Category Archives: Immortality Medicine

A show about a New York medical examiner who can never die many not sounds like one of falls most promising pilots, but it is.

In ABCs Forever, Ioan Gruffudd stars as Henry Morgan, a doctor whos 200 plus years of life experience has given him the uncanny ability to read people and more importantly help the NYPD solve murders.

Forever has a mildly ridiculous concept, but Gruffudd is charming as the long-lived doctor. Law & Order alumna Alana De La Garza is successful in the role of NYPD detective and recently-widowed Jo Martinez.

San Jose Mercury News 2007/MCT

The duo has good chemistry and work well together on screen.

Judd Hirsch (Damages, Numb3rs) and Joel David Moore (Bones) are also strong in their supporting roles of Abe, the only man who knows Henrys secret, and Lucas, the nerdy assistant medical examiner.

The first two episodes, which aired Sept. 22 and Sept. 23 were able to fully captivate the viewers attention for an hour. Henry views immortality as a burden rather than a blessing. He struggles to deal with the losses of all of his loved ones who have gone before him.

The narrative features numerous flashbacks to his former love and moments from his past.

In the present day, Henry also struggles with his immortality as a currently anonymous terrorist is working to expose the secret of his immortality.

Forever is good for now, but the concept may get old quickly and viewers may lose their attention span. In the first two episodes, Henry died and was brought back to life multiple times. How long can a character violently perishing and then ending up fine in the Hudson River remain novel?

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Show mixes mystery and medicine

The idea of immortality has been explored in a number of ways on screens both big and small. But for Dr. Henry Morgan in ABCs new series Forever, immortality has a few twists. For one, Henry views it as a curse, something hes spent more than 200 years trying to cure. And then theres the idea that Henry does technically die. He just doesnt stay dead for long.

As a medical examiner in New York, Henry (Ioan Gruffudd) spends his days examining dead bodies and trying to find a solution for his inability to stay dead. And as viewers will see in the pilot, his years of practicing medicine and genius-like knowledge quickly get him pulled into helping a detective (Alana De La Garza) on a number of cases.

We caught up with Forevers creator, Matt Miller, to talk about the idea behind the show, what viewers can expect, and more.

EW: Where did the idea for Forever come from? MATT MILLER: I was putting my five-year-old son to bed one night and he asked me, Daddy, are you ever gonna die someday? as five-year-olds will do occasionally, and I said,No, of course not, Ill never die. I didnt want to upset him or anything, and then I realized, you know, youre supposed to kind of build trust through honesty, and all that sort of stuff. So I said to him, Okay, wait. I wasnt completely truthful. I will die someday, but it wont be for a very long time, and by then youll probably want me to be dead. At which point he burst into tears, my wife came running into the room, I was banished from the room, and she continued sort of raising our child, and I went off to try to come up with a TV show.

So I started playing around with that idea: What if a character, through some weird set of circumstances, wouldnt or couldnt die. And I started to think of like all the amazing things that you could do and how much fun it would be. And then I started to think but what would happen if my son wasnt immortal too? Would the pain of watching your family and friends, children and everything like that grow old and die, would that be too much? Would it ultimately prove to be more of a curse than a blessing? And that was sort of the initial impetus of the idea is to play with a character that was stuck with that unusual affliction, which is the thing that we all want on some level more than anything, and that he has it but sees it as more of a curse. And then the rest of it kind of extrapolated from there. I said, Well what kind of guy would he be and what would he do for a living? I sort of came upon the medical examiner thing [because] I thought it would be interesting if he was a doctor for all of these years and the medical examiner would give him access to the bodies. So hes a guy who couldnt die but was surrounded by death.

What about the idea of him being naked every time he comes back to life? We got lucky with the casting on that one. Not everyone you want to see come out of the water naked, but sort of the idea was, okay, well, if he dies every time, I was like, Can you just chop his head off? Does the ax break? How does that work? So I decided he should really die. He just keeps coming back, and if he kept coming back, like, in water, I thought it would just be an interesting kind of rebirth idea. And then the being naked part, it would have to be like a full rebirth. And to me, I sort of just thought it was funny. It would be a funny predicament of his affliction would be coming back in water, but hes always naked, and so it would lend itself to weird, awkward situations.

