Category Archives: Immortality

The 2023 Spring anime season saw the premiere of the MAPPA adaptation of Yuji Kaku's Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, a series that forms one third of a Shnen Jump trifecta of new-generation manga referred to by fans as the "Dark Trio"; three titles linked by their leaning towards darker thematic content and grizzlier visuals than their predecessors despite being published in Shnen Jump.

Of the legendary trifecta known as "The Big Three", BLEACH is the one that leans furthest into a horror-inspired narrative, with the supernatural foundation of the show enabling it to explore themes in a manner that is reminiscent of darker fantasy titles; however, it does not lean as heavily into the body horror and gore of Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, placing them firmly on different parts of the wide array of themes and concepts that make a horror title. Despite this difference; however, these two vastly different narratives are linked by their use of a single motif butterflies of death.

RELATED: Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku Introducing the Criminals Condemned To Paradise

BLEACH and Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku both contain their fair share of supernatural or fantasy elements; however, the former's narrative sets up a cosmology in which the afterlife is a real and accessible realm; while the latter is a little less concerned with the supernatural per s, setting up the island of Shinsenky as a place that completely ignores the laws of nature in a way that makes it supernatural. The fine line between Heaven and Hell is a major thematic component, as the island's beauty is directly tied to its horror. In the third episode of Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, the Vanguard Party finally arrives on the island of Shinsenky, and as Gabimaru and Sagiri explore the immediate area, Sagiri is taken aback by the vibrant beauty of the floral life and the dominance of nature in the area. This is mostly because Sagiri was skeptical that such a place truly existed, in addition to doubting the existence of the Elixir of Life they were sent there to retrieve, so the surrealness of the place was beautiful in a way she didn't think possible, therefore bringing comparisons to the cosmological concept of Heaven. However, Gabimaru didn't share her sentiment the random assortment of flora was evidence that the place did not follow any apparent rhyme or reason, making it eerie, rather than beautiful.

Towards the end of the episode, elsewhere on the island, the criminal known as Gantetsusai is also taken aback by the beauty, and a butterfly briefly settles on his left hand before he realizes the threat: the butterfly had a strange stinger at the end of its abdomen and a human face, with which it smiled eerily at him. Remembering the state of the only surviving member of a previous Elixir retrieval party, in which the man had beautiful flowers growing from his eye sockets and his mind reduced to an unresponsive state. Gantetsusai does not hesitate to chop off his own hand, afterwhich a number of monstrous abominations emerge from the nearby bushes to attack him and his attendant Yamada Asaemon Fuchi.

Generally, butterflies tend to be symbolic of aspects like transformation, change and rebirth and have been for as long as humans have observed them. In ancient Greek, butterflies were actually called "psyche", as the eponymous goddess in mythology was often represented as a beautiful woman with butterfly wings. Psyche was the goddess of the soul, and thought to be as beautiful if not more so than Aphrodite herself. Anyway, in Ancient Greek, the word for "soul" and the word for "butterfly" were one and the same, and the association of butterflies with transformation persists in a Japanese context; however, in both the Ancient Greek and the contemporary Japanese associations with butterflies, there is also a connection to death and immortality. A possible reason for this is tied to Psyche's journey, which involved several trials (two of which required her to journey to the underworld), an eventual marriage to Eros, the embodiment of love and a subsequent ascension to godhood through partaking of the drink of the gods ambrosia.

The word "psyche" in this context has also been used to mean "spirit" or "ghost"; however, in psychology, it refers to the totality of the human mind. In Japan, moths and butterflies are considered the same, with the "butterfly of the night"; and both can be associated with the spirits of the recently departed, which adds weight to the BLEACH series' using it in the very first "Death and the Strawberry", while Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku positions these butterflies in a realm where they are able to take life to support new life as their strange venom encourages the spontaneous growth of flowers across the body of the infected.

In BLEACH, the butterfly is used as a motif and also serves a functional purpose within the narrative. First seen as a representation of Rukia Kuchiki in the first episode in which she enters protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki's room, the Hell Butterfly (known in Japanese as "Jigokuch" is used by the Shinigami in the BLEACH universe to serve a variety of purposes. They have an ominous appearance, as they are completely black with some purple markings on their wings, and in certain situations, the fluttering of the Shinigami "Shihakush" (literally "Garment of Dead Souls") as they traverse through space gives the impression of the fluttering wings of a butterfly.

