Tag Archives: Age

The groundbreaking project aiming to decipher and potentially reverse menopausal age

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From the moment you begin as an immature egg in your grandmother’s womb, your fertility journey is limited. However, scientists at Cambridge University may soon change that reality in their bright labs.

Dr. Staša Stankovic is one of these scientists. Her research at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge has uncovered valuable data in the field. Now, Stankovic is focused on unraveling the mysteries surrounding fertility and menopause.

Women’s ovaries hold a finite supply of eggs that represent their fertility. Stankovic compares this concept to an hourglass, where the sand (eggs) can only flow in one direction until it runs out, signaling the onset of menopause.

“In science, we aim to control the hourglass’s middle part,” she explains. “Our goal is to limit the eggs’ loss over time, preserving the highest quality eggs for as long as possible.”

Working with a team for five years, Stankovic is developing a method to predict the natural fertile period and age of menopause with 65% accuracy, aiming for 80% accuracy in clinical practice.

Additionally, the team is exploring potential drug solutions to address infertility and potentially delay menopause. The onset of menopause is influenced by the ovarian reserve and the rate at which eggs deplete over a woman’s lifetime, typically occurring around age 50 with fewer than 1,000 eggs left.

For women experiencing early menopause or premature menopause, these drug treatments could be life-changing.

Your Menopausal Age

Researchers are studying genetic factors using a blood sample rather than physical examinations to understand how genes impact fertility and menopause.

The research team analyzed data from over 200,000 women in the UK Biobank, which provided insights into menopause, fertility, and overall health metrics. This data will help researchers make connections with other health outcomes like dementia and diabetes.

By identifying over 300 genetic variations linked to menopause, researchers foresee potential solutions for ovarian diseases and early menopause using drug interventions.

Stankovic cautions against relying solely on IVF and egg freezing as magical solutions, emphasizing the need for more effective treatments with higher success rates.

Effects of Delaying Menopause

The research team is hopeful about developing infertility drugs that not only address symptoms but also regulate ovarian function. While the drug’s availability is estimated within the next decade, rigorous testing and validation are still required.

The team’s focus is on identifying crucial genes, conducting testing in ovarian models, and formulating drugs that maintain egg quality and quantity as women age.

Ultimately, the goal is to delay menopause and extend reproductive lifespan. Preliminary studies on mice have shown promising results, but further research is needed before human trials can begin.

Aside from fertility benefits, delaying menopause could also impact women’s overall health, offering insights into various diseases associated with menopause.

About Our Experts

Dr. Staša Stanković is an ovarian genomicist with a PhD in reproductive genomics from the University of Cambridge. Her groundbreaking research has been published in top scientific journals, shedding light on the biological mechanisms behind ovarian aging and menopause.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

6 Neuroscience-Backed Habits to Maintain Brain Health as You Age

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If you’ve ever felt like your cognitive abilities are not as sharp as they used to be, you might be struggling to recall names of actors or politicians in the news, for example. Perhaps mental arithmetic is not as easy for you anymore. This reflection may lead you to ponder the state of your brain and whether it’s on a downward trajectory.

It’s important to consider these aspects early on because brain development typically peaks in your 20s, and then cognitive functions gradually decline with age. Additionally, there is a growing risk of dementia, particularly associated with diseases like Alzheimer’s, in aging populations. However, both cognitive decline and dementia risk can be influenced by what experts call “modifiable risk factors,” offering a beacon of hope that there are lifestyle changes you can make to maintain mental acuity and lower the risk of dementia.

Be mentally active and boost your cognitive reserve

Psychologists and gerontologists often talk about cognitive reserve, which refers to the brain’s ability to adapt to aging and disease challenges. People with high cognitive reserve can perform well on cognitive tests despite exhibiting biological markers of Alzheimer’s disease, like protein build-up that impairs brain function. Engaging in activities such as reading, learning a new language, solving puzzles, and playing musical instruments can help boost cognitive reserve and maintain mental agility.

Interact with others

While brain-training games may not have broad benefits beyond the specific tasks they target, socializing with peers has been found to be a potent brain-training activity. Social isolation is considered a major risk factor for dementia, emphasizing the importance of engaging in lively conversations, joining clubs, or volunteering to keep your brain active and healthy.

