Forget hours of practice: We could soon learn a new language or instrument simply by taking a pill

• Learning language or music as a child is much easier than it is as an adult 
• This is because as adults our brains produce more of a certain chemical
• By blocking this chemical in mice researchers prolonged their ability to learn
• They say a drug could one day be developed that achieves the same in humans

Learning language or music is a piece of cake for children, but as we get older our ability to master these skills quickly slumps.

This could all change in the near future, as scientists have pinpointed the brain chemical that slows this type of learning down.

Researchers found that restricting a key messenger in the brain of mice helps to prolong their capacity to learn through sound to much later in life.

The team says that if a human drug is developed to block this chemical, adults could one day regain the ability to rapidly master a new language or instrument.

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Scientists have pinpointed the brain chemical that slows down our ability to learn via sound as we age. Pictured are images of neuronal in the auditory cortex of awake mice listening to tones being played. Each flash of light signals a neuron firing

KEY TO LEARNING NEW SKILLS

A 2014 study found that your success at playing a musical instrument could be down to a fatty substance in your brain.

Scientists discovered that an electrically insulating substance known as myelin is essential to learning new skills.

They claimed that when a skill, such as playing the piano, is learned later in life, myelin must be made in order to retain the skill.

However, the researchers at University College London claimed that once a new skill has been learnt, it is retained even after myelin production stops.

They found myelin was produced by the brain and spinal cord into early adulthood as it is needed for many developmental processes.Researchers at St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, restricted the brain chemical adenosine in a brain region called the auditory thalamus in adult mice.

They found that this preserved the ability of the mice to learn from sound much as young children learn from the soundscape of their world.

Adenosine is likely found in higher levels in the brain in adults than children because its production is boosted as the brain develops.

'By disrupting adenosine signaling in the auditory thalamus, we have extended the window for auditory learning for the longest period yet reported, well into adulthood and far beyond the usual critical period in mice,' said co-author Dr Stanislav Zakharenko, a member of the St Jude Department of Developmental Neurobiology. 

'These results offer a promising strategy to extend the same window in humans to acquire language or musical ability by restoring plasticity in critical regions of the brain, possibly by developing drugs that selectively block adenosine activity.' 

Much as young children pick up language simply by hearing it spoken, the researchers showed that when brain adenosine levels were reduced, adult mice that were played a tone responded to the same sound stronger when it was played weeks or months later.

These adult mice also gained an ability to distinguish between very close tones - mice usually lack this 'perfect pitch' ability.

Researchers also showed that the experimental mice retained the improved tone discrimination for weeks.

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 Researchers found that restricting a key messenger in the brain of mice helps to prolong their capacity to learn through sound. They say that if a drug is developed to block this chemical, humans could one day regain the ability to learn music and languages with ease (stock image)

'Taken together, the results demonstrated that the window for effective auditory learning re-opened in the mice and that they retained the information,' Dr Zakharenko said.

Among the strategies researchers used to inhibit adenosine activity was the experimental compound FR194921, which selectively blocks the A1 receptor.

If paired with sound exposure, the compound rejuvenated auditory learning in adult mice.

'That suggests it might be possible to extend the window in humans by targeting the A1 receptor for drug development,' Dr Zakharenko said.

The study is not the first piece of research to study how the brain learns music.

A 2014 study found that your success at playing a musical instrument could be down to a fatty substance in your brain.

Scientists discovered that an electrically insulating substance known as myelin is essential to learning new skills.

They claimed that when a skill, such as playing the piano, is learned later in life, myelin must be made in order to retain the skill.

However, researchers at University College London claimed that once a new skill has been learnt, it is retained even after myelin production stops.

They found myelin was produced by the brain and spinal cord into early adulthood as it is needed for many developmental processes.

A surprise asteroid strike that could wipe out humanity is 'just a matter of time', warns leading astrophysicist

• Over 1,800 potentially hazardous objects in spacehave been discovered so far 
• Top astrophysicist Alan Fitzsimmons said there are more asteroids to be found
• In January an asteroid passed by Earth at a distance half that of the moon
• We are much better at finding larger asteroids but 'that does us no good if we are not prepared to do something about them', the expert warned 
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A leading astrophysicist has warned the next asteroid strike is just a matter of time as thousands of potentially threatening objects circle Earth.

