New Scientist - USA (2021-12-18)

Ageing

A SUBSTANCE found in grape seed

prolongs the life of old mice by 9 per

cent by removing worn out cells.

The finding strengthens the case

for future anti-ageing therapies that

target senescent cells – those that

lose their ability to replicate and

instead churn out substances that

cause inflammation. These cells

increase in number as we get older,

and have been linked to various

age-related conditions, including

cardiovascular disease, type 2

diabetes and osteoporosis.

To find a substance that might

destroy these cells, Qixia Xu at the

University of Chinese Academy of

Sciences in Shanghai and colleagues

screened a library of chemicals.

This turned up a substance in grape

seeds called procyanidin C1 (PCC1).

At low concentrations, PCC1

seems to prevent senescent cells in

a dish from producing inflammatory

substances. At high concentrations,

the chemical killed the cells, while

leaving younger cells intact.

The team injected 171 mice that

were 2 years old – equivalent to 70

in human years – with PCC1 or a

control twice a week. On average,

PCC1 increased the lifespan of mice

by 9 per cent. The chemical also

appears to improve the fitness of

younger mice (Nature Metabolism,

doi.org/gnp9vh). Carissa Wong

Chemical in seeds of grapes

extends lifespan of older mice

P^ T

OM

LIN

S/A

LA

MY

Tiny payments keep

people exercising

A trial of incentives that

encourage people to go to

the gym has concluded that

the best approach is to pay

them. The most effective

strategy in the US study

was a points system that

awarded people 22 cents

that could be redeemed at

Amazon for every workout

(Nature, doi.org/gnqtj4).

Farmland becomes

forest in 20 years

Tropical forests can rapidly

re-establish themselves

on farmland that has been

abandoned because of low

productivity. After two

decades, these kind of sites

in Africa and the Americas

had regained 78 per cent of

the attributes of old growth

forest (Science, DOI:

10.1126/science.

abh3629).

Vast eruption seen

on a sun-like star

A huge cloud of plasma

known as a coronal mass

ejection (CME) has been

seen blasting from a young

sun-like star. The CME, the

biggest spotted on this type

of star and larger than any

seen on our sun, might help

us understand how similar

events affected our solar

system in the past (Nature

Astronomy, DOI: 10.1038/

s41550-021-01532-8).

JAM

IE^ G

RIL

L/T

ET
RA

IM
AG

ES
/AL

AM

Y

Really brief

Zoology

A STUDY of nearly all 10,000 or

so bird species has found that the

further they migrate, the paler

their feathers tend to be. This is

probably because it helps birds

flying in sunlight to keep cool,

says Kaspar Delhey at the Max

Planck Institute for Ornithology

in Seewiesen, Germany.

Delhey and his team used

photos to rate the lightness of

plumage, treating males and

females as separate species

because coloration is so often

different between the sexes. They

found short-distance migrants

were significantly lighter than

resident birds, and long-distance

migrants were significantly lighter

than short-distance migrants,

even without controlling for

factors such as body size or the

conditions where the birds live

(Current Biology, doi.org/g8sn).

One implication is that

migrating birds are going to find

it harder to stay cool as the planet

heats up. Rising temperatures may

force darker species to fly only at

night while migrating, says Delhey,

or to fly higher during the day.

“These responses will probably

entail costs, which may reduce

individual survival, with potential

negative consequences,” he says.

Michael Le Page

Paler feathers linked

to longer migrations

New Scientist Daily

Get the latest scientific discoveries in your inbox

newscientist.com/sign-up

Neuroscience

WHERE does creativity come

from? Some people, such as US

inventor Thomas Edison, have

said that inventiveness surges

during an unusual state of mind

just as we drift into sleep.

New support for this idea comes

from a study that finds people gain

insight into a maths problem if

they enter the initial stages of sleep,

then wake up. As people fall asleep,

they may spend a few minutes in

a state called hypnagogia or “N1”.

Delphine Oudiette at the

National Institute of Health and

Medical Research in Paris tested

the link between N1 sleep and

creativity by getting people to

tackle a maths problem. They were

given number sequences and had

to manipulate them by applying

two rules to reach an answer. They

weren’t told that a simple shortcut

would also give the right solution.

The team asked 103 people to

carry out the maths task and then

gave them a 20-minute break set

up so they could nod off. The 16 per

cent of participants who had

cracked the shortcut before this

stage of the study were excluded.

The researchers determined

that 24 people had at least one

30-second episode of N1 sleep and

promptly woke; another 14 passed

through N1 into deeper sleep and

the rest didn’t fall asleep at all.

After the rest, these volunteers

carried out the maths task a

second time and 83 per cent of

those who had only reached the N1

stage worked out the shortcut. The

success rates for those who stayed

awake or progressed to N2 sleep

were 31 per cent and 14 per cent

(Science Advances, doi.org/g8sr).

Clare Wilson

Falling asleep may

boost creativity

18/25 December 2021 | New Scientist | 19