In 1997, Jeanne Calment set the record for the longest recorded time a person has lived, passing away at the age of 122 years old. So far, no one has broken this record.
But even before Calment, the 20th Century heralded the last radical expansion of human lifespans thus far, spawning what some researchers call the “longevity revolution” by skyrocketing our chances of living longer. Thanks largely to improvements in medicine and public health measures, the average life expectancy is no longer capped below 50.
Now, as we make our way through the 21st Century, the question is no longer whether we can live longer but how much longer.
Do we Have a Lifespan Limit?
In the 1990s, during which Calment was still alive, most scientists believed humans were approaching a hypothetical limit, according to Natalia Gavrilova, a senior research associate at the NORC at the University of Chicago.
