A shark that can live up to 500 years old, experts say the secret to human longevity lies in it!

With the advancement of modern medical science, the average life expectancy of human beings is continuously extending, and more and more people can live to be over 100 years old. But 100 years of age is still nothing compared to other long-lived animals in the animal kingdom. If someone asks you what is the longest-lived animal in the world, many will say turtle or something. In fact, there are many animals on earth that live longer than turtles, such as today's protagonist Greenland shark. It is an extremely long-lived animal in the marine world. We ordinary people can only live to 100 years old, but it can live to 400-500 years old. From him we may be able to dig out the secret of longevity.

The Greenland Shark, also known as the Greenland Sleeping Shark or the Greenland Sleeping Shark, is one of the largest sharks in the world. With an ugly appearance, it lives in the Arctic and North Atlantic, from diving beaches to 1,300 meters deep, slow-moving, and is one of the longest-lived animals in the world. It is mainly distributed in the cold waters of the high latitudes of the North Atlantic, and can survive from diving beaches to a depth of 1300 meters. Just in 2016, scientists discovered a Greenland shark with a lifespan of up to 392 years in the Arctic Ocean. The shark was born in 1627, according to radiocarbon techniques. At that time, it was the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty in China, and he has lived from the Ming Dynasty to the present.

On August 12, 2016, researchers from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark published their research papers in top international academic journals. The research team determined the age of the Greenland shark by radiocarbon testing the eye lens of the Greenland shark and confirmed that the Greenland shark is the longest-lived vertebrate known on Earth. Greenland sharks are known for being slow. Greenland sharks swim very slowly, with a typical downstream speed of only 1-3000 meters per hour. Their upper limit seems to be no more than ten kilometers per hour, slower than polar bears. Seeing this, friends may think, how can they prey at such a slow speed? In fact, Greenland sharks mainly eat squid, crustacean mollusks and carrion. Greenland sharks also hunt marine mammals and some nimble birds. The slow pace of the Greenland shark can be deceptive in the ocean. This behemoth will move slowly, slowly approaching its prey, causing other animals to relax their vigilance as a pile of floating objects.

Although the Greenland shark is slow, it is ferocious by nature. Of course, they also have natural enemies, that is, humans. The Inuit people of Iceland and Greenland hunt the sharks, turning their hides into boots and their teeth into cutting tools. The meat of the Greenland shark is poisonous and cannot be used easily. The fish is dried and fermented, and it can be used after 4-5 months. This food is called hakar by the inhabitants of Iceland and Greenland. In addition, Greenland sharks have yellow-white creatures on their eyes that eat part of the cornea of ​​Greenland sharks' eyes, causing partial blindness in their eyes. The large eyes of the Greenland shark are filled with copepods, and they live off the corneal tissue of the Greenland shark. This resulted in almost loss of the Greenland shark's otherwise poor vision, but the parasites also helped the Greenland shark.

The Greenland Shark's growth rate is as slow as his movement rate. Greenland sharks can grow up to six meters in length and weigh 1,020 kilograms, but only grow an average of one centimeter per year after birth. An adult shark grows to more than four meters and takes at least 150 years to reach sexual maturity. After reaching sexual maturity, female sharks give birth only once every few years, and can give birth to several small sharks at a time, which is similar to whales. Most of the sharks in the world do not live for 30 years. Even the whale sharks living in the deep sea are up to 100 years, which is similar to the lifespan of humans. But Greenland sharks live so long that they require specialized instruments and techniques to calculate their age.

Greenland sharks are truly immortal. Biologists analyzed the corneas of Greenland sharks using professional radiocarbon dating. When combined with the length of its body, it was found that the Greenland shark can live to be 400 years old. The longest can live to be more than 500 years old, making people wonder how the Greenland shark escaped predation and hunting for such a long time? Scientists speculate that there are several reasons for this. First of all, in the extremely cold environment, such large-sized sharks have fewer natural enemies. In addition, Greenland shark meat is poisonous, so natural enemies and humans are too lazy to hunt and kill. In the end, it may be because they sleep and stop, do not move, do not toss, are not easy to be discovered by natural enemies, and can save energy to survive.

Despite the poisonous flesh of Greenland sharks, the 19th-century fishing wave that extracted cod liver oil from their livers, coupled with their slow growth, means fewer and fewer Greenland sharks survive today. Taotao Hu believes that people should seriously think about how to protect the Greenland shark, so that future generations can see such a lazy, sleepy but not long-term old man.

In fact, there are many people who are over 100 years old in ancient and modern China and abroad. Sun Simiao, a medical scientist in the Tang Dynasty, lived to be 102 years old. In the third census, there were 3,756 people over 100 years old in my country, and the longest was 130 years old. Lao Tzu in China lived to be 160 years old, and eminent monk Hui Zhao lived to be 290 years old. Of course, these are historical figures and cannot be used as real testimony at present. Japanese scientists have done related research, the average mammal lifespan is 8-10 times the sexual maturity time, and the sexual maturity time of humans is about 15 years, that is, the lifespan of humans is about 110 to 150 years old. Not only that, but also American scientists use the number of cell divisions as a calculation. According to the situation of human cell division, the average human cell will senesce or die when it divides 50 times. Therefore, through such reasoning and calculation, the human lifespan is around 120 years old. So many scientists have reasoned and calculated that the human life span is more than 100 years old, but why are there not many people who can live to 100 years old?

The reason may be attributed to two aspects, one is social factors, including mental environment, diet, medical treatment. On the other hand, biological factors, including diseases, accidents, etc., are actually caused by factors of cell division under normal circumstances. We know the story of the eagle's rebirth is actually promoting the division of cells, which can finally make them live for decades. The division of human cells also affects human lifespan. Also in the 1980s, scientists made breakthroughs in understanding the structure of telomeres at the ends of chromosomes. They found that each time a cell divides, the telomeres shorten a little bit. With the continuous division of cells, the final telomeres cannot guarantee the structure and genes of chromosomes. Therefore, at this time, cells will stop growing and eventually decline. This is the core of affecting lifespan.

Of course, there are also cases where cells divide indefinitely. Maybe everyone can think of the canceration of cells. At this time, there is an error in the gene replication of the cell, causing the cell to become cancerous. It is conceivable that once a cell becomes cancerous, it will divide indefinitely, eventually leading to death, so uncontrolled division may be more terrifying. At this point, some people may think about whether humans can extend their lifespan to more than 500 years old. In fact, the idea of ​​scientists is even crazier than this. They think that it is possible to extend lifespan through cellular repair surgery, extending the limit of human lifespan to 1,000 years. Of course, this is only a theoretical issue, and it is easier said than done.

With the high development of society, various situations can appear, especially now many unknown diseases or virus infections. In 2020, the sudden new crown pneumonia epidemic is a very direct example, and it will be very troublesome if you accidentally get infected. So how can we enjoy a longer lifespan? Taotao believes that insisting on exercising, eating reasonably, working and resting regularly, maintaining an optimistic attitude, etc., are the most practical and long-lasting ways to maintain health. What do you think about this? Welcome to leave a message below for discussion. Friends who like my article can click to follow, and will be notified as soon as the content is updated.