What is aging: Definition and 90 Discussions

Ageing or aging is the process of becoming older. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi, whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologically immortal. In a broader sense, ageing can refer to single cells within an organism which have ceased dividing, or to the population of a species.In humans, ageing represents the accumulation of changes in a human being over time and can encompass physical, psychological, and social changes. Reaction time, for example, may slow with age, while memories and general knowledge typically increase. Ageing increases the risk of human diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke and many more. Of the roughly 150,000 people who die each day across the globe, about two-thirds die from age-related causes.
Current ageing theories are assigned to the damage concept, whereby the accumulation of damage (such as DNA oxidation) may cause biological systems to fail, or to the programmed ageing concept, whereby the internal processes (epigenetic maintenance such as DNA methylation) inherently may cause ageing. Programmed ageing should not be confused with programmed cell death (apoptosis).
Obesity has been proposed to accelerate ageing, whereas dietary calorie restriction in non-primate animals slows ageing while maintaining good health and body functions. In primates (including humans), such life-extending effects remain uncertain.

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  1. cianfa72

    I Time dilation vs Differential aging vs Redshift

    Hi, I would like to ask for a clarification about the terms time dilation vs differential aging vs gravitational redshit. As far as I can tell, time dilation is nothing but the rate of change of an object's proper time ##\tau## w.r.t. the coordinate time ##t## of a given coordinate chart (aka...
  2. Galen

    I'm a genomic student in pursuit of the fountain of youth!

    My studies are motivated by the dream of eternal youth, and all the implications of eternal youth for society at large. Currently, my studies primarily revolve around the topics of telomere maintenance, and cellular senescence. My current theory for the attainment of eternal youth involves the...
  3. T

    I Pickleball Physics -- Player reaction time vs aging

    Out of curiosity, how fast are the hands of the pros? I have timed an exchange between BJ/ALW and JD/JI that occurred at the Baird PPA in September 2022. The ball made the (about) 14 foot trip 11 times over 4.0 seconds, for an average trip time of 363mS (milliseconds). (Average speed of 26.3...
  4. LauriRauhala

    Understanding Aluminum Alloy Aging at High Stress and Elevated Temperatures

    Hello, I am designing a centrifugal heat pump, which compresses air. I'm considering making the impeller from aluminum, probably from 7075, since the stresses rise to about 385 MPa when rotating at high speeds. The input temperature of the air is 85 degrees Celcius and output 125 degrees...
  5. I

    I Time Dilation & Aging: Why Do Astronauts Age More Slowly in Space?

    I can't seem to get my head around this. It's my understanding that time moves slower in the heavy gravitation than it does in space. So why to I read that astronauts age move slowly in space, where time moves faster, than the would on earth? I would think if time is moving faster, they would...
  6. PeterDonis

    I Does Special and General Relativity Affect Aging of Apollo Astronauts?

    I recently read Michael Collins' excellent book Carrying the Fire in which, among other things, he describes the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon and back. After the astronauts returned and were quarantined inside an isolation facility, they spoke to President Nixon, and Collins remarks in...
  7. T

    Medical Fecal Swapping between Young & Aging mice Swaps Aging Markers

    Popular (short) version: https://neurosciencenews.com/fecal-transplants-aging-20522/ Research Report: https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-022-01243-wNow if I could only find a much younger doppleganger... Cheers, Tom
  8. jim mcnamara

    Aging: mitochondrial damage and aging

    A precis of medical research about aging and aging reversal in mice: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/supplement-slows-aging-process-in-mice-and-possibly-humans#Understanding-the-importance-of-mitochondria [Mitochondria background] Mitochondria are organelles in cells. There is a lot...
  9. T

    What is the role of immune function in age-related cognitive decline?

    Seems to be partially a reversible auto-immune situation. So far it is in mice and in-vitro for Humans; no Human-use-approved compounds exist. :cry: https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2021/01/study-reveals-immune-driver-of-brain-aging.html
  10. R

    How Does Space Travel Affect Natural Aging?

