Brains Work Best At Age of 39

Scientists at the University of California Los Angeles are reporting that while some people may think “life begins at 40,” all it seems to do is slow down. According to recent research, at age 39 our brain reaches its peak speed, and it’s all downhill after that.”The loss of a fatty skin that coats the nerve cells, called neurons, during middle age causes the slowdown, experts say. The coating acts as insulation, similar to the plastic covering on an electrical cable, and allows for fast bursts of signals around the body and brain. When the sheath deteriorates, signals passing along the neurons in the brain slow down. This means reaction times in the body are slower too.”

Fictional Town “Eureka” To Become Real?

The fictional town of Eureka (from the TV series by the same name) is going to potentially become a real life town as the University of Queensland, in Australia, plans to build a multibillion-dollar ‘brain city’ dedicated to science and research. The city, hoping to hold at least 10,000 people, is looking to attract 4,500 of the brightest scientists from around the world to live and work there. The city is planned to be built west of the city of Brisbane, in Queensland. While not funded by the Department of Defense (like the [city of the] TV series), the potential for such a community is very interesting and exciting.

The Greatest Scientific Hoaxes?

The New Scientist has an amusing story about the seven greatest scientific hoaxes of all time. Of course, there have been serious cases of scientific fraud, such as the stem cell researchers recently found guilty of falsifying data, and the South Korean cloning fraud, but the hoaxes selected point more to human gullibility than malevolence and include the Piltdown Man (constructed from a medieval human cranium); a ten-foot “petrified man” dug up on a small farm in Cardiff; fossils ‘found’ in Wurzburg, Germany depicting comets, moons and suns, Alan Sokal’s paper loaded with nonsensical jargon that was accepted by the journal Social Text; the claim of the Upas tree on the island of Java so poisonous that it killed everything within a 15-mile radius; and Johann Heinrich Cohausen’s claim of an elixir produced by collecting the breath of young women in bottles that produced immortality. Our favorite: BBC’s broadcast in 1957 about the spaghetti tree in Switzerland that showed a family harvesting pasta that hung from the branches of the tree. After watching the program, hundreds of people phoned in asking how they could grow their own tree but, alas, the program turned out to be an April Fools’ Day joke.

News Roundup: Sunshine May Improve Male Fertility

Male fertility may get a boost from sunshine
A smidgen of sunshine could be beneficial for men’s sperm. Australian researchers found that one-third of 794 men visiting an infertility clinic had a vitamin D deficiency. Since getting only 10–15 minutes of sunshine a day can boost vitamin D levels, 123 men tried to do just that—along with taking vitamins and living a healthier lifestyle in general. The payoff? A 75% drop in sperm fragmentation, a measure of damage. Overall, 31 men had partners who conceived after making the changes.

Warner Bros. to Make Ninja Scroll Pic

 In Feburary of this year, we reported that Warner Bros. and actor Leonardo DiCaprio had  joined forces to make a live-action feature based on the anime classicAkira. Now Daily Variety brings word that the relationship will also yield a Ninja Scroll live-action movie.  Warner Bros. has acquired rights to the anime franchise and DiCaprio’s Appian Way  shingle will co-produce the adaptation with Japanese animation studio Mad House.

 The first Ninja Scroll animated movie, written and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, was  released in Japan in 1993. The story is set in feudal Japan, where a ninja-for-hire must  battle an old nemesis who is bent on overthrowing the Japanese government. His opponent is also the leader of a group of demons who possess superhuman powers. The property is licensed by Manga Ent. in North America.

Ninja Scroll will be penned by Alex Tse, who co-wrote Zack Snyder’s upcomingWatchmen and an adaptation of the Ray Bradbury novel The Illustrated Man, which Snyder will also direct for Warner Bros. Director Michael Man is reportedly directing Tse’s take on the Don Winslow novel The Winter of Frankie Machine, with Robert De Niro attached to star in the Paramount release.

LRPD: Despite Silence, Work On Anne Pressly Case Continues

 

Although the Little Rock Police Department has not updated the press and public about the investigation of Anne Pressly's assault, that does not mean work has not gone on, according to a news release issued late Monday afternoon by the department.

Although the Little Rock Police Department has not updated the press and public about the investigation of Anne Pressly’s assault, that does not mean work has not gone on, according to a news release issued late Monday afternoon by the department.

Pressly, an anchor with local ABC affiliate KATV-TV, Channel 7, died Saturday night, nearly a week after being found unconscious and beatenin her home early last Monday.

The LRPD said it has received assistance from multiple law enforcement departments – both state and national – and remains in contact with others, according to the release.

“I recognize that the lack of daily disclosures or additional information is frustrating to the media and to members of our community,” Stuart Thomas, LRPD chief of police, said in the news release. “However, the foremost objective here is for a successful investigation leading to an arrest and conviction in this matter and the Department will conduct any releases of information with this objective solely on point.”

Thomas then asked that all complaints be directed at him.