Stay physically active

Physical activity not only benefits cardiovascular health but also contributes to better brain function and reduced cognitive decline. Incorporating exercises like running, swimming, or even gardening into your routine can help maintain cognitive abilities and lower the risk of dementia.

Eat a healthy diet

Avoiding excessive saturated fats and consuming plenty of fruits and vegetables can support brain health by eliminating harmful byproducts and providing essential nutrients. The Mediterranean diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and olive oil, has been recommended for its brain-protective properties.

Stay curious

Personality traits like openness to experience are linked to better brain health and lower dementia risk. Activities that spark curiosity and awe can enhance cognitive abilities and mental flexibility. Incorporating habits like exploring new environments, trying new experiences, and enjoying cultural activities can promote brain health.

Think positively

Your mindset about aging can significantly impact your brain health. Maintaining a positive outlook, along with engaging in mentally stimulating activities and healthy habits, can contribute to long-lasting mental sharpness. Seeking out positive role models and adopting a proactive approach to brain health can help unlock your brain’s full potential.

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Lack of sleep can age you prematurely

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Prioritizing sleep can help you feel younger

Uwe Krejci/Getty Images

Being sleep deprived can make you feel several years older than you actually are.

how old someone feels, or subjective age; associated with a variety of physical and mental health outcomesespecially depression. “Age is more than just a perception,” he says Leonie Balter At Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. “We know that people who feel younger than their actual age are healthier and live longer.”

Considering the importance of sleep to our mental and physical health, Balter and John AxelsonAt Karolinska Institutet, we also decided to investigate whether it affects our subjective age.

They surveyed 429 people between the ages of 18 and 70 about how old they felt and how much sleep they had gotten in the past 30 days.

The researchers found that reporting sleep deprivation was associated with participants feeling older than their actual age, with consecutive days of sleep deprivation making participants feel older by an average of 0.23 years. was found to increase. In contrast, those who reported getting enough sleep over a 30-day period were, on average, 5.81 years younger than their chronological age.

In the second half of the study, the pair recruited an additional 186 people. These participants were asked to aim for 9 hours of sleep over two consecutive nights over a two-week period, which was recorded via a sleep log and sleep tracking wrist device. They were then told to limit their sleep to four hours for two consecutive nights.

After this period of sleep restriction, subjects reported feeling on average 4.44 years older than their age, whereas under the 9-hour sleep condition they reported feeling 0.24 years younger. Compared to those who felt the least fatigued, those who felt the most fatigue reported feeling about 10 years older.

The findings show that sleep is an important indicator of how old some people feel, and that it is linked to our health, Balter says. “If you protect your sleep, you'll feel younger,” she says.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Pompeii in England: Remarkably Preserved Bronze Age Village Offers Glimpse into Ancient Life

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An intact ax with an intact handle was found under one of the burnt structures on the grounds of Mast Farm.

cambridge archaeological unit

The ruins of a Bronze Age settlement in eastern England have been beautifully preserved after being destroyed by fire 3000 years ago. Exploring the ruins provides an incredible snapshot of how the British lived at the time, from what people ate for breakfast to the tools they used to build their homes.

Archaeologists first discovered the ancient wooden pillars in 1999 at the Mast Farm quarry near the small town of Whittlesea. A subsequent small-scale study tried to figure out if there was anything interesting there, he said. chris wakefield at the University of York, UK. But it wasn’t until his 2015 that Wakefield and his colleagues conducted serious excavations at the site.

The research team discovered the structural remains of four large circular dwellings (usually wooden circular dwellings with conical thatched roofs) dating from 3,000 to 2,800 years ago. Tree stumps suggest that it was built on raised platforms connected by wooden walkways over a small river that flows through the area. Judging by the size of the waterway, there may have been about 10 roundhouses in the settlement, Wakefield said.

Tree-ring analysis of wood taken from the structure suggests that the settlement was destroyed a year after its construction, with the houses falling into the muddy waters below. Wakefield said the waterlogged, oxygen-depleted environment prevented the settlement from deteriorating, resulting in its unprecedented level of preservation. The charring of objects by fire also served as a protective layer against environmental decay. “Almost everything that was in these people’s homes at the time of the fire has been preserved and is still being discovered nearly 3,000 years later,” Wakefield said.

The way items fell into the mud provided clues as to the layout of each house. Stepping through the door, the kitchen area tended to be on the east side of the house, with the sleeping area to the northwest and the livestock pens to the southeast.

