Sunday, July 31, 2011

The world’s deadliest distinction: why aren’t the oldest living people getting any older?

July 27, 2011
Jeanne Calment, the longest-living person ever, died at age 122
Source: Slate — July 19, 2011
Raising the upper bounds of the human lifespan is turning out to be trickier than increasing the average person’s life expectancy. In the past few years, the global count of supercentenarians — people 110 and older — has leveled off at about 80.
And the maximum age hasn’t budged. Just seven people whose ages could be fully verified by the Gerontology Research Group have ever made it past 115.
The inventor Ray Kurzweil estimated in 2005 that, within 20 years, advances in medical technology would enable humans to extend their lifespans indefinitely. With six years gone and 14 to go, his prophecy doesn’t seem that much closer to coming true./.../

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