Skip to content

Category: Interesting Stories/Info

Here We Have Some Interesting Stories For Those Who Love To Hear A Story AND Some Interesting INFO Posts As Well For Those With An Enquiring Mind.

Published on

ABC Rural By Anthea Moodie and Kallee Buchanan Aug 2021

It is not made by any other bee and is better for you, and now scientists know how native stingless bees make healthy honey. 

  • Scientists discovered the rare healthy sugar unique to native stingless bee honey in 2020
  • The bees make it in their gut after consuming nectar high in sucrose 

Researchers at the University of Queensland in collaboration with Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services have uncovered the secret of trehalulose — a sugar that is only produced by the tiny insect and does not spike blood glucose levels when eaten. 

Nectar sugars are largely glucose, fructose, and table sugar (sucrose), not trehalulose, so the question became "were the bees finding it or making it?"

"We fed stingless bees some sugar solutions to try and find out the origin of trehalulose," UQ organic chemist and research leader Dr Natasha Hungerford said.

"Then we took two different solutions and fed them to a small colony of bees that were confined for a short amount of time, 24 hours, and we fed them sucrose or table sugar.

"We found that when we analysed the honey that they produced in that short amount of time [they had] transformed the sucrose into trehalulose.…

Published on Leave a comment on How Do Sleep And Weightloss Relate? A Wise Strategy We Should Put Into Practice!

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE I FOUND ON THE NET THIS WEEK MAKES A LOT OF SENSE AND MOST OF IT GOES HAND IN HAND WITH WHAT I HAVE RESEARCHED AT DIFFERENT TIMES. I THINK THIS WILL BENEFIT MANY OF YOU WHO HAVE NOT BEEN GETTING RESULTS WITH VARIOUS PROGRAMS AND SUCH BECAUSE THIS COULD BE THE MISSING ELEMENT IN YOUR ROUTINE. PLUS SOME OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN GOING TO GYMS HAVE NOT HEARD THAT STRENUOUS EXERCISE THAT MAKES YOU PRETTY MUCH EXHAUSTED CAUSES THE ADRENAL GLAND TO MAKE TOO MUCH CORTISONE (a stress hormone) THAT IS ANOTHER HIDDEN CAUSE FOR KEEPING ON THE WEIGHT - EVEN GAINING EXTRA, BELIEVE IT OR NOT - SO NOT ALL GYM INSTRUCTORS ARE WISE, PLUS SOME OF THE EQUIPMENT IS DAMAGING TO YOUR BODY IN CERTAIN WAYS ACCORDING TO RESEARCHERS. PLEASE BE CAREFUL.

Sleep And Weight Loss Connection: How Sleeping Well Can Actually Help You Feel Less Hungry, And Lose Weight

By Kirti Pandey

We must stop treating sleep hours as a waste or an optional exercise. Adequate sleep is the key to everything our body does.

Several studies show that sleep deprivation (regularly less than 7 hours of sleep a night) is a risk factor for obesity.…

Published on Leave a comment on Some Positive Traits To Have – Be Sure To Read This!

By Brad Aronson

I Found These In An Article Called 'How to be Happy: Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Happier'......This Will Also Help You With Parenting, Providing A Healthy Environment For Your Kids. These Positive Traits We Can Develop Make Us More Cheerful And Raise Stronger Kids.

Wow - I Can Learn These Positive Traits
(A Step At A Time)

See the positive

Researchers have found that we’re happier when we see the positive. This doesn’t mean we live in a dream world where we don’t see problems. It means we notice the positive. The good news is that we can train our brains. over time, to more often see the positive.

Here are some ways we can be Positive

Perform at least one act of kindness daily.
As you start performing acts of kindness, you’ll notice more and more opportunities to be kind. A study from Michael StegerOpens in a new window showed that kind acts increase happiness, and performing kind acts starts shifting our mindset to a more positive outlook.

