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What Is Successful Aging?

What Is Successful Aging?

Despite the claims of people selling books on ascension into being robots or diet fads, you are not going to live forever. It used to be life was truly short and now we are in a period where life is much longer but after the age of 65 it is not better, it is instead a slow steady decline toward death.The goal cannot be to try and live forever, nature has built in too many biological landmines to control that, but to live healthier until we do die. First, we'd have to agree on what this 'successful' aging would look like, without wellness psychobabble.

Molecular ‘Switch’ That Regulates DNA Replication And Transcription Identified

Molecular ‘Switch’ That Regulates DNA Replication And Transcription Identified

Researchers have discovered a molecular ‘switch’ that controls replication and transcription of mitochondria DNA, a key finding that could influence the development of targeted therapies for cancer, developmental processes related to fertility and aging. Mitochondria are organelles located outside the nucleus of nearly every cell in humans. While most of the cell’s DNA is inside the nucleus, mitochondria maintain their own DNA and contribute a small number of genes that are essential for cellular respiration and energy generation.

Are You Feeling Ducky, Punk?

Are You Feeling Ducky, Punk?

Extreme mechano-sensitive neurons of tactile-foraging ducks fit the bill for touch research.
When we reach out to touch something, our nervous system converts the mechanical input from our fingers contacting an object into an electrical signal in the brain. The process, known as mechanosensation, is one of our fundamental physiological processes, on par with sight and smell. But how it works on a cellular level remains poorly understood, holding back development of effective treatments for mechanosensory disorders like chronic pain.
Now, a team of researchers from the Yale University School of Medicine has identified a new model organism that may help elucidate the cellular mechanisms behind mechanosensation: the ordinary duck.

Happy Darwin Day: Evolution Of Darwin's Finches And Their Beaks

Happy Darwin Day: Evolution Of Darwin's Finches And Their Beaks

Darwin's finches, inhabiting the Galápagos archipelago and Cocos island, constitute an iconic model for studies of speciation and adaptive evolution. A team of scientists from Uppsala University and Princeton University has now shed light on the evolutionary history of these birds and identified a gene that explains variation in beak shape within and among species. The study is published today in Nature, on the day before the 206th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin.

Iron Supplementation Improves Hemoglobin Recovery Time Following Blood Donation

Iron Supplementation Improves Hemoglobin Recovery Time Following Blood Donation

Among blood donors with normal hemoglobin levels, low-dose oral iron supplementation, compared with no supplementation, reduced the time to recovery of the postdonation decrease in hemoglobin concentration in donors with low or higher levels of a marker of overall iron storage (ferritin), according to a study in the February 10 issue of JAMA.

Designer Brands? Many Would Rather Not Stand Out

Designer Brands? Many Would Rather Not Stand Out

Many people buy and wear clothing from prestigious brands as a way to express and distinguish themselves. However, a new study from the University of Missouri has found that people who are more sensitive to how others perceive them are actually more likely to avoid clothing with large logos, even if the clothing is from a prestigious brand. Eunjin Kim, a doctoral candidate in the MU School of Journalism, says it is important for companies to understand this brand avoidance behavior when marketing their products to consumers.

Another Reason To Drink Wine: It Could Help You Burn Fat

Another Reason To Drink Wine: It Could Help You Burn Fat

Drinking red grape juice or wine - in moderation - could improve the health of overweight people by helping them burn fat better, according to a new study coauthored by an Oregon State University researcher.
The findings suggest that consuming dark-colored grapes, whether eating them or drinking juice or wine, might help people better manage obesity and related metabolic disorders such as fatty liver.
Neil Shay, a biochemist and molecular biologist in OSU's College of Agricultural Sciences, was part of a study team that exposed human liver and fat cells grown in the lab to extracts of four natural chemicals found in Muscadine grapes, a dark-red variety native to the southeastern United States.

Liquid Carbonates Prevent Greenhouse Gases From Entering The Atmosphere

Liquid Carbonates Prevent Greenhouse Gases From Entering The Atmosphere

A novel class of materials that enable a safer, cheaper, and more energy-efficient process for removing greenhouse gas from power plant emissions has been developed by a multi-institution team of researchers. The approach could be an important advance in carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).
The team, led by scientists from Harvard University and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, employed a microfluidic assembly technique to produce microcapsules that contain liquid sorbents encased in highly permeable polymer shells. They have significant performance advantages over the carbon-absorbing materials used in current CCS technology.

IUD, Implant Contraception Effective Beyond FDA-approved Use

IUD, Implant Contraception Effective Beyond FDA-approved Use

New research indicates that hormonal intrauterine devices (IUDs) and contraceptive implants remain highly effective one year beyond their approved duration of use, according to a study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
The preliminary findings are reported online Feb. 5 in Obstetrics & Gynecology and will appear in the journal's March 15 print edition.
The researchers are evaluating whether such long-acting forms of birth control are effective for up to three years past their recommended length of use as approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Contraceptive implants -- matchstick-sized rods inserted into the arm -- are approved for three years, and hormonal IUDs are approved for five years.

Skyglow: Big Variations In The Radiance Of The Night

Skyglow: Big Variations In The Radiance Of The Night

A team has undertaken what they call the most comprehensive examination of skyglow -  variations in the radiance of the night sky
- ever done and found remarkably large variations in artificial night sky brightness at the different observation sites.  Light became popular because it allowed us to extend the day - and electricity meant people could read a book without falling asleep and setting themselves on fire. But the introduction of light into the nighttime environment is one of the most striking changes humans have made to the Earth’s physical environment, and it is associated with several unintended negative consequences. One example is skyglow, the artificial brightening of the night sky.

Men Do Want Commitment...If Women Are Scarce

Men Do Want Commitment...If Women Are Scarce

The gender stereotype is that women want commitment and men want sex - but a study of the Makushi people in Guyana upends that, finding that men more likely to seek long-term relationships. Why? Because women are in short supply so a lack of commitment is a romantic negative. Some villages in Guyana are the opposite of New York City, where you could have sex with a different person every day for 5,000 years and never duplicate.
Also debunked is the conventional view that when men outnumber women, there are more likely to be male-male fights and increases in sexually transmitted diseases.

Cancer False Alarms Lead To Future Complacency

Cancer False Alarms Lead To Future Complacency

A cancer false alarm could put people off checking out cancer symptoms they develop in the future, according to a review of papers.More than 80 percent of patients with potential cancer symptoms are given the all-clear after investigations. But according to the new paper, having a false alarm might discourage people from seeking help, even years later, if they notice possible symptoms of the disease again.