Thursday 10-01-15

Russian scientist says he is stronger and healthier after injecting himself with 'eternal life' bacteria

Anatoli Brouchkov has willingly become a human guinea pig for the 3.5 million-year-old bacteria

If injecting yourself with 3.5 million-year-old bacteria could keep you looking and feeling youthful and healthy without having to fork out for a gym membership, would you do it?

Russian scientist Anatoli Brouchkov, head of the Geocryology Department at Moscow State University, is looking for the key to eternal youth.

He has therefore become a human guinea pig for some bacteria that could perhaps hold the key to longevity.

"We have to work out how this bacteria prevents ageing. I think that is the way this science should develop. What is keeping that mechanism alive? And how can we use it for our own benefits?"

Anatoli Brouchkov   

The bacteria,named Bacillus F, is amazing because it has remained alive in the permafrost for millions of years.
Scientists have tested it on mice and human blood cells, but this wasn't enough for Mr. Brouchkov, who decided to inject himself with it.
"I started to work longer, I've never had a flu for the last two years," he said. "After successful experiments on mice and fruit flies, I thought it would be interesting to try the inactivated bacterial culture," he told The Siberian Times.
He didn't think there would be a danger, as the bacteria is actually in trace amounts in the water of the region.
The scientist said: "'Besides, the permafrost is thawing, and I guess these bacteria get into the environment, into the water, so the local population, the Yakut people, in fact, for a long time are getting these cells with water, and even seem to live longer than some other nations. So there was no danger for me."

It's not a proper science experiment, but Anatoli Brouchkov says that the bacteria seems to have had a positive effect on him.
He said: "'It wasn't quite a scientific experiment, so I cannot professionally describe the effects. But it was quite clear for me that I did not catch flu for two years. Perhaps there were some side-effects, but there should be some special medical equipment to spot them. Of course, such experiments need to be conducted in clinic, with the special equipment and statistics. Then we could say clearly about all the effects."
People are definitely interested in looking for the key to eternal health and youth - just look at how many buy superfoods and do weird things like have their own blood injected into their faces.
If the bacteria does, in fact, work and scientists are able to enhance its power, it could make someone very rich.
Mr. Brouchkov said that they are still experimenting on the bacteria. He elaborated: "We have to work out how this bacteria prevents ageing. I think that is the way this science should develop. What is keeping that mechanism alive? And how can we use it for our own benefits?"
The bacteria may also hold the key to fertility - it allows older female mice to reproduce after they've stopped being able to, and heals plants.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/11901105/Russian-scientist-says-he-is-stronger-and-healthier-after-injecting-himself-with-eternal-life-bacteria.html

 

U.S. facing ‘triple threat’ from foreign fighters

 

WASHINGTON — The world is “witnessing the largest global convergence of jihadists in history” and “gaping security weaknesses overseas — especially in Europe — are putting the U.S. homeland in danger,” according to a new congressional report.
“Foreign fighters pose a triple threat,” said the report from the Bipartisan House Homeland Security Committee Task Force on Combatting Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel. “They strengthen terrorist groups, incite others back home to conduct attacks, and can return themselves to launch acts of terror.”
The task force was commissioned in March to examine the threat from individuals who leave home to join jihadist groups overseas, especially in Syria and Iraq.
Among the key findings was evidence that nearly 30,000 people from 100-plus countries have traveled to the conflict zone in Syria and Iraq since 2011, including more than 4,500 Westerners and more than 250 Americans who have joined or attempted to join jihadist groups.

The report said the U.S. is “losing the struggle to stop Americans from traveling overseas to join jihadists, despite concerted efforts to stem the flow.
Of the hundreds of Americans who have sought to travel to the battlefield in Syria and Iraq, authorities have failed to interdict the majority of them. Several dozen have also managed to make it back into America.”
“I think we’re facing the highest threat environment since 9/11 and that is based on the briefings that I get — including the classified briefings I get,” said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
“The alarming threat of extremist ideology possibly influencing foreign fighters is very apparent in today’s world,” said Ranking Member Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi. “The task force has found that, although there are serious government efforts to address the radicalization of foreign fighters, there is much more we can do in terms of sharing information with our international partners, assisting law enforcement, and bolstering community awareness.”
“Jihadists are armed with combat experience and extremist connections and many are only a plane-flight away from our shores,” the task force said. “Even if they do not return home to plot attacks, foreign fighters have taken the lead in recruiting a new generation of terrorists and are seeking to radicalize Westerners online to spread terror back home.”
Twitter, Facebook, and other leading social networking applications have emerged as leading recruitment tools.
“This new evolving threat that we’ve seen since 9/11 of their ability to use social media to their advantage is very difficult to stop,” McCaul said.
When an Obama administration official was asked about the reports’ strong suggestion that it has not done enough to mitigate the foreign fighter threat, WTOP was referred to a fact sheet distributed prior to the Counter-ISIL/CVE Leader’s Summit Tuesday in New York.
In a White House communique distributed later in the day, the administration said leaders from more than 100 countries, 20 multilateral bodies and 120 civil society and private sector organizations met in New York City to review progress in countering ISIL, addressing the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters.
To counter perceived criticism by the Task Force Report, the Obama administration released a list of items the participants at the summit expressed progress on.

• New, inclusive national Countering Violent Extremist (CVE) strategies and programs that place increasing emphasis on the role of local communities;

• New initiatives involving women, youth, scholars, and clerics discrediting – both online and offline – hateful ideologies and build community resilience against violent extremism;

• Business leaders investing in community-based solutions;

• Mayors and municipal leaders developing engagement programs that lift up and support ethnic and religious minority communities;

• Additional funding and other support for practical multilateral CVE efforts, including those of the UN, the Global Counterterrorism Forum, Hedayah, and the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund;

• The United Nations and other multilateral bodies intensifying their own CVE efforts, including by developing action plans, programs, and initiatives that will help sustain the global CVE movement.

Experts say despite global efforts to degrade and destroy ISIL, the organization continues to attract supporters, by evolving technologically and strategically. The group has been characterized as a far cry from the slow moving, narrowly focused organization that its pre-9/11 predecessor Al Qaida was.
The threat today from terrorists and the foreign fighters is “a clear and present danger”, said Task Force member Rep. William B. Hurd, R-Texas.
“I spent over nine years as an undercover officer in the CIA,” Hurd said. “I was the guy in the back alleys chasing al-Qaida and the Taliban and having seen enemies like that up close and personal and seeing what ISIS has evolved into is scary.”

 

http://wtop.com/national-security/2015/09/u-s-facing-triple-threat-from-foreign-fighters/