    Changes in the body that come from space travel resemble growing older, providing opportunities to perform aging studies on astronauts. https://www.nmn.com/news/how-does-space-travel-affect-natural-aging Any validity to this?
  11. richengle

    I Does time dilation cause different aging rates for people?

    if you could leave the planet, and wait a year in space... would you age much much faster than a person on Earth because the Earth was moving relative to you and you are out of Earth's gravity field [like a higher up clock]?
  12. B

    B Gravitational Effects on Aging

    Summary: Gravity and ageing Hi I am new here, please may I ask, A celestial object creates gravitational pull, as the universe is expanding and accelerating, the spaces between objects unaffected by gravity, are they subject to ageing. A craft on a course towards an area would occupy those...
  13. T

    Slowing down the aging process: facts and latest research?

    Hi there, I would like to know all the ways or what I can do that actually works when it comes to slowing down or stopping the aging process for human males in both the brain and the body. I am one of those people that want to stay as youthfull as possible and to live as long as I can so...
  14. Muhammad Usman

    How is the Aging of Electronic Equipment determined?

    I am working in telecom company and they told me that they installed new system and then they told me the equipment will be EOS (End of Service) after 5 years. I was wondering that how the electronics equipment's age is calculated. If I strictly categorize my questions and explain the confusion...
  15. ngrunenberg

    Unraveling the Mystery: The Science Behind Caloric Restriction and Aging

    Good Evening, I have a question regarding, what seems to be the only proven way to extend life-span, caloric restriction. There seem to be new studies coming out every other month showing that caloric restriction is very positively correlated with an increase in lifespan, as well as a decrease...
  16. jim mcnamara

    Medical Aging, exercise, and immunosenscence

    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acel.12750/full The effect of lifelong exercise decreases the immune system's degradation with age. Lifelong cyclists were compared to more sedentary age-matched counterparts. Several markers for immune system activity level were found to be higher...
  17. mark!

    The average Asian aging process

    You might have seen this cartoon on the web. Is this just for laughs, or is there actually some truth to it? After a bit of research I've found out that Asian women, particularly Japanese and Chinese, indeed tend to reach menopause at a later age. Moreover, western women show more...
  18. T

    Question about athletic performance and aging

    Are there any scientific evidence suggesting that athletes decline in athletic performance/abilities after reaching their late 30s? Such as in terms of speed, agility, reflexes, hand eye coordination, stamina and etc. If yes, what are they?
  19. A

    A Question About Time Travel & Aging

    Let's assume time travel is possible and we are travelling. We jumped to a TARDIS sort of machine in August 26, 2017 and go to August 26, 2000 then lived there for 4 years until August 26, 2004. So when we come back to August 26, 2017 would we be 4 years older or be the same age we were before...
  20. A

    B Does Time Travel Affect Aging?

    Let's assume time travel is possible and we are travelling. We jumped to a TARDIS sort of machine in August 26, 2017 and go to August 26, 2000 then lived there for 4 years until August 26, 2004. So when we come back to August 26, 2017 would we be 4 years older or be the same age we were before...
  21. BillTre

    Hypothalamic Stem Cells and Aging: The Role of Exosomes in Maintaining Vitality

    The hypothalamus is at the base (bottom) of the forebrain and is involved in hormones and regulation of body metabolism. The study described here proposes that the loss of hypothalamic stem cells is involved in loss of abilities in old age, perhaps through the loss of the microRNAs they spew...
  22. S

    EMA: Measuring Material Aging with Experimental Modal Analysis

    We are looking into Experimental Modal Analysis in one of my classes at university. The goal is to measure the Frequency Response Function and from it determine the mass and stiffness modal matrices. But my question is the following: My professor is leading lectures with his measurements that...
  23. T

    What are the Signs of Diode Degradation and Aging?

