Scientists discover the secret of ageing

The answer is complex, and will not produce an elixir of eternal life in the foreseeable future.

But the scientists expect better drugs for age-related illnesses, such as diabetes and heart disease, to emerge from their discovery of the biochemical pathway involved in ageing.

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Climategate

But perhaps the most damaging revelations  – the scientific equivalent of the Telegraph’s MPs’ expenses scandal – are those concerning the way Warmist scientists may variously have manipulated or suppressed evidence in order to support their cause.

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Vatican looks to heavens for signs of alien life

"Just as there is a multitude of creatures on Earth, there could be other beings, even intelligent ones, created by God. This does not contradict our faith, because we cannot put limits on God's creative freedom."

What a cop-out. "...we cannot put limits on God's creative freedom"?

I see this as religion "evolving" (after all, Galileo was imprisoned and Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake for their thoughts.) so as to try and stay relevant. To try and keep its power and influence over people.

Funes maintained that if intelligent beings were discovered, they would also be considered "part of creation."

Interesting, no? Now what if those intelligent beings look nothing like us humans? Did "god" really create us in "his" image then? I'm betting that "logic" (if you can call it that) will evolve too once they realize it can no longer hold water.

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No men OR women needed: Scientists create sperm and eggs from stem cells

But it raises a number of moral and ethical concerns. These include the possibility of children being born through entirely artificial means, and men and women being sidelined from the process of making babies.

Opponents argue that it is wrong to meddle with the building blocks of life and warn that the advances taking place to tackle infertility risk distorting and damaging relations between family members.

The U.S. government-funded research also offers the prospect of a 'miracle pill' which staves off the menopause, allowing women to wait longer to have a child.

It centres on stem cells, widely seen as a repair kit for the body. 

Scientists at Stanford University in California found the right cocktail of chemicals and vitamins to coax the cells into becoming eggs and sperm.

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Scientists find path to fountain of youth

The fountain of youth may exist after all, as a study showed that scientists have discovered means to extend the lifespan of mice and primates

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India’s lunar mission finds evidence of water on the Moon

Dreams of establishing a manned Moon base could become reality within two decades after India’s first lunar mission found evidence of large quantities of water on its surface.

Data from Chandrayaan-1 also suggests that water is still being formed on the Moon. Scientists said the breakthrough — to be announced by Nasa at a press conference today — would change the face of lunar exploration.

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DNA swap could cure inherited diseases

The prospect of a human baby with three biological parents has moved closer after scientists created monkeys using a technique that one day could stop children from inheriting severe genetic diseases.

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The technique is controversial, however, because the children it creates would inherit genetic material from three parents. The mother and father would contribute most of their child’s DNA but a small amount would come from a second woman donating healthy mitochondria.

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Artificial life will be created 'within months' as genome experts claim vital breakthrough

The first artificial lifeform is likely to be a simple man-made bacterium that proves that the technology can work.

But it will be followed by more complex bacteria that turn coal into cleaner natural gas, or algae that can soak up carbon dioxide and convert it into fuels.

They could also be used to create new vaccines and antibiotics.

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Building block of life found on comet

The amino acid glycine, a fundamental building block of proteins, has been found in a comet for the first time, bolstering the theory that raw ingredients of life arrived on Earth from outer space, scientists said on Monday.

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Are we on the brink of creating a computer with a human brain?

Instead, most neuroscientists believe that our feelings of self-awareness, pain, love and so on are simply the result of the countless billions of electrical and chemical impulses that flit between its equally countless billions of neurons.

So if you build something that works exactly like a brain, consciousness, at least in theory, will follow.

In fact, several teams are working to prove this is the case by attempting to build an electronic brain.

Fascinating.

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Astronomers Discover Rare 'Green Pea' Galaxies

The galaxies, which are between 1.5 billion and 5 billion light years away, are 10 times smaller than our own Milky Way galaxy and 100 times less massive. But surprisingly, given their small size, they are forming stars 10 times faster than the Milky Way.

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Oldest Animal Fossils Found in Lakes, Not Oceans

Conventional wisdom has it that the first animals evolved in the ocean.

Now researchers studying ancient rock samples in South China have found that the first animal fossils are preserved in ancient lake deposits, not in marine sediments as commonly assumed.

Read more and realize we don't really know all that much.

A Modular Robot That Puts Itself Back Together Again

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a walking robot constructed from modules that are designed to separate on impact, find each other and reassemble into a working robot.

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Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man

Impressed and alarmed by advances in artificial intelligence, a group of computer scientists is debating whether there should be limits on research that might lead to loss of human control over computer-based systems that carry a growing share of society’s workload, from waging war to chatting with customers on the phone.

Their concern is that further advances could create profound social disruptions and even have dangerous consequences.

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New Class of Black Holes Discovered

Only two sizes of black holes have ever been spotted: small and super-massive. Scientists have long speculated that an intermediate version must exist, but they’ve never been able to find one until now.

Get sucked in here.

Video: Pentagon’s Robo-Hummingbird Flies Like the Real Thing

So far, the mock bird, built for Pentagon mad-science division Darpa, has only stayed aloft for 20 seconds at a time. But that short flight was enough to show the potential of a whole new class of miniature spies, inspired by nature.

Check out the video.

US manned space flight in doubt 40 years after moon walk

The commission chairman, respected former Lockheed Martin chief executive Norman Augustine, said it comes down to money.

"With a few exceptions, we have the technology or the knowledge that we could go to Mars if we wanted with humans. We could put a telescope on the moon if we wanted," he said.

"The technology is by and large there. It boils down to what can we afford?"

Which really means it boils down to priorities.

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‘Toy universe’ may solve mystery of life’s origins

Enter the Evogrid, a computer creation concept that would be a digital version of the primordial soup.

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Toyota technology has brain waves move wheelchair

Toyota Motor Corp. says it has developed a way of steering a wheelchair by just detecting brain waves, without the person having to move a muscle or shout a command.

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US lab debuts super laser

A US weapons lab on Friday pulled back the curtain on a super laser with the power to burn as hot as a star.

The National Ignition Facility's main purpose is to serve as a tool for gauging the reliability and safety of the US nuclear weapons arsenal but scientists say it could deliver breakthroughs in safe fusion power.

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