Chemical analysis of kitchen utensils such as pots, bowls, cups and jars suggests that the settlement’s prehistoric inhabitants probably ate porridge, cereals, honey and stews made from beef, mutton and fish. .

“This is the best evidence we have for understanding prehistoric diets and cooking methods,” he says. Rachel Pope At the University of Liverpool, UK. “This is the closest you will ever get to walking through the doorways of a 3,000-year-old roundhouse and finding out what life was like inside.”

Illustration depicting daily life at one of the mast farm structures

Judith Dobie/Historic England

A toolbox filled with axes, sickles, and razors was a staple in every household. “One of the most beautiful things one of my colleagues found was an amazing two-part axe,” Wakefield says. “What’s amazing about this particular design is that the ax head itself is inserted into an additional piece of wood that can be replaced.”

The clothes recovered at the scene had a lush, velvety feel and were made from the finest fibers produced in Europe at the time, Wakefield said. Decorative beads, which may have been used in necklaces, have also been found throughout the site, and likely came from elsewhere in Europe or the Middle East.

The settlement has been likened to the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, which was buried in ash after a volcanic eruption in 79 AD. “Archaeologists sometimes talk about Pompeii-like discoveries, moments where time stood still, and this is one of them. Burnt-out settlements offer evidence of the time just before and after the fire some 2,900 years ago. It gives us a detailed look into people’s lives in the months leading up to it.” michael parker pearson At University College London.

“Mast Farm is not a once-in-a-generation site. It is very likely that there will never be another site that tells more about Bronze Age Britain.” Richard Maggwick At Cardiff University, UK.

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  • archeology/
  • ancient humans

Source: www.newscientist.com

TikTok sensation Cat Janis passes away at the age of 31

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Cat Janis, the singer who gained fame on TikTok for dedicating her final song to her son, has passed away from cancer, as announced by her family on Wednesday.


Her family announced The news was shared on her Instagram account: “This morning, from her childhood home, surrounded by her loving family, Katherine peacefully entered the light and love of her Heavenly Creator.

“We are forever grateful for the outpouring of love that Duchess Kate and our family have received over the past few months. Kat has seen her music go places she never expected. I am resting with the peace of mind that I will continue to provide for my son through music. None of this would have been possible without your support.”

Janice had sarcoma cancer, a rare type that affects bones and soft tissues. She passed away at the age of 31.

Janice documented her cancer journey on TikTok, revealing that she discovered a lump on her neck in November 2021, which later turned out to be cancer. Despite announcing she was cancer-free in July 2022, it returned in her lungs, leading her to hospice care last month.

Proceeds from Janice’s viral song were dedicated to her son after she learned about her impending death.

Her song “Dance You Outta My Head,” released on January 19th and dedicated to her youth, topped the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart and made it into the Top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. The song garnered over 12 million streams worldwide on Spotify.

“I transferred all the rights to my songs to my son so that I could leave him something. I don’t have much,” the singer wrote in a video Posted on TikTok on January 15th, urging fans to save this song for the future.

In her final TikTok video, Janice expressed her strength and mentioned feeling trapped due to her health, looking forward to dancing with God in heaven.


Source: www.theguardian.com

Study claims new diet that mimics fasting could reverse biological age

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A new study led by the University of South Carolina Leonard Davis School of Gerontology suggests that fasting-mimetic dieting (FMD) cycles can significantly reduce disease risk factors and decrease human biological age. FMD was developed by Professor Walter Longo and his team, involving a five-day diet high in unsaturated fats and low in overall calories, protein, and carbohydrates. The diet mimics the effects of water-only fasting while providing necessary nutrients and making fasting more manageable for individuals.

During the five-day fasting period, participants were allowed to consume specified amounts of plant-based soups, energy bars, energy drinks, chip snacks, and tea and given supplements to ensure they didn’t miss out on important vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids.

Previous studies have shown the various health benefits of FMD, including promoting stem cell regeneration, reducing chemotherapy side effects, and decreasing signs of dementia in mice. The recent study focuses on the effects of FMD on human immune system aging, insulin resistance, liver fat, and biological age.