    Hi, Does anyone know if there are such characteristics that are tell tale signs of diode degradation? I'm not sure if diodes fail short or open, I'd have thought open, but I'm not sure. I was wondering if as a diode gets old the forward bias voltage might increase? Or the diode power loss per...
  24. E

    I Time Dilation & Differential Aging: Defined

    I’ve been told that “differential aging” and “time dilation” are two different things. I had thought that one was the integral of the other. Can anyone give a PRECISE (mathematical!) definition of each, what the distinctions are between them? Thanks. (How the heck am I supposed to know what...
  25. F

    The Impact of Age on Sperm, Egg, and the Development of a Zygote

    So, if the male is age 30 and the female is age 28 with the sperm and egg, why isn't their baby starts at age 29? That means the DNA damage theory shouldn't happen, each male and female would give half of their chromosomes (23) created through meiosis and fuse them to form a zygote beginning at...
  26. wolram

    Medical Re-energizing the aging brain

    https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160316194205.htm Supplementation with the molecule pyruvate increases the energy reserves in the brain of aging mice, and makes them more energetic and keener to explore their surroundings. Should this be trialed on humans?
  27. R

    Reverse Cancer, Prevent aging and Take control

    Hey all, It's been quite a while since I've been on here, I'm an IT Technician and recently lost a student to brain cancer at the age of 11 so i thought I'd brainstorm until i worked out a possible and feasible way to beat cancer, this might be sci-fi or false information as I'm not entirely...
  28. novaprime

    Would a different number of hours affect aging?

    If you where in an alternative environment would a different number of hours affect aging, compared to someone in the regular world. At first though you'd think likely yes, but then consider that the body has a rythm. This isn't exactly a entirely theoretical question, I know submarines...
  29. F

    Immortality: Stop DNA Aging or Swapping Consciousness?

    I know there are similar threads regarding the topics above, but which method do you think is more achievable within the next decade? With the current ways of supercomputer and computing in decoding DNA as well as brain mapping, it might be a possible reality in the future.
  30. praveena

    Traveling to space aging more slowly is true?

    Hai pf, yesterday i asked a question to my friend that "I had heared that people who were traveling to space may have a slight age difference is it true? assume if i and my friend are of age 30. i got a chance to travel to space. and i was returning to Earth after 5 years. then my friend who...
  31. Silicon Waffle

    What to do to Improve cardio-respiratory system after aging

    The older I get the worse my cardio-respiratory system becomes. I don't want to take too much exercise everyday (I am both lazy and a little "fat", my leg bones I think are no longer as good as they used to; I feel the pain even after running in a short distance; I breathe heavily after that...
  32. T

    Exploring Time Dilation: Understanding Aging in Space and the Effects of Speed

    Hi all, First post here. I have been debating with a colleague today about time dialation. I am certain that an astornaut in space will experience more time or age faster than people on Earth due to time dilation of a massive object. He is saying that he will come back younger. Whos right...
  33. C

    Aging when travelling near the speed of light

    Hi! If you started a 50 light-year journey at the age of 20, traveling at 99.9% of the speed of light, would you look like 70+ years old when you arrived at the destiantion? How much would you have aged? And how would you experience the time on the spaceship? Would it feel like 50 slow years...
  34. DaveC426913

    Aging Microwave Oven: Power Draw Impact?

    Can an aging microwave oven reaching the end of it life result in a change in its power draw? I've had this microwave for many years, and I know they do wear out, but it has begun blowing a breaker when used. I can't think of any changes to our electrical draw in the house that might affect it...
  35. O

    Can Microorganisms Help Us Understand Aging Rates on Other Planets?

    To keep track let's take a trip to 'Imagination Land' (no not the south park version!). Now imagine that the 8 planets and pluto in the solar system are places where humans can live, would the age rate differ from planet to planet? Now let's get back to reality. We may be able to send humans to...
  36. S

    Aging Fastest: Does Moving Counter Universe Movement?

