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On the new article by Prof Dr S. Olshansky published in JAMA, advising to focus on healthspan extension not on lifespan extension. No, I personally believe that we can still focus on lifespan extension. We could obtain indefinite healthy life extension by different methods of rejuvenation because the rejuvenation process eliminates the main reason for sickness ie the aging diseases and renders us healthy again! And also only through indefinite life extension we could close the gap of tens of years between the lifespan in different social and ethnic groups (Lens-Pechakova, Rejuvenation Res. 2014 Apr;17:239–42)


Clinicians, scientists and public health professionals should proudly “declare victory” in their efforts to extend the human lifespan to its very limits, according to University of Illinois at Chicago epidemiologist S. Jay Olshansky.

In an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Olshansky writes that the focus should shift to compressing the “red zone” — the time at the end of life characterized by frailty and disease, and extending the “healthspan” — the length of time when a person is alive and healthy.

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Lucid Motors, the electric car startup that aims to compete with Tesla, will receive an eye-popping $1 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the kingdom announced on Monday. The investment will finance Lucid Motor’s 2020 commercial launch of its first electric vehicle, the Lucid Air. Meanwhile, Tesla’s stock dipped by as much as 2 percent in early trading on news of the investment.

The deal is a major win for Lucid, which has languished over the last year as it failed to secure the funding necessary to start making its luxury electric cars. News of the talks comes weeks after Saudi Arabia purchased 5 percent of Tesla and emerged as a central player in Elon Musk’s failed effort to take the company private again. Musk cited conversations with the director of the Saudi fund as the impetus for his push to take Tesla private.

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A diet rich in fiber helps reduce inflammation in murine brains.


According to a new study performed by University of Illinois researchers and published in Frontiers in Immunology, a diet rich in fiber reduces inflammation in aged mice, both in the guts and the brain. This beneficial reduction is due to high levels of butyrate, which result from the fermentation of fiber during digestion [1].

Study abstract

Aging results in chronic systemic inflammation that can alter neuroinflammation of the brain. Specifically, microglia shift to a pro-inflammatory phenotype predisposing them to hyper-activation upon stimulation by peripheral immune signals. It is proposed that certain nutrients can delay brain aging by preventing or reversing microglial hyperactivation. Butyrate, a short chain fatty acid (SCFA) produced primarily by bacterial fermentation of fiber in the colon, has been extensively studied pharmacologically as a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, and serves as an attractive therapeutic candidate, as butyrate has also been shown to be anti-inflammatory and improve memory in animal models. In the present study, we demonstrate that butyrate can attenuate pro-inflammatory cytokine expression in microglia in aged mice.

90% of natural disasters are flood related. Flooding will occur and people will build in areas that can and will flood so how can we change the outcomes in the future? Why not have floating homes that are anchored to their site but rise and lower with the flood with zero damage? I am about to start a new company that can manufacture those homes. If you want to know more contact me directly.


Engineers at Ruhr-UniversitÀt Bochum have developed a new statistical model that predicts how likely extreme flood events are in Germany. In contrast to earlier models, they distinguish between several types of floods with different causes, such as heavy rain, snow or spatially extended rain events with long durations. The model improves the assessment of flood risks and to plan appropriate protective measures. The team led by Professor Andreas Schumann from the Institute of Hydrology, Water Resources Management and Environmental Engineering reports on its work in the Bochum science magazine Rubin.

In their model, the hydrologists distinguish between three main types of flood, which stem from different causes: heavy , which lasts one or two days; prolonged rain over four to five days; and snow-related flooding.

In general, annual maximum values are analysed statistically without distinguishing between the different types of flooding. However, this is precisely what is required in order to estimate the likelihood of flooding under consideration of the regional conditions. Brief, localised heavy rain can, for instance, cause rivers to break their banks if their catchment is small, but for large river basins events with long durations are more relevant, which result in an overlay of flood waves from tributaries.

I am all for recycling of plastics but I would prefer we stop using petroleum based plastics and instead use hemp based plastics that are biodegradable. I have better materials for roads and paths that could last for hundreds of years. If you want to know more get in touch with me.


Officials with the Dutch city of Zwolle have announced the opening of a new bike path made using recycled plastic. The bike path is part of a nationwide effort to recycle more user end products. The bike path was made using a modular design called PlasticRoad by a pipe-making company called Wavin.

The idea for the bike path was conceived by Anne Koudstaal and Simon Jorritsma who work for KWS—a company that makes roads. KWS and Wavin were joined by petroleum giant Total in designing the PlasticRoad concept.

I woke up this morning to the sad news that maker-pal and pioneering hobby roboticist, Gordon McComb, had passed away. I wrote a brief eulogy on Make:

It is with a heavy heart that we here at Make: announce the passing of hobby robotics pioneer, Gordon McComb. He died on Monday, Sept 10th, apparently of a heart attack. Gordon was a great friend to Make: and to makers and robotics hobbyists from around the world.

Gordon’s Robot Builder’s Bonanza book, first published in 1987, arguably marks the beginning of hobby robotics as a significant maker category. It was the book that I bought in the late 80s that got me into robot building, and by extension, all forms of hardware hacking


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