The working of any of the inhaled drugs used in anesthesia is still a mystery. Though, the anaesthetizing properties of ether were verified by William Morton in 1846, but 64 years later, no one knows how it works.

Visiting New York speaker, Professor Steve Shafer shared that the best minds in the world have been baffled by "the greatest unsolved mystery in pharmacology”. Professor Shafer, from Columbia University will be addressing the public today at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists in Christchurch.

Mr. Werner Naef, the former Swiss airforce colonel and commercial airline captain will deliver a speech on a fatal plane crash. Though, it could have been avoided, if the early warning signals in the pilot's had been recognized and acted upon. He trains people who work in stressful environments like in hospitals.

Associate Professor, Mike Hamlin will highlight about what athletes do in order to prepare for competitions. His associate Professor Hamlin explains the "freaks of nature that choose to push themselves to the utmost limits of their body's abilities".

A Melbourne team of researchers will reveal that there is a link between excessively deep anaesthesia and heart attack, stroke and even death, in the long term. BIS and its effect on outcomes related to death, stroke and MI, will be presented by Professor Kate Leslie. Though, the results need to be confirmed with the larger study.