Recently, I read an article that said a human lifespan does not have any limit and when a man turns 105 he has a 50/50 chance to survive another year. Some scientists say that a man who will reach the age of 140 has already been born. Is it possible that the length of a human's life will be prolonged over time? I know that we don't know what the limit is and if it exists at all, but it is possible to one day expect it to be completely normal for a human being to live 300 years or so? I mean, without the intervention of any "elixirs of youth", development of technology, medicines etc.?  I ask because in 2016 there was an article published in  that says we know what the limit is (115 years) and they believe that Jeanne Calment (who died at age 122) was lucky to live that long. On the other hand, another article published in  this year says that we don't know what the limit is.
122290
It's probably just misconstrued pop science, but I thought a read an article recently that said there's no known limit on how long humans can live. I could have sworn though that there were a few automatic processes that took place though, like that the chromosomes all shorten in length every time they're copied (is there any limit to that? Also, why does that matter?), the retinas in the eyes harden, the metabolism slows down, the heart muscles wears out, etc.  So, how could it be true?
89123
The question "why do we age" has been asked numerous times. But why are we young? The cells of the adult human being are an age (time>0), but how can old cells create new cells that are younger than themselves?  I.e, how are young people made from the cells of old people?  I realize that senescence, the act of a cell aging, has to do with the shortening of telomerase over time which puts a limit (the Hayflick limit) on the life of an autosomal cell. So in theory, because cells only make direct copies of themselves but the telomerase shortens with every division, each new daughter pair would be as old as the parent and would continue aging. But how come new people start senescence at time t=0?
14279
Why does evolution not make life longer for humans or any other species?  Wouldn't evolution favour a long life?
28929
In the movie Wonder Woman, we see Wonder Woman as a child who grows into an adult. During the same time we see the people around her - the Amazons - not seem to age at all. It's revealed that Wonder Woman is special.      She's actually a God and presumably immortal   The Amazons are, well, not quite human, but they aren't the same as WW.   It's also revealed that:      A long time ago there was a war between the Gods and all of them perished by the hands of Ares. Before Zeus died, he created Wonder Woman out of clay.   All of the Amazons have bronze aged weaponry and do not seem aware of the changes to the outside world. This suggests that they are several thousand years old.   Presumably Wonder Woman has a normal life span as a child and has just become an adult at the beginning of the film. This seems very incongruent to me. Maybe I missed something though.  So, does the film or the DC Extended Universe give any indication of how old Wonder Woman is? Or is my assumption that she's several thousand years old (based on the weaponry) correct, despite the apparent incongruity I brought up?
77629
People are born and grow up and die of old age in a matter of 5 days. The elders (5 days old) train children and send the most promising one on a trek across the dessert to a monolith that is the cause of the rapid aging to hopefully disable it.   I saw it on a reel to reel in the mid 90's. It looks like it was made in the late 70's or 80's. The cast was small. A few men played the elders seated in a row of chairs and the young boy who had to set out to save them who matures into a man and finally an elderly man.  I've been trying to figure out the title for years.
98653
Based upon , J.K. Rowlings has apparently stated "You cannot destroy Dementors, though you can limit their numbers if you eradicate the conditions in which they multiply, ie, despair and degradation."  Does this mean that the number of Dementors is always either increasing or remaining the same?  If they cannot be destroyed, does that mean they are immortal?  Or do they die of "natural causes"?
113565
I'm new here, so apologies if the question doesn't sound meaningful considering what physics is supposed to answer. I don't have a physics or mathematics background, but I did learn a few things about entropy and the different possible fates of an expanding universe from other forums.   Now, assuming the heat death "fate" is where the universe is heading towards, asymptotically reaching towards a thermal equilibrium, will it stay in a state of equilibrium forever? or the will the "arrow of time" cease pointing sharply towards the future since decrease in entropy becomes likelier when a state of near maximal entropy is achieved (I'm guessing here) ?  The wiki article on this states the number of years that would take for a random quantum fluctuation to perhaps recreate another "big bang" and restart the universe as $10^{10^{10^{56 }}}$ . I realise that's a RIDICULOUS amount of time to even comprehend, nevertheless it is still a physical possibility and $10^{10^{10^{56}} }$ years are only a tiny fraction of time when compared to an infinite amount of time.  Finally what I want to ask: Is reality a one time phase transition from a vague potential with maximal degrees of freedom (big bang) to a crisp actuality with maximal constraint (heat death) with asymmetric, unidirectional time or is it infinite cyclic with symmetric time that reverses itself (by means of highly improbable, but physically not impossible mechanisms) after a finite period of time?   I suspect this may be a borderline philosophy question, but figured might as well give it a try here before posting in more relevant forums. Thanks.
87050
It's been maybe twenty years since I read this, so please forgive me for not remembering if it was a novel or a short story.   It's the story of a girl whose father was either a Greek or Egyptian alchemist. He had concocted an elixir which, if drunk periodically, grants immortality. The problem was that in order for it to work, the person drinking it couldn't have gone through puberty.   He gave the elixir to his son and daughter, and taught them how to make more. The children live through many centuries, but the son eventually stops taking it. He ages normally and eventually dies. The daughter continues to take it, and the reader learns her story while she is being interviewed, either by MDs, or psychiatrists.
