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Science and Technology links (August 4th, 2017)
Lifting a lot of small weights and eating protein regularly builds muscle mass. There is no need for heavy weights and hormones matter less than you think.
There is some evidence for life on Saturn’s largest Moon, Titan. If there is life there, it is going to be quite different from life on Earth.
Though dementia affects millions of people, the causes remain mysterious and the cure elusive. There is mounting evidence that Alzheimer’s and dementia might have a bacterial origin. Or maybe not, we don’t know.
In Alzheimer’s, people progressively lose their memories. Are these memories lost or buried? It seems that it is the latter. In mice affected by a model of Alzheimer’s, researchers were able to bring back the lost memories.
Is Alzheimer’s a disease specific to human beings? It seems that chimpazees also suffer from Alzheimer’s.
We are able to crack safes using inexpensive robots.
Last week, I reported the US researchers modified genetically human embryos for the first time using new technology (CRISPR). The Nature paper is out and we can study the details. It turns out that they have properly corrected a genetic defect inherited by the male donor. The experiment worked, but not quite how the researchers expected: instead of replacing the faulty gene by the proposed replacement, the process duplicated the maternal gene.
Stem cells can be used make stronger bones.
There is some evidence that the hypothalamus (part of our brain) controls ageing, and that stem cell therapy in the brain could rejuvenate us. The evidence remains weak.