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24/06/2010

Mike considers living forever. We hear from elderly and young. Plus we debate food miles

"Who wants to live forever?" sang Freddy Mercury. Fair question, though from the discussions on our Facebook site, few people actually do. Forever seems like, well, such a long time. One Planet's considering the question thanks to a conference taking place in Barcelona entitled the "Congress on controversies in longevity, health and aging". In short, scientists will debate age prevention.

In this week's show we catch up with Dr Aubrey de Grey, one of the world's leading thinkers in the field of gerontology (the study of aging). Before heading off to that conference, Dr Aubrey debates with Mike the ethics and practicalities of age prevention.

Also in the show, Mike pops into an elderly day centre to find out whether your views of death change as you enter your golden years. Plus we have an exclusive short story from bestselling author Professor David Eagleman, the American neuroscientists famous for his book "Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives".

Elsewhere in the show, we hear the second part of our Open University big questions series. This week we examine whether food miles are bad. As ever, do tune in and let us know what you think - you can contact the team on oneplanet@bbc.com, or join in the conversation on our Facebook page, the link's below. If you'd prefer to write, our address is One Planet, 麻豆社 World Service, Bush House, London, UK - always nice to get a postcard or letter.

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Sun 27 Jun 2010 05:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 24 Jun 2010 09:32GMT
  • Thu 24 Jun 2010 14:32GMT
  • Thu 24 Jun 2010 19:32GMT
  • Fri 25 Jun 2010 00:32GMT
  • Sun 27 Jun 2010 05:32GMT

麻豆社 World Service Archive

This programme was restored as part of the World Service archive project