A futurist claims longevity escape velocity may arrive by 2029, suggesting life expectancy could rise faster than we age. Here’s what the science says.
Category: futurism – Page 54
World’s Largest ‘Modern’ Crater Found Hiding in Plain Sight in China
Nestled on a hillside in Guangdong Province near Zhaoqing City, the Jinlin crater managed to hide in plain sight until researchers identified it as an impact structure.
Only about 200 confirmed impact craters exist worldwide, making each discovery scientifically valuable.
But this one stands out for its exceptional size and youth.
Study reveals how uterine contractions are regulated by stretch and pressure during childbirth
When labor begins, the uterus must coordinate rhythmic, well-timed contractions to deliver the baby safely. While hormones such as progesterone and oxytocin are key contributors to that process, scientists have long suspected that physical forces—in this case, the stretching and pressure that accompany pregnancy and delivery—also play a role.
Now, a new study from Scripps Research published in Science, reveals how the uterus senses and responds to those forces at a molecular level. The findings could help scientists better understand the biological roots of conditions such as stalled labor and preterm birth, guiding future efforts to develop treatments that improve maternal care.
“As the fetus grows, the uterus expands dramatically, and those physical forces reach their peak during delivery,” says senior author Ardem Patapoutian, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and the Presidential Endowed Chair in Neurobiology at Scripps Research.
The 700,000-year-old Skull in Greek cave completely shatters the Out of Africa theory
The “Petralona Man,” or “Petralona Archanthropus” is a for 700,000 years old human skull found in 1959. Since then, scientists have tried to locate the origin of this skull, which has created tremendous controversy.
The skull, indicating the oldest human “Europeoid” (presenting European traits), was embedded in a cave’s wall in Petralona, near Chalkidiki in Northern Greece.
A shepherd mistakenly found the cave, dense with stalactites and stalagmites. The cave and skull study was assigned to Dr. Aris Poulianos, an anthropologist specialist, member of UNESCO’s International Union of Anthropology and Ethnology, and president of the Anthropological Association of Greece.
Science history: Chemists discover buckyballs — the most perfect molecules in existence — Nov. 14, 1985
Over a feverish 10-day period in 1985, scientists conceived of a new molecule of perfect symmetry — and named it after one of the 20th century’s most famous inventors and futurists.
The hunt started in the 1970s when Harry Kroto, a lab chemist at the University of Sussex in the U.K., was puzzling over the discovery of a primordial soup of organic molecules in the “vast dark clouds that lie between the stars,” Kroto said in his Nobel Prize speech.