the Regiment was extremely successful in the reconnaissance role. To their enemies, members of the regiment were known as the 'phantoms of the jungle' due to their field craft.

The Australian and New Zealand SAS killed at least 492 and as many as 598 and losing only two men killed in action and three fatalities from friendly fire.

France vs Australia

Over 45,000 Australians lost their lives on French soil in the First and Second World Wars, more than in any other country in the world.
The legacy of Australian involvement on French soil plays an important role in our bilateral relationship with France.

The Aussies named one of the main streets in the town of Peronne, Roo de Kanga, a deviation of Kangaroo, it is still named that today in their honour

France and Australia have a close relationship founded on historical contacts, shared values of democracy and human rights, substantial commercial links, and a keen interest in each other's culture.

Dialogue and practical cooperation between France and Australia has been strengthening on many fronts in recent years, including on key global security issues such as arms control and disarmament, non-proliferation and counter-terrorism. The Pacific region, where both countries have direct interests, continues to be an important focus of bilateral engagement. Commercial links are substantial and France is an increasingly important source of direct investment and technology, including in the defence sector, for Australia. Cooperation in the surveillance of valuable fisheries resources is also an area of ongoing bilateral activity.

Members of French Navy Ship La Fayette, onboard HMAS Sydney.

In 2008, it was announced that France and Australia would strengthen their defence cooperation further in the Pacific region.
The Australian Embassy in Paris administers the Australia–France Foundation, which promotes cultural exchanges between the two countries and publishes a quarterly newsletter 'L'Australie en France' promoting Australian activities in France. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Cultural Awards Scheme has also promoted cultural relations between Australia and France.

French Tourists enjoy a traditional Australian Xmas Day at the beach

Tourist links between the two countries are significant, with over 400,000 Australians visiting France each year. Approx 102,000 visitor visas were granted to French nationals to visit Australia in 2009 – 10, making France the 10th largest source of visitor visa grants, and 1,867 student visas were granted. A working holiday-maker agreement signed between the two countries in November 2003 makes it easier for young French and Australian people to spend time in each other's countries. In 2009–10, about 7000 Australian working holiday visas were granted to French nationals, making France the 7th largest source of working holiday visitors, and 483 were granted to Australians.

Queensland and Queenslanders

People from the southern states of Australia sometimes refer to Queensland as "The Deep North", in allusion to the Deep South of the United States and the socio-political stereotype associated with it. This was notably the case during the 1970s and early 1980s, when Joh Bjelke-Petersen was Premier, and again in the 1990s, when Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party from Queensland became a significant force in Australian politics.





The rivalry between the states of New South Wales and Queensland goes back over 100 years, stemming from the attitude that New South Wales was the "Mother Colony" while Queensland was viewed as a poorer cousin.

A Deep North Stereotype

This rivalry has been played out through sport over the years. In Queensland there has been a general ill-feeling over the number of sports people leaving their home state for New South Wales, particularly rugby league football players who left to play for the richer Sydney clubs. These players would then play against Queensland in interstate matches. In 1980, as a solution to this problem, the Rugby League State of Origin was created to allow Queensland players to play for their original state. This sporting contest played three times a year now exemplifies this rivalry, dominating the media and public attention in those two states during the series.

A Queenslander is born of the festering hatred, resentment, jealousy and perceived injustice, done to them by New South Wales Rugby League (blues), through out history, only those who have been crushed beneath a tyrannical oppressor's heel, can truly know this feeling.

Ah mate here we go a bloody ‘gain

The Blues are whinging and they’re crying

It makes you flaming sick ya know

But it’s a trick we just ain’t buying.

They reckon they have rookies

Who will never make the grade

We know they never had a chance

No matter who they bloody played.

The time draws near, they start to shake

That self doubt will rise again

It will grow on their subconscious

And play havoc with their brain.

Take note how people that you work with

Start avoiding all your crew

Then you realise what is happening

Their skin is turning slimy blue.

Mate this is State Of Origin

It’s a feeling you can’t hide

That tingling through your body

That unbending Queensland pride.

Your guts begin a churning

The sweat pours from your brow.

There is no sitting on the fence

It’s time to take that Queensland vow.

And the Blues they just don’t get it

They can’t understand that pride

How we can love this state so much

Just how we feel deep down inside.

The battle lines are slowly drawn

You know just what I mean

You are either with us or against us

There is bugger all in between.

So bring it on you Roaches

Feel the hatred and the fear

The battle ground will run with blood

Then you will hear our victory cheer.

