Daily Archives: November 28, 2021

Next week, the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M) will organise its 29th Annual World Congress at The Venetian and Palazzo Resort in Las Vegas. Since 1992, A4M has been on a mission to redefine healthcare through longevity medicine in order to optimise vitality and extend the human lifespan.

But the question is do we really want to become super seniors or centenarians in a disruptive world?

Co-founder Dr Robert Goldman believes in the possibility of "practical immortality" with a lifespan of 120-plus years. Nine years ago, I met the ebullient anti-ageing physician at a conference organised by VitalLife Scientific Wellness Center and Bumrungrad International Hospital.

I asked him whether it's unnatural to stop the clock with anti-ageing medicine as the body isn't designed to last over 120 years.

"It's as unnatural as taking a plane,'' he said. "Because if man was meant to fly, he should have been born with wings.''

The fact is anti-ageing interventions are not something new and the search for the fountain of youth has been part of human culture and societies for millennia.

Dr Goldman asserts that there's nothing out of line with anti-ageing medicine and its utilisation to stretch the life span and enhance quality of life.

The demand for anti-ageing programmes is being driven by baby boomers who don't want to age the way their parents did.

Its comprehensive approach to wellness encompasses nutrition, dietary supplements, lifestyle modification, and controversial hormone replacement therapy.

One mechanism of ageing is a decline in hormone levels, which sends a chemical message to cells that this body is old and they start to die off. Hormone replacement therapy attempts to trick the cells to think that they're still young.

However, it's not a quick fix or a magic pill as it takes effort and focus in adopting an anti-ageing lifestyle and treatments.

Through very early detection, prevention and reversal of age-related diseases, this field of medicine aims to prevent illnesses and disabilities. In addition, advances in biotechnology will drive dramatic changes in anti-ageing medicine to accomplish practical immortality.

Around a century ago, a 40-year-old was considered to be an elderly person, and today those in their 70s are in the winter of life. The practical immortality concept proposes that in the future people will not be considered old until they are centenarians.

On the other hand, longevity can be earned without taking supplements and hormones. For example, Japan's nonagenarians and centenarians are proof of natural and healthy ageing through diet, exercise, way of life and cultural factors.

Accordingly, the anti-ageing movement has faced controversy and been accused of being pseudoscience and a business that prescribes dietary supplements, hormone injections, as well as other products and services.

Nevertheless, over the three decades, A4M has grown into a global community with alliances in countries including Thailand.

Next week, its Annual World Congress event is being held under the theme "The Next Chapter: Unmasking The Hidden Epidemic", and it will address many neglected health crises in a world stricken by Covid-19.

The pandemic has posed numerous challenges and changes as we focus on fighting infectious diseases and viral mutations. We aim to be survivors and not be afflicted by a deadly virus and its economic consequences.

Accordingly, the past two years have put many of us in a health-conscious mode and made us dependent on self-care due to lockdown.

It has probably changed many people's perspectives of the world and the meaning of life. Stuck in a crisis for two whole years, we may not even care about outliving turtles and just try to cope with current circumstances, which reinforce how uncertainty in life remains absolute certain.

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Extending the human lifespan - Bangkok Post

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the names of 26 semifinalists on the eve of Thanksgiving and three former Philadelphia Eagles are one step closer to footballs version of immortality. Congratulations are in order for both longtime Eagles cornerback, one of the valedictorians of the Buddy Ryan era, Eric Allen and one of the more controversial players in team history, Ricky Watters.

Once January rolls around, fifteen finalists will be revealed in January. Kudos are also in order for senior finalist Cliff Branch and Art McNally, the latter being a contributor finalist. We also cant leave out another former Eagle and coach finalist, Dick Vermeil.

If hes inducted it will have been a long time coming for Eagles legend Eric Allen. NFL legend Deion Sanders even went to bat for him a little over a year ago, stating that the six-time Pro Bowler is long overdue to see his bust carved and placed in Canton, Ohio.

Allen has just under 800 tackles on his career resume along with 54 interceptions and nine defensive touchdowns. Hes a member of the Eagles 75th Anniversary Team and the franchises Hall of Fame.

Watters has long been forgiven for his For who? For what? comment. He spent three seasons in Eagles green, racking up 3,794 rushing yards, 1,318 receiving yards, and 32 total touchdowns in 48 career games.

