Lifeboat Foundation

“Observations of metastasising cells revealed something intriguing—a high level of something called methylmalonic acid (MMA), a metabolic byproduct that appears to accumulate as we get older.”

“So how does MMA induce these changes in cancer cells? The key seems to be in a sort of reprogramming that “switches on” a gene called SOX4.

Prior research has shown SOX4 encourages cancer cells to become more aggressive and prone to metastasis.

Continue reading “Study finds cancer-boosting culprit that multiplies with age” »

Research is showing a strong link between handgrip strength, walking speed, and cognition, indicating how improved physical health could boost elderly minds.

Based at Barwon Health, in the heart of Geelong’s clinical health precinct, researchers are working to identify the risk factors —such as changes in muscle mass, muscle strength and physical performance—for developing sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass, strength and function with advancing age) across the lifespan.

This testing involves the Geelong Osteoporosis Study (GOS) which began in the early 1990s, gathering adult participants from the electoral roll in the Barwon Statistical Division. During recent follow-up testing, researchers also measured cognitive function through a computer-based program, in tandem with physical health evaluations.

For decades, greater than 60% of the human genome was believed to be “junk DNA” that served little or no purpose in the course of human development. Recent research by Colorado State University is challenging this notion to show that junk DNA might be important after all.

A new study, published on June 5 in Aging Cell, found that a portion of noncoding genetic material, called repetitive element transcripts, might be an important biomarker of the aging process.

Tom LaRocca, an assistant professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science and faculty member in the Columbine Heath Systems Center for Healthy Aging at CSU, led the study to investigate a growing body of evidence that repetitive elements—transposons and other sequences that occur in multiple copies in the human genome —may become active over time as we age.

Aubrey interviewed by, um, alien scientists.

Our conversation covers the importance of non-academic institutions in science, strategies for combating for repair the damage of aging, and an exploration of how extending human lifespan will change the Earth. In Dr. de Gray’s perspective, age-related decline is a medical problem like any other that can be treated and cured by cutting edge technology. He’s devoted himself to this pursuit as a founder of the SENS Research Foundation, the Methuselah Foundation, and the medical startup AgeX.

Continue reading “A Future Without Aging — Dr. Aubrey de Grey” »

NR and NMN are popular ways to try to boost levels of NAD+, but that approach hasn’t worked every time in human studies. One reason for that may involve CD38, which degrades both NR and NMN. With the goal of boosting NAD+ levels during aging, why does CD38 increase with age, and what can be done about it? All that and more in this video!

Every dog owner has their own reasons for getting a pet, whether it is companionship, protection, or simply to have a furry friend to walk with. Each different breed comes with perks and challenges, and owners must be prepared to accommodate each type of dog’s unique health requirements to maximize their lifespan, because the reality is that some dogs are genetically predisposed to live much longer than others.

In order to determine the shortest and longest living dog breeds in the world, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the study, “Methods and mortality results of a health survey of purebred dogs in the UK,” published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice. Breeds for which there was little data or low response rates on surveys sent to owners were not considered. Breeds that are not officially recognized by the American Kennel Club were also not considered. Breed popularity data, as well as height and weight data, comes from the AKC. The height refers to the height of the dog’s shoulder.

Numerous studies have determined that there is a significant link between the size of a dog and the length of its lifespan — larger dogs have noticeably shorter lifespans than smaller dogs, as they age at a faster rate. Yet size and lifespan do not correlate exactly, as certain types of dogs are especially prone to maladies like cancer or heart problems.

We can’t evolve faster than our language does. Evolution is a linguistic, code-theoretic process. Do yourself a humongous favor, look over these 33 transhumanist neologisms. Here’s a fairly comprehensive glossary of thirty three newly-introduced concepts and terms from “The Syntellect Hypothesis: Five Paradigms of the Mind’s Evolution” by futurist, philosopher and evolutionary cyberneticist Alex M. Vikoulov. In parts written as an academic paper, in parts as a belletristic masterpiece, this recent book is an exceptionally easy read for an intellectual reader — a philosophical treatise that is fine-tuned with apt neologisms readily explained by given definitions and contextually… https://medium.com/@alexvikoulov/33-crucial-terms-every-futu…a1c8b993c8

#evolution #consciousness #futurism #transhumanism #philosophy

“A powerful work! As a transhumanist, I especially loved one of the main ideas of the book that the Syntellect Emergence, merging of us into one Global Mind, constitutes the quintessence of the coming Technological Singularity. The novel conceptual visions of mind-uploading and achieving digital immortality are equally fascinating. The Chrysalis Conjecture as a solution to the Fermi Paradox is mind-bending. I would highly recommend The Syntellect Hypothesis to anyone with transhumanist aspirations and exponential thinking!” -Zoltan Istvan, futurist, author, founder of the U.S. Transhumanist Party

Continue reading “33 Crucial Terms Every Futurist, Transhumanist, and Philosopher Should Know Going Forward” »

As transhumanists, we aim at the so-called continuity of subjectivity by the means of advanced technologies. Death in a common sense of the word becomes optional and cybernetic immortality is within our reach during our lifetimes. By definition, posthumanism (I choose to call it ‘cyberhumanism’) is to replace transhumanism at the center stage circa 2035. By then, mind uploading could become a reality with gradual neuronal replacement, rapid advancements in Strong AI, massively parallel computing, and nanotechnology allowing us to directly connect our brains to the Cloud-based infrastructure of the Global Brain. Via interaction with our AI assistants, the GB will know us better than we know ourselves in all respects, so mind-transfer, or rather “mind migration,” for billions of enhanced humans would be seamless, sometime by mid-century.

By 2040, mind-uploading may become a norm and a fact of life with a “critical mass” of uploads and cybernetic immortality. Any container with a sufficiently integrated network of information patterns, with a certain optimal complexity, especially complex dynamical systems with biological or artificial brains (say, the coming AGIs) could be filled with consciousness at large in order to host an individual “reality cell,” “unit,” or a “node” of consciousness. This kind of individuated unit of consciousness is always endowed with free will within the constraints of the applicable set of rules (“physical laws”), influenced by the larger consciousness system dynamics. Isn’t too naïve to presume that Universal Consciousness would instantiate phenomenality only in the form of “bio”-logical avatars?

Keith Comito, president of Life Extension Advocacy Foundation, joins me for a discussion to preview the 2020 Eding Age Related Diseases conference, to be held online, August 20–21, 2020. Go HERE to register for the conference, and use discount code SeekingDelphiEARD

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