| Wednesday, July 23, 2003 |  |
| 120 or 180 yrs old? Experts debate limit of aging | 0 comments |
 23 Jul 2003 @ 21:53The question I would have for someone looking at the possibility of living for centuries is, "What would you do with your time? What would you create that you're not able to accomplish in the short time we have available now?" 120 or 180 yrs old? Experts debate limit of aging Reuters Sunday July 20 2003 10:00 IST SAN FRANCISCO: Fancy living another 100 years or more? Some experts said on Saturday that scientific advances will one day enable humans to last decades beyond what is now seen as the natural limit of the human life span. "I think we are knocking at the door of immortality," said Michael Zey, a Montclair State University business professor and author of two books on the future. "I think by 2075 we will see it and that's a conservative estimate." Zey spoke on the sidelines of the annual conference of the World Future Society, a group that ponders how the future will look across many different aspects of society. In a presentation at the meeting in San Francisco, Donald Louria, a professor at New Jersey Medical School in Newark said advances in manipulating cells and genes as well as nanotechnology make it likely humans will live in the future beyond what has been possible in the past. "What was science fiction a decade ago is no longer science fiction," he said. 500 YEARS? "There is a dramatic and intensive push so that people can live from 120 to 180 years," he said. "Some have suggested that there is no limit and that people could live to 200 or 300 or 500 years." Outside the conference, many scientists who specialize in aging are skeptical of such claims and say the human body is just not designed to last past about 120 years. Even with healthier lifestyles and less disease, they say failure of the brain and other organs will eventually condemn all humans. "These people spout off as though a large part of the population is going to be able to do something like this. It's just way beyond reality," said Thomas Perls, who leads the New England Centenarian Study, the largest such analysis of the oldest of the old. "It's just pure science fiction." "We are fast approaching what our bodies are capable of achieving," he said in a telephone interview. "To get even the average person to be 100 or to get them to 180 is like trying to get a space shuttle to Pluto." STAMPING OUT DISABILITIES Any dramatic extension of the human life span would depend on altering the onset of disabilities that accompany the aging process by changing one's genetic make up, said Harvey Cohen, director of the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development at Duke University Medical Center. "It's certainly unlikely any time in the near future," he said in an interview. "Sure there is a possibility but there is no data currently available to suggest ways that would happen." Scientists also differ on what kind of life the super aged might live. "It remains to be seen if you pass the threshold of say 120, you know; could you be healthy enough to have good quality of life?" said Leonard Poon, director of the University of Georgia Gerontology Center. "Currently people who could get to that point are not in good health at all." Poon, who leads a study of more than 150 centenarians in Georgia, cited the case of Jeanne Louise Calment of France, the oldest person on record who died at age 122 in 1997. "At 122 she was fairly debilitated. I visited her when she was 119 in France and at that time she was pretty much blind and having very much difficulty hearing," he said. |
| Dinosaur Fossil Found At Scotland's Loch Ness | 7 comments |
 23 Jul 2003 @ 21:43Dinosaur Fossil Found At Scotland's Loch Ness Reuters Thursday July 17 2003 11:23 IST LONDON: Traces of a 150-million-year-old dinosaur have been found on the banks of Scotland's Loch Ness -- but they are definitely not those of the lake's legendary monster, scientists said on Wednesday. A Jurassic-era fossil of four perfectly preserved vertebrae from what is believed to have been a 35-foot long plesiosaur was found by a man who plucked it from shallow water on the bank of the loch. Gerald McSorley, 67, turned it over to the National Museum of Scotland, who are conducting tests on the rare find, the first of its kind in Scotland for more than a century. "Chances that the fossil originated where it was found are very slim... it was deposited there either by natural or artificial means," said museum spokesperson Hannah Dolby. "Borings on the fossil show it comes from a marine environment rather than a fresh water environment like the loch," she said. Tales of a "horrible great beastie" have swirled around the 200-meter deep Scottish loch for centuries, often describing the creature as black with a fat body and serpentine neck. Cameras beam 24-hour footage of the loch to webcams and diving teams regularly scour the chilly waters for the elusive creature. Any hopes among Nessie enthusiasts that the fossil find might prove the existence of the monster would be groundless. While the fossil is about 150 million years old, Loch Ness was formed only 10,000 years ago, at the end of the last Ice Age. More > |