In general, would you say this series will have a procedural feel? Yeah, there was certainly a procedural element in the pilot but a lot of it was kind of unraveling who Henry is and then how Henry and Detective Jo Martinez, played by Alana De La Garza, were going to come into contact. And now that weve set that structure up in the pilot, we move forward with a more traditional procedural in the sense that every week theres a body, Henry is the M.E., she is the detective, we unravel and solve a crime every week, but then theres also some very non-traditional elements of our show. He cant die, your protagonist, or he does die every week but ends up coming back. Its not every week, but he does die a few times. He dies, like, four times in the pilot so that was a little excessive, and we start to pull back on that. Hell die, like, in the second episode, and then well take a few off, and well have special-occasion kind of deaths that will come up throughout the series. But we also get to utilize the flashback structure, which is that we get to see his life over the last 235 or so years.

Will there be flashbacks in every episode? Yeah, so every episode were going to tell our A story and then well tell a flashback story that will relate.

Is there any time period in particular that youre looking forward to exploring? In terms of time periods for the show, you know, the great love of [Henry's] life is a character named Abigail that we meet in the pilot. They met at the end of World War II around 1945, so we get to explore that relationship in the 1940s and as it continues into the 1950s, but we also have stories that take us back to like the tenements on the Lower East Side in the early 1900s or the 1890s and thats fun. Were talking about an episode right now that has like 1880s London because its a little bit of a Jack the Ripper episode, so that will be fun for us. Also, we want to tell stories about the Depression and the Roaring 20s and all of that. Its all really fun, interesting stuff that we get to dive into every week.

At the center of this show, Henry is trying to die. In your mind, does the series end when he figures that out? For me, the series ends when ABC tells us its over. [Laughs] But assuming that we get to play this out for a while, he wants to be looking for a way to end his affliction, but if he does come up with that way at some point, does he want to use it still? Has he found enough to live for where he doesnt actually want to be out? And thats something that well certainly explore throughout the course of the series. Solosing that character from the show gives us very little to play, so hopefully he wont actually die. But we will certainly play around with what happens if he does figure out a way scientifically out of this.

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Forever creator previews the newest show about immortality

Everywhere you look, stories are being written about doctors, nurses and the medical profession in general. We do a round up...

There's really no escaping them. They make the worlds they inhabit healthier places. On television, in film, in popular culture and in real life, doctors, nurses and their ilk are indispensable. In fact, this year, more than any other, in recent memory, we've witnessed something of an overwhelming inclination to cover their kind, in comedies, dramas etc across the board. In fact, real-life docs to the celebrities ( Hollywood, to be specific) found their time in the sun when The Hollywood recently listed over 480 medicine-men (and women) in their latest issue. Three Indian names were listed 'industry favourites'. Bollywood's inclusion of doctors in scripts has been consistent and this year, too, it didn't disappoint. Indian celebrity doctors, too, have remained in the news.

IN BOLLYWOOD Phantom: Katrina Kaif supposedly plays a Pakistani doctor Dr Cabbie: Vinay Virmani plays mobile doctor, Deepak Chopra (no, really!) Khoobsurat: Sonam Kapoor's Dr Milli Chakraborty is less of a physiotherapist and more of a troublemaker and incorrigible selfie-taker Humshakals: Esha Gupta's character, Dr Dhwani Gupta is as clueless as they come Kick: As psychiatrist Dr Shaina Mehra, Jacqueline Fernandez spends more time moping about her love life than listening to her patients Heartless: As the conniving Dr Sameer Saxena, Shekhar Suman conspires to kill off his patient and friend, played by real-life son Adhyayan in the film

