middleage

So you've just turned 40. Congrats! You make little groaning sounds now when you stand up, you just noticed a gray hair in your eyebrow of all places, and you've finally given in and graduated to a new notch on your belt. Age-related weight gain – or middle-age spread – is so common in many parts of the world that it's almost become a cliché. The average young adult in the US can expect to put on nearly 15 kilograms (about 30 pounds) by the time they're 50. A recent study on the brains and bodies of mice might help us…

A change in shape to a particular structure of neurons was found to have a significant impact on obesity in rats. Researchers believe the finding will translate to humans and could help us fight our own middle-aged bulges one day.Researchers from Nagoya University, Osaka University and other institutions in Japan undertook the rodent study to try to see how the shape of neurons and the way they change with age might be related to obesity. They focused on a protein called melanocortin-4 (MC4R), which is a chemical…

‘We’re taking down the scaffolds very soon,” sings Damon Albarn, midway through Barbaric, presumably one of the songs he wrote for Blur’s ninth studio album while on tour with Gorillaz last year. Whether it was intended as such or not, the image of a venerable building being revealed to the public once more seems like an anticipatory nod towards Blur’s second reunion, 33 years on from their debut single.It has, thus far, been a remarkable success. There have been stadium gigs and festival headlining slots, at which the…