>>A Blog About the Science and Technology of Living Forever

If you compare the annual death rates among two groups of men aged 50 to 70, the data shows men who work longer live longer. Death rates of those still working are roughly half that of the death rates of men the same age who are fully retired.What’s going on here? I thought retirement was supposed to be good for you! (By the way, the study showed that the effect was also there for women, but it was less pronounced.) The results shown on this chart immediately beg the question: Is this causation (working actually causes or enables you to live longer) or correlation (there’s no direct causal relationship). Here’s one possible explanation that would weigh in on the correlation side: People who were on disability benefits and whose health was compromised were excluded from both groups. Studies – as well as anecdotal evidence — suggests that engagement with life is what helps prolong life. This is what the authors of the book Super You also concluded. People get engagement with life from working longer. However, the can also get it from taking up causes, volunteering, hobbies, and contributing to family and community. It all comes down to “having a purpose”, said the Super You authors, which includes Andy Walker and Kay Walker. Finding powerful reasons for getting up in the morning in my retirement years is as important as my financial planning. My prior blog post, Can’t Retire Yet? Don’t Despair, suggests that we may need to work a little in our retirement years to make ends meet. In this case, I won’t be bitter–working may be keeping me alive! The jury is still out on the question of whether working might increase your longevity. What’s your take on...

The human ear is pretty impressive and hard to artificially replicate. By comparison hearing aids are still sizeable, uncomfortable and have yet to get to the point where it makes it possible to hear rich sounds that humans take for granted. Still, inserts, like crickets, may provide insight into how we can learn to to design a small speaker that is  loud, just as you’d need for a hearing aid and help treat conditions like single sided deafness and unilateral hearing loss. Crickets make sound by rubbing their wings together. The wings are corrugated in patterns which make them stiff. This makes them very loud when the insect rubs them together. Scientists can use laser vibration systems and advanced computer modeling simulations to mimic this idea, by engineering the stiffness of the speaker surface. This produces a simple and efficient way to make ultra small speakers that produce sound that is very loud. Hearing aids are designed to operate in stages. Audio signals are collected by a microphone and then amplified to be louded. Background noise is filtered out with digital processing technology. As a result the speaker in a hearing aid can deliver high-intensity sound to an ear.  Better understanding insects may help us in each of these processes. We can learn more about bio-acoustics through the locust. It has two large “tympanal” membranes that is uses to hear. These membranes, on its chest, vibrate with sound. They transfer the audio signals to the insect’s nervous system,  just like a human’s ear drum. Scientists have discovered that this membrane has a regular variation in thickness. When sound is played to it, i produced tsunami-like vibration with the peak of the wave directly at the location of the nerve cells. This allows for huge amplifications of the sound....

One of the often overlooked elements of the Mediterranean diet is the content of what is now days called supergrains. These include Farro, Freekah and other whole grains The diet says that grains, vegetables, and fruits should be eaten at most meals, because they are important sources of vitamins, minerals, energy, antioxidants, and fiber. An eating pattern high in these foods promotes good health and weight control when consumed wisely. About Mediterreans Grains The majority of grains should be whole grains, including wheat, oats, rice, rye, barley, and corn. These are best consumed in whole, minimally-processed forms, because refining usually removes valuable nutrients, including vitamins, minerals and fiber. Grains and grain products common to the traditional Mediterranean Diet include: barley, buckwheat, bulgur, farro, millet, oats, polenta, rice, wheat berries, breads, couscous, and pastas....

A typical person lives 28,835 days until they meet their end and their cremated ashes or body is returned to the earth. Each one of us knows what a day (24 hours) feels like, and how long it takes, and how variable any day can feel. But 28,835 days is just a number—unless you count it out in jelly beans. Here’s some cool jelly bean facts from The Singularity Hub 5,475 jelly beans takes us to 15 years old the remaining 23,360 jelly beans sleeping, working, preparing or eating food, watching TV, doing chores, and commuting. beyond that, we have 2,740 days to be creative and for leisure time The site also says: “Modern medicine has added over 11,000 jelly beans since the turn of the last century. This varies globally, but US life expectancy was 47.3 in 1900 and 78.7 in 2010.” Have a look ay this great video that helps you visualize your life in jellybeans. (Thanks to Singularity...

A fascinating piece from Mental_Floss shows how humans may still be evolving in accordance with Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection. The piece suggests that the following are traits that show humans are still evolving: non-human milk drinking the slow disappearance of wisdom teeth disease resistance shrinking brains and blue eyes These all point to continue evolutionary development of mankind. Read more...