Category Archives: Transhuman News

I believe I will live well past the age of 100, 150 or even beyond. I believe that you will likely live this long as well.

As it happens, more of us are already living well past our 100th birthday than ever before in human history. Our average lifespans have risen by decades in just the past half century. Whats more, the technologies that will add these extra, healthy years to our lives already exist.

Still, it feels almost crass to consider the coming longevity boom when the world is still in the throes of a pandemic that has claimed millions of lives and caused a decline in life expectancy in many countries, including the U.S.

It might also seem exactly the wrong moment to talk about our lives getting longer when the world faces extreme temperatures and untold suffering as the climate changes and the Earth warms.

Yet, it is precisely because of these grave threats to humanity that we must begin seriously grappling with longevity it is, in so many ways,thekey to reframing our thinking surrounding many of our most persistent problems, starting with one of the greatest problems of all: How we approach our health.

Health-care systems throughout the world face a similar dilemma, which is how best to deliver an equal level of care to individuals throughout society.

In the U.S., this inequality can be particularly stark. A 2019 study published byJAMAdrew on survey data from the CDC from 1993 to 2017, and found that, while all Americans self-reported health had declined in that time, white men in the highest income bracket were, overall, the healthiest, while poor minorities reported the lowest health overall. In fact, the study found that the gap between rich and poor Americans and their health outcomes was widening, with the widest of all gaps in groups that were poor and not white. These results are supported by other, even more recent studies, such as one, published in the journal PNAS, which found that the Black-white life expectancy gap grew by nearly a year and a half in 2020, from 3.6 to 5 years.

Addressing such unequal outcomes in our health systems is of the highest import, and one way to begin to do it is by thinking about individuals overall health and longer-term, lifespan health outcomes. As the PNAS study shows, comparing life expectancies of different groups can be terribly revealing. What if we transformed our health-care system to be geared toward promoting human longevity, with the key goal being across all demographics to extend life expectancy?

We can already begin to see the effects of a restructured system such as this one by the extraordinary deployment of anewtechnology on an underserved population, in the story of Victoria Gray and her sickle cell anemia.

The hereditary trait that causes sickle cell disease affects tens of millions worldwide, including as much as 30% of sub-Saharan Africans, and up to three million African-Americans. The bone marrow of those with sickle cell disease produces abnormally shaped red blood cells that are unable to carry oxygen to the body, which often leads to fatigue and frequent infections. In severe cases like that of Victoria, the disorder also causes sudden and excruciating bouts of pain. It also leads to premature death. The average life span for those suffering sickle cell is just 54 years old. In 2019, when she was 34 years old, the condition had grown so dire, she could no longer walk or feed herself. Emergency room visits and prolonged hospitalizations and blood transfusions were the norm. More than a nuisance, her inherited disease was a death sentence.

Until, one day in 2019, doctors at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI) in Nashville, Tennessee, threw Victoria a lifeline. She became the first patient to receive anewform of treatment for hereditary diseases. Doctors at the SCRI removed bone marrow from her body and altered the genes of her cells using anewtechnology called CRISPR-Cas9. The procedure effectively edited out the defects in her genes that caused sickle cell, then reintroduced billions of enhanced cells back into her body. One year after the treatment, Victoria appeared to be doing marvelously. When researchers checked nine months after initial treatment, the vast majority of bone marrow cells and hemoglobin proteins found in her body appeared to be functioning effectively. More importantly, her pain attacks and hospital visits were a thing of the past.

It is perhaps too early to declare this procedure a cure for all sickle-cell disease, but it has for the moment completely altered the life of one person. It also gives us a glimpse into the future, into a whole host of treatments we can now produce by directly altering our genomic code. Humanity is on the verge of a fundamental health transformation with thisnewtoolkit, and this revolution will allow us to treat or even cure previously untreatable diseases many of which have long ravaged underserved populations. By thinking about ways to extend everyones life, we can deliver better health care for all.

There is, of course, the persistent fear that extreme longevity will leave most of us and the Earth in ruin. But statistics tell a different story. The worlds population is on track to stop growing by the end of this century, according to 2019 analysis by the Pew Research Center. A 2020 study by The Lancet projected that the global population will not just stop growing; it will begin shrinking from around 9.7 billion people in 2064 to just 8.8 billion by 2100. There are more people over 65 than under five in the world a first in recorded history. This trend is what demographers refer to as the silver tsunami, and it is going to have enormous economic and social ramifications for everyone and everything on our planet. The longevity revolution is already creating a seismic shift in life on Earth. We would be wise to begin preparing for this shift now.

