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#1 2002-03-31 04:51:40
- ournewevolution
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- Registered: 2002-03-31
- Posts: 1
Re: Extending Human Life - Longer lived, resilient colonists needed
It is clear that colonizing space will not be an easy endeavor and to succeed human beings will need to be able to live longer and withstand difficult environmental stresses. In order to do so successfully we will need to, either through genetic manipulation or natural means, to extend our common life span. One interesting method, verified by evolutionary biologists, is of extending life spans through delayed reproduction. Simply meaning that if generations of females of a given species are denied reproduction through natural or artificial methods until the latest possible moment the species will slowly extend longevity, endurance and resiliency. Professor Michael R. Rose at UCLA amongst others have reproduced species of fruit flies that live two times longer or more. He has proven that there is no upper limit to age as long as the species lives long enough to reproduce.
If the colonists of Mars, through the probable delay of childbirth amongst the female scientists and technicians, were to live twice as long or more then it would be the Martian culture that would probably be the ones to eventually leave our solar system to colonize our interstellar neighborhood.
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#2 2002-03-31 22:43:17
- RobHazlewood
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- Registered: 2002-03-20
- Posts: 19
Re: Extending Human Life - Longer lived, resilient colonists needed
I agree with what you're saying (the need for humans to live longer), however I can't imagine the delayed reproduction method working in a reasonable timeframe.
It would probably take at least tens of thousands of years to significantly increase our lifespan. Humans live abit longer than flys 
You talk about making martians live longer. That may result in creating a new 'species' of humans which can't reproduce with the rest of us. Problem.
What you do to one group must be done to all. Regardless, people would travel from planet to planet, diluting the gene pool, cancelling out the results from delayed reproduction.
I think increasing our lifespan needs to be done by bio-tech methods. Genetics and nanotech especially.
Stem cells (SC's) have great promise... But most people already know that stuff.
I wouldn't refuse the opportunity to live for 5000 years with a youthful body!
-Rob
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#3 2002-04-01 20:45:13
- Phobos
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- Registered: 2002-01-02
- Posts: 1,103
Re: Extending Human Life - Longer lived, resilient colonists needed
Sometime this Century artificial intelligence might evolve to such a formidable state that it might be better just to increase our lifespans by scanning the connections in our brains and downloading them to a computer that could simulate and augment their abilities beyond what any improvements genetic tinkering could bestow on humanity. Sounds kinda whacky but I believe that artificial intelligence will someday far surpass that of even the most intelligent humans.
To achieve the impossible you must attempt the absurd
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