Daily Archives: June 18, 2017

Making New Friends: The Genetics of Animal Domestication – lareviewofbooks

Posted: June 18, 2017 at 10:47 am

JUNE 18, 2017

THERES A SCENE in Antoine de Saint-Exuprys The Little Prince where the alien prince, fallen to Earth, comes across a fox. Come and play with me, he proposes to the fox, who replies, I cant play with you. Im not tamed. The prince, whos never heard the word tamed before, asks what it means. Its something thats too often neglected, the fox tells him. It means, to create ties. [] If you tame me, well need each other. Youll be the only boy in the world for me. Ill be the only fox in the world for you. [] [I]f you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others.

In 1952, nine years after Saint-Exuprys book was published, the Russian geneticist Dmitri Belyaev set out, like the Little Prince, to tame a fox or rather, foxes. His goal was to better understand how domesticated dogs evolved from the wolf, and he proposed to do this by domesticating the silver fox, the wolfs genetic cousin. By mimicking the wolfs transformation with a close relative, Belyaev thought, we could better understand one of the great mysteries of prehistory: the dogs route to domestication.

We know more about this process now than we did when Belyaev embarked on his research project decades ago. To his scientific peers, Belyaevs belief that he could replicate 10,000 years of evolution and breeding in a few decades with a species that had never been domesticated before, seemed entirely fanciful. But he turned out to be right: within a few years of starting his experiment, the foxes were already showing signs of domestication; within decades, they were on their way to becoming their own species. How to Tame a Fox (And Build a Dog) traces the history of Belyaevs experiment against the background of first the Soviet Union and then postCold War Russia. Its co-authored by the geneticist Lyudmila Trut, who joined Belyaevs team early on and has been the lead researcher of the fox domestication project since 1959, and the evolutionary biologist Lee Alan Dugatkin.

Domesticated animals exist in a peculiar gray area between the world of humanity and the rest of nature. From the Book of Genesis to the modern environmental movement, we tend to understand nature as something that we stand apart from and exert power over, whether to dominate or to protect. But cats, dogs, horses, and other domesticated creatures exist in a liminal space between these two worlds. As W. G. Sebald says of the dog, His left (domesticated) eye is attentively fixed on us; the right (wild) one has a little less light, strikes us as averted and alien.

Domestication is not simply the engineering of a change in animal behavior; it is a matter, as Dugatkin and Trut write in their opening pages, of constructing a brand new biological creature. Dogs, after all, are a separate species from wolves, and housecats are so different from their feline cousins that its not entirely clear from which species they were domesticated (though most biologists agree that it was probably the Middle Eastern wildcat). Domestication is not just a question of selectively breeding some traits at the expense of others; its about fundamentally changing the animal.

Across species, domesticated animals seem to share a number of traits that differentiate them from their wild counterparts. Most have shorter faces and curly and floppy tails, traits associated with delayed physiological development and remaining in a stage of perpetual adolescence; biologists refer to this as neoteny. Domestic animals also tend to develop different coloration patterns, and unlike their wild cousins, who mate only once a year, theyre fertile year round. Other traits are significant but harder to measure: a dog may not have the same apparent aptitude for solving puzzles as a wolf, but will display more social intelligence in its ability to manipulate human emotions.

The riddle of domestication has always been how to unravel this ball of traits, and learn how they came to be associated with one another. Were early domestic animals selected for their usefulness to humans (cats for pest control, dogs for security and hunting), and then socialized from there? Were their neotenic traits necessary for their domestication, as animals that remained juveniles were perhaps easier to train? Was the wolfs nature as a pack animal, and responsiveness to socialization and group identity, crucial to its taming? And what of the superficial aesthetic differences do they have any bearing on domestication? Farmers raising cows, after all, had nothing to gain from their cows having black-and-white spotted hides, Dugatkin and Trut note. Why would pig farmers have cared whether their pigs had curly tails?

