death

Longevity Primer

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Laura Deming runs the $26 million Longevity Fund – a VC firm dedicated to funding early-stage companies with a high-potential for increasing human lifespans.

Her blog has an interesting primer on longevity and the science behind increasing human lifespans. It’s filled with all kinds of well-referenced facts about things that affect our aging and ability to lead long lives.

10 years ago, one of the first projects I worked on was trying to understand a weird fact about reproduction in worms. If you take little worms and get rid of their gonads (I know, it’s weird), they live ~60% longer than normal. But this only works if you get rid of the stuff inside (sperm/eggs – these worms are hermaphrodites, which means they carry around both). If you get rid of the whole thing, lifespan goes back to normal.

Don’t miss the 95 things that make mice live longer and 70 drugs in the clinic that might make people live longer sections.

Via Oreilly

Z-Trip’s All Access (A Beastie Boys Megamix)

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The passing of MCA has me thinking about the Beastie Boys and reminded me of this 23 minute Megamix by Z-Trip you can stream below. Z-Trip says:

“I was stoked and humbled when asked to do this mix. I’ve been a fan of The Beasties since I first heard Mr Magic interview them on WBLS in NY. I included some of my favorites as well as stuff off the new album. All remixed. It’s a Trip, it’s gotta funky beat, and you can bug out to it.”

All Access (A Beastie Boys Megamix)

DJ Format C has also put together a pretty good Beastie Boys mix you can stream below. The tracklist can be found here.

All My Friends Are Still Dead

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“All My Friends Are Still Dead” is the new sequel to the humorous “All My Friends Are Dead“, that has been mentioned on this blog a couple of times before. The book is an, “illustrated compendium of the humorous existential ruminations of people, animals, legendary monsters, and inanimate objects.” I’m sold and if all your friends are dead too, then maybe you should just buy one for yourself.

All My Friends Are Still Dead

Also, Co-author Avery Monsen has a tumblr.

Jim Gernhart: Colorado’s Living Corpse

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Jim Gernhart

In 1951 Burlington, Colorado farmer James Nelson Gernhart pulled a variation of the old “Tom Sawyer” and held a rehearsal of his own funeral. The trial run consisted of eight pallbearers carrying a casket from his home to a waiting hearse, they then attended it to the local armory, where almost half of Burlington, Colo., turned out for a funeral sermon by the Rev. S.H. Mahaffey. The local newspaper also published Jim’s obituary. Jim Gernhart continued to gain fame by holding annual funerals drawing even more attention from the media. His “last” funeral was held in 1980 after his death at the ripe old age of 103.


“Real nice funeral, ain’t it?” Gernhart once remarked. “Does a man good to see so many people out to bury him.”

The 12 Easiest Ways To Avoid An Untimely Death

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Dr. Doug McGuff is an emer­gency physi­cian in South Car­olina. He has com­piled a list of twelve tips on avoid­ing what he calls ‘neg­a­tive Black Swan events’—an early death from things we con­sider unlikely (but in reality are quite recurrent to emer­gency physicians). His advice prevent you from offing yourself prematurely is this:

  1. Drive the biggest vehi­cle you can afford to drive.

    2. It goes without saying to wear your seatbelts, and you should be engulfed by as many air bags as possible. If we were truly rational about risk, all seat belts would be 5-point restraints and we would wear helmets while driving.

  2. Never get on a 4-wheeler ATV.

    3. I would also suggest that you not get on a jetski or get in the water in areas where jetskis are running about.

  3. Do not road cycle or jog on pub­lic roads/roadsides.

  4. Do not fly a plane or heli­copter unless you are a full-time pro­fes­sional pilot.

  5. If you are walk­ing down a side­walk and are approach­ing a group of loud and appar­ently intox­i­cated males, cross to the other side of the street imme­di­ately. If con­fronted, run.

    6. The best advice is to avoid a potentially physical confrontations.

  6. If your gas grill won’t start… walk away.

  7. Never dive into a pool or body of water (except in a pool div­ing area marked 9 feet or deeper after you have checked it out feet-first).

    8. Always make your first dive in a pool that is new to you feet first even if it’s clearly marked.

  8. Never get on a lad­der to clean your gut­ters, or on your roof to hang Christ­mas lights. Do not cut down trees with a chainsaw.

    9. In general, any house or lawn work that you can hire for an amount equal to or less than your own hourly wage is money well spent.

  9. If you are retire­ment age and plan on mov­ing to a new home… think twice.

    10. A change in living conditions can be an extremely stressful life event. The stress pushes many seniors over the edge.

  10. If any­one tries to force you into your car or car trunk at gun point, don’t cooperate.

    11. Fight and scream all you can even if you risk getting shot in the parking lot. If you get in the car, you will most likely die (or worse).

  11. If you are in any per­sonal or pro­fes­sional rela­tion­ship that exhausts you or oth­er­wise causes you recur­rent dis­tress, then end the rela­tion­ship immediately.

  12. Don’t play the lot­tery… you might win.

    13. Any unearned wealth, or wealth that is disproportionate to the objective value you provide will destroy you. Lottery winners and Sports/Movie stars share a common bond of disproportionate rates of depression, addiction, and suicide.


Death Coaster

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Euthanasia Coaster

I love roller coasters but I don’t think the Euthanasia Coaster designed by artist Julijonas Urbonas is one I would ever ride – mostly because it is designed to kill its riders.