IN HOLLYWOOD Cancer, AIDS-HIV, ALS, the ER all made it to the screen this year Code Black: A documentary about a notorious trauma bay in an inner-city ER earns its keep as the 'hurt locker of medicine' as new, idealistic and adrenaline-seeking doctors train in an environment akin to a war-zone. The Fault In Our Stars: About Hazel and Gus, who meet at a cancer support group and fall in love despite Hazel constantly needing oxygen support and Gus joking about his prosthetic leg. The Normal Heart: Based on the play by Larry Kramer, has Julia Roberts play Dr Brookner, a physician and survivor of polio (and so, uses a wheelchair), who bemoans the lack of medical knowledge on an illness plaguing the gay community and asks them to abstain from sex for their own safety The Theory of Everything: The love story of the physicist Dr Stephen Hawking and Jane Wilde, the literature student he fell in love with whilst studying at Cambridge in the 1960s. Also features his struggle with ALS.

ON TELEVISION/ NEW SHOWS A Young Doctor's Notebook And Other Stories: Currently in its second season in the UK, this British dark comedy is adapted from the autobiographical works of the Russian author and playwright Mikhail Bulgakov, and his struggle with morphine addiction. While it hasn't aired here yet (wonder why not), it does star Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm. Need more reasons to check it out? Red Band Society: Follows six teenagers who create a pact to live and bond together... in hospital Rush: Dr William Rush is highly discreet no matter what the ailment as long as the client can pay his cash-only premium The Knick: A look at the professional and personal lives of the staff at New York's Knickerbocker Hospital during the early part of the 20th century. Stars Clive Owen Remedy: Griffin Conner comes home having dropped out of medical school and gets a job as an orderly at the hospital where his dad and sisters work. Complications: Yet to premiere, it's about John Ellis, a disillusioned suburban ER doctor, who finds his existence transformed when he intervenes in a drive-by shooting Night Shift: A group of Army doctors return to work on the night shift at a hospital in San Antonio. Forever: Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic 4's Mr Fantastic?) stars as a 200-year-old man works in the New York City Morgue as a medical examiner trying to find a key to unlock the curse of his immortality. The Lottery: Set in a dystopian future when women have stopped having children, "The Lottery" reveals a world staring down the barrel of impending extinction. Black Box: A short-lived 13-episode series, it aired in April and is about famous neurologist Catherine Black, who secretly has bipolar disorder;

ON TELEVISION/ RETURNING SHOWS Grey's Anatomy: Season 11 in the US, 10th season here on Zee Cafe. Grey's Anatomy focuses on young people struggling to be doctors and doctors struggling to stay human. The Mindy Project (Season 3) Mindy Lahiri is looking to date and meet the perfect guy. Mindy is a skilled OB/GYN and shares a practice with a few other doctors, none of whom make life any easier for her. Nurse Jackie: (Season 6): Edie Falco stars as the title character Jackie O'Hurley, a strong-willed and brilliant - but very flawed - emergency room nurse in a complicated New York City hospital. Masters of Sex (Season 2): Dr William Masters and Virginia Johnson were the real-life pioneers of the science of human sexuality. The series chronicles the unusual lives, romance and pop culture trajectory of Masters and Johnson. Hart Of Dixie: (season 3 ended in May) Rachel Bilson as Dr. Zoe Hart, a New Yorker who, after her dreams of becoming a heart surgeon fall apart, accepts an offer to work as a general practitioner in the Gulf Coast town of Bluebell, Alabama. Getting On (Season 2): Based on the hit British series, the show, set in the women's extended-care facility of a Long Beach hospital , follows the lives of doctors and nurses.

OTHER RETURNING SHOWS: Royal Pains, Sirens, Saving Hope, Call The Midwife, Doc Martin, Web Therapy, Bones

RERUNS ON INDIAN TV Combat Hospital: The show ended in 2013. Is currently airing on Star World in India Doogie Howser MD: We grew up with Neil Patrick Harris. Currently airing on Comedy Central Frasier: A family of doctors, one had his own radio show. On CC American Horror Story Asylum: This one was mental... literally. On FX M.A.S.H.: This much-loved comedy classic is currently airing on CC House: Internationally, has ended. In India, reruns are on Star World

