Make black cat lanterns

Make your entry glow with fat Halloween cats made from stacked pumpkins (and mini-pumpkin paws)

 

   

Candles light up the eyes of Halloween cats made from stacked pumpkins

painted black. No need to hollow out the large body pumpkin;

the candle sits inside the head

.

 

Create a spooky trio of glossy black cats to watch over trick-or-treaters at your door. All you need are a few pumpkins in feline shapes ― long or pear-shaped for the body, small and round for the face. More great ideas for pumpkins At the pumpkin patch, look for body shapes with character and a stable base. They can lean to one side (like a cat on its haunches) but shouldn't wobble. Choose a tall one for an elegant cat, or a squat orange heirloom for a chubby cat curled on its paws. Test a few "heads" until you find a good match. This twist on the traditional jack-o'-lantern cuts down on some of the usual pumpkin cleaning: No need to hollow out the body. Just clean out and carve the head, then add mini pumpkin paws, curvy cucumber tails, and ears from stiffened felt or black card stock from the craft store. Then, light the candle, get the candy, and watch your Halloween cats come to life. Carve a cat pumpkin Step 1: Cut out top of small pumpkin and scoop the inside clean. Place it upside down on the base pumpkin, turning to find a good fit. If necessary, carve opening slightly to adjust. Step 2: Set head on the base to decide placement of eyes, then carve them out. You can draw them on first or use our template. Step 3: Cut pointy ears out of felt or card stock and mark their positions on the head with a pen. Carve two shallow grooves into the head to hold the ears. Avoid cutting all the way through the pumpkin. (For more realistic ears, carve crescent-shaped grooves.) Step 4: Prep an outside work area for spray painting. Stuff the head with loosely crumpled newspaper. Cover pumpkins, mini pumpkins, and cucumber with one or two thin coats of black spray paint. Allow to dry. Remove stuffing and insert the ears. Step 5: If the head is wobbly, gently pound a few floral picks into the body with the mallet or hammer. Measure the opening of the head, then position the picks to fit just inside. Touch up paint if needed. Step 6: Put a short tea light on a lid or dish to catch any drips. Stick to the top of the big pumpkin with a small ball of clay polymer or poster putty. Attach the head. Position cat and arrange tail and paws next to body.

Could a transfusion of young blood REALLY rejuvenate old people's brains? Vampire-like treatment could stave off the effects of ageing, say researchers

• Blood transfusions helped mice to perform as well as memory tests as rodents a third of their age
• Scientists are hopeful the findings could apply to humans and ease burden of ageing population

It might sound like something from Dracula, but old brains have been made sprightly again thanks to young blood.

Giving ageing mice blood from much younger animals rejuvenated connections between brain cells and improved memory, experiments have shown.

The treatment is so effective that 18-month-old animals did as well in memory tests as those of only four months. Mice usually live to between 18 months and two years.

If the treatment is shown to be safe and as successful in humans, it could be used to stave off the ravages of old age.

Those in middle-age could be given regular jabs of blood donated by 20-somethings, a conference heard. Diseases such as Alzheimer's could also be held at bay.

Researcher Saul Villeda told the Society for Neuroscience's annual conference in New Orleans: 'Do I think that giving young blood could have an effect on a human? I'm thinking more and more that it might.

'It's not a drug that will have deleterious effects. It's just blood. We do it all the time for blood transfusions.'

Scientists from Stanford University in the US 'sewed together' two mice of different ages.

They created connections between their veins and arteries that allowed young blood to flow into the older animal's body, and vice versa. The younger animals' brains appeared to age. But in the older animals, young blood boosted the number of connections between brain cells. The connections, which are thought to be vital to memory, were also stronger.

The older mice also did just as well as the younger ones in memory tests. The treatment is now being tested on mice with an Alzheimer's-like disease. Experts said that if the research continues to bear fruit, it could lead to treatment that brings even greater benefits than penicillin.

Other work suggests an infusion of young blood could be good for the muscles, liver and immune system. However, the work is at an early stage and it will be some time before it is tested on humans.

It may be possible to identify the compounds in blood that are rejuvenating the brain and turn them into a pill.

Professor Andrew Randall, a brain disease expert from Exeter and Bristol Universities, said: 'Although this may suggest that Dracula author Bram Stoker had ideas way ahead of his time, temporarily plumbing teenagers' blood supplies into those of their great-grandparents does not seem a particularly feasible future therapy for cognitive decline in ageing.

'Instead this fascinating work suggests there may be significant benefit in working out what the “good stuff” is in the high octane young blood, so that we can provide just those key components to the elderly.'

Professor Chris Mason, an expert in regenerative medicine from University College London, added: 'The important questions are; what is in the blood of the younger mice that impacts the ageing process, and is it applicable to humans?

'Even if the finding leads only to a drug that prevents, rather than reverses the normal effects of ageing on the brain, the impact upon future generation will be substantial – potentially outweighing other wonder drugs such as penicillin.'

Dr Villeda said: 'Our findings open the possibility of utilising young blood towards future therapeutic interventions aimed at reversing cognitive impairments in the elderly.

'It now becomes a promising prospect to test whether this extends beyond normal ageing towards reversing cellular and cognitive decline in those suffering from age-related neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's diseas

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