Latest news with #JeanneCalment
Daily Mail
09-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Why living until you're 200 really isn't a pipe dream
The idea of living for hundreds of years was once thought to be the pipe dream of billionaires and tech moguls. But scientists at the forefront of anti-ageing research believe they are on the cusp of developing a pill that could lead to people living to the age of 200 and beyond. Medical advances in the last century have led to humans in wealthy nations living into their 80s, almost double the average life expectancy at the turn of the 20th century. Improved nutrition, clean water, better sanitation and huge leaps in medicine have been key in prolonging human life. The oldest known person — the Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who sold canvases to Vincent Van Gogh when she was a girl in the late 1800s — lived to the age of 122, dying in 1997. There is some debate about whether humans can naturally live much beyond that age, but it is hoped that science will take human lifespans beyond what is currently thought possible. Dr Andrew Steele, a British computational biologist and author of a new book on longevity, told MailOnline there is no biological reason humans can't reach the age of 200. He believes the big breakthrough will come in the form of drugs that remove 'zombie cells' in the body, which are thought to be one of the main culprits of tissue and organ decay as we age. Pills that flush these cells out of the body are already in human trials in and could be on the market in as little as 10 years, according to Dr Steele, who believes someone reading this could make it to 150 with the help of the drugs. Another field in particular that piques the interest of anti-ageing scientists is the study of DNA of reptiles and other cold-blooded animals. Michigan State University experts have begun studying dozens different types of long-living reptiles and amphibians — including crocodiles, salamanders and turtles that can live as long as 120 years. The team hope they will uncover 'traits' that can also be targeted in humans. Some experts think that eradicating the big killers — cancer, dementia and heart disease — could be the true key to longevity. Dr Steele, the author of Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old, told MailOnline: 'I don't think there is any kind of absolute cap on how long we can live. 'Studies come out every few years that propose some kind of fundamental limit on human lifespan, but they're always missing one crucial piece: we've never tried treating the ageing process before. 'I can't see physical or biological reason why people couldn't live to 200 — the challenge is whether we've can develop the biomedical science to make it possible.' Other experts believe humans could live to 150 naturally, if it wasn't for chronic illnesses, including Dr Peter Fedichev, a Russian molecular physicist who runs a biomedical AI firm Gero. His company has been studying the genetic data of 500,000 Britons in pursuit of the firm's goal of 'hacking ageing', as they call it. Researchers at Gero made use of an instrument, called DOSI (dynamic organism state indicator), that takes into account age, illness and lifestyle factors, to work out how resilient the body is, including its ability to recover from injury or disease. Using mathematical models, it calculated the maximum age the body — if not altered by drugs or gene therapy — can still recover from is between 120 and 150. The findings were revealed in a study published in the journal Nature Communications last year. But Dr Fedichev warned life extension without improving life quality would be pointless because extremely elderly people would be frail, and prone to illness, meaning new drugs will be vital in the quest for eternal youth. He told MailOnline: 'Such life extension would increase their lifespan past the end of their health span and thus reduce their quality of life. 'Only addressing the root causes of ageing may help bring humans closer to negligibly senescent animals, intercept aging and increase our productive lifespan by a hundred years or more. 'That is why we are calling on a refocusing of our attention from diseases to ageing, from incremental to more radical solutions using those slow-aging animals as inspiration.' Dr Steele says new advances in senolytics could extend life span and quality. Senescent cells — dubbed 'zombie cells' — are cells that eventually stop dividing, then accumulate, releasing compounds in the body that accelerate ageing. Experts believe younger people with healthy immune systems are better able to clear the damaged cells, but as people age, they aren't removed as effectively and they accumulate causing potential problems. Dr Steele said if you put a human cell in a petri dish, it would divide around 50 times before stopping, whereas a Galapagos tortoise — which can live for up to 120 years — sees its cells divide more than 100 times. Studying these sorts of long-living reptiles can help researchers understand more about the way human cells age. Since the 1960s, scientists have known that, as we age, we accumulate ever-greater numbers of these cells, but it wasn't clear if they were just a product of ageing or whether they caused it. The breakthrough came in 2016 when scientists found removing the cells from mice, typically with a short lifespan and plagued with a range of age-related conditions, by injecting them with a synthetic drug called AP20187 extended their life by up to 35 per cent — suggesting senescence was behind ageing itself. Since then, there have been a number of studies confirming the importance of such cells in the ageing process. In 2019, research in the journal Aging Cell showed that old mice pre-treated with Navitoclax, an experimental anti-cancer drug that kills senescent cells, recovered at similar rates to younger mice from an induced heart attack, raising the prospect of a new type of treatment for people with heart conditions. Another study, published in the journal EMBO, demonstrated that clearing out senescent cells from the hearts of mice also reduced symptoms of ageing, such as enlargement and thickening of the walls of the heart muscles. Senolytic drugs are now being safety tested in humans and have attracted investment from several billionaires, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. Dr Steele said: 'Scientists have given these drugs to mice, and they basically get biologically younger: they live longer, get less cancer and heart disease, are less frail — they can run further and faster on the tiny mouse-sized treadmills used in these experiments — and, honestly, they just look great, with plumper skin and thicker fur. 'What this shows us is that tackling the hallmarks of ageing can affect the whole ageing process, from disease risk to the cosmetic stuff, and can do so preventatively — this is the holy grail of anti-ageing medicine.' Both Bezos and Thiel are investors in Unity Biotechnology, which carried out the first human trial of one such drug, aimed at tackling moderate-to-severe osteoarthritis of the knee, in 2019. In the phase one trial, 78 patients were divided into two groups: one was given a dummy drug, while the other was injected in the knee with a drug codenamed UBX0101, which interferes with two proteins in the body, leading to the elimination of senescent cells. The study was a success, with UBX0101 'well-tolerated' by the treated patients, who, after a single injection, had experienced 'improvement in several clinical outcomes, including pain and function'. However, the company faced a setback in 2020 when results from the bigger phase 2 trial found no statistically significant difference between UBX0101 and the placebo groups. Now, the company is trialling a new drug called UBX1325, which has been designed to combat age-related blindness on 46 adults. Dr Steele said it only took one trial to be a success to make a breakthrough in the field of anti-ageing. He told MailOnline: 'We might get unlucky and none of this works but, if it does, every development gives us longer to make the next one, and the first 150-year-old could be someone who's reading this.' Last week, Michigan State University researchers announced they are studying 77 reptiles and amphibians with the hope of understanding what allows them to be so resilient. But they have yet to pinpoint any potential longevity targets, meaning a true breakthrough could still be years off. Dr Alex Zhavoronkov, a biotechnology expert and physicist, said studying animals — particularly those as distantly related to humans as reptiles — has rarely resulted in breakthroughs. He believes scientists are better placed focusing their efforts on studying ageing in real people, and, in particular, technology. Implant chips that use electrodes in the brain to ward off illnesses like Parkinson's are currently being trialled on people. Southmead Hospital in Bristol is believed to be the first in the world to implant the tiny deep brain stimulation (DBS) device when it launched its trial in April. The device works by delivering electrical impulses to damaged areas of the brain. Dr Zhavoronkov said: 'Many years from now humans will be able to control the biology of aging and many other converging technologies will not only return the lost functions but likely augment our capabilities — as you have seen with the glasses, cars, cell phones, the internet, and robotics. 'Advanced technologies starting from dual-purpose pharmaceuticals — drugs that target fundamental aging pathways and age-associated diseases and are trackable with aging biomarkers, which my team is focusing on— to cell and gene therapy and advances in regenerative medicine, implantables, and augmentation of human function with AI and robotics will allow us to dramatically increase life.
