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Jun 28, 2021

Radiation Speeds Up Biological Aging in Head and Neck Cancer

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, life extension

Changes in epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) were significant over time, with the biggest increase — 4.9 years — seen immediately after the completion of radiotherapy (PChanges in epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) were significant over time, with the biggest increase — 4.9 years — seen immediately after the completion of radiotherapy (P0.001), reported Canhua Xiao, RN, PhD, of Emory University School of Nursing in Atlanta, and colleagues.

The study also demonstrated that EAA was associated with greater inflammation and fatigue, even up to a year after treatment, they noted in Cancer.

While chronological age is a strong risk factor for chronic health problems, Xiao and colleagues said that it often differs from epigenetic age and may be a limited predictor of age-associated disorders. On the other hand, they noted that epigenetic clocks, based on blood DNA methylation measures, have become reliable aging biomarkers.

Jun 28, 2021

China turns on world’s second-biggest hydropower dam

Posted by in categories: energy, government

Plans call for the 289-meter-tall (954-foot-tall) Baihetan Dam to have 16 generating units with a capacity of 1 million kilowatts each. That will make it second in size after the Three Gorges Dam, opened in 2003 on the Yangtze, with 22.5 million kilowatts of generating capacity.


BEIJING (AP) — The first two generating units of the world’s second-biggest hydroelectric dam were officially turned on Monday in southwestern China, the government announced.

The Baihetan Dam on the Jinsha River, a tributary of the Yangtze, is part of Chinese efforts to curb surging fossil fuel demand by building more hydropower capacity at a time when dams have fallen out of favor in other countries due to environmental complaints.

Continue reading “China turns on world’s second-biggest hydropower dam” »

Jun 28, 2021

Statins Used to Lower Cholesterol Linked to Doubled Risk of Developing Dementia

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, neuroscience

If concerned, speak to your physician.


In patients with mild cognitive impairment, taking lipophilic statins more than doubles their risk of developing dementia compared to those who do not take statins. According to research presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2021 Annual Meeting, positron emission tomography (PET) scans of lipophilic statin users revealed a highly significant decline in metabolism in the area of the brain that is first impacted by Alzheimer’s disease.

Statins are medications used to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke. They are the most commonly used drugs in the developed world, and nearly 50 percent of Americans over age 75 use a statin. Different types of statins are available based on a patient’s health needs, including hydrophilic statins that focus on the liver and lipophilic statins that are distributed to tissues throughout the body.

Continue reading “Statins Used to Lower Cholesterol Linked to Doubled Risk of Developing Dementia” »

Jun 28, 2021

Tesla Model S Plaid Defeats Cars Built To Win Pikes Peak — “Nobody would expect us to be faster than that.”

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

Electric motors have a lot of power and it is instant on-demand.


When Tesla unveiled its new Plaid Model S earlier this month, it took the world by storm, fueling dreams of speed, racing, and fun. In the sense of a grand finale to Tesla’s event, another event was talked about in the weeks following. That event was the annual race to the summit of Pikes Peak. Also known as “The Race to the Clouds,” the entire track winds through 156 turns over 12.42 miles as it reaches the summit of Pikes Peak.

Continue reading “Tesla Model S Plaid Defeats Cars Built To Win Pikes Peak — ‘Nobody would expect us to be faster than that.’” »

Jun 28, 2021

Researchers engineer cells to destroy malignant tumor cells but leave the rest alone

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Researchers at McMaster University have developed a promising new cancer immunotherapy that uses cancer-killing cells genetically engineered outside the body to find and destroy malignant tumors.

The modified “natural killer” can differentiate between and that are often intermingled in and around tumors, destroying only the targeted cells.

The natural killer cells’ ability to distinguish the , even from healthy cells that bear similar markers, brings new promise to this branch of immunotherapy, say members of the research team behind a paper published in the current issue of the journal iScience, newly posted on the PubMed database.

Jun 28, 2021

Jan Wörner KeyNote Speech to the 2021 Space Renaissance Congress

Posted by in categories: government, space travel

The speech sent by **Jan Wörner — former Director General of ESA -** for the Inaugural Opening Session of the 2021 Space Renaissance Congress.

Jan couldn’t present live, however he kindly sent us his speech, that we are nonored and proud to publish and add to the Acta of the Congress.

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Jun 28, 2021

Supermoon calendar 2021 and 2022: Dates, times, and how to see one

Posted by in category: space

Supermoons typically occur once or twice a year when the Moon is full and at its closest point to the Earth. Don’t miss the opportunity to see the next one.

Jun 28, 2021

Is Intelligent Life As Uncommon As ‘Rare Earth’ First Proposed?

Posted by in category: alien life

Twenty years after the publication of their game-changing book “Rare Earth,” Ward and Brownlee argue that planets like Earth are likely as rare as ever.

Jun 27, 2021

Gottlieb says parts of U.S. could see “very dense outbreaks” as Delta variant spreads

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Washington — As the U.S. continues to navigate its way through the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said areas of the country could experience “very dense outbreaks” with the concerning Delta variant continuing to circulate.

“It’s going to be hyper-regionalized, where there are certain pockets of the country [where] we can have very dense outbreaks,” Gottlieb said Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

The most vulnerable areas continue to be those with low vaccination rates and low rates of immunity from prior infections. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many southern states have vaccination rates that lag behind the national average.

Jun 27, 2021

How AI Is Taking Over Our Gadgets

Posted by in categories: mobile phones, robotics/AI

The challenges of making AI work at the edge—that is, making it reliable enough to do its job and then justifying the additional complexity and expense of putting it in our devices—are monumental. Existing AI can be inflexible, easily fooled, unreliable and biased. In the cloud, it can be trained on the fly to get better—think about how Alexa improves over time. When it’s in a device, it must come pre-trained, and be updated periodically. Yet the improvements in chip technology in recent years have made it possible for real breakthroughs in how we experience AI, and the commercial demand for this sort of functionality is high.


AI is moving from data centers to devices, making everything from phones to tractors faster and more private. These newfound smarts also come with pitfalls.