Personal website of João Pedro de Magalhães
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Q #1: Do people frequently ask these questions?

No, not really.

Many of these questions relate to topics I think should be covered in my website but couldn't find a place for them. Some of the questions indeed have been posed by visitors.

Q #2: Can you help me with my science project?

Please browse around my website for the answer/information and see if I'm the right person to help you. If you think so then I'm always happy to help students, though please bear in mind that everyone's busy these days and I'm no exception.

Q #3: Can I work with you in your lab?

I'm always happy to hear from potential students with scientific interests similar to mine. Please visit my lab's website to see the type of work we do. If you think you would fit well in our group then by all means contact me. Funding is always an issue but even if we don't have any vacancies, quite often it is possible to apply for fellowships, etc., so feel free to drop me a line.

Likewise, I'm glad to hear from potential colleagues and collaborators in industry and academia.

Q #4: I want to develop a career in aging research, what should I study?

This is probably the question I've been asked most often, which is why I wrote a brief essay on how to become a biogerontologist.

Q #5: Do you offer advice on age-related diseases or on anti-aging treatments?

I'm not a physician and so I cannot give medical advice. I do maintain, however, a review of anti-aging products that debates these products from a scientific, biological perspective.

Q #6: You say you want to cure aging, but that's impossible, right?

That's a common misconception. It will be extremely hard and it may well take a long time, but I'm very serious about curing aging. There is no scientific reason to think aging cannot be cured, as I discuss elsewhere.

Q #7: Do you give talks or advice on aging or other topics of your expertise?

Yes, I give plenty of talks and lectures as well as do consulting for academia, biotech companies, non-profit institutions, etc. If you think I can be of help then please contact me with further details.

Q #8: Are you interested in writing an essay for my website/journal?

Maybe, please contact me with the details. Normally, I prefer to find a medium to publish my ideas rather than the other way around, but I am open to suggestions.

Q #9: Can I send you my ideas on aging, or my science fiction stories, or my comedy material?

It depends. Everyone is busy these days and I'm no exception, so please use common sense.

Regarding aging, I'm always looking for collaborations, and if you have original ideas on the biology of aging I would be glad to hear them. Please try to be succinct, though; good ideas can generally be summarized in a few sentences.

If you have a SF story, please try to publish it or, if it's not good enough yet, you may consider joining a writers club. You may send me ideas for stories but, please be brief and tell me what is on offer if you're looking for a collaboration.

If you have comedy material and don't want to do stand-up then you may send me your material, though I normally only use my own material and so it must be a truly original and innovative work.

Q #10: Do you still perform as a stand-comedian?

Rarely, but please contact me if you have a gig and I'll consider it.

Q #11: Do you still perform as a musician?

No, and because of a wrist injury I barely play guitar anymore. I still listen to music most of my awake time.

Q #12: Who writes your comedy material?

On most occasions, I do. Sometimes friends and family give me a hand and, of course, I often use material from other comedians such as George W. Bush, Paulo Portas, David Beckam, etc.

Q #13: Can you crack [INSERT SOFTWARE HERE]? Or can you hack [INSERT DOMAIN HERE]? Or get me [INSERT SOFTWARE HERE]?

No, and even if I could I wouldn't tell you.

Q #14: Why do you have a personal website?

This website was created for three reasons. First of all, I created it for myself as a way to organize my ideas and reflect on them. In addition, as someone who has benefited so much from the teachings of others, I believe I should share my knowledge and I hope others can benefit from my essays. Lastly, I hope others can find my thoughts and ideas both to agree with me and maybe work towards common goals or disagree with me so I can learn new things.

Q #15: How many visitors does your website receive?

Presently, my domain (senescence.info) receives over 20,000 unique visitors and 100,000 hits per month. You can consult senescence.info's traffic in Alexa.

Q #16: What happened to the original Reason's Triumph and The Castle of the Dark Angæl?

Due to professional commitments the time I have to update my websites has decreased dramatically since I started creating websites as a teenage. Therefore, I made a new website for my research on aging, which is my job, and I combined The Castle of the Dark Angæl and Reason's Triumph into a single, smaller website that is now my personal website.

Q #17: Does your website have a disclaimer and privacy policy?

Yes, it does.

Q #18: Why haven't you replied to the e-mail I sent you?

I reply to all e-mails that require a response, generally in a brief time. Mail servers, however, are not 100% reliable and e-mails do get lost on the Internet. A good rule of thumb is: if I don't reply within a week or two, please contact me again.

Q #19: Can you link to my website and vice-versa?

You can warn me about your website, though that does not guarantee I'll add a link to it. Similarly, you can of course link to my website but doing so does not guarantee a reciprocal treatment. My website has no publicity, so please don't even bother asking.

Q #20: How do you pronounce your name?

Word-of-mouth is admittedly difficult in English-speaking countries with my name, which is why many of my colleagues in the US and UK call me Pedro. My first name is João Pedro, which is essentially John Peter in Portuguese. My surname is de Magalhães. In English Magalhães is spelled Magellan.

Q #21: Are you married? Do you have any children?

Yes, I am married. My wife has a website with pictures of our trips.

Yes, we have two girls.

Q #22: Do you have any political affiliation?

No, I don't. In fact, apart referendums, I've always abstained from voting as I've so far been unable to support any political party.

Q #23: I'm a billionaire and I want to help you solve aging. What do you think?

I love you and I want to have your children.