Old people are getting even older. The age to which the oldest people live
has been rising for more than a century, and “there is no hint yet that trend is
slowing down”, says John Wilmoth of the University of California, Berkeley.
Wilmoth and his colleagues studied death records in Sweden, which date back to
1861, and used a computer model to calculate the “average oldest age at death”
for Swedish men and women. That average rose to about 105 in the 1960s, and shot
up to 108 in the 1990s (Science, vol 289, p 2366).
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from 51¶¯Âþ
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Health
Australia is battling its largest diphtheria outbreak in living memory
51¶¯Âþ
Health
How ageing on Earth mimics the effects of space travel
Comment
Mathematics
Mathematicians stunned by AI's biggest breakthrough in mathematics yet
51¶¯Âþ
Mind
Epic dreaming is leaving people exhausted and distressed
51¶¯Âþ
Popular articles
Trending 51¶¯Âþ articles
1
Mathematicians stunned by AI's biggest breakthrough in mathematics yet
2
The Selfish Gene at 50: Why Dawkins’s evolution classic still holds up
3
Photos reveal unexpected details from the world's first atomic test
4
How I used psychology to come back from the worst year of my life
5
Women’s better memories may delay Alzheimer’s diagnosis by years
6
The distant world that is our best hope of finding alien life
7
Putting CO2 into rocks and getting hydrogen out is climate double win
8
The ‘doomsday’ glacier’s giant ice shelf is about to break away
9
Epic dreaming is leaving people exhausted and distressed
10
Solar farm on the ocean outperforms land-based solar in Taiwan
