Free Republic

Researchers have reported that supplementing a diet with the sea organisms Ascidiacea, also known as sea squirts, reverses some of the main signs of aging in an animal model. These sea organisms contain substances called plasmalogens, which are vital to our body processes. Plasmalogens are found all over our bodies naturally, particularly in the heart, brain and immune cells, but as we get older, the amount in our body decreases. This loss is also a characteristic of several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The researchers studied the effects of adding plasmalogens to the diet of aged mice....

Ben Laurie, 21, encountered the bizarre creature while diving near Cape Brett on New Zealand's North Island. ..." Ben, who has years of experience in the water and is an ambassador for the WildBlue dive shop, said he had seen nothing like it. He added: "I didn't know what it was at the time, so it was quite a confusing thing. "We get these little like plankton build-ups – they're like small stringy things but they're only like 20 cm. (7.8 inches) long – so I thought it was just a large one of them. "But one of the guys...