The research team analyzed two groups of men and women aged 18-70 who received three to four cycles of FMD per month. The results showed reductions in diabetes risk factors, reduced fat in the abdomen and liver, and rejuvenation of the immune system. Data analysis also demonstrated that FMD participants lost an average of 2.5 years in biological age.

Professor Longo hopes these findings will encourage more doctors to recommend FMD cycles to patients with elevated risk factors for disease and to the general public interested in improving their health and vitality. He suggested that healthy people between the ages of 20 and 70 should consider trying FMD two or three times a year, cautioning that there may be concerns when used in combination with certain diabetes medications.

About our experts:

Walter Longo is the Edna M. Jones Professor of Gerontology and Biological Sciences and Director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology in Los Angeles.

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Enormous Stone Age hunting structure uncovered in the Baltic Sea

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A team of German archaeologists has discovered a gigantic Stone Age structure submerged at a depth of 21 meters in the Western Baltic Sea. This structure was probably built by hunter-gatherers over 10,000 years ago and was eventually sunk about 8,500 years ago. Since then, it has remained hidden under the sea, leading to pristine preservation that has inspired research into lifestyles and territorial development in the wider region.

An artist's reconstruction of the Brinker Wall in Mecklenburg Bay, Germany. Image credit: Michał Grabowski.

The massive Stone Age structure was discovered in Mecklenburg Bay, about 10 kilometers northwest of the German coast of Relic.

The stone wall is made up of 1,673 individual stones, typically less than 1 meter in height, arranged side by side over a distance of 971 meters in a way that refutes their natural origin through glacial movement or ice-intrusion ridges.

This wall, known as the Brinker Wall, was built by hunter-gatherers who roamed the area after humans left. viserian ice sheet.

Running adjacent to the sunken shoreline of a paleo-lake (or swamp), whose youngest stage dates to 9,143 years ago, the structure was probably used for hunting. Eurasian reindeer (Langifer Tarandus).

“At that time, the population of all of Scandinavia was probably less than 5,000,” said Dr. Marcel Bradmeler, a researcher at the University of Rostock.

“One of their main food sources was herds of reindeer, which moved seasonally across sparsely vegetated post-glacial landscapes.”

“This wall was probably used to guide reindeer into the bottleneck between the adjacent shore and the wall, or into the lake, allowing Stone Age hunters to kill reindeer more easily with their weapons. Ta.”

Form of a southwest to northeast oriented ridge with a blinker wall and adjacent mounds.Image credit: Geersen et al. everyone, doi: 10.1073/pnas.2312008121.

The Brinker Wall is one of the oldest recorded man-made hunting structures on Earth and one of the largest known Stone Age structures in Europe.

Dr Jacob Geersen, also from the University of Rostock, said: “Our research shows that the natural origin of the submarine stone walls or modern constructions associated with, for example, the laying of submarine cables or stone extraction is unlikely. ” he said. .

“The orderly arrangement of many small stones connecting large, immovable rocks opposes this.”

The researchers used modern geophysical methods to create detailed 3D models of the Brinker Wall and reconstruct the ancient landscape.

A team of scientific divers from the University of Rostock and the West Pomeranian Mecklenburg State Department of Culture and Monuments also visited the site once and inspected it.

The main purpose of the dive was to assess the nature of the stone wall and investigate possible archaeological remains on the surrounding seabed.

They concentrated in two places: the western edge of the structure and the large stone in the center where the blinker wall turns.

No artifacts or dateable organic material were found in the immediate vicinity of the two dive sites, but a small wood sample was recovered from Holocene deposits approximately 10 m south of the structure.

3D model of the section of blinker wall adjacent to the large boulder at the west end of the wall. The photo was taken by Philip Huy of the University of Rostock. The scale bar at the top right corner of the image is 50 cm. Image credit: Geersen other., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2312008121.

“A number of well-preserved Stone Age sites are known along the coast of Wismar Bay and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, but these are located at much shallower depths, and most of them are Mesolithic and Neolithic. It dates from the Stone Age (7,000-2,500 BC),” said Dr. Jens Auer, a researcher at the Mecklenburg-West Pomeranian Department for the Preservation of Cultural Monuments.

“There is evidence that similar stone walls exist in other parts of Mecklenburg Bay. These will also be investigated systematically,” added Dr. Jens Schneider von Daimling, a researcher at the University of Kiel.

