Lifespans

I've always been curious how easy it is to work while you're using one of those under-desk bikes and, thanks to CES 2024, now I know. My jaunt to Las Vegas has taken me to visit LifeSpan, who was showing off its recently-released Ampera standing desk bike. Unlike some desk bikes, Ampera is designed to capture your energy and use it to charge your phone via its 15W Qi charging plate. And, if you feel your legs have more power in them, you can re-juice your laptop via the 65W USB-C port.You don't even need to plug it in,…

A scientist says that the human lifespan could be so short due to the dinosaurs. While that might sound a bit wild, especially since modern humans didn’t live at the time that dinosaurs did, it all comes down to evolution and how mammals evolved during the time of the dinosaurs.So, how did the dinosaurs affect humanity’s ability to live longer lives? Well, the idea proposed by a microbiologist named João Pedro de Magalhães suggests that mammals may have had longer lifespans in the past. However, they may have…

The animal pharmaceutical company Loyal announced that the FDA has accepted the development of a drug that could extend the lifespans of large and giant dog breeds.Like It or Not, Your Doctor Will Use AI | AI UnlockedThe drug is codenamed LOY-001. In a blog post published today, Celia Halioua, the founder and CEO of Loyal, said that the company earned the FDA’s acceptance of the drug. “In regulatory parlance,” Halioua wrote, “we have completed the technical effectiveness portion of our conditional approval application for…

Mars and Saturn’s moon Titan are of a shared scientific interest: the two worlds boast river channels similar to those on our own planet.Teyonah Parris and John Boyega on Working With Jamie Foxx | io9 InterviewThough Mars’ water networks dried up long ago, Titan’s liquid methane and ethane rivers are still coursing on the moon’s surface today. Both kinds are of scientific interest because they could reveal the role rivers play in shaping the worlds’ environments. Given water’s role in supporting life as we know it, the…

Hosting a parasitic tapeworm isn't usually a desirable state. But the life of an infected ant known as Temnothorax nylanderi hits differently.Suppose an ant of this species nibbles on some woodpecker poop as a young larva and contracts a tapeworm (Anomotaenia brevis). It could end up living three times longer than its peers, if not more, and it will rarely have to move a mandible.Uninfected ants will do the worker's chores, carry it around, feed it, and groom it for the rest of its days. These pampered ants barely leave…

Scientists have discovered not only that animals age more quickly when they don't have enough of the amino acid taurine in the body, but that oral taurine supplements can delay aging and increase a healthy lifespan.An international team of researchers found that taurine supplements delayed aging in worms, mice, and monkeys, and increased the healthy lifespan of middle-aged mice by up to 12 percent."For the last 25 years, scientists have been trying to find factors that not only let us live longer, but also increase…

Chromebooks have always been a popular option for schools due to the relatively cheap prices, but they exploded in popularity during the Covid pandemic as kids did their schoolwork from home. However, they may not be such a good deal after all, according to a new report called Chromebook Churn from the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). They found that many Chromebooks purchased just three years ago are already breaking, creating electronic waste and costing taxpayers money.  Chromebooks in schools typically see…

Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, recently invested US$180 million into Retro Biosciences – a company seeking to extend human lifespans by 10 healthy years.One way it plans to achieve this is by "rejuvenating" blood. This idea is based on studies that found old mice showed signs of reversed aging when given the blood of young mice.Altman isn't the only Silicon Valley entrepreneur supporting life extension efforts. PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Google co-founder Larry Page have…

In 1997, at the reported age of 122, Jeanne Calment passed away in the south of France, setting a benchmark for human survival.Though not all are convinced of the record's authenticity, Calment's purported age at death is now a rough marker for a potential human lifespan. Of the few dozen individuals currently older than 110, the odds are slim to none that any will see their 125th birthday.Economist David McCarthy from the University of Georgia and Po-Lin Wang, an expert in risk management and insurance from the…

Striking research from a pair of entomologists at the University of Maryland suggests the lifespan of honey bees kept in controlled laboratory conditions is 50% shorter than what was seen in the 1970s. The researchers hypothesize genetic changes in bees may be responsible for the shorter lifespans.Studying the lifespan of honey bees can be challenging. In real-world conditions the lifespan of a worker bee can vary depending on the dynamics of its specific colony. Our general understanding of bee longevity stem from…