Australian Government and Legislation Systems

Hi, this link is about the Australian government system. If you do not know the Australian government system click on the link and read information. https://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/sys_gov.html

This second link is about Australian laws and legislation system.
http://australia.gov.au/topics/australian-facts-and-figures/law-and-legislation

Manuka Honey

Hi, this article is about Manuka honey. Most likely, many of us did not what Manuka honey is.

This healing honey has been known to New Zealand's indigenous cultures for thousands of years. Manuka honey contains anti-bacterial properties and in a study conducted by the University of Sydney killed nearly every types of bacteria it was exposed to. In 2004 Britain's National Health Service (NHS) licensed the use of medical grade manuka honey as a wound dressing, confirming what the indigenous people of NZ have long known - that manuka honey is a product with some seemingly miraculous properties.

What is it?

Manuka honey is made by bees that feed on the flowers of the manuka bush, also known as the tea tree, in New Zealand. In Australia, the tree used to make manuka honey is called the jellybush. The honey is distinctively flavoured, darker and richer than other honey.

In recent tests conducted at Sydney University's School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences, manuka honey killed every type of bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant "superbugs". The University of Waikato in New Zealand has formed the Waikato Honey Research Unit to study the composition of honey and its antimicrobial activity.

The curative properties of honey have been known to indigenous cultures for thousands of years, and dressing wounds with honey was common before the advent of antibiotics. New Zealand's Maori were the first to identify the healing properties of manuka and some of their remedies and tonics are still used today.
The finest-quality manuka honey, with the most potent antimicrobial properties, is produced from hives in wild, uncultivated areas. Since 2004, Britain's National Health Service has licensed the use of manuka honey wound dressings and sterilised medical-grade manuka honey creams.

The pros

Manuka honey has an antibacterial component that sets it apart from other honeys. This activity is stable and doesn't lose its potency when exposed to dilution, heat or light.

Manuka honey has been found to be effective against a range of bacteria including Helicobacter pylori (which causes most stomach ulcers); Escherichia coli (the most common cause of infected wounds) and Streptococcus pyogenes (which causes sore throats).

Manuka honey is antimicrobial and antiviral. It is also an antioxidant that can help to increase vitality and immunity.

Trials have indicated that manuka honey can heal wounds and skin ulcers that haven't responded to standard treatments.

The cons

Honey in general is not suitable for babies under 12 months of age because it is a known source of the bacteria spores that cause botulism.

Diabetics should also avoid or limit their intake of honey due to the high glucose content.

Not all manuka honeys were born equal, so it can be hard to know what you're getting. Active manuka honey has stronger properties than regular manuka honey. The team at the Waikato Honey Research Unit are refining testing methods to identify and rate the potency of different manuka honeys.

There are no known side effects of active manuka honey when used internally, unless you are allergic to honey. Occasionally, when active manuka honey is used on an external wound, it can sting because of its high activity level. In this case, use regular manuka honey instead.

How to use it

Manuka honey can be applied topically to the skin as a balm for skin infections, bites and cuts.

Take a spoonful orally to help soothe the throat and digestive tract.

Eat is as you would any other honey product to maintain general health. 

                                                                Manuka Tree Photo

Information Communication Technology

What Is ICT Education and Why Is It Important?

Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) education is basically our society’s efforts to teach its current and emerging citizens valuable knowledge and skills around computing and communications devices, software that operates them, applications that run on them and systems that are built with them. ICT is complex and quickly changing, and it is confusing for many people. It is so pervasive in the modern world that everyone has some understanding of it, but those understandings are often wildly divergent. There are many important dimensions to ICT education, including: ICT/Digital Literacy Today, everyone needs a basic understanding of ICT and how to make productive use of it, just to be good students, workers and citizens. Teaching people how to be competent basic users of ICT technologies is an important role of ICT education, so they will be successful in their academic and work careers, and so they can efficiently participate in modern technical society.  ICT Infrastructure and Support Applied Technologists  Beyond a basic user competency, our society also needs more knowledgeable and capable technical people to deploy, manage and maintain ICT equipment, software and systems, so they work well for users. In all industries, these people manage computer and communications hardware, software and applications; networked systems; online information sharing, communication and commerce systems; business processes making use of these systems; and user support Specialized Business and Industry Uses of ICT  As enabling technologies, ICT is used strategically in almost all businesses and industries. Many have developed specialized systems and uses of ICT, and many have specialized legal and regulatory requirements; quality control systems; integrations with production and research equipment and systems; security requirements; and software applications.  We need to develop a competent workforce that understands not only relevant technologies, but also specialized business and industry environments and operations, to meet these specialized needs. ICT Research and Development Scientists ICT fields themselves are under constant pressure to evolve and improve. We need people who deeply understand the science and technologies underlying ICT and who can work to advance the fields. In virtually all modern businesses and industries, and in modern society in general, ICT has key strategic roles. It is strategically important to develop citizens and workers

Australian World Heritage Buildings

Hi, this link show the full list of Australian places on the World Heritage List.

http://www.environment.gov.au/node/19779 

Platypus

The Platypus

The platypus is found in eastern Australia. They live aside freshwater rivers or lakes, and create burrows for shelter and protection. They are active mainly at nighttime hours, and use their webbed feet for swimming. When swimming the platypus has its eyes shut. They swim underwater for 2 minutes, before returning to the surface for oxygen. They can however stay underwater for up to 10 minutes, and due to their natural buoyancy, they need to be underneath another object to do this.