“Overall, this research could make a significant contribution to understanding the lives, organization, and hunting methods of early Stone Age hunter-gatherers.”

team's paper Published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Jacob Giesen other. 2024. Submerged Stone Age hunting architecture in the Western Baltic Sea. PNAS 121 (8): e2312008121; doi: 10.1073/pnas.2312008121

Source: www.sci.news

The impact of age, gender, and nationality on the interpretation of emojis

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Emojis are often used in digital communications such as text messages and social media.

mixtape/shutterstock

Think twice before replying to a message with just emojis. Emojis may be interpreted differently by different people.

Previous research suggests that Men and women perceive facial expressions differently. ruth fillick Researchers from the University of Nottingham in the UK thought that a person's gender and other factors might also influence how they interpret emojis.

To find out more, they asked 253 Chinese and 270 British people (about an equal number of men and women) aged 18 to 84 to take part in an online survey.

Researchers selected 24 emojis to represent one of six emotions: happiness, disgust, fear, sadness, surprise, and anger based on the suggestions that appeared when you typed the word. There are four emojis for each emotion, representing different designs used by Apple, Windows, Android, and WeChat.

Each participant then assigned an emoji to the emotion they thought best matched.

Women were more likely than men to match emojis to the same emotions selected by researchers. The researchers say women may be better at recognizing facial expressions, perhaps because they make more eye contact.

Younger participants also matched emojis better than older participants, probably because they used them more frequently.

On the other hand, British participants agreed better with emojis than Chinese participants, although this may be because the latter group uses emojis differently. “For example, it has been suggested that: [people in China] According to the researchers, people rarely use the happy emoji to express happiness, but instead use it in negative connotations, such as sarcasm.

“When you send someone a message that includes emojis, you can't just assume that they see the emojis the same way you see them,” says Fillick.

Isabel Butet Researchers at the University of Ottawa in Canada say matching 24 emojis to six emotions is extremely restrictive. Nevertheless, “assigning emojis specific emotional labels is problematic when you don't know how they will be interpreted in various online communities,” she says. “For example, it would never have been considered to use eggplant as an allusion if that meaning had not developed in a particular community.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Iron Age people may have buried their beloved pets, such as dogs and horses along with them

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Remains of dog and baby girl buried in Seminario Vescoville near Verona, Italy

Laffranchi et al. (CC-BY 4.0)

Late Iron Age people in northern Italy were sometimes buried with dogs and horses. Probably because they loved dogs and horses.

Archaeologists often suspect that the ancient worldwide custom of placing animals in human graves is associated with higher socio-economic status, beliefs about the afterlife, or certain family traditions. I was there. However, after thorough investigation, researchers say they are now beginning to suspect that such “community burials” may have simply been expressions of love for devoted non-human family members. Marco Mirella At the University of Bern, Switzerland.

He and his colleagues reexamined bones excavated from the 2,200-year-old Seminario Vescoville cemetery just east of Verona, Italy. There, the Cenomani lived in metal-making communities before and during the Roman conquest.

Most of the 161 graves discovered at the site contained only human remains, but 16 graves also contained whole or partial animal remains. Twelve of the items were pork or beef products, apparently food offerings to the deceased. Zita Laffranchialso at the University of Bern.

However, the remaining four were buried with dogs and/or horses, which were not used for food by the group. Among them were a middle-aged man with a small dog, a young man with part of a horse, a 9-month-old baby girl alongside the dog, and, most unexpectedly, a pony. She was a middle-aged woman. She had a dog’s head placed above her and a dog’s head placed above her head.

“At first, the excavators were surprised to find human legs under the horses, and their first idea was that there were horsemen here, there were warriors.” LaFranch says. However, the woman was buried unarmed, suggesting that her association with the 1.3 meter tall pony had nothing to do with the war.

The researchers found no particular trends in the age of the people buried with the animals, and DNA analysis suggested they were not genetically related to each other. Chemical analysis of these corpses Dietary differences related to socio-economic status were also not revealed compared to human-only graves.

The findings suggest that ancient people may have felt a strong connection to their animals and therefore chose to bury their loved ones with them, the researchers said. “And why not?” says Mirella. “You can never rule that out.”

Another explanation, the researchers added, is that the animals may have had symbolic meaning for the afterlife. For example, in Gallo-Roman religion, The Celtic horse goddess Epona was believed to protect individuals after death..And what about Gallo Romance? Sometimes dogs are associated with the afterlife.. In fact, burying dogs with infants may even have had a purpose: Protecting parents from future baby loss.

