Longevity
I had not paid much attention to the folks who were chasing immortality (the “upload your brain to the cloud “ crowd or the Methuselah crowd who want to extend their lifespans indefinitely2). But recent experiences of some close friends made me dive a little deeper into it (maybe more than I should).
There was an article1 in the New York Times that drew attention to the mitochondria (who knew that your high school biology lessons were going to come back to haunt you) and the thesis “The Key to Longevity May Be Found Inside Our Cells”. The extraordinary claim in this podcast that teenagers today will live well into the 22nd century got my attention. I realized that I knew very little about the body of research in this area. The speaker clarifies that while the genome (our DNA letters) doesn't change much throughout life, the epigenome does, and its degradation is linked to aging.
The good news, the speaker says, is that the epigenome can be safely reset. That is fascinating and has huge implications for regeneration and reversal of adverse effects. The Information Theory of Aging (ITA), developed by Dr. David Sinclair, posits that aging is not simply physical wear and tear or the accumulation of genetic mutations, but rather a fundamental loss of biological information due to entropy and "noise". You just have to bandy about words such as “information theory” and “entropy” to get me hooked. I encourage you to pay some attention to this field. Advances in this field will have monumental implications for society.
The epigenome is a dynamic layer of chemical modifications (such as DNA methylation and histone modification) that attach to DNA and histone proteins. It regulates gene expression—switching genes on or off—without changing the underlying DNA sequence. These, often reversible, marks are influenced by environment, diet, and stress
Leadership Blockers
I’ve recommended the Fixable podcast to friends and colleagues before. Even in retirement, I find the insights incredibly relevant—though I sometimes wish I’d had the chance to share this specific episode with my former colleagues while we were still in the thick of it.
This week featured Muriel Wilkins, who discussed the major "leadership blockers" from her work “Leadership Unblocked”—self-beliefs that often undermine even the most seasoned leaders:
I need to be involved.
I need it done now.
I know I’m right.
I can’t make a mistake.
If I can do it, so can you.
I can’t say no.
I don’t belong.
Reflecting on my own journey, the belief "If I can do it, so can you" really stands out.
We often say this in the spirit of encouraging our team members—a "if I can climb this hill, you sure can" kind of mentorship. But looking back, I realize that assuming everyone will be equally adept at specific challenges (or enjoy them) overlooks the vital diversity of experience and interests that make a team strong. None of us follow the same path, and our unique "flight plans" are what actually drive innovation. With more experience, I was a little better attuned to the reasons why such pronouncements didn’t always help. Another (not listed above) is “nobody else cares” - that one can really sap your energy. Everybody cares - probably not in the same degree that you do (they probably care more about something else that you are blind to).
I’m curious—looking back at your own career (or looking at your current role), which of Muriel’s "blockers" rings a bell for you? Did you find, like I did, that a phrase meant to be encouraging actually had a hidden downside?
Cyber - ClawJacked
"ClawJacked" is a high-severity security vulnerability identified in the OpenClaw AI agent framework that allows malicious websites to hijack locally running AI agents via WebSocket connections. This flaw enables a remote attacker to gain control over a developer's local OpenClaw instance, potentially leading to data theft and command execution.
While the flaw has been fixed, I was really sympathetic to the fate of the developer Peter Steinberger. He expresses a deep sense of frustration and emotional toll regarding the overwhelming complaints and demands from users of his free project, OpenClaw. The core of his struggle comes from the tool's sudden, massive popularity, which attracted a flood of non-technical users who expect professional-level tech support.
OpenClaw, for those who have not been following this news (formerly ClawdBot/Moltbot) is a rapidly growing open-source, autonomous AI agent designed to run locally on a user's own hardware, such as a desktop or server. It acts as a personal AI assistant, integrating with messaging apps like Discord and Slack, and has direct access to local files and system commands to perform task
1 I am aware that not everyone has access to the NYT - the core of the article highlights a paradigm shift: for years, scientists focused on mitochondrial biogenesis (making more mitochondria), but the new frontier is mitochondrial quality and architecture.
2 I have nothing against billionaires wanting to extend their lifespans. I just wish the average person’s healthcare fears were sorted out with equal urgency.