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Medicine

Submission + - Aging Reversed in Mice after Telomerase Treatment 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "The Guardian reports that scientists claim to be a step closer to reversing the aging process after experimental treatment developed by researchers at Harvard Medical School turned weak and feeble old mice into healthy animals by regenerating their aged bodies. "What we saw in these animals was not a slowing down or stabilization of the aging process. We saw a dramatic reversal – and that was unexpected," says Ronald DePinho, who led the study. The Harvard group focused on a process called telomere shortening where each time a cell divides, the telomeres are snipped shorter, until eventually they stop working and the cell dies or goes into a suspended state called "senescence". Researchers bred genetically manipulated mice that lacked an enzyme called telomerase that stops telomeres getting shorter causing the mice to age prematurely and suffer ailments, including a poor sense of smell, smaller brain size, infertility and damaged intestines and spleens. When the mice were given injections to reactivate the enzyme, it repaired the damaged tissues and reversed the signs of aging raising hope among scientists that it may be possible to achieve a similar feat in humans – or at least to slow down the aging process. "This could lead to strategies that enhance the regenerative potential of organs as individuals age and so increase their quality of life," added DePinho cautioning that "whether it serves to increase longevity is a question we are not yet in a position to answer.""
Games

Have I Lost My Gaming Mojo? 418

Posted by Soulskill from the blame-dr.-evil dept.
danabnormal writes "Increasingly I'm being frustrated in my attempts to find a game I want to play. In an effort to catch up, I've been using my bog standard Dell laptop to dig out treasures I have missed, such as American McGee's Alice, Grim Fandango and Syberia. I don't often get the time to play games, so I like to have the opportunity to dip in and out of a title without feeling like I'm losing something by not playing it for periods of time. But when I find a title I like, I make the time. Heavy Rain is the last game that gripped me, that truly engaged me and made me want to complete it in a single sitting. I'm tired of the GTA formulas, bored of CoDs and don't have the reaction time to think on my feet for AOE III. Is it about time I tossed in the controller and resigned myself to the fact that the games I want only come out once in a blue moon? Or have I just not found that one great title that will open me up to a brand new genre? Lords of Ultima is going OK at the moment — is there anything of that ilk I've missed? What are your thoughts? Do you stick to a particular genre? Are you finding it harder, as you get more mature, to find something you want to play?"
Science

Submission + - Scientists Use Moths and Fish as Basis for Cyborgs (newscientist.com)

Submitted by drbinofski
drbinofski writes: Scientists are using the nervous systems of creatures ranging from moths to fish to provide the commands for their robot creations. It's part of a research programme to replicate the neural activity in silicon, first by piggy-backing direct from the neural signalling of the biological organisms themselves. One of the strangest applications of this is using the CPG (central pattern generator) of fish to command a pair of robot legs.
Science

Submission + - Large Hadron Collider (LHC) generates a 'mini-Big (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by buildslave
buildslave writes: The Large Hadron Collider has successfully created a "mini-Big Bang" by smashing together lead ions instead of protons.
The scientists working at the enormous machine on Franco-Swiss border achieved the unique conditions on 7 November.
The experiment created temperatures a million times hotter than the centre of the Sun.

Comment Re:Yes, but.... (Score 1) 75

by drbinofski (#30199984) Attached to: Modded UX490 UMPC Shows Off Years of Community Development

...does it run 3 versions of windows for no reason?

But seriously for a second. Why run 3 versions of Windows?! So yes you *can* - the ostensible reason for doing anything 'adventurous' like climbing a mountain - ''cos it's there like'; but running three versions of windows is hardly adventurous is it? Answers on a post-card puhleeze. Apologies for the hideous punctuation in that last uber-sentence :/
Science

Submission + - Startup Publishes Mathematics of Brain Circuits 2

Submitted by braingal
braingal writes: The brain’s core algorithm for intelligent thought and action is closer to being cracked, thanks to a new mathematical model of cortical function. The model, developed by the Silicon Valley startup company Numenta, is described in a paper entitled “Towards a Mathematical Theory of Cortical Micro-circuits” in the October issue of PLoS Computational Biology . The model provides detailed, testable predictions about many enigmatic features of cortical circuitry. It also makes predictions about the systematic errors and illusions that living brains exhibit and has implications for understanding mental disorders. There are technological ramifications as well: an accurate model of the cortical algorithm may accelerate the creation of intelligent machines ( Singularity...here we come!!) by revealing which details of the neural circuitry are functionally relevant.
Security

Submission + - Laptop theft gives 850,000 doctors the blues (networkworld.com)

Submitted by netbuzz
netbuzz writes: This time its 850,000 doctors swallowing the bitter pill of knowing that their sensitive professional and personal information may have fallen into the hands of identity thieves. The real culprit here, though, is the BlueCross BlueShield Association employee who thumbed his nose at IT security policy.

Comment Re:I'll believe it when I see it... (Score 1) 219

by drbinofski (#29669887) Attached to: Microsoft, EU Reach Antitrust Accord

If this actually happens, it will be a Very Good Thing for the world in general, as Microsoft will no longer be legally able to keep changing their protocols to break access by non-Microsoft software.

Given their track record, though, I don't believe for a minute that Microsoft will actually make all the information available in a clear and usable format. More likely they'll release some information that looks nice, to show what good boys they're being, then release some more information terribly scrambled, and keep most of the information to themselves, because by that point the EU will be paying less attention to them and they'll have to take them back to court to get them to do anything more.

Same old story.

And yes, I am a terminal cynic. Why do you ask? ;-)

Dan Aris

They can't seem to produce their software in "a clear and usable format" so I fail to see why information about their software should do anything but follow suit :)

Comment Re:Alan Turing (Score 1) 117

by drbinofski (#29668789) Attached to: Interview With Brian Kernighan of AWK/AMPL Fame

Bring me a new interview with Alan Turing and maybe that would peak my interest

Now that could be quite the challenge. I hear he's not granting many interviews lately.

Certainly would. Establishing an after-life being one and formulating a means of communication with those in the after-life being the next. Expectations of what would 'peak my interest' being pretty modest after all! ;)

Submission + - How well can you read rotated text?

Submitted by zetazentra
zetazentra writes: This is a poll idea related to http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/10/06/189205/New-Graphical-Representation-of-the-Periodic-Table, the article for which claims "Unfortunately, Abubakr's arrangement means that the table can only be read by rotating it. That's tricky with a textbook and impossible with most computer screens." I can read text at wrong angles, and I'd like to know how well other slashdotters can read rotated text.
Some answers could be the following, though you can of course make up your own:
- I can only read right-side-up text
- I can read right-side-up and upside-down text
- I can read right-side-up, upside-down, and sideways text
- I can read text at any angle, with some slowdown
- I can read text at any angle, with no slowdown

Be careful with the wording, or you risk wiseguys saying things like "I can read text while I'M upside-down, yes!"

Thanks

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