Still, the animals in the graves appear to have benefited from careful human care, rather than as disposable livestock. The dog in particular appears to have been fed human food and is showing signs of wound treatment and healing.

So it’s also possible that people were buried with animals for both symbolic and affectionate reasons, Mirella said.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Study finds that low carbon dioxide emissions from volcanoes may have caused the Sturtian ‘Snowball Earth’ ice age.

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of Sturtian “Snowball Earth” Ice Age (717 million to 661 million years ago) is considered the most extreme icehouse period in Earth’s history. In a new study, geologists from the University of Sydney and the University of Adelaide used plate tectonics modeling to identify the most likely cause of the Staats Ice Age.

Artist’s impression of “Snowball Earth”. Image credit: Oleg Kuznetsov, http://3depix.com / CC BY-SA 4.0.

“Imagine if the Earth almost completely froze over, which is exactly what happened about 700 million years ago,” said lead author Dr. Adriana Dutkiewicz, a researcher at the University of Sydney. .

“The Earth was covered in ice from the poles to the equator, and temperatures plummeted. But what caused this to happen is an open question.”

“We think we have now solved the mystery. Historically, volcanic carbon dioxide emissions have been low, driven by the weathering of large volcanic rock mountains in what is now Canada. It’s a process that absorbs carbon dioxide.”

Named after Charles Sturt, a 19th-century European colonial explorer of central Australia, the Sturtsian Ice Age spanned 717 million to 660 million years, long before dinosaurs and complex plants existed on land. It continued until ten thousand years ago.

“There are many possible causes for the trigger and end of this extreme ice age, but the most mysterious one is why it lasted 57 million years. It’s hard for humans to imagine,” Dr. Dutkiewicz said.

Dr. Dutkiewicz and his colleagues used a plate tectonics model that simultaneously shows the evolution of continents and ocean basins after the breakup of the ancient supercontinent Rodina.

They connected it to a computer model that calculates the outgassing of carbon dioxide from submarine volcanoes along mid-ocean ridges, where plates diverge and new oceanic crust is born.

They soon realized that the beginning of the Starch Ice Age correlated precisely with the lowest ever levels of volcanic carbon dioxide emissions.

Additionally, carbon dioxide flux remained relatively low throughout the ice age.

“At that time, there were no multicellular animals or land plants on Earth,” Dr. Dutkiewicz said.

“Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere were determined almost entirely by carbon dioxide emitted by volcanoes and by the weathering processes of silicate rocks that consume carbon dioxide.”

“At that time, geology ruled the climate,” said co-author Professor Dietmar Müller, a researcher at the University of Sydney.

“We think the Staats Ice Age began with a double whammy: plate tectonics realigned to minimize volcanic degassing, while at the same time Canada’s continental volcanic belt began to erode, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Consumed.”

“As a result, atmospheric carbon dioxide has fallen to levels that could begin an ice age. This is estimated to be less than 200 parts per million, less than half of today’s levels.”

The team’s current research raises interesting questions about the long-term future of the planet.

Recent theories suggest that over the next 250 million years, Earth will evolve toward Pangea Ultima, a supercontinent hot enough to wipe out mammals.

However, the Earth is currently on a trajectory where volcanic carbon dioxide emissions decrease as continental collisions increase and plate velocities decrease.

So perhaps Pangea Ultima will snowball again.

“Whatever the future holds, it is important to remember that geological climate changes of the type studied here occur very slowly,” Dr. Dutkiewicz said.

“According to NASA, human-induced climate change is occurring 10 times faster than ever before.”

of study appear in the diary geology.

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Adriana Dutkiewicz other. The period of the Sturtian “Snowball Earth” ice age is associated with unusually low gas emissions at mid-ocean ridges. geology, published online on February 7, 2024. doi: 10.1130/G51669.1

Source: www.sci.news

The Age of Urban Warfare: Tekken and his enemies dominate the world | Games

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FOne evening, my housemates and I were coming back from the pub with a few hangers on. The classic 1990s TV show “The Word” ends with a raucous live performance by the up-and-coming grunge band, and now it's time to play video games.