The Platypus has a wooly furred coat and range from 30cm to 45cms in length and the tail about 10 to 15 cms. The wooly furred coat actually has three different layers. The first layer keeps the animal warm, by trapping air, the second layer which provides an insulating coat for the animal, and lastly the third layer of long flat hairs to detect objects close by. These creatures weight on average between 1 to 2.4 kilograms. They have an average lifespan of 12 years.

This lifespan may be shortly diminished, as the platypuses biggest threats are snakes, goannas, rats and foxes. Another big threat to the platypus is man, via waterway pollution or land clearing.

Platypuses feed on insect larvae, worms or other freshwater insects. They do so mainly at night, by the use of their bill. They turn up mud on the bottom of the lake or river, and with the help of their electroreceptors located on the bill, find many insects and freshwater insects. They store their findings in special pouches behind their bill, and are consumed upon returning to the surface.

Amazing Facts 

Platypuses can consume their own body weight in food in a 24 hour period!

Male platypus are larger than the female. They reproduct by mating which occurs once a year, between June - October. The female lays between 2 - 4 eggs and incubates these for a two week period. When a young platypus is born, they feed from milk from the mother. The mother secretes this milk from large glands under the skin, the young platypus feed from this milk which ends up on the mothers fur.

If you thought this was a cute and cuddly Australian animal, well, you are only half correct. The male platypi have a hollow spur about 15 milimetres in length on the inside of both hind legs. This in turn is connected to a venom gland, and the platypus uses this spur to defend itself against predators. 

The male platypus has venom strong enough to can kill a small dog, or cause excruciating pain among humans.

Since only the male platypus has this venomous spur, and the gland peaks during mating season, many suggest it is normally used in aggressive encounters between other male platypus.

A baby platypus is not called a puggle, which seems to be a common misconception. There is no official name for a baby platypus, but a common suggested name is "platypup".

Koala

Though often called the koala "bear," this cuddly animal is not a bear at all; it is a marsupial, or pouched mammal. After giving birth, a female koala carries her baby in her pouch for about six months. When the infant emerges, it rides on its mother's back or clings to her belly, accompanying her everywhere until it is about a year old.

Koalas live in eastern Australia, where the eucalyptus trees they love are most plentiful. In fact, they rarely leave these trees, and their sharp claws and opposable digits easily keep them aloft. During the day they doze, tucked into forks or nooks in the trees, sleeping for up to 18 hours.

When not asleep a koala feeds on eucalyptus leaves, especially at night. Koalas do not drink much water and they get most of their moisture from these leaves. Each animal eats a tremendous amount for its size about two and a half pounds (one kilogram) of leaves a day. Koalas even store snacks of leaves in pouches in their cheeks.

A special digestive system,a long gut allows koalas to break down the tough eucalyptus leaves and remain unharmed by their poison. Koalas eat so many of these leaves that they take on a distinctive odour from their oil, reminiscent of cough drops.

These plump, fuzzy mammals were widely hunted during the 1920s and 1930s, and their populations plunged. Helped by reintroduction, they have reappeared over much of their former range, but their populations are smaller and scattered. Koalas need a lot of space about a hundred trees per animal a pressing problem as Australia's woodlands continue to shrink.

                               
Koala Range

Black Widow Spider

Hi, Black Widow Spider and Red Back Spider belong to the same spider family. Red Back has the red strip until Black Widow has the red spots on the back.

Black widows are notorious spiders identified by the coloured, hourglass-shaped mark on their abdomens. Several species answer to the name, and they are found in temperate regions around the world.

This spider's bite is much feared because its venom is reported to be 15 times stronger than a rattlesnake's. In humans, bites produce muscle aches, nausea, and a paralysis of the diaphragm that can make breathing difficult; however, contrary to popular belief, most people who are bitten suffer no serious damage-let alone death. But bites can be fatal-usually to small children, the elderly, or the infirm. Fortunately, fatalities are fairly rare; the spiders are nonaggressive and bite only in self-defense, such as when someone accidentally sits on them.
The animals most at risk from the black widow's bite are insects-and male black widow spiders. Females sometimes kill and eat their counterparts after mating in a macabre behavior that gave the insect its name. Black widows are solitary year-round except during this violent mating ritual.

These spiders spin large webs in which females suspend a cocoon with hundreds of eggs. Spiderlings disperse soon after they leave their eggs, but the web remains. Black widow spiders also use their webs to ensnare their prey, which consists of flies, mosquitoes, grasshoppers, beetles, and caterpillars. Black widows are comb-footed spiders, which means they have bristles on their hind legs that they use to cover their prey with silk once it has been trapped.

To feed, black widows puncture their insect prey with their fangs and administer digestive enzymes to the corpses. By using these enzymes, and their gnashing fangs, the spiders liquefy their prey's bodies and suck up the resulting fluid


This map show Black Widow Spider range, in other words, the areas in yellow colour show where Black Widow Spider lives.