Here's a little update on the status of time travel, eternal youth and the invisibility cape.
For the first time, scientists at Yeshiva University in New York City have halted the aging process in an entire organ, in this case, a mouse liver. The ability to stave off deterioration of organs is especially relevant for neurodegenerative disorders, like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. In the longrun, though, we're aiming for more of a Holy Grail effect.
And perhaps you've read about major progress on the invisibility front? In 2006 Duke University previewed a metamaterial electromagnetic cloak that refracts microwave frequencies, which was pretty awesome, but there were still some wrinkles to iron out. Now, we're seeing some real breakthroughs in the development of metamaterials-materials that can bend light the wrong way-which is a step in the right direction, but let's not get ahead of ourselves: a researcher told Reuters, "We are not actually cloaking anything... I don't think we have to worry about invisible people walking around any time soon. To be honest, we are just at the beginning of doing anything like that." Just the beginning, fine, but no one's hiding the desire to eventually rock it like Harry Potter.
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