Belyaevs hypothesis was that the single most important defining trait was comfort around human beings. Zebra and deer, for example, share many traits in common with horses but have long resisted any attempts at domestication. Zebra, under constant threat from predators, have developed a fierce defensiveness, whereas deer remain skittish and are universally nervous around humans. What separates both of these animals from their close genetic cousin the horse is the latters tolerance of humans. Early attempts to domesticate horses, DNA evidence suggests, were based on selecting for agreeableness and manipulating the horses innate fear response.

Among the numerous traits that identify domestic animals, then, Belyaev used as his sole criterion tolerance for human beings. Foxes tend to be either aggressive or skittish around humans; Belyaev and his team focused on those that seemed least defensive. These were bred together, and successive generations were likewise measured for their tolerance for humans, with the researchers hoping that eventually this quality could be bred in offspring.

Within three breeding seasons, the researchers were seeing results: Some of the pups of the foxes theyd selected were a little calmer than their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, Trut and Dugatkin write. They would still sneer and react aggressively sometimes when their keepers approached them, but at other times they seemed almost indifferent. Even more surprising, though, was how quickly these behavioral changes were accompanied by other differences. In a matter of years, hormones associated with stress decreased, while levels of serotonin (which decreases anxiety and elevates ones mood) increased. The foxes went from being merely indifferent around the researchers to actively soliciting their affection. Eventually, their tails would even wag at the sight of humans something no other animal besides a dog has been known to do.

Selecting for tameness also led to a series of physical changes: Belyaevs foxes had bushier tails, shorter faces, lighter fur. Which is to say: Traits that were not in any way selected for nonetheless began to assert themselves. At one point, the foxes began making a sound that at first confounded Trut and her team, until she realized that they appeared to be mimicking human laughter. As they ultimately concluded, the tame foxes were making this noise in order to attract human attention and prolong interaction with people. They were displaying the same kind of social intelligence that dogs do when they perform tricks for their masters.

The fox experiment bore out Belyaevs initial hypothesis about tolerance for humans as the key to domestication. These results suggest that many of the various other traits associated with domestication are in fact already latent in animals genetic codes; its just that, in the wild, these traits are inactive, rarely expressing themselves. Selective breeding can allow them to come to the fore relatively quickly. Shake up the fox genome by placing foxes in a new world where calm behavior toward humans is the ultimate currency, Dugatkin and Trut conclude, and youll get lots of other changes mottled fur, curly, wagging tails, and better social cognition as well.

The story of Belyaev and Truts decades-long experiment is fascinating, though in How to Tame a Foxs telling some important details get left out. In crafting a heartwarming story of how easy it was to create docile, loving pets, Dugatkin and Trut dont dwell on the fact that they were also trying to create exceptionally aggressive foxes to further test the hypothesis. Nor were they just breeding foxes: other species, including rats and beavers, were also bred for both aggressiveness and tameness. According to one anecdotal report of the project that isnt mentioned in the book, Soviet officials had planned to use the most aggressive beavers as a line of defense against a possible US invasion. One wonders what other strange tidbits might have come to light had the authors not chosen to selectively shape their narrative. As a result, the book itself feels much like its subjects: bred for tameness.

It might have been better had How to Tame a Fox not been co-written by one of the principal researchers, so as to introduce a modicum of objectivity and critical distance into the writing. At times the book reads like a third-person memoir: Pushinka [one of the foxes] lay by Lyudmilas feet while she worked at her desk, and she loved for Lyudmila to play with her and take her for walks around the area. A favorite game was when Lyudmila would hide a treat in her pocket and Pushinka would try to snatch it out. Such passages are often lovely and do help to convey the remarkable level of domestication the foxes had achieved in such a small span of years (and only the coldest hearted wont melt at the photos of the foxes themselves). But in a book that largely skimps on the scientific and philosophical implications of its narrative, they can feel a bit too sentimental. It is also odd to read passages that describe Trut as a woman of great warmth and an unassuming demeanor, whose formidable energy and determination made her a force to be reckoned with when she is also listed as a co-author of the book.

