Looks to be some pretty early and basic research, but still interesting.

The link between stress, ageing and health at the cellular level is unclear, but a team led by Elissa Epel of the University of California at San Francisco, US, has now looked at the effect of stress on the cell.

A piece of DNA called a telomere caps the ends of each chromosome, protecting those ends and promoting genetic stability. Each time a cell divides, the telomeres shorten so that daughter cells have slightly shorter telomeres than their parents.

But in young people, an enzyme called telomerase corrects the process, regenerating the ends. However, in older people the telomeres shorten significantly and eventually their replication stops altogether.

In this small study, women who reported the most stress had the shortest telomeres, suggesting the link between stress and the cellular ageing process.

For more details see this article from New Scientist.

A fairly detailed overview of blogging and its effects on the world are available at a surprising source, the Foreign Policy Magazine.

The Heliodisplay projects TV, streaming video and computer images into free space. It is also interactive — a “floating touch screen” — allowing a hand or finger to navigate and select objects.

Pretty stunning in my mind, even just as a technology demonstration, and you can even buy early models. Just imagine the future applications, especially as the price drops from the current $19000USD for a 15″ model.

From GNR8 new/s post.

The Methuselah Foundation has awarded its first prize to a scientist for extending life-spans of middle aged mice. The prize was awarded to Dr. Stephen Spindler, who was able to rejuvenate middle-aged mice, making them biologically younger while extending their lifespans. He achieved decisive increases of 15% average and maximum lifespan. Video showing that mice were more active and vibrant than their years is available.

The Methuselah Foundation is supported by individuals who are no longer willing to stand by and do nothing while the diseases of aging disable and then take their irreplaceable loved ones away. They are taking matters into their own hands and inviting others to join with them to cure and reverse aging. Among the over 100 donors and sponsors, including the X PRIZE Foundation, Foresight Institute, the Life Extension Foundation, Dr. William Haseltine — Founder of Human Genome Sciences and Dr. Raymond Kurzweil — noted futurist and entrepreneur.

This post on Future Pundit has more details.

Better Humans also has coverage of this story.

An awesome round-up post over at Winds of Change, covering a bunch of the latest alternative energy trends and advancements.

From the great guys at World Changing comes a story about a UK government study focused on getting involved in sustainable development and the elimination of poverty.

The Rough Guide to a Better World was put out by the UK’s Department for International Development and is also available in PDF format.

Since the Creative Commons has been coming up in conversations a lot recently I thought I’d make a quick post with a link to their updated, but still beta, search engine. They’ve also integrated CC search into Firefox 1.0.

From rexblog.com post.

NXT has produced some interesting light projects, including their Jelly-light.

The Jelly-light is a unique, eye-catching light sculpture. The extraordinary combination of materials used creates an unusual lighting effect which can be applied almost anywhere. The technique used, allows the colour and the intensity of the light to vary constantly and has therefore a special effect on character of the environment where the Jelly-light is installed.

Originally from a post at GNR8 new/s.

The OpenNet Initiative is a partnership of the Berkman Center, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Toronto, with the goal of formally tracking international filtering of the Internet.

The ONI mission is to investigate and challenge state filtration and surveillance practices. Our approach applies methodological rigor to the study of filtration and surveillance blending empirical case studies with sophisticated means for technical verification. Our aim is to generate a credible picture of these practices at a national, regional and corporate level, and to excavate their impact on state sovereignty, security, human rights, international law, and global governance.

For the latest news on internet censorship visit the news page at the Open Net Initiative.

From New Scientist, Smallest ‘test tube’ scoops world record

“The inside of a nanotube is a new place to study chemical reactivity and may offer routes to the synthesis of novel materials inaccessible by other means,”

My comments: Another advancement which looks to further increase the likelyhood of molecular manufacturing development.

From the good people at We Make Money Not Art comes a story about some really cool, interactive, clothing from some creative types at CuteCircuit.

Garment 1: KineticDress, this Victorian inspired dress changes pattern when the wearer interacts with others or walks. The algorithm is designed to follow the pace of the wearer: a still pose, when sitting alone shows a black dress, when the wearer starts moving and interacting with others the dress slowly lights up with a blue-circles pattern that moving creates a magic halo around the wearer.

Garment 2: Skirteleon (skirt chameleon). This skirt changes color and pattern according to the wearer’s activities and mood, CuteCircuit engineered a brand new laminated fabric that changes color “on-demand”. The Skirteleon is blue in the morning when the wearer is at work, then shows a pattern with funny animal characters when the wearer is with friends for an aperitivo, and then it transforms once more in the evening, showing a geometric, elegant japanese pattern, for going to a dinner.

Garment 3: Mystique (the shape shifter), this dress changes shape and length during the course of an evening. While in the beginning the dress is pale gray, knee length and has a soft padded surface, at the end of the night it becomes long and smooth, revealing a new color.

It looks like they are using some electroluminescent technology. I’ve used some myself making some custom rave accessories. It looks awesome and people are generally amazed, and these guys have used it so cleanly, as well as adding a level of interaction to the clothes. Awesome.

Here is a post on one of the better blogs I read, Josh Rubin’s Cool Hunting. A London, England based collective of artists and designers have built a high powered, home made projector that can project SMS messages onto any surface, even from a good distance. Be sure to check out Troika, as they have made a few other way cool devices.