Rhiannon Ingle
The average life-span of humans could soon reach well over a century, according to a recent study
Researchers have challenged the idea that there is a 'maximum limit' to human life as we know it and found that people may one day end up living to a staggering 120 years old and beyond.
But how old is too old?
The world’s oldest recorded person to have ever lived, Jean Louise Calment, died at the grand old age of 122 back in 1997.
Advert
Since then, no other pensioner has been able to top her life-span within the last 25 years.
While this may have led many to be under the impression that the length of a human life may have reached a biological limit - one recent study has totally blown that assumption out of the water.
Conducted by the University of Georgia, the study has explored the common belief with David McCarthy, an assistant professor of insurance and real estate at the university, explaining otherwise.
Published in the journal PLOS One, the new study analyzed mortality rates of older people in 19 different countries and investigated how the increase in mortality rates by age differs between cohorts born in different years.
Some of the countries included the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, and France.
The data showed that there were particular birth year groups that tended to live longer than the other cohorts.
McCarthy wrote: "There are big generational differences these reports often obscure. In the US, for instance, mortality probabilities have indeed risen for people of middle age and younger."
"But in recent decades," he continued, "mortality probabilities of older people in the US have been improving faster than they have at any time since the decade following the introduction of Medicare."
While the researchers couldn't pinpoint the exact reason for this, McCarthy and his team theorised that an increase in public health as well as the rapidly-advancing medical technology may have something to do with it.
The researchers concluded: "As newer generations reach these advanced ages, we can expect that longevity records will indeed be surpassed”.
"If there is a maximum limit to the human lifespan, we are not yet approaching it," they added.
The news has since sent the internet into a spiral with many totally baffled by the latest scientific findings.
While the idea of eternal life may at one point have sounded pretty cool - it's clear that the majority of people were not on board with the 'horror' of living over an entire century - and then some.
"I’d rather not," commented one Instagram user.
A second put forward: "Do people realise how s**t the quality of life will be beyond 100?!"
"F***," a third echoed, "have you seen the state of some 80-year-olds....no thanks."
Another revealed that they didn't see themselves having too good of a time at the ripe old age of 120 considering how they're currently faring as a 20-something.
"I was already tired when I hit 25," they admitted.
Some, however, were chucked into a full-blown existential crisis after hearing the news.
One person wrote: "Imagine 60 only being half your life," with another adding: 'Won't be able to retire until you're 105."
They make a good point.
"Nah," a final Instagram user stated, "we here for a good time not a long one."