The main use of the Hell Butterfly is long-distance communication, with the Shinigami using them to send messages to each other across Soul Society as well as on the battlefield. They also guide Shinigami as they travel in between the Human World and Soul Society by means of the Senkaimon (VIZ "Tunnel World Gate"). Like most spiritual phenomena in the BLEACH universe, the Hell Butterflies are only visible to those with latent spiritual potential. In Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, the apparent beauty of the butterflies briefly hides their grotesque nature, which is actually depicted as inherent to their very nature in this series, which has constantly emphasized the thin line between beautiful and grotesque; life and death, and of course, Heaven and Hell. Like the Hell Butterflies from BLEACH, the human-faced butterflies on Shinsenky serve as a kind of introduction to the various abominations present on the island, but are also a dark interpretation of the transformation associated with butterflies.

MORE: Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku Manga Releases Special One-Shot

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Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku and BLEACH Have This Interesting ... - GameRant

For almost as long as recorded time, the simple tree has played a role in the story of humanity.

We have trees in mythology at the time people believed in multiple gods, and then when people began to worship one god, they continued to think about trees as a character in that narrative and not just objects, Neda Izadi 20 MFA says. Its very important when we look at history that we recognize humans have always considered the tree very important, essential for life.

Among the Abrahamic religions, Christians and Jews believe the Tree of Life grew alongside the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden, and for Muslims, the Tree of Immortality stood alone in that garden.

Whatever the belief, it started with a tree.

Its very important that we find an element that is similar in all the religious traditions and that one element it doesnt matter if youre Muslim or Jewish or Christian is the tree, Izadi says. The tree is mentioned in all these religions. Its a unifier.

And at UConn this semester, a host of programming presented as The Abrahamic Story of the Tree has centered on the importance of the stalky, woody plant, revering it for its dominance in culture, significance in the environment, and beauty in art.

Izadi says she conceived the idea for the series just over a year ago when she worked in the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice and pitched the concept to Vice President for Global Affairs Daniel Weiner, whod asked for ideas on a way to work with Global Affairs Abrahamic Programs for Academic Collaboration in the MENA Region.

The Story of the Tree, which had figured into Izadis MFA puppetry project, came to mind but not only to connect the faiths. In a world where global warming affects everyone no matter their religion, a singular tree has added value or at least it should.

As planning began, the number of departments interested in participating grew, Izadi says, drawing, for example, UConn Hillel and the Alexey von Schlippe Gallery at UConn Avery Point with student art exhibitions, Archives & Special Collections with a display of picture books and engravings, and UConn Arboretum with tours of trees around campus.

Students in the After School Academy for English Learners worked with Izadi on a puppetry performance at the Hartford Public Library and the Mansfield Downtown Partnership installed a student art exhibit in Downtown Storrs.

When we started doing this, I didnt imagine we would be doing Indonesian puppetry plays at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, but that just grew out of Matthew Cohens expertise, says Kathryn Moore, assistant professor of art history who served on the working committee to put together the programming, which includes sold-out performances of puppet arts professor Cohens Ramayana: A Tale of Trees and Wood.

Many of the programs take advantage of UConn faculty expertise, Moore says, including Magic and Majesty The Immortal Tree exhibition at the William Benton Museum of Art that painting professor Kathryn Myers and her MFA students curated.

However, Texas sculptor Beverly Penn, who casts plant material in bronze, has pieces on display at the Alexey von Schlippe Gallery at UConn Avery Point, Moore says, and work from Australian-Indonesian artist Jumaadi is on display in Migration of Flora at the Contemporary Art Galleries in the Fine Arts Complex.

We knew we wanted to invite scholars and get our own scholarly expertise involved, but we always wanted to be speaking to a general audience, Moore notes. We had that goal from the beginning.

This includes a two-day conference that Moore organized, The Tree of Life: Interconnecting Religions, Artistic Traditions, and Scientific Knowledge, on April 27-28, which culminates with a talk by evolutionary biologist Stephen Smith from the University of Michigan. Anyone is invited to join the conference, either in-person or virtually.

Making parts of the series available virtually also was important, Moore says, in part to respond to audience demand post-pandemic but also so they can live online long after the semester wraps and exhibitions are replaced.

