ceiling

A new preprint has taken an unusual route to an old question: not “How long did ancient humans live?”, but “How long could they live?” Using epigenetic “clocks” that read age-related patterns in DNA methylation, researchers estimate modern humans may have a far higher biological ceiling than our extinct cousins, Neanderthals and Denisovans. If their calculations hold up, a longer human lifespan may be a late-evolving feature of Homo sapiens, not something we inherited from earlier branches The work, pre-printed in Research Square , but currently not peer-reviewed, also nods to a separate debate: even if the body allows extreme longevity, does modern life - stress, disease, inequality, and environment - actually let many people reach it? That tension sits