Aug 6, 2015
In Tech, the Smartphone is the Center | a16z
Posted by Odette Bohr Dienel in categories: hardware, innovation, internet, software
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Aug 6, 2015
Think 80 Years Is A Long Time? Take a Look At This
Posted by Roy in category: life extension
It can be all too easy to drift through life on automatic, forever putting things off, but statistics and data can give a physicality to things we barely notice or consider most of the time. These diagrams might just give you an entirely new perspective on your life.
Read the full article at The Longevity Reporter: http://www.longevityreporter.org/blog/2015/7/16/think-80-yea…hink-again.
Aug 6, 2015
Why Are Tech Billionaires Investing In Aging Research?
Posted by Roy in categories: biotech/medical, economics, life extension
Peter Thiel, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Bill Maris, Mark Zuckerberg…investment in biotech by leading figures in the world of technology is reaching new heights, with the regenerative medicine market projected to reach $20 billion by 2025 and the overall anti-aging market $345.8 billion by 2018.
These forecasts combined with a recent biotech boom mean that the economic reasons for investing are becoming clear and rising demand is virtually inevitable as the proportion of older individuals continues to grow to unparalleled levels. Bill Gates may have labelled anti-aging efforts as ‘egocentric’, but the investment doesn’t appear to be due to economic reasons alone; there is also a strong humanitarian and aspirational aspect that links some of these individuals together — the desire to utilise technology to create a better society.
‘With all being from a scientific background, Page, Brin and Maris particularly are clear in their belief that science holds the key to radically improving both the human condition and the world we live in — the pinnacle of this being radically prolonging human lifespan. In a recent Bloomberg interview Maris points out we live in an era where science can make all the tools available for any audacious vision out there…To these tech billionaires, evolution is meant to be transcended, and the resources put into organ regeneration, drugs that control ageing, or reprogramming DNA reflects their conviction that people have the right to lead better lives.’
Aug 5, 2015
More Evidence That Faulty Protein Formation Contributes To Aging
Posted by Roy in categories: biotech/medical, life extension
Misfolding proteins and aggregates are a serious problem for a cell; a great range of research has been able to link poor protein ‘quality control’ with a whole range of diseases, perhaps most famously Alzheimer’s disease. Recent work also suggests that the ‘heat shock’ response, a mechanism that protects against misfolding and corrects badly made proteins, may also become impaired with aging. This gradual deterioration could turn out to be one of the most significant drivers of both aging and age-related disease.
In research that support this theory, a recent paper provides evidence that the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a cellular compartment which is responsible for creating and correctly forming protein structures, loses its oxidative power with age. This means that it loses the ability to form a type of bond called a disulphide bridge, a strong chemical bond which normally stabilises protein structures and holds them in particular shapes. The chemical environment within the ER was shown to change with age, disrupting the delicate equilibrium in the cell and leading to increased oxidative damage in other areas. Proteins moving through the ER on a production line often require disulphide linkages to mature correctly and stabilise their structure, but without this step they’re unable to do so and remain unstable.
Aug 5, 2015
The First Vegan Burger that ‘Bleeds’ like Meat
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: food, sustainability
This is the product that Google wanted to buy for $300 million and just got denied…
The first vegan burger that ‘bleeds’ like meat.
Aug 5, 2015
Sleeping on your side may clear waste from your brain most effectively
Posted by Sean Brazell in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
The brain’s glymphatic pathway clears harmful wastes, especially during sleep. This lateral position could prove to be the best position for the brain-waste clearance process (credit: Stony Brook University)
Sleeping in the lateral, or side position, as compared to sleeping on one’s back or stomach, may more effectively remove brain waste, and could reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurological diseases, according to researchers at Stony Brook University.
Stony Brook University researchers discovered this in experiments with rodents by using dynamic contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to image the brain’s glymphatic pathway, a complex system that clears wastes and other harmful chemical solutes from the brain. They also used kinetic modeling to quantify the CSF-ISF exchange rates in anesthetized rodents’ brains in lateral, prone, and supine positions.
Continue reading “Sleeping on your side may clear waste from your brain most effectively” »
Aug 5, 2015
Watch the Moon cross in front of the Earth, as seen from a million miles away
Posted by Sean Brazell in category: space
A thing of beauty!
We all need a little cosmic perspective from time to time, and this is as good as it gets. NASA has released this truly stunning GIF of the Moon passing in front of the Earth. The image sequence offers an unprecedented look at the relationship between the two planetary objects, and also gives a detailed look at the rarely seen far side of the Moon.
The resulting GIF is so amazing that it’s almost unbelievable, but the images are completely real. The whole sequence was taken by the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (or “EPIC,” a wonderfully appropriate acronym) on the DSCOVR satellite that was launched in February.
Aug 5, 2015
Warforged are robots right?? Who cares, sharing is caring.
Posted by Bryan Gatton in category: robotics/AI
Due to recent issues with Hitchbot, the Asimov’s rules of robotics have been updated.
Warforged are robots right?? Who cares, sharing is caring.
Aug 5, 2015
These scientists have engineered a new, lightweight bionic hand
Posted by Albert Sanchez in categories: cyborgs, transhumanism
Aug 5, 2015
A psychologist thinks it’ll be normal to have sex with robots
Posted by Bryan Gatton in categories: computing, robotics/AI, sex, virtual reality
In the next half of this century, humans will be regularly engaging in sexual activity with robots, and maybe even falling in love with them, according to Helen Driscoll, a psychologist who specialises in sex and mate choices at the University of Sunderland in the UK.
Her comments came while discussing the technological advances that are making sex dolls more interactive than ever before, and they present a future eerily similar to that of the Joaquin Phoenix film Her, where the main character falls in love with an operating system on his computer (voiced by Scarlett Johansson no less, who could blame him?)
“As virtual reality becomes more realistic and immersive and is able to mimic and even improve on the experience of sex with a human partner; it is conceivable that some will choose this in preference to sex with a less than perfect human being,” Driscoll told David Watkinson from the Daily Mirror.
