Aging is one of those topics mankind is always trying to understand, especially whether it can be reversed or stopped. With increasing age come not only alterations in appearance, but also associated changes like the degeneration of tissues such as muscles, bone and neural tissues or a higher predisposition for disease. In recent years, we […]
The Mediterranean diet is a modern nutritional reference originally inspired by the dietary patterns of Greece, Southern Italy, and Spain in the 1940s and 1950s. The main components of this diet include proportionally high consumption of olive oil, legumes, unrefined cereals, fruits, and vegetables, moderate to high consumption of fish, moderate consumption of dairy products […]
When autumn arrives to temperate climate forests, deciduous trees lose their characteristic green tonalities and start showing a wide spectrum of new colours: yellow, brown, orange, red… Chlorophyll reabsorption takes place in the leaves and carotenoids, present in a lower concentration, are exposed. These pigments are produced in all photosynthetic organisms, fungi and non-photosynthetic bacteria […]
We live in a society permanently obsesed with the idea of youth. Therefore, it is not surprising to find supposedly miraculous potions, ointments and elixirs that offer precisely that. But the idea of permanent youth is not a new idea, it comes from way back, as does the notion that young blood would help rejuvenate […]
Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression used by some mammals to survive a cold winter. It may last several days, weeks, or months depending on the species, environment temperature, season, and individual’s body condition. Usually, hibernating animals survive the energetic bottleneck of the winter by building stores of body fat in late […]
Understanding aging and how it affects the lifespan of an organism is a fundamental problem in biology that is of great interest to our society. During the last decade, an incredible amount of research has been published trying to understand aging processes, unraveling what factors accelerate or decelerate this process in several animal models (worms […]
Modern societies are growing old and we should be proud of such great accomplishment. Substantial improvement in hygiene, health and nutrition has allowed mankind to even surpass a three-digit age. Leaving any further social consideration aside, seems obvious that life sciences will have to make a big effort to understand the so called healthy ageing […]
Humanities & Social Sciences • Science • Technology • Weekly Selection
Jamestown settlers turned to cannibalism to survive, bones show The scarred skull of a 14-year-old girl reveals that English settlers in Jamestown, Va., may have engaged in cannibalism to survive. A brutal winter in 1609 brought a food shortage, killing off 80% of the population. Marks on the girl’s skull and tibia are the first […]
Humanities & Social Sciences • Science • Technology • Weekly Selection
Five hundred phases Condensed matter physics – the branch of physics responsible for discovering and describing most of these phases – has traditionally classified phases by the way their fundamental building blocks – usually atoms – are arranged. The key is something called symmetry. Classifying the phases of matter by describing their symmetries and where […]