Do We Have to Get Old and Die?


Jun 28 2015 2 mins   9
We’d like to thank Focus Features for sponsoring this video – and for inviting us to pre-screen their summer 2015 film “Self/Less”. It’s a sci-fi flick that explores memory, consciousness, and immortality, and it made us think about the types of immortality that already exist here on Earth. A big thanks to Focus Features for supporting MinuteEarth! http://www.focusfeatures.com/selfless Thanks also to our Patreon patrons: - Today I Found Out - Jeff Straathof - Maarten Bremer - Mark - BurmansHealthShop - Alberto Bortoni - Avi Yashchin - Valentin - Nicholas Buckendorf - Antoine Coeur YOU can also support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/minuteearth ___________________________________________ Want to learn more about the topic in this week’s video? Here are some key words/phrases to get your googling started: – negligible senescence: not showing signs of age-related progression – biological immortality: having a mortality rate that does not increase with increasing age ________________________ MinuteEarth provides an energetic and entertaining view of trends in earth’s environment – in just a few minutes! Created by Henry Reich With the MinuteEarth team: Alex Reich, Peter Reich, Emily Elert, Ever Salazar, Kate Yoshida, and Henry Reich. Music by Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder ________________________ Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/minuteear... And follow us on Vessel: https://www.vessel.com/shows/68917745... And here we are on iTunes: https://goo.gl/sfwS6n Also, say hello on: Facebook: http://facebook.com/minuteearth Twitter: http://twitter.com/MinuteEarth ________________________ References: Aubert, G. & Lansdorp, P. M. (2008) Telomeres and aging. Physiological Review 88(2): 557–579. http://simonadellemonache.com/dispens... Bavestrello, G. Sommer, C., and Sará, M. 1992. Bi-directional conversion in Turritopsis nutricula. In Aspects of Hydrozoan Biology. (J. Bouillon et al., editors). Scientia Marina 56 (2-3): 137-140. http://www.icm.csic.es/scimar/pdf/56/... Buffenstein R. (2008) Negligible senescence in the longest living rodent, the naked mole rat: Insights from a successfully aging species. Journal of Comparative Physiology B 178: 439-445. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1... Finch, C.E. (1998) Variations in senescence and longevity include the possibility of negligible senescence. Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences 53A(4): B235–239. http://biomedgerontology.oxfordjourna... Piraino, S., Boero, F., Aeschbach, B., Schmid, V. (1996) Reversing the life cycle: medusae transforming into polyps and cell transdifferentiation in Turritopsis nutricula (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa). Biological Bulletin 190: 302-312. http://www.researchgate.net/profile/F... Tian, X., Azpurua, J., Hine, C., Vaidya, A., Myakishev-Rempel, M., Ablaeva, J., Mao, Z., Nevo, E., Gorbunova, V., & Seluanov, A. (2013) High-molecular-mass hyaluronan mediates the cancer resistance of the naked mole rat. Nature 499: 346–349. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/... Image Credits: Nake Mole Rat - Buffenstein/Barshop Institute/UTHSCSA https://www.flickr.com/photos/jedimen... Naked Mole Rat - Roman Klementschitz, Wien https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Na... Chipmunk - Gilles Gonthier https://www.flickr.com/photos/gillesg... Capybara - Karoly Lorentey https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorente...