 Angilion
Male, 40-49, Europe
 9568 Posts
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Sunday, September 18, 2011 10:06:01 AM
I'm pretty sure it's actually "telamerase".
Actually, we're both spelling it incorrectly :)
It's "telomerase" |
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 Evil_Eye
Male, 18-29, Europe
1287 Posts
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Sunday, September 18, 2011 10:02:20 AM
Accept it is impossible to tell the age of a lobster without just watching it from birth.
This is a plausible thoery, not a fact. |
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 mvangild
Male, 30-39, Midwest US
528 Posts
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Sunday, September 18, 2011 9:26:22 AM
I'm guessing one of two things will happen to a lobster that is protected from its predators: either it will grow so large it will be crushed under its own weight; or it will die from starvation because it can't take in food fast enough to sustain itself. |
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 monsterzero
Male, 30-39, Eastern US
294 Posts
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Sunday, September 18, 2011 8:13:23 AM
@Wendypants
Was the author Ben Bova?
I read a book called Mars by him a few years ago, I believe it was the first in a series. Awesome story. |
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 Wendypants
Female, 30-39, Canada
1065 Posts
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Sunday, September 18, 2011 6:08:32 AM
@Angilion, imagine a massive, giant lobster at the bottom of the ocean... eating whales and kraken to live! |
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Wendypants
Female, 30-39, Canada
1065 Posts
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Sunday, September 18, 2011 6:07:17 AM
Three books to read, Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars... heavy science fiction about colonization of Mars where (at one point) humans discover 'longevity treatment'. I forget the author's name, but everyone on earth should read those books. |
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 keith2
Male, 18-29, Midwest US
2320 Posts
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Sunday, September 18, 2011 12:34:53 AM
I'm no doctor or biologist, but losing them Telomerase enzymes off the end of your chromosomes aren't the only thing making yew old. Just the process of your cell mitochondria releases energy which in turn does some damage to cells. Eating microwaved foods, due to the fact that microwaves screw with molecules and you're eating a bunch of now more reactive ions. Which damages cells and DNA. Oh, and the freaking sun. |
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 beternal
Male, 18-29, Europe
1850 Posts
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Sunday, September 18, 2011 12:26:08 AM
The immortal cell is a good read 
And theoretically, size shouldn't really be an issue under water as bouyancy enables movement. It's like those large dinosaurs like brachiosaurus (the large ones in Jurassic Park) - the theory is that they used to live practically under water to support their weight... or the blue whale...
Maybe there's a blue-whale sized lobster out there! |
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 Linkenberger
Male, 18-29, Canada
1067 Posts
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Saturday, September 17, 2011 10:47:56 PM
I'm pretty sure it's actually "telamerase". I read about it in a book called "The Immortal Cell" by the guy who allegedly discovered telamerase.
And I could see this being true. It takes lobsters like, 7 years to grow 4 pounds. |
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 davymid
Male, 30-39, Europe
11682 Posts
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Saturday, September 17, 2011 9:02:45 PM
There was a big-ass lobster found back home in Northern Ireland recently - marine biologists reckon the bastard is c.70 years old and weighs in at 11 lbs, more than your average baby: Linky Linky. |
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 LazyMe484
Male, 18-29, Canada
10503 Posts
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Saturday, September 17, 2011 8:12:43 PM
It will be a challenging time if anyone works out how to stop aging in humans.
A challenging time seems an understatement.
Think about what you've said! It would change the nature of humanity entirely. |
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cody123100
Male, 18-29, Southern US
20 Posts
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Saturday, September 17, 2011 4:13:25 PM
Technically it's cancer that would be the key to human immortality not lobsters. The problem is just figuring out how to activate the Telomerase without the immortal cells growing out of control and forming tumors. In 2009 some scientists earned a Nobel Prize for their study in Telomerase.
Kinda ironic that immortality kills so many people ever year. |
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Angilion
Male, 40-49, Europe
9568 Posts
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Saturday, September 17, 2011 4:04:06 PM
There has to be a maximum possible size - there is for any animal. If they continue growing, that means a maximum age. But I've no idea what the maximum possible size is for the physiology of a lobster. Maybe it's tonnes and the lifespan is millenia. Maybe they stop growing eventually and there's an unaging 250Kg lobster somewhere.
Or maybe they get too big to sustain themselves. What would a giant lobster eat and how would it get it?
It will be a challenging time if anyone works out how to stop aging in humans. It's theoretically possible - aging in a self-repairing animal is not inevitable. Preventing copying errors in cell division by maintaining telemorase might not be the whole answer, but it sure looks like a lot of the answer if it can be done without causing cancer. Given that a well-studied animal (naked mole rat) does it and is immune to all forms of cancer, it is proven possible. |
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 Pooptart19
Male, 18-29, Southern US
2101 Posts
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Saturday, September 17, 2011 3:39:13 PM
This is one lobster that will surely live forever! Praise His name!
 |
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 Groogle
Male, 30-39, Canada
2180 Posts
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Saturday, September 17, 2011 2:43:57 PM
I'm getting a pet loobster and growing it as much as I can so that I can RULE THE WORLD"
Mou-hahahaha! |
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 Revolutioniz
Male, 18-29, Western US
914 Posts
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Saturday, September 17, 2011 1:49:40 PM
So it's possible that there is a giant lobster lurking at the bottom of the ocean somewhere. |
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 collegebound
Male, 18-29, Eastern US
3480 Posts
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Saturday, September 17, 2011 1:48:46 PM
they live forever? who wants to go to Red Lobster... |
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 Fatninja01
Male, 18-29, Australia
23996 Posts
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Saturday, September 17, 2011 1:27:42 PM
There can be only 1! |
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 LegerDemain
Male, 18-29, Europe
89 Posts
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Saturday, September 17, 2011 1:08:16 PM
As recently discussed on QI. |
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 madest
Male, 40-49, Eastern US
6407 Posts
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Saturday, September 17, 2011 12:47:03 PM
Link: Lobsters Live Forever [Rate Link] - As they age they get bigger but never lose agility, reproductive urge or ability and no decline in strength or health. |
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