HOLLYWOOD'S INDUSTRY FAVOURITES (INDIAN NAMES IN THR LISTING) Dr Soram Khalsa (Internist): Not of Indian origin, but converted to Sikhism. Counts Morgan Freeman as a celebrity client Dr Prediman K Shah (Cardiocavascular Disease): THR reports that Dr. Shah performed Saturday Night Live veteran Dana Carvey's fourth angioplasty, which was a success. They've "worked together" as doctor-patient and friends ever since. Dr Inderbir Singh Gill (Urologist): A world renowned expert in kidney surgery, he has a friend in former patient for kidney cancer, DreamWorks Studios chief Jeff Small. Gill's treatment left Small cancer-free. OTHER INDIAN DOCTORS LISTED: Dr Sonu S. Ahluwalia - Orthopaedic Surgery, Dr Uttam K Sinha - ENT, Dr Vikram V Kamdar - Endocrinology, Dr Arun P Amar - Neurosurgeon, Dr Narsing A Rao - Opthalmology, Dr Sonya Gohill - Paeditrician, Dr Nanda Kerkar - Paediatric Gastroenterology, Dr Neena Kapoor - Pediatric hematology/oncology

BOLLYWOOD'S FAVOURITE DOCTORS Dr PK Aggarwal: A general practioner, he is Bollywood's A-List's go-to doctor for the littlest and largest of emergencies. His son's wedding had most of Bollywood in attendance. Dr Firuza Parikh: This fertility expert is the name behind Farah Khan's successful pregnancy. She's also a published author. Dr Vijay Vaishnav - A homeopath, his website lists the Roshans, the Akhtars and Manoj Bajpayee as patients. Dr Jamuna Pai: This cosmetic physician, is on the panel of most beauty pageants. Dr Manoj Khanna: This doctor, known for successful hair transplants, has Govinda, Charu Sharma and others for clients

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What's up, docs?

Sometimes, being audacious can be a good thing. After all, the word simply means showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks according to the Oxford dictionary.

Think of President John F. Kennedys famous words from 1961: I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.

Medtech has its own idealists these days making moonshot predictions. Here are seven of the greatest hits:

1. People living until 150 Count English author and theoretician Aubrey de Grey among the futurists who see a potential for much longer lifespans than what humans now experience. De Grey claims the science is already out there to reverse molecular and cellular damage in people and stop aging. I predict that the first person to live to 150 is probably already in middle age, and that most people who are in their 20s now will probably live to be at least that old, de Grey told Newsweek last year.

According to a rumor, Apple is exploring giving its smart watches heart-attack detecting functionality.

2. The Google executive who thinks immortality Is possible Ray Kurzweil, who is currently Googles director of engineering, has made a name for himself by developing brilliant inventions and saying things that sound audacious. Technology is progressing exponentially, he argues, which will lead to what he terms the Singularity -- a point at which humans transcend biology. This will give humans the option of immortality, Kurzweil maintains. Last year, he told The New York Times that, by 2050, humans could build a virtual human body with nanobots. He continues: By the 2030s well be putting millions of nanobots inside our bodies to augment our immune system, to basically wipe out disease.

It makes sense that Kurzweil works for Google. The company shares an admiration for his vision. And in 2013, it acquired the firm Calico, which is aiming to solve death, according to many media reports -- including TIME. While that may be hyperbolic, the company is serious in its quest to extend humans life spans. As the Technology Review put it: Pretty obviously, Google isnt going to solve death. But whats interesting is that [the companys co-founder] Page, now 40, and Google have the hubris to think they might.

Calico recently announced plans to build a $1.5 billion research center in San Francisco

3. Replacing physicians with computer programs Legendary Silicon Valley investor Vinod Khosla made some waves a couple of years ago by predicting that algorithms could replace 80% of what doctors do. He hasnt softened since then. In May of this year, he proclaimed that data science will do more for medicine than all the biological sciences combined, according to Venture Beat.

4. Allowing the blind to see Not every claim has been as out of sight as immortality. Sylmar, Calif.-based Second Sight Medical Products has a more humble goal: enabling the blind to see. The FDA in early 2013 approved its Argus II Retinal Prothesis System for patients with late-stage retinitis pigmentosa, and the first US commercial implants took place early this year. A glasses-mounted camera collects visual information that is wirelessly transmitted to an implant that sends electrical signals through the retina to the brain. Patients can only discern patterns of light through the Argus II, but its a start.

