FEAST OR FAMINE

The Guiness World Records declared the number of lights displayed in the Canberra civic centre a record. The SIDS and Kids ACT light display has 1,194,380 LED lights. The creators of the display, David and Janean Richards, said the display of almost 2 million lights broke the Guiness World Records title for the world’s largest LED light image exhibition. LED lights are light-emitting diodes and are very small. The display supports the SIDS and Kids ACT charity through a gold coin donation. SIDS and Kids is dedicated to saving the lives of babies and children from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). In Australia each year over 3500 families experience the sudden and unexpected death of a baby or child through fatal sleeping accidents. Most deaths have no known causes, and hence the donations support families and research. The ACT branch (Australian Capital Territory) in Canberra was established in 1978. The display continues until New Year’s Eve on 31 December 2014...

At the Canberra Museum and Gallery, the Sidney Nolan exhibition is a permanent collection of his paintings. Sidney Nolan gifted the 24 artworks to the people of Australia in 1974. All of the pieces are ripolin enamel on board. Sidney Nolan (1917-1992) was one of Australia’s best-known artists, living near Melbourne in the state of Victoria. He was interested in the bushranger Ned Kelly (1854-1880) who lived in Nolan’s local region. He painted a series of 27 Kelly pieces (1946-1947 and mid-50s) showing Ned Kelly in his black iconic iron mask and armour that he wore while fighting the constabulary. Sidney Nolan was also fascinated by the policemen of Kelly’s era. The photographs show: Kelly and horse (1946) - top photo, Kelly (1945), and Kelly and Scanlon (1945). The Foundation Collection in the Canberra Museum and Gallery includes Nolan’s earliest paintings with 15 from the 1940s Kelly series as well as pieces from the Burke and Wills series, and St Kilda s...

Compounds in cocoa beans may boost older people’s memory, says New Scientist (1 November 2014). Researcher Scott Small at Columbia University in New York tested the affect of flavanols on older people (Nature Neuroscience, doi.org/wn6). Flavanols are chemicals in some foods that have been found to enhance memory in lab rats. So could it be true for people too? Flavanols are also found in cocoa beans – the essence of chocolate. Small asked 19 volunteers aged 50-69 to drink 900 milligrams of cocoa flavanols in milk or water every day for three months. Another group of 18 people drank 10 mg of cocoa flavanols for the same period of time. Before and after the drinking period, each person in both groups was subjected to a memory test in which the person was shown 41 abstract shapes. Following the abstract shapes the volunteers were shown 82 more shapes. They had to select the shapes that they had seen before in the first showing. Small used this test because from the age o...

Canberra’s National Arboretum opened in February 2013.   Almost two years later, the trees are growing and the landscape is covered with saplings, roads, walkways, and a function hall. The core of the $67 million Arboretum is the visitors' centre – with a café, function area, displays, and gift shop – showcasing the magnificent views of the landscape and the Australian Capital Territory – the Bush Capital of Australia. The centre has a national bonsai collection – moved from its previous home at Commonwealth Park. Radiating from the centre are 94 forests of rare, endangered and symbolic trees of Australia and around the world. Over 48,000 trees have been planted on 250 hectare (618 acres) with species from over 100 countries. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest E...