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It was 1952, and Alan Turing was about to reshape humanity's understanding of biology. Fairy circles in Namibia. (pum_eva/Getty Images) ============================================================================== In a landmark paper, the English mathematician introduced what became known as the Turing pattern – the notion that the dynamics of certain uniform systems could give rise to stable patterns when disturbed. Such 'order from disturbance' has become the theoretical basis for all sorts of strange, repeated motifs seen in the natural world. It was a good theory. So good, in fact, that decades later, scientists are still discovering stunning examples of it in unusual and exotic places:...

As rich nations corner more than half the doses, they must realise that vaccinated pockets don’t lead to stable economies Vaccine nationalism is rearing its ugly head again even as the Coronavirus pandemic rages on. The implications of manipulating access to essential drugs, particularly HIV-AIDS ones in developing countries, due to bulk purchasing power of richer nations and honouring of pharmaceutical patents, are already known. That crisis worsened. Sadly, the trend continues as the race to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 intensifies with five leading candidates currently in phase three clinical trials. Who gets hold of the vaccine and when...

Scientists discovered an undescribed species of truffle, thanks to bonobos, who savor the mushrooms. Credit: Alexander Georgiev ================================================================================== Mushroom-munching bonobos in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have introduced scientists to a new species of truffle. Commonly used by Congolese communities to bait traps for small mammals, Hysterangium bonobo is also savored by bonobos, an endangered species of great ape. Scientists say the truffle hints at vast reserves of undescribed fungal diversity in the region. "Truffles aren't just for gourmet chefs—they're also for our closest relatives," said Matthew Smith, an associate professor in the University of Florida department of plant...

Australia's stinging trees have leaves that look "a bit fuzzy and not that scary" when you first see them, says pain researcher Irina Vetter. But don't be fooled. "If you look closely, you can see that the fuzziness is actually just tiny little silica needles that are filled with fluid, which really we can think about as a venom now," Vetter told As It Happens host Carol Off. "And it gets injected into your skin sort of in a fashion like a hypodermic needle." Vetter, a pain researcher at the University of Queensland, has co-authored a new study examining...

An almond farmer is relying upon chemistry to keep bees in his orchards for longer.(Supplied: David Lyall) Share How do you keep bees in your orchard when there are more attractive flowering plants in the vicinity? The answer may lie in pheromones. Dollops of pheromones have been sprayed into flowering almond orchards near Robinvale, in north-west Victoria, with the aim of creating excitement among bees, thus creating more nuts. Bees are essential for the fruit to set, so getting the insects to stay and do their job rather than go foraging in forests elsewhere is vital. Organic Crop Protectants' Tony...

An increasingly frustrated China lashed out at what it called “stupid” Australia on Wednesday, using an editorial in a Communist Party mouthpiece to demand an end to Canberra’s “smears” against Chinese journalists, diplomats and academics. The editorial in the Global Times said recent moves against some Chinese diplomats in Australia were “following the strategic steps of the U.S.” and China is entirely blameless of any and all charges against it. The editorial said:

Just as the ALP franking credits disaster played a huge role in delivering the prime ministership to Scott Morrison in 2018, Donald Trump has a similar weapon to use against Joe Biden and Kamala Harris – the so called “AB5” threat. And while “AB5” is not currently among the frontline Trump campaign issues like law and order, it has the potential to devastate Biden and Harris. AB5 refers to a Californian law championed by Harris. It was designed as a way to get rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft to classify all their contract drivers as employees. To do this,...

A Chinese company with links to Beijing’s military and secretive intelligence arm has amassed the personal details of more than 35,000 Australians as part of a giant global database targeting influential figures and their families, The company, Zhenhua Data, is tied to the People’s Liberation Army, Ministry of State Security, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and has collated the profiles of 2.4 million people across the world. The data contains information on 35,558 Australian individuals, including prominent people in politics, business, law, academia, and defence. It includes birth dates, addresses, marital statuses, and political leanings. Notable Australians include Prime...

A Labour councillor in Newquay has written to the Home Secretary urging her to deport a pastor who welcomed the cancellation of an LGBTQ+ pride event in a social media post. Councillor Stephen Hick asked for Pastor Josh Williamson, who's originally from Australia, to be investigated and branded him a hate preacher. He wrote: "Josh Williamson's ministry has caused harm to members of the community of Newquay and the wider LGBTQ+ community across Cornwall. "I believe his continued presence, preaching the hate that he does, presents a continuing harm to the same communities. "I am unaware of the previous ministry...

Large crowds of people rallied in Auckland on Saturday against the government’s social distancing restrictions imposed on the country’s largest city after an outbreak of the novel coronavirus last month. Local television footage showed tightly packed crowds, with many people not wearing masks, with estimates of the attendance varying in reports between a thousand and a few thousand people. “We are all here today because we believe we need to stand up for our rights,” the public Television New Zealand cited Jami-Lee Ross, the leader of the Advance New Zealand party, one of the organizers of the protest, as saying....