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7 Most Audacious Medtech Predictions

For Derrick Rose, winning a gold medal at the 2014 FIBA World Cup of Basketball came with a silver liningand not the good kind, either.

Following a strong training camp that had even Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski declaring the Chicago Bulls star and former MVP had returned to being elite, per ESPN.com's Nick Friedell, Roses tournament performance left us with far more questions than answers.

Chief among the latter: After sustaining a pair of knee injuries that kept him out for the better part of two full NBA seasons, Roses road back to superstardom is only just beginning.

Of course, that hes even on that path at all is a testament to both the miracles of modern medicine and Roses own unimpeachable determination, facts that the three-time All-Star heartily acknowledged in a post-tournament interview with NBA.coms Sam Smith:

I think this was just a preparation test for me. Just coming here, really learning my routine, becoming a pro. Im going to transfer this onto the next season with the Bulls because I think this really helped me with recovery wise, taking care of my body, eating rightI still have to get my rhythm back. But as far as Im concerned, I think performed good.

Good might be a bit of an overstatement: In eight FIBA appearancesall off the benchRose registered a mere 4.8 points and 3.1 assists on 26 percent shooting, hitting just one of his 19 three-point attempts in the process.

Thats not to say there werent bright spots. Rose was steady-solid in his teams quarterfinals win over Goran Dragic and Slovenia (12 points on 6-of-10 from the floor), and for the most part, he seemed comfortable careening around the court in his typical frenzied fashion.

But with just two weeks remaining before the start of Bulls training camp, its become increasingly clear that Roses game is still very much a work in progress.

Luckily for Bulls fans, the pressure about the shoulders of Chicagos resident Atlas stands to be measures more manageable with the arrival of a player for whom FIBA served more as a renaissance than a rite of recovery: Pau Gasol.

Gasol, who signed a three-year, $22 million tender on July 14, was easily one of the tournaments most incendiary performers. And while Spains gold-medal gambit fell short in a shocking semifinals loss to France, Gasolwho averaged 20 points and 5.9 rebounds on 64 percent shootingproved he remains one of the games elite big men.

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Derrick Rose's Long Journey Back to Superstardom Is Only Just Beginning

The hypothesis is so absurd it seems as though it popped right off the pages of a science-fiction novel. Some scientists in Palo Alto are offering a $1 million prize to anyone who can end aging. Based on the rapid rate of biomedical breakthroughs, we believe the question is not if we can crack the aging code, but when will it happen, says director of the Palo Alto Longevity Prize Keith Powers.

Its a fantastical idea: curing the one thing we will all surely die of if nothing else gets us before that. I sat down with Aubrey de Grey, the chief science officer of theSENS Research Foundationand co-author of Ending Aging, to discuss this very topic a few days back. According to him, ending aging comes with the promise to not just stop the hands of time, but to actually reverse the clock. We could, according to him, actually choose the age wed like to exist at for the rest of our (unnatural?) lives. But we are far off from possibly seeing this happen in our lifetime, says de Grey. With sufficient funding we have a 50/50 chance to getting this all working within the next 25 years, but it could also happen in the next 100, he says.

If you ask Ray Kurzweil, life extension expert, futurist and part-time adviser to Googles somewhat stealth Calico project, were actually tip-toeing upon the cusp of living forever. Well get to a point about 15 years from now where were adding more than a year every year to your life expectancy, he told the New York Times in early 2013. He also wrote in the book he co-authored with Terry Grossman, M.D., that Immortality is within our grasp. Thats a bit optimistic to de Grey (the two are good friends), but hes not surprised this prize is coming out of Silicon Valley. Things are changing here first. We have a high density of visionaries who like to think high.

And he believes much of what Kurzweil says is true with the right funding. Give me large amounts of money to get the research to happen faster, says de Grey. He then points out that Googles Calico funds are virtually unlimited. Kurzweil asked Larry [Page] and Sergey [Brin] how much he had to work with and they said to let him know when he runs out of money and theyll send more, de Grey tells me.

