Guts, dark matter, the world in 2050 and why we die.
More tales from the Cheltenham Science Festival for those who missed it.
If you ever need a colorectal surgeon and I hope you don’t, James Kinross is the one to have. The author of ‘Dark Matter’ used his charming bedside manner to explore fecal transplants, explain the inner workings of our microbiome and what we can do to live healthier longer lives.
In summary, to live a long healthy life:
1. Don’t ride a motorbike
2. Eat 30 plants a week
3. Remove UPF (ultra processed foods) from your diet
4. Eat meals with friends and family.
Loneliness is, after all, one of society’s biggest killers.
"When you’re young you want to be rich, and when you’re rich you want to be young again."
A poignant comment from Nobel prize winner Venki Ramakrishnan whose work focusses on the proteins in our body which are crucial to the ageing process and author of Why We Die.
Can we ever slow or ‘treat’ the ageing process? Is it better to live healthier for longer and is it possible? Our organs age at different speeds, and we all age differently to eachother. To go out with a bang is actually quite hard because that means the demise of major organs must be in sync. The truth is we tend to fall apart piece by piece with chronic diseases related to old age.
But don't be sad.
What I took away from this talk is the super centenarian Jeanne Louise Calment who lived to 122 years old ate a kilo of chocolate every week including one cigarette and glass of port each day.
We got a heads up from Professor Mark Lewney and Hamish McRae, author of The World in 2050 making future predictions and take note, because 20 years ago, Hamish wrote a book predicting Brexit and the rise of populism in the US.
The big takeway: climate change, AI and graphene will change the world, for better and worse.
The scientist Andrew Steele and author of Ageless (great book by the way) was in conversation with Professor Andrew Scott (macro economist) discussing lessons for an ageing world.
Firstly, we can all agree that it's miracle that we’re all living so much longer and healthy life expectancies are up globally (apart from the USA).
The global life expectancy is 72.6 years and that includes every single country, both rich and poor.
Highlights:
We have such a negative view towards the older population and yet.. we should feel bloody lucky to be in an ageing society.
Drugs will start to intervene in the ageing process helping us to live healthier for longer.
AI and climate change will have huge impacts on society
Preventive health is key to ageing well.
Check out our lifestyle calculator app where you can see yourself in 10 and 20 years time with lifestyle habits at FutureFace.AI
Auriole Prince Founder, Future Face