Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Yoda - The World's Oldest Mouse Update
Update: Apr-23-2004 Yoda, the world's oldest mouse, died Thursday, April 22nd in his cage at the University of Michigan. He was four years and 12 days old.
Yoda was born on April 10, 2000 at the UM Medical School. Not the best place for a mouse to attain longevity - but Yoda was born into Richard A. Miller's lab in the Geriatrics Center of the University of Michigan.
(From World's Oldest Mouse Reaches Milestone Birthday)
Yoda (shown here sniffing his cagemate) doubled the average life expectancy of a mouse. This was accomplished without a calorie-restricted diet, which has been shown to extend lifespan in mice and other small mammals.
Yoda's longevity was mostly due to careful breeding; Miller has developed strains of mice that stay smaller and age more slowly. These mice provide important clues about how genes and hormones affect the rate of human aging and risk of disease.
At the time of his death, Yoda was living quietly with his cage mate, Princess Leia, in their pathogen-free rest home for geriatric mice. He appeared to be in good health; the cause of death is not known. Princess Leia could not be reached for comment.
Science fiction is replete with technologies and drugs to extend human life; see young-forever, an anti-geriatric drug with fascinating social consequences from Larry Niven's 1976 novel A World Out of Time.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 4/23/2004)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 17 )
Related News Stories - (" Biology ")
Biological War: A Scenario
'And now they wre busily transforming all their companions, and so on, and so on...' - Greg Bear, 1984.
What'll You Have? Extinct Animals Returned, Or Synthetic Eggshells?
'...a new plastic with the characteristics of an avian eggshell.' - Michael Crichton, 1990.
Black Fungus Blocks Radiation
'You were surrounded by Astrophage most of the time' - Andy Weir, 2021.
Lunar Biorepository Proposed For Cryo-Preservation Of Earth Species
'...there was no one alive who had ever seen them. But they existed in the Life Bank.' - John Varley, 1977.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Warfare Goes Underground In Ukraine
'Once in the very first weeks of the war, before everyone had been evacuated from the surface...'
3D Printed Organs From Space
'For a while your colonists will have to come up to the [orbital] Hospital...'
Robot Bees 3D Printed By Festo
'At first I was struck by the large size of these bees..'
DIY Robot Scorpion Crushes It
'...it raised its front end off the ground and waved its antennae at them, then raised one armoured claw as if to snip them out of the sky.'
How To Settle An Argument Between Two Robots
'Henry... assumed the curious absent look of a robot talking on the TBR circuits.'
The Wind Phone Calls Those Who Have Passed On
'Only I heard that!'
Don't Want To Wear A TIght Shiny Bodysuit?
'He looked a good bit like an elderly, fat beetle.'
Light Society: Simulates Earth-Scale Society With A Billion AI Agents
'The king, an old hand in the running of tyrannies, instantly grasped the directions...'
Satyress Centaur Robot Horror Reminds Everyone Of Something
'Fess was very dutiful'
When Colds Threaten You Can't Do This - Or Can You?
'...a hemispherical force field enclosing his head.'
Beautiful Visualization of Dawn Spacecraft
'Then he became aware of a gentle pressure pushing him away from the ship.'
Biological War: A Scenario
'And now they wre busily transforming all their companions, and so on, and so on...'
Pole-Dancing Stripperbot Robot
'Why, a clockwork dancer, or, better still, one that would go by electricity and never run down...'
Collective Superintelligence Is At Hand!
'Maybe the individual intelligence of each Cubic pools into a group intelligence...'
Instant Journalists: Ordinary People With Cell Phones
'We'll show them whose planet this is!'
Health Kiosk Has No Human Doctor
'The electronic body analyzer had been developed...'