As far as acts of kindness go, think small. A “thank you note” in your spouse’s lunch, an email to one of your kid’s amazing teachers, etc.…

Published on Leave a comment on Bees Are Popular Again: Beehives Choppered Into Victoria For Almond Pollination

ABC Rural  By Kellie Hollingworth and Hugh Hogan

Beekeepers are going to great lengths to ensure that the almond pollination season in north-west Victoria is a blooming success this year.

More than 277,000 hives are being transported to the region from across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

John Caseys 1200 beehives Into Victoria

It's the largest movement of livestock in Australia. 

But Tumut beekeeper John Casey needed help from above to rescue 1,200 hives that were stuck north of Condobolin because the road was too wet to access them.

In a rare move, the hives were moved by helicopter at a cost of $1,600 per hour, before being loaded onto trucks and transported to Boundary Bend.

"I've never seen it done," he said.

"It would be cheaper than doing a diff or gearbox on a truck. I think anyway.

Tumut beekeeper John Casey needed a helicopter to rescue 1,200 hives that were stuck on wet ground at Trundle.

"We're going to keep getting rain. It's supposed to rain more next month, but we need to get them out for the almond pollination," he said.

Bees go to work

Merbein almond grower Neale Bennett said the hives would be based at his property for six weeks before they were loaded back onto trucks for the trip home.…

Published on Leave a comment on Outback Sees Biggest Budgie Event In 10 Years – You Should See The Photos And Video!

ABC Alice Springs  By Emma Haskin and Alex Barwick 1st August 2021

Thousands of brilliant budgerigars are flocking to the Australian outback thanks to perfect breeding conditions across the country. Mark Carter, Alice Springs bird watcher and trained zoologist, said that the region has not had a budgie event this big in 10 years.

"There was an event in 2016 which was localised to certain areas," Mr Carter said.

Wonders Of Nature – Show Of Budgies – Australia

"This event involves huge number of birds across the landscape," he said.

Mr Carter said it was hard to comprehend how many birds there were out there at the moment.

"If you do the maths on how many budgies are out there across the landscape, it's mind-boggling,"

He said that there are a few factors as to why the numbers have exploded.

Budgies Love To Flock At Dams Water Holes - 2

"It's a combination of things: We had rain at the perfect time here and they bred up in other parts of Australia and gathered here," he said.

Mr Carter said that those budgies subsequently have stayed and continued to breed resulting in extraordinary numbers across the region.

He said that there was an abundance of food thanks to low cattle numbers and the budgies have "cashed in on that".…

Published on Leave a comment on Hopes WA-First Trial Of Tiny Houses Will Help The Homeless In Bunbury

ABC South West WA / By Jacqueline Lynch May 2021

A WA-first trial of tiny houses for homeless people is being launched in regional West Australia this week, as the state grapples with how to deal with the ongoing issue of people sleeping rough.

Three tiny, transportable houses have been built on a block of land in Bunbury, in the state's South West, to house people who have been homeless for a long time.

See These Beautiful Tiny Houses Made For Homeless People In Bunbury WA

A WA-first trial of tiny houses for homeless people is being launched in regional West Australia this week, as the state grapples with how to deal with the ongoing issue of people sleeping rough.

Three tiny, transportable houses have been built on a block of land in Bunbury, in the state's South West, to house people who have been homeless for a long time.

Accordwest CEO Evan Nunn said the tenants would be able to stay in the units for up to six months while support staff helped them transition to long-term, stable housing.

"Up to 20 people over the next three years will get the benefit of the tiny houses," he said.…

Published on Leave a comment on Iceland’s Four-Day Working Week Trials An ‘Overwhelming Success’ Report Finds

Four Related Articles In This Post For Good Measure!

Trials of a four-day working week in Iceland have been lauded an "overwhelming success", with research revealing the initiative helped increase productivity, and led to an overall improvement in workers' wellbeing.

The trials, run by Reykjavík City Council and the Icelandic government, were held between 2015 and 2019, and ultimately included more than 2,500 workers — or about one per cent of Iceland's working population.

As part of the project, employees from a range of professions — including offices, kindergartens, social service providers and hospitals — moved from a 40-hour working week, to a 35 or 36-hour working week, but received the same pay.

