The Odd Idea Of Maximum Life Span
(From SAGE Crossroads). The idea that there is - somehow - a maximum limit to human life span past which we cannot go, no matter how good our technology, is strangely pervasive given the evidence against it. "'This whole idea that there's a wall came from people spouting stuff off the top of their head,' says evolutionary zoologist Steven Austad ... Biodemographer James Vaupel [argues] that life expectancy has increased linearly - about 3 years per decade - for the past 160 years, and he sees no reason it should stop. ... This argument that we've maxed out - the data don't bear it out ... What's more, none of these estimates takes into account the possibility that researchers will develop treatments that will keep us living longer."
Link: http://www.sagecrossroads.net/Default.aspx?TabID=28&newsType=ArticleView&articleId=106