Live long and prosper
We hear talk all the time of environmental dangers to our health, unhealthy life styles, and general health-care issues. And yet, when you step outside the box of local context, and you do the research, you learn facts that may startle you.
New research from around the world has begun to reveal a picture of humans today that is so different from what it was in the past that scientists say they are startled. Over the past 100 years, says one researcher, Robert W. Fogel of the University of Chicago, humans in the industrialized world have undergone “a form of evolution that is unique not only to humankind, but unique among the 7,000 or so generations of humans who have ever inhabited the earth.”
The difference does not involve changes in genes, as far as is known, but changes in the human form. It shows up in several ways, from those that are well known and almost taken for granted, like greater heights and longer lives, to ones that are emerging only from comparisons of health records.
The biggest surprise emerging from the new studies is that many chronic ailments like heart disease, lung disease and arthritis are occurring an average of 10 to 25 years later than they used to. There is also less disability among older people today, according to a federal study that directly measures it. And that is not just because medical treatments like cataract surgery keep people functioning. Human bodies are simply not breaking down the way they did before.
Even the human mind seems improved. The average I.Q. has been increasing for decades, and at least one study found that a person’s chances of having dementia in old age appeared to have fallen in recent years.
This trend, it turns out, is only partly attributable to better medical care. And these benefits are not just for the wealthy nations.
The effects are not just in the United States. Large and careful studies from Finland, Britain, France, Sweden and the Netherlands all confirm that the same things have happened there; they are also beginning to show up in the underdeveloped world.
What's more, were are different human beings that what existed just a few generations ago
In 1900, 13 percent of people who were 65 could expect to see 85. Now, nearly half of 65-year-olds can expect to live that long.
People even look different today. American men, for example, are nearly 3 inches taller than they were 100 years ago and about 50 pounds heavier.
“We’ve been transformed,” Dr. Fogel said.
What are the primary driving facts? You general health prior to the age of 2.
Today’s middle-aged people are the first generation to grow up with childhood vaccines and with antibiotics. Early life for them was much better than it was for their parents, whose early life, in turn, was much better than it was for their parents....
“What happens before the age of 2 has a permanent, lasting effect on your health, and that includes aging,” said Dr. David J. P. Barker, a professor of medicine at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland and a professor of epidemiology at the University of Southampton in England.
Each event can touch off others. Less cardiovascular disease, for example, can mean less dementia in old age. The reason is that cardiovascular disease can precipitate mini-strokes, which can cause dementia. Cardiovascular disease is also a suspected risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease....
And if good health and nutrition early in life are major factors in determining health in middle and old age, that bodes well for middle-aged people today. Investigators predict that they may live longer and with less pain and misery than any previous generation.
Which is good news for me. With the constant denial that anything is wrong with Social Security and Medicare, it looks like I'll live a good long life at the expense of all the less numerous youger generations.
But they'll figure it out eventually.
Kids...they never listen....
(via Instapundit)
Indistinguishable from Magic
Being able to affect phisical onjects from a distance has always been a staple of the psuedo-science crowd. But in a similar way that Science Fiction affects science, perhaps Magic does as well
A Paralyzed man using a new brain sensor has been able to move a computer cursor, open e-mail and control a robotic device simply by thinking about doing it, a team of scientists said on Wednesday.
They believe the BrainGate sensor, which involves implanting electrodes in the brain, could offer new hope to people Paralyzed by injuries or illnesses.
"This is the first step in an ongoing clinical trial of a device that is encouraging for its potential to help people with paralysis," Dr Leigh Hochberg, of Massachusetts General Hospital, said in an interview.
The 25-year-old man who suffered paralysis of all four limbs three years earlier completed tasks such moving a cursor on a screen and controlling a robotic arm.
He is the first of four patients with spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophy, stroke or motor neurone disease testing the brain-to-movement system developed by Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems Inc in Massachusetts.
"This is the dawn of major neurotechnology where the ability to take signals out of the brain has taken a big step forward. We have the ability to put signals into the brain but getting signals out is a real challenge. I think this represents a landmark event," said Professor John Donoghue of Brown University in Rhode Island and the chief scientific officer of Cyberkinetics.
Now, if only I could add zeros to the left of by bank account's decimal point just by the mere thought of it...
Testing...1.2.3...Testing
Yeah, so I'm posting my score but it's nothing to be proud of that I passed an 8th grade science test.
| You Passed 8th Grade Science |
 |
Actually, I think an 8th grade science test might be harder which means that my score means even less, but I don't know. It's been a long time since I've been in 8th grade and I attended Catholic school so my recollection might not be representative.
But you know what? I believe that most people can not pass even this test. Despite this, most people think they know something about evolution or global warming or stem cell research when they can not pass an 8th grade science test.
Prove me wrong.