The Tree of Life is inherently about creativity and celebrating nature. Think about what this idea can do to create dialogues between different cultures, Moore says. Were representing the beauty of nature, reflecting on the interconnectedness of nature, and finding connections between cultures that are unexpected.

Cynthia Jones, professor emeritus and director of UConn Botanical Conservatory, says there were at least a dozen trees mentioned in the Abrahamic texts and six of them are on display in the greenhouses at UConn, including a dwarf pomegranate, olive, and acacia.

While the Story of the Tree series includes many events steeped in art exhibition and performance, tours of the Arboretum and Botanical Conservatory are a way to acknowledge the scientific element and trees place in the environment.

Trees in biblical times were probably very similar to what they are now, if not identical, Jones says, explaining that a few thousand years is barely a second in evolutionary time. This means the palm branches that would have been waved when Jesus entered Jerusalem a week before Easter would look the same as they do today, for instance.

In a practical sense, humans value trees because they provide wood for shelter, food in the form of nuts and fruits, and shade from the sun, Jones says. Theyre part of a thin green layer if all vegetation were compacted over the Earths land mass, it would be only about 10 inches deep and supports all of life on Earth, taking in carbon dioxide, storing energy in the form of sugars, and releasing oxygen.

More than that, theyre also good for mental health, which might be one reason property in Manhattan on a tree-lined street often is more expensive than that a block over without trees, Jones says.

Trees offer what I think of as the human connection to nature, she adds. It might be biophilic, an evolutionary tendency to connect to other living things. It might be that theyre comforting to look at and allow our brain to recover from too much concentration. Trees are really important in the way they affect our emotional health and our sense of wellbeing. You can walk outside and look up into the canopy of a tree and watch the light playing on the leaves for three minutes and feel so much better.

An online calendar of events happening in conjunction with The Abrahamic Story of the Tree can be found online. The project comes with support from the School of Fine Arts, Humanities Institute, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Human Rights Institute, Asian and Asian American Studies Institute, Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, William Benton Museum of Art, UConn Hillel, and the Mansfield Downtown Partnership Abrahamic Programs.

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Creating a character in a video game using various tools is easy. Or at least, the basic concept of creating one as, is in execution, you can get caught up for well over an hour or so as you try to get every detail right. Now, creating an entire mythology of sorts out of an entire set of characters, that would be trickier, especially if what you create had a major impact on those who you would interact with. That would be the main hook of The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, the latest game from Devolver Digital and developers Deconstructeam, where you get to eventually craft an entire tarot deck and perform readings with it, crafting the fates of various friends and colleagues along the way.

The part about creating your own tarot deck is strong enough of a hook, but then theres the actual story behind it all, where you play as a witch thats been sentenced to exile on an asteroid in a cosmic void who eventually summons a massive Behemoth in order to help them get out. Said witch is Fortuna, the player character who was exiled for performing a divination that ended with a prediction that their covens leaders were less than thrilled with, and said Behemoth is Abramar, another imprisoned being willing to strike a deal with Fortuna and provide them with the magical energy needed in order to craft their own tarot deck.

Said deal comes with a catch, of course. As Abramar teaches Fortuna about the different types of elements and energy needed for creating new cards air, water, earth, and fire he asks her a series of questions about what she wants to eventually achieve with their new power, from how they want to be perceived to want they ultimately desire, culminating with what Fortuna would be willing to give up if order to be free, such as the death of a loved one or their own immortality. As the demo we played only covered the first hour or so, we havent yet been able to see exactly how your choices will fully affect things, but the dialogue alone between the nonchalant Fortuna and the massive Abramar as they discuss their goals once again shows Deconstructeams skills when it comes to captivating characters and dialogue, as they slowly begin to understand one another through basic chat and some practice tarot readings.

Speaking of tarot readings, lets discuss the main meat of the gameplay, the tarot cards. As you earn energy through the game, you can use it to create new cards, heading into the basement of Fortunas asteroid cottage prison in order to craft them. To do so, you pick a setting, a central figure, and various accessories, all with their own detailed stories and history behind them, like interstellar mining colonies, mother wolves, a cosmic bow and arrow, or the occasional shout out to other Deconstructeam titles such as The Red Strings Club. Creating the cards as you move around the background, pose figures, and scale and rotate bits is fun and easy to do, and can leave players sucked in for a while.