“Euthanasia Coaster” is a hypothetical euthanasia machine in the form of a roller coaster engineered to humanely – with elegance and euphoria – take the life of a human being. Riding the coaster’s track, the rider is subjected to a series of intensive motion elements that induce various unique experiences: from euphoria to thrill, and from tunnel vision to loss of consciousness, and, eventually, death. Thanks to the marriage of the advanced cross-disciplinary research in aeronautics/space medicine, mechanical engineering, material technologies and, of course, gravity, the fatal journey is made pleasing, elegant and meaningful. Celebrating the limits of the human body, this ‘kinetic sculpture’ is in fact the ultimate roller coaster

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The coaster would have a 510 meter drop and get you to 10 G’s (gravitational force) in 60 seconds. I must admit, however, it does sound like a pleasurable death. Julijonas’s website has a detailed description of the effects that riding the Euthanasia Coaster would have on your body.

Euthanasia Coaster Detail

Cause of death: Cerebral hypoxia, a lack of oxygen supply to the brain. Additional effects: Greyout – a loss of color vision; Tunnel vision – a loss of peripheral vision; Blackout – a complete loss of vision; G-LOC – g-force induced Loss Of Consciousness).

Tetrapharmakos: The Four-Part Cure

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“The four-part cure,” is the Greek philosopher Epicurus’ remedy for leading the happiest possible life.

Don’t fear god,
Don’t worry about death;
What is good is easy to get, and
What is terrible is easy to endure

The “tetrapharmakos” was originally a compound of four drugs (wax, tallow, pitch and resin); the word has been used metaphorically by Epicurus and his disciples to refer to the four remedies for healing the soul.

Buried Alive

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Over the next two days some areas of Colorado Rockies are expecting up to eight feet of snow. Avalanche danger is already high and expected to get much worse. Be careful out there folks.

Being caught in an avalanche is like being buried in cement. You can’t dig yourself out of an avalanche. When buried, you can’t even move. Even if you could move, which you can’t, you wouldn’t know which way is up. And although it may be cold being buried in the snow it is actually suffocation that kills you. Your only chance of survival is if your friends (you are with friends right?) dig you out.

The first person video below gives you an idea of what it might be like to be caught in an avalanche, and being rescued.

The scratching/ruffling back-and-forth sound you hear is his chest rising and falling and the noise that his jacket makes. You can actually hear his breathing become stressed and accelerate, even in the short amount of time he was buried. The intermittent whimpering noise you hear is him trying to swallow and get some air.

He was only buried for 4 and a half minutes which is incredibly short. I cannot stress these next sentences enough; that in and of itself to be unburied in ONLY 4:28 is miraculous if you have any understanding of being caught in an avalanche and what it takes to be found. It could literally be some kind of “world record” just on how good the guide and supporting cast of other skiers was in getting to him.

Have some fun out there but respect nature.

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…And Keep Looking Up

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Quite often during high school I would come home from a party or a late night hanging out with my friends and see my brother sitting in the living room with a glass of sun tea flipping through the channels. Often my brother would come home from an evening of partying or hanging out with his friends and find me with a coke watching Teletunes.

We would usually excitedly tell each other about our evenings. And inevitably we both sit down in the living room, late in the after-curfew hours, and tune into PBS waiting for the Star Gazer to come on (It was originally designed to air on PBS stations just before sign-off). We would listen intently to what the star hustler had to teach us during his five minute lesson on the heavens. Both of us would then mosey out to the backyard and look up into the stars and see if we could find whatever it was he was talking about that week.

We would sit there silent and feel small and special. These are some of the fondest teenage memories I have with my brother (and I have a ton of fond teenage memories with my brother). And although those memories will never die, the mortal symbol of those evenings, “The Star Hustler”, passed away today. I am genuinely saddened.

Colorful to the end, “Horky” offers this amusing, self-penned epitaph in his bio: “Keep Looking Up was my life’s admonition, I can do little else in my present position.” You can watch his last episode by clicking here.

30 Under 30 Under 6: Only The Good Die Young

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On the heels of my celebrity death list post come Buzzfeed’s “30 under 30 Celebs: Most Likely To Die Young This Summer”. The list of at-risk young stars and starlets goes down like this:

  1. Lindsay Lohan via drugs, alcohol, propensity for being involved in car crashes, child star curse.
  2. Justin Bieber via angry teenage mob
  3. Robert Pattinson via slightly older angry teenage mob
  4. Tila Tequila via all of her life choices
  5. Heidi Montag via implant explosion
  6. Nick Jonas via diabetes
  7. Kendra Wilkinson via STDs
  8. Britney Spears via sadness
  9. Levi Johnston via ATV accident
  10. Ke$ha via alcohol poisoning
  11. Ali Lohan via proximity to Lindsay Lohan
  12. Snooki via assault
  13. Frankie Muniz via race-car driving, child star curse
  14. Mischa Barton via drugs
  15. Taylor Momsen via drugs
  16. Kristin Cavalleri via drugs
  17. Jodie Sweetin via drugs (specifically meth), child star curse.
  18. The Cast Of Glee via exhaustion, teen mobs
  19. Jake Gyllenhaal via precipitous fall (of his career)
  20. Amy Winehouse via inevitability
  21. Lady Gaga via strangulation by costume
  22. Mary Kate Olsen via strangulation by clothes
  23. Jay Cutler via diabetes
  24. Anne Hathaway via nefarious boyfriend
  25. Noah Cyrus via family’s life choices
  26. Kirsten Dunst via alcohol poisoning, child star curse
  27. Dakota Fanning via vampires
  28. Jonathan Lipnicki via child star curse
  29. Michael Cera via backlash whiplash
  30. Sienna Miller via vicious girl-on-girl hate
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