A lot of progress has been made on delaying the serious symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease, but there is still no cure. Add the Baby Boom generation growing older and medical breakthroughs helping us live longer, and it’s a perfect storm for caring for men and women with the disease. In part two of our series on Alzheimer's, we'll look at whether we'll be ready to provide assistance for the growing number of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease.

Guests

• Lindsey Brenan, manager of Helpline Services for the Alzheimer’s Association of Massachusetts and New Hampshire
• Meg Curtis, co-owner of the Stonewall Bed and Breakfast in Hillsboro; she currently cares for her husband, Skip, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2006
• Keith Shields, Executive Producer for The Exchange; in 2006 his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease

Roughly 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s. It affects about 1 in 20 people over the age of 65 and that number greatly increases as one gets older. Scientists know a lot about its causes, though it’s hard to diagnose while one is alive. And there's no cure, only drugs that delay the onset of symptoms. In part one of our series exploring Alzheimer’s Disease, we look at what we do and don't know about Alzheimer's, as well as what we’re learning and how we’re treating it.

Guests

• Dr. Robert A. Stern, Associate Professor of Neurology and Co-Director, Alzheimer's Disease Clinical and Research Program at Boston University’s School of Medicine
• Dr. Paul Raia, director of Family and Patient Services for the Alzheimer’s Association of Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Liquor commission says selling hard alcohol where people shop everyday would boost state revenues, and make life easier for consumers. The suggestion comes amid repeated calls from Governor Lynch for liquor officials to find new ways to make money.

Here’s a way to cut down on energy: food you don’t need to cook. Imagine how much fuel we’d save by eating only salads of raw fruits and vegetables served at room temperature.

It might not sound all that appetizing, but the movement to eat only raw, vegan food has been around for a while, and now it’s spreading beyond California and New York. Raw food restaurants have sprouted up everywhere from Saint Augustine, Florida, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and raw packaged foods are even hitting the shelves at upscale grocers like Whole Foods, much to the dismay of purists. Gourmet raw food, like lasagna made from ground nuts, sprouted buckwheat and cashew cheese, has traditional raw foodies crying foul.

Lessley Anderson has followed the growth of the raw food movement. She’s senior editor at the food website CHOW.com, and she joins us now from San Francisco. Click here to read her article.

(Photo of raw pizza by francistoms)

I grew up in the waning years of the space age. Cars no longer had big fins, but the Russians were still the bad guys, and the Jetsons were still on TV.

We all thought the 21st century would land us on moving sidewalks, flying cars, and of course, riding a jetpack. When James Bond donned his jet pack in the 1965 film Thunderball, little boys eyes bulged. The big boys and garage tinkerers got out their wrenches. But, like a generation of would-be flyers before them, their efforts sputtered out.

Last month, Eric Scott jet-packed across a 1,500-foot wide Colorado canyon – he could only stay in the air for about thirty seconds. Why can we send a man to the moon, but only fly with a jetpack for under a minute?

That question frustrates Mac Montandon. At 35, Mac suspected he was having a premature mid-life crisis, couldn’t afford a Porsche, and traveled the world in search of his childhood dream: to fly a jetpack. He tells the story in his new book Jetpack Dreams: One Man’s Up and Down (But Mostly Down) Search for the Greatest Invention That Never Was. Mac joins us with more on the history, and possible future, of the jetpack.

Watch a trailer for Jetpack Dreams from Mac Montandon:

And watch a video of Eric Scott's 9-second flight:

(Photo of Lost in Space, with stars June Lockhart and Guy Williams, a pop culture touchstone for jetpack obsessives the world over.)