Spotted: Six Black Cockatoos At Careel Bay
Yellow Tailed Cockatoo Tree Sculpture
'Tree fell down in my street, my neighbour decided to create this masterpiece' - sourced from Uber Humor (USA)
'Tree fell down in my street, my neighbour decided to create this masterpiece' - sourced from Uber Humor (USA)
Shaping Sustainable Forest Management For Decades To Come
Regional Forest Agreements (RFA)
20-Year NSW Forest Peace Deal Teeters As Conservation Groups Walk Away
Report Exposes Deep Divisions In Government Over Environmental Policy
ANDREW CLENNELL. NSW Political Editor. NSW cabinet ministers clash over environment. February 23, 2018. The Australian
Related - Visit:NSW Government divided on reclassifying River Red Gum national parks as state forest - The Daily Advertiser, November 2017 (Murray by-election)
700-year-old River Red gum in the Wonga Wetlands, NSW - photo courtesy fir002
ANDREW CLENNELL. NSW Political Editor. NSW cabinet ministers clash over environment. February 23, 2018. The Australian
Related - Visit:
NSW Government divided on reclassifying River Red Gum national parks as state forest - The Daily Advertiser, November 2017 (Murray by-election)
700-year-old River Red gum in the Wonga Wetlands, NSW - photo courtesy fir002
Stop The Senseless Destruction Of Our Wildlife: Nature Conservation Council (NSW) Taking State Government To Court
Clean Up Australia Day 2018
Scotland Island Is Registered To Participate Once Again!
Coasters Retreat
Bayview
Mona Vale Beach
Narrabeen-Warriewood
Warriewood Beach And SLSC
Narrabeen Rock Pool
Wimbledon Island, Narrabeen Lagoon
Return And Earn - Short Term Issues Will Be Overcome
The Australian Government's Plan For The Biocontrol Of The Common Carp Presents Several Risks
High Levels Of Microplastics Found In Northwest Atlantic Fish
Helping In Spite Of Risk: Ants Perform Risk-Averse Sanitary Care Of Infectious Nest Mates
February 20, 2018Ants care for their sick nest mates in different ways, depending on their own immune status. When they themselves are susceptible to dangerous superinfections, they use a different method to care for sick colony members compared to ants that are not susceptible, thus protecting themselves from infection. This is the result of a study of Professor Sylvia Cremer's research group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), with first authors Matthias Konrad and Christopher Pull. The study was published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In their colonies, ants such as the invasive garden ant Lasius neglectus live in a very confined space. This carries the risk that diseases can spread rapidly and threaten the entire colony. Sylvia Cremer and her group have already shown in previous studies that ants of the species Lasius neglectus fend off the pathogenic fungus Metarhizium by intensively cleaning and caring for colony members whose bodies have been contaminated by fungal spores. In the current study, Sylvia Cremer and her group addressed the question of how the caring ants protect themselves from infection.
Care means protection and riskThere are two ways for ants to care for nest mates: either by grooming off pathogens or by chemically disinfecting them. However, the extensive contact between contaminated and caring ants during care may lead to a transmission of the pathogen, which often induces low-level infections in the caring individual that do not cause disease. As the research team has shown in a previous study, such low-level infections of the caring ants stimulate their immune system and can lead to a protective effect against future infection, similar to the early form of vaccination used by humans, termed variolation. If this ant comes in contact with the same pathogen again in the future, its defense against the fungal pathogen is already upregulated, and the course of the disease is mild. However, in the current study the research team showed that this immunization caused by low-level infections, unlike modern vaccinations in humans, has a cost. If the ant comes in contact with a second, different pathogen, it is not only unprotected, but is even more susceptible to the second pathogen, which can subsequently cause a highly detrimental, superinfection.
Flexible care protects against superinfectionAlthough ants with low-level infections are more susceptible to superinfections, the researchers show that this altered disease susceptibility affects how ants care for their infectious nest mates. They continue to perform care, but alter how they do so to decrease their risk of contracting a second infection. This risk avoidance is flexible and depends on the current immune status of the ant. If an ant is protected against a pathogen because it is currently immunized, it grooms the infected nestmate more than non-immunized ants. "This close contact means that the caring ant is exposed to a large number of fungal spores from the infectious nest mates, but it is less susceptible to them because of previous immune stimulation," explains Sylvia Cremer.
The situation is different when the ant encounters a nest mate carrying a pathogen that the caring ant is susceptible to. If the ant has developed a susceptibility to pathogen B due to a previous infection with pathogen A, then it sprays the contaminated nestmate carrying pathogen B with formic acid to neutralize the pathogen. This avoids the need for grooming and the close contact that comes with it, preventing pathogen transmission and protecting the caring ant from superinfection. "This risk-averse care improves and maintains the health of the caring animals and thus of the whole colony. In humans, nursing staff and doctors also pay attention to their immune status, for example by vaccinating before entering a dangerous zone. Importantly, ants are capable of this adjustment without the need for vaccination records that humans typically rely on" explains Sylvia Cremer.
Matthias Konrad and Christopher Pull are the first authors of the study. Matthias Konrad was a PhD student supervised by Sylvia Cremer from 2009 to 2014, and joined IST Austria in 2010 as one of the first PhD students, and stayed for one year after his PhD as a postdoc in the Cremer group. Christopher Pull was a PhD student in the group of Sylvia Cremer at IST Austria from 2012 to 2017, and is now a postdoc at the Royal Holloway University, London. Sylvia Cremer studies the social immune system in ants with the aim of finding out more about epidemiology and disease dynamics in societies.
