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Certain snakes have evolved a unique genetic trick to avoid being eaten by venomous snakes, according to University of Queensland research.
Associate Professor Bryan Fry from UQ s Toxin Evolution Lab said the technique worked in a manner similar to the way two sides of a magnet repel each other. The target of snake venom neurotoxins is a strongly negatively charged nerve receptor, Dr Fry said. This has caused neurotoxins to evolve with positively charged surfaces, thereby guiding them to the neurological target to produce paralysis. But some snakes have evolved to replace a negatively charged amino acid on their receptor with a positively charged one, meaning the neurotoxin is repelled.
Homeschooling Numbers Continue to Rise in Australia
Homeschooling is now on the rise after COVID-19 gave many parents and students a taste in 2020 of what it was like to learn from home.
Some parents struggled to help their kids learn at home during last year’s coronavirus lockdowns but others found it so beneficial they decided to continue.
The number of students taking lessons at home was already on the rise before COVID-19, but 2020 saw a further increase, education expert Rebecca English said.
She attributes the shift, at least in part, to the experience children had learning from home during the pandemic lockdowns.
War of words over free speech: who gets to judge what we see and say?
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War of words over free speech: who gets to judge what we see and say?
Social media critics on both sides are united in their call for consistency and clear standards for free speech.
January 15, 2021
Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram all banned or suspended US President Donald Trump after the violent storming of the Capitol by a mob of his supporters.
Credit:AP/Michael Howard
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To stretch or not to stretch before exercise: What you need to know about warm-ups
To put the research into context, the average performance decrease (decrease in strength, power, speed) after static stretching across all studies is about three to five per cent. (Pixabay photo)
Over the past 20 years, static muscle stretching has gotten a bad rap. Once considered an essential part of any sport or exercise warm-up, static stretching has now been removed from the picture almost entirely.
This move followed extensive research showing that static stretching where we stretch and then hold the muscle at an extended length for seconds or minutes can reduce muscle strength (reflected in things like lifting weights), power (for example, jump height), running speed, balance and other capacities for a short time after the stretching.