Buzz Feed
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
75 Extremely Rare Mind-Blowing Pictures I Found Last Month That Might Just Completely And Totally Change Your Perspective On The World
1. This is what a fish getting a CT scan looks like: 2. This is a picture of the first-ever international tennis match at Wimbledon in 1883: 3. This is Jeanne Calment, the longest-lived person ever verified. Here she is at the tender age of 120 years and 239 days: She apparently ate two pounds of chocolate a week and smoked until age 119, passing away at age 122. Of course, like any story of a super old person, there's some controversy. Read more here. 4. This is what the set of Seinfeld looked like: Specifically, this is what it looked like during the filming of the Seinfeld reunion episode during Season 7 of Curb Your Enthusiasm. 5. This is what a jail cell in Germany looks like: 6. And, for good measure, this is what a prison cell in Sweden looked like the '70s: Looks like the dorm room of a dude who would corner you and talk to you about chemtrails for way too long. 7. This is what New York City's Central Park looked like during the Great Depression: Bettmann This picture, captured in 1933, showcases a range of "Hoovervilles," makeshift settlements created by the unemployed and named after President Herbert Hoover. 8. This is what a cow molar looks like compared to a human molar: 9. The small island in the middle of this picture is where Princess Diana is buried: She was buried there so the water could "act as a buffer against the interventions of the insane and ghoulish" and any other curious people. 10. In 1918, a suffragette offered the following advice 'to young ladies' on marriage: Definitely some valuable advice in there. 11. Revolving fridges exist: 12. This is what a $100 bill looked like in 1977, 2003, and 2017: 14. It's "The Wedding at Cana" by Paolo Veronese. Which do you prefer? 15. This is what Bruce Lee's workout routine was in 1965: Shoutout Bruce Lee. 16. This is what a human skeleton looks like compared with a gorilla skeleton: 17. This is what North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal, home to one of the world's last uncontacted peoples, looks like from above: 18. This is what a tumbleweed looks like before, well, it tumbles: Well, then. 19. This is what the "hand" of a manatee looks like: 20. There are a whole bunch of trees on Earth that were planted with seeds that flew to the moon on Apollo 14: 21. This is the executioner robe and axe of Giovanni Battista Bugatti, the official executioner of the Papal States in the 1800s: 22. You're probably familiar with the most terrifying looking fish in the ocean, the anglerfish... 23. Well, this is how big the males of the species actually are: 24. This is how big the anchor chains of a ship are: 25. Recently, a Russian drone attacked a gigantic radiation confinement tower at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, inflicting damage that required some repairs: 27. Speaking Chernobyl, this is the famous Azure Swimming Pool before the nuclear disaster... 28. And the same swimming pool today: Erik Peterson / Alamy Stock Photo 29. If you shine a black light on an Illinois driver's license, Abe Lincoln will be wearing a hat: u/_vlw_ / Via If you shine a light on an Ohio license, William Howard Taft should get stuck in a bathtub. 30. This is what the back of a soda fountain looks like: u/therestisconfetii / Via If you know, you know. 31. The tiny island of Zavikon is home to the world's shortest international bridge, spanning from the owner's house, located in Canada, to their backyard, located in New York: Kay Roxby / Alamy Stock Photo Man, and I don't even have a backyard. 32. Some bars have... landing zones for the especially inebriated folks navigating the stairs: u/danrossidraws / Via What will science think of next? 33. This is a picture of Mars that was taken THIS MONTH: NASA/JPL-Caltech Weather looks nicer than New York City, not going to lie. 34. While we're on the subject, this is the last picture the Mars Opportunity rover took: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/ASU Well, one of the final few. Goodnight, sweet prince. 35. This is what Antarctica looks like from space: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio / The Blue Marble data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC) Read more about how this image was made here. 36. This is the world's largest chocolate bar, weighing in at over 12,000 pounds: Scott Olson / Getty Images Call me when it's the world's largest Icebreak Wintergreen mint. 37. This is what a lion getting a CT scan looks like: David Silverman / Getty Images I'm sure the mood in that room if very calm. 38. This is how big the vertical slab on an A380 plane is: u/jonsky7 / Via Really, really big!!! 39. This is Alfred Langevin, a man renowned for his very useful talent of being able to smoke out of his eyeball: / Alamy Stock Photo Flight? Invisibility? Nah. Gimme the smoking eye power. 