Matthias Konrad, Christopher D. Pull, Sina Metzler, Katharina Seif, Elisabeth Naderlinger, Anna V. Grasse, Sylvia Cremer. Ants avoid superinfections by performing risk-adjusted sanitary care. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018; 201713501 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1713501115
Garden ant workers interacting with one another. Credit: Roland Ferrigato and Sina Metzler, IST Austria
February 20, 2018
Ants care for their sick nest mates in different ways, depending on their own immune status. When they themselves are susceptible to dangerous superinfections, they use a different method to care for sick colony members compared to ants that are not susceptible, thus protecting themselves from infection. This is the result of a study of Professor Sylvia Cremer's research group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), with first authors Matthias Konrad and Christopher Pull. The study was published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In their colonies, ants such as the invasive garden ant Lasius neglectus live in a very confined space. This carries the risk that diseases can spread rapidly and threaten the entire colony. Sylvia Cremer and her group have already shown in previous studies that ants of the species Lasius neglectus fend off the pathogenic fungus Metarhizium by intensively cleaning and caring for colony members whose bodies have been contaminated by fungal spores. In the current study, Sylvia Cremer and her group addressed the question of how the caring ants protect themselves from infection.
Care means protection and risk
There are two ways for ants to care for nest mates: either by grooming off pathogens or by chemically disinfecting them. However, the extensive contact between contaminated and caring ants during care may lead to a transmission of the pathogen, which often induces low-level infections in the caring individual that do not cause disease. As the research team has shown in a previous study, such low-level infections of the caring ants stimulate their immune system and can lead to a protective effect against future infection, similar to the early form of vaccination used by humans, termed variolation. If this ant comes in contact with the same pathogen again in the future, its defense against the fungal pathogen is already upregulated, and the course of the disease is mild. However, in the current study the research team showed that this immunization caused by low-level infections, unlike modern vaccinations in humans, has a cost. If the ant comes in contact with a second, different pathogen, it is not only unprotected, but is even more susceptible to the second pathogen, which can subsequently cause a highly detrimental, superinfection.
Flexible care protects against superinfection
Although ants with low-level infections are more susceptible to superinfections, the researchers show that this altered disease susceptibility affects how ants care for their infectious nest mates. They continue to perform care, but alter how they do so to decrease their risk of contracting a second infection. This risk avoidance is flexible and depends on the current immune status of the ant. If an ant is protected against a pathogen because it is currently immunized, it grooms the infected nestmate more than non-immunized ants. "This close contact means that the caring ant is exposed to a large number of fungal spores from the infectious nest mates, but it is less susceptible to them because of previous immune stimulation," explains Sylvia Cremer.
The situation is different when the ant encounters a nest mate carrying a pathogen that the caring ant is susceptible to. If the ant has developed a susceptibility to pathogen B due to a previous infection with pathogen A, then it sprays the contaminated nestmate carrying pathogen B with formic acid to neutralize the pathogen. This avoids the need for grooming and the close contact that comes with it, preventing pathogen transmission and protecting the caring ant from superinfection. "This risk-averse care improves and maintains the health of the caring animals and thus of the whole colony. In humans, nursing staff and doctors also pay attention to their immune status, for example by vaccinating before entering a dangerous zone. Importantly, ants are capable of this adjustment without the need for vaccination records that humans typically rely on" explains Sylvia Cremer.
Matthias Konrad and Christopher Pull are the first authors of the study. Matthias Konrad was a PhD student supervised by Sylvia Cremer from 2009 to 2014, and joined IST Austria in 2010 as one of the first PhD students, and stayed for one year after his PhD as a postdoc in the Cremer group. Christopher Pull was a PhD student in the group of Sylvia Cremer at IST Austria from 2012 to 2017, and is now a postdoc at the Royal Holloway University, London. Sylvia Cremer studies the social immune system in ants with the aim of finding out more about epidemiology and disease dynamics in societies.
Matthias Konrad, Christopher D. Pull, Sina Metzler, Katharina Seif, Elisabeth Naderlinger, Anna V. Grasse, Sylvia Cremer. Ants avoid superinfections by performing risk-adjusted sanitary care. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018; 201713501 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1713501115
Garden ant workers interacting with one another. Credit: Roland Ferrigato and Sina Metzler, IST Austria
Life's A Beach For New International Students
February 22, 2018: From Surf Life Saving NSWOver 7000 international students gearing up for their first year of study are set to be given a crash course in beach culture as surf lifesavers take messages of water safety directly to them in an effort to ensure their safety as they enjoy a break from the books on some of NSW’S most magnificent beaches.
Before the rigours of the academic year begin afresh new students have the opportunity to engage with the traditional orientation or “O Week”, during which many international students will have the chance to meet surf lifesavers and ask any questions they have on how to stay safe.
It’s a particularly poignant project given that in recent summers there have been several high profile drownings of international visitors including a tragic double drowning of two young Nepalese students at Maroubra in February last year.
Between now and the end of March, Surf Life Saving NSW will deliver 24 presentations at 18 unique locations in the following academic institutions;- University of NSW
- University of Technology Sydney
- Sydney University
- Notre Dame University
- Western Sydney University
- University of Wollongong
- Southern Cross University (Hotel School)
- Macquarie University
- ELICOS College
- TafeNSW
The program follows on from the successful “O Week Workshops” from 2017 and pleasingly has enjoyed rapid growth.
Surf Life Saving NSW Community Education Manager Joanne Massey said the presentations reinforce the lifesaving community’s commitment to educate the population and ensure that everyone regardless of their cultural background can experience the best the beach has to offer.
