Hi Reddit! I am S. Jay Olshansky and I’m a professor of epidemiology in the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health. I’m also on the board of directors of the American Federation of Aging Research; the first author of The Quest for Immortality: Science at the Frontiers of Aging (Norton, 2001); A Measured Breath of Life(2013); and co-editor of Aging: The Longevity Dividend(Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2015). I have spearheaded The Longevity Dividend Initiative – an effort to extend the period of healthy life by slowing aging. I study the upper limits of longevity and ask which populations are living longer and why, and what that means for society. Living a longer life is a monumental achievement of public health and modern medicine – it is exactly what we set out to achieve more than a hundred years ago when life was short. More people today are living to 65, 85, and 100 and beyond than ever before, but it has created a Faustian trade. In exchange for our longer lives, we now live long enough to experience heart disease, cancer, sensory impairments, and Alzheimer’s disease. The fact is that our bodies were not “designed” for long-term use . While improved lifestyles can enhance health and quality of life, the aging process marches on unaltered beneath the surface – leading to the diseases and disorders we fear most. My research focuses on investigating ways to extend the period of healthy life and compress sickness and disease as much as possible to the very end. Recently I have teamed with a group of researchers to study the ability of the diabetes drug metformin to do just that; although metformin is just one of many research pathways scientists are pursuing to slow biological aging. My research suggests that slowing down aging will be the next great public health advance in this century because it targets multiple age-related chronic diseases. Importantly, this approach to public health can save far more health care dollars than treating one disease at a time. The time has arrived to take a new approach to chronic fatal and disabling diseases. I’ll be back at 1 pm EST (10 am PST, 6 pm UTC) to answer your questions, ask me anything!

Hi Reddit! I’m Tristram Smith, Ph.D., professor of Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center. I’ve been studying and treating Autism Spectrum Disorder for several decades, and have written extensively on the effectiveness of early behavioral interventions for children with ASD. I’ve also spent time reviewing treatments for autism, many of which have not been studied extensively. (Most recently, a colleague and I published a review article that identified and catalogued a number of different treatments based on their effectiveness in peer-reviewed literature.) I also oversee a user-friendly website that provides capsule reviews on the science behind various interventions. Ask me about early intervention for ASD, myths about autism causes/treatment, or anything else! I’m signing off for now, but I’ll leave a few links for people who want to learn more! NIMH Autism Spectrum Disorder CDC Interactive Autism Network

A document by AmerChemSocietyAMA . Click on the document to view its contents.

A document by ComputerMedicine . Click on the document to view its contents.

A document by Los-Alamos-NL . Click on the document to view its contents.

A document by Nature_News . Click on the document to view its contents.

Hi Reddit! Kevin is a surface scientist with a Ph.D. in chemistry from Johns Hopkins and an expert beer homebrewer. Craig is a science writer and editor for Chemical & Engineering News with a background in inorganic chemistry who brews kombucha and hard cider. After seeing some fake helium beer videos online, Kevin and Craig got into a discussion about whether it would be possible to do it for real. Their calculations suggested it was feasible, so they gave it a shot. You can read about the results, and get the recipe, at http://cenm.ag/heliumbeer We’ll be back at 12pm ET to answer your questions! Edit - We are here to answer your questions! KW & CB Edit - We are wrapping up. Thanks for all the good questions. We might be back on later to answer more. -KW & CB

Hello reddit! I’m Shelly Jo Kraft, an Assistant Professor at Wayne State University. My research focuses on the biological and behavioral genetics of stuttering. I also work on studies that investigate neuro-anatomical and functional features of people who stutter, auditory feedback mechanisms of speech control, and new genetic analysis techniques for modeling epigenetic complexity. Clinically, I am interested in the relationship between cognition, temperament, and stuttering severity. Stuttering is a developmental speech disorder that affects 1% of the adult population, and 5-6% of the child population world-wide. To date, the genes responsible for the disorder have yet to be conclusively identified in the general population. Only a small number of studies have been conducted on the genetic susceptibility of this disorder. I am leading a new study, to discover more about the genes and biological mechanisms that increase risk of stuttering. To identify the these genes, we are working to collect as many saliva samples as possible from people around the world who stutter. I can answer any questions you might have about developmental stuttering, how we know it is genetic, and about participating in the study. If you want to participate, the first step is to read and fill out these forms about the study. Next, we will schedule a short phone call interview with me or another qualified speech and language pathologist. After that, we will mail you a saliva collection kit and a very brief questionnaire. Our understanding of the cause of stuttering will potentially provide a foundation for new treatment approaches. Please join me in this international effort! Thank you so much for your excellent questions! I really appreciated your enthusiasm for this exciting area of research, and your support for our study. I would also like to thank everyone who shared a personal anecdote of their experience as a person who stutters. I will try to come back later tonight to check in and answer any additional questions that come in. Thanks again!! https://waynestate.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_022IaHz6j23fGex .

Hi reddit! I am a very interdisciplinary researcher working with Virtual Characters and social robots. I like to model human behaviour as recognition of gestures and faces, and simulating natural reactions. My dream is to have a virtual coach that could help me in many situations (personal assistant). I also work for creating 3D virtual worlds, where we can see ancient decors and interact with ancient people. I am also interested in the medical field. I work with medical doctors and patients for simulating articulations. All my research can be seen on www.miralab.ch. For the Social robot Nadine, I was always interested in automaton. They were automatic machines that followed a sequence of predefined actions. With Nadine, the social robot, we can now create more autonomy and adaptation through the interaction. A lot of people have reacted to the fact that Nadine looks like a real person. Some of them like it, some others find it scary. For me, she looks quite natural. I would be happy to give more information or answer questions to anyone interested. I’ll be back at 6 pm EST (3 pm PST, 11 pm UTC) to answer your questions, ask me anything!

A document by PLOSScienceWednesday . Click on the document to view its contents.

A document by NASASunEarth . Click on the document to view its contents.

A document by Ocean_Explorers . Click on the document to view its contents.