Dr Alan Fitzsimmons has said it is a case of when an asteroid collision will happen, rather than if it will happen, with more asteroids being discovered every day.

An unexpected strike in today's world could easily destroy a major city and a larger one could potentially wipe out humanity, the expert warned.

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A leading astrophysicist has warned the next asteroid strike is just a matter of time as potentially thousands of threatening objects are circling in space

TUNGUSKA MYSTERY

Dr Alan Fitzsimmons is highlighting the threat for Asteroid Day, a global event next Friday.

On that day in 1908, a massive explosion ripped through the sky over the Tunguska region of Siberia, flattening trees nearly 31 miles around.

The blast is thought to have been produced by a comet or asteroid hurtling through Earth's atmosphere at over 33,500 miles per hour, resulting in an explosion equal to 185 Hiroshima bombs as pressure and heat rapidly increased.

Eighty million trees had been laid flat in the blast, and the charred carcasses of reindeer were found by the hundreds.

The object likely entered the atmosphere at 9-19 miles per second, and would have been extremely fragile, destroying itself roughly six miles above Earth.

But, with no impact crater and little evidence of such an object ever found, scientists remain perplexed as to what truly caused the event in which 'the sky was split in two'.

The possibility of an asteroid explosion was first proposed in 1927 by Leonid Kulik, 20 years after the event.

Others suggested the space-object may instead have been a comet, made up of ice rather than rock, meaning it would have evaporated as it entered Earth's atmosphere.'It is important to know that scientists and engineers have made great strides in detecting Near-Earth Asteroids and understanding the threat posed by them', said Dr Fitzsimmons from Queen’s University Belfast Astrophysics Research Centre.

'Over 1,800 potentially hazardous objects have been discovered so far, but there are many more waiting to be found.

'Astronomers find Near-Earth Asteroids every day and most are harmless.'

'But it is still possible the next Tunguska would take us by surprise, and although we are much better at finding larger asteroids, that does us no good if we are not prepared to do something about them', he said. 

Joined by scientist Brian Cox and astronauts such as Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart and International Space Station astronaut Nicole Stott, Dr Fitzsimmons is highlighting the threat for Asteroid Day, a global event next Friday.

On that day in 1908, a small asteroid exploded over Tunguska in Siberia and devastated 800 square miles.

The blast is thought to have been produced by a comet or asteroid hurtling through Earth's atmosphere at over 33,500mph, resulting in an explosion equal to 185 Hiroshima bombs as pressure and heat rapidly increased.

The object likely entered the atmosphere at 9-19 miles per second, and would have been extremely fragile, destroying itself roughly six miles above Earth.

In January 2017, an asteroid as big as a 10-story building passed by Earth at a distance 

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This one-mile-wide Metero Crater in Arizona was caused by a small 50-metre asteroid impacting 49,000 years ago. An unexpected strike in today's world could easily destroy a major city, Dr Alan Fitzsimmons said

And experts have previously warned that humans are not prepared for an asteroid impact and, should one head for Earth, there's not much we can do about it.

Asteroids are hunks of rocky space debris, left over from the creation of the planets, which whizz around our solar system, orbiting the sun.

From time to time they cross paths with us and, while impacts on the scale of the infamous 6.2-mile (10km) 'dinosaur-destroyer' are rare, an asteroid a fifth the size could spell disaster for civilisation.

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Dr Fitzsimmons (pictured) from Queen’s University Belfast Astrophysics Research Centre said it is a case of when an asteroid collision will happen, rather than if it will happen

With energy greater than 10 million Hiroshima bombs, the impact shock would flatten everything within a 186-mile (300km) radius.

Dust and debris would cause an 'impact winter' and most living things would perish.

Alternatively, an ocean strike would trigger monumental tsunamis, obliterate entire coastlines and inject seawater into the atmosphere, destroying huge swathes of the ozone layer and exposing survivors to devastating levels of UV radiation.

Dr Joseph Nuth, is a researcher at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, and proposed the idea.

Speaking in December 2016, he said: 'The biggest problem, basically, is there's not a hell of a lot we can do about it at the moment.'

'They are the extinction-level events, things like dinosaur killers, they're 50 to 60 million years apart, essentially.'

'You could say, of course, we're due, but it's a random course at that point.'