Vermeil should need no introduction. He led the Philadelphia Eagles to their first-ever Super Bowl appearance and won more than 100 games in the City of Brotherly Love over seven seasons before returning from a long hiatus and leading the Saint Louis Rams to a Super Bowl victory. He too is in the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame. His induction in Canton should be a no-brainer.

As it is every year, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2022 will be introduced during the NFL Honors special on the eve of the Super Bowl. Mark your calendars for that one. and watch it live on Fubo TV. It airs live on Thursday, February 10th at 9 p.m. EST on your local ABC affiliate.

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3 Former Eagles are one step closer to Hall of Fame induction - Inside the Iggles

Jubilant George Kambosos Jr is challenging Australia's other title aspirants to follow their dreams overseas as he savours his place in boxing immortality as an undisputed world champion.

Kambosos is the first Australian boxer in history to win three world-title belts in one fight after scoring a stunning upset win over previously unbeaten American Teofimo Lopez in New York.

The new unified lightweight world champion was rewarded for his unwavering dedication after more than four years without a fight in Australia.

Sacrificing precious family time with endless months training offshore in the Philippines with the great Manny Pacquiao and fighting in the US, UK, Greece and Malaysia, Kambosos is now the holder of the WBA, WBO and IBF straps.

"That's something these other guys in Australia who are making a bit of noise, they talk a big game and say they want to come over here but when it comes to booking that flight, they don't," Kambosos told AAP.

"So I don't understand how everyone wants to get behind them but they don't want to get overseas and chase it where it really happens, chase the big fish.

"It's a big difference when you're comfortable in your own zone and you need to leave your comfort zone and take the risk and achieve and get to the top and achieve what it is to become a world champion.

"They don't want to do it but Kambosos has done it and has been doing it for many years. We're here, we're fighting for the biggest thing Australia has ever seen.

"It's the pinnacle of the sport."

Blood streaming from a nasty cast above his left eye, Lopez claimed he'd been robbed despite being sent crashing to the canvas by Kambosos in the opening round - the first time since he professional debut five years ago the American had been floored.

"You're a hell of a fighter but I won the fight tonight. I want everyone to know that," Lopez protested.

"The referee raised my hand, I won tonight. I don't care what anybody said."

Not for the first time over the past week, Kambosos branded the vanquished champion "delusional".

"I won the fight fair and square. Take a look at your face. Take it like a champ, let's do it again in Australia," Kambosos said.

"Eighty-thousand fans in Australia, let's do it again."

After years of offshore toil, Kambosos won't be defending his titles anywhere but Australia and dedicated his victory to wife Rebecca, three young children and his late grandfather George.

"This is for my kids, my grandfather George Kambosos, who passed away two months away," he said.

"It's for my family, my wife, my grandfather. I know he's in the ring with me right now."

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Kambosos hopes to inspire fellow Aussies - The West Australian

The Old Guardfeatures a group of immortal warriors, most of whom have been alive for centuriesbut how old are they exactly? The marketing material and movie itself offer several clues to the immortals ages. Charlize Therons Andy is the oldest, but most of her companions have had very long lives as well.

Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and based on the comic book seriesThe Old Guard, by Greg Rucka andLeandro Fernndez,the Netflix movie follows a team of warriors who have lived in the shadows for centuries, taking part in conflicts on whichever side they feel is right. The Old Guardis set in the modern-day, where a new immortal soldier Nile Freeman (Kiki Layne) joins the group after miraculously healing from having her throat cut. She is quickly initiated into the small group of warriors and learns how they have influenced history. While shes still learning about her new family, they come under threat from a greedy pharmaceutical executive called Steven Merrick (Harry Melling), who hopes to discover the secret to their immortality, bottle it, and put a price tag on it.

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Unfortunately for Merrick, hes not the first bad guy that the Old Guard has run into during their very long lifetimes. Heres a breakdown of when each member of the group besides Andy was born, and how old they are in the modern-day setting of the movie.

Whilethe movie form ofThe Old Guardkeeps Andys age ambiguous, it is known that she is the oldest member of the group. Her full name, Andromache of Scythia, refers to a Central Asian empire that ended in the second century CE, making Andy at least 1800 years old but likely older. A potential TheOld Guardsequel could expand the mythologyby exploring this, however the comics suggest that Andy is even older than her name suggests.