One thing How to Tame a Fox does reveal is the precariousness inherent in government-funded research, with lessons that go far beyond Soviet Russia. In the early 50s, when Belyaev began his project, the entire field of genetics was under assault in the USSR. A well-placed friend of Stalin, Trofim Lysenko, had promised that he could increase crop yields by freezing seeds before planting. Lysenkos claim was not only false, it ran counter to the prevailing understanding of crop genetics. Since Lysenko knew geneticists could unmask him as a fraud, he began a campaign to discredit the entire discipline, labeling them as saboteurs. Thus, when Belyaev first described his research program to Trut, he told her it could not appear to have anything to do with genetics; instead, it had to be described as an inquiry into fox physiology.

After Stalins death, Lysenkos stranglehold on the discipline loosened, and geneticists could once again work without fear of reprisal. But with the fall of the Soviet Union and the economic crash of the 1990s, research budgets were slashed, and the project nearly ended for lack of funds. Trut took to begging passersby for food to feed her starving animals; eventually she was forced to sell some of the domestic foxes for pets, and some in the control groups for fur. Only an internationally published paper on her results saved the project, triggering a fundraising campaign that kept the animals alive.

Belyaev died in 1986, but he had hoped to one day write a book himself, which he planned to call Man Is Making a New Friend. How to Tame a Fox (and Build a Dog) is not far off from what Belyaev envisioned: written for a general audience, it chronicles the story of a scientific gambit that was more successful that even its creators had dreamed. Its an inspiring reminder of how much we still dont know about the world, and how much can be learned by taking bold chances. Its also a cautionary tale about the risks of state-funded science that has nearly as much relevance to Trumps United States, where federal research budgets are in danger of being slashed right and left, as it does to Stalins Russia.

But Belyaevs experiment didnt just produce new knowledge; it also created a new species of animal, one thats become entirely dependent on humans, and its worth asking what the ethical and philosophical consequences of this might be. Some scientists believe that wolves actively participated in their own domestication; thousands of years ago, certain wolves may have made the calculation that, by sucking up to humans, they could live an easier life. These wolves gave up autonomy and freedom in exchange for food, shelter, and protection. The gamble ultimately paid off: there are now only about three hundred thousand wolves in the wild, and over half a billion dogs.

But a dogs life is not an easy one, especially without a human being to care for it. Many contemporary breeds lack the skills to fend for themselves, having depended on their masters for generations. Perhaps in the future wild foxes will go extinct, and the only foxes that remain will be the domesticated ones, the ones that have endeared themselves to humans to such a degree that even in times of strife and scarcity we will look out for them. But the precarious state of Belyaevs project may well signal another outcome, one in which these foxes, whove thrown their all in with their human protectors, may find a darker fate awaiting them. If the money to keep the program going dries up, and theres no market for them as pets, what then? In The Little Prince, Saint-Exuprys protagonist does indeed tame his new friend, but before he does the fox offers this warning: People have forgotten this truth. But you mustnt forget it. You become responsible for what youve tamed.

Colin Dickey is the author, most recently, of Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places.

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DNA shows Watana a serial bomber – Bangkok Post

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Watana Pumret is seen entering Phramongkutklao Hospital where he plants a bomb that finally got him arrested.

A DNA test of the chief suspect in the Phramongkutklao Hospital bombing has confirmed his involvement in that attack as well as two of three prior bombing incidents in Bangkok, national police chief Chakthip Chaijinda said yesterday.

However the non-match findings suggest more people were involved in the blasts, he said.

Watana Pumret, a 62-year-old retired engineer who was detained on Wednesday night, faces five warrants in connection with the Bangkok blasts.

