Cognitive Labs

Harvard study points out drive-by nature of Twitter usage. The median number of user twitter postings is one. 10% of users account for 90% of activity. So, for power users, it's perhaps more analagous to accumulating a large email list or generating a large number of RSS feed subscriptions....it follows then that those who do not generate large followings like celebrity-publicist driven efforts will have a dis-incentive to use the service over time. It depends on how the product evolves. However, It has surged in the consciousness as a new kind of sub-second communications tool. The idea of a short, attention-deficit safe broadcast to phones + computers was brilliant, though there may not be voluminous barriers to switching at some point in the future.

Labels: bbc, harvard, twitter

Q: Longevity is optimized in three distinct communitites on earth.

(1) Okinawa
(2) Ovodda, Sardinia
(3) Loma Linda, CA

Why?

Each boasts a higher percentage of centenarians than anywhere else on earth. Scientists speculate that this is due to both genetic and lifestyle factors. For example, Okinawans practice a form of caloric restriction, consuming only 1,200 calories per day which may fool the body into not releasing hormones associated with excessive cellular tissue growth, inflammation, cellular breakdown, and malignancy. Their "real age" so to speak is lower than their calendar age due to these factors.

In Ovodda, nearly everyone is related since individuals are all descended from the original emmigrants to the island, encapsulating positive as well as potentially harmful genetic code variants.

In Loma Linda, a significant percentage of the population belongs to the 7th Day Adventist organization and it is surmised that faith and ability to manage and weather responses to life's stresses - coupled with a vegan diet in many cases are also associated with longer than normal life.

Labels: bbc, lomalinda, longevity, okinawa, ovodda