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Category: life extension

If you thought the Hubble Space Telescope was about to be surpassed by the new James Webb Space Telescope (Webb), think again.

Now on its way to its observing position a million miles from Earth, Webb has a 6.6 meter mirror–compared to the 2.4-meter mirror inside Hubble–so six times more collecting power.

Should we compare Webb with Hubble? No–Webb is an infrared telescope while Hubble deals mainly in optical (visible) light.

Besides, Hubble has just issued a stunning new image, one of several in the last few weeks, that prove that there’s plenty of life left in the old space telescope yet.

The main image of this article, above, was released yesterday and shows a spiral galaxy called NGC 105 about 215 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces. It also shows, top-left, a smaller galaxy. Are the two colliding? No–it’s merely a chance alignment of the two objects in the night sky. That smaller galaxy is much further away.

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Our reluctance to think, talk or communicate about death is even more pronounced when we deal with others’ loss compared to our own, new research finds, but either way we tend to frame attitudes and emotions in a sad and negative way.

Teaching new more positive ways to address these difficult conversations is the focus of a new paper in PLOS ONE journal by palliative care specialists across Australia.

Led by Flinders University’s Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying (RePaDD) and Palliative and Supportive Services, researchers from Flinders, CQUniversity Australia, NT Palliative Care Central Australia and University of Technology Sydney, surveyed 1,491 people about the use of language to express their feelings and insights into death and dying.

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And calls out to collaborating agencies to do their part.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson revealed on Friday that the Biden administration has committed to extend the operations of the International Space Station (ISS) through 2030, and to continue cooperating with international partners in Europe (ESA, European Space Agency), Japan (JAXA, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), Canada (CSA, Canadian Space Agency), and Russia (State Space Corporation Roscosmos) for research endeavors.

“The International Space Station is a beacon of peaceful international scientific collaboration and for more than 20 years has returned enormous scientific, educational, and technological developments to benefit humanity. I’m pleased that the Biden-Harris Administration has committed to continuing station operations through 2030,” Nelson said.

“The United States’ continued participation on the ISS will enhance innovation and competitiveness, as well as advance the research and technology necessary to send the first woman and first person of color to the Moon under NASA’s Artemis program and pave the way for sending the first humans to Mars. As more and more nations are active in space, it’s more important than ever that the United States continues to lead the world in growing international alliances and modeling rules and norms for the peaceful and responsible use of space.”

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The US population is almost not growing.

The U.S. population grew at the slowest rate on record in 2021 as slowing migration, an aging population and low birth rates were exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, U.S. Census Bureau data released Tuesday show.

The population expanded by just 0.1% or 392,665 people this year, a smaller increase than during the influenza pandemic and World War I in the early years of the last century. It’s also the first time since 1937 that the population has expanded by less than 1 million.

Washington and New York were among the regions with the biggest drop in people while Idaho, Utah and surrounding states gained the most, the data show.

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A year in review.

This video is sponsored by ResearchHub — https://www.researchhub.com/?ref=eleanorsheeky.

I’ve covered a lot of longevity science research this year so have summarised some of the key highlights here!!! Many breakthroughs & research I couldn’t cover — let me know what your favourite news this year was in the comments!!

Obviously, couldn’t go into as much detail for each topic, but you can find the full length videos in my playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnLFbRYd2NGEP1VxVkW8-Hy9xix-Y7wur.

Find me on Twitter — https://twitter.com/EleanorSheekey.

I have Patreon — https://www.patreon.com/TheSheekeyScienceShow.

TIMESTAMPS:
Intro — 00:00
Aging biology — 01:00
Cellular Reprogramming — 06:30
Senescence & Senolytics — 08:15
Longevity Diet & supplements — 11:00
Sponsor — 13:15

REFERENCES:
there’s too many from each video to place here so check out the individual video from the playlist! smile

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The rich world is ageing fast. How can societies afford the looming costs of caring for their growing elderly populations? film supported by @Mission Winnow.

00:00 The wealthy world is ageing.
01:17 Japan’s elderly population.
02:11 The problems of an ageing world.
04:01 Reinventing old age.
05:48 Unlocking the potential of older years.
07:09 Reforming social care.
08:20 A community-based approach.
11:08 A fundamental shift is needed.

Read our special report on ageing and the economics of longevity here: https://econ.st/3EwnCV3

Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletter to keep up to date with our latest stories: https://econ.st/3gJBH8D

Getting to grips with longevity: https://econ.st/3DBJU6k.

A small Japanese city shrinks with dignity: https://econ.st/3dBDgT2

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Join us on Patreon!
https://www.patreon.com/MichaelLustgartenPhD

Papers referenced in the video:
Ergothioneine exhibits longevity-extension effect in Drosophila melanogaster via regulation of cholinergic neurotransmission, tyrosine metabolism, and fatty acid oxidation.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34877949/

Is ergothioneine a ‘longevity vitamin’ limited in the American diet?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC7681161/

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Few individuals write about issues that impact human survival. Fewer still win multiple literary awards for writing science fiction novels. Hardly anyone joins a major corporation as chief futurist. Neal Stephenson can be credited for doing all three.

Writer, academician, video game designer and technology consultant are just some of the things Neal is famous for. He has authored historical epic novels ‘Cryptonomicon’ and ‘The Baroque Cycle;’ science fiction novels ‘The Diamond Age’ and ‘Anathem;’ contemporary thrillers ‘Zodiac’ and ‘REAMDE;’ and science fiction epic ‘Seveneves,’ among others.

His “Snow Crash” published in 1992 preceded ” The Matrix” series and introduced the concept of “The Metaverse”. Yes, Neal Stephenson coined the term. And his 1994 “Interface” preceded NeuraLink by over 20 years!

In his latest science fiction book “Termination Shock,” Neal lays out a scenario where an individual takes technological steps to intervene in climate change in order to ensure human survival. Let’s hope that this book does is not as prophetic as some of the others.

His imagination, unique sense of technology trends, immersive literary style, and attention to detail set a very high bar for the other science fiction authors. In the past, when people asked me what I would do when aging is defeated, I usually answered that I would catch up on Neal Stephenson’s novels as well as movies and video games based on his work.

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