They took place outside Major Cineplex Ratchayothin on April 9, 2007; outside the old Government Lottery Office (GLO) on April 5 of this year; near the National Theatre on May 15; and at the Phramongkutklao Hospital on May 22. The warrants also relate to the discovery of explosives in Mr Watana's house in the capital's Bang Khen district on Thursday.

Speaking after leading the interrogation of Mr Watana from Friday night to yesterday morning, Pol Gen Chakthip told the public Mr Watana is the suspect the police have been chasing for the series of bombings.

He was among those considered a person of interest in the probe into the attack on the hospital, which left 25 people injured.

He became a suspect when the investigators obtained sufficient evidence to prove a link between him and the bombing.

A key piece of evidence that convinced investigators Mr Watana was the man they were looking for was some CCTV footage showing him wearing a hygiene mask and carrying a bag into the Wongsuwon Room of the hospital where the explosion went off, said Pol Gen Chakthip.

More importantly, the suspect's DNA matches the samples collected from all previous bombing incidents he is believed to be involved in, except for the one outside the old GLO, said Pol Gen Chakthip.

And the fact that his DNA does not match the samples collected in an associated investigation into the GLO bombing led the police to suspect there must be others involved in some of the attacks, said Pol Gen Chakthip.

This contradicts Mr Watana's claim that he acted alone out of his strong political ideology against the military coup and his deep dislike for the military over the soldiers' roles in the dispersal of the red-shirt protesters at Wat Pathum Wanaram in Pathumwan district of Bangkok.

Six people were killed on May 19, 2010, when armed soldiers closed in on the rally site of red-shirt demonstrators against the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva in the Ratchaprasong area in an operation to reclaim the protest site.

Mr Watana, in the beginning of his interrogation, denied any wrongdoing, but when the interrogators confronted him with the security camera footage he confessed, Pol Gen Chakthip said.

Mr Watana faces charges of premeditated murder, causing explosions which severely injured others, possession of explosives, possession of arms without permits and causing damage to property.

Security sources said on Friday that Mr Watana confessed he went to the hospital to survey the scene several times in April before planting the bomb.

Mr Watana told police he bought a timer from Ban Mo electric market, items from a fireworks store on Rama VII Road, and a vase at a store close to Yanhee Hospital near the residence of his second wife.

One security source said the footage shows the suspect arriving at the hospital at 8.47am. He walked to the Wongsuwon Room shortly before 9am and left the room at about 10.20am. He then left the hospital at 10.22am.

The investigators also interviewed a patient who confirmed Mr Watana's visit to the hospital on the day of the blast.

The source said Mr Watana appeared tense when questioned. He said he was motivated to launch the hospital attack after regularly watching political programmes on a cable channel and listening to a community radio, which drove him to fight the military.

He described the hospital as a "random target" he selected to launch his attack in retaliation against the military over its crackdown on the red-shirt protesters at Wat Pathum Wanaram.

He apparently intended for the attack to be highly publicised and "symbolic" although he conceded that bombing a hospital is universally unacceptable.

Mr Watana, who is now in military custody, is expected to be handed over to the police on Tuesday, said Pol Maj Gen Chayapol Chatchaidech, chief of the Special Branch's Division 4.

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Editorial: Crime victims show why DNA testing of prisoners matters … – Omaha World-Herald

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Victims of unsolved crimes have a better shot at justice today because Nebraskas prison system has begun more vigorously enforcing a state DNA collection law.

Nebraska law requires state prisons to collect DNA samples from felony inmates. But World-Herald reporting found nearly 80 inmates that prison officials had let say no to testing.

The states first wave of more assertive DNA collection has already helped investigators identify a suspect in four Omaha rapes in 2002 and 2004, Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said last week.

We pushed very hard for these collections and for good reason, Kleine told The World-Heralds Todd Cooper. It shows the power of DNA, the power of the law.

It shouldnt have taken so long, one of the women attacked, Nicky Patten, told The World-Herald. Theyve been sitting on this the whole time because he checked a no box? Years and years of victims not knowing and not getting closure, all beause of silly little loopholes like this.

