aging: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	ageing

Photos and Videos

centenarian; supercentenarian

rheumatoid arthritis

Golden wheat stalks in a field, shown in close-up with rolling hills and a blue sky in the background.

aposematic coloration; tiger moth

squirrel; longevity among mammals

A chart compares the maximum life spans of various animals, using icons and color coding for mammals, birds, other vertebrates, and invertebrates. Lifespans range from the mayfly at less than a year to the Greenland shark at 500 years, with humans, elephants, whales, birds, and reptiles shown at various points along the timeline. Measurement intervals are marked in years, with a key at the bottom explaining the color categories.

A group of senior citizens sits in chairs, smiling and holding their hands together in a prayer pose during an exercise class.

Cervical cancer cells

Know how unlike humans some organisms like naked mole rats, rock fish, lobsters, and bristlecone pines can pause their aging process

Know how telomeres protect the ends of the chromosomes and over a while, it causes cellular aging

The secret to a longer life in Campodimele, Italy

Is there any benefit to red wine baths?

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Topics

crow’s feet free-radical theory of aging hexosamine-collagen ratio human aging menopause old age Why do we age?Why Does Your Voice Change as You Age?middle age Calculating dog years Metabolism death prenatal development coloration Sex sleep photosynthesis mimicry birth nutrition

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Key People

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Bruce Ames

American biochemist and geneticist

Elizabeth Blackburn

Elizabeth Blackburn

American molecular biologist and biochemist

Carol W. Greider

Carol W. Greider

American molecular biologist

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M.F.K. Fisher

American author

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Alex Comfort

British author