We could slow down the aging process by affecting one organ ● The domestication of sheep and goats may have been done for other reasons than you thought ● Billions of people are at risk of dying from global warming by the end of the century

We could slow down the aging process by affecting one organ

The Institute for the Study of Cancer and Aging (IRCAN) in Nice, France, recently presented information that could revolutionize medicine in the journal Nature Aging. In particular, tests on fish have shown that the aging process can be slowed down by affecting only the intestines.

The information is not entirely new. Even a century ago, scientists noticed that the aging process is accelerated by intestinal inflammation and the penetration of microbes into the blood. In Romanian, as we age, the digestive tract reduces its role as a barrier, and unwanted particles and bacteria enter the bloodstream, accelerating the aging process.

Well, what did the scientists in France do? First, they studied the effect of aging on telomere length in the intestinal cells of zebrafish (Danio rerio). As in humans, during life they shrink even faster than in the case of other organs.

Based on this observation, IRCAN researchers inserted pieces of DNA that would allow intestinal cells to remove telomerase, the enzyme responsible for telomere length. Effect?

The aging process was stopped not only at the level of the intestines, but also throughout the body. Fertility and good health were restored to the fish. First of all, the life expectancy of fish has increased, and this does not represent any risk of developing cancer. Ah, this study was part of a larger program looking at the effects of telomeres on the onset of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, diseases of the immune system or the gastrointestinal tract.

The domestication of sheep and goats may have been done for other reasons than you think

The fact that humans domesticated animals after the end of the last ice age, about 11,000 years ago, is a well-known fact. The only exception is the dog, which was domesticated 30-40 thousand years ago. It is not known how the animals eventually gave up their wild lifestyle to live next to humans. Also, it seems that the reasons for domestication were also different than we thought.

The paradigm shift resulted from a series of archaeological discoveries made in Turkey, at Asikli Goyuk, by a mixed team of American-Turkish archaeologists. Settlement there began, according to data provided by sedimentary levels, about 10,400 years ago. It was a small community that already practiced rudimentary agriculture, but still relied heavily on game.

It is interesting that near the huts of that period, archaeologists managed to find small areas where there are many coprolites of wild sheep and goats. Of course, people have already started keeping them in pens.

Now comes the most interesting part, as the more than 1,000 fossilized bones belonging to the same animals usually come from young specimens. And this means that the animals were kept in captivity for only a few months before they were killed.

One explanation would be that the young were caught after the mothers were killed and raised until they were fit enough for consumption. More precisely, on the occasion of banquets or religious holidays. Basically, animals were caught and kept in captivity exclusively for such events.

Only at levels corresponding to the period of 8,000 years ago, that is, after more than two millennia, can one see traces of large herds and a complete process of domestication. Even then, farmers could release their animals into the wild, knowing that they would no longer escape into the wild. In the end, everything went like this, starting with the need for meat for parties.

Billions of people are at risk of dying from global warming by the end of the century

In general, when we talked about the consequences of global warming, we talked about financial and environmental losses. That it costs us so many billions of dollars, so many trillions that thousands of species of plants and animals, entire ecosystems, etc. will disappear. Human losses were rarely talked about.

Here’s what a new study published in Nature Sustainability by an international team of researchers from the US, UK, China, Holland, Denmark, etc. shows us the human toll humanity has to pay for the failure of the Agreement. from Paris

According to the data provided by experts, if the agreement had been followed, which meant not to penalize the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius until the year 2100, only 5% of the world’s population would be at risk. Since new projections show that we will reach much higher values, namely 2.7 or even 4 degrees Celsius, in the same time period, at least two billion people are at risk of losing their lives.

This will happen mainly in the equatorial zone, where temperatures will increase exponentially. In essence, we will be faced with the reconstruction of the habitable zones of the planet until some of them can no longer support life. At least human. India risks losing about 600 million people, being the country most affected by the coming changes. Nigeria could lose 300 million, Indonesia 100 million, and Pakistan and the Philippines 80 million each.

Don’t be glad you ran away! These are only the highest figures. All countries of the world will suffer. And one more thing. Such forecasts are an increase of 2.7 degrees Celsius. France, as I wrote the other day, is preparing for a 4 degree rise, which they believe is a realistic scenario.

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