15000
In  some users pointed out that the Hulk cannot age or ages really slow in relationship with normal people, which makes him an immortal.  But my question is this: Can he die in a battle?
75954
I was thinking of a way for a humanoid (PC or NPC) to live forever in a D&amp;D setting, but through rather "common" and reproducible means, such that they will be available to many. By this logic I exclude cases such as a god giving immortality (or some other intervention) or a unique item granting an endless lifespan etc.  To cover all bases I will note that miracle and wish cannot do this directly, nor can true resurrection (and its lesser brethren) "restore to life a creature who has died of old age".  I had came up with the following ruse:   Reach your deathbed with at least 2 HD (or levels). Have someone kill you so that the cause of death will not be "old age". Have a druid cast reincarnate on you into a young body. You "recall the majority of your former life". I assume your memories, personality/identity and experiences are preserved.   Rinse and repeat. It's not that difficult to recover the 1 HD lost through the course of almost a lifetime. The material components are worth 1,000 gp - might not be easy to get, but surely possible.  Furthermore, it is stated that "A wish or a miracle spell can restore a reincarnated character to his or her original form.". I assume the "original form" is the aged humanoid at his or her deathbed - not the direction we are looking for, unless it means that the humanoid restores his race only.  Is there a flaw in this plan? Is there another way of doing it?
43662
Many times I have read statements like, "the age of the universe is 14 billion years" . For example this wikipedia page .   Now, my question is, which observers' are these time intervals? According to whom 14 billion years?
97224
I have two options. Which one is correct?      a) I think him to be about 50.   b) I think he is about 50.   If both are correct, should I avoid one or the other?
98324
Is it true that The Doctor can only regenerate 12 times? Because if it is, the series won't last much longer. Matt Smith's Doctor is number 11 - that only leaves two more, right?
34273
From the HP books I know that Horcruxes grant a form of immortality. So, it is not possible for someone who created a Horcrux to die from old age or succumb to diseases. I guess the same is true for living beings turned into a Horcrux. But do living Horcruxes age normally? Is it possible to cripple them or sever their limbs, head or something like that, or do they instantly "repair" themselves like inanimate Horcruxes?
96077
According to the , when a Shinigami dies, their remaining lifespan is given to the human they saved.     Shinigami who die are reduced to dust, and their remaining lifespan is given to the human they saved.   Since Rem killed L and Watari, she gained their remaining lifespans. Additionally she probably still had some lifespan left. On top of that Misa was already given a lot of lifespan from Gelus (from which she lost 75% again). So does this mean all of this lifespan is transferred to Misa Amane?!  Yet according to her , she dies in 2011 at the age of 26, only seven years after Rem died.  Does this mean that humans are also capable of reducing their own lifespans? Or would the author have made a mistake by letting Misa die as early as she has? I know she lost 75% of her remaining lifespan through the two eye deals, but you'd think that the cumulation of L, Watari and Rem's remaining lifespans would be greater than just one year, wouldn't you?
9435
I heard an interesting question recently:     What is the minimum number of people required to make it more likely than not that all 365 possible birthdays are covered?   Monte Carlo simulation suggests 2287 ($\pm 1$, I think).  More generally, with $p$ people, what is the probability that for each of the 365 days of the year, there is at least one person in the group with that birthday?  (Yes, ignoring the leap-day.)
83479
In Thor: The Dark World, Odin and Loki are discussing Loki's actions during The Avengers.  Loki argues that he would have ruled Earth as &quot;a benevolent god&quot;, and Odin replies:  Odin: We are not gods! We are born, we live, we die, just as humans do.  Now that's pretty definitive.  And Loki's snarky reply (&quot;Give or take five thousand years...&quot;) would seem to confirm that Asgardians have a limited lifespan, and will eventually die of old age.1  And we know that Asgardians can die in battle, because we've seen it happen over and over with supporting characters and Asgardian soldiers. Now, I've always been more of a fan of Thor stories (like Jason Aaron's Thor: God of Thunder arc) in which Thor and the Asgardians are gods.  Straight-up, genuine, higher-level-of-existence gods, not von-Däniken-esque wannabes playing on the tired old notion of magic just being super-advanced science.  BUT, despite my preferences, this exchange would seem to confirm once and for all that in the MCU, the Asgardians are not gods, but rather were mistaken for gods because of their ram-horns full of awesome-sauce and their magnificent bulging pecks. But wait!  Watch that movie for about 30 seconds longer and we come across this exchange:  Thor: She is ill. Odin: She is mortal. Illness is their defining trait.  Wait, what?  I thought Asgardians weren't immortal?  They can die in battle, and they naturally die of old age.  In my book, that makes them long-lived, but entirely &quot;mortal&quot;.  Surely Odin isn't splitting a hair so fine as to say that resistance to disease alone makes one &quot;immortal&quot;? So, if the Asgardians of the MCU aren't actually gods (grumblegrumblegrumble...), and they can't live forever (or even particularly long in a cosmic sense), and they can be killed in battle, in what sense are they &quot;immortal&quot; at all?  1 Fun fact: adjusted for a roughly 5,000 year lifespan, 1,048-year-old Loki is currently in the tail-end of his rebellious teenage phase.