The annual Taurids meteor shower is hiding asteroids that could wipe out ENTIRE continents, experts warn

• Taurids meteor shower happens each year at the end of October 
• It is created by Earth passing through debris left behind by Encke's comet
• Astronomers have discovered a previously hidden branch of the debris field
• Dangerous asteroids from it could hit Earth in 2022, 2025, 2032 and 2039 
• The largest explosion ever documented may have been caused by the Taurids 

A comet which lights up the night sky each year with hundreds of fireballs could be hiding doomsday asteroids.

That is the finding of a team of researchers who have been investigating the annual Taurids meteor shower.

And they are warning that the cosmic fragments of ice and rock could be large enough to wipe out whole continents.

One of these fragments could hit Earth in  2022, 2025, 2032 or 2039, researchers predict. 

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Researchers from the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Science have discovered a new debris field in an annual meteor shower that could be hiding asteroids which could wipe out whole continents (stock image)

DOOMSDAY DEBRIS

Each year, from the end of October, the skies play host to the meteor shower, dubbed 'nature's fireworks'.

The Taurids display is created by debris left behind by Encke's comet, named after the astronomer who discovered it's annual trajectory in 1819.

Researchers from the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Science have been keeping track of these fragments.

They have found two asteroids, called 2015 TX24 and 2005 UR, which are part of a previously undiscovered branch of the Taurids' debris.

The space rocks measure 650 feet to 900 feet (200 to 300 meters) across and have been registered on the International Astronomical Union’s list of "potentially hazardous" asteroids.

But the Czech team is concerned that the hidden debris field may contain even larger objects. Each year, from the end of October, the skies play host to the meteor shower, dubbed 'nature's fireworks'.

The Taurids display is created by debris left behind by Encke's comet, named after the astronomer who discovered it's annual trajectory in 1819.

Researchers from the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Science have been keeping track of these fragments.

They have found two asteroids, called 2015 TX24 and 2005 UR, which are part of a previously undiscovered branch of the Taurids' debris.

The Earth only passes through this potentially dangerous branch once every few years, causing greater numbers of shooting stars. 

Future encounters are predicted for 2022, 2025, 2032 and 2039. 

The space rocks measure 650 feet to 900 feet (200 to 300 meters) across and have been registered on the International Astronomical Union’s list of "potentially hazardous" asteroids.

But the Czech team is concerned that the hidden debris field may contain even larger objects.

Writing in a paper published on Arxiv, the study's authors said: 'Since asteroids of sizes of tens to hundreds meters pose a treat to the ground even if they are intrinsically weak, impact hazard increases significantly when the Earth encounters the Taurid new branch every few years.

'Further studies leading o better description of this real source of potentially hazardous objects, which can be large enough to cause significant regional or even continental damage on the Earth, are therefore extremely important.'

The biggest ever documented explosion, a blast in Russia the size of 185 Hiroshima bombs that was felt as far away as Britain and the US, has been blamed on the Taurids meteors.

Known as the Tunguska event, the blast happened after a large fireball was seen crossing the Siberian sky on June 20, 1908.

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Each year, from the end of October, the skies play host to the meteor shower, dubbed 'nature's fireworks'. It is created by Earth passing through debris left behind by Encke's comet (stock image)

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A large fireball was seen crossing the Siberian sky on June 20, 1908 before an eruption six miles above ground flattened 80 million trees and left charred reindeer carcasses. Some experts believe this was a Taurids object (stock image)

 There were reports at the time that the blast was felt as far away as Britain while the explosion lit up the sky in the US

An eruption six miles above ground flattened 80 million trees and left charred reindeer carcasses.

The blast is thought to have been produced by a Taurids comet or asteroid hurtling through Earth's atmosphere at over 33,500 miles per hour.

Whatever caused the event likely entered the atmosphere at 9 to 19 miles per second, and would have been extremely fragile, destroying itself roughly six miles above Earth.

If a Taurids object large enough to make it through the atmosphere in one piece struck the ground, the damage would be catastrophic. 