40. This is what an upside-down iceberg looks like: / Alamy Stock Photo I wish to touch it. 41. This is what the world's first domestic vacuum cleaner looked like in 1906: BTEU/Tekniska / Alamy Stock Photo It looks like you'd need railroad tracks to move that thing. 42. In the early 1900s, Sears sold entire mail order homes that would be shipped via train and put together by whoever bought one. This house cost $5,375: / Alamy Stock Photo A bunch of these homes are still standing. Check them out here. 43. This is what the inside of a bungee cord looks like: u/-burntoast- / Via This does not make me feel good. 44. This is Joseph C. Gayetty, the man who invented commercial toilet paper: Historic Collection / Alamy Stock Photo Now, I know we stan Joey G. 45. It's worth noting that toilet paper from that era looked very, very uncomfortable: It fact, it would often give your rear end SPLINTERS. 46. This is what cinnamon looks like fresh off the tree: u/afnas / Via I wish to chomp it. 47. This is what years and years of layers of graffiti looks like: u/Embarrassed_Yak4566 / Via 48. Australia lets its citizens know exactly how their tax dollars are spent: u/ok-structure-7996 / Via Neat! 49. Speaking of Australia, there's a whole lot of nothing: u/Charming_History7423 / Via Well, not nothing. Just not a lot of people. 50. Over 2,000 years ago, a child living in ancient Rome made this footprint in a clay tile while it was drying: Facebook: And I'm STILL mad at the kid. 51. This is what the start of a river looks like: u/sevenball / Via Otherwise known as a spring. This is the start of the Metolius River in Oregon. 52. This is what an x-ray of a six-fingered hand looks like: 53. It cost just about $100 to give birth in 1956: I think it costs $100,000 if you stub your toe today. 54. This glorious 1200 year old specimen is the biggest, best-preserved piece of human poop: u/nolanus / Via It's from a 9th-century Viking and apparently worth almost $40,000, too. 55. This is a hammer-headed bat, an absolutely enormous fruit bat with an average wingspan of over three feet: u/issam_10 / Via Look, buddy, I love you gotta stay away from me. 56. Speaking of gigantic animals, check out the size of this here lobster claw: u/mrbumboleh / Via Say it with me, folks: That's a big claw. 57. This is what a condom from the 1700s looked like: u/Pheasant_Limecrunch / Via Not naming any names, but it reminds me of a certain Viking's poop. 58. This is a display of ancient Egyptian furniture, from sometime around 1,500 BCE: Who knew that humanity perfected furniture so long ago? 59. This is the Brewster armor suit, one of the first fully functional suits of body armor designed for World War I combat: u/baronvonbroccoli / Via All I'll say is, you better not let Gru see you wearing that. 60. This exhibit shows what happens to marble over time if people are allowed to stick their grubby little paws all over it: u/frituurgarnituur / Via The untouched marble is on the left, and the touched marble on the right. 61. This is the check for $7.2 million, issued Aug. 1, 1868, that the US sent to Russia for the purchase of Alaska: Three Lions / Getty Images Would love to personally receive $7 million from the US government one day. 62. Bolts? Bolts can be absolutely gigantic: u/rhythmtech / Via Imagine how cool it would be to screw one of these bad boys in. Wow. 63. In Finland's Riisitunturi National Park, the extreme cold transforms trees into stunning, snow-covered sculptures, creating a surreal winter landscape: / Alamy Stock Photo Looks like something from another planet. 64. These are apparently the requirements for being a flight attendant for one airline in 1954: That's gonna get a yikes from me. 65. This is what a deviled ostrich egg looks like: u/GiveMeYourDwnvts / Via In case you were wondering. 66. 35 years ago, on February 14, 1990, the iconic 'Pale Blue Dot' photo was captured, showing Earth as a tiny speck from 3.7 billion miles away: / Alamy Stock Photo To paraphrase the big man Carl Sagan, everyone and everything you have ever known exists on that little speck. 