Thank you! Don't forget to confirm subscription in your email.
Although we take it for granted, sanitation is a physical measure that has probably done more to increase human life span than any kind of drug or surgery.
I had two family members involved in World War I: two great-uncles. One of them is on a memorial in France. And the other was a trench runner who survived the war. The average life span of a trench runner was 36 hours, but he survived the whole war.
In the early '90s, we discovered mutations that could double the normal life span of worms.
In the future, I can imagine that we will genetically modify ourselves using the genes that have doubled our life span since we were chimpanzees.
Fear is a very explosive emotion, but it has a short life span. It's the sprint. The marathon is hope.
In one century, we've added 28 years to our average life span - a change so rapid that our brains couldn't possibly have evolved to accommodate it.
What we know for sure from our work and from others' is that mice have a life span of 1,000 days, dogs have 5,000 days, and we humans have 29,000 days. Recognizing that the duration is limited, and aging is inevitable, focus the attention on enhancing the quality of the days you have.
I want to create a body of work that is entertaining and speaks to people for a long time. Longer than my life span.
As a freelance writer, I'd be asked to become an expert for various magazines on any subject, whether food or wine or history or the life span of veterinarians. I was completely unschooled in any of these things.
It's possible that we could change a human gene and double our life span. I don't know if that's true, but we can't rule that out.
