Latest news with #Ballarat
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Health
- News.com.au
Why does everyone get sick so often in winter?
Welcome to Ask Doctor Zac, a weekly column from This week, Dr Zac Turner explores why so many people get sick in the winter. QUESTION: Hi Dr Zac, Every winter like clockwork, my sharehouse becomes a snotty, coughing mess. I always assumed it was just because me and my flatties are inside more, but I read something about viruses surviving longer in colder temperatures. Is that true? And does the lack of sun during winter actually mess with our immune systems? – Matt, 29, Ballarat VIC ANSWER: Thanks for the question, Matt – and condolences to your household's sinuses. Winter really does bring with it a revolving door of colds, flus and respiratory infections. It's not your imagination. And while yes, spending more time indoors definitely helps viruses spread, the science of why we get sicker in winter runs a bit deeper – and chillier – than that. Let's start with the temperature. Many common viruses, including rhinoviruses (the ones behind most colds) and influenza, actually survive longer and replicate more effectively in colder, drier conditions. One study from the Journal of Virology found that some viruses become more stable and infectious in lower temperatures because the cold preserves the viral envelope – essentially giving them a longer shelf life while they search for their next victim (you). Add in the fact that we're all breathing the same stale air indoors, and it's a perfect storm: less ventilation, more close contact, and viruses that are thriving in the cold. Now, let's talk about vitamin D. This isn't some wellness influencer's pet obsession – it's genuinely important for your immune function. Vitamin D helps regulate immune responses, and deficiency has been linked to increased susceptibility to infections, particularly respiratory ones. In winter, shorter daylight hours and less skin exposure to UVB rays means your body produces less vitamin D naturally. In fact, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows nearly one in four Aussies have insufficient vitamin D during the colder months – especially in southern regions like Victoria and Tasmania. So yes, Matt: cold temperatures, indoor living, and low vitamin D levels all team up to make winter a bit of a microbial minefield. What can you do about it? • Maximise ventilation: Even cracking a window makes a difference. Let your house breathe. Get outside during daylight hours: A lunchtime walk could help top up your vitamin D – just 10–15 minutes of sun exposure to arms and face can help. • Eat immune-supporting foods: Fatty fish, eggs, mushrooms and fortified milks are great sources of vitamin D. And yes, supplements are helpful if you're deficient – but check with your GP before starting. • Practice good hygiene: Wash hands, cover coughs, and maybe don't share that water bottle with your sniffling housemate. A few smart habits can help make your winter less snotty – and keep your immune system in fighting form until the sun comes back. Stay warm, Dr Zac Dr Zac Turner is a medical practitioner specialising in preventative health and wellness. He has four health/medical degrees – Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery at the University of Sydney, Bachelor of Nursing at Central Queensland University, and Bachelor of Biomedical Science at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He is a registrar for the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, and is completing a PhD in Biomedical Engineering (UNSW). Dr Zac is the medical director for his own holistic wellness medical clinics throughout Australia, Concierge Doctors.
News.com.au
21-07-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Brad Waters' best bets and jockey to follow for Tuesday's meeting at Ballarat Synthetic
Victorian form expert Brad Waters analyses Tuesday's fields for the eight-race card at Ballarat Synthetic, presenting his best bets, jockey to follow and lay of the day. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! â– â– â– â– â– BEST BET SOUTHBY (Race 4 No.4): Got the money at Moe but was outgunned at Flemington. Dropping sharply in class will be perfect for him on Tuesday. â– â– â– â– â– NEXT BEST GIRLCANCHAT (Race 5 No.4): The locally-trained filly made a good start to her career when running on well over 1000m last time. She'll be harder to beat over more ground. COOL CHARLIE (Race 7 No.4): Boxed on well when racing on the speed at Wangaratta but has a good record on the Ballarat Synthetic track and could go one better. â– â– â– â– â– VALUE BET GRUNDY THREE VOTES (Race 8 No.8): The five-year-old broke his maiden in decisive fashion last time out. He's up in class but is worth including again on his favourite track. â– â– â– â– â– LAY OF THE DAY SUPERVISE (Race 7 No.1): Racing well but he's got plenty of weight despite the claim and will be forced to work too hard from a wide draw. â– â– â– â– â–
News.com.au
20-07-2025
- General
- News.com.au
Big cat expert reveals truth behind viral ‘panther' footage