Online multiplayer didn't exist during the original PlayStation or Sega Saturn decade. If you wanted to play against a human, you had to play against a friend in your living room or someone else you found in the pub when it closed. It had to be accessible, competitive, and something that two or four people could play at the same time. We had to keep the rounds short because everyone wanted to play. That always means one of his two options: a soccer sim or a fighting game.

In the mid-1990s, fighting games were the most popular genre on consoles, along with driving sims. At the time, major hardware manufacturers and arcade companies were keen to corner the emerging market of real-time 3D games, games with polygonal characters and environments that replaced the essentially flat 2D world of sprites and backgrounds. did. These games were the future. And the fighting genre was the perfect showcase. These games featured large character models that benefited from 3D graphics and smooth animation, but also featured primarily static arenas, so they didn't need to fill up your disk or system. Memory that stores a lot of environmental data. He also has a huge fan base thanks to his 1980s classics like Yie Ar Kung-Fu and Karate Champ, as well as early 1990s hits Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat. Did. It fit perfectly.

1995 saw the release of Tekken on the PlayStation and Virtua Fighter on the Saturn. There was also the beautiful battle arena Toshinden by Tamsoft, which featured a feast of then-cutting-edge texture-mapped visuals, bizarre characters, and special moves. When Tekken 2 was released in August 1995, it sold over 5 million copies and cemented the genre's importance with its cinematic sequences and cool combatants. A year later, the N64 entered the fray with Killer Instinct Gold, Sega gave us Fighting Vipers and Last Bronx, and Capcom diversified the genre with Street Fighter Alpha 2, the horror-themed Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, and 3D weapon-based I was desperately working on it. The sci-fi battle Star Gladiator and the crossover classic X-Men vs. Street Fighter. Squaresoft, the creator of Final Fantasy, also took on the bizarre futuristic fighter Tubal No 1, which became a bestseller in Japan, probably because it came with a playable demo disc for Final Fantasy VII. .

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Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution. Photo: Sega

Fighting games never went away. Even as people began to flock online for first-person shooters like Call of Duty, or abandoned social play altogether for new narrative adventure titles (Tomb Raiders, Resident Evil, Grand Theft Auto). Regardless, Tekken, Street Fighter, Soul Calibur, Guilty Gear and a few other heavy hitters have held on, supported by a fiercely competitive community. It's great to see renewed interest in it through the excellent Street Fighter 6, the ridiculous Mortal Kombat 1, and the recent Tekken 8. I hope this ignites a passion for the old titles, the ones you used to play from 11:30pm to 5am on Friday nights. Once the Word is finished. Honestly, every Street Fighter game is worth playing. Tekken 3 remains a benchmark classic. Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution is beautiful and complex. He then ventured into the cult world of SNK's greats (Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, etc.) and descended the rabbit hole of his Arc System works to the frankly insane Guilty. You can also dive into the world of Gear.

The colors, the sounds, the characters, the combat…the praise you get when you pull off a super move and throw your fellow characters into space. The camaraderie of the arena. Log on to the Internet and raid his GameFaq site for a list of fan-created character moves and combos. Give your friend a boring third-party controller to play with while investing in his first fighting stick. The 1990s were his decade, the furnace of modern industry, as the game grew, diversified, brought in new people and spread its tentacles into wider culture. And for a few intense, glorious years, fighting games were at the absolute forefront.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Researchers can now estimate your biological age based on a snapshot of your body

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It is now possible to measure a person’s biological age, which refers to the wear and tear of the body’s cells, as opposed to the chronological age based on the number of years lived. Chinese scientists have developed a new method to predict biological age using artificial intelligence to analyze 3D images of the face, tongue, and retina.

This approach provides a way to estimate biological age more accurately than previous methods that primarily relied on DNA or blood tests and brain scans. By combining images of the face, tongue, and retina, scientists have created a model that can accurately predict biological age. This allows for easier, more accessible, and less invasive methods to estimate a person’s biological age compared to traditional tests.

Research from China’s Macau University of Science and Technology and Shanghai Jiao Tong University involved testing this model on healthy individuals and those with chronic diseases. The results showed that the biological age of individuals with chronic diseases was significantly higher than their chronological age compared to healthy individuals, indicating the potential impact of chronic diseases on aging.

