Short Science, May 26, 2013

Runners tread more heavily on the earth than they may ever have imagined, according to a team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists. Synthetic running shoes typically generated 13.6kg of carbon dioxide emissions, the researchers found, an unusually high carbon footprint for a product that does not use electricity, or require sophisticated components. The researchers said it was equivalent to leaving a 100-watt light bulb burning for a week. Shoes account for a big share of the emissions produced in clothing manufacture, with more than 25 billion pairs produced every year, mostly in developing countries. More than two-thirds of the greenhouse gas emissions generated by the shoes tested by the MIT researchers came during the manufacturing process, not in sourcing the materials or in their actual use. The Guardian

Swiss researchers say they are a step closer to unlocking the mystery of ageing after discovering the impact of a longevity gene in mice and then managing to extend the life-span of worms by 60 per cent thanks to a basic antibiotic treatment. "They were not only living longer, but were also more fit," said Johan Auwerx on a video released by the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, a Swiss research institute. The findings of Auwerx's team have been published in the scientific journal Nature. AFP