Preparing for the longevity revolution requires us to think long term, which is not something humans are generally very good at. Still, we must try. So many of the blind spots and weaknesses in our society were revealed by the pandemic, and so many of these had to do with our inability to think longer term. By thinking longer term, we might begin to transform our world today, and make us all healthier in the process. It is, quite simply, our moral duty.

Sergey Young is alongevity investor, the founder of Longevity Vision Fund and author of the new bookThe Science and Technology of Growing Young(BenBella Books).

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How increasing life expectancy can solve other problems at the same time - MarketWatch

The possibility of living 150 or even 200 years is within humanitys grasp and advances in diagnostics, treatments and organ regeneration and replacement are moving this prospect ever nearer. Early death from diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes will no longer be inevitable for millions of people.

These are among the tantalising and radical ideas Sergey Young presents in his book The Science and Technology of Growing Young (published by BenBella Books).

Slowing, reversing or even ending ageing will become a universally accepted ambition in the healthcare community, he says. Technology is converging to make this a certainty. Developments in the understanding and manipulation of our genes and cells, in the development of small-scale health diagnostics and in the leveraging of data for everything from drug discovery to precision treatment of disease are radically changing how we think about healthcare and ageing, he says.

With a background in fund management and investing, Youngs own epiphany came when doctors told him that he would need to take statins for the rest of his life to control his high cholesterol. This has led him into researching the science of ageing and the frontiers of medicine and technology. His $100 million Longevity Vision Fund invests in companies at the edge of breakthroughs in life-extension technology and he is a board member of the American Federation of Aging Research.

Young insists that he is not in the business of trying to cheat death personally. Even if I die at the age of 80, which would be typical for my cohort, I want to have done so sharing the best ideas about longevity. If that benefits my children and grandchildren and society in general thats a good legacy.

With a regular regime of intensive health checks, body sensors and a rigorous diet and exercise regime, Young practises what he has learned on his journey around the bleeding edge of medical research and clearly intends maximising his own lifespan.

Though he is not a doctor, Youngs extensive research among the medical and life science community synthesised much of the best thinking on arresting ageing. His book provides a fascinating look at whats possible within both near and longer-term horizons, ranging over subjects such as gene editing, stem cell therapy, organ replacement and bionic augmentation.

If we want to life a long life, the best thing we can do right now, he says, is to be proactive about our health so we can stick around for the medical and technological advances that are coming down the tracks in next decade or so that could prevent or cure what he calls the monster diseases, such as cancer and heart disease.

That seems like an audacious claim. But take cancer, for example. Eighty years ago, there was no drug to treat it but now there are at least seven pharmaceutical approaches to cancer treatment and more than 100 chemotherapy drugs in use. Five-year survival rates from cancer have been improving by close to 2 per cent a year for the past 50 years. That rate of progress is set to explode in the years ahead, he says.

Cancer medicine right now is largely reactive, and treatment often starts too late. Young envisages a future with low-cost ubiquitous connected devices that will constantly monitor your health. Some will be external while others will be embedded under your skin. Some could be swallowed with your breakfast or remain swimming through your bloodstream at all times, monitoring your heart rate, respiration, skin secretions and free-floating DNA in your body that may indicate cancer or other diseases.

Early detection of diseases will be complemented by vastly improved drugs and treatments aided by artificial intelligence. Consider how quickly and effectively vaccines have been developed and deployed in the Covid-19 pandemic, he notes.

Then consider the issue of organ and limb replacement and regeneration. Advances in areas such as 3D printing and life science mean that a whole host of damaged or diseased body parts can be replaced. We can have new organs, grown in many cases by our own cells, mitigating the prospect that our bodies will reject them.

Add all this science and technology progress together and the prospect of breaching the current limit of human life of about 120 years, is not only feasible, but inevitable, he believes. Not alone would we live longer but we would enjoy the benefits of living healthier lives for longer too.

For many, this utopian vision raises disturbing questions. There are a whole host of moral and ethical issues here. Would the benefits of defying ageing be spread evenly across social classes and geographies? Do people really want to live a lot longer? Could the planet contain the increase the population? Would a new divide emerge between the body enhanced older population and traditionalists resistant to this form of progress?

Young responds by saying that doing nothing would be truly immoral. Existing healthcare costs are enormous, he points out. Technology offers a pathway to cheaper ubiquitous healthcare solutions that are within the grasp of everyone. Fertility rates are declining in many parts of the globe and advances in technology will result in greater sustainability in energy and food production.

A longevity revolution is on the way but it is disruptive innovators rather than Big Pharma who will lead the way, he believes. The medical establishment will ultimately embrace it as doctors are swamped with patients and outmoded treatments. Access to the best information, drugs and technology will empower doctors to provide better, more affordable and empathetic care to their patients and expensive hospital admissions could plummet.