She is right to criticize the prisons previous policy of letting inmates decline tests, despite the state law, sentencing orders and a Supreme Court ruling that required gathering inmate DNA.

Inmates who refuse to allow the DNA tests now face a possible loss of prison privileges and good time. If they continue to resist, Corrections will seek a court order to collect the sample by force.

The new approach is working. Prison officials said 13 inmates were still refusing DNA collection last week, down from 78 in late April.

Prison officials say Lincoln Correctional Center inmate Brandon Weathers had refused to be tested, so they obtained a court order. Guards held him down and swabbed his cheek, and the Nebraska State Patrol DNA lab checked his sample against unsolved cases. Kleine says Weathers DNA matched the suspect sought in four cases.

Thats progress, even if it took prodding.

Kleine says he expects to charge Weathers with four counts of first-degree sexual assault. Weathers is already serving a 100- to 160-year sentence for raping a 13-year-old foster child.

Heres hoping more crimes can be solved as the state makes more felons comply with the law.

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State forensics panel approves family DNA use to solve crimes – NY … – New York Daily News

Posted: at 10:47 am

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Updated: Friday, June 16, 2017, 11:28 PM

In a historic move that could change the face of criminal investigations, a state panel approved the use of familial DNA to solve violent crimes, officials said Friday.

The State Commission on Forensic Science voted 9-2 to allow the technique to be used by law enforcement agencies across the state in felony and sex crime investigations.

The method allows investigators to identify suspects by checking genetic material of relatives who are already in the states DNA database. It can be used to both identify and eliminate people as suspects.

The family of Karina Vetrano, who was slain in a Queens park while jogging last year, mounted a campaign to press officials to allow the tests.

Queens jogger's dad lauds LAPD for using controversial DNA test

Familial DNA usage will help bring these deviants to the severe justice they deserve, Vetranos mom Cathie Vetrano said Friday.

Vetranos dad Phillip added, This is a very big, monumental day in law enforcement. We have to thank Karina because shes the one who made this happen.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said the measure strikes a fair balance between privacy and investigative needs.

The commission has insured more victims will receive justice, the public will be safer, and we in law enforcement can better guard against wrongful arrest and convictions, Brown said in a statement.

Karina Vetrano's accused killer blames attack on homicidal rage

Tina Luongo, attorney-in-charge of the criminal practice at The Legal Aid Society, countered the decision and said it damaged New Yorkers civil and privacy rights.

Instead of delegating to the New York State Legislature for a complete debate on its use, the Commission on Forensic Science made a rushed, politically influenced decision that has the potential to criminalize innocent New Yorkers, she said.

State officials said the policy lays out limited situations where the method can be used and requires each law enforcement agency to be trained in the rules beforehand.

(The) changes are being pursued to implement the policy, which will provide law enforcement with a proven scientific tool to help investigate and solve serious crimes, obtain justice for victims and exonerate the innocent without compromising individual protections, the commission said in a statement.

Grand jury indicts Brooklyn man in Queens jogger's murder

The method can only be used in murder, rape, sexual assault, arson, kidnapping and terrorism cases and only after other leads have gone cold and there appears to be a direct connection to the suspect.

25 photos view gallery

Both the local prosecutor and the local police agency have to make the application, and the policy only applies to use with the New York state database.

Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said the NYPD has a list of 12 cases from 2016 that would fit policy guidelines. We may get results from doing it so were looking forward to it, he said. We think it was a great day for justice this morning.

Vetrano had gone for a run through Spring Creek Park near her Howard Beach home on the evening of Aug. 2 when she disappeared. Her father Phillip found her battered body face down about 15 feet from a path. She had been strangled and sexually assaulted.

Chanel Lewis, 20, of Brooklyn, was arrested Feb. 2, and told cops he killed her because of his hatred of women.

Cops found DNA under Vetranos fingernails and tried to use it to identify the suspect, but he was not in the database.