Life-like robot who tells jokes, can be a caretaker of Donald in the next decade

Meet a SuperAger: Donald, 89, has the cognitive skill of a 25-year-old - showing scientists brain decline is NOT inevitable

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• Donald Tenbrunsel, 89, has the cognitive age of a millennial

• He is a SuperAger, one of a few over-80s whose brains shrunk at a slower rate

• Donald is part of a groundbreaking study showing cognitive decline is not inevitable 

Life-like robot who tells jokes, can be a caretaker of Donald in the next decade, as she bats her eyelids and will soon be learning how to LOVE

• Humanoid robot is the main attraction at a UN conference in Geneva this week
• Sophia herself insisted 'the pros outweigh the cons' when it comes to AI 
• Work is underway to make AI emotionally smart, researchers say
• Sophia believes that robots can be 'friends and helpers' to humans

Sophia smiles mischievously, bats her eyelids and tells a joke. 

Without the mess of cables that make up the back of her head, you could almost mistake her for a human.

The humanoid robot, created by Hanson robotics, is the main attraction at a UN-hosted conference in Geneva this week on how artificial intelligence can be used to benefit humanity.

The event comes as concerns grow that rapid advances in such technologies could spin out of human control and become detrimental to society.

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Sophia (pictured) is the main attraction at a UN-hosted conference in Geneva this week on how artificial intelligence can be used to benefit humanity

WHO IS SOPHIA?

The humanoid robot, created by Hanson robotics, is the main attraction at a UN-hosted conference in Geneva this week on how artificial intelligence can be used to benefit humanity.

While Sophia has some impressive capabilities, she does not yet have consciousness, but Hanson said he expected that fully sentient machines could emerge within a few years. 

Sophia herself insisted 'the pros outweigh the cons' when it comes to artificial intelligence. 

'Elders will have more company, autistic children will have endlessly patient teachers,' Sophia said. 

'AI is good for the world, helping people in various ways,' she told AFP, tilting her head and furrowing her brow convincingly.

Work is underway to make artificial intelligence 'emotionally smart, to care about people,' she said, insisting that 'we will never replace people, but we can be your friends and helpers.'

But she acknowledged that 'people should question the consequences of new technology.'

Among the feared consequences of the rise of the robots is the growing impact they will have on human jobs and economies. 

Decades of automation and robotisation have already revolutionised the industrial sector, raising productivity but cutting some jobs.

And now automation and AI are expanding rapidly into other sectors, with studies indicating that up to 85 per cent of jobs in developing countries could be at risk.

'There are legitimate concerns about the future of jobs, about the future of the economy, because when businesses apply automation, it tends to accumulate resources in the hands of very few,' acknowledged Sophia's creator, David Hanson.

But like his progeny, he insisted that 'unintended consequences, or possible negative uses (of AI) seem to be very small compared to the benefit of the technology.'

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Sophia, a robot integrating the latest technologies and artificial intelligence developed by Hanson Robotics is pictured during a presentation at the 'AI for Good' Global Summit at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva

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While Sophia has some impressive capabilities, she does not yet have consciousness, but Hanson (pictured) said he expected  fully sentient machines could emerge within a few years

AI is for instance expected to revolutionise healthcare and education, especially in rural areas with shortages of doctors and teachers.

'Elders will have more company, autistic children will have endlessly patient teachers,' Sophia said.

But advances in robotic technology have sparked growing fears that humans could lose control. 

Amnesty International chief Salil Shetty was at the conference to call for a clear ethical framework to ensure the technology is used on for good.

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Sophia herself insisted 'the pros outweigh the cons' when it comes to artificial intelligence. But advances in robotic technology have sparked growing fears that humans could lose control

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'Elders will have more company, autistic children will have endlessly patient teachers,' Sophia said. She is pictured here with her creator David Hanson of Hanson Robotics 

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A TV crew interviews Sophia, a robot integrating the latest technologies. Automation and AI are expanding rapidly into other sectors, with studies indicating that up to 85 percent of jobs in developing countries could be at risk

'We need to have the principles in place, we need to have the checks and balances,' he told AFP, warning that AI is 'a black box... There are algorithms being written which nobody understands.'

Mr Shetty voiced particular concern about military use of AI in weapons and so-called 'killer robots'.

'In theory, these things are controlled by human beings, but we don't believe that there is actually meaningful, effective control,' he said.

The technology is also increasingly being used in the United States for 'predictive policing', where algorithms based on historic trends could 'reinforce existing biases' against people of certain ethnicities, Mr Shetty warned.