| First Tongue Transplant Done In Austria | 0 comments |
 23 Jul 2003 @ 21:36First Tongue Transplant Done In Austria AFP Wednesday July 23 2003 00:00 IST VIENNA: The world's first tongue transplant has been carried out successfully by a team of Austrian surgeons on a 42-year-old patient suffering from tongue cancer, a spokesman for Vienna's general hospital announced. The operation, carried out Saturday, lasted 14 hours and the patient was "in a good general state of health" on Monday, the spokesman said. No unexpected problems occurred and the operating team did not expect any ill-effects from the operation. The hospital's management said the patient had decided himself on the transplant after being told of all the alternatives. It did not say where the tongue had come from. |
| Hydrogen Cars Not Needed,US Experts Say | 0 comments |
 23 Jul 2003 @ 21:30Hydrogen Cars Not Needed,US Experts Say 21/7/2003 WASHINGTON - Two U.S. energy experts cast more doubt last week on a push to develop hydrogen-powered cars as a means to cut air pollution and reduce oil imports. Cheaper and faster ways already exist to achieve the same effect, including raising fuel efficiency and toughening environmental standards, David Keith and Alexander Farrell, wrote in Friday's issue of the journal Science. "Hydrogen cars are a poor short-term strategy, and it's not even clear that they are a good idea in the long term," Farrell, assistant professor of energy and resources at the University of California, Berkeley, said in a statement. "Because the prospects for hydrogen cars are so uncertain, we need to think carefully before we invest all this money and all this public effort in one area." President Bush has proposed spending $1.5 billion over five years to spur development by 2020 of cars that run on hydrogen fuel cells in order to cut dependence on imported oil. The European Commission has said it plans to spend close to $2.3 billion (2.1 billion euros) on hydrogen-related research over the next four years. Hydrogen is present in water, oil, gas and coal. Supporters of a "hydrogen economy" regard it as a clean source of energy that would cut pollution and the carbon dioxide emissions some scientists link to global warming. Farrell and Keith, associate professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, noted that hydrogen is derived mostly from oil and coal, which produce substantial carbon dioxide. They said better fuel efficiency, improvements to car technology and stricter environmental rules could reduce air pollution at less than 100th the cost of hydrogen cars and would be more effective for several decades. "Automobile manufacturers don't need to invest in anything fancy. A wide number of technologies are already on the shelf," Farrell said. "The cost would be trivial compared to the changes needed to go to a hydrogen car." Other scientists have also questioned the benefits of hydrogen fuel cells. Leading environmental groups have also criticized the U.S. government and Europe for failing to put renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power at the heart of their hydrogen policies. |
| Your Body May Be Worth More Than $45 Million | 0 comments |
 23 Jul 2003 @ 21:30Your Body May Be Worth More Than $45 Million Reuters Thursday, July 3, 2003 NEW YORK - It may be illegal, immoral and certainly ill-advised, but selling every usable part of your body could fetch upward of $45 million, according to a survey in the August issue of Wired magazine. Even an overweight, out-of-shape body could bring millions when broken down to its valuable fluids, tissues and germ-fighting antibodies. There is, of course, a major catch: Many of the valuable human body parts are those a person could not live without. But it does lay to rest the old concept that the human body, when broken down to its basic elements, is only worth pocket change. Wired Editor-In-Chief Chris Anderson said the price tag gives an idea of the progress of medicine and biology, and shows how much more sophisticated we have become at understanding the complexity of the human body. "We tried to find some number through which you can quantify the magnitude of the change in technology that we are all experiencing," Anderson said. The prices, Wired warned, are based on maximum dollar values for some of the most marketable substances, and makes the unlikely assumption that every trace of those substances could be extracted from living tissue for sale. To avoid issues such as illegal black market trade in organs, the survey was based on projected prices in the United States and did not take into