Research into the trials, published this month by researchers from the UK think tank Autonomy and Iceland's Association for Sustainable Democracy (Alda), noted that following the trials' success, trade unions "achieved permanent reductions in working hours for tens of thousands of their members across the country".

In total, roughly 86 per cent of Iceland’s entire working population has "now either moved to working shorter hours or have gained the right to shorten their working hours", the report found, adding that such reductions were won in contracts negotiated between 2019 and 2021.…

Published on Leave a comment on Could Tiny Homes Idea Solve Australia’s Housing Crisis At Same Time As Its Building Skills Shortage?

By David Chen  - ABC Southern Queensland June 2021

The future tradie's gaming console and couch might one day reside in a tiny house, like the one being built from scratch in a training program run by Toowomba-based not-for-profit, DGT Training and Employment.

"It's portable, its useful, you can store things in it, you can use it as second kitchen, second bedroom, back room for gaming, there's many different uses."

DGT Training CEO Kris McCue says the idea of using a tiny house to train students came after talks with local charities. (ABC Southern Qld: David Chen)

DGT CEO Kris McCue said he believed tiny homes could not only train the next generation of tradies but could also provide a short-term solution to regional Australia's housing and skills shortages.

"Rental vacancies are below 1 per cent in many, many areas — things like a tiny home can be a good, you know, shorter-term solution for that," he said.

"Also, young people moving out [for] their first time – it might not be achievable in this market, but putting a tiny home on the back of a block of their parents' home could essentially give people their own independence.

"I guess the ultimate thing for me would be for someone to participate in a training program to build a tiny home to get a job … and then to live in a tiny home that they'd built.…

Published on Leave a comment on An Interesting Love Story Growing For Nearly 100 Years – Citrus Orchard

ABC Wide Bay / By Brad Marsellos  2021

Nearly 100 years ago, an orange tree was planted on the banks of the Burnett River near Gayndah in south-east Queensland that would grow into a story of love. 

Walter Benham planted that tree in 1924, and four generations later the legacy continues with a family partnership and around 70,000 citrus trees.

Rachael Benham started making citrus products after advice from her grandma. (ABC Wide Bay: Brad Marsellos)

Like something from the pages of a Spanish romance novel, rolling plains filled with fruit-heavy trees and the occasional rocky outcrop, the Beyenda Citrus farm remains home to the Benham family.

The family now grows grapefruit, lemons, mandarins as well oranges for export and the Australian market on the picturesque property.

Rachael Benham was not born a citrus farmer like her husband and fourth-generation grower, Matt. She grew up on a western Queensland livestock farm.

The couple met at university and Ms Benham went from animal science to living on an orchard. 

Eleven years and two children later, Ms Benham still feels she has a lot to learn from the family with "orange juice flowing in their veins".

"Trees are a little different, they don't move and they don't kick, run away or need mustering," she says.…

Published on Leave a comment on New Australian Marine Parks Will Protect an Area Twice the Size of the Great Barrier Reef

From Mongabay News Website May 2021

The Australian government has moved to create two new marine protected areas that cover an expanse of ocean twice the size of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

The two parks will be established around Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean to the northwest of continental Australia. The new parks cover 740,000 square kilometers (286,000 square miles) of ocean.

Lets Protect More Ocean Life In Australia

The decision was immediately welcomed by conservation groups.

“Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands are uniquely Australian and globally significant – there’s nowhere like them on Earth,” said Michelle Grady, Director of The Pew Charitable Trusts, in a statement. “Most famous for its annual red crab migration, Christmas Island was referred to as one of the 10 natural wonders of the world by David Attenborough himself. Its thriving rainforests, deserted beaches and fringing reef provide a haven for unique and rare seabirds, land crabs and marine life.”

“Christmas and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands are recognized as globally significant standout natural wonders,” added Darren Kindleysides, CEO of the Australian Marine Conservation Society, in a statement. “Oceans across the globe are in deep trouble from pollution, overfishing, habitat loss and the very real and immediate impacts of climate change.…