Once youre done, the various elements chosen for your card are analyzed, and a name and legend is provided based on your choices, along with the various meanings that the card can represent. Certain choices cost different combinations of energy, however, which is gained through the readings you perform with the cards. After a few tests with Abramar, we eventually get our chance to try it out on a visiting witch going over Fortunas sentence, determining if its still fair or not and if theyre eligible for some sort of parole. You shuffle your deck, draw a card, then place it in the area representing what your friend would like to know. Depending on your card, you then get to select from a series of meanings, allowing you to divine the persons wishes. The officer wants to know about their future? Well, depending on your card, it may not be a happy future, and you get to tell them if they can expect to lose a limb or wind up killing a fellow member of the coven.

Again, the demo only provided a taste of things to come, but what a taste it was. The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is already doing an amazing job in making me want to experiment with its tarot creation even more, wanting to see not just how many combinations can be created, but how they can eventually influence a persons future as well. Of course, the deals made with Abramar help a bit for Fortuna, such as a choice I made about wanting to be idolized clearly influencing the visiting witchs perception at one point. Speaking of which, while the game doesnt seem to provide much in the way of different locations, the visuals are still striking, especially with the contrast between Fortunas cozy cottage and the massive Abramar wrapped around it, whom only they can see.

The demo wrapped up with one last twist, though, as we suddenly get a flashback to more modern times, showing Fortuna as a food truck owner on a road trip with their sister and friend towards a meteor shower, displaying Fortunas skills with a regular tarot deck as they receive a premonition of things to come, with all of this being the apparent origin of how they became a witch. It should be interesting to see where this origin goes and where her newfound skills at crafting tarot cards leads them in the present, and between the captivating narrative and the unique mechanic of tarot creation and divination, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood looks to be an impressive and fun journey when it comes out later this year.

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The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is an Inspired Tarot-Crafting Game - Hardcore Gamer

The wait is finally over! HoYoverses latest space-faring RPG, Honkai: Star Rail, is now available on PC and Android/iOS mobile devices. Now players can begin their intergalactic adventure, with various worlds to explore and many distinctive characters to interact. The developer has also confirmed that a PlayStation version is currently under development and will be releasing soon.

Players will meet new companions with distinctive backgrounds, personalities, and skill sets, such as March 7th, the passionate girl and Dan Heng, the indifferent guard of Astral Express, and fight side by side with them. Meanwhile, their buried pasts shall be revealed soon enough. More characters, such as Kafka, Serval, Jing Yuan, and Himeko, might vary on their backstories and lore, but they are all part of the same ravishing journey and are more than willing to lend their hands whenever necessary.

To embrace the official launch, several events are currently being held in-game to celebrate the departure of the Astral Express, such as a campaign to level up your Trailblazer Level and obtain up to 40 Star Rail Passes, and free rewards to celebrate the amount of pre-registrations. After clearing a bit of the tutorial, players can claim 20 Star Rail Passes, the 4-star character Serval, a special in-game avatar, and 100,000 in-game credits.

Honkai: Star Rail is a space fantasy RPG title with a journey through immense worlds of the unknown. The game features fantasy elements with myths and legends integrated into the space sci-fi story. Combined with the intuitive turn-based combat system, large maps with maze exploration, and immersive storylines that together compose an interstellar melody filled with surprises and rewarding experiences, that echo throughout the universe!

Implanted with a Stellaron, the protagonist bravely sets sail for the galaxy to drill down to the truth revolving around the so-called Cancer of All Worlds. Players will be able to experience a vast universe abundant in distinctive cultures, landscapes, and scenery. From the Herta Space Station where the knowledge reserve of the universe and the forthcoming journey has been granted, to Jarilo-VI where numerous dangers and conflicts are frozen beneath the snow, to Xianzhou Luofu, the silkpunk flagship infused with eastern fantasy where development and dispute are focusing on the topic of immortality.

Honkai: Star Rail can be downloaded from theofficial website,App StoreandGoogle Play.

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Honkai Star Rail Officially Available On Mobile And PC; PlayStation ... - Noisy Pixel

The meta breaker is at it again.

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang content creator Edgar ChooxTV Dumali is well-known for his unconventional and often eccentric hero builds. However, none of it quite compares to his iconic Tank Layla.

