Scientists claim that humans alive today could be up to 140.
Many experts have long suspected that human lifespan has reached its limit, with no one likely to surpass the record set by Jeanne Calment, a gun-smoking French woman who died at the age of 122.
But a new study concludes that we’re still “far away” from any cap — if, in fact, there is one.
There is a 50/50 chance that a person born in 1940 in the UK will reach the impressive age of 125.
This means that today’s octogenarian is still alive in the year 2065.
Jeanne Calment, Guinness World Records photographer
Researchers from the University of Georgia analyzed the ages of people in the UK who were born before 1880 to see what might be possible in the future.
Their projections show that men born in 1970 could reach 141, and older women born in 1970 could reach 131.
But these people are still very young, and the authors say they “do not trust” these estimates, warning that they may be inaccurate because they rely on certain statistical assumptions.
They are more than sure that a man born in 1940 can reach his 125th birthday, and a woman born in the same year can reach 124 and a half.
These estimates have a probability of 50/50.
The world’s oldest person by far is believed to be Madame Calment, who was reported to have reached 122 years and 164 days, although some experts question this.
For 25 years, no one else in the world has reached that age.
The study looks at lifespans in 19 separate countries to try to understand whether aging is being compressed or delayed.
The Office for National Statistics predicts that the life expectancy of men born in the year 2070 in the UK will reach the age of 85 on average, while women will be around 88 at the time of their death.
The pressure means that more people are reaching old age, such as the 90s.
Postponement means that the age to which people can live is getting older.
The results, published in the journal PLOS One, suggest that the age at which people die will increase dramatically in the coming decades.
In Sweden, which has the most data, the maximum age a person can live has remained the same for men born in 1900, compared to those born in 1780 — four generations earlier.
But the advent of modern medicine after World War II, better nutrition, and political stability, among other factors, may have contributed to the dramatic increase in lifespan seen so far, and it is expected to continue.
The authors say that the oldest among people born between 1910 and 1950 might regularly live to be 120 or more.
Dr David McCarthy, who led the study from the University of Georgia, said: ‘As these groups reach advanced ages in the coming decades, longevity records may increase exponentially.
“Our results confirm previous work suggesting that if there is an upper limit to human lifespan, we are not close to it yet.”
Charlotte Hughes, who was born in August 1877 and died in March 1993, is the longest-living person ever documented in the UK, at 115 years and 228 days.
She praised her longevity in cups of tea, and was the oldest person to fly, at age 115 in 1992, when she sat in a Concorde.
She also had the longest operating bank account, which has been open for over a century.