Background
All living things today are essentially already immortal. We should be able to, someday, trace ourselves back through 50 billion DNA copyings over 4 billion years to determine our Luca. Our DNA has, thus, had everlasting life. Of course, we live through our children and their children. Then, too, the products of our life, such as books and statues, live for a very long time. However, Woody Allen has expressed a sense that he was not satisfied living forever through his works, for he wanted to live forever by not dying. Conscious eternal life, if not rejuvenation and reversal, then, is an ultimate goal on the level of world peace and universal happiness. Sounds a bit like Heaven.
It has been speculated that someday, through human cloning and the transfer of your memory to this new body, eternal life can be attained. Computer technology now exceeds 100 trillion calculations per second, and will be 100 times greater in a decade, at which size the brain can be simulated. Such a computer should only cost about $1000 in 2020. Then there are algorithms and biological interfacing challenges. This should all be possible in 25 years. However the focus in the following discussion will be on biological immortality.
The search, thus, is for the aging gene. Science is on to finding it and stopping the tick of this biological clock. The human genome table offers this opportunity. As chemists once tinkered with the periodic table of elements (there are 115 elements, although one atom of 118, Ununoctium, guessed to be a colorless gas, was first found in 2002, leaving 113, 115 and 117 still undiscovered) bioscientists are today just beginning the quest with many thousand times more “elements.”
There is a difference between life expectancy and life span, with the former the number of years something is expected to live, and the latter referring to the maximum age possible. Some animals, such as alligators and female flounders, apparently, have no limit. The Turritopsis nutricula jellyfish can transform itself back into a child. There are definite clues here on what scientists might explore.
Our early humans had a life expectancy of 18, although averages as high as 33 have been reported for limited periods tens of thousands of years ago, which actually dropped back down to 18 during the Bronze Age (3500-1200 BC) with more crowded conditions causing infections and lack of proper nutrition. During classical Greek and Roman periods, the lifespan was 28, which improved back up to 33 in Medieval England. The average today is 67, with females at 69.5 and males at 65. Andorra, in the Pyrenees Mountains has the highest at 83.5, with Japan #2 at 82.6. The U.S. is #39 at 78.2.
The oldest human ever was Jeanne Calment of France, who quit smoking at the age of 117 and passed away in 1997 at the age of 122. As of this writing, the oldest man is Walter Breuning of Montana, 112, taking over from Henry Allingham of the UK.
All living things today are essentially already immortal. We should be able to, someday, trace ourselves back through 50 billion DNA copyings over 4 billion years to determine our Luca. Our DNA has, thus, had everlasting life. Of course, we live through our children and their children. Then, too, the products of our life, such as books and statues, live for a very long time. However, Woody Allen has expressed a sense that he was not satisfied living forever through his works, for he wanted to live forever by not dying. Conscious eternal life, if not rejuvenation and reversal, then, is an ultimate goal on the level of world peace and universal happiness. Sounds a bit like Heaven.
It has been speculated that someday, through human cloning and the transfer of your memory to this new body, eternal life can be attained. Computer technology now exceeds 100 trillion calculations per second, and will be 100 times greater in a decade, at which size the brain can be simulated. Such a computer should only cost about $1000 in 2020. Then there are algorithms and biological interfacing challenges. This should all be possible in 25 years. However the focus in the following discussion will be on biological immortality.
The search, thus, is for the aging gene. Science is on to finding it and stopping the tick of this biological clock. The human genome table offers this opportunity. As chemists once tinkered with the periodic table of elements (there are 115 elements, although one atom of 118, Ununoctium, guessed to be a colorless gas, was first found in 2002, leaving 113, 115 and 117 still undiscovered) bioscientists are today just beginning the quest with many thousand times more “elements.”
There is a difference between life expectancy and life span, with the former the number of years something is expected to live, and the latter referring to the maximum age possible. Some animals, such as alligators and female flounders, apparently, have no limit. The Turritopsis nutricula jellyfish can transform itself back into a child. There are definite clues here on what scientists might explore.
Our early humans had a life expectancy of 18, although averages as high as 33 have been reported for limited periods tens of thousands of years ago, which actually dropped back down to 18 during the Bronze Age (3500-1200 BC) with more crowded conditions causing infections and lack of proper nutrition. During classical Greek and Roman periods, the lifespan was 28, which improved back up to 33 in Medieval England. The average today is 67, with females at 69.5 and males at 65. Andorra, in the Pyrenees Mountains has the highest at 83.5, with Japan #2 at 82.6. The U.S. is #39 at 78.2.
The oldest human ever was Jeanne Calment of France, who quit smoking at the age of 117 and passed away in 1997 at the age of 122. As of this writing, the oldest man is Walter Breuning of Montana, 112, taking over from Henry Allingham of the UK.
Walter (on left) was too old to serve in World War II. The oldest woman appears to be Gertrude Baines of California at 115, although an unprovable 120 has been reported from Israel for Mariam Amash. Since 1955 there have been 54 oldest humans, so, on average, there is a new oldest person about every years.
In 1964, Donald Currey, a graduate student from the University of North Carolina, received permission from the U.S. Forest Service to cut down Prometheus, a bristlecone pine growing at altitude on Wheeler Peak, and by counting rings, determined that it was 4862 years old. Currey died in 2004 at the age of 70. What a tragedy, the death of Prometheus! Can we learn from trees? Well, Michael Cohen wrote the "rest of the story," providing some interesting background as to what really happened.
The life span for the Galapagos tortoise is 193, Bowhead Whale 211 (harpoon of 1790 attached to body), giant aldabra tortoise 250 years, and Icelandic Cyprine mollusk.
However, in 2007, it was reported that Ming, an ocean quahog clam, was at least 405 years old, making this the oldest animal who ever lived Incidentally, guess what, to determine the age of Ming, British scientist had to count the rings of its shell. By doing so, they also killed the clam. We did it again.
Medical researchers studying animals have determined that a 50% caloric intake can increase mean life span by 65% and anti-oxidants MLS up to 30%. There definitely are clues here.
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The stock market remained steady, up 4 to 9544, with world markets mostly declining. Crude oil is still slipping, but remains in the 70's, while gold is unchanged at $946/toz.
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That Atlantic disturbance was upgraded to Tropical Storm Danny, now at 45 MPH. It has a path similar to Bill, but closer to the Eastern Seaboard. A few models predict landfall in the U.S.
Tropical Storm Hilda should pass well south of Hawaii.
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