In as little as 10 years we will look back at the treatment of ageing and disease as quite naive, Young concludes.

No smoking and restrict alcohol: Smoking is the biggest no-no for longevity for obvious reasons. High and regular use of alcohol damages your liver and pancreas, causes high blood pressure, increases your risk of stroke, brings on immune system disorders, leads to early onset Alzheimers disease and contributes to at least 200 more health conditions.

Slash sugar consumption: Excess sugar is poison, he says. It wears out the pancreas among other problems. Eliminate it wherever possible. Cut out all processed foods and limit fructose. Restrict carbs as they ultimately break down into glucose.

Fasting: Calorie reduction reduces the chances of developing health problems such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease and cognitive decline and preserves immune system function. Young recommends an intermittent fasting regime where you eat all of your meals within an eight-hour period early in the day and then refrain from eating until the next morning. Clinical data shows that intermittent fasting can improve weight loss, insulin stability, cholesterol levels.

Food as medicine: Stick to an organic, mainly plant-based diet, eliminating processed foods. Choose grass-fed free-range meat and wild caught fish. Include health fats such as extra virgin olive oil which has high anti-oxidant anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic properties that can help preserve cell condition and protect from a range of diseases. He also recommends the use of supplements to provide the nutrients we cant get from our foods.

Consume more water: Regular consumption of water improves resting calorie burn by up to 30 per cent and encourages you to consume less sugary and caffeine drinks. It also suppresses hunger so you will eat less.

Sleep more: Sleep deprivation significantly increases your chances of a heart attack. The link between poor sleep and cancer is so strong that the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified night-shift work as a probable carcinogen. Young says we should use every trick in the book to aid sleep including transitions rituals such as hot baths, cool bedrooms, black-out curtains, meditation and ditching digital devices at night.

Exercise: Even moderate exercise can add up to seven years to our lives, can cut cancer rates by up to 23 per cent and maintain cardio health among other benefits. Walking is a great start. Try to do 10,000 steps a day.

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This tech investor believes well soon live to 150. Here are his seven longevity hacks - The Irish Times

Deer make their way past scorched trees caused by the Dixie fire in Greenville, Calif. (Los Angeles Times)

To the editor: The Times' Aug. 21 article about rethinking forest management strategies rightly rebukes clear-cutting for removing the oldest, most fire-resistant trees.

But it's not just that clear-cutting has "almost no benefits to the forests or to their surrounding communities." Clear-cutting results in tree plantations that burn faster and more intensely than the old-growth forests they replace.

Because plantation trees are closely spaced with intertwining branches, they have a greater chance of spreading wildfires. During California's deadliest fire to date, the 2018 Camp fire, the blazes scorched through heavily logged areas with extreme speed and intensity.

As the Camp fire demonstrates, logging forests doesn't stop fires, it actually makes towns like Paradise and Concow more susceptible to swift, wind-driven blazes.

California should prohibit clear-cutting to protect its people and towns from future tragedies.

Caroline Harris, Menlo Park

..

To the editor: Before-and-after photos illustrate an important benefit of mechanical thinning of forests in strategic locations.

Adequate spacing between trees offers the pilot of retardant-dropping planes an opening to the forest floor. On a good day, the retardant drop will slow the ground-level fire enough to allow engines, dozers and hand crews to place an effective line on the perimeter of the fire.

The combination of a crown fire and ground-level fire moving through thick, untreated forest can prove to be too much for even a large load of retardant. In the same way that snow clings to the limbs of trees, retardant can stick in the branches of a thickly growing forest, slowing the crown fire, while the surface-level fire continues unabated.

The town of Westwood not the habitat of the UCLA Bruins, but the Lassen County settlement on Highway 36 had extensive forest treatment with adequate spacing between the pine trees. Westwood is still intact, and nearby Greenville isn't.

Story continues

Gene Nielsen, Crescent Mills, Calif.

..

To the editor: Thank you for publishing an article that reflects independent science on the threat of wildfires and the role of forest management.

Your article reinforces the notion that forest ecologists and fire scientists have been advocating: We should spend funds on protecting homes and communities by creating defensible space instead of on vegetation removal programs.

Even though the article impugns clear-cutting methods that result in the removal of the biggest, most fire-resistant trees, this only touches the surface. Destroying the entire forest ecosystem and eliminating biodiversity magnify the problem of catastrophic wildfires in addition to causing other significant long-term environmental impacts.

My organization, Forest Unlimited, encourages a deeper examination of clear-cutting and other logging practices while there is time left to have this discussion.

Larry Hanson, Forestville, Calif.

