Researchers have identified that mutations to <i>vgll3</i> that are beneficial in early life also reduce lifespan and contribute to cancer later in life, providing evidence for the antagonistic pleiotropy theory of aging.
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Promising Anti-Aging Drug May Cause Brain Damage, Scientists Warn
The experimental drug combo dasatinib and quercetin (known for short as D+Q) is one of the most promising anti-aging therapies being developed right now.
It is not yet approved for human use, but some scientists think it has the potential to fight disease by improving how our systems clear out worn-down cells.
According to a new study, however, there might be a big problem with D+Q.
Migratory Eurasian blackbirds have longer telomere length but similar mitochondrial density than resident conspecifics
Telomeres are regarded as key markers of cellular ageing and physiological state. Oxidative stress, which can accelerate telomere shortening, is thought to increase during energetically demanding processes such as bird migration. However, their study in the context of migratory behaviour is limited. Here we compared telomere length (TL) and mitochondrial DNA copy number (mitoDNAcn) between migratory and resident Eurasian blackbirds on the island of Helgoland, a migratory stopover site. Contrary to expectations, we found migrants had longer TLs despite similar mitochondrial densities. These findings reinforce the idea that migratory individuals may possess specific physiological adaptations, such as enhanced antioxidant defences, that help preserve telomere integrity.
No Free Lunch for Sound Waves
Sound wave scattering can be increased in one frequency range only by reducing scattering in another range, according to experiments—a discovery relevant for acoustic engineering.
Acoustic metamaterials allow blocking, absorbing, or redirecting waves in ways not possible with conventional materials. Now researchers have shown that all such structures face a previously unrecognized constraint: The total acoustic scattering is fixed, so that boosting scattering in one frequency band necessarily depletes it elsewhere [1]. This general restriction provides a new way of thinking about how acoustic performance can be optimized, which could guide the design of broadband sound-control devices, from noise barriers to acoustic cloaks.
By building structures into materials on length scales smaller than the wavelength of sound, researchers can create artificial resonant elements that interact strongly with acoustic waves. Such structures can produce effects that are difficult or impossible to achieve otherwise—for example, strong sound attenuation through thin material layers. Such advances have led to new techniques for lightweight soundproofing and sound steering.