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Aug 13, 2018

Quantum formulation of the Einstein equivalence principle

Posted by in category: quantum physics

The physical conditions that support a geometric interpretation of spacetime, such as the equivalence between rest and inertial mass, are shown not to be necessarily valid in the quantum regime, and a quantum formulation is provided.

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Aug 13, 2018

Scientists Have Successfully Reversed The Aging Of Human Cells In The Lab

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Aging is a battle that humans have known they can’t win since the beginning of history. We can hate it or (eventually) accept it but ultimately we can’t avoid growing old. However, over the years scientists have been trying to pinpoint the roots of this biological process and work out if there is any way to stop or reverse it. There have been some minor successes along the way and a new study adds to these.

The researchers were able to reverse the aging process of some old human cells by delivering a specific molecule to their mitochondria, the structures within cells where energy is produced. This approach stops the cells from becoming senescent, a point at which they can no longer duplicate. Some researchers believe that the accumulation of these cells in organs is key to the aging process.

“We still don’t fully understand why cells become senescent as we age, but damage to DNA, exposure to inflammation and damage to the protective molecules at the end of the chromosomes – the telomeres – have all been suggested,” the authors wrote in a post on The Conversation. “More recently, people have suggested that one driver of senescence may be loss of our ability to turn genes on and off at the right time and in the right place.”

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Aug 13, 2018

Is Life Extension Altruistic?

Posted by in category: life extension

Recently, we’ve published an article explaining why life extension is not a selfish endeavor. As a matter of fact, life extension is a rather altruistic endeavor, though this depends on your interpretation of the definition. Let’s dig deeper.

What is altruism?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, altruism is disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others. Thus, one is altruistic when his or her actions are done for the benefit of others, without placing any importance on his or her own benefit.

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Aug 13, 2018

The fastest-sinking city in the world

Posted by in category: habitats

With frequent floods, sinking markets and engulfed homes, by 2050 parts of Jakarta will be underwater.

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Aug 13, 2018

Bayer shares plunge after Monsanto cancer ruling

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Shares in German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer tumbled more than 10 percent as markets opened Monday, as investors reacted to a shock US ruling against freshly-acquired Monsanto.

Stock in the Leverkusen-based group fell 10.4 percent to 83.61 euros ($95.19) around 9:25 am (0725 GMT), after a California jury on Friday awarded a dying groundskeeper damages of almost $290 million, saying Monsanto should have warned buyers that its flagship Roundup weedkiller could cause cancer.

While observers have predicted thousands of other claims could follow, Bayer said the jury’s findings went against scientific evidence and that other courts might “arrive at different conclusions”.

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Aug 13, 2018

Biomimetic micro/nanoscale fiber reinforced composites

Posted by in categories: biological, engineering, evolution, nanotechnology

Over hundreds of millions of years of evolution, nature has produced a myriad of biological materials that serve either as skeletons or as defensive or offensive weapons. Although these natural structural materials are derived from relatively sterile natural components, such as fragile minerals and ductile biopolymers, they often exhibit extraordinary mechanical properties due to their highly ordered hierarchical structures and sophisticated interfacial design. Therefore, they are always a research subject for scientists aiming to create advanced artificial structural materials.

Through microstructural observation, researchers have determined that many biological materials, including fish scales, crab claws and bone, all have a characteristic “twisted plywood” structure that consists of a highly ordered arrangement of micro/nanoscale fiber lamellas. They are structurally sophisticated natural fiber-reinforced composites and often exhibit excellent damage tolerance that is desirable for engineering structural materials, but difficult to obtain. Therefore, researchers are seeking to mimic this kind of natural hierarchical structure and interfacial design by using artificial synthetic and abundant one-dimensional micro/nanoscale fibers as building blocks. In this way, they hope to produce high-performance artificial structural materials superior to existing materials.

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Aug 13, 2018

Flat-pack homes and profit-sharing retrofits are making sustainable housing affordable

Posted by in categories: habitats, sustainability

Wealth-generating, flat-pack solar houses and a profit-sharing scheme that incentivises retrofitting are bringing sustainable living to people who would otherwise not be able to afford it.

“One of the biggest problems that we see right now is (the creation of) a big gap between the lower and the middle classes. Everyone is talking about this growing inequality gap,” said Bart Glowacki, co-founder of SOLACE, a start-up based in Warsaw, Poland, set up with the aim of making sustainable housing widely affordable.

Tighter mortgage controls, job insecurity and high student debts in Europe has meant that it is increasingly difficult for young people to buy their own homes.

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Aug 13, 2018

‘Brainprint’ Can Identify You With 100% Accuracy

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Your unique

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Aug 13, 2018

Steven A: Garan from UC Berkeley gave this future-focused talk at the recent Ending Age-Related Diseases 2018 conference in NYC

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

To learn more about the conference and see more talks like this please visit us at: https://www.leafscience.org/ending-age-related-diseases-2018/

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Aug 13, 2018

Researchers discover volcanic heat source under major Antarctic glacier

Posted by in category: futurism

A researcher from the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography and five other scientists have discovered an active volcanic heat source beneath the Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica.

The discovery and other findings, which are critical to understanding the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, of which the Pine Island Glacier is a part, are published in the paper, “Evidence of an active source beneath the Pine Island Glacier,” in the latest edition of Nature Communications.

Assistant Professor Brice Loose of Newport, a chemical oceanographer at GSO and the lead author, said the paper is based on research conducted during a major expedition in 2014 to Antarctica led by scientists from the United Kingdom. They worked aboard an icebreaker, the RRS James Clark Ross, from January to March, Antarctica’s summer.

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