The writer is board president of Forest Unlimited.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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Letters to the Editor: Why hasn't California banned logging that worsens fires and destroys forests? - Yahoo News

As anyone who has ever lived with a dog will know, it often feels like we don't get enough time with our furry friends. Most dogs only live around ten to 14 years on average though some may naturally live longer, while others may be predisposed to certain diseases that can limit their lifespan.

But what many people don't know is that humans and dogs share many genetic similarities including a predisposition to age-related cancer. This means that many of the things humans can do to be healthier and longer lived may also work for dogs.

Here are just a few ways that you might help your dog live a longer, healthier life.

One factor that's repeatedly linked with longevity across a range of species is maintaining a healthy bodyweight. That means ensuring dogs aren't carrying excess weight, and managing their calorie intake carefully.

Not only will a lean, healthy bodyweight be better for your dog in the long term, it can also help to limit the impact of certain health conditions, such as osteoarthritis.

Carefully monitor and manage your dog's bodyweight through regular weighing or body condition scoring where you look at your dog's physical shape and "score" them on a scale to check whether they're overweight, or at a healthy weight. Using both of these methods together will allow you to identify weight changes and alter their diet as needed.

Use feeding guidelines as a starting point for how much to feed your dog, but you might need to change food type or the amount you feed to maintain a healthy weight as your dog gets older, or depending on how much activity they get.

Knowing exactly how much you are feeding your dog is also a crucial weight-management tool so weigh their food rather than scooping it in by eye.

More generally, good nutrition can be linked to a healthy ageing process, suggesting that what you feed can be as important as how much you feed. "Good" nutrition will vary for each dog, but be sure to look for foods that are safe, tasty and provide all the nutrients your dog needs.

Exercise has many physiological and psychological benefits, both for our dogs (and us). Physical activity can help to manage a dog's bodyweight, and is also associated with anti-ageing effects in other genetically similar species.

While exercise alone won't increase your dog's lifespan, it might help protect you both from carrying excess bodyweight. And indeed, research suggests that "happy" dog walks lead to both happy dogs and people.

Ageing isn't just physical. Keeping your dog's mind active is also helpful. Contrary to the popular adage, you can teach old dogs new tricks and you might just keep their brain and body younger as a result.

Even when physical activity might be limited, explore alternative low-impact games and pursuits, such as scentwork that you and your dog can do together. Using their nose is an inherently rewarding and fun thing for dogs to do, so training dogs to find items by scent will exercise them both mentally and physically.

Other exercise such as hydrotherapy a type of swimming exercise might be a good option especially for dogs who have conditions which affect their ability to exercise as normal.

Like many companion animals, dogs develop a clear attachment to their caregivers. The human-dog bond likely provides companionship and often, dog lovers describe them as a family member.

A stable caregiver-dog bond can help maintain a happy and mutually beneficial partnership between you and your dog. It can also help you recognize subtle changes in your dog's behavior or movement that might signal potential concerns.

Where there is compatibility between caregiver and dog, this leads to a better relationship and even benefits for owners, too, including stress relief and exercise. Sharing positive, fun experiences with your dog, including playing with them, are great for cementing your bond.

Modern veterinary medicine has seen substantial improvements in preventing and managing health concerns in dogs. Successful vaccination and parasite management programs have effectively reduced the incidence of disease in both dogs and humans including toxocariasis, which can be transmitted from dog feces to humans, and rabies, which can be transmitted dog-to-dog or dog-to-human.

Having a good relationship with your vet will allow you to tailor treatments and discuss your dog's needs. Regular health checks can also be useful in identifying any potential problems at a treatable stage such as dental issues or osteoarthritis which can cause pain and negatively impact the dog's wellbeing.

At the end of the day, it's a combination of our dog's genetics and the environment they live in that impacts their longevity. So while we can't change their genetics, there are many things we can do to improve their health that may just help them live a longer, healthier life.

Jacqueline Boyd, Senior Lecturer in Animal Science, Nottingham Trent University.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Animal Expert Shares 5 Things That Will Help Your Dog Live a Longer, Healthier Life - ScienceAlert

Actor James Gandolfini in scene from HBO TV drama series The Sopranos. (Photo by Anthony ... [+] Neste/Getty Images)

Any extraterrestrial technological civilization within 100 light-years of Earth is likely to know were here.Whether they would be benign or hostile is what will matter most.But Id wager they will be about as welcoming as Tony Soprano after spilling hot dog mustard on one of his $1000 ties.

They may also be duplicitous.Thus, the age-old adage which cautions to beware of wolves in sheeps clothing should certainly apply to intelligent aliens.

