Scientists Clear Path to the Fountain of Eternal Youth

Using electrical pulses, the researchers opened holes in the membrane of blood cells extracted from a patient's spinal cord. They used these tiny holes to inject plasmids loaded with four genes, programmed to make the cells revert to a primitive state. After the plasmids completed their function, they cultivated the cells with irradiated bone-marrow cells. Seven to 14 days later, the cultivated cells magically turned to embryonic stem cells.

The team is now evaluating the quality of these cells, but the potential to accelerate current and future stem cell treatments like never before is nothing sort of miraculous. By getting rid of all the barriers to entry, medical researchers could experiment at a faster pace. And once new therapies are in place, everyone on the planet would be able to receive self-transplants of embryonic cells to cure diseases, fix spinal cords or eye nerves, and rejuvenate organs by renewing tissues without rejection risks or any other side effect. Hypothetically, if you're able to perpetually fix any part of your body, there's no reason you wouldn't be able to live as long as you wanted.

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The "2045" Initiative

The "2045" Initiative was founded by Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 in partnership with leading Russian scientists.

The main objectives of the Initiative are: the creation of a new vision of human development that meets global challenges humanity faces today, realization of the possibility of a radical extension of human life by means of cybernetic technology, as well as the formation of a new culture associated with these technologies.

The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.

An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.

Web site: http://2045.com

Kurzweil Talks About Achievable Immortality On PBS NewsHour

Economists are known for investing enormous time making predictions about the near future, usually by following predictable cycles and extrapolating from trends of the recent past. But emerging exponential and convergent technologies seem to be throwing a wrench in the works, as some have suggested is currently taking place globally with the automation of the workforce.

So it’s about time that economists start adding another significant factor in their equations, the Singularity, and who better to turn to for guidance than Ray Kurzweil?

A few weeks ago, PBS NewsHour ran a 10-minute piece with Kurzweil titled “As Humans and Computers Merge…Immortality?” from correspondent Paul Solman for his economics-focused Making Sen$e of Financial News. It is part of a series covering Singularity University from earlier in the year. Solman probes Kurzweil for some insights about where technology is headed in the coming decades, covering topics like artificial intelligence, extending lifespans through supplementation, and digital resurrection of the deceased as avatars.

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Live to 100 - How To Live to 100

Live to 100 with these tips and facts on healthy aging and disease prevention. Learn how you can achieve successful aging and live to 100 in good health and happiness.

1. Be Social, Live Longer (19)
2. Energize Your Life (9)
3. For All Ages (10)
4. Longevity To-Dos (11)

TV Shortens Your Life

Too much television is bad for you -- but researchers now have done a study that shows just how much additional risk you are at if you watch tons of TV every day. In fact, your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease may increase as much as 80% if you watch TV more than 4 hours a day.

Top Ten Aging Challenges

Aging well means facing the challenges of aging with a strategy. The University of Texas Medical School, Division of Palliative Medicine put forth a list of 10 Aging Challenges. I will give you information and ideas on how to prevent or minimize your risk for each of these ten challenges.

Real Life Longevity Habits

When writing about longevity, one of the most popular questions I get is "What do you do for longevity?" and I've decided to answer it here. There ideas and habits below are what I do (or at least try to do) to live healthy and feel good. These are longevity ideas that I have come upon in my 2 + years of reading and writing about longevity. Of course, there are a lot more things out there that yo…

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Ray Kurzweil Explains the Coming Singularity

How to eat like an Italian

Very often I am asked: how do Italians manage to eat so much while they are so thin? People coming to Italy for the first time seem to be under the impression that every day Italians eat the same type of multi-course meal that is offered in a restaurant. First timers seem to be also convinced that the whole population survives on spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna, veal parmesan and pizza, all smothered in vast amounts of cheese and tomato sauce.

I actually don’t think that Italians are that thin – may be I see myself in the mirror – but that’s another story. Modern Italians are busy people, like anybody else in the world. They go to their work, suffer through fast food lunches, crash on the couch in the evening. No siesta, that’s for babies and pensioners.

However, if they have the time or they are lucky enough to live near their work, Italians definitely prefer to eat a warm meal at home. Italians love their home food.

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How to Reverse Aging

Enzymes like Telomerase and Resveratrol, though not the Fountain of Youth unto themselves, offer tantalizing clues to how we might someday soon unravel the aging process.

Exercise, Longevity and Life Expectancy

Exercise Adds Years to Your Life

One study found that the average 65-year-old can expect an additional 12.7 years of healthy life –- meaning he will live disability-free until age 77.7. Highly active 65-years-olds, however, have an additional 5.7 years of healthy life expectancy –- they will remain disability free until age 83.4.

Another study found that increasing physical activity after age 50 can add years to one’s life. In the study, individuals with and without cardiovascular disease were compared by the amount of physical activity they did. Men who were moderately active added 1.3 years to their lives and those who were highly active added 3.7 years. Women who were moderately active added 1.1 years and those were highly active added 3.2 years. In addition, people who exercised more also lived more years free of cardiovascular disease. While moderate exercise increases life expectancy, highly active people more than doubled the benefits.

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