Archive for the 'Near Death & Reincarnation' Category

Defeating Age: Is It Possible?

If science does indeed solve the riddle of aging – which it looks like it may in the future – how will we deal with overpopulation? Who will benefit from the science? The rich? The famous? And what are the spiritual implications? What if life is merely one stage in a grand journey of learning? If we stall the progression, what will become of our souls?

 

(Also, read the article to learn more about the fascinating link between anti-aging techniques and the cure for cancer.)

 

telomerase.telomere

 

The Ultimate Medical Breakthrough

 

by Gary Vey for Viewzone

 

 

“A couple of weeks ago the results of an experiment were published that offers a glimpse into the future of the human race — a future when there is no more “getting old” and, most significantly, no cancer. But to fully appreciate what has happened, you will need to get the background story first.

It is a natural desire to want to live a long life. Despite the claims of eating organic food, vegetarianism or vitamins, the only thing scientifically linked to longevity (besides starvation) is genetics. If your parents and grandparents lived a long life, you will likely live long.

 

We now understand exactly what causes aging and death — on the molecular level. Scientists have spent the last decade trying to manipulate the enzymes and protiens that determine how many times our cells can make copies of themselves — and how long we can live. But they have always faced a dilema: the same conditions that makes a cell live longer are also present in cancer.

 

About a decade ago, it was discovered that the ends of the DNA molecular strands had a long series of meaningless code (“TTAGGG” in the language of DNA enzymes) that kept repeating and repeating. It was noticed that these strands, called telomeres, were longer in young cells (about 10,000 base pairs) and shorter in older cells (about 5,000 base pairs). When the telomeres got too short, the cell died…”

 

For the rest, and a video, click here.

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“Resurrection Ecology” Is Here.

ice-age-eurasia-990x479

 

The “de-extinction” project’s big TEDx conference at the National Geographic headquarters is a wrap but you can watch it in its entirety here. And now the ethical and scientific questions are abuzz, and many people are comparing what their doing to a “Jurassic Park” scenario. The bottom line is the science is not able to use DNA as ancient as dinosaur, so the comparison is not appropriate. So then, what will these ground breaking scientists be “resurrecting”? Think carrier pigeon and woolly mammoth, which, in our opinion, is spectacularly exciting. We wish these science pioneers the very best of luck. We will keep you posted on their progress as they go…

 

The Promise and Pitfalls of Resurrection Ecology

 

by Brian Switek (National Geographic)

 

“Every species becomes extinct eventually. Some leave descendants that continue the evolutionary proliferation of life that kicked off on this planet over 3.5 billion years ago, but no parent species is immortal. Life on Earth is in continual flux, with new lineages emerging as others die back.

 

But what if we could resurrect lost species? And even if we developed the technology to do so, are such efforts wise during a time when the same attention and energy could be applied to preventing extant species from slipping away? This Friday, researchers are going to converge at the TEDX DeExtinction symposium, partnered with National Geographic, to discuss the possibilities and pitfalls of reviving species that have been lost over the past 12,000 years.

 

The woolly mammoth – the shaggy Ice Age icon that persisted until a scant 3,700 years ago – is probably the most charismatic “deextinction” candidate…”

 

For the complete article click here.

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“De-Extinction” Project: Is This The Beginning Of A Real Life Jurassic Park?

Dodo

 

Some extremely smart people (the “Revive & Restore Initiative“) are starting a new project called “De-Extinction”. There’s a big conference and TED “talk” happening tomorrow at The National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C., to which you may tune in here.

 

What will they be talking about exactly?

 

…”Revive & Restore, with the support of TED and in partnership with National Geographic Society, is convening a day-long conference to showcase the prospects of bringing extinct species back to life, along with a discussion of the ethical issues that will raise…”

 

Yes, you read that correctly: “the prospects of bringing extinct species back to life.”

 

More background here, and take a poll: Which species would you like to see revived? (The Tasmanian tiger, the California condor, the woolly mammoth…? Revive & Restore are already hard at work on the North American passenger pigeon which was last seen alive almost a century ago.)

 

 

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