Evolution happens via natural selection; so, let us assume that like chemistry and physics,evolutionitself will be similar for all life, University of Washington paleontologist Peter Ward told me.The DNA equivalents might change, but natural selection is probably howevolutionworks everywhere, he says.

Thankfully, over the eons, evolution has given us a leg up in the form of visceral instincts about danger.Our gut instincts kick in whenever we sense something is a bit off.That can include everything from feeling uneasy about signing a business contract to walking down a dark alley.But we need to apply this instinct when considering whether any sort of extraterrestrial intelligent beings would be friendly or openly hostile.

Evolutionary longevity and intelligence dont necessarily vector to any sort of altruism.Imagine an advanced technological civilization with all the compassion and sympathy of a King Cobra and you will soon understand that theres reason to be wary of interstellar contact.

Lion attack

Why do so many astrobiologists insist that high-functioning intelligence is going to lead to peace, love and understanding?

Thats certainly not the case here on Earth.We dont even respect our own species.Watch any episode of The Sopranos and you will understand how perversely cruel Homo sapiens can be to one other.We see examples of altruism and compassion among a few mammalian species.But most species on Earth operate on opportunistic instinct.

Here, all species we know of reproduce until they starve or otherwise become limited by space, says Ward.There is noaltruism, every species on Earth would do what our species has done and take over as much of the resources as possible, he says.

If they are highly intelligent, they will have a complex psychology; they wont be all one or the other, Lori Marino, an evolutionary neurobiologist and president of The Whale Sanctuary Project, told me.If they are social then there needs to be some way that they can maintain their sociality without killing each other off, she says.

But that doesnt mean they are all sweetness and light, said Marino.Humans are social yet simultaneously vicious and compassionate.

The standard argument is that nasty aliens soon blow themselves up, so long-lived civilizations are the good guys, physicist and author Paul Davies, Director of the Beyond Center at Arizona State Universityin Tempe, told me. But in the post-Darwinian phase we are now entering, he says, we could use biotechnology to gene edit the bad stuff out of the human genome.

1953: Martian war machines bring the human race to the brink of extinction in Paramount's screen ... [+] adaptation of H G Wells' novel 'The War Of The Worlds'. Original Publication: Picture Post - 6450 - War - Martians Invade America ! - pub. 1953 (Photo by Haywood Magee/Picture Post/Getty Images)

Davies argues that any smart alien civilization would not want to put up with grossly antisocial behavior if they could rid themselves of the problem.

In a post-Darwinian world, its arguable that we might genetically-modify against our human propensity for violence.If so, Davies argues that the trouble could start when our civilization finally trades in our human flesh and blood bodies for extremely long-lived robotic artificial intelligence (A.I.).

Davies wonders if we can embed our robotic progeny with human values.That is, in such a manner that they this moral compass would endure over thousands of generations of artificial intelligence.Or he asks, would subsequent generations of earth-based robots veer off an ethical evolutionary trajectory and simply go berserk?In that case, Davies says they might even start marauding across the universe.

But whether they are robotic or flesh and blood, encounters with any sort of offworld intelligence calls for preparation and caution.I would imagine the same dictates of prey and predator exist over cosmic time and in any galaxy one might choose.

As Ward puts it:We shouldbe terrified of finding anotherspace-faring species.We should not be giving ourselves away but hide until we can fight successfully.

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Why Space Aliens Are Likely To Be As Treacherous As Tony Soprano - Forbes

The longest-living people in the world know that staying active, eating well, and sleeping enough are keys to living a fruitful life. But, it's not just about the things you do on your own. Maintaining strong relationships is also a pillar of life in Blue Zones regions, like Okinawa, Japan and Sardinia, Italy, where people enjoy longer, healthier lives than anywhere else on Earth.

Author and researcher Dan Buettner founded Blue Zones, a platform that shares information on the daily habits of the populations that reside in these regions, after leading a team of demographers, scientists, and anthropologists to identify them. Researchers found that these areas shared key characteristics. For example, many focused on connecting with others, showing that strong relationships help you live longer.

Holding your friends and families close can impact not only your happiness, but also your health span, or the number of disease-free years you live. "Many studies have shown lower rates of hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and possibly even cancer for people with lots of friends and loving relationships in their lives," Richard Honaker, MD, a family medicine physician and chief medical advisor for Your Doctors Online, previously told Well+Good.

Personally, Dr. Honaker has studied this correlation with aging populations in Bao, China (not a Blue Zone, but a place known as The Longevity Village). "Our research showed that as long as people stayed in the village and adopted the village lifestyle, they were healthy and aging was slowed," he says. "However, if they left for employment in one of the big cities in China, then their health suffered."

Whether it's through a religious group, a book club, or a yoga studio, finding people who you relate to, and penciling in time to see them, can often make a great impact on your longevity. For example, Dr. Honaker says "study after study suggests that having a faith may increase longevity." This is likely because you're with people who share your belief system and meet with them regularly.

People living in Blue Zones are known for eating plant-forward diets and consuming a bit of alcohol. Take people in Sardinia, Italy. They regularly drink red wine. Meanwhile, people in Okinawa, Japan love to sip on awamori, a rice-based, distilled liquor. But, they're not eating their meals and drinking their drinks alonethey're sharing the experience with their loved ones.

In Blue Zones regions, [p]eople eat to live, they don't live to eat, Suzanne Dixon, MPH, RDN, a registered dietitian, epidemiologist, and medical writer tells Better By Today. Each eating opportunity is a time for connection with others, being with family, and a time for gratitude for all of the good things in their lives. They take the time to savor food, enjoy company, and slow down for a bit.

In the Blue Zone region of Ikaria, Greece, more than 80 percent of people between ages 65 and 100 are having sex. Sex, of course, is a great way for people to connect. Having sex releases hormones that play a role in human pair-bonding and creates an intimacy feedback loop.On an individual level, sex can also reduce stress, boost confidence, and lead to a better night's sleep, which can help you and your partner show up more fully in the relationship.

Because Blue Zones tend to be tight-knit communities, family members stay close to each other, geographically and physically. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child, and being close to family (including your chosen family) means surrounding yourself with a support system. Also, younger people are around to help out older people.

Oh hi! You look like someone who loves free workouts, discounts for cutting-edge wellness brands, and exclusive Well+Good content. Sign up for Well+, our online community of wellness insiders, and unlock your rewards instantly.

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The Longest-Living People in the World Have These Family and Relationship Practices in Common - Well+Good

After the second world war, Greeces countryside experienced two debilitating human surges an exodus of villagers, then a most peculiar human invasion of its fringes. These two surges, aided by a weak state and abetted by the climate crisis, have turned the low-level drama of naturally redemptive forest fires into this summers heart-wrenching catastrophe.

After heatwaves of unprecedented longevity, wildfires across the summer months have so far destroyed more than 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) of ancient pine forests. They have blackened swathes of Attica, scorched parts of ancient Olympia and obliterated north Evias magnificent forests whose rural communities lost their homes, not to mention their livelihoods and landscapes.

To grasp why this is happening, we need to understand the trajectory of urban and rural development in Greece. War and poverty caused a mass exodus from the countryside that began in the late 1940s. Villagers who did not migrate to countries such as Germany, Canada and Australia descended upon Athens. Combined with lax urban planning, this surge of humanity quickly turned the Greater Athens area into a concrete jungle. Then, in the 1960s and 1970s, the same people dreamed of a partial return to the countryside, of a summer home in the shade of some pine trees, close to Athens and, preferably, in some proximity to the sea.

To these petty-bourgeois dwellings, which by the 1980s were strewn all over Attica, the mid-1990s added middle-class suburbia. Villas and shopping malls gradually invaded inland wooded areas bordering Athens, at a speed that reflected the economic growth fuelled with money borrowed from EU banks or provided via EU structural funding.

It is as if we were looking for trouble. Fire is a natural ally of Mediterranean pine forests. It helps clear the ground of old trees and allows young ones to prosper. By helping themselves to the wood daily and by employing tactical burning every spring, villagers once prevented these fires from running amok. Alas, not only did circumstances force the villagers to abandon the forests but, when they and their descendants returned as atomised urbanites to build their summer homes inside the untended forests, they did so bearing none of the traditional communal knowledge or practices.

Europes famous north-south economic divide has a counterpart in Greeces forests. In countries such as Sweden or Germany, forests were intensely commodified. While this spelled the demise of ancient forests, and their replacement with arid plantations, farmland or grazing pastures, at least the countryside was not abandoned the way Greeces was. In a sense, the sorry state of Greeces countryside, the swift and unregulated urbanisation, and our feeble and corrupt state are all reflections of the countrys atrophic capitalism.

Greek governments had been aware of the unsustainability of our model of land use since wildfires began to take revenge on us in the 1970s. Deep down, they knew: we had, collectively, violated nature, and now nature was exacting its long and drawn-out revenge. Convinced, however, that their re-election chances were doomed if they dared tell voters that maybe they should give up on the dream of that cabin in the forest, abandon the plan to suburbanise pine forests, governments chose the easy path: they blamed warm winds, fiendish arsonists, bad luck, even the odd Turkish saboteur.