An Australian big cat expert has revealed the truth after a clip of a supposed 'panther' went viral on social media early last week. The footage, which has amassed over 2.5 million views, shows a large, jet black cat prowling along a road in Victoria's bushland. Viewers were quick to brand it 'irrefutable proof' of the folklore that has long gripped the nation. However, former Australian Zoo big cat keeper and expert Vaughan King has now revealed the truth behind the hugely popular video. 'It's almost certainly just a healthy looking black feral cat with its winter coat,' Mr King told For years, people have believed that Australia's vast, untamed bushland could be hiding more than just kangaroos and kookaburras. In late April 2024, prospector Angus James filmed what appears to be a large, jetâ€'black feline near Ballarat, Victoria. At the time, he told that he spotted the jet black shaped animal in his paddock when he was driving past. 'I pulled up and went to zoom in on it with my camera. And then it sort of took off and just sort of panned with it.' 'It was obviously a big cat – massive – bigger than your average house cat, that's for sure,' he said. There are numerous sophisticated online databases that track 'big cat' sightings across Australia. Perhaps the most common descriptions include large, black or tan-coloured cats resembling panthers or pumas. And big cat origin theories are almost as plentiful as the sightings themselves. Some theories suggest that the so-called big cats are escapees from private zoos, circuses, or exotic pet owners. Historian David Waldron of Federation University's Ballarat campus left the door slightly ajar for the possibility of big cats roaming the nation. 'If you actually think about it, it's not particularly absurd — adding another introduced species to the pile,' he told ABC RN in 2018. Dr Waldron canvassed government and media archives to uncover evidence of the early exotic animal trade in Australia, including instances of escaped circus animals. 'I came across one case in NSW where disgruntled performers let three tigers lose when they quit,' he said. Another well-known theory is that today's cats might be descendants of abandoned mascots from World War II American soldiers. 'There definitely have been individual big cats in the bush out there from time to time, even quite recently. That's documented. 'Particularly in the 19th century where you didn't have quarantine regulations, like we have today.' Indeed, reports of big cats span back to the 1800s, with a more recent, 2001 Deakin University study concluding that evidence of big cats in the Grampians was 'beyond reasonable doubt.' In Vaughan King's documentary ' The Hunt: In Search of Australia's Big Cats ', the big cat expert teamed up with veteran researchers John Turner and Simon Townsend to investigate the sightings that have gripped Australians. The film investigated multiple reports across the Otways in Victoria, the Hunter Valley in New South Wales and southâ€'west Western Australia. Mr King — who moved his family to Victoria to lead the project — used longâ€'range camera traps, thermal drones, DNA sampling and intensive field investigations. The team received hundreds of reports of sightings in the lead up to filming, some of which ranged from strange growls in the night and barbarous livestock killings. In Victoria's Yarra and Dandenong Ranges, Mr King declared a big cat could '100 per cent' survive — despite the absence of sightings during filming. Over in NSW in the Blue Mountains region, there have been over 560 reports of big cat sightings in the Hawkesbury, Blue Mountains and Lithgow area since 1998. In response, the Department of Primary Industries commissioned four inquiries during the years 1999, 2003, 2008 and 2013. In a 1999 letter to then National Parks and Wildlife Service director-general Brian Gilligan, Department of Agriculture head Kevin Sheridan warned: ''The reports are becoming too frequent for us to ignore the possibility. To … do so could bring into question government's duty of care.'' Wildlife ecologist Johannes Bauer was later commissioned to provide expert opinion. 'Difficult as it seems to accept, the most likely explanation of the evidence is the presence of a large, feline predator,'' he said. 'In this area, [it is] most likely a leopard, less likely a jaguar.'' In 2008, the report concluded: 'There is no scientific evidence found during this review that conclusively proves the presence of free-ranging exotic large cats in NSW, but a presence cannot be discounted, and it seems more likely than not on available evidence that such animals do exist in NSW.' However, the 2013 inquiry returned bad news for lovers of the lore with invasive species expert John Parkes labelling the 500 eyewitness accounts as 'at best prima facie evidence'', saying 'large dogs, large feral cats or swamp wallabies'' were the likely candidates. But eyewitnesses continue to disagree. In 2020, professional photographer Amber Noseda captured a series of photos of a large, sleek black cat sauntering into the bush in southwest Victoria in 2020. That same year, TV host Grant Denyer revealed he had seen what he believes to be 'sheep-sized' panthers on his Bathurst property. 'I'll give you an exclusive, and don't think I'm crazy, but I am on the panther bandwagon right now,' Denyer told at the time. 'I'm talking about the famous panthers that roam the Australian bush,' he said. 'I've seen the panther twice on the bottom of my farm and I have video to prove it — although blurry and zoomed 10 times on my iPhone,' he said. Whether stories of panthers quietly stalking the Australian bush are true or not remains unknown, but witnesses and investigators are not giving up anytime soon.
