Shocking. I think it was Lamo who hack the Pentagon, the fink.
Amplify’d from www.wired.com
After months of investigation, U.S. authorities have apparently been unable to find any independent evidence that a jailed Army private accused of leaking classified documents gave them to the secret-spilling site WikiLeaks, according to a news report.
The information comes from anonymous Pentagon sources who told NBC that although there’s evidence that Pfc. Bradley Manning illegally downloaded thousands of sensitive documents to his computer and passed them to an unauthorized party, there’s no evidence indicating the recipient was WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange or his organization.
Manning was arrested last May after allegedly confessing to former hacker Adrian Lamo in online chats that he had leaked two Army videos to WikiLeaks, as well as 260,000 U.S. State Department cables and hundreds of thousands of documents on the Iraq war. U.S. investigators have the chat logs, which Lamo provided to them. In the logs, Manning discusses communicating directly with Assange and says at one point that he uploaded classified data to a “crazy white haired aussie who can’t seem to stay in one country very long.”
Last April, WikiLeaks published one of the videos Manning referred to, under the title “Collateral Murder.” The video shows a 2007 Army helicopter attack on a group of civilians. It killed two Reuters employees and an unarmed Baghdad man who stumbled on the scene afterward and tried to rescue one of the wounded by pulling him into his van.
WikiLeaks has acknowledged possessing a second video Manning mentioned in his chat, but has not published it to date. This one involves a May 2009 airstrike near Garani village in Afghanistan that the local government says killed nearly 100 civilians, most of them children.
WikiLeaks, along with several media partners, published half-a-million documents from the Iraq War last fall. Manning described leaking the documents to the organization, and WikiLeaks recently began releasing some of the more than 250,000 U.S. State Department cables it says it possesses.
If it’s true that investigators have found no evidence linking Manning and Assange, it may be because Manning allegedly erased it from his system. He discussed doing so in his chats with Lamo. Manning noted in the chats that any incriminating evidence of his activities had been “zerofilled”, or erased, from his computers:
(02:09:24 AM) Lamo: *random* are you concerned aboutCI/CID looking into your Wiki stuff? I was always paranoid.
(02:09:40 AM) Manning: CID has no open investigation
(02:10:28 AM) Manning: State Department will be uber-pissed… but I dont think they’re capable of tracing everything…
(02:14:36 AM) Lamo: So you have these stored now?
(02:14:54 AM) Manning: i had two computers… one connected to SIPRNET the other to JWICS…
(02:15:07 AM) Manning: no, they’re government laptops
(02:15:18 AM) Manning: they’ve been zerofilled
(02:15:22 AM) Manning: because of the pullout
(02:15:57 AM) Manning: evidence was destroyed… by the system itself
(02:16:10 AM) Lamo: So how would you deploy the cables? If at all.
(02:16:26 AM) Manning: oh no… cables are reports
(02:16:34 AM) Lamo: ah
(02:16:38 AM) Manning: State Department Cable = a Memorandum
(02:16:48 AM) Lamo: embassy cables?
(02:16:54 AM) Manning: yes
(02:17:00 AM) Manning: 260,000 in all
(02:17:10 AM) Manning: i mentioned this previously
(02:17:14 AM) Lamo: yes
(02:17:31 AM) Lamo: stored locally, or retreiveable?
(02:17:35 AM) Manning: brb latrine =P
(02:17:43 AM) Manning: i dont have a copy anymore
(02:17:59 AM) Lamo: *nod*
Assange has accused U.S. authorities of trying to pressure Manning into cooperating with them to bring charges against Assange, but Manning has reportedly refused to do so.
01/27/2011
Government Subsidy Cuts Raise Risk of Food Riots
The Tunisian uprising was due to food shortages. How long before its happening everywhere?
Amplify’d from www.bloomberg.com
Risks of global instability are rising as countries cut energy and nutrition subsidies to ease budget crunches with food prices near an all-time high, the head of the United Nations’ World Food Program said.
“We’re in an era where the world and nations ignore the food issue at their peril,” Josette Sheeran said in an interview yesterday at the agency’s Rome headquarters.
The global recession has eroded government aid that helped people in poorer countries afford bread, cooking oils and other staples. The trend raises the odds of unrest even though prices have improved in many nations from 2007-2009, Sheeran said. During that period, more than 60 food riots occurred worldwide, according to the U.S. State Department.
“Many of the world’s subsidy regimes and support regimes have shrunk in the poorer nations,” Sheeran said.
The U.N.’s Food Price Index surged to 214.8 in December, exceeding the previous record in 2008 when global food shortage fears sparked riots from Haiti to Egypt. More than 100 people have died this month in protests in Tunisia against rising food prices, unemployment and alleged corruption, according to the U.N., and at least three were killed in Algeria.
Togo will increase electricity prices by as much as 25 percent this month as the government stops subsidizing power, a cabinet official said today. Malaysia’s inflation rate rose to a 19-month high in December after it reduced subsidies on fuel and sugar. Jordan increased public salaries and subsidies last week to counter protests over falling living standards, after riots in Tunisia toppled the nation’s ruler.