Rucka and Fernandezs comics depict Andy as being born circa 4500 BCE in the Western Steppe of Scythia. Andy developed immortality after being killed in battle, and led her tribe for hundreds of years. However, after centuries she left her position to seek justice and find other immortals. Andy even gives a precise age in the comics of 6732, meaning that she has been serving humanity for over six millennia.

Seen only in flashbacks and in The Old Guardsfinal scene, Quynhs (Veronica Ngo) age is perhaps the hardest to pin down out of all the immortals. In the comics shes called Noriko, and Andy recalls that they first metat the end ofAmr ibn al-As al-Sahmis conquest of the Byzantine Empire in 642, at which point Noriko had already been an immortal for a century. That puts her date of birth some time in early 500 AD,which would make her around 1500 years old during the events of The Old Guard.

However, in the movie its not specified exactly when or where Andy and Quynh met, except that Andy found Quynh when she was wandering through the desert, and that she was the first other immortal that Andy ever met. Many have speculated that Andy and Quynh will fight inThe Old Guard 2. In the comics, Andy met Lykon (Micheal Ward) before she met Noriko, and they fought together for two thousand years. Lykon also appears briefly in a flashback in The Old Guard, with Andy and Quynh both being present at the time of his death. If Quynh has been aged up in order to have been born before Lykon, she could actually be several thousand years old during the events of the movie. Hopefully,audiences willlearn more about her backstory including her age in The Old Guard 2.

According to his character poster, Joe (Marwan Kenzari) was born in 1066, making him 954 years old at the time The Old Guard takes place. Originally called Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Joe was a Muslim warrior during the First Crusade, who met the love of his life on the battlefield and killed him. However, fate chose them asthe next immortals to join the Old Guard, and after repeatedly slaying each other they realized that neither they nor the enemy soldier could be killed at which point their enmity turned to love.

Related: Every Song In Netflixs The Old Guard Movie

Younger than Joe by only a few years (which grew even less significant as the centuries pass), Nicky (Luca Marinelli) is 951 years old during the events of The Old Guard, based on a character poster that gives his year of birth as 1069. This means that he would have been in his late twenties 30 at most the first time he died. Like Joe and Andy, Nicky changed his name at some point from Nicol of Genoa to the more common name ofNick Smith, in order to aid his anonymity. This period of the Crusades has been a popular setting for movies as well as video games like Assassins CreedandCrusader Kings.Hailing from the city of Genoa, in what would later become the unified country of Italy, Nicky fought in theFirst Crusadeuntil he fell in love with one of the enemy, and instead began fighting new battles alongside him. After settling their differences, Joe and Nicky both met Andy and became part of the Old Guard alongside her and Quynh.

The baby of the group (at least, until Nile comes along), Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts) is 250 years old during the events of The Old Guard, with his character poster marking his year of birth as 1770. His treacherous actions make it unclear whether hell return for a potentialThe Old Guard2. Born Sebastien le Livre (his nickname comes from his surname, which is French for Book), Booker was a soldier under Napoleon who deserted during the campaign into Russia. He was caught and hanged, but came back to life still hanging from the noose, being 42 years old at the time of this first death in 1812. As he lived on without ageing, Booker experienced the trauma of watching his sons die and being helpless to stop them, even as they grew to hate him for not sharing his gift of immortality. Being a young immortal,the 100-year penance that Booker is sentenced to at the end of The Old Guard would still be a significant amount of time for him.

A pivotal part of The Old Guards cast is Nile, who acts as a viewpoint character. A brand new member of the Old Guard, Nile Freeman is 26 years when she dies for the first time, having her throat cut while trying to save the life of a man she has just shot. After she wakes up in the infirmary without a mark to show for her injury, shes shunned by her fellow soldiers and about to be sent away for some probably very unpleasant testing when shes abducted by Andy. Nile has a military legacy to uphold, with her father having been killed in action, but also has a family that shes at first keen to return to. By the end of the movie, however, she has decided to stick with Andy and the other immortals, having seen the good that theyve managed to do in the world.

There are plenty of unanswered questions from The Old Guard that could be addressed in The Old Guard 2, and the precise ages of Andy and Quanh are among them. The sequel could also fill in the centuries of backstory that each of the immortals have, making their ages very important for the franchise going forward.

