Longevity

Longevity may refer to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas life expectancy is defined statistically as the average number of years remaining at a given age. For example, a population's life expectancy at birth is the same as the average age at death for all people born in the same year (in the case of cohorts).

Longevity studies may involve putative methods to extend life. Longevity has been a topic not only for the scientific community but also for writers of travel, science fiction, and utopian novels. The legendary fountain of youth appeared in the work of the Ancient Greek historian Herodotus.

There are difficulties in authenticating the longest human life span, owing to inaccurate or incomplete birth statistics. Fiction, legend, and folklore have proposed or claimed life spans in the past or future vastly longer than those verified by modern standards, and longevity narratives and unverified longevity claims frequently speak of their existence in the present.

A life annuity is a form of longevity insurance.

Source: Longevity (wikipedia.org)

Brain power dropped among over-50s during Covid-19 pandemic, study shows

The Covid pandemic may have impacted brain health in people in the UK aged 50 and over, according to a new study. More than 3,000 volunteers completed yearly questionnaires and online cognitive tests to measure changes in memory, and other faculties, as the pandemic unfolded.

Japan: One in 10 people aged 80 or older for first time

For the first time ever, more than one in 10 people in Japan are now aged 80 years or older. Official data released to mark Japan's annual Respect for Aged Day holiday also shows the proportion of Japanese over 65 at a record of 29.1% this year.

Should we be worried about older politicians?

Pauline Newman, now 96, holds a lifetime position as a US federal judge. Though she wants to carry on working, she's in the midst of lawsuits with colleagues who want her to retire. The US has become a hotspot for debates about whether people in the political sphere can ever be too old to lead.

The curious ways your skin shapes your health

I'm canoeing through the Ardèche gorge in southern France – and attracting some peculiar looks. It's early afternoon on a blazing July day, and the sky is a perfect canvas of cobalt blue.

Did People Used To Look Older?

Join the Curiosity Box NOW and I'll send you a bunch of free stuff! https://www.curiositybox.com/pages/vsauce Follow me: https://twitter.com/tweetsauce https://www.instagram.com/electricpants Carl Sagan High School yearbook: https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss85590.041/?sp=2&r=-0.241,0,1.481,1.244,0

Wees (een beetje) coulant voor ‘bepaalde’ witte mannen van boven de 55

Vorige week schreef ik hoe je als ‘kantoor-boomer’ (ouwe zak) het beste kan omgaan met jonge collega’s. Nou, dat heb ik geweten. Iedereen boos. Woe-den-de reacties op Twitter en LinkedIn.

Millennials op je werk? Pas dan op met grapjes

Twintig jaar geleden zette je een vacature op een website en dan kwamen er vanzelf hordes jonge mensen op af. Tegenwoordig mag je al blij zijn als er één verdwaalde millennial reageert op 63 pogingen, en dat die niet na twee jaar alweer weg is naar zijn volgende baan.

Are Baby Boomers having the best time in bed?

Society loves to focus on the sex and dating lives of Gen Z and millennials. How are they dating, what sexual orientations are they identifying with and what are their relationships like? But as glossy as young love may be, dating and sex don’t begin and end in young adulthood. 

Mutations across species reveal clues to ageing

How long animals live is linked to how quickly their genetic code mutates, a study suggests. Researchers discovered that mammals - from tigers to humans - have roughly the same number of mutations by the time they die of old age.

Can exercise reverse the ageing process?

While many in their 80s and 90s may be starting to take it easy, 85-year-old track star Irene Obera is at the other end of the spectrum.

Meet this year's oldest London Marathon runner

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Meet this year's oldest London Marathon runnerJohn Starbrook, who at 87 is the oldest runner taking part in the London Marathon on Sunday, trains so much that his family have threatened to set fire to his shoes.

Dutchman, 69, brings lawsuit to lower his age 20 years

Emile Ratelband, 69, wants to shift his birthday from 11 March 1949 to 11 March 1969, comparing the change to identifying as being transgender. "We live in a time when you can change your name and change your gender. Why can't I decide my own age?" he said.

