January 31st, 2011
"Is There a Maximum Human Life Span?" and "Longevity for the Long Term"
The maximum human life span will be whatever we make it to be over the decades ahead - the advance of biotechnology will see to that. But even here and now, the question "is there a maximum human life span?" doesn't exactly have a straightforward answer. Here speaking on the topic at a recent Humanity+ conference is L. Stephen Coles of the Gerontology Research Group:
At the same event, Gregory Benford (scientist, science fiction author, and board member of Genescient) discussed his view of the future of engineered longevity:
You'll find links to more video presentations from the conference over at the Humanity+ website.
I thought it was clear there was no maximum lifespan. Probability of death doubles about every 7-9 years after age 20, until you reach 75, then it starts to level off. After 100, the probability of dying in any given year is 50%, and it doesn't change thereafter.
http://www.springer.com/social+sciences/population+studies/book/978-3-642-11519-6
"The main finding is remarkable: human mortality after age 110 is flat at a probability of death of 50% per year."