Being able to live for ever sounds like a concept that belongs on the pages of a science-fiction novel, one as implausible as time travel or becoming invisible.
However, that could all be about to change, according to a guest at the Dubai Future Forum.
Futurist Dr Jose Cordeiro said anyone who is still alive by the year 2030 has a good chance of living for ever.
Dr Cordeiro told the forum that the key to immortality was finding a way to reverse the ageing process.
“We are very close to figuring it out. Ageing is a technical problem that we understand and can probably reverse,” he said, speaking to The National on the sidelines of the forum.
“It’s a likelihood that people will soon be able to live for ever, rather than a possibility.
“I personally don’t plan to die.”
While his remarks might sound like pie in the sky, humans are gradually living longer.
According to James C Riley, professor and author of several books on the global history of health, between 1800 and 2000 life expectancy rose from about 30 years to a global average of 67 years, and more than 75 years in some countries.
This dramatic change was called a health transition, characterised by a change both in how long people expected to live, and how they expected to die.
The logical next step
The increase in life expectancy, with people now living an average of more than 70 years, is often attributed to medical advancements, improved diets and better awareness of harmful habits.
Dr Cordeiro was adamant that immortality is simply the next logical step in the human journey and that stopping the ageing process is a matter of simple engineering.
“We never used to be able to fly but now we’ve even been able to go to the Moon,” he said.
One critical event that needs to happen in the race for immortality is reaching what is known as "longevity escape velocity".
This refers to a situation where life expectancy is improving at a rate faster than people are ageing.
That point could be reached as soon as 2029, according to Dr Cordeiro, meaning everyone alive afterwards could theoretically live for ever.
The immortal jellyfish
The solution to finding a way to live for ever could lie in our oceans, he said.
Last month, researchers at Spain’s University of Oviedo sequenced the genome of the Turritopsis dohrnii, more commonly referred to as the immortal jellyfish.
The moniker is no coincidence as the creature, which is smaller than the nail on the smallest human finger, is able to reverse its lifespan.
It does this by shrinking in on itself when physically damaged or experiencing stresses such as starvation, reabsorbing its tentacles and losing the ability to swim, according to the UK’s National History Museum.
It then settles on the ocean floor in a blob-like cyst before re-emerging in a new body within 36 hours.
“We are studying why there are certain life forms that do not age. Now that we are able to study the immortal jellyfish, we will be discovering things very quickly,” Dr Cordeiro said.
One of the major issues will be humanity coming to terms with the possibility of living for ever, after millennia of living with the knowledge that death was an inevitability.
“There are mental issues that need to be resolved as we have become accustomed to the fact we will all die, since the beginning of humanity. But it does not need to be that way any more,” he said.
Super wealthy pushing progress forward
He pointed to the work being carried by high-profile tech-billionaires into anti-ageing as another example of how immortality could be around the corner.
Last year, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos invested in Altos Labs, a start-up with the goal of extending human life.
In 2016, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan announced a $3 billion plan to erase all diseases by 2100, while in the same year Microsoft said it was using computer science to “solve cancer” within a decade.
Earlier in the week, a UAE medical group unveiled plans to help the population reach a life expectancy of 101.
Pure Health chief executive Farhan Malik announced a scheme to make Abu Dhabi a centre of research when it came to longevity.
At an event in Louvre in Abu Dhabi he said that “when we talk about longevity, we don't just mean increasing lifespan but making people healthier for longer”.
Over the past decade, billions of dollars have been invested in anti-ageing research, with Google's Calico, the American National Institute on Ageing and Saudi Arabia's Hevolution Foundation being some of the names in the industry.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Intruder
Director: Deon Taylor
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Michael Ealy, Meagan Good
One star
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
How much of your income do you need to save?
The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.
In other words, you will not save enough to retire comfortably. If you save 15 per cent, you can forward to another 43 working years. Up that to 40 per cent of your income, and your remaining working life drops to just 22 years. (see table)
Obviously, this is only a rough guide. How much you save will depend on variables, not least your salary and how much you already have in your pension pot. But it shows what you need to do to achieve financial independence.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
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The struggle is on for active managers
David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.
The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.
Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.
Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.
Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.
At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn.
The bio
Who inspires you?
I am in awe of the remarkable women in the Arab region, both big and small, pushing boundaries and becoming role models for generations. Emily Nasrallah was a writer, journalist, teacher and women’s rights activist
How do you relax?
Yoga relaxes me and helps me relieve tension, especially now when we’re practically chained to laptops and desks. I enjoy learning more about music and the history of famous music bands and genres.
What is favourite book?
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - I think I've read it more than 7 times
What is your favourite Arabic film?
Hala2 Lawen (Translation: Where Do We Go Now?) by Nadine Labaki
What is favourite English film?
Mamma Mia
Best piece of advice to someone looking for a career at Google?
If you’re interested in a career at Google, deep dive into the different career paths and pinpoint the space you want to join. When you know your space, you’re likely to identify the skills you need to develop.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