Whether its 15, 25 or even 100 years off, we need to spur a revolution in aging research, according to Joon Yun, one of the sponsors of the prize. The aim of the prize is to catalyze that revolution, says Yun. His (very well-connected) nanny actually came up with the initial idea. She just happens to be an acquaintance of Wendy Schmidt, wife of Googles Eric Schmidt. But it was the passing of Yuns 68-year-old father-in-law and some conversations with his friends that got him thinking about how to take on aging as a whole.

The Palo Alto Prize is also working with a number of angel investors, venture capital firms, corporate venture arms, institutions and private foundations within Silicon Valley to create health-related incentive prize competitions in the future. This first $1 million prize comes from Yuns own pockets.

The initial prize will be divided into two $500,000 awards. Half a million dollars will go to the first team to demonstrate that it can restore heart rate variability (HRV) to that of a young adult. The other half of the $1million will be awarded to the first team that can extend lifespan by 50 percent. So far 11 teams from all over the world have signed up for the challenge.

All 11 teams are listed below for those interested in following along:

Doris Taylor, Ph.D. Texas Heart Institute, Houston, TX http://paloaltoprize.com/team/team-taylor-lab/ TEAM NAME: T.H.I. REGENERATIVE MEDICINE (approach: stem cells)

Dongsheng Cai, M.D., Ph.D. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY http://paloaltoprize.com/team/cai-lab/ TEAM NAME: CAI LAB (approach: hypothalamic regulation)

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The $1 Million Race For The Cure To End Aging

The $1 million "Palo Alto Longevity Prize" will be split in two, but teams can try for both. One $500,000 award will go to the first team to show, using a mammal for testing, that it can restore a youthful heart rate to an aging adult. The second $500,000 pot will be awarded to the first group that can extend lifespan by 50 percent.

Eleven teams have already signed up to compete and more can apply. They include researchers from Stanford, George Washington University and Washington University in St. Louis who will experiment with gene modification and the hormone oxytocin.

"Now is the time to launch this prize because we have reached the point in science where we really do have the opportunity to solve aging," Dr. Doris Taylor, director of the regenerative medicine research at Texas Heart Institute, said in a statement. Taylor is a leader of an initial team competing for the prize using a stem cell approach.

Prize organizers are also working with private investors and foundations to provide access to additional money to the teams. The effort's advisory board includes Eric Weinstein of Thiel Capital, Graham Spencer of Google Ventures and Steve Jurvetson of Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

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Hedge fund offers $1M to cure aging

LATELY Ive been watching television series that presents the topic on ageing from genres that range from incredible science fiction to freaky psycho-horrors and mellow dramas. And the most likely theme that emerges is the great fear and negative perceptions staged by the actors and actresses towards getting old, inevitable it may seem as if the only horror that lies ahead is not death in itself but rather the consequences, both biological and sociological of grey hair, wrinkled face and sagging skin.

Everyone wants to be young or contain youth. It is beyond argumentation that there are many things one can accomplish with strong bones and gorgeously elastic, pore-less skin both literally and figuratively: they are preferred; they enjoy certain prestige and pride on top of physiologic advantages.

A person at the prime of his or her youth is an epitome of health. He can be injured (not that he liked to but simply for the sake of a rational proposition) but he can be expected to heal fast given the fact he has no pre-existing disease. He can party all night and grab bottles of alcohol and packs of cigarette and can still be expected to report to work the day after. A lady of 21 or 22 may choose to sunbathe the whole day and yet may fade away her sunburn and recover her original skin tone in a matter of days (with the aid of skin lighteners) or weeks. Metabolism is undeniably faster for someone young. These are all the so-called physiologic advantages of youth.

On the sociological side, most would agree that there are more drawbacks to ageing than gains.

For instance, when one is applying for a living, among the major requirements is age. Prospective employers set a particular age range that is acceptable and appropriate for the demands of the job being applied for.

