5 Things: Most Americans Don't Want to Live to 100

1. Here Comes the Sun's Magnetic Flip: In an event that occurs once every 11 years, the magnetic field of the sun will change its polarity in a matter of months, according new observations by NASA-supported observatories. The flipping of the sun's magnetic field marks the peak of the star's 11-year solar cycle and the halfway point in the sun's "solar maximum" — the peak of its solar weather cycle. NASA released a new video describing the sun's magnetic flip on Aug. 5. Read more here on space.com.

2. How Old is Too Old? Most Americans do not want to live beyond age 100, and a poll out Aug. 6  suggests many worry that anti-aging technologies may end up being a luxury for the rich. The survey of more than 2,000 people by the Pew Research Center's Religion and Public Life Project sought to probe the nation's views on the prospect of living longer lives. Read more here at USA Today.

3. Cancer By Any Other Name...: Patients once diagnosed with cancer may be told in the future they've got an IDLE disorder.  Only the lesions that typically kill if left untreated should be classified as cancer, according to a recent editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association written by an advisory panel to the National Cancer Institute. Too many people hear only "cancer" when diagnosed with non-growing carcinomas and end up on operating tables when they don't need surgery, the authors said. One such example is ductal carcinoma in situ. Currently considered a type of breast cancer, it is actually an IDLE condition, he said. But when women get the diagnosis, all they hear is "carcinoma" — and some frightened patients may opt to have both breasts removed, even though tumors might never develop or spread. Interesting research.

4. If It Weren't For Bad Luck...: What a story - this Florida guy, Erik Norrie, is recovering from a shark bite. Bad enough, but it turns out he's also been struck by lightning, and been bitten by a rattlesnake. And he's smiling.

5. Extinction of Zoos in Costa Rica:  Costa Rica plans to close its two zoos and end the caging of animals by May of next year, eventually rehabilitating and releasing the animals into the wild. “We are getting rid of the cages and reinforcing the idea of interacting with biodiversity in botanical parks in a natural way,” Environment Minister Rene Castro announced at a news conference. “We don’t want animals in captivity or enclosed in any way unless it is to rescue or save them.” Read more here at UPI.com