That led to the call for the use of familial DNA, which was not then approved.

Cops finally zeroed in on Lewis because an alert detective remembered him skulking around the area. They obtained DNA from him which matched the material under Vetranos fingernails.

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Meditation, Yoga Can Reverse DNA Stress Reactions – PsychCentral.com

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Mind-body interventions (MBIs), such as meditation, yoga and tai chi, dont just relax us. According to a new study, they can reverse the molecular reactions in our DNA that cause ill health and depression.

The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, reviews over a decade of studies analyzing how the behavior of our genes is affected by different MBIs, including mindfulness and yoga.

Researchers at Coventry University in the U.K. and Radboud University in the Netherlands conclude that, when examined together, the 18 studies featuring 846 participants over 11 years reveal a pattern in the molecular changes that happen to the body as a result of MBIs, and how those changes benefit our mental and physical health.

The researchers focused on how gene expression is affected in other words, the way that genes activate to produce proteins that influence the biological makeup of the body, the brain, and the immune system.

When a person is exposed to a stressful event, their sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the fight-or-flight response, is triggered, which increases production of a molecule called nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB), which regulates how our genes are expressed, the researchers explained.

NF-kB translates stress by activating genes to produce proteins called cytokines that cause inflammation at a cellular level, a reaction that is useful as a short-lived fight-or-flight reaction, but if persistent leads to a higher risk of cancer, accelerated aging, and psychiatric disorders like depression, the researchers noted.

However, people who practice MBIs exhibit the opposite effect a decrease in the production of NF-kB and cytokines, leading to a reversal of the pro-inflammatory gene expression pattern and a reduction in the risk of inflammation-related diseases and conditions, according to the studys findings.

The inflammatory effect of the fight-or-flight response, which also serves to temporarily bolster the immune system, would have played an important role in mankinds hunter-gatherer prehistory, when there was a higher risk of infection from wounds, the researchers said.

Today, however, where stress is increasingly psychological and often longer-term, pro-inflammatory gene expression can be persistent and more likely to cause psychiatric and medical problems, they noted.

Millions of people around the world already enjoy the health benefits of mind-body interventions like yoga or meditation, but what they perhaps dont realize is that these benefits begin at a molecular level and can change the way our genetic code goes about its business, said lead investigator Ivana Buric from the Brain, Belief and Behavior Lab in Coventry Universitys Centre for Psychology, Behavior and Achievement.

These activities are leaving what we call a molecular signature in our cells, which reverses the effect that stress or anxiety would have on the body by changing how our genes are expressed. Put simply, MBIs cause the brain to steer our DNA processes along a path which improves our well-being.

She added that more needs to be done to understand these effects in greater depth,for example how they compare with other healthy interventions like exercise or nutrition.

But this is an important foundation to build on to help future researchers explore the benefits of increasingly popular mind-body activities, she concluded.

Source: Coventry University

APA Reference Wood, J. (2017). Meditation, Yoga Can Reverse DNA Stress Reactions. Psych Central. Retrieved on June 18, 2017, from https://psychcentral.com/news/2017/06/18/meditation-yoga-can-reverse-dna-stress-reactions/122064.html

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Hacking the human lifespan / Boing Boing – Boing Boing

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Biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey has said that the first person likely to live to 1,000 years-old has probably been born already. de Grey's nonprofit lab, and others, some of which are funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, are boldly focused on how science may find a cure for aging. In the new issue of Smithsonian, Elmo Keep writes about these efforts to "hack" mortality and quotes my Institute for the Future colleagues Rachel Maguire and Jake Dunagan, both of whom cast a concerned eye on the obsession with longevity. From Smithsonian:

One thing we do know is that there are more elderly people alive now than there have ever been in the history of the planet. Even if todays life-extension researchers made meaningful breakthroughs, the therapies wouldnt be available for many years to come. That means were about to face a lot of death, says Rachel Maguire, a research director focusing on health care at the Institute for the Future, in Palo Alto. By 2025 or 2030, there will be more of a culture of dying and lots of different ways of experiencing it. There are early signs of new types of funerals and spiritual formations around this. Maguire foresees new end-of-life plans, including assisted dying. When it comes to aging, she points out that biological research is only one piece of a puzzle that must also include economics, politics and cultural change. I dont think we have answers yet for how wed do the other pieces. And the financial piece alone is huge.