Although senior citizens enjoy 20 percent discount on medications and certain dined-in foods, there are pharmacies that hoard stocks of medicines whenever they realize that the customer at the counter is a senior.

Ill health also takes its toll among senior citizens. Even those enrolled to PhilHealth and other preneed programs applicable, are not relieved from the effects of a deteriorating body caused by ageing.

They need regular check- ups for their prostate (men) and breasts (for women) for possible malignancies. The physical body can only be stretched to a certain degree before it snaps-out as in ageing. For the most part, the stretching was done during the heydays and the golden age seems to be the snapping out time. A classic wear-and-tear theory is elucidated in this example.

Another dilemma shared among senior citizens is the heightened cost of living. Medical bills for maintenance drugs, regular check-ups for degenerative disorders like Alzheimers or dementia and chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension are the culprits for the Peso losses. And when the angel of death has come to kiss them good bye, their survivors would have to shell out thousands of pesos for a decent rite of passage: a burial.

That is why anti-ageing creams and supplements that even come in invasive intravenous forms sell like hotcake. Those in the middle-age range refuse to progress to an older age group that they are more than willing to bet at anything just to remain young. Some would even succumb to the controversial and priced stem cells implantation whose integrity still merits even the most modest research pursuits.

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The Essence of Senescence

By TODD ZEIGLERCopy Editor

The thing about ideas is, they go somewhere.

IdeaFestival is an idea that came about in Louisville in 2000. Since then, it has gone around the world to bring in leading thinkers in every conceivable field to present their views, philosophies, actions and, yes, ideas about where the world is headed.

For its 15th year, the festival is going in even newer directions.

Among those, its going out to eat. And its going to the movies.

As part of its efforts to enhance the experience year after year, IdeaFestival (IF) 2014 will branch out with Ideas Night Out, a series of small informal dinners at restaurants all over Louisville. Each dinner will feature an IF 2014 presenter in an intimate atmosphere, where the conversation begun in their presentation can continue and, perhaps, go somewhere else.

Lets say one of the speakers that we have coming this year is Joshua Green, who wrote a book called Moral Tribes, which is really interesting, said IdeaFestival founder Kris Kimel. Somebody says You know, Id like to have dinner with him. The dinners will be no more than about 14 people at a restaurant, so you can sign up and basically go have dinner with Joshua Green and just talk to him and other people at the table about whatever you want to talk about. Thats something we havent done before that were trying this year. So far, the process has been really positive, so we will see what happens.

Kris Kimel.

For a small additional ticket fee, you could discuss how our perception of time could make time travel possible with BBC reporter Claudia Hammond. Or probe even deeper into the possibilities of extraterrestrial life with science writer Lee Billings. How about discussing the rapidly changing economy with former diplomat Peter Van Buren over dessert?

Its one of several innovations introduced this year by Kimel and his team, with the goal of pushing the festival forward and keeping the experience fresh.

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Brain Trust: 15th Annual IdeaFestival Blossoms, Branches Out

(Photo by Chris Samuels)

A traveling Harry Potter exhibit magically landed at the Spencer S. Eccles Library this month.

The display shows the medicinal and magical influences the Renaissance had on the Harry Potter book series.

The main exhibit is a series of six panels, each displaying a key element from the series: potions, monsters, herbology, immortality, fantastic beasts and magical creatures. The panels relate the fictional story back to the magic, science and medicine from the 14th to the 17th century.

Joan Gregory, an employee at the Spencer S. Eccles Library, enjoys the exhibit.

Its fascinating to see parallels and how much the author, J.K. Rowling, had done in research to make Harry Potter close to reality, Gregory said. The story makes sense based off of the reality of the time with the medicine.

The exhibit is free and features other activities, such as a scavenger hunt that takes you through each level of the Eccles Library and the buildings medicinal gardens, which are planted each year.

Shelli King, who is in charge of the exhibit while its at the U, said the library staff tried to stay on task, but we wanted it to be fun.

King said Harry Potter has a large following and she hopes the exhibit will bring students from all majors up to the library. She hopes students stick around to study too, especially for finals.

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Harry Potter Magic at the Eccles Library