Biologists are, at long last, beginning to understand the molecular processes responsible for aging in complex (multicellular) organisms – and to investigate ways to counteract these processes. There is now research that shows in a  special case, telomerase reactivation reverses tissue degeneration in aged telomerase-deficient mice.Charles Daney at scienceandreason.blogspot.com has the best overview of this study you will read today.

A biologist has determined that a harem lifestyle was bad for a female rate of reproduction.   Mormon leader Brigham Young had 55 wives and conceived 56 children before he died in 1877. His followers had similar polygamous marriages.   But scientists have now uncovered an odd fact about 19th-century Mormons: the more women in a household, the lower the average birthrate. In other words, the more sister-wives a Mormon woman had, the fewer children she was likely to produce.

Standardized tests are important - every child in America takes them.   But what about scoring essays?   Though the efficacy of standardized testing has been hotly debated for decades, one thing has become crystal clear: It's big business.   The companies that create and score tests saw profits skyrocket. In 2009, K-12 testing was estimated to be a $2.7 billion industry.Jessica Lussenhop at CityPages uncovers some of the seedier side of essay scoring in standardized tests; under-qualified people filling a quota, making them rushed for time, and more.

The apothecary dates back not just to Colonial Times as some may think. The first mention of an apothecary actually dates back to the time of Moses (as mentioned in the Book of Exodus).However, in the 19th century, the old time apothecary started to fade away and became what we know of today as the pharmacist. Although we can still get medicines, ointments and various tinctures from our local pharmacist, there will always be something intriguing, mysterious and awe-inspiring about the apothecary and his shop. Don’t you agree? Just take a look at some of these old time apothecary shops.

Yes, yes, we all care about the environment, though sociological studies show we mostly care about the environment when it comes to the behavior of others.  Example: If you are an earnest writer on climate change you will fly to a climate conference because the value of the personal relationship building versus watching the proceedings is more - and if you can inject yourself with a placebo like buying carbon offsets, so much the better.   Then you will write an article telling business people to use WebEx.

A British judge has ruled that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can be extradited to Sweden for questioning over allegations of sexual misconduct.    Assange later said to send him to a foreign land where he does not speak the language or understand the judicial system "is a very grave matter", though he moved to England from Sweden when authorities wanted to question him so why it is suddenly a 'foreign land' to him is unclear.Assange is from Australia and virtually every Swede speaks English so they should be able to understand each other.   One of Assange's attorneys said he will appeal the decision.

The more new planets we find, and the tally of confirmed planets orbiting other stars is now more than 500, the less we seem to know about how planetary systems are born.We're heading for a golden age of discovery, says Geoffrey Marcy of the University of California, Berkeley in National Geographic, but that bonanza has been a headache for theoreticians because many of the newly discovered star systems defy existing models of how planets form.The eight planets of our solar system all have roughly circular orbits, and models of planet-forming disks suggest most other star systems should be the same.In reality, though, only about one in three of the known exoplanets has a circular or near-circular orbit.

An 1847 Merz and Mahler telescope got some love from a Missouri astronomy club and now local people can take a look at the stars they way scientists did the year Thomas Edison was born.   Fun fact - it operates with a falling weight clockwork mechanism, meaning that without any electrical power a mechanism inside the telescope turns at the exact same speed as the rotation of the Earth, keeping the object in the lens in view for up to 45 minutes.

Fruitflies (Drosophila melanogaster) can smell the difference between hydrogen and its heavier counterpart, deuterium, according to recent research, which they say offers support for a controversial hypothesis of how olfaction works - namely that odorants are identified not according to molecular shape, but by their atomic vibrations.The flies can also be conditioned by electric-shock treatment to exhibit aversion to either form of the molecule, and the researchers say that shows they can clearly distinguish between them. 

Girls in schools, wheat crops instead of poppy?  This ain't your daddy's Afghanistan.   No one believed meaningful change in Afghanistan would happen over night but, as in Japan and Germany and Korea, the longer the US stays and makes people who like democracy feel safe, the more gains there will be.    Though the cost is obviously quite high.Marjah is a good example of what will be.   Obviously some there remain skeptical.  "If the Marines left, the Taliban would be back in two weeks," said Sidar Mohammad, the 25-year-old owner of a bakery in Marjah's Loy Chareh market.