“On the NSW coast it is not uncommon for children to be introduced to the beach and ocean very early in life. They learn about rip currents, what surf lifesavers do, and the importance of swimming between the flags from a very young age as well as having the opportunity to participate in the well-established and respected Nippers program.
“It’s important to understand that many international students do not have this knowledge and we feel we have a responsibility to help provide them this information that is most likely very different to anything they have previously experienced,” Ms Massey said.
“We give them the best information possible to ensure that if they get into difficulty while taking a well-earned break from their studies they know what to do. They can then make safe surf practices and decisions as part of their beach routine, and share their new knowledge with their peers.
“Our beaches are for everyone,” she concluded.
Beach Safety Tips- Always swim between the red and yellow patrol flags, for your nearest patrolled beach check the BeachSafe app or website
- Read the safety signs for information about the beach and ask a lifesaver or lifeguard for safety information
- Always swim with someone else so you can look out for each other, and always supervise children around the water
- Never swim under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- If you need help in the water, stay calm and attract attention by raising one arm
- In an emergency, dial Triple Zero Police
- Don’t forget to be sun safe by remembering to: Slip on some protective clothing, Slop on some sunscreen, Slap on a hat, Slide on a pair of sunglasses, Seek some shade and Sip on lots of water to stay hydrated.
For information about patrol times, weather, and beach locations visit the Beachsafe Website or Download the App.
February 22, 2018: From Surf Life Saving NSW
Over 7000 international students gearing up for their first year of study are set to be given a crash course in beach culture as surf lifesavers take messages of water safety directly to them in an effort to ensure their safety as they enjoy a break from the books on some of NSW’S most magnificent beaches.
Before the rigours of the academic year begin afresh new students have the opportunity to engage with the traditional orientation or “O Week”, during which many international students will have the chance to meet surf lifesavers and ask any questions they have on how to stay safe.
It’s a particularly poignant project given that in recent summers there have been several high profile drownings of international visitors including a tragic double drowning of two young Nepalese students at Maroubra in February last year.
Between now and the end of March, Surf Life Saving NSW will deliver 24 presentations at 18 unique locations in the following academic institutions;
- University of NSW
- University of Technology Sydney
- Sydney University
- Notre Dame University
- Western Sydney University
- University of Wollongong
- Southern Cross University (Hotel School)
- Macquarie University
- ELICOS College
- TafeNSW
The program follows on from the successful “O Week Workshops” from 2017 and pleasingly has enjoyed rapid growth.
Surf Life Saving NSW Community Education Manager Joanne Massey said the presentations reinforce the lifesaving community’s commitment to educate the population and ensure that everyone regardless of their cultural background can experience the best the beach has to offer.
“On the NSW coast it is not uncommon for children to be introduced to the beach and ocean very early in life. They learn about rip currents, what surf lifesavers do, and the importance of swimming between the flags from a very young age as well as having the opportunity to participate in the well-established and respected Nippers program.
“It’s important to understand that many international students do not have this knowledge and we feel we have a responsibility to help provide them this information that is most likely very different to anything they have previously experienced,” Ms Massey said.
“We give them the best information possible to ensure that if they get into difficulty while taking a well-earned break from their studies they know what to do. They can then make safe surf practices and decisions as part of their beach routine, and share their new knowledge with their peers.
“Our beaches are for everyone,” she concluded.
Beach Safety Tips
- Always swim between the red and yellow patrol flags, for your nearest patrolled beach check the BeachSafe app or website
- Read the safety signs for information about the beach and ask a lifesaver or lifeguard for safety information
- Always swim with someone else so you can look out for each other, and always supervise children around the water
- Never swim under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- If you need help in the water, stay calm and attract attention by raising one arm
- In an emergency, dial Triple Zero Police
- Don’t forget to be sun safe by remembering to: Slip on some protective clothing, Slop on some sunscreen, Slap on a hat, Slide on a pair of sunglasses, Seek some shade and Sip on lots of water to stay hydrated.
For information about patrol times, weather, and beach locations visit the Beachsafe Website or Download the App.
Surprising New Study Redraws Family Tree Of Domesticated And 'Wild' Horses
February 22nd, 2018There are no such things as "wild" horses anymore.Research published in Science today overturns a long-held assumption that Przewalski's horses, native to the Eurasian steppes, are the last wild horse species on Earth. Instead, phylogenetic analysis shows Przewalski's horses are feral, descended from the earliest-known instance of horse domestication by the Botai people of northern Kazakhstan some 5,500 years ago.
Further, the new paper finds that modern domesticated horses didn't descend from the Botai horses, an assumption previously held by many scientists.
"This was a big surprise," said co-author Sandra Olsen, curator-in-charge of the archaeology division of the Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum at the University of Kansas, who led archaeological work at known Botai villages. "I was confident soon after we started excavating Botai sites in 1993 that we had found the earliest domesticated horses. We went about trying to prove it, but based on DNA results Botai horses didn't give rise to today's modern domesticated horses -- they gave rise to the Przewalski's horse."
The findings signify there are no longer true "wild" horses left, only feral horses that descend from horses once domesticated by humans, including Przewalski's horses and mustangs that descend from horses brought to North America by the Spanish.
"This means there are no living wild horses on Earth -- that's the sad part," said Olsen. "There are a lot of equine biologists who have been studying Przewalskis, and this will be a big shock to them. They thought they were studying the last wild horses. It's not a real loss of biodiversity -- but in our minds, it is. We thought there was one last wild species, and we're only just now aware that all wild horses went extinct."
