Kazakhstan's president directs scientists to discover the "secret to immortality"

This was another bizarre headline that I just couldn't pass up. Nursultan Nazarbayev, the aging ex-Soviet oil oligarch president of Kazakhstan, has made some interesting requests of his scientists. From The Guardian:

Not satisfied with 19 years in charge of the gas-rich central Asian state, Nazarbayev urged scientists today to unlock the secret to immortality.

The 70-year-old leader stressed in a speech that a new scientific research institute in the capital Astana should study "rejuvenation of the organism," as well as "the human genome, production of human tissue and creation of gene-based medicines".

In an aside to students, Nazarbayev added: "As for the medicine of the future, people of my age are really hoping all of this will happen as soon as possible."

Read more here.