Science

Shorter men live longer

Short height and long life have a direct connection in Japanese men, according to new research. Shorter men are more likely to have a protective form of the longevity gene, FOXO3, leading to smaller body size during early development and a longer lifespan. Shorter men are also more likely to have lower blood insulin levels and less cancer.
"This study shows for the first time, that body size is linked to this gene," writes Dr Willcox, lead author of the study. "We knew that in animal models of aging. We did not know that in humans. We have the same or a slightly different version in mice, roundworms, flies, even yeast has a version of this gene, and it's important in longevity across all these species."
The study was published recently in PLOS ONE, a peer-reviewed medical journal.

Invisible wireless networks brought to life as stunning 'spectres'

Invisible wireless networks are transformed into beautiful beams of colour in a series of photographs. The images  , created by Newcastle University researcher Luis Hernan, show the 'spectres' of wireless networks sweeping, swirling and swooping around a ghostly figure. They were produced as part of a project which aims to bring the invisible world around us to life. "I call the images 'spectres' because wireless networks remind me of ghosts," writes Hernan who is studying for a PhD in Architecture and Interaction Design. "They are there but you can't see them with the human eye.
Luis created the photographs by a "Kirlian Device", an instrument specially designed by him to reveal the qualities of wireless networks. The instrument scans continuously for wireless networks, and transforms the signal strength to colour LEDs. Then, using the device in different places, his movements were captured using long exposure photography. The results are multi-coloured streaks of light which twirl and wrap in spaces, showing how we are surrounded without even realising we are.
Luis has also created a Kirlian Device app which can be downloaded for free for Android devices.

Grape skin extract may soon be answer to treating diabetes

The diabetes rate in the United States nearly doubled in the past 10 years. Approximately 26 million Americans are now classified as diabetic, stressing an urgent need for safe and effective complementary strategies to enhance the existing conventional treatment for diabetes. Preliminary studies have demonstrated that grape skin extract (GSE) exerts a novel inhibitory activity on hyperglycemia and could be developed and used to aid in diabetes management.
“It is hopeful that our research may eventually lead to the successful development of a safe, targeted nutritional intervention to support diabetes prevention and treatment,” writes Kequan Zhou, Ph.D., assistant professor of food and nutrition science in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and lead author of the study . “Our study will provide important pre-clinical data regarding the anti-diabetic mechanisms, biological efficacy and safety of GSE that should facilitate eventual translation into future clinical studies to assess GSE and its components as a safe, low-cost and evidence-based nutritional intervention for diabetes.”

The brain: Key to a better computer

Your brain is incredibly well-suited to handling whatever comes along, plus it's tough and operates on little energy. Those attributes – dealing with real-world situations, resiliency and energy efficiency – are precisely what might be possible with neuro-inspired computing. Neuro-inspired computing seeks to develop algorithms that would run on computers that function more like a brain than a conventional computer.
Such computers would be able to detect patterns and anomalies, sensing what fits and what doesn't. Perhaps the computer wouldn't find the entire answer, but could wade through enormous amounts of data to point a human analyst in the right direction, writes microsystems researcher Murat Okandan.