I say: who wants to live forever? You say ...<\/p>\n
Who dares to love forever, ooh, when love must die ... My favourite Queen song, after Under Pressure.<\/p>\n
Wrong answer. It's Jeff Bezos. The Amazon boss has invested heavily in research to reverse the ageing process. <\/p>\n
Or Google cofounder Larry Page, who funds a \"longevity lab\". <\/p>\n
Or Larry Ellison, Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg and multiple Silicon Valley billionaires throwing coin at life-extending studies. <\/p>\n
Unless \"achieve immortality\" is on your to-do list, you're no tech tycoon.<\/p>\n
The rich and powerful have attempted to dodge death since time began. <\/p>\n
And as none of them are still around, we know how that always ends.<\/p>\n
True, but we might at least be able to extend our longevity.<\/p>\n
No time to die, hey? Very right-now, very Bond. What's the buzz?<\/p>\n
A new French study has revealed we stop ageing after we reach 105 years old.<\/p>\n
Of course we do. It's called dying.<\/p>\n
Not for everyone. The researchers studied 10,000 people aged over 105 and concluded our risk of death becomes fixed after that age.<\/p>\n
These \"supercentenarians\" have effectively stopped the clock.<\/p>\n
I'd be more excited if we stopped it half a century earlier, when my pores were still tight.<\/p>\n
That's the goal. Immortality believers see ageing as a curable illness.<\/p>\n
And the search for remedies is leading down a maze of rabbit holes: parabiosis, the creepily vampiric theory of youthful blood's rejuvenating effects; switching on genes to create new stem cells, and the secrets of long-lived animals. <\/p>\n
For example, did you know that clams don't age? <\/p>\n
You could eat a clam predating your great, great grandmother.<\/p>\n
Suddenly the idea of chowder seems obscene. Is that why they say \"happy as a clam?\"<\/p>\n
Aha! There's the existential question: would immortality actually be fun?<\/p>\n
Maybe only if you're Jeff Bezos, with enough money for a few millennia. It's all about quality of life, right?<\/p>\n
That's where the supercentenarians come in.<\/p>\n
These golden oldies enjoy astonishingly rude health. <\/p>\n
Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122, took up fencing at 85, was still cycling at 100 and finally quit smoking at a sprightly 117. <\/p>\n
Scientists believe there's something extra-resilient about the supercentenarian immune system that might hold the key to an enhanced \"healthspan\" as well as lifespan.<\/p>\n
Coming soon on Amazon Prime, no doubt.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Read the original:<\/p>\n
Searching for the elusive key to eternal life - Northern Beaches Review<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I say: who wants to live forever? You say ... Who dares to love forever, ooh, when love must die .. Continue reading