In the face of a massive show of force by militarized police, "Freedom Day" protesters again on the streets of Melbourne, Australia where its Saturday. The protest in opposition to the strict lockdown.... A two week nationwide coronavirus lockdown is being envisioned by cabinet ministers in Israel..... In Canada a university professor telling his students in-class exams aren't mandatory because of: "the COVID fake emergency"..... One million acres burned (1,500 plus square miles and tens of thousands ordered to evacuate in Oregon in the face of massive wildfires.... Seven now confirmed dead with 60 believed missing..... A man in southern...

Draconian enforcement of COVID-19 lockdown accelerates. Yet another shock video out of Australia shows police enforcing coronavirus rules by arresting an elderly woman sitting on a park bench for not wearing a mask. “This is unlawful, on what grounds am I under arrest?” asks the woman. An officer then walks around the back of the bench and snatches her friend’s phone away, preventing her from filming the encounter. The woman is told that she is being arrested for failing to provide her name and address. ... Once a person has been targeted for not wearing a mask or violating any...

Internationalising The Greatest Generation – Australian veteran calls for more respect for WW2. China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea mean that it is primarily Indonesia that stands between Australia and the “People’s Liberation Army” of totalitarian communist China. In an open letter published in the link accompanying this post, former Australian army captain, Demetrios Kitsiou, supports my contention that sharing better respect with Indonesia for the heroes of World War Two is one way for Australia to be more secure in an uncertain future. In Indonesia the most sacred national holiday of the year is August 17 in...

"I suggest the public act in accordance with common sense and not in accordance with government guidelines" Those words coming from Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman of the Yisrael Beyteinu (Israel Our Home) Party...... "we have to start taking this very seriously again" Those words from a British health official today. The Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Jonathan Van Tam speaking.... A Saudi court overturning five death sentences in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi today and handing out sentences to eight unnamed individuals in the case.... Protests continued in Portland Sunday for the 102nd night in a row..... Portland Police have...

Australia started out as a prison colony and there's plenty of evidence to suggest that in Melbourne and the rest of Victoria state the country is returning to its "roots". The lockdown triggering a call for protest and the government's vow to prevent it with arrests of people organizing the protest in their homes in recent days. Americans are supposed to be angry about dictatorships in other countries and the US Marines are sent to defend this formerly free country that looks like the "Peoples Democratic Republic of Australia" to me. The protesters in Melbourne today were pounced on at...

The Socialist Left government of the state of Victoria in Australia routinely trashes basic democratic rights. Today 160 people demonstrating for freedom were fined $1652 dollars each 5 million healthy innocent people are imprisoned in their own homes as part of the worst lockdown in the world. Businesses are going to the wall. But if a socialist government can destroy the private business sector, then the socialists believe they have done something good. The Cornavirus death toll figures frequently quoted do not differentiate between those whose death is caused by Coronavirus alone and those whose death is also the result...

It is now Saturday in Australia where a coronavirus freedom protest is being attempted in the tightly locked down city of Melbourne. Arrests have already taken place in the city at the gathering site of the protest, the "Shrine of Remembrance". Police acting to prevent the protest from taking place.... Police in a federal operation shooting dead the man wanted in connection with the killing of a "Patriot Prayer" member in Portland..... Facebook removing accounts linked to "Patriot Prayer"...... The FBI arresting two men said to be "militia members: and admirers of Kyle Rittenhouse at the request of Kenosha, Wisconsin...

I wanted to commemorate WW2 and Victoria Police arrested her. Look at what they have now done to a pregnant woman in front of her family including small children. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcHUGZGT9V4&t=82s Beware leftist governments.

Police in Australia arrested a pregnant 28-year-old woman in front of her partner and two children Wednesday for allegedly planning a coronavirus lockdown protest and promoting it on Facebook. Police in the state of Victoria took the woman, Zoe Buhler, into custody at her home after she created a “freedom day” event on Facebook calling for people to peacefully gather against the government’s lockdown measures. “As some of you may have seen the government has gone to extreme measures and are using scare tactics through the media to prevent the Melbourne protest,” the now-deleted event description read, ABC News reports.

Washington aims to formalise its closer Indo-Pacific defence relations with India, Japan and Australia – also known as “the quad” – into something more closely resembling the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), a senior US State Department official said on Monday. The US government’s goal is to get the grouping of four countries and others in the region to work together as a bulwark against “a potential challenge from China” and “to create a critical mass around shared values and interests of those parties in a manner that attracts more countries in the Indo-Pacific and even from around the world...