Laylas strengths usually lie in her long-range damage-dealing abilities, but he has turned that on its head by giving her the durability to go toe-to-toe with opponents.

During the ALLSTAR Music Carnival, ChooxTV spilled the beans on his obsession with the Tank Layla build and even let slip his closely-guarded item build.

According to him, Layla doesnt require any physical damage items.

Of course, my first item is very simple for you to win, said Choox. Thunder Belt, because that belt thunders so loudly.

According to the streamer, the next item in the build will make Thunder Belt even stronger. Second, Athenas Shield. Because Thunder Belt with antenna (Athena), is very powerful, isnt it? he added.

Third, Immortality so you can live again, he explained. Fourth, Dominance Ice so that you can be solid on the battlefield.

His last two items were Blade Armor and Queens Wings, explaining that these will make you stronger and make you a queen on the battlefield.

The item build heavily emphasizes tank items, to the extent that boots are not even included on his list. Instead, Choox recommends using the Sprint battle spell to compensate for Laylas slow movement speed.

And while he forgot the emblem talent names, he reminds us that the Tank emblem is crucial to this build.

And while many would not follow this running gag in ranked, ChooxTV posted a video on his YouTube a few months ago dominating a game with tank Layla.

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READ MORE: If you cant master these 5 advanced Paquito combos, youre not a true fighter

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ChooxTV's iconic tank Layla build will have you scratching your head - ONE Esports

Sometimes its rewarding to watch a challenging movie like Beau Is Afraid, which requires you to try to figure out what is going on from literally its first frame.

And sometimes its an absolute blast to just sit back, turn off your brain for an hour and a half and watch an old guy take out a small army of Nazis with a pickax and grim determination.

So it is with Sisu, Jalmari Helanders outrageous and outrageously fun film. It spills blood like it was beer at a bachelor party, but with enough of a wink and a nod to assure us that Helander isnt taking the whole thing so seriously that we cant laugh a little.

Or a lot.

'Beau Is Afraid' review: Joaquin Phoenix will make you squirm in the Kafkaesque nightmare

The film begins with on-screen text telling us that sisu is a Finnish word for which there is no direct translation. Yes, the no-translation bit is often a copout to add a little artificial intrigue, but its not a fatal flaw here. The loose meaning is white-knuckled courage in the face of overwhelming odds. Invincibility seems to play a role, as well maybe even immortality.

This context will come in handy. We meet Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila), for whom the word grizzled could have been invented, as he and his horse and dog look for gold in northern Finland. Its 1944, and the war is all but over. Desperate Nazis are in retreat, and burning, looting and pillaging everything in their path.

Aatami is an old soldier, we learn, but has left war behind. Or so he thought. As he digs fruitlessly the sounds of battle inch closer and closer. He blithely ignores a squadron of fighter planes that soar overhead.

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Then one day he strikes gold, and lots of it. He packs it into bags and heads to civilization. Except he is met by Nazis along the way. They have kidnapped several young women and seem gleeful in their evil.

At first they let Aatami pass, but eventually figure out what he has in his saddlebags. They take some of his gold.

And then he kills them. Brutally. Knife-through-the-skull kind of thing. Aatami escapes, and Bruno (Aksel Hennie), the SS officer leading the Nazis, gets word from headquarters that they are not to pursue Aatami. Did you tell them he killed seven of our men, Bruno asks the radio operator?

Yes, he says. They say we were lucky.

Meanwhile Aino (Mimosa Willamo), one of the captured women, explains to the Nazis who Aatami really is: a former soldier who killed 300 Russians after they murdered his family. He will not stop, at any cost, to get revenge.

Is he immortal, a soldier asks? No. He just refuses to die.

Its not for lack of trying on the part of Bruno and his henchman Wolf (Jack Doolan). Bruno sees a path to buy his way out of postwar prosecution and so ignores orders, continuing to chase Aatami.

As the Grail Knight says in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, he chose poorly.

Aatami is relentless. He takes punches. He gets blown up. He hangs with his pickax from a plane in flight. And still he fights on.

Tommila plays Aatami as the strong, silent type so silent that he doesnt speak until theres about a minute left in the film. He does his talking with his fists. And his knife. And, of course, his pickax. There is a great scene in which he is taking his time with one Nazi when a couple more pull up on motorcycle.

