Study Probes how Eating Less Can Extend Lifespan

Eat less, live longer? Cutting calories may extend life span

Researchers tracked the health of nearly one thousand mice on a variety of diets to see if these diets would extend the mice’s lifespan. The study was designed to ensure that each mouse was genetically distinct, which allowed the team to better represent the genetic diversity of the human population. By doing so, the results are made more clinically relevant, elevating the study to one of the most significant investigations into aging and lifespan to date.

For nearly a century, laboratory studies have shown consistent results: eat less food, or eat less often, and an animal will live longer. But scientists have struggled to understand why these kinds of restrictive diets work to extend lifespan, and how to best implement them in humans...

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A matter of taste: Electronic Tongue Reveals AI ‘Inner Thoughts’

Device with three wires leading from the bottom next to a quarter
The electronic tongue comprises a graphene-based ion-sensitive field-effect transistor, or a conductive device that can detect chemical ions, linked to an artificial neural network, trained on various datasets. This is located in the top right of the device. Credit: Provided by the Das Lab. All Rights Reserved.

A recently developed electronic tongue is capable of identifying differences in similar liquids, such as milk with varying water content; diverse products, including soda types and coffee blends; signs of spoilage in fruit juices; and instances of food safety concerns...

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NASA’s Hubble watches Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Behave Like a Stress Ball

Astronomers have observed Jupiter’s legendary Great Red Spot (GRS), an anticyclone large enough to swallow Earth, for at least 150 years. But there are always new surprises — especially when NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope takes a close-up look at it.

Hubble’s new observations of the famous red storm, collected 90 days between December 2023 to March 2024, reveal that the GRS is not as stable as it might look. The recent data show the GRS jiggling like a bowl of gelatin. The combined Hubble images allowed astronomers to assemble a time-lapse movie of the squiggly behavior of the GRS.

“While we knew its motion varies slightly in its longitude, we didn’t expect to see the size oscillate...

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Team engineers New Enzyme to Produce Synthetic Genetic Material

John Chaput
“This is just the beginning,” says John Chaput, UC Irvine professor of pharmaceutical sciences. “We’re not just improving on existing drugs. We’re developing a whole new platform for creating therapies that aren’t possible with current technology.” Steve Zylius / UC Irvine

Discovery advances development of new therapeutic options for cancer and other diseases. A research team led by the University of California, Irvine has engineered an efficient new enzyme that can produce a synthetic genetic material called threose nucleic acid. The ability to synthesize artificial chains of TNA, which is inherently more stable than DNA, advances the discovery of potentially more powerful, precise therapeutic options to treat cancer and autoimmune, metabolic and infectious diseases.

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