Many of the horse bones and teeth Olsen excavated at two Botai sites in Kazakhstan, called Botai and Krasnyi Yar, were used in the phylogenetic analysis. The international team of researchers behind the paper sequenced the genomes of 20 horses from the Botai and 22 horses from across Eurasia that spanned the last 5,500 years. They compared these ancient horse genomes with already published genomes of 18 ancient and 28 modern horses.
"Phylogenetic reconstruction confirmed that domestic horses do not form a single monophyletic group as expected if descending from Botai," the authors wrote. "Earliest herded horses were the ancestors of feral Przewalski's horses but not of modern domesticates."
Olsen said the findings give rise to a new scientific quest: locating the real origins of today's domesticated horses.
"What's interesting is that we have two different domestication events from slightly different species, or separate sub-species," she said. (The Przewalski's horse's taxonomic position is still debated.) "It's thought that modern-day domesticated horses came from Equus ferus, the extinct European wild horse. The problem is they were thought to have existed until the early 1900s. But, the remains of two individuals in St. Petersburg, Russia, are probably feral, too, or at least probably had some domesticated genes."
Olsen began excavating Botai village sites in Kazakhstan in 1993 after the fall of the Soviet Union made the region accessible to western scientists. Some of the horse remains collected by Olsen were tested as part of the new study showing their ancestry of modern-day Przewalskis.
The Botai's ancestors were nomadic hunters until they became the first-known culture to domesticate horses around 5,500 years ago, using horses for meat, milk, work and likely transportation.
"Once they domesticated horses they became sedentary, with large villages of up to 150 or more houses," said Olsen, who specializes in zooarchaeology, or the study of animal remains from ancient human occupation sites. "They lived primarily on horse meat, and they had no agriculture. We had several lines of evidence that supported domestication. The fact the Botai were sedentary must have meant they had domesticated animals, or plants, which they didn't have. More than 95 percent of the bones from the Botai sites were from horses -- they were in a sense mono-cropping one species with an incredible focus. If they were hunting horses on foot, they would have quickly depleted bands of horses in the vicinity of the villages and would have had to go farther afield to hunt -- it wouldn't have been feasible or supported that large human population."
The KU researcher also cited bone artifacts from Botai sites used to make rawhide thongs that might have been fashioned into bridles, lassos, whips, riding crops and hobbles, as further evidence of horse domestication. Moreover, the Botai village sites include horse corrals.
"We found a corral that contained high levels of nitrogen and sodium from manure and urine," said Olsen. "It was very concentrated within that corral. The final smoking gun was finding residues of mares' milk in the pottery. It's commonplace today in Mongolia and Kazakhstan to milk horses -- when it's fermented it has considerable nutritional value and is very high in vitamins."
Interestingly, Olsen found that after slaughtering horses, the Botai buried some horse skulls and necks in pits with their snouts facing the southeast, toward where the sun rose in the morning in autumn. Mongols and Kazakhs slaughter most of their horses at that time of year because that is when they retain the most amount of nutritious fat in their bodies.
"It's interesting because throughout the Indo-European diaspora there's a strong connection between the sun god and the horse," she said. "It may be that Botai people spoke an early proto-Indo-European language, and they also connected the horse to the sun god. Later in time, and this idea is in the historical record for the Indo-European diaspora, it was believed the sun god was born in the east and rode across the sky in a chariot, pulled by white horses. According to the belief, he would then die in the west and be reborn every day."
The team behind the paper believe Przewalski's horses likely escaped from domestic Botai herds in eastern Kazakhstan or western Mongolia.
This is a modern Przewalksi horse.Credit: Alan Outram
"They started developing a semi-wild lifestyle like our mustangs, but they still have a wild appearance," Olsen said. "This is partly why biologists assumed they were genuinely wild animals. They have an upright mane, something associated with wild equids. They also have a dun coat, like the ones you see in the Ice Age cave paintings in France and Spain made when horses were wild. Their size, however, is very similar to what you see at Botai and other sites."
By 1969, Przewalski's horses were declared extinct in the wild, and all living today originated from just 15 individuals captured around 1900. Today, there are approximately 2,000 Przewalski's horses, all descended from those captured horses, and they have been reintroduced on the Eurasian steppes. In a sense, the horses have fared better than the peoples who once domesticated them.
"The Botai people seem to have vanished from their homeland in northern Kazakhstan," said Olsen. "Perhaps they migrated eastward to Mongolia since the later Bronze Age people there shared the practice of ritually burying the horse's head and neck pointing toward the rising sun in the autumn, the time of year they were slaughtered. That's a very specific shared trait."
Charleen Gaunitz, Antoine Fages, Kristian Hanghøj, Anders Albrechtsen, Naveed Khan, Mikkel Schubert, Andaine Seguin-Orlando, Ivy J. Owens, Sabine Felkel, Olivier Bignon-Lau, Peter de Barros Damgaard, Alissa Mittnik, Azadeh F. Mohaseb, Hossein Davoudi, Saleh Alquraishi, Ahmed H. Alfarhan, Khaled A. S. Al-Rasheid, Eric Crubézy, Norbert Benecke, Sandra Olsen, Dorcas Brown, David Anthony, Ken Massy, Vladimir Pitulko, Aleksei Kasparov, Gottfried Brem, Michael Hofreiter, Gulmira Mukhtarova, Nurbol Baimukhanov, Lembi Lõugas, Vedat Onar, Philipp W. Stockhammer, Johannes Krause, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Sainbileg Undrakhbold, Diimaajav Erdenebaatar, Sébastien Lepetz, Marjan Mashkour, Arne Ludwig, Barbara Wallner, Victor Merz, Ilja Merz, Viktor Zaibert, Eske Willerslev, Pablo Librado, Alan K. Outram, Ludovic Orlando. Ancient genomes revisit the ancestry of domestic and Przewalski’s horses. Science, 2018; eaao3297 DOI: 10.1126/science.aao3297
February 22nd, 2018
There are no such things as "wild" horses anymore.