The Guardian
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
As I fear for my ancestral homeland Iran, I find solace in Persian music
My vintage Pioneer turntable is playing the music of the Ballarat-based duo Zöj. The voice of the Iranian singer Gelareh Pour and her Persian kamancheh, a bowed string instrument, are feeding my lounge with the song The God of Rainbows. The weather is bleak but then so is the state of the world. I try not to let my mood follow. The music helps, offering a welcome contrast to the pain, violence and despair churned out by my social media algorithm. I've been listening to Persian music a lot over the past month. Not only as a source of respite but as I strive to connect to my motherland – a place I've never been able to visit. My parents, who belong to the Bahá'í faith, left in 1979 during the Iranian Revolution. They have never returned. Iran's people are struggling through an intense period of civil unrest and suffering. Media continue to speculate about what the future holds for the country and, while the rockets have stopped for the time being, human rights organisations are reporting that the Islamic republic has turned on its own, arresting ordinary citizens, activists and members of religious minorities to 'stamp out any trace of dissent and reassert its control'. Nothing, it seems, can tend to our perpetually ailing hearts. Except, perhaps, for art. As I listen to these musicians who sing with fervour from the depths of their hearts, the Iranian people's deepest desires are made abundantly clear. Persian singing is a unique art form and traditional music is greatly influenced by Sufism – a mystical branch of Islam that emphasises purification and spirituality. Persian music is often infused with ancient poetry and, even though I'm not fluent, I still understand the essence of what is being said – the desire for eshgh, or love, and a yearning for light. Sign up to receive Guardian Australia's fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter I've not just been reconnecting through music. Rumi and Hafez, two Persian poets from the early 13th and 14th centuries, are known for their inspiring literary works, as are Saadi and Omar Khayyam, whose writings form the basis of many songs – including those of Zöj. Centuries after they were penned, these words fill me with spiritual insights, tranquility and nourishment. At a time of escalating global turbulence, music and art unite us and provide a lens into our spiritual truth. They speak to our common suffering, advocate for resilience and connection, and promote hope. They transcend boundaries and bind us together, speaking to what it is we all truly desire, no matter where we see ourselves on the political spectrum. As we search for the light and seek meaningful ways to contribute towards beauty wherever we live, we can find inspiration through the syllables and sounds emanating from the turntable. Rumi writes: Do not stray into the neighbourhood of despair. For there are hopes: they are real, they exist – Do not go in the direction of darkness – I tell you: suns exist. And therein lie the rainbows. Sign up for the Rural Network email newsletter
The Guardian
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
As I fear for my ancestral homeland Iran, I find solace in Persian music
My vintage Pioneer turntable is playing the music of the Ballarat-based duo Zöj. The voice of the Iranian singer Gelareh Pour and her Persian kamancheh, a bowed string instrument, are feeding my lounge with the song The God of Rainbows. The weather is bleak but then so is the state of the world. I try not to let my mood follow. The music helps, offering a welcome contrast to the pain, violence and despair churned out by my social media algorithm. I've been listening to Persian music a lot over the past month. Not only as a source of respite but as I strive to connect to my motherland – a place I've never been able to visit. My parents, who belong to the Bahá'í faith, left in 1979 during the Iranian Revolution. They have never returned. Iran's people are struggling through an intense period of civil unrest and suffering. Media continue to speculate about what the future holds for the country and, while the rockets have stopped for the time being, human rights organisations are reporting that the Islamic republic has turned on its own, arresting ordinary citizens, activists and members of religious minorities to 'stamp out any trace of dissent and reassert its control'. Nothing, it seems, can tend to our perpetually ailing hearts. Except, perhaps, for art. As I listen to these musicians who sing with fervour from the depths of their hearts, the Iranian people's deepest desires are made abundantly clear. Persian singing is a unique art form and traditional music is greatly influenced by Sufism – a mystical branch of Islam that emphasises purification and spirituality. Persian music is often infused with ancient poetry and, even though I'm not fluent, I still understand the essence of what is being said – the desire for eshgh, or love, and a yearning for light. Sign up to receive Guardian Australia's fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter I've not just been reconnecting through music. Rumi and Hafez, two Persian poets from the early 13th and 14th centuries, are known for their inspiring literary works, as are Saadi and Omar Khayyam, whose writings form the basis of many songs – including those of Zöj. Centuries after they were penned, these words fill me with spiritual insights, tranquility and nourishment. At a time of escalating global turbulence, music and art unite us and provide a lens into our spiritual truth. They speak to our common suffering, advocate for resilience and connection, and promote hope. They transcend boundaries and bind us together, speaking to what it is we all truly desire, no matter where we see ourselves on the political spectrum. As we search for the light and seek meaningful ways to contribute towards beauty wherever we live, we can find inspiration through the syllables and sounds emanating from the turntable. Rumi writes: Do not stray into the neighbourhood of despair. For there are hopes: they are real, they exist – Do not go in the direction of darkness – I tell you: suns exist. And therein lie the rainbows. Sign up for the Rural Network email newsletter
