20 February 2010

Caloric Restriction Comes in a Pill | Wired Science | Wired.com

Caloric Restriction Comes in a Pill | Wired Science | Wired.com: "Scientists have provided the strongest evidence yet that the anti-aging benefits of calorically restricted diets can be duplicated — minus the near-starvation — by a pill."

How to Do the Ultimate Aging Study | Wired Science | Wired.com

How to Do the Ultimate Aging Study | Wired Science | Wired.com: "Resveratrol, a natural compound that affects mitochondrial function and DNA repair, and its pharmaceutical derivatives have been used to prevent diabetes in obese mice. Now they’re being tested in humans. Manipulations of the growth-regulating IGF-1 pathway have extended lifespans in lab animals. Rapamycin, used to suppress autoimmune responses in people receiving organ transplants, has extended the lives of elderly mice. It’s now being tested in mice against specific diseases."

09 January 2010

Slashdot Science Story | Golden Ratio Discovered In a Quantum World

Slashdot Science Story | Golden Ratio Discovered In a Quantum World: "'Scientists have for the first time observed a nanoscale symmetry hidden in solid state matter. 'In order to study these nanoscale quantum effects, the researchers have focused on the magnetic material cobalt niobate. It consists of linked magnetic atoms, which form chains just like a very thin bar magnet, but only one atom wide.' By artificially introducing more quantum uncertainty, the researchers observed that the chain acts like a nanoscale guitar string. The first two notes show a perfect relationship with each other. Their frequencies (pitch) are in the ratio of 1.618, which is the golden ratio famous from art and architecture."

07 January 2010

Faster-Than-Light Pulsar Phenomena | Universe Today

Faster-Than-Light Pulsar Phenomena | Universe Today: "Observational data from nine pulsars, including the Crab pulsar, suggest these rapidly spinning neutron stars emit the electromagnetic equivalent of a sonic boom, and a model created to understand this phenomenon shows that the source of the emissions could be traveling faster than the speed of light."

26 December 2009

Calorie restriction: Scientists take important step toward 'fountain of youth'

Calorie restriction: Scientists take important step toward 'fountain of youth': "Going back for a second dessert after your holiday meal might not be the best strategy for living a long, cancer-free life say researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. That's because they've shown exactly how restricted calorie diets -- specifically in the form of restricted glucose -- help human cells live longe"

18 December 2009

Has dark matter finally been detected? | Science | The Guardian

Has dark matter finally been detected? | Science | The Guardian: "In a series of coordinated announcements at several US laboratories, researchers said they believed they had captured dark matter in a defunct iron ore mine half a mile underground. The claim, if confirmed next year, will rank as one the most spectacular discoveries in physics in the past century."

02 December 2009

Playing tricks with the speed of light

Playing tricks with the speed of light: "The mechanics of slowing light down, as well as speeding it up, is governed by methods and equations that are pretty well understood. Now scientists just have to figure out what to do with it."

26 November 2009

First Programmable Quantum Computer Created - Science News

First Programmable Quantum Computer Created - Science News: "Using a few ultracold ions, intense lasers and some electrodes, researchers have built the first programmable quantum computer. The new system, described in a paper to be published in Nature Physics, flexed its versatility by performing 160 randomly chosen processing routines."

25 November 2009

Turritopsis nutricula - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Turritopsis nutricula - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "The ability to reverse the life cycle is probably unique in the animal kingdom, and allows the jellyfish to bypass death, rendering the Turritopsis nutricula biologically immortal."

19 November 2009

How to Extract DNA from Anything Living

How to Extract DNA from Anything Living: "For this experiment, we like to use green split peas."