Rising Food Costs
Global food costs jumped 25 percent last year to an all- time high in December because of record sugar and meat prices, according to the United Nations. Countries probably spent at least $1 trillion on imports, with the poorest paying as much as 20 percent more than in 2009, the UN says.
Cereal crops such as wheat and corn are not at records, making the current situation less severe than in 2008 for poorer consumers that rely on grains, Sheeran said. Nations in sub- Saharan Africa, the region most prone to hunger, also have had better harvests in the past year than three years ago, alleviating pressure on local food supplies, she said.
The World Food Program is the world’s largest food-aid organization.
Corn traded in Chicago advanced 52 percent last year, while wheat jumped 47 percent and soybeans gained 34 percent.
To contact the reporters on this story: Alan Bjerga in Washington at [email protected];
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at [email protected].
01/25/2011
Obama Orders Military To Prepare For Spring Food Riots
Amplify’d from www.eutimes.net
According to this report, Sarkozy, as head of the G-20 group of developed Nations, called for and received an emergency meeting with Obama this past Monday at the White House wherein he warned his American counterpart that the shock rise in food prices occurring due to an unprecedented series of disasters was threatening the stability of the entire World and could lead to the outbreak of Total Global War.
Just last week French Prime Minister Francois Fillon underlined that one of France’s top G-20 priorities was to find a collective response to “excessive volatility” in food prices now occurring, a statement joined by Philippe Chalmin, a top economic adviser to the French government, who warned the World may face social unrest including food riots in April as grain prices increase to unprecedented highs.
The fears of the French government over growing Global instability was realized this past week after food riots erupted in Algeria and Tunisia and left over 50 dead. So dire has the situation become in Tunisia that their government this morning rushed in massive amounts of troops and tanks to their capital city Tunis and instituted a Nationwide curfew in an order to quell the growing violence.
The United Nations, also, warned this past Friday that millions of people are now at risk after food prices hit their highest level ever as Global wheat stocks fell to 175.2 million tons from 196.7 million tons a year ago; Global corn stocks are said may be 127.3 million tons at the end of this season, compared with last month’s USDA outlook for 130 million tons; and Global soybean inventories will drop to 58.78 million tons at the end of this season, from 60.4 million tons a year earlier.
Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank, further warned this past week that rising food prices are “a threat to global growth and social stability” as our World, for the first time in living memory, has been warned is just “one poor harvest away from chaos”.
Important to note about how dire the Global food situation has become is to understand the disasters that have befallen our World’s top wheat growing Nations this past year, and who in descending order are: China, India, United States, Russia, France, Canada, Germany, Ukraine, Australia and Pakistan.
From China’s disaster: 2010 China drought and dust storms were a series of severe droughts during the spring of 2010 that affected Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Sichuan, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Hebei and Gansu in the People’s Republic of China as well as parts of Southeast Asia including Vietnam and Thailand, and dust storms in March and April that affected much of East Asia. The drought has been referred to as the worst in a century in southwestern China.
From India’s disaster: A record heat wave and growing water crisis in India are forcing politicians to consider implementing user fees and other measures to conserve water. Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday instructed ministers and officials to prepare a strategic plan to face an impending food crisis as there were signs that the World is to confront a food shortage by next April.
From Russia’s disaster: (10% of total World’s output, 20% for export) they were hit by the highest recorded temperatures Russia has seen in 130 years of recordkeeping; the most widespread drought in more than three decades; and massive wildfires that have stretched across seven regions, including Moscow.
From France’s disaster: The French government lowered their wheat crop forecast by 2.7% over last year due to drought and cold weather.
From Canada’s disaster: Record setting drought has affected their main grain producing provinces in the Western part of their Nation.
From Ukraine’s disaster: (the World’s top producer of barley and sixth biggest of wheat) hit as hard as Russia by fire and drought to the point they have halted all their exports of grains in 2011.
From Australia’s disaster: Fears of a Global wheat shortage have risen after the Queensland area of Australia was hit by calamitous flooding. Andrew Fraser, Queensland’s State Treasurer, described the floods as a “disaster of biblical proportions”. Water is covering land the size of France and Germany. It is expected to reach over 30 feet deep in some areas in coming days.
From Pakistan’s disaster: Floods have submerged 17 million acres of Pakistan’s most fertile crop land, have killed 200,000 herd of livestock and have washed away massive amounts of grain and left farmers unable to meet the fall deadline for planting new seeds, which implies a massive loss of food production in 2011, and potential long term food shortages.
Not only have the vast majority of our World’s top wheat producers been affected, but also one of the main grain producing regions on the Planet, South America, has been hit by disasters too where an historic drought has crippled Argentina and Bolivia, and Brazil, that regions largest Nation, has been hit with catastrophic floods that have killed nearly 400 people in the past few days alone.
Even the United States has been hit as a catastrophic winter has seen 49 of their 50 States covered by snow causing unprecedented damage to their crops in Florida due to freezing weather, and record setting rains destroying massive numbers of crops in their most important growing region of California.