“QUEENSLANDER”

Worlds Deadliest Snakes Fierce Snake

Snake bites kids nose "ouch"

The Fierce snakes venom is at least 200 - 400 times more toxic than a common cobra. Just a single bite from this snake contains enough venom to kill 100 human adults or 150,000 mice.



The Fierce Snake also known as the Inland Taipan and Small Scaled Snake, is native to Australia and is regarded as one of the most venomous land snake in the world based on LD50 values in mice.

Its venom consists mostly of neurotoxins, which is a toxin that acts specifically on nerve cells, the common effect being paralysis, which sets in very rapidly.

The Fierce Snake is native to the arid regions of central Australia. Its range extends from the southeast part of the Northern Territory into west Queensland. The snake can also be found north of Lake Eyre and to the west of the split of the Murray River, Darling River, and Murrumbidgee River.


The Fierce Snake consumes mostly rodents, small mammals and birds. It kills with a single accurate bite, then retreats while waiting for the prey to die before returning to safely consume its meal.

Brisbane Pubs

Irish Murphy's Pub, is known for its awesome live entertainment, and is perfectly placed right in the middle of Brisbane CBD near the Brisbane Casino.  It has regular live music, fantastic food, friendly staff and casual atmosphere, Irish Murphy's is one of the best Pub/nightclub in the city by far.

Irish Murphy's has music during the day and at night, with  live bands and DJ sets. They have great specials, promotions and giveaways on offer all week.

It has a  large menu, ample seating and cheap priced drinks (compared to other establishments), Irish Murphy's will guarantee you and your friends a great night out.

Crocodile Attacks in Australia

Photographer turns his back on crocodile.

A backpacker in Australia got the fright of his life when a massive crocodile he was "teasing" suddenly exploded from the water and nearly sank its teeth into him.

The 16 foot-long Australian saltwater crocodile came within an arm’s length of inflicting serious damage to the tourist, if not killing him. Novon Mashiah, 27, an Israeli backpacker, spotted the big crocodile during a fishing trip in the Northern Territory.
Determined to have a picture taken of himself with the crocodile, he posed while leaning out of the back of his fishing boat, pointing towards the predator.
"I began playing with it for a photo,'' Mr Mashiah said. "I was pointing at it when it suddenly jumped up at me - I didn't realise that crocs were so aggressive.''
The "saltie" – which experts believe probably approached the boat in search of a free feed of fish – propelled itself out of the water with terrifying speed. After narrowly missing its prey, it smashed into the side of the small metal boat before plunging back into the water.

Saltwater Crocodile Attacks!
During the Japanese retreat in the Battle of Ramree Island on February 19, 1945, saltwater crocodile attacks may have been responsible for the deaths of 400 Japanese soldiers. British soldiers encircled the swampland through which the Japanese were retreating, resigning the Japanese to a night in the mangroves which was home to thousands of saltwater crocodiles. The Ramree saltwater crocodile attacks are listed under the heading "The Greatest Disaster Suffered from Animals" in The Guinness Book of Records.

 February 2009: A five year old boy is taken by a large Australian crocodile in the Daintree River (far north Queensland), in front of his brother.

March 2009: An eleven year old girl is taken by a large saltwater crocodile while swimming at Black Jungle Billabong near Darwin, in front of her friends. (The Black Jungle Reserve is accessible strictly by permit only. This is not a public swimming area or in any way monitored.) Her remains are found later on the river bank.

In April 2009 Twenty-year-old local man taken by a crocodile while swimming with his brother at night in the Daly River about 150km south of Darwin, Australia

Most recently a Feb 2011 a boy 14, has been missing since he was attacked while playing in a creek, 400km east of Darwin. His three brothers saw a saltwater crocodile attack him.

Crocodile attacks is likely to revive calls to allow safari crocodile hunting, observers said. Killing saltwater crocodiles has been strictly restricted since 1971 when the animals were near extinction. But with more than 80,000 saltwater crocodiles now in the Northern Territory, many political groups have called for the ban to be lifted.

Crocodile attacks on average, kill one person a year in Australia, in comparison three people a year die from bee stings, and thousands from smoking and car accidents so as long as you take some sensible precautions there is no need to worry a crocodile attack may ruin your Australian holiday.

Crocodile attacks occur between late September and January when crocodiles are hungry after the dry season and are preparing to breed, and most victims had been under the influence of alcohol, and swimming at times and in places that most sensible people would avoid.

Recent heavy rains in the north of Australia, has flooded water courses and brought the saltwater crocodiles into inland areas not normally known to have them.