Theres already a huge disparity between the life spans of rich and poor Americans, and critics of the new longevity research worry the gap may only grow wider. A 2016 report from the Brookings Institution found that, for men born in 1920, there was a six-year difference in life expectancy between men at the top 10 percent and bottom 10 percent of the earnings ladder. For men born in 1950, the difference was 14 years. For women, the gap grew from 4.7 to 13 years. In other words, advances in medicine havent helped low-income Americans nearly as much as their wealthier counterparts....

Dunagan has little patience for Silicon Valleys longevity research; he says proponents are not sufficiently interested in the details. The rich people are defining the terms of the longevity conversation and have enhanced access to these technologies, he says. Everyone wants to live longer, to some degree, but its also the sense of privilege, of selfishness to it thats I want mine. I always want mine. Well, what if everyone had this? What would be the long-term implications of that?

Derek Muller of the YouTube channel Veritasium uses a nifty trick to make visible the invisible air currents, temperature gradients, and differences in air pressure around us. The process is called Schlieren photography and with the right equipment and some precision alignment, you can try it at home. As Muller explains: I first saw a []

On June 16, 1963, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. She orbited the Earth 48 times over a period of three days. Inspired by Yuri Gagarin who in 1961 became the first person in space, Tereshkova applied to the Russian space program and was accepted based on her extensive background as []

In this nifty YouTube video, Dave Hax talks through the properties of gallium, the metal that liquefies at just 86F and is safe to play with. (Just dont eat it!) Hax has a whole collection of videos about gallium on his YouTube channel. If you want to give it a try yourself, you buy 20 []

COGZ is a game where up to six players compete to see who can fix a mad scientists color-coded machine, and its currently available in the Boing Boing Store.In this Mensa-endorsed tabletop game, players take turns laying gear tiles to connect like-colored segments. Points are scored when complex paths are finished, but your unfinished arrangements []

Whether you desperately need to locate your wedding ring in the sink drain or accurately determine how much hair is clogging your shower, this Waterproof Endoscopic Camera will give you a clear window into your homes tightest crevices.This rugged camera comes with an adjustable LED lamp to illuminate the situation. Its 720p HD resolution provides []

While the portability of smartphones and tablets is undeniably convenient, the occasional need to support your device while typing or video chatting can get exhausting after awhile. To give you an extra hand with your mobile devices, this trio of foldable stands is availablein the Boing Boing Store.These device props have an adjustable metal back, []

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Is there a link between eczema and heart disease? Finally we have … – Hindustan Times

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According to a recent study, despite recent findings to the contrary, eczema is most likely not associated with an increase in cardiovascular risk factors or diseases.

In our study, people who reported having atopic dermatitis were not at any increased risk for high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, heart attacks or strokes, said lead author Aaron Drucker of Brown University.

Drucker and a team of co-authors made the findings by analysing the records of 2,59,119 adults aged 30-74 in the Canadian Partnership for the Tomorrow Project. Drucker led the data analysis with the hypothesis, suggested by two recent studies, that people with atopic dermatitis (AD) would be significantly more likely to have various cardiovascular problems. Instead, he found that the opposite was the case.

A diagnosis of AD was associated with a somewhat reduced risk of stroke (0.79 times the odds), hypertension (0.87 times), diabetes (0.78 times) and heart attack (0.87 times). Drucker emphasized, however, that he does not believe that AD is protective - given the mixed evidence accumulated by researchers, the best conclusion is that AD is likely not positively associated with cardiovascular disease. Its important to make this clear so it doesnt get misinterpreted: Even though we found lower rates of these outcomes with atopic dermatitis, we are not interpreting that as atopic dermatitis decreasing the risk, he said.

