The world’s deadliest distinction: why aren’t the oldest living people getting any older?

Raising the upper bounds of the human lifespan is turning out to be trickier than increasing the average person’s life expectancy. In the past, the global count of supercentenarians — people 110 and older — has leveled off at about 80. (...) Just 7 people whose ages could be fully verified by the Gerontology Research Group have ever made it past 115. The inventor Ray Kurzweil estimated in 2005 that, within 20 years, advances in medical technology would enable humans to extend their lifespans indefinitely. With 6 years gone and 14 to go, his prophecy doesn’t seem that much closer to coming true. (...) Know more at http://goo.gl/wK5qC.

Jeanne Calment, the longest-living person ever, died at age 122

Autonomous machines, networks and robots will self-improve in the future

Autonomous machines, networks and robots will self-improve in the future by publishing their own upgrade suggestions on the Internet, says Sandor Veres of the University of Southampton’s Faculty of Engineering and the Environment. This leap to increased autonomy will be facilitated by machines and humans publishing information. (...) Know more at http://goo.gl/U8W8l. 

Block diagram of knowledge generation, sharing between humans and machines, and its distribution via publications (credit: S.M. Veres).