Research published in Science today overturns a long-held assumption that Przewalski's horses, native to the Eurasian steppes, are the last wild horse species on Earth. Instead, phylogenetic analysis shows Przewalski's horses are feral, descended from the earliest-known instance of horse domestication by the Botai people of northern Kazakhstan some 5,500 years ago.
Further, the new paper finds that modern domesticated horses didn't descend from the Botai horses, an assumption previously held by many scientists.
"This was a big surprise," said co-author Sandra Olsen, curator-in-charge of the archaeology division of the Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum at the University of Kansas, who led archaeological work at known Botai villages. "I was confident soon after we started excavating Botai sites in 1993 that we had found the earliest domesticated horses. We went about trying to prove it, but based on DNA results Botai horses didn't give rise to today's modern domesticated horses -- they gave rise to the Przewalski's horse."
The findings signify there are no longer true "wild" horses left, only feral horses that descend from horses once domesticated by humans, including Przewalski's horses and mustangs that descend from horses brought to North America by the Spanish.
"This means there are no living wild horses on Earth -- that's the sad part," said Olsen. "There are a lot of equine biologists who have been studying Przewalskis, and this will be a big shock to them. They thought they were studying the last wild horses. It's not a real loss of biodiversity -- but in our minds, it is. We thought there was one last wild species, and we're only just now aware that all wild horses went extinct."
Many of the horse bones and teeth Olsen excavated at two Botai sites in Kazakhstan, called Botai and Krasnyi Yar, were used in the phylogenetic analysis. The international team of researchers behind the paper sequenced the genomes of 20 horses from the Botai and 22 horses from across Eurasia that spanned the last 5,500 years. They compared these ancient horse genomes with already published genomes of 18 ancient and 28 modern horses.
"Phylogenetic reconstruction confirmed that domestic horses do not form a single monophyletic group as expected if descending from Botai," the authors wrote. "Earliest herded horses were the ancestors of feral Przewalski's horses but not of modern domesticates."
Olsen said the findings give rise to a new scientific quest: locating the real origins of today's domesticated horses.
"What's interesting is that we have two different domestication events from slightly different species, or separate sub-species," she said. (The Przewalski's horse's taxonomic position is still debated.) "It's thought that modern-day domesticated horses came from Equus ferus, the extinct European wild horse. The problem is they were thought to have existed until the early 1900s. But, the remains of two individuals in St. Petersburg, Russia, are probably feral, too, or at least probably had some domesticated genes."
Olsen began excavating Botai village sites in Kazakhstan in 1993 after the fall of the Soviet Union made the region accessible to western scientists. Some of the horse remains collected by Olsen were tested as part of the new study showing their ancestry of modern-day Przewalskis.
The Botai's ancestors were nomadic hunters until they became the first-known culture to domesticate horses around 5,500 years ago, using horses for meat, milk, work and likely transportation.
"Once they domesticated horses they became sedentary, with large villages of up to 150 or more houses," said Olsen, who specializes in zooarchaeology, or the study of animal remains from ancient human occupation sites. "They lived primarily on horse meat, and they had no agriculture. We had several lines of evidence that supported domestication. The fact the Botai were sedentary must have meant they had domesticated animals, or plants, which they didn't have. More than 95 percent of the bones from the Botai sites were from horses -- they were in a sense mono-cropping one species with an incredible focus. If they were hunting horses on foot, they would have quickly depleted bands of horses in the vicinity of the villages and would have had to go farther afield to hunt -- it wouldn't have been feasible or supported that large human population."
The KU researcher also cited bone artifacts from Botai sites used to make rawhide thongs that might have been fashioned into bridles, lassos, whips, riding crops and hobbles, as further evidence of horse domestication. Moreover, the Botai village sites include horse corrals.
"We found a corral that contained high levels of nitrogen and sodium from manure and urine," said Olsen. "It was very concentrated within that corral. The final smoking gun was finding residues of mares' milk in the pottery. It's commonplace today in Mongolia and Kazakhstan to milk horses -- when it's fermented it has considerable nutritional value and is very high in vitamins."
Interestingly, Olsen found that after slaughtering horses, the Botai buried some horse skulls and necks in pits with their snouts facing the southeast, toward where the sun rose in the morning in autumn. Mongols and Kazakhs slaughter most of their horses at that time of year because that is when they retain the most amount of nutritious fat in their bodies.
"It's interesting because throughout the Indo-European diaspora there's a strong connection between the sun god and the horse," she said. "It may be that Botai people spoke an early proto-Indo-European language, and they also connected the horse to the sun god. Later in time, and this idea is in the historical record for the Indo-European diaspora, it was believed the sun god was born in the east and rode across the sky in a chariot, pulled by white horses. According to the belief, he would then die in the west and be reborn every day."
The team behind the paper believe Przewalski's horses likely escaped from domestic Botai herds in eastern Kazakhstan or western Mongolia.
This is a modern Przewalksi horse.Credit: Alan Outram
"They started developing a semi-wild lifestyle like our mustangs, but they still have a wild appearance," Olsen said. "This is partly why biologists assumed they were genuinely wild animals. They have an upright mane, something associated with wild equids. They also have a dun coat, like the ones you see in the Ice Age cave paintings in France and Spain made when horses were wild. Their size, however, is very similar to what you see at Botai and other sites."
