Maximum life span is a measure of the maximum amount of time one or more members of a population has been observed to survive between birth and death. The term can also denote an estimate of the maximum amount of time that a member of a given species could survive between life and death, provided optimal circumstances.
Most living species have at least one upper limit on the number of times cells can divide. For humans, this is called the Hayflick limit, although number of cell divisions does not strictly control lifespan (non-dividing cells and dividing cells lived over 120 years in the oldest known human).
Read more about Maximum Life Span: Definition, In Humans, In Other Animals, In Plants, Increasing Maximum Life Span, Research Data Concerning Maximum Life Span
Famous quotes containing the words maximum, life and/or span:
“Only at his maximum does an individual surpass all his derivative elements, and become purely himself. And most people never get there. In his own pure individuality a man surpasses his father and mother, and is utterly unknown to them.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“That life is really so tragic would least of all explain the origin of an art form—assuming that art is not merely imitation of the reality of nature but rather a metaphysical supplement of the reality of nature, placed beside it for its overcoming.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“School-days, I believe, are the unhappiest in the whole span of human existence. They are full of dull, unintelligible tasks, new and unpleasant ordinances, brutal violations of common sense and common decency. It doesn’t take a reasonably bright boy long to discover that most of what is rammed into him is nonsense, and that no one really cares very much whether he learns it or not.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)