And if you think that things couldn’t get any worse you couldn’t be more mistaken as South Korea (one of the most important meat exporters in Asia) has just this past week had to destroy millions of farm animals after an outbreak of the dreaded foot-and-mouth disease was discovered.
To how horrific the Global food situation will become this year was made even more grim this past month when the United States reported that nearly all of their honey bee and bumblebee populations have died out, and when coupled with the “mysterious” die-off of the entire bat population in America means that the two main pollinators of fruit and vegetable plants will no longer be able to do their jobs leading to crop losses this report warns will be “biblical and catastrophic”.
Chillingly to note is that after meeting with Sarkozy, Obama began implementing his Nation’s strategy for keeping the truth of this dire events from reaching the American people by ordering all US citizens to have an Internet ID so that they can be tracked and jailed should they begin telling the truth.
And so today, as agricultural traders and analysts warn that the latest revision to US and Global stocks means there is no further room for weather problems, a new cyclone is preparing to hit Australia, brutal winter weather in India has killed nearly 130, and more snow is warned to hit America, and we’re not even two full weeks into 2011… may God have mercy on us all.
01/24/2011
Government Subsidy Cuts Raise Risk of Food Riots
The Tunisian uprising was due to food shortages. How long before its happening everywhere?
Amplify’d from www.bloomberg.com
Risks of global instability are rising as countries cut energy and nutrition subsidies to ease budget crunches with food prices near an all-time high, the head of the United Nations’ World Food Program said.
“We’re in an era where the world and nations ignore the food issue at their peril,” Josette Sheeran said in an interview yesterday at the agency’s Rome headquarters.
The global recession has eroded government aid that helped people in poorer countries afford bread, cooking oils and other staples. The trend raises the odds of unrest even though prices have improved in many nations from 2007-2009, Sheeran said. During that period, more than 60 food riots occurred worldwide, according to the U.S. State Department.
“Many of the world’s subsidy regimes and support regimes have shrunk in the poorer nations,” Sheeran said.
The U.N.’s Food Price Index surged to 214.8 in December, exceeding the previous record in 2008 when global food shortage fears sparked riots from Haiti to Egypt. More than 100 people have died this month in protests in Tunisia against rising food prices, unemployment and alleged corruption, according to the U.N., and at least three were killed in Algeria.
Togo will increase electricity prices by as much as 25 percent this month as the government stops subsidizing power, a cabinet official said today. Malaysia’s inflation rate rose to a 19-month high in December after it reduced subsidies on fuel and sugar. Jordan increased public salaries and subsidies last week to counter protests over falling living standards, after riots in Tunisia toppled the nation’s ruler.
Rising Food Costs
Global food costs jumped 25 percent last year to an all- time high in December because of record sugar and meat prices, according to the United Nations. Countries probably spent at least $1 trillion on imports, with the poorest paying as much as 20 percent more than in 2009, the UN says.
Cereal crops such as wheat and corn are not at records, making the current situation less severe than in 2008 for poorer consumers that rely on grains, Sheeran said. Nations in sub- Saharan Africa, the region most prone to hunger, also have had better harvests in the past year than three years ago, alleviating pressure on local food supplies, she said.
The World Food Program is the world’s largest food-aid organization.
Corn traded in Chicago advanced 52 percent last year, while wheat jumped 47 percent and soybeans gained 34 percent.
To contact the reporters on this story: Alan Bjerga in Washington at [email protected];
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at [email protected].
Obama Orders Military To Prepare For Spring Food Riots
Amplify’d from www.eutimes.net
According to this report, Sarkozy, as head of the G-20 group of developed Nations, called for and received an emergency meeting with Obama this past Monday at the White House wherein he warned his American counterpart that the shock rise in food prices occurring due to an unprecedented series of disasters was threatening the stability of the entire World and could lead to the outbreak of Total Global War.
Just last week French Prime Minister Francois Fillon underlined that one of France’s top G-20 priorities was to find a collective response to “excessive volatility” in food prices now occurring, a statement joined by Philippe Chalmin, a top economic adviser to the French government, who warned the World may face social unrest including food riots in April as grain prices increase to unprecedented highs.
The fears of the French government over growing Global instability was realized this past week after food riots erupted in Algeria and Tunisia and left over 50 dead. So dire has the situation become in Tunisia that their government this morning rushed in massive amounts of troops and tanks to their capital city Tunis and instituted a Nationwide curfew in an order to quell the growing violence.
The United Nations, also, warned this past Friday that millions of people are now at risk after food prices hit their highest level ever as Global wheat stocks fell to 175.2 million tons from 196.7 million tons a year ago; Global corn stocks are said may be 127.3 million tons at the end of this season, compared with last month’s USDA outlook for 130 million tons; and Global soybean inventories will drop to 58.78 million tons at the end of this season, from 60.4 million tons a year earlier.
Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank, further warned this past week that rising food prices are “a threat to global growth and social stability” as our World, for the first time in living memory, has been warned is just “one poor harvest away from chaos”.
Important to note about how dire the Global food situation has become is to understand the disasters that have befallen our World’s top wheat growing Nations this past year, and who in descending order are: China, India, United States, Russia, France, Canada, Germany, Ukraine, Australia and Pakistan.