    Einsteins special theory of relativity states that time passes differently for different observers. Basically the faster you travel the slower you aged. So I assumed this means to aged the fastest, you don't move. We also know Earth is moving around the sun. The solar system is moving upward...
  37. D

    Young Blood helps treat symptoms of aging

    Saw this article posted on facebook, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/swapping-young-blood-for-old-reverses-aging/ and one of the papers they refer to, http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nm.3569.html What do people think about this? I thought the affects of...
  38. R

    About extremal aging and SR proper time

    Hi, I know there are already other posts about extremal aging, but all of them are actually closed and none of them is actually answering to my doubt. I've just started T&W "exploring black holes", and I just faced the "extremal aging" principle. Actually, this concept doesn't fit very well...
  39. G

    The aging effect with regard to high speed travel

    Hi Suppose an astronaut is accelerated to the speed of light (OK to one part in a million less than the actual speed of light ) and makes a journey to the event horizon of a black hole that is ,at the outset of the journey and hopefully also when he reaches it) 100 light year distant...
  40. P

    Moving faster than light cannot stop biological aging Or can?

    Hi everyone, before I post I apologize for my bad English! I am not a physicist but I am interested in this stuff (I've read relativity theory and...) But I have a question regarding time traveling Imagine that it is true that we can travel at speed of light...So here is the famous example...
  41. C

    Exploring the Twin Paradox: Acceleration & Aging

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_paradox I read a little bit about this, and am a little bit confused. I always learned about reference frames. When I jump, you can say that I am moving away from the earth, or the Earth is moving away from me. Why is this any different for near-light travel...
  42. Artlav

    Solar panel aging and other weird behaviour

    Given: a ~3W monocrystalline solar panel, originally from a panel+battery+light pack from early 90s, spent a decade in a box, then a decade on the roof under the sun and elements, unconnected to anything. I wanted to finally put it to some use. The circuit is straightforward - the panel...
  43. S

    UV and harmful gases formation at aging test chamber

    Hello! At work we have an UV aging test chamber that produces around 140 W.m^-2 UVA 15 W.m^-2 UVB and less then 1 W.m^-2 of UVC. The chamber is big, we have to go in and out to collect the items. Is it possible to have ozone formation or other harmful gases inside the chamber?
  44. V

    Any in depth explanations on why near lightspeed affect aging?

    The time dilation effect on a lightclock moving horizontically is very easy to understand. But how does the speed affect our biological processes? "Because time slows down!" you might say. But specifically, what does make say the cells move slower? If they are moving in the same direction of a...
  45. W

    Does the spinning of a wheel affect its aging compared to its surroundings?

    One of the classical consequences of relativity is that if someone travels far away from Earth and comes back, he would have aged less than people here (acceleration and thus changing frames of reference being the reason.) So, why wouldn't this work also for shorter distances? If someone runs...
  46. A

    Time Dilation vs Differential Aging

    This topic is to clarify about related but possibly different terminologies. Based on a number of posts in the forum, including some in response to my posts, I am getting the feeling that there is a difference between the terminologies time dilation and differential aging, as stated below...
  47. S

    Medical Question about Aubrey de Grey's Ending Aging theory.

    Question about Aubrey de Grey's "Ending Aging" theory. So he wants to increase the life expectancy of people, but I think there is no way this medicine will be available to everyone because increased population will have so much negative impact on the environment, economics, and many other...
  48. S

    Medical Causes of aging in human beings

    what are the various causes of aging?
  49. A

    What is the difference between digestion and aging of a precipitate?

    Is digestion related to heating and aging related to allowing the precipitate to sit?
  50. D

    Principle of extremal aging

    i posted this in general forum. That might be wrong. So moderators, delete that not this. Q. why/how extremum time lapse between two events recorded on object's wristwatch gives the path of a free object. And any examples of minimum aging.
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