The Late Life Plateau
ScienceDaily notes the interesting phenomenon whereby the decline of aging - measured by your statistical chance of dying in each year - appears to plateau in late life. That plateau is at a high chance of dying each year, of course, but it raises questions regarding how and why age-related degeneration happens. Is it programmed events, decay of components in a complex system, or a mix of both? Researcher Michael Rose adopted the phrase "biological immortality" to describe this behavior in flies - although he means something quite different from what most of us think when hearing those words. If you're interesting in reading more on the topic, his is the first essay in The Scientific Conquest of Death, now available online for free.
Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/12/051205163133.htm