In the last twenty years or so, research has emerged that supports the idea that boosting levels of NAD+ (the oxidized form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) in animals (including mammals) can slow or even reverse many aspects of biological aging, either by activating sirtuins (proteins that regulate key biological pathways), by facilitating cell-to-cell and intracellular communication, and/or by other means. NAD+ levels can be boosted by orally supplementing with NAD+ precursors, including nicotinamide riboside (patented and marketed as Niagen, abbreviated as NR), and nicotinamide mononucleotide (abbreviated as NMN). To a much lesser extent, NAD+ can be increased by supplementing with plain old niacinamide/nicotinamide (NAM), and niacin/nicotinic acid (NA).
Enjoyed watching this YouTube review of The Sky Woman. Warning — some spoilers!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0GtvVlKtkQ&feature=youtu.be
You can purchase The Sky Woman on amazon, Audible, or (ideally) request from your local bookstore (distribution is Baker & Taylor).
If you’ve already read the book, I’d be in your debt if you took a minute to leave a brief (or long, if you want) review on amazon, Goodreads, or even YouTube.
Is my name big and gold enough?
So, today The Sky Woman is officially released. Hooray! It’s been a long wait. Many thanks are due to everyone who helped make this book happen: my wife Kia, my daughter, my parents (especially my mom who did a careful read of an early draft), my other friends who read various versions (Jason W. and Jason K. — looking at you guys), my friends who have encouraged me unconditionally along the way (especially my music brothers Spesh and Mark), and many readers of this blog who have cheered me on. And also editor Don D’Auria, and all the folks at Flame Tree Press who worked hard to get the book out today (in multiple formats, all beautifully done). I deeply appreciate all of you.
The Amazon from space (from PBS: NOVA)
One reason I wrote The Sky Woman (Flame Tree Press — September 6th) was to explore a scenario that I think is fairly likely: human population goes way down (mostly by choice — people choosing to have fewer children) and at the same time human beings do not manage to exert meaningful control or intentional influence on climate change.
The Sky Woman takes place in the 28th century, on an Earth where sharply reduced carbon emissions (due to massive depopulation and the collapse of global industry) have triggered a premature end to the Holocene interglacial. Ice sheets have advanced, taking out Northern Europe and other far-north and far-south latitudes.
Recently a family member asked me for some tips for improving short-term memory. I ended up doing a deeper-than-usual dive into the topic. Some of my findings confirmed what I already knew or suspected, but others caught me by surprise. You know those giant canisters of powder with a picture of a bulging venous bicep on the label? Well, more on that later …