By 1969, Przewalski's horses were declared extinct in the wild, and all living today originated from just 15 individuals captured around 1900. Today, there are approximately 2,000 Przewalski's horses, all descended from those captured horses, and they have been reintroduced on the Eurasian steppes. In a sense, the horses have fared better than the peoples who once domesticated them.
"The Botai people seem to have vanished from their homeland in northern Kazakhstan," said Olsen. "Perhaps they migrated eastward to Mongolia since the later Bronze Age people there shared the practice of ritually burying the horse's head and neck pointing toward the rising sun in the autumn, the time of year they were slaughtered. That's a very specific shared trait."
Charleen Gaunitz, Antoine Fages, Kristian Hanghøj, Anders Albrechtsen, Naveed Khan, Mikkel Schubert, Andaine Seguin-Orlando, Ivy J. Owens, Sabine Felkel, Olivier Bignon-Lau, Peter de Barros Damgaard, Alissa Mittnik, Azadeh F. Mohaseb, Hossein Davoudi, Saleh Alquraishi, Ahmed H. Alfarhan, Khaled A. S. Al-Rasheid, Eric Crubézy, Norbert Benecke, Sandra Olsen, Dorcas Brown, David Anthony, Ken Massy, Vladimir Pitulko, Aleksei Kasparov, Gottfried Brem, Michael Hofreiter, Gulmira Mukhtarova, Nurbol Baimukhanov, Lembi Lõugas, Vedat Onar, Philipp W. Stockhammer, Johannes Krause, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Sainbileg Undrakhbold, Diimaajav Erdenebaatar, Sébastien Lepetz, Marjan Mashkour, Arne Ludwig, Barbara Wallner, Victor Merz, Ilja Merz, Viktor Zaibert, Eske Willerslev, Pablo Librado, Alan K. Outram, Ludovic Orlando. Ancient genomes revisit the ancestry of domestic and Przewalski’s horses. Science, 2018; eaao3297 DOI: 10.1126/science.aao3297
Largest Ever Crowdfunded Gift To Sydney University Helps Fight Cancer: Harris van Beek's Legacy
February 20, 2018
On a September day last year, Harris van Beek's doctor told him he had perhaps three days to live. Van Beek's response was to express sympathy for the doctor who had to break the news.
"His first instinct was always to think about things from someone else's point of view," says van Beek's son, Peter.
Van Beek, 65, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just six months earlier. In his final days, he spoke with his family about his wishes. Together, they decided in lieu of flowers to ask for donations towards pancreatic cancer research at the University of Sydney.
In the days before the funeral, those who knew and loved van Beek – and there were many – gave what they could. Fifty dollars here, five-hundred there.
"We were overwhelmed by the generosity of so many friends and colleagues," says Peter.
A few months on, the family has raised close to $100,000 through their crowdfunding webpage. It is the largest ever crowdfunded gift to the University and will help support researchers working to combat a cancer that is difficult to treat and kills almost 3000 Australians each year.
"The really shocking thing about pancreatic cancer is the lack of awareness," says Peter. "Survival rates haven't improved in nearly 40 years. More research is needed so that in the future dad's outcome would be the exception rather than the norm."
The gift to cancer research is only a small part of van Beek's legacy. He spent his life working to make the world a better place.
In 1973, van Beek was a 21-year-old public servant, with not enough to do and too much time in which to do it. When his supervisors paid no attention to his request for more work, he wrote a letter to The Sydney Morning Herald.
"I am writing to you as a state public servant, but more importantly as a taxpayer," he wrote. "As an officer in the department of local government I spend an estimated average of four and a half hours of every seven hours I attend my job doing nothing ... I consider that this example alone requires open investigation."
It was the end of his career with the department and the beginning of a lifelong mission to work for the greater good. He went on to become the first full-time employee of Amnesty NSW and, in 1982, became the human rights organisation's first national director.
During van Beek's 13 years of leadership, Amnesty expanded across the country. Its influence grew, too; by the mid-'90s, two thirds of federal parliamentarians were paying members. Under his direction, the organisation gathered crucial political support in Australia for the international movement to abolish the death penalty, and launched the first national campaign to draw attention to human rights violations in East Timor.
"The really shocking thing about pancreatic cancer is the lack of awareness." - Peter van Beek
After leaving Amnesty, he worked to improve the education system and life in Indigenous communities.
"He worried about the things that needed to be worried about," says Peter.
That was his attitude at home, too. Peter remembers a father who was open-minded about everything - "except for small-minded discussions with a starting point of discrimination".
Van Beek and his wife, Jane, raised three children, Anna, Peter and Tom, in a house full of newspapers and loud with discussion. "Mum and dad gave us access to information, but we were never forced to think about issues in a certain way" says Peter. "Mum and dad have always been deeply committed to social justice, so it was a natural thing for us to be interested too."
The van Beeks plan to continue their fundraising efforts. They are excited by the potential of research into immunotherapy, which harnesses the body's immune system to kill cancer cells.
"It's a cause we are absolutely committed to as a family and we want to dive a little deeper," says Peter. His father would no doubt have approved.
New Book Dives Into Sydney's Most Loved And Most Maligned River
February 21, 2018: Wendy Frew - UNSW
A new book by Ian Tyrrell reveals the history of Sydney’s Cooks River and the role it has played in our dreams of prosperity and pleasure.
