Hourglas IV Blog Carnival Posted

The sixth(!) Hourglass Blog Carnival (devoted to longevity/biogerontology and related topics) is now up at Ouroboros.

Carnival originator Chris Patil has done a nice tidy job of packaging up this month's entries -- he observes that many bloggers seem to be a bit quieter right now (I've been pretty quiet myself and again was delinquent in submitting an Hourglass entry), but nonetheless, the selections posted are interesting as always.

Of particular interest to me (h/t Reason) in this month's carnival was the noting of two longevity-oriented research/funding groups I'd not heard of previously -- The Millard Foundation and Sierra Sciences.

Regardless of how productive these endeavors turn out to be, it is always nice to see longevity science efforts branching out and experimenting with different paths and formats and structures -- while I'm a longtime Methuselah Foundation volunteer, I have never presumed that the Methuselah Foundation alone ought to be the sole longevity-oriented nonprofit out there.

With something as precious as the lives and health of everyone alive today at stake, putting all the proverbial eggs into one basket would be quite unwise. We still know far too little about what causes (and what could mitigate) the various physical changes that tend to disproportionately sicken and kill elderly persons -- I say the more the merrier in looking into and funding these investigative efforts.

Also, speaking of the Methuselah Foundation -- there's been a lot of work done lately on the Foundation's website, and you can check out the newly revamped version here.