In the news this week…

• Calorie restriction and increased longevity… new evidence.
• Nanotechnology in fashion… anti-bacterial clothing.
• Matchmaking borrowers and lenders on the Internet.
• Freeters… the cyber cafe homeless in Japan.
• Decreasing dependence on the US economy.
• Problems with biofuels.
• The coming technological singularity… an interview with Vernor Vinge.

We also feature…

Degrees That Matter: Climate Change and the University… a new book by Ann Rappaport and Sarah Hammond Creighton on the opportunity for universities and colleges to take a leadership role in dealing with global warming.

Quantum Shift TV… a multimedia website on "community, care and interconnectedness."

New Approaches to Nanotechnology, an audio clip from the Kojo Nnamdi Show… Kojo talks with his guests about the future of nanotechnology.

David Forrest

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SCIENCE

Top Story: Gene Clue to Longevity Uncovered – [BBC] Studies have shown that severe calorie restriction markedly extends lifespan in mice and many other species – but the reasons for this remained elusive. But now US research on nematode worms, published in Nature, has uncovered a gene linked to this unusual effect. In the future, the find could lead to drugs that mimic the consequences of calorie restriction but negate the need for severe fasting regimes.

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TECHNOLOGY

Top Story: Student Creates Garment With Bacteria-trapping Nanofibers – [Science Daily] Fashion designers and fiber scientists at Cornell have taken "functional clothing" to a whole new level. They have designed a garment that can prevent colds and flu and never needs washing, and another that destroys harmful gases and protects the wearer from smog and air pollution.

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BUSINESS

Top Story: Social Lending Gains Net Interest – [BBC] Pouring your cash into the far reaches of the world wide web may sound like a crazy idea. Lending cash to others online can cut out the middleman. After all, the internet has seen its fair share of nasties from phishing e-mails posing as a bank to key logging software pinching our passwords and personal information, all in an effort to steal our identity and cash. But now there is a wave of sites trying to convince people that the web is the place for their money.

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SOCIETY

Top Story: Japanese Find Sleep, Shelter in Cyber Cafes – [IOL] Takeshi Yamashita does not look like a homeless person. From his carefully distressed jeans to his casual-cool navy striped T-shirt, he is every bit the trendy Tokyoite. Yet the 26-year-old has been sleeping in a reclining seat in an Internet cafe every night for the past month since he lost his steady office job and his apartment. It’s cheaper than a hotel, offers access to the Internet and hundreds of Manga comic books, and even has a microwave and a shower where he can wash in the morning before heading off to one of his temporary jobs ranging from cleaning to basic office work.

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GLOBAL POLITICS

Top Story: Does It Matter Anymore if the U.S. Has a Cold? – [International Herald Tribune] The seemingly countervailing trends – deceleration in America, full speed ahead abroad – have led some economists to wonder whether the United States and the rest of the global economy are going their separate ways. Some even suggest – shudder – that changes in the global economy have made the United States a less-central player.

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ENVIRONMENT

Top Story: U.N. Raises Doubts on Biofuels – [Associated Press] Biofuels like ethanol can help reduce global warming and create jobs for the rural poor, but the benefits may be offset by serious environmental problems and increased food prices for the hungry, the U.N. said Tuesday in its first major report on bioenergy. In an agency-wide assessment, the U.N. raised alarms about the potential negative impact of biofuels, just days after a climate conference in Bangkok said the world had both the money and technology to prevent global warming blamed in part on greenhouse gas emissions.

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THE FUTURE

Top Story: AI Will Surpass Human Intelligence After 2020 – [ITWorld] Vernor Vinge is a retired San Diego State University professor of mathematics, computer scientist, and science fiction author. He is well-known for his 1993 manifesto, "The Coming Technological Singularity," in which he argues that exponential growth in technology means a point will be reached where the consequences are unknown. Vinge still believes in this future, which he thinks would come anytime after 2020.

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FEATURED BOOK

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Resource Page

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FEATURED LINK

Quantum Shift TV – Quantum Shift is a 21st Century storyteller renewing the cultural values of community, care and interconnectedness. It was inspired by research from the Max Plank Institute in Germany confirming that people are more likely to take action towards sustainability when they are seen to be doing so.

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AUDIO CLIP

New Approaches to Nanotechnology – [Kojo Nnamdi Show] They’re one-one hundredth the width of a human hair and have the potential to change both consumer products and the very nature of science. But nano-materials are still seen as unpredictable, and their environmental impact is unclear. Tech Tuesday looks at the future of nanotechnology.