Some tips and warnings on living to 100 (1)
I won’t be adopting Bryan Johnson’s methods for achieving longevity, partly because, at the age of 83, I already have a shot at living to 100, but, more importantly, also because life isn’t a rehearsal or a research project. Life is for living. I have had a long career, travelled widely, conducted published research, served as a councillor, raised funds for charities close to my heart, enjoyed gardening, sailing, photography and other hobbies, and, with my wife, raised a family(20 September, p 36).
I found these much better uses for the 6 hours a day he devotes to his health routine, and hope to continue them for a while longer.
Some tips and warnings on living to 100 (2)
Your special issue reminds me of the words of 20th-century Lancet editor Theodore Fox: “Life itself is not the most important thing in life. Some cling to it as a miser to his money and to as little purpose. Some risk it for a song, a hope, a cause, for wind in their hair.”
Some tips and warnings on living to 100 (3)
While it may appear attractive to readers in the prime of their lives, the reality of living to 100 doesn’t appeal to me. Healthy living may be extending lifespan, but not quality of life. My 89-year-old mother is now trapped in a body that has no strength, and my father’s memory is failing, so he can’t remember what he has just read or seen. This mirrors the experience of other older people, who have told me they “just want to die” or can’t even remember who their family is any more.
Some tips and warnings on living to 100 (4)
Blueberries are mentioned in many articles on ageing due to the possible beneficial effects of their anthocyanin content. However, I do wonder whether other types of fruit, such as blackcurrants and damsons, should also be considered. These are often cooked, which seems to release the anthocyanins from their skin into solution, whereas blueberries are more often eaten raw, possibly causing the anthocyanins to go straight through the system.
Some tips and warnings on living to 100 (5)
One more tip for living long is to “go to the doctor”. Beyond 50 or so, a regular health check is a good idea. An annual medical with blood tests helps spot illnesses early and builds up a set of data that makes future problems more obvious. Periodic checks on anything that is higher risk for you personally will help catch potential killers early. Lastly, seeking timely advice when “something doesn’t feel right” may also save your life. It is true that this strategy relies on having good public or affordable health services, but in such cases, it could easily add a decade to your life.
Carbon storage is a bit of a distraction
Are we really going to store thousands of gigatonnes of carbon dioxide in geological formations? There are real doubts about whether the required technology will become sufficiently developed and whether the energy needed for it would be available. At present, only a few million tonnes per year are being pumped underground and much of this is used to push out more oil. We can’t wait for a scale-up that might not arrive. Deep cuts in emissions should be the urgent priority(13 September, p 10).
A pessimistic view on climate targets
Some views on global warming targets reveal a continuing fantasy: the belief that any such target is achievable without climate engineering. Nobody, their governments included, is going to tell people in low-income countries that they can’t have air conditioning or cars (or toasters, microwave ovens, etc.). Global warming is unstoppable, and the adverse consequences will accumulate horrifically as the heat grows, unless somebody starts to fix the problem. Next issue: remedial action by individual nations could well lead to conflict or maybe make the distribution of global warming problems worse(Letters, 16 August).
Geoengineering is going to be very challenging
Drilling through polar ice to pump out liquid water from beneath won’t work for several reasons that weren’t mentioned. At the depths and temperatures of the buried water, it is close to the equilibrium between being ice or water. A slight change could drive it either way. Water, whether in an artesian well or pumped up, may freeze in a borehole as it rises and the pressure reduces. Also, ice flows under pressure, so the borehole would have to be steel lined and would eventually shear and seal up, possibly before completion(20 September, p 20).
Another geoengineering idea, a huge orbiting parasol, would be a sight to behold from the ground, but would need to be tilted side on as it passed over countries that weren’t in favour of darkness at midday for all sorts of reasons. Huge louvres on a space venetian blind might be better.
WIMP detection is more like cycling than snooker
Chamkaur Ghag says that dark matter is probably made of weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPs. The article talks of a dark matter WIMP hitting a xenon nucleus, which sounds like a microscopic game of snooker. However, at the quantum level, it means that a WIMP interacted with a xenon nucleus via exchange of a W or Z boson. It is more like the Madison sling technique in track cycling than snooker. The subatomic particles are just as much waves as particles, and can pass through each other undisturbed, just like the photons that carry our mobile phone traffic without messing with each other(20 September, p 48).
On the search for life beyond Earth
When astronomers say that, sooner or later, we will come across an exoplanet with a nitrogen/oxygen-rich atmosphere, or that, by 2060, we are likely to have discovered planets where it is hard to explain the data without there being life, they are assuming, with no good reason, that life can easily arise if the conditions are right(20 September, p 23).
The chance that all the hugely complex machinery of even the simplest cells will arise on a planet, even with the right conditions, is, in my view, very small.