Socializing to stave off dementia

If you want to reduce your risk of developing dementia in later life, stay socially active during your 50s and 60s. That’s the conclusion of a new study by researchers at University College London, who examined data from more than 10,000 people tracked from 1985 to 2013. The participants underwent regular cognitive testing and answered questionnaires about their social activity. Researchers found that people who at age 60 saw friends almost daily were 12 percent less likely to develop dementia later on in life than those who saw friends only every few months. Seeing relatives regularly did not appear to have the same beneficial effect. Using the brain for memory and language during social interactions could help build new connections between brain cells, creating so-called cognitive reserve. “While it may not stop their brains from changing, cognitive reserve could help people cope better with the effects of age and delay any symptoms of dementia,” senior author Gill Livingston tells ScienceDaily.com.

weakening osteoporosis. The procedure— offered only to women under 40—starts with a 30-minute operation in which tissue is removed from the patient’s ovaries. The sample is then frozen at minus 238 degrees Fahrenheit. When the patient begins menopause, the tissue is thawed and grafted back into the body—triggering the release of hormones that put menopause on hold. Ten women in the U.K. have undergone the initial procedure; one had the regraft immediately because she was having a hysterectomy and wanted to avoid premature menopause. “Being able to delay menopause has been life-changing,” Dixie-Louise Dexter, 33, tells The Times (U.K.). How long the procedure holds off menopause depends on a patient’s age when the tissue is extracted: Tissue from a 25-year-old could postpone menopause by 20 years, while a sample from a 40-year-old might delay its onset by five years. A similar procedure has been used to preserve fertility in girls and women who are receiving treatment for cancer.

Fahrenheit, even in the vacuum of space. Beresheet was carrying thousands of dehydrated tardigrades that had been taped between DVD-sized etched nickel discs that contained a “library” of human civilization. The creator of that library, Nova Spivack of the nonprofit Arch Mission, tells Wired.com that the discs were probably safely ejected. “Our payload,” he says, “may be the only surviving thing from that mission.” There’s no danger of the tardigrades colonizing the moon; to reproduce, they’d need to return to Earth and rehydrate.