Boiling Point 13th February; eternal youth and space travel

 

On Tonight’s episode Alex and Kirsten sat down to talk about the power of naked mole rats and the future of space travel

Naked mole rats? The new fountain of youth

The fountain of eternal youth is harboured within the naked mole rat. An unusual place to find eternal youth. However, a naked mole rat’s risk of dying is 1 in 10,000.  According to Rochelle Buffenstein, naked mole rats defy the mathematical Gompertz law. There is no associated risk of dying as a naked mole rat ages. Suggesting, this pink skinned rodent is ageless; however, naked mole rats may not be ageless, it is suggested, their ageing process may occur later in life. Although, these rodents have the youth and immortality we strive for, with active DNA repair, high chaperones levels and, often, low to no cancer present. Naked mole rat’s youth and immortality has caused an outbreak of jealousy among human beings.

A car floating in space? Tesla, the future of space travel

A Tesla Roadster with Starman at the steering wheel launched into space on February 6th.  This is the latest development from SpaceX. Falcon Heavy, the powerful rocket delivering the car or payload into orbit via composite fairing, may change the future of tourism. Trips to Mars and the moon are the new destination for those hit by the travel bug. With 27 Merlin engines and 22,819 kilonewtons of liftoff thrust, there is understandable buzz from this powerful rocket. Falcon Heavy is travelling toward Mars at 70, 061km/hr. Buckle up, the future of space travel is looking very bright.

To find out more about tonight’s topics, listen to the podcast