Our speaker this month is Jordan Sparks with the Sparks Brain Preservation organization in Oregon. Our event is in ZOOM Only, no in person meeting this month, meeting ins ZOOM on Thursday, April 30th, opening at 6:00 PM for our social hour, with the main event starting at 7:00 PM Eastern Time Jordan will tell us about his project, which was formerly the Oregon Brain Preservation, and before that Jordan formed Oregon Cryonics. This is an entirely different type of bio-stasis then cryonics. Their stated goal is to preserve the structure of the entire brain at a fine ultrastructural level. This includes the synaptic architecture as well as detailed molecular information such as protein post-translational modifications, cellular epigenetic patterns, and subcellular distributions of molecules.
Category: life extension
Not all Alzheimer’s leads to dementia
One possible explanation is that resilient brains are better at repairing themselves during Alzheimer’s. “Perhaps they can add new brain cells to a network that is degenerating”, the author says.
This idea is linked to a process called adult neurogenesis, which refers to the birth of new brain cells (neurons) in the adult brain. It has been well-established in other animals, but its existence in humans has been debated for years.
To study this, the team used human brain tissue from the Netherlands Brain Bank, which collects and stores donated brain samples for research. They included brains from control donors with no brain pathology, Alzheimer’s patients, and individuals with Alzheimer’s pathology who remained resilient to developing dementia.
The team focused on a small part of the brain’s memory center, likely one of the few areas where these new brain cells could form. “These cells are extremely rare, so we had to develop new ways to find them,” the author says. “We really zoomed in on the exact spot where we expected them to be.”
The team found what they were looking for: so-called “immature” neurons. These cells resemble young, not fully developed neurons. “Even at an average age of over 80, we still found these immature neurons in all groups,” the author says.
But the biggest surprise came next. While the team had expected to find much more of these cells in the resilient group than in the Alzheimer’s patients, the difference was not as big as expected.
Surprisingly, the team found that the key difference lies in how the immature neurons behave. “In resilient individuals, these cells seem to activate programs that help them survive and cope with damage,” the author says. “We also see lower signals related to inflammation and cell death.”
A Billionaire-Backed Startup Wants to Grow ‘Organ Sacks’ to Replace Animal Testing
As the Trump administration phases out the use of animal experimentation across the federal government, a biotech startup has a bold idea for an alternative to animal testing: nonsentient “organ sacks.”
Bay Area-based R3 Bio has been quietly pitching the idea to investors and in industry publications as a way to replace lab animals without the ethical issues that come with living organisms. That’s because these structures would contain all of the typical organs—except a brain, rendering them unable to think or feel pain. The company’s long-term goal, cofounder Alice Gilman says, is to make human versions that could be used as a source of tissues and organs for people who need them.
For Immortal Dragons, a Singapore-based longevity fund that’s invested in R3, the idea of replacement is a core strategy for human longevity. “We think replacement is probably better than repair when it comes to treating diseases or regulating the aging process in the human body,” says CEO Boyang Wang. “If we can create a nonsentient, headless bodyoid for a human being, that will be a great source of organs.”
Not all organs age alike: AI unveils the molecular impact of menopause across the female body
Despite affecting half of the world’s population, menopause has historically been understudied and misunderstood, both in biomedical research and clinical practice. However, with the increase in life expectancy, the number of women in the postmenopausal stage continues to grow and, in 2021, those over 50 already represented 26% of the world’s population, according to the WHO.
Its effects go far beyond the reproductive system and are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular, metabolic, neurodegenerative, and bone diseases. Nevertheless, few studies analyzed in depth how this process affects the female reproductive system as a whole, beyond the ovaries.
In this context, a new study by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center—Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), published in Nature Aging, presents the first large-scale atlas of female reproductive system aging, providing a new vision of how this process impacts health.
The future of Longevity Research
Today thanks to progress in medicine and science our generation may live longer than any previous one. There wasn’t better time to start taking care of our health than today. Future is amazing. To participate in it we must to take care of our health today.
The Space Habitat Diaspora — Humanity Spreads Without Planets
Humanity may not colonize planets—we may build our own worlds. Explore how rotating space habitats could spread across the Solar System and beyond, forming a vast diaspora of artificial worlds that reshape civilization and interstellar expansion.
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Watch my exclusive video Settling Saturn’s Rings: https://nebula.tv/videos/isaacarthur–… SFIA Merchandise: https://isaac-arthur-shop.fourthwall… 🌐 Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net ❤️ Support us on Patreon: / isaacarthur ⭐ Support us on Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/isaac-a… 👥 Facebook Group:
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/ discord Credits: The Space Habitat Diaspora – Humanity Spreads Without Planets Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur Graphics from Bryan Versteeg, Jeremy Jozwik, Sergio Botero, Udo Schroeter Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 0:00 Intro — Rethinking What a World Can Be 2:37 Why Habitats Win on Physics, Engineering… and Scalability 10:13 The Birth of a Habitat Civilization 14:54 Nebula 15:54 Life Without Planets: Cultures That Grow in Steel Valleys 18:59 Resilience: Fragile Shells, Immortal Civilizations 21:37 The True Diaspora: Leaving the Solar System.
🛒 SFIA Merchandise: https://isaac-arthur-shop.fourthwall…
🌐 Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net.
❤️ Support us on Patreon: / isaacarthur.
⭐ Support us on Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/isaac-a…
👥 Facebook Group: / 1583992725237264
📣 Reddit Community: / isaacarthur.
🐦 Follow on Twitter / X: / isaac_a_arthur.
💬 SFIA Discord Server: / discord.
Credits:
The Space Habitat Diaspora – Humanity Spreads Without Planets.
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur.
Graphics from Bryan Versteeg, Jeremy Jozwik, Sergio Botero, Udo Schroeter.
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images.
0:00 Intro — Rethinking What a World Can Be.
2:37 Why Habitats Win on Physics, Engineering… and Scalability.
10:13 The Birth of a Habitat Civilization.
14:54 Nebula.
15:54 Life Without Planets: Cultures That Grow in Steel Valleys.
18:59 Resilience: Fragile Shells, Immortal Civilizations.
21:37 The True Diaspora: Leaving the Solar System.
Follistatin & Muscle Mass: Rethinking the Baseline
Follistatin is opening new questions around baseline muscle, fat distribution, and aging. The real shift: from chasing gains → to preserving capacity.