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ScienceSpaceExposure to Outer Space May Accelerate Aging, New Evidence Suggests
A fascinating batch of new research papers are highlighting the various health risks associated with long-duration space missions, including troublesome observations having to do with the aging process and radiation-induced DNA damage. Space, as we’re learning, really sucks for us puny humans. Without gravity perpetually pulling us downward, and without a protective atmosphere to shield … Continued
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io9HorrorLet Whoopi Goldberg Explain the Importance of Her New Look for The Stand
When noted EGOT Whoopi Goldberg stepped onto The View’s set recently sporting a new headful of snow white locs, her co-hosts commented on the style change. The look, Goldberg explained, is part of her costume for her upcoming role in CBS All Access’ The Stand, where she’s set to play Mother Abigail. In Stephen King’s … Continued
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ScienceHealthA Woman in Her 70s May Be the Oldest New Mom Ever After Giving Birth to Twins
An Indian woman named Erramatti Mangayamma has seemingly made history by becoming the oldest new mother ever documented. Her doctors reported that Mangayamma, said to be either 73- or 74-years-old, delivered a set of healthy twin girls via cesarean section Thursday. The feat was made possible through in-vitro fertilization (IVF). According to CNN, Mangayamma and … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealthEven a Little Bit of Exercise Can Keep Your Brain From Shrinking, Study Suggests
Staying fit could help keep your brain from shrinking and aging in your older years, suggests a new study out Friday. It found that middle-aged and elderly Americans who regularly even got an hour of light exercise during their weekly routine had larger brains on average than those who didn’t. One common consequence of aging … Continued
By Ed Cara -
io9Read It Should Have Been You, a Short Story on the Future of Death
[Beginning Log File 0289] Fuck you. No, seriously, fuck you. My collection site hurts particularly bad today and I’m cranky, but I need to focus on you. You, the one with the permanent bag under your left eye after you let your dumbass cousin hack your car and turn the ADT off. Your face slammed … Continued
Sydnee Thompson -
ScienceHealthThe Best Way to Apply Sunscreen to Your Face, Revealed by a UV Camera
I am a bit of a sunscreen fanatic. My morning and midday sunscreen applications are ritualistic in nature, and I love trying out new products that claim to shield my precious skin from harmful ultraviolet rays. Luckily for me (and unluckily for my wallet), there are a menagerie of sunscreen products on the market these … Continued
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ScienceHealth
Why Your SPF 15 Sunscreen Probably Isn’t Enough to Protect You From the Sun
Are you always careful to apply sunscreen before a day outdoors, but find yourself getting burned anyway? It might be due to your application technique. Dermatologists say that most people don’t put on a thick enough layer sunscreen, and new research—in which scientists put varying amounts of sunscreen on volunteers’ butts—shows how those thin applications … Continued
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ScienceHealth
Two Cancer Drugs Found to Boost Aging Immune Systems
Drugs that can lengthen life have long been a hallmark of speculative science fiction—many hope for an invention that could extend average lifespans well into the triple digits in the distant future. But the timeline of these drugs could be shorter than we think. A new clinical trial published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine has … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Controversial Study Suggests There’s No Limit to Human Aging
The older we get, the greater our likelihood of dying. Or at least that’s what we thought. New research suggests mortality rates level off after we turn 105, and that no upper limit exists for the human lifespan. It’s an extraordinary conclusion—one that’s not going over very well with other aging researchers. Back in 1825, … Continued
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ScienceHealth
Scientists Find Another Possible Explanation for Why Hair Goes Gray
Scientists think they’ve stumbled upon a newly discovered mechanism that could explain why some people’s hair turns gray and others become afflicted with patches of unpigmented skin, a rare, stigmatized condition called vitiligo. Their research, published Thursday in PLOS Biology, suggests a gene that regulates the natural pigment melanin also keeps our immune system from … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Americans Are Aging More Slowly Than Ever
People age at different paces. If you went gray before all your friends, or found wrinkles creeping along your forehead in your 20s, you might already be well aware of the inequalities bestowed by the passage of time. But it’s not just our appearance that changes at a varying rate. This difference in how our … Continued
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Tech NewsGiz AsksWhy Is My Face Changing Shape as I Get Older?
Two decades of healthy growth, followed by four to eight decades of slow-motion physical and mental collapse—that’s life, for most of us, despite the efforts of various deluded cranks and tech billionaires. Time spares nothing, and seems particularly to have it out for our faces, paying just as much attention to skin-level deformations (worry-lines, wrinkles, … Continued
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ScienceHealth
A Lifetime of Cycling Keeps the Immune System Young, Study Finds
Immortality may be a gift reserved only for the mole rats of the world. But staying highly active into your golden years might just offer the next best thing: a robust immune system that looks decades younger than expected. That’s the finding of a new study published Thursday in the journal Aging Cell. Researchers in … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
What Pre-Teen Brains Can Do That Adult Brains Can’t
A popular theory about how the human brain works—one that’s inspired both neuroscience research and sketchy health fads alike—is just plain wrong, suggests a new study published Thursday in Nature. The adult brain might not be able to naturally restock its supply of neurons after all. Researchers looked at samples of the hippocampus, the brain … Continued
By Ed Cara -
Tech News
A Surprising Number of Young Kids Think Birthday Parties Are the Cause of Aging
New research shows that many young children, prior to reaching the age of six or seven, mistakenly believe that birthday parties cause aging. It’s a truly adorable finding, but the study also offers an important glimpse into the developing brain and our early tendency to seek out causal explanations for the unfolding world around us. … Continued
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Tech News
Traces of Alzheimer’s Disease Detected in Wild Animals for the First Time
An international team of researchers has uncovered tell-tale signs of Alzheimer’s disease in dolphins, marking the first time that the age-related disorder has been detected in a wild animal. Until very recently, scientists thought that only humans were susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease. That changed back in August of this year when researchers from Kent State … Continued
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Tech News
Chemical Compound That Gives Poop Its Stink Extends Healthy Lifespan in Animals
Indole, an organic chemical compound that’s found in our gut and contributes to the smell of poop, increases the healthy lifespan of worms, flies, and mice, according to new research. Scientists say this likely applies to humans as well, and that this stinky substance could eventually be used to delay age-related diseases. New research published … Continued
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Tech News
Signs of Alzheimer’s Detected in Brains of Chimps For First Time
Humans are the only animals known to develop Alzheimer’s disease, an age-related brain disorder that causes impaired cognitive functioning and other behavioral problems. Or at least, that’s what we thought. For the first time ever, researchers are claiming to have found signs of the disease in the brains of elderly chimps—a discovery that could yield … Continued
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Tech News
Scientists Push Back Against Controversial Paper Claiming a Limit To Human Lifespans
Humans don’t like dying, they don’t like the idea of dying, and most have made not dying an important part of their life. Lots of folks are interested in making us not die for longer, so it was a real bummer last year when a team of researchers said that the maximum human lifespan has … Continued