Yowies Bigfoot

Old Bungaree a Gunedah aboriginal said at one time there were tribes of them,  and they were the original inhabitants of the country-he said they were the old race of blacks,  and the blacks used to fight and the blacks always beat them but the Yowie always made away being faster runners.

A supposedly tailless, five-foot tall ape photographed in Venezuela by François de Loys, a Swiss geologist, sometime around 1920. The picture caused an uproar in the scientific community, because only monkeys, not apes, are believed to inhabit the Americas. If genuine, the finding of such an ape would have thrown into confusion the accepted theory of primate evolution.

Yowies is the term for an unidentified hominid reputed to lurk in the Australian wilderness. It is an Australian crypt id similar to the Sasquatch, Himalayan Yeti and the North American Bigfoot

Yowies origin (also "Yowie-Whowie" and yahoo) may lie in a mythological character in native Australian Aboriginal folklore. This creature's characteristics and legend are sometimes interchangeable with those of the bunyip. According to some writers, reports of yowie-type creatures are common in the legends and stories of Australian Aboriginal tribes, particularly those of the eastern states of Australia.

Yowies according to the Aborigines, the sounds emitted by these 'hairy people' varies from grunts to howling. They wandered the remoter forest regions of the eastern mountains ranges, often in small family groups, sometimes in pairs or singularly, sleeping in caves, rock overhangs or in open forest depending upon weather conditions.

Yowies were known to make fire, manufacture crude stone and wooden tools and killing animals for food, as well as feeding upon nuts, roots and berries. They were to be territorial by nature, regarding any place in which they were temporarily in occupation of as if their own, chasing out any rival groups of their own kind, and also any Aborigines who chanced to wander into their territory.

Yowies were first sighted by a white man was released in the local Newspapers in a small country town we now know as Sydney. During the 1800's numerous reports followed through out NSW and also the rest of the country. The 1800's were a buzz with sightings of the creature around the country. Newspapers and magazines began writing about people's encounters as they were reported. In most of these reports, the creature was always described as "an ape" or "ape-like man." The same descriptions given today.
One such beast, was reported in a Sydney newspaper, to have been caught and taken back to England
and sold to a Yorkshire circus for 2000 pound

For 25 years, Rex Gilroy has trekked some of Australia's most rugged country in his search for the Yowie, or Great Hairy man.

Yowies research has shown, there are at least two known kinds of Yowie in Australia. There are the large Yowies that is normally between 6-10ft and the smaller, yet fully-grown variety that is roughly 4-5ft.

Darwin

Darwin is the only Australian city featured in recently-released Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2012. According to Lonely Planet, Darwin offers a “pumping nocturnal scene, magical markets and restaurants, and world-class wilderness areas just down the road, today Darwin is the triumph of Australia’s Top End”.

The Larrakia people also known as the saltwater people and are the Aboriginal traditional owners of Darwin

The Aboriginal people of the Larrakia language group are the first inhabitants of the greater Darwin area. They had trading routes with Southeast Asia, and imported goods from as far afield as South and Western Australia. Established songlines penetrated throughout the country, allowing stories and histories to be told and retold along the routes.

Darwin is closer to the capitals of five other countries than to the capital of Australia.

Canberra (Australia) 3,137 kilometres (1,949 mi)
Dili (East Timor) is 656 km (408 mi)
Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) is 1,818 km (1,130 mi)
Jakarta (Indonesia) is 2,700 km (1,678 mi)
Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei) is 2,607 km (1,620 mi)
Melekeok (Palau) is 2,247 km (1,396 mi) from Darwin.

Singapore is only slightly farther away at 3,350 km (2,082 mi), as is Manila (Philippines) at 3,206 km (1,992 mi), and Honiara (Solomon Islands) at 3,198 km (1,987 mi). Ambon, Indonesia, is only 881 km (547 mi) away from Darwin.

Darwin is perfectly positioned to give a competitive edge to any business or industry that relies on fast, efficient transport. Trade with Asia is of growing importance to Australia, and accounts for almost 50 per cent of Australia's merchandise shipments. Already, several large Australian companies have established operations in Darwin.

The region, like the rest of the Top End, has a tropical climate, with a wet and a dry season. It receives heavy rainfall during the Wet, and is well known for its spectacular lightning.

Camel rides on Cable Beach

Darwin is one of the fastest growing capital cities in Australia, it has a population of approx 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities.

Families and friends gather with their chairs, blankets and eskies at the Mindil Markets.