Now having reached a considerable age myself, and taking all efforts to fight its ill effects, I can attest to the fact that age in itself is nothing. It's not a disease, anyway.

What we have been thinking of as ageing in terms of decline is just the sum of individual ailments. Reduced muscular strength is an ailment. The decline of memory functions is an ailment. Decreased sexual appetite is an ailment. Age is not. We could be living 500 years or more, and at the age of 400 appear as youthful as 20-year-old specimens of the current legacy wetware. It's really all just a matter of technology, of engineering.

My children, or my grandchildren, or my offspring in the third, or forth, or fifth generation, stand a good chance of reaching that age. However, one never knows. One is never too old to give it a try to live longer. Just do everything right in engineering for yourself, on the current level of technology, the best level of youth as is possible.

A good number of recipes to that end have been known for quite some time. Apart from that, new technologies are developed every day.

Of course, the great breakthrough will be in genetic engineering. We only experience a decline when having reached a certain age (lets say, the mid-thirties) because nature has genetically programmed us to do so. It wouldn't have to be like this. We could just a well be genetically programmed to live for hundreds of years, such as some parrots and turtles, or for more than a thousand years, such as some trees and other plants.

Though, the breakthrough will be in genetic engineering, we shall not think of it, and will not experience it, as a singular victory over the aging process itself. Genetic engineering will provide a series of solutions for specific ailments. There will be a genetic engineering solution for Alzheimer's and for diabetes, a genetic engineering solution for dysmenorrhea and erectile dysfunction, a genetic engineering solution for osteoporosis and one for obesity. The future is bright. We are almost there.

Until then, we have to rely on other technologies for engineering youth: pharmacology, prevention medicine, dietetics, surgery, exercise, commonsense.

Why commonsense? A part of the decline of an individual life is the consequence of largely avoidable events. Accidents, for example.

A life span of 90 years is a realistic prognosis for anyone alive today, provided that person applies currently available technologies. We tend to think of technologies as something high-tech. While this is justified because it correspondents with common usage of the term technology, I willfully use the term technology for many a low-tech approach, just in order to save these simple techniques from being forgotten when youth engineering is discussed.

Such simple techniques include eating wisely, observing a regimen of daily exercise, not smoking and avoiding other pleasure poisons, good sleep.

All of these prescriptions go a long way, but of course they only go so far. You will need more. Cosmetic surgery, for example, to get rid of the visual signs of aging.

You will have to do something pharmacological to ensure that neurotransmitter levels and functionality will be at youthful levels. Fortunately, there is an ever increasing arsenal of pharmaceutical agents which are either dopaminergic or serotoninergic.

Not all pharmacological means of engineering youth (within limits) are new discoveries. A herbal medication (tongkat ali) that, for example, keeps testosterone levels in men at a youthful levels, has recently been rediscovered by modern science, though it has been around for thousands of years. The traditional equivalent for youthful female hormone levels, kacip fatima, is still in the research pipeline.

***

Hair transplantions

Hair transplantation involves relocating (transplanting) bald resistant hair follicles from the back and sides of the head (the donor areas) to a person’s bald or thinning areas. The transplanted hair follicles will typically grow hair for a lifetime because they are genetically resistant to going bald. In recent years hair transplantation techniques have evolved from using large plugs and mini grafts to exclusively using large numbers of small grafts that contain from between 1 to 4 hairs.

Since hair naturally grows in follicles that contain groupings of 1 to 4 hairs, today’s most advanced techniques transplant these naturally occurring 1 – 4 hair "follicular units" in their natural groupings. Thus modern hair transplantation can achieve a natural appearance by mimicking nature hair for hair. This recent hair transplant procedure is called "Follicular Unit Transplantation." Given the improved naturalness of hair transplantation surgery hair loss sufferers are increasingly selecting this hair loss treatment

At an initial consultation, the surgeon analyzes the patient's scalp, discusses his preferences and expectations, and advises him/her on the best approach (e.g.,single vs. multiple sessions) and what results might reasonably be expected.

For several days prior to surgery the patient refrains from using any medicines, or alcohol, which might result in intraoperative bleeding and resultant poor "take" of the grafts. Pre-operative antibiotics are commonly prescribed to prevent wound or graft infections.

***

Engineering happiness

Version 1.1, February 2002

Our interest is primarily in the modulation of the human mind and body, with the aim of achieving a higher level of happiness. It's about engineering happiness through pharmacological means.

We are aware of traditional drugs used to this end, but they are all inadequate. Cocaine and amphetamines produce happiness through the crude enhancement of dopaminergic brain activity, but they do a lot of long-term damage to the functions they momentarily enhance. Opiates make happy through sedation, but their effects wear off, and inactivity and dullness accompany the happiness they induce. Ecstasy surely creates a beautiful sense of harmony, but here, too, the effects wear off, and a desired state of happiness becomes harder to achieve when sober after having relied on ecstasy.

We believe that humans are inadequately predisposed to be happy, simply because a good dose of unhappiness is superior in the Darwinian fight for survival. Natural selection of the fittest sides with those who try harder, and in order to be highly success-oriented, one has to be discontent with one's status quo.

Until genetic engineering will take care of the current shortcomings of humans in their quest to be universally happy, pharmacological intervention is the only realistic alternative. But, to emphasize it again, the pharmacology of cocaine, opiates, ecstasy, amphetamines and the like is too crude to be a sensible solution.

Obviously, all humans are equipped by nature with a delicate system to experience happiness: sexuality.

It is our credo that pharmacological mediators of happiness should act to enhance sexual experience. We don't believe that desexualizing pharmacological agents, such as some antidepressants, point into the right direction.

***

Double chin surgery

A double chin is a phenomenon caused by a layer of subcutaneous fat around the neck that sags down and creates a wrinkle, making the owner appear to have a second chin. It is most common on the elderly and the obese, and is more visible when the bottom jaw is lowered.

For about $2-4,500 a cosmetic surgeon will make a small horizontal cut under the chin, then suck out the fat that has collected beneath the skin. Finally, they will make a vertical incision between the layers of the neck and jaw muscle, and sew the edges together, tightening the muscle layer. It is a relatively painless procedure, and requires two small bandages to hide. Bruising is minimal, and usually disappears within about ten days.

***

Dendrobium nobile

Abbreviated as Den in horticultural trade, is a large genus of tropical orchids that consists of about 1200 species. The genus occurs in diverse habitats throughout much of south, east and southeast Asia, including the Philippines, Borneo, Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand. The name is from the Greek dendron (meaning tree) and bios (meaning life).

The species are either epiphytic, growing on a tree, or occasionally lithophytic, growing over a rock. They have adapted to a wide variety of habitats, from the high altitudes in the Himalayan mountains to lowland tropical forests and even to the dry climate of the Australian desert.

The orchids in this genus often develop pseudobulbs, which unite into a long reedlike stem with a typical length of more than 30 cm. Some appear densely covered with short white hairs. The short, ovate leaves grow alternately over the whole length of the stems. The axillary flower buds develop into short flower stalks with one or two terminal flowers. The orchids grow quickly throughout summer, but take a long rest during winter. In the spring, new shoots are formed from the base of the main plant and the dormant buds come back into action. The blooming flowers are found on pseudobulbs formed in the previous year.

Some species are in great demand by orchid lovers. This has resulted in numerous varieties and hybrids, such as the Dendrobium nobile varieties, which have greatly extended the range of colors of the original flower from the Himalayas.

Kimilsungia, one of the national flowers of North Korea, is the cultivar Dendrobium 'Kim il Sung'.