Furthermore, this new method could also be used to assess the effectiveness of anti-aging treatments, such as diet, exercise, and longevity drugs. Dr. Andrew Steele, a longevity expert, highlighted the potential for using photos to evaluate the efficacy of anti-aging strategies and speed up clinical trials in the future.

About our experts

Dr. Andrew Steele is a scientist, author, and presenter, known for his work in the field of aging. He is the author of Ageless: The new science of growing older without getting older. After earning his doctorate in physics, Steele transitioned into biology, using computers to decipher human DNA at the Francis Crick Institute in London.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

The surprising evolutionary advantage of aging: Why do we age?

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Researchers used computer models to investigate the evolutionary role of aging. They challenge the notion that aging has no positive effects and suggest that aging may promote evolution in a changing environment, thereby benefiting subsequent generations. I am. Their findings indicate that aging may be an advantageous trait selected by natural evolution. Credit: SciTechDaily.com

The mysteries of aging have fascinated people for thousands of years. Because aging is usually associated with a gradual decline in most bodily functions, many people are willing to do anything to stop or reverse this process. Aging is a natural part of life, but biologists understand surprisingly little about the evolutionary emergence of this process. It’s not clear whether aging is inevitable. That’s because there are some organisms that never seem to age at all, and there is also a phenomenon known as negative aging or rejuvenation. In some turtles, vital functions improve with age.

Studying the evolutionary role of aging

Researchers at the Institute for Evolution, led by scholar Airs Zatmary, have sought to debunk previously proposed but unproven theories of aging. This theory suggests that, under the right circumstances, evolution can encourage the proliferation of genes that control aging.

To test their hypothesis, the researchers used a computer model they developed. This model is an algorithm that allows scientists to simulate long-term processes in populations of organisms and genes in a controlled environment. Essentially, such models allow you to run evolutionary scenarios and get results in hours instead of millions of years. Modern evolutionary research is unthinkable without computer modeling.

Exploring the purpose of aging

The basic research question was simple. The question was, “Is there any meaning to aging?” Does it serve some evolutionary function or is it truly a bitter and deadly byproduct of life? “If there is selection for aging, then aging may have an evolutionary function. Our study aimed to reveal this selection,” he says Eörs Szathmáry. “According to the classical explanation, aging occurs in a population even without selection. It is because individuals die sooner or later without aging (as a result of disease or accidents), This creates an opportunity for genes to accumulate that have a negative effect on older individuals (thus causing aging), meaning that aging is only a side effect of evolution. It means that there is no adaptive function.”

Challenging common sense

During the last century, several evolutionary theories have been formulated to explain inevitable aging without active functions using different biological mechanisms. Although some scientists accepted this assumption as fact, the discovery of organisms that do not age led more and more researchers to question the inevitability of aging and to suggest that perhaps aging has benefits as well. I suggested that it might be.

“The evolutionary biology community has accepted that classical non-adaptive theories of aging cannot explain all aging patterns in nature, meaning that the explanation of aging has once again become an open question. “I mean,” Zatomary said. “Alternative adaptation theories provide a solution to this problem by suggesting positive effects of aging. For example, aging and death may be more advantageous for individuals in a changing environment. This is because doing so reduces competition that prevents the survival and reproduction of more fit offspring with a better genetic makeup.

However, this scenario is only true if the individual is surrounded primarily by relatives. Otherwise, during sexual reproduction, non-senescent individuals would “steal” better (better adapted to environmental changes) genes from aging population members, thus erasing significant senescence.

Aging as a catalyst for evolution

Hungarian biologists ran a model and found that aging can actually accelerate evolution. This is an advantage in a changing world. Faster adaptation allows us to find suitable traits faster, which supports the survival and spread of offspring genes. This means that aging can become a highly advantageous trait and be favored by natural selection.

Reference: András Siraj, Tamash Charan, Mauro Santos, Airs Zatmary, “Directional selection combined with kin selection favors the establishment of senescence”, October 23, 2023. BMC biology.
DOI: 10.1186/s12915-023-01716-w

Funding: National Agency for Research, Development and Innovation (Hungary), Bolyai János Research Fellowship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, New National Excellence Program of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, Ministry of Science and Innovation, Autonomous Region of Catalonia 2021 Special Guest Scientist Volkswagen Foundation, Hungary Fellowship Program of the Academy of Sciences (Initiative “Leben?

Source: scitechdaily.com