Tag Archives: slowest

New Study Unveils Countries with the Slowest and Fastest Aging Rates

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A recent study reveals that Denmark boasts the most favorable environmental, social, and political conditions for aging slowly and maintaining a healthier lifestyle.

Published in Natural Medicine, this research pinpointed the elements influencing the biological processes that dictate healthy aging. An international team of researchers examined data from over 160,000 individuals across 40 nations, assessing how various factors influence aging worldwide.

To establish a baseline for the average aging rate, researchers utilized a measurement known as the “Biobiural Age Gap” clock. This AI model estimates the disparity between an individual’s chronological age and their predicted age based on surrounding risk factors. For instance, a 50-year-old person might be predicted to have a biological age of 55 based on these factors, resulting in a five-year age gap.

The findings revealed that among the four continents studied—Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America—European individuals showcased the highest levels of healthy aging. Conversely, in lower-income nations, accelerated aging was prevalent among older individuals.

“This study is significant as it reconceptualizes aging as influenced by not just biology and lifestyle, but also broader environmental and sociopolitical factors,” stated Morten Scheibye-Knudsen, an associate professor of aging at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, who was not involved in the research, in comments to BBC Science Focus.

Egypt recorded the fastest rate of aging, with individuals showing an average biological age 4.75 years older than their chronological age. Following Egypt were South Africa and certain South American nations. Within Europe, Eastern and Southern regions displayed more rapid aging trends.

In contrast, Denmark demonstrated the slowest aging rate, with an average biological age 2.35 years younger than the actual age. The Netherlands and Finland followed in terms of healthy aging.

Key Factors for Healthy Aging

What makes Denmark and much of Northern and Western Europe conducive to healthy aging? Researchers identified crucial factors including environmental elements like air quality alongside social factors such as gender equality and socioeconomic status.

Interestingly, significant influences were also found in sociopolitical conditions. Healthy aging is closely related to political representation, freedom of parties, democratic elections, and voting rights.

“The link between politics and accelerated aging presents an intriguing puzzle in this study,” commented Scheibye-Knudsen. “Possible mechanisms include heightened chronic stress responses due to anxiety and healthcare disparities.”

This study indicated that individuals with accelerated aging face challenges in completing daily tasks and are eight times more likely to experience cognitive decline.

While the study spanned four continents, it primarily represented limited areas of Africa, focusing on Egypt and South Africa.

Researchers stress that their findings illustrate correlations rather than causative relationships. Nonetheless, they advocate for urgent action to address global health disparities.

“Remarkably, risk factors outweigh protective ones, indicating that individuals in low-income countries experience significantly accelerated aging irrespective of their socioeconomic status,” noted Scheibye-Knudsen.

“This reinforces the compelling case for investing in universal initiatives, such as access to education and healthcare, to enhance the health of populations.”

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About Our Experts

Dr. Morten Scheibye-Knudsen serves as an associate professor of aging at the University of Copenhagen and leads the Scheibye-Knudsen research group. He is also the president of the Nordic Aging Association.

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Astronomers find record-breaking slowest rotating neutron star emitting radio waves

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Neutron stars typically spin quickly, taking just a few seconds or even a fraction of a second to complete one revolution around their axis, but one neutron star labeled ASKAP J1935+2148 bucks this rule, emitting radio signals at a relatively slow interval of 53.8 minutes.

Artist's impression of a neutron star. Image courtesy of Sci.News.

“We're used to extreme examples when studying radio-emitting neutron stars, so the discovery of such a compact star that is still emitting radio waves despite rotating slowly was unexpected,” said Professor Ben Stappers, from the University of Manchester.

“This new generation of radio telescopes demonstrates that pushing the boundaries of our search space will reveal surprises that will shake up our understanding.”

At the end of their lives, massive stars use up all their fuel and undergo a spectacular explosion called a supernova.

What remains is a stellar remnant called a neutron star, which consists of trillions of neutrons packed into an extremely dense sphere with a mass 1.4 times that of the Sun, packed into a radius of just 10 km.

Astronomers detected an unexpected radio signal from ASKAP J1935+2148 that traveled about 16,000 light-years to Earth.

The nature of its radio emission and the rate of change of its rotation period suggest that it is a neutron star, but further study is needed to confirm what this object is.

“This discovery relied on the complementary capabilities of the ASKAP and MeerKAT telescopes, combined with our ability to probe these objects on timescales of minutes, and examine how their radiation changes from second to second,” said Dr Kaustubh Rajwade, an astronomer at the University of Oxford.

“Such synergies can shed new light on how these compact objects evolve.”

ASKAP J1935+2148 was detected by CSIRO's ASKAP radio telescope in the Wadjari Yamatji region of Western Australia.

“What's interesting is that this object exhibits three different radiation states, each with completely different properties to the others,” said Dr Manisha Caleb, an astronomer at the University of Sydney.

“The MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa played a key role in distinguishing between these states.”

“If the signals had not come from the same point in the sky, it would be hard to believe that it was the same object producing these different signals.”

“Until the arrival of these new telescopes, the dynamic radio sky was relatively unexplored,” said Professor Tara Murphy, from the University of Sydney.

“Now we can look deeply and frequently see a variety of unusual phenomena.”

“These events give us insight into how physics works in extreme environments.”

This discovery paper In the journal Natural Astronomy.

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M. Caleb othersA radio transient phenomenon in which the radiation state switches with a period of 54 minutes. Nat AstronPublished online June 5, 2024; doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02277-w

Source: www.sci.news