From China’s disaster: 2010 China drought and dust storms were a series of severe droughts during the spring of 2010 that affected Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Sichuan, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Hebei and Gansu in the People’s Republic of China as well as parts of Southeast Asia including Vietnam and Thailand, and dust storms in March and April that affected much of East Asia. The drought has been referred to as the worst in a century in southwestern China.
From India’s disaster: A record heat wave and growing water crisis in India are forcing politicians to consider implementing user fees and other measures to conserve water. Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday instructed ministers and officials to prepare a strategic plan to face an impending food crisis as there were signs that the World is to confront a food shortage by next April.
From Russia’s disaster: (10% of total World’s output, 20% for export) they were hit by the highest recorded temperatures Russia has seen in 130 years of recordkeeping; the most widespread drought in more than three decades; and massive wildfires that have stretched across seven regions, including Moscow.
From France’s disaster: The French government lowered their wheat crop forecast by 2.7% over last year due to drought and cold weather.
From Canada’s disaster: Record setting drought has affected their main grain producing provinces in the Western part of their Nation.
From Ukraine’s disaster: (the World’s top producer of barley and sixth biggest of wheat) hit as hard as Russia by fire and drought to the point they have halted all their exports of grains in 2011.
From Australia’s disaster: Fears of a Global wheat shortage have risen after the Queensland area of Australia was hit by calamitous flooding. Andrew Fraser, Queensland’s State Treasurer, described the floods as a “disaster of biblical proportions”. Water is covering land the size of France and Germany. It is expected to reach over 30 feet deep in some areas in coming days.
From Pakistan’s disaster: Floods have submerged 17 million acres of Pakistan’s most fertile crop land, have killed 200,000 herd of livestock and have washed away massive amounts of grain and left farmers unable to meet the fall deadline for planting new seeds, which implies a massive loss of food production in 2011, and potential long term food shortages.
Not only have the vast majority of our World’s top wheat producers been affected, but also one of the main grain producing regions on the Planet, South America, has been hit by disasters too where an historic drought has crippled Argentina and Bolivia, and Brazil, that regions largest Nation, has been hit with catastrophic floods that have killed nearly 400 people in the past few days alone.
Even the United States has been hit as a catastrophic winter has seen 49 of their 50 States covered by snow causing unprecedented damage to their crops in Florida due to freezing weather, and record setting rains destroying massive numbers of crops in their most important growing region of California.
And if you think that things couldn’t get any worse you couldn’t be more mistaken as South Korea (one of the most important meat exporters in Asia) has just this past week had to destroy millions of farm animals after an outbreak of the dreaded foot-and-mouth disease was discovered.
To how horrific the Global food situation will become this year was made even more grim this past month when the United States reported that nearly all of their honey bee and bumblebee populations have died out, and when coupled with the “mysterious” die-off of the entire bat population in America means that the two main pollinators of fruit and vegetable plants will no longer be able to do their jobs leading to crop losses this report warns will be “biblical and catastrophic”.
Chillingly to note is that after meeting with Sarkozy, Obama began implementing his Nation’s strategy for keeping the truth of this dire events from reaching the American people by ordering all US citizens to have an Internet ID so that they can be tracked and jailed should they begin telling the truth.
And so today, as agricultural traders and analysts warn that the latest revision to US and Global stocks means there is no further room for weather problems, a new cyclone is preparing to hit Australia, brutal winter weather in India has killed nearly 130, and more snow is warned to hit America, and we’re not even two full weeks into 2011… may God have mercy on us all.
Black Mother Jailed For Sending Kids to White School District
Amplify’d from drboycespeaks.blogspot.com
An Ohio mother of two was sentenced to 10 days in jail and placed on three years probation after sending her kids to a school district in which they did not live. Kelly Williams-Bolar was sentenced by Judge Patricia Cosgrove on Tuesday and will begin serving her sentence immediately.
The jury deliberated for seven hours and the courtroom was packed as the sentence was handed down. She was convicted on two counts of tampering with court records after registering her two girls as living with Williams Bolar's father when they actually lived with her. The family lived in the housing projects in Akron, Ohio, and the father’s address was in nearby Copley Township.
Additionally, Williams-Bolar’s father, Edward L. Williams, was charged with a fourth-degree felony of grand theft, in which he and his daughter are charged with defrauding the school system for two years of educational services for their girls. The court determined that sending their children to the wrong school was worth $30,500 in tuition.
When I read about this case, a few thoughts went through my mind. First, it’s clear that the court is trying to make Kelly Williams-Bolar into an example. Even the judge in the case, Patricia Cosgrove, said that her sentence was appropriate ''so that others who think they might defraud the school system perhaps will think twice.''
Secondly, it’s interesting how courts find it convenient to make someone into an example when they happen to be poor and black. I’d love to see how they prosecute wealthy white women who commit the same offense. Oh, I forgot: Most wealthy white women don’t have to send their kids to the schools located near the projects.