Thats him, they say, and stare. Aatami merely looks at them, points his pickax like the Grim Reaper with his scythe and grunts. The two drop their guns and flee.

Aino seems to have a little sisu in her, as well; Willamo is compelling in brief appearances.

The violence is gory enough to make the audience squirm, and just cartoonish enough to give it permission to laugh. Like the John Wick movies, its really one brutal set piece after another, though the choreography is not as poetic here.

It is fun, though, and fully nuts. In case there was any question, thats a compliment.

'Showing Up' review: Trudging through when life gets in the way

Great Good

Fair Bad Bomb

Director: Jalmari Helander.

Cast: Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie, Mimosa Willamo.

Rating: R for strong bloody violence, gore and language.

How to watch: In theaters Friday, April 28.

Reach Goodykoontz atbill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Facebook@GoodyOnFilmand on Twitter@goodyk. Subscribe tothe weekly movies newsletter.

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'Sisu' review: Nazi-killing World War II film is a gory good time - The Arizona Republic

Biological immortality (sometimes referred to as bio-indefinite mortality) is a state in which the rate of mortality from senescence is stable or decreasing, thus decoupling it from chronological age. Various unicellular and multicellular species, including some vertebrates, achieve this state either throughout their existence or after living long enough. A biologically immortal living being can still die from means other than senescence, such as through injury, poison, disease, predation, lack of available resources, or changes to environment.

This definition of immortality has been challenged in the Handbook of the Biology of Aging,[1] because the increase in rate of mortality as a function of chronological age may be negligible at extremely old ages, an idea referred to as the late-life mortality plateau. The rate of mortality may cease to increase in old age, but in most cases that rate is typically very high.[2]

The term is also used by biologists to describe cells that are not subject to the Hayflick limit on how many times they can divide.

According to the Animal Aging and Longevity Database, the list of animals with negligible aging (along with estimated longevity in the wild) includes:[12]

In 2018, scientists working for Calico, a company owned by Alphabet, published a paper in the journal eLife which presents possible evidence that Heterocephalus glaber (Naked mole rat) do not face increased mortality risk due to aging.[13][14][15]

Many unicellular organisms age: as time passes, they divide more slowly and ultimately die. Asymmetrically dividing bacteria and yeast also age. However, symmetrically dividing bacteria and yeast can be biologically immortal under ideal growing conditions.[16] In these conditions, when a cell splits symmetrically to produce two daughter cells, the process of cell division can restore the cell to a youthful state. However, if the parent asymmetrically buds off a daughter only the daughter is reset to the youthful statethe parent isn't restored and will go on to age and die. In a similar manner stem cells and gametes can be regarded as "immortal".

Hydras are a genus of the Cnidaria phylum. All cnidarians can regenerate, allowing them to recover from injury and to reproduce asexually. Hydras are simple, freshwater animals possessing radial symmetry and contain post-mitotic cells (cells that will never divide again) only in the extremities.[17] All hydra cells continually divide.[18] It has been suggested that hydras do not undergo senescence, and, as such, are biologically immortal. In a four-year study, 3 cohorts of hydra did not show an increase in mortality with age. It is possible that these animals live much longer, considering that they reach maturity in 5 to 10 days.[19] However, this does not explain how hydras are subsequently able to maintain telomere lengths.

Turritopsis dohrnii, or Turritopsis nutricula, is a small (5 millimeters (0.20in)) species of jellyfish that uses transdifferentiation to replenish cells after sexual reproduction. This cycle can repeat indefinitely, potentially rendering it biologically immortal. This organism originated in the Caribbean sea, but has now spread around the world.[citation needed] Key molecular mechanisms of its rejuvenation appear to involve DNA replication and repair, and stem cell renewal, according to a comparative genomics study.[20][21]

Similar cases include hydrozoan Laodicea undulata[22] and scyphozoan Aurelia sp.1.[23]

Research suggests that lobsters may not slow down, weaken, or lose fertility with age, and that older lobsters may be more fertile than younger lobsters. This does not however make them immortal in the traditional sense, as they are significantly more likely to die at a shell moult the older they get (as detailed below).