Collective responsibility was the first casualty of every inferno. On 23 July 2018, at a seaside settlement north of Athens known as Mati, a demonic fireball incinerated 103 people within minutes including a friend. The cause was obvious to anyone willing to take a disinterested look at the way the dense settlement had been inserted into an ageing pine forest, with narrow lanes offering no realistic chance of escape from the inevitable fire.

Alas, neither the government nor the opposition dared to admit the obvious: that we should never have allowed that settlement to be built. Instead, they yelled at each other endlessly, playing a blame game that disrespected the victims, society, nature.

Even when governments tried their hand at modernising their practices, they made things worse. In 1998, in a bid to professionalise firefighting, the bush firefighting unit (hitherto run by the forestry commission) was disbanded and folded into the urban fire brigade. The resulting economies of scale came at a cost: the termination of the large-scale forest clearing effort that the bush firefighting unit used to undertake every winter and spring.

Following an urban bureaucracys natural instinct to favour hi-tech solutions, and to look down upon traditional practices, the unified fire brigade effectively withdrew from the forests and concentrated instead on a strategy of setting up firewalls around built-up areas, while bombarding forest fires from the air using aircraft that more often than not cannot fly due to adverse conditions.

Then, in early 2010, came the Greek states undeclared bankruptcy. Soon, dozens of EU and IMF officials the infamous troika would arrive in Athens to impose the worlds harshest austerity programme. Every budget was ruthlessly slashed, including those aimed at citizen and nature protection. Thousands of doctors, nurses and, yes, firefighters were fired. In 2011, the fire brigades overall budget was cut by 20%.

In the spring of 2015, a senior fire brigade officer told me that at least another 5,000 firefighters were needed to offer basic protection in the following summer. As Greeces finance minister at the time, I drew up plans to exact savings from other parts of the budget to rehire a modest number of firefighters and doctors (2,000 altogether). Upon hearing this, the troika immediately condemned me for backtracking and issued a clear warning that, if I insisted, the negotiations at the Eurogroup would be terminated shorthand for announcing the closure of Greeces banks.

Since then the only real change has been the steady rise of temperatures, courtesy of accelerating climate breakdown. This summers firestorm was utterly foreseeable as was the inability of our state to respond effectively. And the EU? Did it send dozens of staff to micromanage events on the ground, like it had done when imposing austerity? Unlike the assistance Greece received from individual European governments, including post-Brexit Britains, the EU institutions were conspicuous by their absence.

The terrifying question is: what next? The spectre of a new threat to Greeces forests is hanging over the land. It is the current rightwing governments eagerness to subcontract reforestation to private multinational businesses. In search of a quick euro, they peddle fast-growing, genetically modified trees that have no place in the Mediterranean and are inimical to our flora, fauna and traditional landscape. Unlike the awful impact of the states bankruptcy on our people, which one day we hope to reverse, this assault on our native forests will be irreversible.

Yanis Varoufakis is the co-founder of DiEM25 (Democracy in Europe Movement), former finance minister of Greece and author of And the Weak Suffer What They Must?, Europes Crisis and Americas Economic Future

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Greeces deadly wildfires were sparked by 30 years of political failure - The Guardian

In human years, this penguin might be celebrating its 250th birthday.

Deco, an African Penguin, was born at the New England Aquarium on Aug. 26, 1981, making Thursday the day she turns 40, the Boston institution said.

It's a pretty impressive milestone. Most penguins in her species don't reach that age -- or 30, or even 20. In the wild, they usually reach 10 or 15 years old, according to the aquarium; the Mystic Aquarium lists African penguins' life span as 15-20 years in the wild, and over 30 years in captivity.

The species lives on the shores of South Africa and Namibia, but it's endangered, with population levels dropping heavily in the last 30 years. The New England Aquarium is part of an international effort to preserve the species.

Twelve Magellanic penguins were released back into the ocean in San Clemente del Tuyu, Argentina after being rehabilitated.

Deco is the oldest penguin in the effort, according to the aquarium. Longevity must run in the family, because her chick, named Good Hope, who also lives at the Boston aquarium, just turned 32.

Even Deco's name reaches back into history. She's named for the 100-year-old visual arts style Art Deco recognizable in the design of the Chrysler Building and Rockefeller Center.

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Most African Penguins Live to 12 or 15. This One in Boston Just Turned 40 - NBC10 Boston

A pool of unusually warm water, called 'The Blob', sits off the east coast of New Zealand, and is believed to be responsible for a 10-year mega-drought in parts of South America. Photo / Supplied

The Blob it is about the size of Australia, it is sitting right on our back doorstep, and it is wreaking havoc on the other side of the world.

It sounds like something out of a horror movie, but it actually exists.

