FEAST OR FAMINE

'The Five Tibetan Rites: Exercises for Healing, Rejuvenation, and Longevity' by Mary Kurus provides easy to follow exercises used by Tibetan monks. They are designed to make you sleep soundly, wake up feeling refreshed, provide relief from joint problems, improve physical strength and endurance, and enhance a sense of well being and harmony (and lots of other benefits too). The Tibetans claim that these exercises activate and stimulate the seven key chakras that in turn stimulate all the glands of the endocrine system. The endocrine system is responsible for the body's overall functioning and aging process. This means that the Five Rites will affect the functioning of all your organs and systems, including the physical and energetic systems and that includes the aging process. Chakras Chakra is an Indian Sanskrit word that translates to mean "Wheel of Spinning Energy". Chakras govern the endocrine system that in turn regulates all of the body's functi...

I'll be working in Mongolia for a few months in the coldest capital on Earth. Mongolia is a large country in the heart of Asia, but sparsely populated. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It is almost three times the size of France, and its capital, Ulaanbaatar, is on the same latitude as Paris. In Paris alone the population is 2.2 million in its centre and 11 million in its totality (as of 2006), whereas the population of the whole of Mongolia is a little more than a million. In the west and north there are mountains rising over 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) but there are extensive areas of flat or undulating plains which are desert in the south and steppe grasslands in the north and east. Mongolia has an extreme continental type of climate similar to south-central Siberia. Winters are long and very cold. There is a swift transition in April to a short, warm summer and an equally rapid return to the winter cold in October. Rainfall is low...

The earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale that hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, has more than devastated the landscape and its people. I have been in countries affected by natural disasters such as quakes, storms, floods, and tsunamis, but this earthquake must be one of the worst, if not the worst, in history. Last year I was in Banda Aceh in Indonesia to assess the rebuilding efforts after the 2004 tsunami - 5 years had made a significant difference in the area's reconstruction. However, the local government infrastructure in Banda Aceh had not been affected. In Haiti, the local government structure of many towns has been totally gutted - completely devastated - to the point where they are no public services available. The foundations (physically and socially) were not strong to begin with -Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. This will inevitably lead to an exceptionally long process of rebuilding. But before rebuilding can start, there ...

The Red Hill Bush Regenerators members have introduced extra nest sites for possums, cockatoos, and bats in the Red Hill Nature Reserve in the nation's capital, Canberra. The boxes were designed by primary students and funded through a Landcare grant. About 30 students over two years built the boxes during their enrichment classes. They now have more than 50 boxes in the reserve. The reserve has rare yellow-box gum trees and red gum trees in the woodland, which attracts the animals, but the levels are lower than expected because there are few hollow trees for nesting. The Red Hill Bush Regenerators have been meeting every month for 21 years, and work with students and interested individuals to improve biodiversity in the region. Examples of their activities include introducing bird-friendly plants, building a pond and extending the gardens of the Telopea Park primary school.

New Year's resolutions are common. People make them, people break them. The word 'resolution' means 'firmness' or 'determination'. When someone says that they resolve to quit smoking, they are determined to do it. But of course, best laid plans do go astray. Most resolutions are difficult to maintain, and by the end of January, most are 'broken'. This year I resolve not to use the word 'resolution'. Instead, I'll be using the word 'intention'. So on December 31, 2009, I wrote my Intentions List for 2010. I intend to ... It's actually quite ambitious. But it doesn't seem so ... well, resolute! And I'm sure that by the year's end, I'll be able to write my Gratitude List, having completed most of the activities on my Intentions List.

Fierce as they are, Tasmanian devils cannot beat a contagious cancer that threatens to wipe them out. The furry black animals spread a fast-killing cancer when they bite each other's faces. Since the disease's discovery in 1996, their numbers have plummeted by 70 per cent. There is no treatment and little hope of finding one until scientists better understand what is fuelling this bizarre "devil facial tumour disease". An international research team looked at the cancer's genes and discovered that it apparently first arose in cells that protect the animals' nerves which has led to development of a test to help diagnose this tumour. Next, scientists are hunting the mutations that turned these cells rogue, work they hope could one day lead to a vaccine to protect the remaining Tasmanian devils because they're dying very quickly. They die within 3 months due to malnutrition and organ failure. The devils, known for powerful jaws, fierce screech...