Samuel Elyard looked to classical times for his 1836 painting of Tempe House and the Cooks River. Photo: SLNSW
Squeezed between towering apartment blocks and a concrete-lined waterway, and within sight of Sydney’s CBD, you will find a mostly forgotten remnant of the city’s past.
Tempe House, on the southern banks of the Cooks River and in the suburb of the same name, is a rare Sydney example of Neo-Classical Georgian architecture. Designed in the 1830s as a country villa, it took its name from the imagined Vale of Tempe in ancient Greece, celebrated as a favourite haunt of Apollo and the Muses.
For historian Ian Tyrrell, it is one of the more substantial reminders along the Cooks River of the way European Australians have imprinted their dreams and aspirations onto the river and its banks.
“Tempe” points to the pastoral, classical aesthetic embraced by the early British colonisers that coloured the way they thought about the Australian landscape, Tyrrell explains in his new book about the complex history of the Cooks River, River Dreams (NewSouth).
The book examines our attempts to change and modify the river and the sometimes unintended consequences of those changes.
Today, the banks of the Cooks are popular with walkers, cyclists and picnickers. In the past, the river was used for everything from farming, stock-raising, tanning and sugar refining to soap- and brick-making. As early as 1814, parts of the lower river had become Sydney’s “backdoor”, a dumping ground for the colony’s smelly, polluting industries.Emeritus Professor of History and former Scientia Professor of History at UNSW Sydney, and the author of numerous books and articles on Australian and US history, Tyrrell explains in River Dreams how the Cooks was a source of “perpetual disappointment” to the early colonisers because it failed to live up to Euro-Australian dreams. The river was never big enough, didn’t flow fast enough, and wasn’t lined with the “fine meadows” the explorer James Cook had reported seeing in 1770.
The river had been “lightly touched” by Aboriginal Australians for many thousands of years, and the Europeans who followed and tried to impose their will on it included convict-cum-entrepreneur Simeon Lord, who built a cloth-making mill along the river’s banks in 1814; the Scottish-born merchant and builder of Tempe House, Alexander Brodie Spark; and the early developer, financier and importer of rabbits, alpacas and other exotic species, Thomas Holt.
In more recent times, the Cooks was labelled one of Australia’s most polluted rivers.
For Tyrrell, the Cooks' mud, ooze and messy reeds “provide a metaphor for the river's tangled history and the long and difficult human struggle to make it a place of beauty or utility, or both”.
“The Cooks River is more than a mark upon a map; more than a space. It is a place invested with memories,” he writes.
“It has been given cultural, environmental and political significance by the people who tried to shape its history, yet necessarily learned that the river had its own history as an environment that has influenced human responses.”
The Brisbane-born Tyrrell has long had a fascination with rivers, but it was some years after he had moved to Sydney’s Inner West, when he and his wife began walking their dog along the banks of the Cooks, that he really took notice of it.
Over time, he gathered stories from friends and neighbours about the area – “little insights and historical titbits”.
One of the book’s recurring themes is the changing meaning of river “improvements”. To nineteenth century developers, “improvement” meant building factories along the river’s banks. In the 1940s, it meant rerouting the watercourse to make way for the expansion of Sydney Airport.
More recently, local councils and residents have tried to clean up the river by managing stormwater, returning the banks to a more natural state and bringing back native vegetation.
But Tyrrell argues we can’t restore things to the way they were originally; we can only renovate, “although people might not want to accept that”.
“When you renovate a house, you make alternations to it rather than bulldozing it down and building a new house from scratch,” he says.
Boating near Hurlstone Park on the Cooks River, 1890s. Photo: Campsie Library, Canterbury-Bankstown Council
“If you walk along the river today you can see how many changes have been made to it; you can see concrete, brickwork, sandstone and steel pilings, and now the naturalised sections of river banks. But none of the changes have obliterated the ones that came before,” he says.
The river is once again a place for local residents to relax and enjoy. Photo: J Bar.
And even though the recent “improvements” have been well received by many people, “we must not think changes to the river have finished”.
Ian Tyrrell will be in conversation with Ian Hoskins about River Dreams, published by NewSouth, at Gleebooks on 14 March, at 6pm for 6.30pm.
Self-Compassion May Protect People From The Harmful Effects Of Perfectionism
February 21, 2018
Relating to oneself in a healthy way can help weaken the association between perfectionism and depression, according to a study published February 21, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Madeleine Ferrari from Australian Catholic University, and colleagues.
Perfectionistic people often push themselves harder than others to succeed, but can also fall into the trap of being self-critical and overly concerned about making mistakes. When the perfectionist fails, they often experience depression and burnout. In this study, Ferrari and colleagues considered whether self-compassion, a kind way of relating to oneself, might help temper the link between perfectionist tendencies and depression.
The researchers administered anonymous questionnaires to assess perfectionism, depression, and self-compassion across 541 adolescents and 515 adults. Their analyses of these self-assessments revealed that self-compassion may help uncouple perfectionism and depression.
The replication of this finding in two groups of differently-aged people suggests that self-compassion may help moderate the link between perfectionism and depression across the lifespan. The authors suggest that self-compassion interventions could be a useful way to undermine the effects of perfectionism, but future experimental or intervention research is needed to fully assess this possibility.
"Self-compassion, the practice of self-kindness, consistently reduces the strength of the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and depression for both adolescents and adults," says lead author Madeleine Ferrari.
Ferrari M, Yap K, Scott N, Einstein DA, Ciarrochi J. Self-compassion moderates the perfectionism and depression link in both adolescence and adulthood. PLoS ONE, 2018 DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0192022
Brick Barrel Drain To Remain In Thompson Square
21 February 2018: RMS Media Release
After months of extensive investigation work as part the Windsor Bridge replacement project, Roads and Maritime Services is pleased to announce the brick barrel drain will stay in place in Thompson Square.