Third, I’m not sure why the court is treating this law-abiding mom like a thug who ran into a building with a shotgun and robbed the district of $30,000. Instead, they could simply subtract the amount it costs for her kids to go to the second school from the amount that would be spent for them to attend the first one. I’m sure the difference would still be substantial, since American educational apartheid dictates that schools in poorer neighborhoods are of significantly less quality than other schools. The racial divisions within American schools are nothing less than a blatant and consistent human rights violation and should certainly be treated as such.
A final interesting blow by Judge Cosgrove that reflects the experience of marginalized African Americans in the criminal justice system relates to Williams-Bolar’s quest to obtain a teaching degree. The single mother was in school studying to become a teacher so that she could create a better life for her girls. But that won’t happen for her family now, given that the judge has all but shut the door on her chance to fulfill her dream:
''Because of the felony conviction, you will not be allowed to get your teaching degree under Ohio law as it stands today,'' the judge said. ''The court's taking into consideration that is also a punishment that you will have to serve.''
This case is a textbook example of everything that remains racially wrong with America’s educational, economic and criminal justice systems. Let’s start from the top: Had Ms. Williams-Bolar been white, she likely would never have been prosecuted for this crime in the first place (I’d love for them to show me a white woman in that area who’s gone to jail for the same crime). She also is statistically not as likely to be living in a housing project with the need to break an unjust law in order to create a better life for her daughters. Being black is also correlated with the fact that Williams-Bolar likely didn’t have the resources to hire the kinds of attorneys who could get her out of this mess (since the average black family’s wealth is roughly 1/10 that of white families). Finally, economic inequality is impactful here because that’s the reason that Williams-Bolar’s school district likely has fewer resources than the school she chose for her kids. In other words, black people have been historically robbed of our economic opportunities, leading to a two-tiered reality that we are then imprisoned for attempting to alleviate. That, my friends, is American Racism 101.
This case is a textbook example of how racial-inequality created during slavery and Jim Crow continues to cripple our nation to this day. There is no logical reason on earth why this mother of two should be dehumanized by going to jail and be left permanently marginalized from future economic and educational opportunities. Even if you believe in the laws that keep poor kids trapped in underperforming schools, the idea that this woman should be sent to jail for demanding educational access is simply ridiculous.
Fine-Tuning Your Longevity Genes
Amplify’d from hplusmagazine.com
The nearly universal human desire to preserve youth can often motivate people to make major lifestyle changes or try the latest wonder supplement. But is it really possible to slow the rate of aging with current knowledge and technology? I argue herein that aging can be dramatically slowed by fine-tuning your longevity genes. Indeed, scientific research carried out in the last 20 years has shown that lifespan can be readily modulated by a variety of genetic or dietary strategies.
In this article, I describe our efforts at Genescient LLC in Irvine, CA to develop strategies to delay aging and age-related disease. Genescient's primary business focus is on the development of pharmaceuticals for age-related diseases, but in conjunction with its spinoff firm Life Code LLC, it has provided testing services for the development of nutraceuticals based on its unique genomics platform. Our findings can be summarized as follows:
- Aging is linked to altered expression in more than a hundred genes;
- We employed artificial intelligence algorithms combined with animal longevity assays to screen for wide-spectrum herbal extracts that extend lifespan;
- We succeeded in doubling animal lifespan using a novel class of nutrigenomic supplements that modulate genes involved in both aging and age-related disease.
All life forms on earth have evolved through natural selection, which selects the best genotype for fitness in a particular ecological niche. In 1952 the British Nobel zoologist Peter Medawar proposed that aging is the simple result of the failure of natural selection to maintain fitness in older animals with declining fertility. As fertility wanes, then the chances to correct inappropriate gene expression via natural selection also decline, generating the aging phenotype. Thus, according to Medawar’s hypothesis, aging is indirectly caused by the declining forces of natural selection to select the best fitness genes for the aged animal as reproductive capacity declines. In 1957, George Williams further developed Medawar’s evolutionary theory of aging by introducing the concept of antagonistic pleiotropy, wherein a gene may promote fitness in young fertile animals (and thus be selected for) but become a liability late in life leading to a subsequent decline in fitness. Modern versions of Medawar’s and William’s evolutionary theories of aging are still widely believed today by most experts in aging science, as the theory fits well with the immense body of literature showing that natural selection is responsible for virtually all of the phenotypes present in the diverse species observed in Nature. Evolution appears to evolve a life history for each species that is best adapted to its ecological niche.
Besides its sound theoretical basis in the well-known mechanisms of natural selection, the Evolution Theory of Aging has also been directly tested in Drosophila melanogaster by Michael Rose (UCI Professor and cofounder of Genescient). If the Evolution Theory of Aging is correct, Dr. Rose predicted that he should be able to select populations of long-lived animals by simply selecting for reproductive longevity. To carry out his longevity experiment, Dr. Rose started with 5 lines of wild type Drosophila flies and selected for reproductive longevity over a 27-year period. Dr. Rose finally obtained robust Methuselah flies with a demonstrated lifespan of some 3 to 4 times that found in the non-selected control lines, while retaining fertility and sexual vitality. Genescient has carried out several independent experiments to verify that these Methuselah flies are indeed long lived compared to wild type flies. As Genescient’s VP of R&D, I carefully monitored the most recent comparative lifespan experiment done in 2010 (Fig. 2). The Methuselah flies (O populations) far outlive their unselected wild type fly B populations. The selected Methuselah O flies have some 3 or 4 times longer mean lifespan than the non-selected wild type B flies (Fig. 2). This selection experiment is a dramatic verification that evolution modulates the aging process.