Researchers at Victoria University of Wellington, Universidad de Chile and Meteorologica de Chile have discovered a pool of unusually warm water (unaffectionately called "The Blob") off the east coast of New Zealand, which is believed to be responsible for a 10-year mega-drought in parts of South America.

They believe it is generated by recent climate change, and research shows it has shifted storm systems towards the Antarctic and away from the west coast of South America, causing a decade-long, uninterrupted sequence of drought years across central Chile and adjacent portions of the Andes Mountains and Argentina.

It has been termed the Central Chile Mega-drought, given its unprecedented longevity.

Victoria University of Wellington School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences lecturer and research co-author Dr Kyle Clem said it was unclear when, or if, The Blob would dissipate, given it had formed as a result of human-induced climate change.

It covers about 8 million sq km and was only discovered after studying the year-after-year drought conditions in central South America, and the strong, continuous warming of upstream ocean waters in the South Pacific.

Clem said computer models, which did not account for anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, managed to replicate The Blob and show a connection to a decline in convection in the central tropical Pacific.

"It is clear that winter storm systems, which deliver the majority of annual rainfall in this Mediterranean climate, were moving south towards Antarctica and being replaced with a large ridge of warm and dry high pressure, extending from New Zealand to the central South American coast.

"The Blob has blocked winter storms from reaching the subtropical west coast of South America, a region that relies on these storms to replenish freshwater sources before the summer dry season.

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"This mega-drought has dwindled freshwater supplies across central Chile, affecting drinking water in rural communities, hydro-generation, agriculture, and many other activities in a highly populated area that includes the capital city of Santiago."

He said in some years, rainfall had been as low as 30 per cent of normal, and rainfall figures show 2021 would be another very dry year.

"What our study shows is that, with human-induced climate change, what happens in one place does not necessarily stay there.

"The Southern Blob, though likely natural in its formation, has reached extreme levels of warming due to increasing greenhouse gases, with cascading effects on the climate system across the Southern Hemisphere affecting millions of people, seemingly far-removed geographically from the source."

The rest is here:
Mega-drought generated by 'The Blob' sitting off the coast of New Zealand - New Zealand Herald

A group of Clarkson University professors, led by Prof. Michael Bazzocchi, have been awarded an NSF grant worth nearly $150,000 to design a new intelligent and adaptive firefighting exoskeleton suits for the Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier, which is one of NSFs 10 Big Ideas for the future. The project is an interdisciplinary effort between Professors Michael Bazzocchi, Natasha Banerjee, Sean Banerjee, Kevin Fite, and Marcias Martinez from the Mechanical & Aeronautical Engineering and Computer Science Departments.

The Firefighter Exoskeleton for Navigation In Extreme Environments project studies how the integration of exoskeletons into firefighting suits would help mitigate injury, increase safety, and address challenges for career and volunteer firefighters.

Given the critical role of firefighters and that nearly two-thirds of all firefighters are volunteers, it is essential to increase the longevity and retention of firefighters, especially in aging rural communities. To improve safety and inclusivity in firefighting, the team is designing a novel exoskeleton suit that is personalized to a broad range of firefighters by studying how firefighters from various backgrounds perform tasks and how they may be equipped with knowledge of the environment through intelligent sensing.

The team will integrate their expertise in ergonomics, biomechanics, dynamics, control, materials, structures, sensing, user interfaces, artificial intelligence (AI), and sociology to create the design. They are also forging partnerships with local fire departments, groups involved in firefighting safety, companies involved in manufacturing equipment and components that enable low-cost exoskeleton development, and organizations advocating for underrepresented groups such as women in firefighting.

The project involves collaborative work between the Astronautics and Robotics Laboratory (ASTRO Lab) directed by Michael Bazzocchi, the Tera-scale All-sensing Research Studio (TARS), co-directed by Natasha Banerjee and Sean Banerjee, the Laboratory for Intelligent Automation (LIA), directed by Kevin Fite, the Holistic Structural Integrity Process (HolSIP) lab, directed by Marcias Martinez.

As part of NSFs 10 Big Ideas, this grant further bolsters Clarksons reputation as a nationally ranked research institution.

I am impressed by the important research Clarkson University is conducting, and I am proud the National Science Foundation is recognizing the universitys hard work with this grant, Stefanik said. As these taxpayer dollars are returned to our district to continue this research, I look forward to witnessing its impact on the important work of career and volunteer firefighters, who work hard to preserve the safety of our communities.

The project has a direct impact on improving safety, productivity, longevity, and inclusion for rural firefighters and fire departments, strengthening firefighter retention and recruitment for this essential societal service.

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Interdisciplinary Clarkson University Team Receives One of NSF's 10 Big Ideas Grants to Create New Intelligent and Adaptive Firefighting Exoskeleton...