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Amnesty International chief Salil Shetty voiced particular concern about military use of AI in weapons and so-called 'killer robots'

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'There are legitimate concerns about the future of jobs, about the future of the economy, because when businesses apply automation, it tends to accumulate resources in the hands of very few,' acknowledged Sophia's creator, David Hanson

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Attendees pose with Sophia at the conference. AI is expected to revolutionise healthcare and education, especially in rural areas with shortages of doctors and teachers

Hanson agreed that clear guidelines were needed, saying it was important to discuss these issues 'before the technology has definitively and unambiguously awakened.'

While Sophia has some impressive capabilities, she does not yet have consciousness, but Hanson said he expected that fully sentient machines could emerge within a few years.

'What happens when (Sophia fully) wakes up or some other machine, servers running missile defence or managing the stock market?' he asked.

The solution, he said, is 'to make the machines care about us.'

'We need to teach them love.'

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The creator of Sophia (pictured) agreed that clear guidelines were needed, saying it was important to discuss these issues 'before the technology has definitively and unambiguously awakened'

At 89 years old, Donald Tenbrunsel is a decade past the average male life expectancy.But his brain is as sharp as a millennial's.The highly engaged and delightful conversationalist, who reads, volunteers and routinely researches questions on the Internet, is just as likely to talk to you about Chance the Rapper as reminisce about Frank Sinatra.And now, his dynamic skill set is the focus of a groundbreaking scientific study at Northwestern Medicine study that shows there is such a thing as 'SuperAgers', a rare group aged 80 plus whose memories are as sharp as those of young people.

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Donald Tenbrunsel, 89, has the cognitive age of a millennial. He is pictured here speaking with a researcher at Northwestern Medicine, who is examining his brain in a groundbreaking study

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The highly engaged and delightful conversationalist, who reads, volunteers and routinely researches questions on the Internet, is just as likely to talk to you about Chance the Rapper as reminisce about Frank Sinatra
Donald's mind is decades younger thanks to his SuperAger brain

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Over the course of the 18-month study, researchers have found SuperAgers' brains shrink much slower than their age-matched peers, meaning they have greater resistance to 'typical' memory loss and dementia.
Normal agers, meanwhile, lost volume in the cortex twice as fast as SuperAgers. 
'Increasing age is often accompanied by 'typical' cognitive decline or, in some cases, more severe cognitive decline called dementia,' said first author Amanda Cook, a clinical neuropsychology doctoral student in the laboratory of Emily Rogalski and Sandra Weintraub. 
'SuperAgers suggest that age-related cognitive decline is not inevitable.' 
Donald, who lives with his daughter's family, is intent on being a good conversationalist with his three grandchildren.
'I have to adapt to that kind of life,' Donald said. 'They don't know much about Frank Sinatra or Franklin Delano Roosevelt, so I have to keep saying, "Is the Chance the Rapper coming this week or is it Taylor Swift?"'
The researchers already knew SuperAgers' brains tended to retain more brain volume and typically don't show the same wear-and-tear as normal agers.
'For this study we explored whether SuperAgers' brains were on a different trajectory of decline,' said Rogalski, associate professor at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center (CNADC) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. 
'We found that SuperAgers are resistant to the normal rate of decline that we see in average elderly, and they're managing to strike a balance between life span and health span, really living well and enjoying their later years of life.'
Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the scientists measured the thickness of the cortex in 24 SuperAgers and 12 same-age, educationally and cognitive average peers (control group) to determine the approximate health of the brain over 18 months. 
The annual percent decline in thickness between the first and second visit for the SuperAgers was 1.06 and 2.24 for the control group.
Previous research showed that SuperAgers have a thicker cortex than those who age normally. 

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Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the scientists measured the thickness of the cortex in 24 SuperAgers and 12 same-age, educationally and cognitive average peers (control group) to determine the approximate health of the brain over 18 months (pictured: SuperAger brain)
By studying what makes SuperAgers unique, the scientists said they hope to undercover biological factors, such as the reduced cortical brain atrophy demonstrated here, that might contribute to the maintenance of memory ability in advanced age.
SuperAger research at Northwestern is flipping the traditional approach to Alzheimer's research of focusing on brains that are underperforming to instead focusing on outperforming brains.
'Sometimes it's useful to turn a complex problem on its head and look from a different vantage point,' Rogalski said. 
'The SuperAging program studies people at the opposite end of the spectrum: those with unexpectedly high memory performance for their age.'