Link Banana

Some Australian scientists think they’re a natural replacement for beef. Patrick Fitzgerald explains:

Unlike sheep and cattle, kangaroos emit little methane, which accounts for 11 percent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. The study suggests that increasing the kangaroo population to 175 million while simultaneously decreasing the the number of other livestock would lower emissions by 3 percent over the next 12 years. The plan would have added benefits for soil conservation, drought response, and water quality as a result of reducing the number of hard-hoofed livestock.

In an interesting but odd graph, The Economist shows that though America requires the most albums sold for an artist to “go platinum,” Norway, Britain, and Australia require more sales per capita.

Coober Pedy, South Australia is a cool place. (SWIDT?)

(via Coudal)

In a simple chart, The Economist makes the interesting point that though the United States, Russia, and China fought fairly evenly for the most medals in 2004 — and most other games — it’s actually countries like The Bahamas, Australia, and Cuba that did the best per capita.

So says The Economist:

Australians’ response to all this has been overwhelmingly positive. Politicians of all stripes vie with each other to be seen as China’s friend. When John Howard was prime minister, he invited Hu Jintao, China’s president, to make two state visits in the space of four years. The most recent one, which took place just before a big international summit in Sydney last year, was seen as a bid to raise Mr Howard’s standing ahead of an election. But Kevin Rudd, then leader of the opposition, upstaged Mr Howard with his fluent Chinese. Mr Rudd, who went on to win the election, gave an interview to China’s state-owned television network in which he promised to elevate Australia’s relations with China “to a whole new level”.

Australians do not seem to suffer from the faint unease about China’s rapid growth that often afflicts Europeans and Americans. Instead, they see China’s rise as an opportunity. In a poll conducted last year by the Lowy Institute, a think-tank, a majority of Australians said they had positive feelings towards China and saw it as their country’s most important economic partner. Only 19% said they were very worried about China’s growing power.

I’m rather saddened that this data is so old, but it’s still very impressive to see how much spending on credit card increased (especially in Australia) during the period. I have to admit, as someone who’s never had one, I can’t fathom why it would ever go up. Sky miles I guess.