67. In 1990, the very first McDonald's opened up in the Soviet Union. This is how gigantic the line was: Vitaly Armand / AFP via Getty Images 68. And following the invasion of Ukraine, McDonald's sold its entire Russian operation to a Russian businessperson, resulting in over 800 restaurants being rebranded as "Delicious. Full Stop": Vitaly Armand / AFP via Getty Images Here's a comparison between the two restaurants, 32 years apart. 69. This is the first-ever photograph of an operation, taken in 1847 in Boston: Mpi / Getty Images Looks a wee bit unclean. 70. This is what a new pair of goggles looks like to a pair that was used frequently for a six months: u/donutpowah / Via So, if you want to turn the color of your grandparent's living room furniture, just start marinating in a pool. 71. People were talking about climate change as long as 111 years ago: u/[deleted] / Via What's another way to say that this is the exact opposite of a comforting thought? 72. This is the PAGEOS satellite being inflated in 1965 before being put into orbit the next year: / Alamy Stock Photo Notice the tiny, tiny people on the right. It was used for mapping and it looked really cool. 73. There used to be cocaine in toothache drops: Science History Images / Alamy Stock Photo And judging by the ad, it was given to children. Okay, then! 74. Fingers can grow back. FINGERS CAN GROW BACK: u/ObscureOP / Via Don't try this at home. 75. And, finally, nothing can push the boundaries of all we know about physics and space and time more than a dad's wallet:
Buzz Feed
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
My Entire Body And Mind Are Still In Complete Shock After Seeing These 25 Fascinating Pictures For The Very First Time Last Week
1. This is Jeanne Calment, the longest-lived person ever verified. Here she is at the tender age of 120 years and 239 days: 2. In Finland's Riisitunturi National Park, the extreme cold transforms trees into stunning, snow-covered sculptures, creating a surreal winter landscape: 3. These are apparently the requirements for being a flight attendant for one airline in 1954: That's gonna get a yikes from me. 4. You're probably familiar with the most terrifying looking fish in the ocean, the anglerfish... 5. Well, this is how big the males of the species actually are: Finding Nemo lied to us! Or, actually, it told the truth. 6. This is how big the anchor chains of a ship are: 7. Recently, a Russian drone attacked a gigantic radiation confinement tower at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, inflicting damage that required some repairs: 8. Here's a closer look at the people fixing the damage, to give you a better scale of the whole thing: 9. Speaking Chernobyl, this is the famous Azure Swimming Pool before the nuclear disaster... 10. And the same swimming pool today: 11. If you shine a black light on an Illinois driver's license, Abe Lincoln will be wearing a hat: If you shine a light on an Ohio license, William Howard Taft should get stuck in a bathtub. 12. This is what a deviled ostrich egg looks like: 13. 35 years ago, on February 14, 1990, the iconic 'Pale Blue Dot' photo was captured, showing Earth as a tiny speck from 3.7 billion miles away: 14. In 1990, the very first McDonald's opened up in the Soviet Union. This is how gigantic the line was: 15. Following the invasion of Ukraine, McDonald's sold its entire Russian operation to a Russian businessperson, resulting in over 800 restaurants being rebranded as "Delicious. Full Stop": 16. This is what the INSIDE of a chocolate-covered strawberry looks like: Click to reveal 17. This is what the back of a soda fountain looks like: 18. This is the first-ever photograph of an operation, taken in 1847 in Boston: Looks a wee bit unclean. 19. This is what a new pair of goggles looks like to a pair that was used frequently for a six months: So, if you want to turn the color of your grandparent's living room furniture, just start marinating in a pool. 20. The tiny island of Zavikon is home to the world's shortest international bridge, spanning from the owner's house, located in Canada, to their backyard, located in New York: 21. This is the PAGEOS satellite being inflated in 1965 before being put into orbit the next year: Notice the tiny, tiny people on the right. It was used for mapping and it looked really cool. 22. Some bars have... landing zones for the especially inebriated folks navigating the stairs: 23. There used to be cocaine in toothache drops: 24. Fingers can grow back. FINGERS CAN GROW BACK: u/ObscureOP / Via Don't try this at home. 25. And, finally, people were talking about climate change as long as 111 years ago: u/[deleted] / Via What's another way to say that this is the exact opposite of a comforting thought?