Their longevity may be due to telomerase, an enzyme that repairs long repetitive sections of DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes, referred to as telomeres. Telomerase is expressed by most vertebrates during embryonic stages but is generally absent from adult stages of life.[24] However, unlike vertebrates, lobsters express telomerase as adults through most tissue, which has been suggested to be related to their longevity.[25][26][27] Contrary to popular belief, lobsters are not immortal. Lobsters grow by moulting which requires considerable energy, and the larger the shell the more energy is required.[28] Eventually, the lobster will die from exhaustion during a moult. Older lobsters are also known to stop moulting, which means that the shell will eventually become damaged, infected, or fall apart and they die.[29] The European lobster has an average life span of 31 years for males and 54 years for females.

Planarian flatworms have both sexually and asexually reproducing types. Studies on genus Schmidtea mediterranea suggest these planarians appear to regenerate (i.e. heal) indefinitely, and asexual individuals have an "apparently limitless [telomere] regenerative capacity fueled by a population of highly proliferative adult stem cells". "Both asexual and sexual animals display age-related decline in telomere length; however, asexual animals are able to maintain telomere lengths somatically (i.e. during reproduction by fission or when regeneration is induced by amputation), whereas sexual animals restore telomeres by extension during sexual reproduction or during embryogenesis like other sexual species. Homeostatic telomerase activity observed in both asexual and sexual animals is not sufficient to maintain telomere length, whereas the increased activity in regenerating asexuals is sufficient to renew telomere length... "[30]

For sexually reproducing planaria: "the lifespan of individual planarian can be as long as 3 years, likely due to the ability of neoblasts to constantly replace aging cells". Whereas for asexually reproducing planaria: "individual animals in clonal lines of some planarian species replicating by fission have been maintained for over 15 years".[31][32]

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Biological immortality - Wikipedia

Immortality Director Considering Using Graphics, Rather Than Actors and Sets, for His Next ... - Latest  LatestLY

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Immortality Director Considering Using Graphics, Rather Than Actors and Sets, for His Next ... - Latest - LatestLY

2022 video game

Immortality is an interactive film video game developed by Sam Barlow and published by Half Mermaid Productions. It was released for Windows and Xbox Series X/S in August 2022. Android and iOS versions through Netflix app were released in November 2022. A macOS version is also in the works.

The game is based on the fictional model turned actress Marissa Marcel (Manon Gage) who had starred in three movies from 1968, 1970, and 1999 but which were never released. Marcel has since gone missing, creating a mystery for the player to solve. In the same manner as Barlow's prior works Her Story and Telling Lies, Immortality incorporates the use of full-motion video for the player to piece together Marcel's fate.[1] The player begins with one clip from one of the three films, and the player can pause and click on a person or item of interest. The game will then show all other clips from the three films, as well as behind-the-scenes production footage and television and interview clips, which the player can review and seek out further persons or items.[2]

Much of the plot is shown through secret footage the player reveals by manipulating the footage from the films, TV interviews, etc.; because of this, the plot progresses in a non-chronological, broken narrative format. This synopsis follows chronological order.

Two immortal beings, credited as "The One" and "The Other One," predate humanity and are able to live indefinitely by taking on the forms of humans and living their lives. This ostensibly ends the human's life, though elements of their personalities and memories mingle with the beings' own personalities and memories. Their kind's numbers have dwindled since human civilization began. They can regenerate from being killed, though some methods, especially burning, are implied to be permanent, although the ending throws even this into question.

The One and The Other One seem to be a pair, though their relationship is never explicitly defined. The One is fascinated with humanity, particularly their proclivities for sex, violence, and art. The Other One is ambivalent toward Humanity, seeing them as inferior copies of the immortal beings, and believes that the immortals and humans should exist separate from each other. However, they indulge The One in their exploration of humanity.

The One becomes Marissa Marcel, a French girl who is implied to have been mortally wounded by German soldiers in World War II and absorbed by The One as a mercy. In 1968 she auditions and is awarded a role in Ambrosio, a film based on the gothic novel The Monk by Matthew Lewis. During filming she becomes romantically involved with director of photography John Durick. The film's director, Arthur Fischer, steals the negatives, which prevents the film from ever being released.

