While on the one hand, Veep JD Vance cancelled his trip to Geneva to sign that Memorandum of Understanding with Iran, it so turns out that there now seems to be some kind of ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah. So what? Well, chances are that Vance will now go to Europe as soon as this weekend, and, over the next 60 days or so, maybe re-negotiate a larger peace with Iran. Israel, however, is still not on the list to sign. I thought they were a key player in all of this.
If the last time you were in Japan, say 2013, the dollar-yen exchange rate was 100. In other words, instead of paying $500, today the cost would only be $313. Unfortunately, hotel rates have zoomed up by 40% during this period, so you really haven't gained all that much in value. Yet, Google AI says:
For Americans, hotel rates in Japan are generally cheaper in USD today than they were 13 years ago. While the underlying Japanese Yen (JPY) prices have surged due to massive post-pandemic demand, the historically weak yen—averaging around 157-161 JPY to the dollar—provides American travelers with significantly more purchasing power. [1, 2, 3]
Now, Part 1 of my series on what is happening to stop and reverse aging. Two days ago I said;
There is a lot history to this topic, and I have posted on this subject too many times to count, so decided that this topic will be developed into a series with the following possible episodes:
- Longevity range of life.
- A history of hopes and promises to live forever.
- There are various organisms capable of essentially living forever. Can we decifer how they do this?
- The science of eternal life.
- Can there someday be just one simple pill to help you live forever?
- What are some billionaires doing to live forever?
- What exactly is happening in this field of cellular reprogramming (epigenetic restoration), and are there even more promising future research directions to develop into the future?
So to begin, I asked Google AI if all this hype about science stopping and reversing aging was real?
It is partially hype, but built on real scientific breakthroughs. The fundamentals of cellular reprogramming, which act as a biological reset switch for old cells, have been proven in animal trials and in human cells in a lab setting. However, an over-the-counter pill to make an 80-year-old biologically 20 again does not exist. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Okay, good, so over the next few days, or weeks, I will delve into some original thoughts from way back when to what is happening today. First, some background about life expectancy. I reached back to my 18June2025 posting on Lifespan Limits.
- An adult mayfly has the shortest lifespan for any animal...as little as five minutes. However, the nymph stage can last for years.
- The near microscopic gastrotrich is a nearly microscopic aquatic worm that takes sexual maturity in three days and lives as long as ten days.
Luna moths do not have mouths nor digestive tracts. They live only about a week to reproduce. Just read an article in Time magazine about this moth. Very interesting.
- The seven-figure pygmy goby is a tiny marine fish with the shortest known lifespan of any vertebrate, 59 days.
- Labord's Chameleon, from Madagascar, is the shortest-living land vertebrate, living from 2 to 5 months.
- You've probably seen this beast, for the house mouse survives for only 3 months in the wild, but in a home, less than a year.
- A western honeybee depends on what it does.
- Worker bee, only 4-6 weeks in the spring but 4-6 months in the winter in a hive.
- A drone bee will live for 30-90 days, longer only if they are successful in mating with the queen. If inadequate, it is expelled by worker bees out of the hive.
- A queen bee can live for 2-5 years.
- Life for a dairy cow is also dependent on productivity.
- Can live naturally for 15-20 years.
- But are culled and sent to slaughter between 4.5 and 5 years if milk productivity drops, or develops reproductivity issues.
- 90% of dairy cows in the U.S. are the black and white one, Holstein.
So much for shortness of life. We are here focused on long life, so let me start with life in general.
How do humans relate to the above?
- The seagrass Posidonia oceanica in the Mediterranean is estimated live for 100,000 years.
- Located in Utah's Fishlake National Forest is a Pando, or Quaking Aspen 106-acre colony estimated to be more than 80,000 years old.
- The King's Holly in Tasmania is a shrub said to be at least 43,600 years old.
- But humans are animals, and this is where research seems to be focused.
So one way to gauge our potential is to compare with anything that lives for a long time.
Yes, several animals are considered "biologically immortal," meaning they don't die of old age. While they can still die from disease or predators, they have evolved ways to completely bypass the aging process or regenerate indefinitely. [1, 2, 3]
The most notable creatures that cheat death include:
- Immortal Jellyfish: The Turritopsis dohrnii is the only animal known to be completely biologically immortal. When injured, starved, or aging, it can reverse its life cycle back to an early polyp stage and grow all over again. [1, 2]
- Hydra: These tiny, tube-like freshwater animals consist almost entirely of stem cells, allowing them to continually regenerate and replace damaged cells forever. [1, 2]
Regenerating Flatworms: Also known as planarians, these worms can regrow a whole new body from just a tiny slice of tissue, essentially cheating death indefinitely. [1]- And, by the way, tartigrades (right) are not immortal They can survive extreme environments, but only live up to two years.
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