• Question: I am fasinated in the body and allways wanted to know why do we have to die?

    Asked by jessamy to Laura, Nicola, Norman, Sandra, Thanasis on 13 Mar 2013. This question was also asked by tomlehrer.
    • Photo: Laura Soul

      Laura Soul answered on 13 Mar 2013:

      Scientists have lots of ideas about this and they argue about it quite a lot.

      There is one theory that says that we have to die so that our children and grandchildren can survive. Imagine if we all stayed alive forever! The world would be really crowded and we wouldn’t have enough food or space or anything.

      Lifespans are complicated things that we don’t really understand yet, but there are some people who think that we don’t actually have to die and that soon we will be able to combat all of the things that happen when we age and then live forever. Aubrey de Grey is a man who thinks we could do that, but lots of people think he’s a bit crazy and that it will never happen. You can decide what you think for yourself!

    • Photo: Norman Lazarus

      Norman Lazarus answered on 13 Mar 2013:

      Questions asking why things happen are difficult to answer and gnerally involve a bit of theology. A better question is HOW, especially for those who wish to become scientists. Every living thing on our planet has living processes that are based on carbon. All carbon life forms die. It appears that theprocesses that allow us to live evolved alongside those processes that make living forms die. On our planet it seems that life cannot be generated without being inextricably linked to processes that cause death. This linkage is great. Imagine if nothing died. How many trees would there be, how many insects. how many human beings? Death ensures the continuity of our existence on earth. Without death the resources of the planet would be exhausted. Even the sun dies, but that death process is different from carbon life forms because the sun is not alive in the sense that we are using. As humans are beginning to live longer and poipulations expand we are seeing the first signs of what overpopulation by one species can cause. No room for animals in the wild, water shortages and other signs you can think up for yourself. Death is not some fearsome horrible event. It is part of our genes and the result of millions of years of evolution. Death allows future generations of all living species from trees to insects to bacteria to humans to enjoy this beautiful universe we live in. Whether non carbon life forms in other parts of the universe have a similar relationship with life and death is unknown and presently unknowable.

    • Photo: Nicola Wardrop

      Nicola Wardrop answered on 13 Mar 2013:

      Great questions, and I must confess I don’t really know the answer – sounds like Laura and Normal know more about it than me! I always find it interesting the way different types of animals live for different lengths of time – for example, people generally live from about 70 – 90 years. Dogs live for maybe 10 – 15 years. Cats live for about 12 – 14 years. Giant tortoises can live for over 100 years and sometimes certain fish and whales can live for over 200 years! There is even a jellyfish called Turritopsis nutricula, or the immortal jellyfish, which can manage to avoid death by natural causes – it’s pretty much immortal (unless of course it gets eaten) – amazing!

      I’m pretty glad that we all have to die eventually though – firstly, imagine what the world would be like if we all lived for ever – we’d run out of food, space, water and other resources. Secondly…I think after about 100 years you’d probably start getting bored of working and living and working and living and you surely would have done everything you ever wanted to do by the age of about 200?! If you lived for ever, you might go insane (well, I probably would anyway!)

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