What A Body Built to Last a 100 Years Would Look Like

We would look a lot different if evolution had designed the human body to work well for a century or more

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Person designed for a healthy old age might possess the features highlighted here, along with countless other external and internal adjustments:

1 Rewired eyes

2 Bigger ears

3 Curved neck

4 Forward-tilting upper torso

5 Extra padding around joints

6 Shorter limbs and stature

7 Reversed knee joint

Bulging disks, fragile bones, fractured hips, torn ligaments, varicose veins, cataracts, hearing loss, hernias and hemorrhoids: the list of bodily malfunctions that plague us as we age is long and all too familiar. Why do we fall apart just as we reach what should be the prime of life?

The living machines we call our bodies deteriorate because they were not designed for extended operation and because we now push them to function long past their warranty period. The human body is artistically beautiful and worthy of all the wonder and amazement it evokes. But from an engineer's perspective, it is a complex network of bones, muscles, tendons, valves and joints that are directly analogous to the fallible pulleys, pumps, levers and hinges in machines. As we plunge further into our postreproductive years, our joints and other anatomical features that serve us well or cause no problems at younger ages reveal their imperfections. They wear out or otherwise contribute to the health problems that become common in the later years.

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