account potential differences in poverty stricken Third World countries. Due to advances in science and biotechnology, vital organs are no longer the most valuable body parts, the survey demonstrated. That distinction now belongs to bone marrow at $23 million, based on 1,000 grams at $23,000 per gram. DNA, found in every cell, could fetch $9.7 million at $1.3 million per gram, while extracting antibodies could bring $7.3 million. The accompanying article did point out that the cost of living in a sterile plastic bubble could eat up a lot of the profit from immune system sales. By comparison, a lung was priced at $116,400, a kidney at $91,400 and a heart was worth a mere $57,000, based on research of cost estimates from hospitals and insurance companies. On the reproductive front, the survey found a fertile woman could sell 32 egg cells over eight years for a grand total of $224,000. To approach that amount, a man would have to make 12 sperm donations a month for 20 years. |
| Scientists Explain The Burning Bushes In The Bible | 1 comment |
 23 Jul 2003 @ 21:30NORWEGIAN SCIENTISTS IN THE DESERT: Scientists Explain The Burning Bushes In The Bible Norwegian researchers have found the explanation for the burning bushes in the Bible. «Scientific phenomena make no difference», according to bishop. Last year the experts were sent to the southern parts of Sahara too look at some bushes that were reported to be setting themselves alight. Stinking smoke came from burning red holes in the ground, according to VG. 700 degrees The problems increased and the authorities in Mali considered evacuating whole villages in the area. Physician Dag Kristian Dysthe and three geologies, all Norwegian, expected to find lava underneath the smoking soil. Instead they found a burning layer of turf and the explanation for one of the mystery of the burning bushes in the Bible; the self-alighting bushes. "We measured 700 degrees celsius (1292 Fahrenheit) in some of the holes. It was actually a little scary seeing the burning bushes in the desert, almost like in the Bible", said Dysthe. "We discovered that a burning layer of turf under the soil caused the smoke and the heat that set the bushes on fire", Dysthe added. The extraordinary findings were described in the science magazines Nature and Science. Dag Kristian Dysthe and geologist Henrik Svensen are convinced that the phenomenon may have taken place in biblical time. According to the Bible, God spoke to Moses in the form of a burning bush. "This is not a one-off, this phenomenon has not happened only once", said the experts. Bishop not impressed Bishop Knut Andresen in Trondheim, however, is not impressed by the scientists' explanation. "The stories in the bible are symbolic and are meant to bring a message to the reader. Scientific phenomena make no difference in this connection", said the bishop. More > |
| Electric Car Unplugged | 3 comments |
 23 Jul 2003 @ 09:10ELECTRIC CAR UNPLUGGED: HISTORIC PROCESSION & FUNERAL FOR THE EV1 WHEN: Thursday, July 24, 2003 -- 11 AM WHERE: Hollywood Forever Cemetery 6000 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, 90038 (Take Santa Monica Bl. Exit from 101, go west about 10 blocks, or go to http://MTAWEB6.MTA.NET to find the best transit route.) PARTICIPANTS: Earth Communications Office Coalition for Clean Air Sierra Club Physicians for Social Responsibility Earth Resource Foundation Ed Begley Jr.(Six Feet Under) Alexandra Paul (Baywatch) Hart Bochner (Die Hard) Peter Horton (thirtysomething) Inventors and Designers including: Paul MacCready (inventor of the Gossamer Albatross,) Wally Rippel and Alec Brooks / AeroVironment and Alan Cocconi / AC Propulsion) Drivers of EV1s, Toyota RAV4s, Honda Pluses & other EVâs (and many surprise guests) Celebrities, Owners, Inventors, Environmental and Health Groups Honor Zero Emissions Vehicles at Hollywood Forever Cemetery Los Angeles, CA - The EV1, the emblem of the modern electric car era, is being reclaimed by General Motors in the wake of California's decision to drop its Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate. Despite the cars revolutionary design, performance, eco-friendliness, low maintenance and popularity, the car will disappear from the roads forever by the end of the summer. On Thursday, JULY 24, electric car owners are participating in a ãfuneralä procession and memorial tribute to bid farewell to the EV1 and raise public awareness for the advantages of zero emissions vehicles. Various speakers, guest celebrities, environmental and health groups, and inventors and designers of the EV1 will be on hand. Even with thousands of names on waiting lists for these cars, smog alerts on the rise and millions of tax-payer dollars invested in charging stations, few Americans will ever be able to use this progressive technology. Come see the final operating EV1s and hear the story of the future that could have been. More > |