A light article on centenarians being outlying data points and survivor bias in data

[Montero]

Why you should never take nutrition advice from a centenarian

A daily glass of spirits is not the secret to living for a century or more. Here’s why.

theconversation.com

 

[Astro Pen]

That bomber story is an education in lateral thinking.
But on aging I don't think there is any 'secret' to a bell curve. Humans are highly individuated creatures in both genetics and behaviour so I would expect a broad distribution of life duration.
I would imagine that other, more homogenous, species like, say, Gazelle, have a narrower bell (discounting the lion factor).

 

[Montero]

I love the bomber story - so obvious once it's been pointed out, so hard to see in the first place.

I would imagine that other, more homogenous, species like, say, Gazelle, have a narrower bell (discounting the lion factor).

Mm, not necessarily. You see wide ranges of longevity in pets with some cats and dogs beating the odds to go out to 18 or 21.
We have pet sheep and some die at 8 many live to 12-14 and a few make it up to 16 to 18. One of our enduring oldies, who is coming up on 16, is the son of a ewe that made it to 18. However his twin sister died years ago of an illness. He is in a field with two old ewes of 16 and 15 who are sisters. The 16 year old is full of the joy of life and canters and skips around and rushes up to the gate to say "snackies" with her wide eyed look. The 15 year old sister is in good nick but not a soul inclined to skip - more into glares and menace. The old guy of 16 is good apart from arthritis which is being treated.
Chatting with one of our farm vets, he said that you get some remarkably tough individuals amongst both cows and sheep and he'd just seen a perfectly healthy 21 year old cow standing for the bull again.