Fig. 2: Breeding Drosophila for late reproduction leads to much longer lived flies. The result is as predicted by the Evolution Theory of Aging.
Studying gene expression in the wild type and Methuselah flies, Genescient has shown that several hundred genes have an altered expression in the Methuselah flies. In late 2010, Genescient sequenced the DNA of the wild type and Methuselah flies and again found that more than a hundred genes appear to be altered in the long-lived Methuselah flies.
These experimental results are fully consistent with the Evolution Theory of Aging, which predicts that aging leads to poorly functioning organisms as natural selection for optimal gene function wanes with age. In summary, we age because of the declining force of natural selection in adult life, which leads to unfit gene expression with age.
If there are hundreds of genes that function poorly as we age, then one possible anti-aging strategy is to utilize wide-spectrum nutraceuticals to modify gene expression to a state consistent with greater longevity. Note that the ideal gene expression pattern is not identical to youthful gene expression, as some of the youthful gene expression is inconsistent with longevity (e.g. genes promoting rapid growth that can lead to cancer).
To develop potential wide-spectrum antiaging nutraceuticals, Genescient initially set out to identify nutraceutical compounds that would target as many of the complementary longevity pathways as possible and thereby extend Drosophila lifespan. Unfortunately, none of the single compound nutraceuticals tested appeared to significantly extend fly lifespan in our longevity screens. The typically poor longevity effects of single compounds argue against the use of drug-like therapeutics directed to a single target for longevity treatments.
At this point, I decided to test mixtures of medicinal herbal extracts, as these have had a long history of success in Chinese and Indian traditional medicine and are known to have a wide spectrum of positive effects in humans. To affect as many longevity genes as possible, I focused on complementary herbal extracts that have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and metabolic potential (known factors in driving aging) along with a positive effect on longevity genes and a proven history of use in traditional herbal medicine to treat a wide spectrum of diseases.
In selecting a group of herbal extracts, I did not take the traditional route of choosing an existing herbal mixture or the normal scientific route of choosing a mix of herbal extracts that target a particular disease or target. While there are many claims that a particular herbal extract is “anti-aging”, I found that these claims were too anecdotal to be believed. The screen for herbal extracts I used was novel in several ways. First, I tried to identify the best wide-spectrum herb in Chinese, Indian, or Western medicine based on its long term traditional use and data indicating that the herbal extract can target multiple longevity genes identified by Genescient or by other research groups.
In Chinese traditional medicine, Astragalus membranaceus (Huang Qi) appeared to be the best Chinese herb because of its many traditional uses and recent studies demonstrating stem cell activation and inhibition of mTOR. The mTOR inhibition has extended mouse mean lifespan by 33%. In traditional Chinese medicine astragalus is considered a true tonic that can strengthen debilitated patients and increase resistance to disease in general. Modern herbal treatments with Astragalus membranaceus root (often in concert with other herbs) are partly based on clinical trials showing benefits in strengthening immune function during viral (e.g. chronic hepatitis) or bacterial infection or in those individuals undergoing dialysis for kidney failure. Clinical trials at the US National Cancer Institute and other world centers have indicated that Astragalus can strengthen immunity and improve survival in some individuals with cancer. In western herbal medicine, Astragalus root is used to enhance immunity and to help in wound healing. Astragalus compounds have also been shown to stimulate stem cells, promote peripheral nerve regeneration in rats, and inhibit mTOR (a major longevity gene shown by extensive government studies to extend lifespan in mice).
In looking for the best herb in the Indian Ayurvedic medicinal tradition, I soon focused on the potent anti-diabetic herb, Pterocarpus marsupium. Crude extracts of Pterocarpus marsupium (Indian keno tree) bark naturally have high concentrations of pterostilbene (more than 4% by weight and extraction can get this level much higher) and have been used as a traditional herbal treatment for diabetes in India for thousands of years. More recent studies in animals show potent anti-diabetic activity. Published studies have also shown that pterostilbene is a potent anticancer compound. For example, pterostilbene, an analog of resveratrol, has dose-dependent anticancer activity in five cancer cell lines. As expected, pterostilbene is known to affect most or all of the longevity genes targeted by resveratrol, but has far greater stability and efficacy.
As an herbal medicine, Pterocarpus marsupium is popular in India for its diverse health benefits. Besides diabetes, the herb is also reported to cure a wide spectrum of ailments like skin diseases, fractures, bruises, constipation, hemorrhages, and rheumatoid arthritis. These diverse health benefits of Pterocarpus marsupium make it a clear favorite to include in a preventive herbal cocktail along with Astragalus.