A spokesperson said this is excellent news for the Windsor community and particularly residents with an interest in the history of Thompson Square.
“Roads and Maritime engaged professional archaeologists to carefully excavate the north eastern section of Thompson Square to record and document any heritage artefacts found within the area,” the spokesperson said.
“During the excavation exercise, archaeological crews discovered a brick barrel drain dating back to 1814 in a hand-dug test pit.
“Heritage investigations continued and crews recently located the end of the brick barrel drain near the river.
“Although most of the brick drain has been found intact, the end was found to be eroded and partially washed away.”
The spokesperson said Roads and Maritime has developed a design to protect and preserve the brick drain in place, opting to design the project around the heritage find.
“The NSW Government has listened to the concerns of the community and will not be removing the brick barrel drain,” the spokesperson said.
“The new bridge will provide a safe and reliable crossing across the Hawkesbury River at Windsor and change the way the Hawkesbury community and visitors to the region travel through the historic town.
“Further archaeological studies are under way to record the finds and preserve the historical significance of the site.
“Work has also started on noise mitigation for five buildings facing Thompson Square which will minimise noise for buildings on the eastern side of the Square after the new bridge opens.”
Noise levels for the parklands will be reduced when the road currently dividing the square is moved east and the steep road from the river is removed.
The community and stakeholders will be kept informed as the project progresses.
To find out more about the Windsor Bridge replacement project and view the image gallery visit rms.nsw.gov.au/windsorbridge.
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CAWB Update: Save Windsor From The RTA
February 21, 2018
Unfortunately news has come through that one of CAWB’s three emergency National Heritage Listing applications has been denied by the Australian Heritage Council. Two applications are still pending.
It is difficult not to see this as a political decision. Last year century old trees on St Kilda Road were heritage listed, yet the place that is credited in saving our emerging nation isn’t afforded the same recognition?
However as we learned last week, the listing on those very trees is pretty much irrelevant, with many of them currently being felled. It seems no level of heritage protection can save a site that is earmarked for development.
We understand this will be a great disappointment to many of you, especially given the fact the Royal Australian Heritage Society had already assessed Thompson Square as meeting at least four of the criteria. It only has to meet one.
But we also have some good news.
Federal Heritage Minister Josh Frydenberg has personally written to Premier Berejiklian, asking her to reconsider the replacement bridge, Option 1.
To now have bipartisan Federal support to save the heritage of Thompson Square means the support for the new bridge continues to shrink. Even the Berejiklian/Perrottet government’s colleagues in Canberra can see the flaws in their bad plan.
We thank Susan Templeman MP who has worked tirelessly in fighting for emergency National Heritage Listing, and Minister Frydenberg for his advocacy for the protection of Thompson Square.
Life's A Beach For New International Students
February 22, 2018: From Surf Life Saving NSW
Over 7000 international students gearing up for their first year of study are set to be given a crash course in beach culture as surf lifesavers take messages of water safety directly to them in an effort to ensure their safety as they enjoy a break from the books on some of NSW’S most magnificent beaches.
Before the rigours of the academic year begin afresh new students have the opportunity to engage with the traditional orientation or “O Week”, during which many international students will have the chance to meet surf lifesavers and ask any questions they have on how to stay safe.
It’s a particularly poignant project given that in recent summers there have been several high profile drownings of international visitors including a tragic double drowning of two young Nepalese students at Maroubra in February last year.
Between now and the end of March, Surf Life Saving NSW will deliver 24 presentations at 18 unique locations in the following academic institutions;
- University of NSW
- University of Technology Sydney
- Sydney University
- Notre Dame University
- Western Sydney University
- University of Wollongong
- Southern Cross University (Hotel School)
- Macquarie University
- ELICOS College
- TafeNSW
The program follows on from the successful “O Week Workshops” from 2017 and pleasingly has enjoyed rapid growth.
Surf Life Saving NSW Community Education Manager Joanne Massey said the presentations reinforce the lifesaving community’s commitment to educate the population and ensure that everyone regardless of their cultural background can experience the best the beach has to offer.
“On the NSW coast it is not uncommon for children to be introduced to the beach and ocean very early in life. They learn about rip currents, what surf lifesavers do, and the importance of swimming between the flags from a very young age as well as having the opportunity to participate in the well-established and respected Nippers program.
“It’s important to understand that many international students do not have this knowledge and we feel we have a responsibility to help provide them this information that is most likely very different to anything they have previously experienced,” Ms Massey said.
“We give them the best information possible to ensure that if they get into difficulty while taking a well-earned break from their studies they know what to do. They can then make safe surf practices and decisions as part of their beach routine, and share their new knowledge with their peers.
“Our beaches are for everyone,” she concluded.
Beach Safety Tips
- Always swim between the red and yellow patrol flags, for your nearest patrolled beach check the BeachSafe app or website
- Read the safety signs for information about the beach and ask a lifesaver or lifeguard for safety information
- Always swim with someone else so you can look out for each other, and always supervise children around the water
- Never swim under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- If you need help in the water, stay calm and attract attention by raising one arm
- In an emergency, dial Triple Zero Police
- Don’t forget to be sun safe by remembering to: Slip on some protective clothing, Slop on some sunscreen, Slap on a hat, Slide on a pair of sunglasses, Seek some shade and Sip on lots of water to stay hydrated.
For information about patrol times, weather, and beach locations visit theBeachsafe Website or Download the App.