More:The Old Guard Ending & Sequel Setup Explained

Ernie Hudson On Ghostbusters 2016: Wouldve Been Easier If It Wasnt A Reboot

About The Author

Hannah has been with Screen Rant since 2013, covering news, features, movie premieres, Comic-Con and more! You can follow her on Twitter @HSW3K

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The Old Guard: The Ages Of The Immortals (Including Andy) - News Nation USA

Its no secret that superheroes are all the rage in Hollywood right now, especially at Disney, which owns the mighty Marvel roster of characters as well as certain Fox assets like Kingsman, Alita and even Captain Underpants. The Mouse House has also produced their own homegrown cape and tights epics like Pixars two Incredibles films, but have they been producing more stealth entries in the superhero genre all along?

We say yes, and this week Walt Disney Pictures is providing Exhibit A to our assertion with the enchanting fantasy Encanto (read our review). The new animated film follows a Colombian family called the Madrigals who, after a terrible tragedy, were gifted a magical candle that grants powers to each of the newborn children over three generations. That is, it grants powers to all except our lead protagonist Mirabel Madrigal (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz), who stands by and watches her fellow family members flex their super strength (her sister Luisa), healing powers (her mother Julieta), weather control (her aunt Pepa), psychic ability (her uncle Bruno), communication with animals (little cousin Antonio), enhanced hearing (cousin Dolores), or the ability to grow beautiful flowers with a hand gesture (her sister Isabela).

Encanto deftly tracks Mirabels journey of self-discovery as she tries to keep her family together when cracks in the magic begin to occur. While the film has been described since its production announcement in 2016 as having elements of magical realism, comic book fans would not be faulted for finding correlations to superheroes like Storm, Professor X, Animal Man, Daredevil or even Poison Ivy. We even got to ask the movies co-writer/co-director Charise Castro Smith about the parallels between Encanto and other superhero properties.

It's funny, people have been making that comparison, Smith told IGN exclusively. From the inside it doesn't feel that way. From the inside it feels very much like a story about a family a lot like mine. A family with a lot of internal pressures and a lot of love. People who can do extraordinary things, people who have secrets. So yes, the characters in this movie do have superpowers, which is a really cool, interesting element, but I think what I gravitate towards the most is just the relatable family dynamics and sibling relationships. My own relationship with my grandparents, both of them, was a big element that I tried to bring into this story. So sure, yeah, Luisa is totally a superhero!

Luisas super ability to literally carry around a church or village bridge may seem like feats for Superman, but she and the other Madrigals are not alone in the annals of Disney history for seeming to possess superhero traits. Here are 10 other films from the studio that would totally fit the bill of being superhero movies

The tagline of 1978s Superman was Youll believe a man can fly. But what about an elephant? Granted, if you apply the definition of a superhero as any being with extraordinary abilities then just about every animal who ever walked on four legs and spoke in a Disney movie would fall under that category. Yet the character of orphaned Dumbo is exceptional even within the world of the film, as his ability to use his gigantic ears to fly distinguishes him from other circus elephants. He doesnt use this ability to fight crime but to get a Hollywood contract, which is well-deserved and probably what a modern flying elephant would do too.

Another character with the ability to fly is the famed boy who never grew up, Peter Pan. J. M. Barries character from the 1904 play Peter and Wendy checks all the boxes for superhero-dom: Sustained flight? Check. Colorful tights? Check. Immortality? Check. Kid sidekick? Heck, hes got his own gang of Lost Boys. Fights bad guys with strange disfigurements? Yes, Captain Hook definitely qualifies. Cool vehicle? Dudes got his own flying ship! If you need a comic-book corollary, you can look no further than Sprite from Marvel Studios recent Eternals, who in the comics is intended to have actually been Barries inspiration for Peter Pan after Sprite showed off to him one night in 1901.

Like Peter Pan, the title magical nanny played so memorably by Julie Andrews also has the ability to fly, but additionally boasts the power to speak with animals, telekinesis and reality manipulation. Shes also pretty good at transporting herself and others into imaginary worlds rendered in glorious 2D animation. One might say she is "practically perfect in every way." She even got that most superheroic of things, a sequel, with 2018s Mary Poppins Returns where Emily Blunt portrayed her.

