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Why the next 25 years could surpass anything in modern memory | Peter Leyden: Full Interview

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“Old systems of the past are collapsing, and new systems of the future are still to be born. I call this moment the great progression.”

Up next, We are living through a slowdown in human progress | Jason Crawford ► • We are living through a slowdown in human…

We are at a tipping point. In the next 25 years, technologies like AI, clean energy, and bioengineering are poised to reshape society on a scale few can imagine.

Peter Leyden draws on decades of observing technological revolutions and historical patterns to show how old systems collapse, new ones rise, and humanity faces both extraordinary risk and unprecedented opportunity.

0:00 We’re on the cusp of an era of progress.

Continue reading “Why the next 25 years could surpass anything in modern memory | Peter Leyden: Full Interview” | >

Scientists Have Discovered a Protein That Reverses Brain Aging in The Lab

Our brains age along with the rest of our bodies, and as they do, they produce fewer new brain cells. Now, researchers have found a key mechanism through which the typical age-related decline in neuron production might be slowed.

In later life, the neural stem cells (NSCs) that turn into fully fledged neurons become more dormant – almost as if they’re going into retirement after a long lifetime of service. As that happens, cognitive decline creeps in.

A major reason why NSC activity fades with age is the wear and tear on telomeres, the protective caps on the ends of DNA. Telomeres fray a little more each time a cell divides, and over time, this impairs cells’ ability to grow and divide, leading to increasing cell death.

New sun-powered device extracts lithium while desalinating seawater

The world needs lithium at higher rates than ever before. But our current methods of getting it are breaking the planet.

The answer to the lithium crisis might just be a high-tech, “solar-powered seesaw” extractor.

According to the researchers at Zhejiang University in China, this new device maximizes lithium yield from seawater while simultaneously desalinating water.

How to design a space station: Meet the Seattle company that’s helping define the look of the final frontier

How do you design a living space where there’s no up or down? That’s one of the challenges facing Teague, a Seattle-based design and innovation firm that advises space companies such as Blue Origin, Axiom Space and Voyager Technologies on how to lay out their orbital outposts.

Mike Mahoney, Teague’s senior director of space and defense programs, says the zero-gravity environment is the most interesting element to consider in space station design.

“You can’t put things on surfaces, right? You’re not going to have tables, necessarily, unless you can attach things to them, and they could be on any surface,” he told GeekWire. “So, directionality is a big factor. And knowing that opens up new opportunities. … You could have, let’s say, two scientists working in different orientations in the same area.”

Anti-Aging Breakthrough: Regenerate Your Liver

NewLimit just announced something that could be a major step toward real anti-aging medicine:
their first therapy is designed to regenerate the liver potentially making it 10–20 years younger.
Human trials are still ahead, but they’re already working on similar approaches for the immune system and vascular system.
Cartilage. Teeth. Liver.
Regeneration is moving from science fiction to clinical reality.
And it raises a bigger question:
medicine today often requires lifelong dosing like GLP-1 weight loss drugs (Ozempic, Wegovy).
What if the future is different?
What if one shot could actually repair the system instead of managing it forever?

Why Musk Switched to Moon First Mars Later

There may be more to Musk’s decision to decide to build a city on the moon before building one on Mars than he’s telling us. Watch to find out.

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Natural history of craniocervical alignment in Chiari patients and the impact of posterior fossa decompression

Chiari malformation (CM) involves a broad disease spectrum, where rare complex CM cases can be associated with craniocervical junction (CVJ) instability and require occipitocervical fusion. However, the natural progression of CVJ alignment in the general CM type I and 1.5 populations treated with posterior fossa decompression (PFD) remains insufficiently characterized. The authors aimed to compare CVJ alignment changes in patients who underwent PFD versus patients with CM who did not undergo surgery.

The authors conducted a retrospective cohort study at their institution of all patients diagnosed with CM I and 1.5 from 2000 to early 2023. Demographic, clinical, and surgical data were collected, along with preoperative and postoperative MRI measurements, including tonsillar herniation, brainstem descent, clivoaxial angle (CXA), and condylar-C2 sagittal vertical alignment (C-C2SVA).

A total of 241 patients were included, with 201 undergoing PFD and 40 managed conservatively (controls). No significant differences were observed between groups in age at diagnosis, sex, or genetic diagnoses. In the PFD group, 55% underwent duraplasty and 45% underwent bone-only decompression. Baseline craniocervical alignment measurements showed a lower CXA in the PFD group (144.4° ± 13.4°) compared to controls (148.5° ± 14.2°) (p = 0.04) but no difference in C-C2SVA. Changes over time showed a small but significant decrease in CXA at < 1 year after surgery in the PFD group (−2.7°) compared to controls (−2.0°) (p = 0.008), but no differences were noted at 1–2 years. No differences in C-C2SVA were observed over time in either group.

Physicists discover what controls the speed of quantum time

From the article:

…in copper, the transition was extremely fast, taking about 26 attoseconds.

In the layered materials TiSe₂ and TiTe₂, the same process slowed to between 140 and 175 attoseconds. In CuTe, with its chain-like structure, the transition exceeded 200 attoseconds. These findings show that the atomic scale shape of a material strongly affects how quickly a quantum event unfolds, with lower symmetry structures leading to longer transition times.

Time may feel smooth and continuous, but at the quantum level it behaves very differently. Physicists have now found a way to measure how long ultrafast quantum events actually last, without relying on any external clock. By tracking subtle changes in electrons as they absorb light and escape a material, researchers discovered that these transitions are not instantaneous and that their duration depends strongly on the atomic structure of the material involved.

This Scientist Brewed and Drank His Own ‘Vaccine Beer’ to Combat a Dangerous Virus. It Seems to Have Worked

Blood tests revealed that the beverage elicited an immune response, according to preliminary research. But far more safety and efficacy testing would be needed before this vaccine could become available

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