Research on Aging
The elderly are often dismissed because of the diseases with which they content force them to be “less” than fully functioning. However, there is a very precise and unique science behind why everything eventually ages and dies. Understanding what is behind this phenomenon is the first step in combating many of the debilitating conditions associated with growing old.
I have discovered a list of TED Talks that cover various aspects of aging. Although the following listed TED Talks may not explicitly cover aging as it relates to humans, the talks offer broad glimpses at some of the associated issues and insights.
Aubrey de Gray, Roadmap to End Aging: Cambridge researcher Aubrey de Grey argues that aging is merely a disease – and a curable one at that. Humans age in seven basic ways, he says, all of which can be averted.
Gregory Petsko, The Upcoming Neurological Epidemic: Biochemist Gregory Petsko makes a convincing argument that, in the next 50 years, we’ll see an epidemic of neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, as the world population ages. His solution: more research into the brain and its functions.
Ed Ulbrich, How Benjamin Button Got His Face: Ed Ulbrich, the digital-effects guru from Digital Domain, explains the Oscar-winning technology that allowed his team to digitally create the older versions of Brad Pitt’s face for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Dean Ornish, Your Genes Are Not Your Fate: Dean Ornish shares new research that shows how adopting healthy lifestyle habits can affect a person at a genetic level. For instance, he says, when you live healthier, eat better, exercise, and love more, your brain cells actually increase.
Dan Buettner, How to Live To Be 100+: To find the path to long life and health, Dan Buettner and team study the world’s “Blue Zones,” communities whose elders live with vim and vigor to record-setting age. In his talk, he shares the 9 common diet and lifestyle habits that keep them spry past age 100.
Rachel Sussman, The World’s Oldest Living Things: Rachel Sussman shows photographs of the world’s oldest continuously living organisms – from 2,000-year-old brain coral off Tobago’s coast to an “underground forest” in South Africa that has lived since before the dawn of agriculture.
Anthony Atala, Growing New Organs: Anthony Atala’s state-of-the-art lab grows human organs – from muscles to blood vessels to bladders, and more. At TEDMED, he shows footage of his bio-engineers working with some of its sci-fi gizmos, including an oven-like bioreactor (preheat to 98.6 F) and a machine that “prints” human tissue.
Eva Vertes, Meet the Future of Cancer Research: Eva Vertes – only 19 when she gave this talk – discusses her journey toward studying medicine and her drive to understand the roots of cancer and Alzheimer’s.
Ray Kurzweil, The Accelerating Power of Technology: Inventor, entrepreneur and visionary Ray Kurzweil explains in abundant, grounded detail why, by the 2020s, we will have reverse-engineered the human brain and nanobots will be operating your consciousness.
Martin Rees, Is This Our Final Century?: Speaking as both an astronomer and “a concerned member of the human race,” Sir Martin Rees examines our planet and its future from a cosmic perspective. He urges action to prevent dark consequences from our scientific and technological development.
Take a look!
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