It's probably just misconstrued pop science, but I thought a read an article recently that said there's no known limit on how long humans can live. I could have sworn though that there were a few automatic processes that took place though, like that the chromosomes all shorten in length every time they're copied (is there any limit to that? Also, why does that matter?), the retinas in the eyes harden, the metabolism slows down, the heart muscles wears out, etc. So, how could it be true?
Answer
You're probably reading about the recently-published responses to a publication that argued there is a limit to human lifespan.
The original article is Evidence for a limit to human lifespan, and in the June 29 issue of Nature there are five responses to it:
Each of these responses has, in turn, a reply from the original authors.
The arguments turn on fairly intricate details of statistical analysis and database interpretation, and I think it's fair to say that outside experts remain unconvinced either way -- neither the original article, nor any of the five responses, nor any of the five responses to the responses, presents a slam-dunk case for or against a limit to human lifespan.
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