Having selected two of the biggest stars in the traditional herbal medicines of China and India, I looked for an effective herb with wide-spectrum health effects from the Western herbal tradition. In this case, pine bark proanthocyanidins stand out as the best wide-spectrum herbal extracts in the Western herbal medicine tradition. Proanthocyanidins are polymer chains of flavonoids (flavan-3-ols) that were discovered by Jacques Masquelier in 1948 and have been a major therapeutic supplement in Europe since the 1980s. Most of the research and commercial success with proanthocyanidins has come from extracts of a French maritime pine bark called Pycnogenol (65 to 75% proanthocyanidins) and various grape seed extracts (80-90% proanthocyanidins).
One interesting claim of health benefits from proanthocyanidins is the hypothesis that they are responsible for the “French Paradox”, wherein the French tend to have much reduced rates of cardiovascular disease compared to other Western countries on a high-fat diet because of their high intake of red wine made with grapes. Besides their cardiovascular effects, Oligo-Proanthocyanidins (OPCs as attached units of proanthocyanidins are called) are known to have many other health benefits. For example, OPCs stabilize collagen and elastin, which are two essential proteins in connective tissues from blood vessels, muscles, and skin. OPCs are reported to reduce genetic mutations, so they have some anticancer benefits. OPCs have also been shown in clinical trials to promote blood flow and endothelial nitric oxide while reducing edema, capillary fragility, and damage from pollution, toxins, and cigarette smoke. These diverse health benefits make Pine Bark proanthocyanidins another perfect candidate to combine with wide-spectrum herbal extracts from Astragalus membranaceus and Pterocarpus marsupium bark.
To round out the above herbs, I wanted an herbal compound that provided neural protection in the brain. L-theanine (also known as gamma-glutamylethylamide, or 5-N-ethyl-glutamine) is an uncommon amino acid found preferentially in green tea. Theanine is an analog of glutamine and glutamate and can cross the blood-brain barrier to directly affect the brain. Among its psychoactive properties, theanine is reported to reduce mental stress and improved cognition and mood via its binding to the GABA brain receptors in the parasympathetic nervous system. Thus, theanine appears to increase the overall level of the brain inhibitory transmitter GABA and is reported to promote alpha wave production in the brain. Theanine also increases brain dopamine concentrations and has significant affinities for the AMPA and NMDA receptors. The NMDA receptors help control memory and synaptic plasticity. Theanine may also have positive effects on serotonin levels to promote restful sleep. In rats, theanine is neuroprotective. All of these neuroprotective properties of L-theanine make it a strong complementary addition to the three essential core herbs of the herbal mix. We named the final 4-herb mix StemCell 100, because of its positive effects on adult stem cells and have filed a patent application on this wide-spectrum nutraceutical.
Drosophila Longevity Studies Using Treatment with StemCell 100
The current StemCell 100 herbal blend has gone through extensive longevity testing with Drosophila fruit flies. The Drosophila longevity study (see Figs 3 and 4 below) included three cages of fruit flies that were treated with StemCell 100 (T1 to T3) and three cages that were untreated controls (C1 to C3). Each cage started with 500 fruit flies including 250 males and 250 females. The experiment showed that mean lifespan more than doubled with a 123% increase. That would be like the average human living to 167 years of age! While fruit flies are not people, they are more like us than you might think. Drosophila has a heart and circulatory system, and the most common cause of death is heart failure. Like humans and other mammals (e.g. mice), it is quite difficult to increase their lifespan significantly. The doubling of mean lifespan by StemCell 100 outperforms every lifespan enhancing treatment ever tested in flies – including experiments using genetic modification and dietary restriction.
The longest living fruit fly receiving StemCell 100 lived 89 days compared to the longest living untreated control which lived 48 days. That is an increase in maximum lifespan of 85% which is the equivalent of a person living to be 191 years old! It is possible that the single longest living fruit fly lived longer for other reasons such as genetic mutation; however, there were many others that lived almost as long so it was not just an aberration. For example, the oldest 5% of the treated fruit flies lived 77% longer than the oldest 5% of the control group (see Fig. 4 below).
A small clinical field trial with six healthy individuals was run using StemCell 100 for a period of four months (Fig. 5). The average HDL (good cholesterol) gain with treatment was 11.4 mg/dL or 25%.
Fig. 5: StemCell 100 Field Trial: Blood tests were performed before and after treatment with StemCell 100 to see if the treatment changed cholesterol or other blood chemistry profiles. Liver function and blood chemistry were the same before and after treatment in all participants, but there were small reductions in total cholesterol and LDL (bad-cholesterol) with the herbal treatment. The biggest surprise was the relatively large increases in HDL (good cholesterol) in all 6 test subjects – even the three individuals that were on statins (participants 1*, 2*, and 5*) showed large increase in HDL cholesterol.
We also checked four individuals before and after StemCell 100 treatment for changes in blood pressure (Fig. 6). There was a relatively large reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The average Systolic BP (red) dropped 12 mm of Hg with treatment, while the average Diastolic BP (blue) dropped 10 mm of Hg. High HDL cholesterol and reduced blood pressure are independent indicators of longevity, so these results suggest that the StemCell 100 may reduce all-cause mortality in humans, as is the case for Drosophila.