Another Disney movie directed by Robert Stevenson (who also helmed Mary Poppins) and featuring a combination of live-action and animation was Bedknobs and Broomsticks, which was sort of a proto-Harry Potter. It stars Angela Lansbury as the good witch Miss Eglantine Price, who uses her magical abilities to fight Nazis during World War II. Shes a bit like John Constantine if he was a dowdy woman who adopted some war orphans. Its also possible she became a mystery writer in coastal Maine later in life, but that remains unconfirmed. The one aspect that separates her from Mary Poppins is she is a witch-in-training, so many of her spells backfire, but she is nevertheless formidable.

Based on the traditional fairy tale that was so memorably adapted by Jean Cocteau in 1946 as La belle et la bte, this 90s classic had the distinction of being the first full-length animated feature to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. It follows the beautiful bookworm Belle who frees her father by taking his place as the title Beasts prisoner, then comes down with a serious case of Stockholm syndrome for the hairy monster who was once a prince before he was transformed by an enchantress. This curse turned him into the Beast, but also gifted him with enhanced strength, speed, agility, durability, healing and senses, not to mention some sweet claws and fangs. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were not feeling super creative when it came time to christen Marvels own blue-tinged version of the character: Hank McCoy, whose nickname on the X-Men team is Beast!

Both Marvel and DC have their own version of the Greek mythological hero, and Hercules papa Zeus was even featured briefly in Zack Snyders Justice League (both the 2017 and 2021 versions). Of course, the Disney version of the super strong hero was more a full-of-himself lunkhead than his comic book counterpart, who in recent years has been outed as gay in the Marvel 616 timeline and is dating a certified Guardian of the Galaxy named Marvel Boy. Still, a guy who principally rescues damsels in distress and fights monsters sounds like a superhero in our book.

This one is cheating slightly, as Edgar Rice Burroughs creation has its roots in the same early 20th century pulp novels that later inspired comic-book superheroes like Batman, The Shadow, etc. The very idea of a feral child raised by apes and being an expert hunter with great dexterity instantly brings to mind Wolverine. In many ways the Wolverine of the films led a kind of wild existence before he was civilized by Professor X, much the same way Jane Porter civilizes Tarzan.

Its fitting that Elsa, loosely based on the titular character from Hans Christian Andersons fable The Snow Queen, was originally envisioned by the filmmakers as the straight-up villain of the film since she has so many similarities to DC Comics baddie Mr. Freeze. Yet she also closely resembles Marvels mutant hero Bobby Drake/Iceman in her ability to conjure and manipulate ice and snow into weapons, shields, escape routes, etc. The fact that her uncontrolled abilities are turning her kingdom of Arendelle into a veritable snowpocalypse goes hand-in-hand with typical X-Men-style drama, i.e. a mutants emotions cause their powers to get so out of hand that they wind up harming or almost harming a ton of peeps. Luckily, Elsa learns to Let It Go proper, and by the sequel Frozen II has mostly mastered her abilities.

Like Mirabel from Encanto, the title Polynesian princess of Moana may not have much in the way of powers, but her sidekick on her journey -- the shape-shifting demigod of the wind and sea and master of sailing named Maui -- certainly qualifies. The fact that he is played with gusto by living superhero Dwayne Johnson only adds to that heroic charisma. Maui is also a bit of a selfish douche, but eventually answers the call of heroism in order to restore the heart of the giant goddess Te Fiti, and fights a ton of big sea monsters along the way. The big guy also has immortality and sentient tattoos, which at a certain point is almost gilding the lily but who are we to complain? Although hes not a comic book-accurate representation, Mauis fellow Pacific Islander Jason Momoa certainly bears some resemblance as Aquaman with his numerous tattoos and overall heroic reluctance.

The Southeast Asian hero Raya is a girl right after Frank Millers heart. Shes badass, excels at martial arts and hand-to-hand combat as well as weapons like swords and sticks, and rides a big bug/armadillo creature named Tuk Tuk just like Millers beautiful assassin Elektra! Okay, maybe Elektra never rode a giant bug-thing, but the similarities are definitely there. Raya is part of the street-level superhero tradition where the persons natural talents and skills more than make up for their lack of standard powers. There is a magical gem at the center of the story with some degree of true power, but its really mostly a MacGuffin to take Raya on her heros journey.

What other Disney characters are secretly superheroes? Lets discuss in the comments!

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Encanto and 10 Other Disney Animated Movies That Are Secretly Superhero Films - IGN SOUTH EAST ASIA