The strange science of immortality

Immortality has always been a dream of humanity, though in movies and books, we are often told that our mortality is somehow integral to the human experience. If you could live longer — much, much longer than our expected 79 years — would you want to? Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Jonathan Weiner examines the science of longevity in his new book, ‘Long for This World: The Strange Science of Immortality.’

According to Weiner, our life expectancies are increasing by about two years per decade. But he considers the possibility, with the help of gerontologists all over the world, that we eventually might be able to live hundreds or even thousands of years longer. We just need to solve some pesky problems associated with how we tend to die right now.