The findings are based on a statistical analysis that accounted for confounders including age, gender, ethnic background, body-mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, sleep, physical activity and asthma. The findings appear in the British Journal of Dermatology.

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The Upside of Bad Genes – New York Times

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New York Times
The Upside of Bad Genes
New York Times
Earlier this year, the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine issued recommendations on editing embryos and other germ line cells, calling for a high degree of caution but not prohibition. An obvious counterargument to the ...
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When Facebook Censors Journalists – Forbes

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When Facebook Censors Journalists
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Trump censorship: Wall HS to get new yearbooks – Asbury Park Press – Asbury Park Press

Posted: at 10:45 am

Grant Berardo, a Wall High School junior, saw his image digitally altered with a plain black T-shirt in his yearbook. Mike Davis

Wall Township High School junior Grant Berardo's T-shirt was digitally altered in the school's yearbook. He wore a Donald Trump campaign shirt for his portrait.(Photo: Courtesy of Joseph Berardo, Jr.)

WALL -High school yearbooks that featured digitally altered photographs of students supporting President Donald Trump will be reissued, according to the district superintendent.

In a letter to parents issued Thursday evening, Superintendent Cheryl Dyer outlined a series of "mistakes," including the intentional alteration of a student's T-shirt to remove a Trump campaign logo.

Other mistakes were unintentional, likely because of "carelessness or lack of attention to detail or lack of sufficient proofreading," she said.

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"Ido not believe that it is possible to create a yearbook of 248 pages, thousands of pictures, namesand lines of text and have it be error free," Dyer said. "That being said, I cannot allow the intentional change that was not based on dress code to be ignored. I am the chief school administrator in this district and I take responsibility for the actions of those who are employed here.

"Therefore, I have determined that a reissuance of the yearbook is necessary," she continued.

The new yearbooks will be available in about two weeks, Dyer said. The school's commencement ceremony for seniors is scheduled for Friday.

Wall High School has grabbed national attention over the last week after three students reported that their images or words supporting Trump had been altered in the yearbook.

Grant Berardo, a junior at the school, took his school pictures wearing a navy blue "Make America Great Again" shirt from the campaign. In the yearbook, his photo had been digitally altered so it resembled a nondescript black T-shirt, which you can see in the video at the top of the story.

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It was Photoshopped," Berardo said in an interview. "I sent it to my mom and dad, just like You wont believe this. I was just overall disappointed.

"I like Trump, but its history too. Wearing that shirt memorializes the time," he said.

In her letter, Dyer said this alteration was "intentional."

People make mistakes. Sometimes, the mistakes they make are intentional, Dyer said in an interview. An adult altered a picture. I dont know why, and I dont know if Ill ever know why. But I do know the how, and I know that Im not OKwith it, so Im going to do something to fix it."

But it's not yet clear whether aquote attributed to Trump was purposely left out of a section dedicated to Montana Dobrovich-Fago's role as freshman class president, Dyer said.

Traditionally, class presidents pick a quote to accompany their picture."I like thinking big. If you are going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big," Trump's quote read.

The quote was submitted before a deadline but did not appear in the yearbook.

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Montana's older brother, Wyatt Dobrovich-Fago, wore a sweater vest with a Trump logo for his school picture. The logo was cropped out of the photograph in the yearbook, but Dyer said it was done in "the same manner as all of the underclass photos."

It did not appear to be intentional, she said.

According to Dyer, other errors in the yearbook included:

Digital media teacher Susan Parsons, also the yearbook adviser, was suspended with pay because of the incident. The school board is expected to discuss further discipline at its June 20 meeting.

Parsons has not returned multiple calls seeking comment.

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Mike Davis: 732-643-4223; mdavis@gannettnj.com

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