Two years later, John directs Minsky, a detective story set in New York City's avant-garde art world. He casts Marissa as a lead; she also has significant creative input in the rest of the film. The Other One, taking the form of a man named Carl Goodman, also joins the cast as the film's other lead. Marissa and John's relationship deteriorates, possibly because Carl also begins a romantic relationship with John. While filming a scene, Marissa shoots and kills Carl with a prop gun at point blank range. To the rest of the cast and crew, this appears to be a tragic accident; the truth is that The One intentionally killed The Other One. Carl's death causes filming to halt, and the film is never released. Marissa reveals to John her and Carl's true natures as immortals, and tells him that she killed Carl. John is horrified by this, which disappoints The One. She murders John and takes on his form, shedding Marissa's form. The general public assumes Marissa became a recluse.

Nearly 30 years later, Fischer gives the negatives from Ambrosio to John in an attempt to free himself from deathbed regrets. The nostalgia causes The One to remember Marissa fondly and take on her form simultaneously with John's form, essentially existing in two bodies at once. Meanwhile, the actress Amy Archer watches footage of Carl's death, which allows The Other One to take her form. John, Marissa, and Amy begin work on a new film, Two of Everything, a drama film about a pop star named Maria who allows her coincidentally-identical body double Heather to pretend to be Maria so that she can live a pop star lifestyle and Maria can have a break from it. John directs, Marissa plays both Maria and Heather (paralleling The One's attempt to exist as two people), and Amy plays a villain character who murders Heather, thinking she is Maria. During filming, both John and Marissa behave strangely: Marissa is sometimes unresponsive and suffers nosebleeds, and both she and John occasionally collapse in exhaustion. John is also frequently absent during filming, implying that he vanishes when The One cannot maintain both forms. In several pieces of footage Amy pleads with Marissa to take breaks, but Marissa rebuffs her concerns. During one take, Marissa spontaneously bleeds from her head. The Other One tells her that their kind cannot sustain existing in two forms at once. Before Marissa becomes completely unresponsive, she asks Amy/The Other One to help her die onscreen as The Other One did, and therefore become truly immortalized in film. Amy films herself burning an inert Marissa's body. Two of Everything never finishes filming.

After the player watches Marissa burn, the grid containing all the clips they've collected during the game slowly disappear, revealing the face of The One. They tell the player they are "part of you, now," implying the player is their new host.

Barlow had announced Immortality as "Project Ambrosio" in 2020 and had blogged about its development over the year. His writing suggested that the game may have more of a horror-themed nature than his previous games, along with several passages marked as if classified or redacted information.[3][4] Barlow brought on three additional screenwriters for the game: Allan Scott, Amelia Gray, and Barry Gifford.[1] The game was formally announced during the E3 2021 event in June that year for Microsoft Windows, iOS, and Android.[1] In March 2022, Half Mermaid Productions announced that a version for Xbox Series X/S would also be available at launch.[5] During PC Gaming Show 2022, it was announced that the game would release on 26 July 2022, but was later delayed to 30 August 2022.[6][7] In August 2022, it was announced that the mobile ports would be published by Netflix.[8]

Immortality premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2022.[9] It was subsequently released on August 30, 2022 on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox Game Pass, and Windows via Steam and GOG.[10] It released on Netflix via Google Play and IOS in November 2022.[11]

Immortality received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic.[12][13]

In an early review due to its print format, Edge awarded Immortality a perfect 10/10 score, the 24th game in its history to do so.[25]

In addition, Immortality has been praised for its acting performances, notably that of Manon Gage, who has received critical acclaim for her performance as Marissa Marcel. Edge called her performance "outstanding." Vulture's Lewis Gordon called it "a knockout performance."[26] PJ O'Reilly of Pure Xbox said Gage "provides a core performance that marks her out as an absolute superstar in the making."[27] Vice's Cameron Kunzelman noted: "...watching Gage play Marcel playing these characters is like watching someone juggle while riding a unicycle in the middle of the Indy 500, and she does it perfectly and without breaking a sweat. Its really something."[28]

Charlotta Mohlin has also been praised for her performance, with Edge calling her "remarkable",[25] and Tristan Ogilvie of IGN calling her "spellbinding."[29] Well Played AU's James Wood said "[Mohlin's] work is something I will be thinking about for years to come."[30] Nate Hermanson of Video Games Are Good noted Mohlin "[makes] us cry, laugh, shudder, and blush in almost every scene she [is] in."[31]

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Lionel Messi attains footballing immortality and receives royal coronation on the grandest stage of them all - VAVEL.com