Muscle loss in old age linked to fewer nerve signals

Researchers say they may have worked out why there is a natural loss of muscle in the legs as people age - and that it is due to a loss of nerves. In tests on 168 men, they found that nerves controlling the legs decreased by around 30% by the age of 75.

How to Cure Aging – During Your Lifetime?

What if we could stop aging forever? Thanks so much for help with the video to Lifespan.io. Check them out and learn how you can get active here: Lifespan.io facebook.com/LifespanIO https://www.leafscience.org/blog/ Sources and further reading: https://sites.google.com/view/sources-aging-part-i

Why aren't we living longer?

For the best part of two centuries people's life expectancy has been improving at a pretty rapid and consistent rate. In the 1840s people did not live much past 40 on average.

Tips for longevity from the oldest people on Earth

Residents of Okinawa, otherwise known as the 'island of the immortals’, are more likely to live to 100 than people in most other regions of Japan.

Rejuvenation of woman's skin could tackle diseases of ageing

Researchers have rejuvenated a 53-year-old woman's skin cells so they are the equivalent of a 23-year-old's. The scientists in Cambridge believe that they can do the same thing with other tissues in the body.

The secret to a long and healthy life? Eat less

BBC Future has brought you in-depth and rigorous stories to help you navigate the current pandemic, but we know that’s not all you want to read. So now we’re dedicating a series to help you escape.

Blue zone

Blue zones are regions of the world thought to have a higher than usual number of people live much longer than average, identified by Gianni Pes and Michel Poulain.

In search of the Old Ones: Where to find the world's longest-lived trees

The sycamore that stood in a gap in Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, England, was "only" about 200 years old when last month it met a violent end. But the grief about its felling speaks to longer time frames.

Why is there taurine in energy drinks?

There's an elderly Scottie dog with a walking stick. Naturally, he is considering the skateboard in front of him – and beyond it, a skate ramp.

World's oldest person, French nun Sister Andre, dies aged 118

The world's oldest living person, French nun Lucile Randon, has died aged 118. Ms Randon - who assumed the name Sister Andre when she took holy orders in 1944 - died in her sleep at her nursing home in Toulon, France.

Nigeria's royal tortoise said to have lived to the age of 344 in Oyo state

A royal palace in Nigeria has announced that its resident tortoise has died following a short illness, saying it was a remarkable 344 years old. The tortoise, named Alagba, meaning elderly one, lived in the palace of Ogbomoso in Oyo state.

Dog longevity: How long will my pet dog live?

Do you look at your dog and wonder how long it might live? Do you ponder how many more years you'll get to go for walks or to cuddle on the sofa?

Kane Tanaka: Japanese woman certified world's oldest person dies

Kane Tanaka was born in 1903, the same year as George Orwell, at a time when Japan was emerging as a global power. She got married a century ago, and had four children. She spent her later years in a Japanese care home, where she enjoyed board games and chocolate.

The barber who's been cutting hair for 96 years

Anthony Mancinelli sits in a salon chair in New Windsor, New York, waiting for his next customer. Aged 107, Mancinelli is used to the routine: he has been cutting hair for 96 years.

Okinawa: The island of almost-eternal youth

On Japan’s Okinawa Island, nicknamed the “island of longevity”, locals refuse to die.

Secrets of '1,000-year-old trees' unlocked

Scientists have discovered the secret of how the ginkgo tree can live for more than 1,000 years. And, unlike many other plants, its genes are not programmed to trigger inexorable decline when its youth is over.

The ingredients for a longer life

One is a town surrounded by tropical forest and beaches popular with surfers, two are craggy islands in the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean, the fourth is at the tail of the Japanese archipelago, while the last is a small city in California whose name means “beautiful hill”.

Henrietta Lacks: Family of black woman whose cells were taken settle case

The family of a black woman whose cervical cells were harvested in 1951 without her knowledge and replicated infinitely ever since have reached a settlement with a biotech company.

TEDx Brussels 2010 - Frank Tipler - The Ultimate Future

Tulane physicist Frank Tipler committed professional heresy by publishing The Physics of Immortality, a book in which he used the scientific method and the principles of modern physics to lay out what he called a proof for not only the existence of God, but for the resurrection of the dead as descri

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