Fig. 6: Blood Pressure Changes: Four of the 6 above field trial participants also were checked for changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure after treatment with StemCell 100. The observed reductions with StemCell 100 are similar to those found with anti-hypertensive proscription drugs such as the ACE inhibitors.
Genescient used genomic studies in Drosophila to determine that aging is modulated by over a hundred genes. We then used animal longevity assays to screen for nutrigenomic supplements that extend lifespan. We succeeded in doubling Drosophila lifespan using a novel class of wide-spectrum herbal supplements that modulate genes involved in both aging and age-related disease. The doubling of mean lifespan by StemCell 100 outperforms every lifespan enhancing treatment ever tested in Drosophila – including experiments using genetic modification and dietary restriction. With this successful demonstration of the power of Genescient’s genomic R & D system, Genescient’s proprietary genomic techniques can now be applied to developing wide-spectrum drug combinations for the age-related diseases.
To market StemCell 100, Genescient entered a joint venture with Centagen. (a co-creator of the StemCell 100 formulation) to form Life Code LLC. Genescient and Centagen have spent two years in extensive animal and human testing to optimize the herbal formulation in StemCell 100. The dosage and quality of the individual components emerged as critical factors in providing safety and efficacy. With the development complete, StemCell 100 is now available. [http://www.lifecoderx.com/ ]
While the four herbal extracts in StemCell 100 formulation have tremendous synergistic properties when properly manufactured in the optimized formulation, each of the four herbal extracts in StemCell 100 – when taken separately – have exceptional records in promoting animal and human health. For example, the individual components of StemCell 100 help support:
- Adult stem cell rejuvenation [1-4].
- A healthy cardiovascular system [5-8].
- Healthy blood glucose levels for those already in the normal range [9-13].
- Healthy blood pressure levels for those already in the normal range [14-15].
- Healthy cholesterol levels for those already in the normal range [9, 16-15].
- Younger looking skin [18-24].
- Better learning and focus [25-30].
- More endurance with vigorous exercise [31-35].
- A healthy immune system [31-32, 36-39].
- Healthy breasts, colon, pancreas, and prostate [40-46].
01/23/2011
Greenland Ice Sheets Melt At Record Rate In 2010
Amplify’d from www.ibtimes.com
Ice sheets in Greenland are melting faster than ever before, according to new research.
The study, led by Marco Tedesco, director of the Cryospheric Processes laboratory at the City College of New York, showed that the melting index had broken the previous record, set in 2007.
CCNY
The figure shows the standardized melting index anomaly for the period 1979 - 2010. The center line is the mean fro 1979-2009.
"Melting in 2010 started exceptionally early at the end of April and ended quite late in mid- September," Tedesco said in a statement. "This past melt season was exceptional, with melting in some areas stretching up to 50 days longer than average."
A melting Greenland ice sheet contributes to sea level rise, which has occurred at a mean rate of about 1.8 millimeters per year over the past century. If the Greenland ice sheet were to melt completely it would raise sea levels by 7 meters. But that is unlikely to happen for several centuries at least.
One reason for the record-breaking melt was that summer temperatures in the Arctic were 2-3 degrees C (5.4 degrees F) warmer than normal. Greenland's capital, Nuuk, experienced temperatures higher than any since 1873, when weather records started being been kept there. NASA data showed that 2010 was tied with 2005 as, globally, the warmest year on record.
The data was gathered from satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. By measuring the amount of microwave radiation emitted by the ice, snow and water of the ice sheets in Greenland, and comparing that with data gathered on the ground, the researchers were able to measure how much of the ice sheet is subject to melting.
Adding up the areas subject to melting each day gives an index, which can then be used to see how much more melting (or less) is happening in any given year. For the baseline year the researchers took an average of the melting between 1979 and 2009.
The index is presented as a multiple of the standard deviation from the mean. The deviation is the "spread" around the average. For example, a group of 10 people might have a mean height of 67 inches tall, with the shortest people at 60 inches and the tallest at 74 inches. The standard deviation is seven inches, and a basketball player who is 81 inches tall is two standard deviations off of the average.
In the melt index measurements, 2010 got a value of just over 2, similar to 2007. Previous record-setting years were 2005, 2002, and 1998.
Tedesco said if the variability were random, then over a 30-year period one would expect the record years to be evenly distributed - they would be just as likely to be in 1970 as they are in 2001. But the data shows a gradual upward curve, and even the fact that the melt index was just about average in 2008 and 2009 doesn't alter the trend.
He added that the real concern about the ice sheets is that the melt process is not linear. That is, twice as much meltwater on the ice surface doesn't mean only twice as much melting of the underlying ice sheet. That's because many processes are feedbacks.
For example, more meltwater on the surface means more heat, which melts more ice and makes more meltwater. A river of water running over ice transfers heat to the ice because it is above freezing, melting yet more ice and increasing the volume of water. If the feedbacks accelerate past a certain point, the ice sheet will melt even faster, Tedesco said.
Tedesco said he is planning future trips to Greenland to find out more about the contribution to melting of the water that seeps under the ice sheet from the surface.
James Quin
News Activist, Technological Singularity Enthusiast, Writer.
