FAME I'M GONNA LIVE FOREVER...

"How close to immortality can we get?"

-  lan Kirke

Who hasn't, at some time in their lives, contemplated immortality? Fiction is littered with such characters - Count Dracula, Dr Who, The Highlander, to name but a few - so I guess this question has fascinated many authors too. According to the peer reviewed 'Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, "Immortality is the indefinite continuation of a person's existence, even after death." This definition is wide enough to embrace afterlife' too - the existence of the consciousness or spirit of the departed. Personally, if I could achieve immortality I would prefer not to roam the landscape as a ghost putting the willies up people or ullering a creepy commentary during a séance like the reported case of Erik Medhus. According to Rich ard Martini, author of Architecture of the Afterlife', after committing suicide Erik called his mum, a physician in Houston, on her mobile and said, "Hi mom, I'm okay." But returning with haste to the title, taken from the classic 1980s hit by Irene Cara, can we live forever or at the very least, significantly extend our lifespans?

Several reliable data streams conclude that the average life expectancy in the United Kingdom is a tad over eighty-one. In the United States it's seventy-eight, whilst down under, the average Aussie will hear the words "Happy birthday for the last time on their eighty-third anniversary. With that number of candles on a cake no wonder bush fires are frequent! However, there may be a real a opportunity to drastically dodge the coffin for much longer, due to an approach to life that isn't totally out of the blue.