Jennifer Hudson ID’d nephew Julian King’s body in Chicago

 

Julian King was found dead in this SUV

Police have identified the body of a young boy discovered in an SUV in Chicago as Jennifer Hudson‘s missing nephew Julian King, police Supt. Jody Weis said Monday. 

The body was discovered “in the rear seat” of a white Chevrolet Suburban on Chicago’s West Side Monday morning, according to the Chicago Police Department. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds, according to reports. 

Immediately following the news of the body’s discovery, Hudson’s family members organized a church vigil. Several family members visited the medical examiner’s office Monday afternoon. 

King, 7, went missing Friday after an unidentified assailant fatally shot Hudson’s mother Darnell and brother Jason. Over the weekend, Hudson offered $100,000for the safe return of her nephew.

When police issued an Amber Alert for Julian on Friday, they identified a 1994 white Chevrolet Suburban with Illinois license plate X584859 as connected to the case. 

The Chicago Police Department issued the following statement before noon Monday: “At approximately 7:06 A.M. a 1994 White Chevrolet Suburban bearing Illinois license plate X584859 and identified in the Amber Alert was located at 1313 S. Kolin. A body was discovered inside the Suburban, in the rear seat of the vehicle.” 

The Chicago Tribune reports that bullet casings were found in the boy’s room on Friday. 

Boy’s Stepfather Being Held

King’s stepfather, William Balfour, is being held on a parole violation after he stopped cooperating with police but has not been charged with a crime. He was taken into custody at a girlfriend’s home hours after the bodies of Hudson’s mother and brother were found. 

Sources tell the Associated Press that the girlfriend contradicted his alibi. Police were able to track his whereabouts Friday through cell phone records, sources said. 

Police Supt. Weis told reports he was “pretty optimistic” about finding the person responsible for the crimes. “[We’ve”] got two crime scenes. Oftentimes there’s lots of evidence left at a crimes scene so I’m very confident that our forensic technicians will go through both areas with a fine-toothed comb, and I suspect there will be some evidence that will link us to the killer.” 

Asked about Balfour, Weis said, “We are following any lead that we can get right now. He’s a person of interest, but that’s not to say that there’s not other individuals that may turn up. Right now we are just following the facts we have and we are following the evidence we have.” 

Police have not recovered a weapon connected to King’s death. 

Also Monday, Fox Studios issued a statement regarding the tragic weekend. “Everyone at Fox Searchlight and Twentieth Century Fox wishes to extend our deepest condolences to Jennifer and her family. Our thoughts are with them in this time of profound sadness.”

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Jennifer Hudson endured more heartbreak Monday when she identified the body of her 7-year-old nephew – found shot to death in an SUV – at the Chicago city morgue.

The Oscar-winning actress and singer, who grew up in the Windy City, journeyed to the coroner’s office, where the body of little Julian King lay on a gurney covered with a white sheet.

“Yes, that is him,” Hudson said quietly when she saw the boy’s face on a video screen, said Sean Howard, a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

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For Hudson, whose mother and brother were found slain Friday, it brought the devastating death toll in her family to three.

Still, she did not buckle under the grief: “She was just brilliant and strong,” Howard said.

“Her last words to me were, ‘Just tell the general public once again to respect my family’s privacy.'”

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Hudson said her faith in Jesus Christ “was going to get her through that,” Howard said. “Those were her words.”

As she left the facility, Hudson’s bodyguards held umbrellas to hide her anguish.

Nobody has been charged with the murders, but cops are holding William (Flex) Balfour, 27, the estranged husband of Hudson’s sister Julia, at a state prison for a parole violation.

“We’re following any lead we can get right now,” said city Police Superintendent Jody Weis.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Julian had been shot once in the head and was dressed in basketball shorts and a stained white T-shirt.

Julian vanished Friday from his home on the gritty South Side after Hudson’s mom, Darnell Donerson, 57, and brother Jason Hudson, 29, were gunned down.

Jennifer Hudson, 27, who won an Oscar for her role in “Dreamgirls,” and had remained tight with her family, immediately flew home and offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to Julian’s safe return.

The hope that he was still alive was dashed Monday morning when Julian was found on the floor of a Chevy Suburban truck that had belonged to his murdered uncle.

Balfour, Julian’s stepdad, has a long rap sheet: He has spent nearly seven years behind bars for attempted murder, vehicle hijacking and possession of a stolen vehicle.

Out on parole, he was shacked up with another woman in a violent, drug-infested neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago near where Julian was found.

“He’s like a cool little cat,” an upstairs neighbor of Balfour’s girlfriend said of the ex-con.

It was a dog walker who spotted the suspicious truck and called the cops, and it matched the one sought in an Amber Alert issued after Friday’s double murder.

As police searched weed-strewn vacant lots and alleys, neighbors said they noticed the truck Sunday.

“I’d seen it out there three or four times Monday,” one woman, who would not give her name, said. She could not explain why she didn’t call police.