28. Methuselah
The Bulletin published a piece this week saying that men lose in height from age 40 or 50 , approx 1.5 cm per decade.
So a man of 6 ft., 180 cm tall, could lose in 50 years, 7.5 cm.
Now that sets me thinking, the bible tells me Methuselah lived for 969 years. Noah built the Ark after he was 500 years old. Many lived over 900 years.
So I wrote to the Bulletin.
"How high do you think Methuselah was when he died at 969?"
They wrote back, could they publish my letter, but rewrite it/
Yes sure, but I think my version was clearer than theirs.
Read all about it this week...
You know, people were shorter in the olden days. Remember the Ice Man who was discovered in a glacier about 10 years ago?
He was from about 5000 years ago. Suppose Methuselah then was about 5 feet tall, or say 150 cm.... then he lost height at a constant 1.5 cm per decade? And of course if there was a compounding effect like bank interest, the there would be even more loss of height....
That is 1.5 per 10 years x 10 x 9 to take him from age 50 to 950. Equals 135 cm. Add the 19 years. Say 3 cm. That leaves the poor man about 2 inches high.
Lets see how The Bulletin deals with that.
For my mind, let me repeat, if your science and your religion disagree, maybe its time to change your science...
Ross
EXTRACT FROM THE BULLETIN…25 APR 2006-04-24
That Shrinking Feeling
Jack Dyer was a giant of the AFL, although at 185 cm the Richmond ruckman wasn’t overly tall. People who met Dyer late in his life were struck by how much he’d shrunk in old age; by the time of his death, in 2003, Dyer was perhaps 7.5 cm shorter than during his playing days.
Which is only slightly more than the average amount (6.9 cm) of shrinkage most men can expect if they live to 85 (women average a loss of 10 cm). So why are we subject to shortening, which typically kicks in during our late 40s?
Compression of discs between vertebrae, increased splaying of hips and knees, and flattening of the arches are all largely unavoidable, but the main reason – the disease osteoporosis – is both preventable and treatable through diet and exercise.
Even with healthy bones, you can expect to shed about 1.5 cm per decade once into your 50s. Feeling tired? Stumpiness may be something to do with it; for every 2.5 cm you lose, your lung capacity is reduced by 10 %. Not that any of this slowed Dyer, who lived until he was 90, and whose head bore abundant evidence of another ageing inevitability: our ears continue to grow at a rate of 0.025cm per year throughout our entire lives.
Great. Just great.
Clementine
So a man of 6 ft., 180 cm tall, could lose in 50 years, 7.5 cm.
Now that sets me thinking, the bible tells me Methuselah lived for 969 years. Noah built the Ark after he was 500 years old. Many lived over 900 years.
So I wrote to the Bulletin.
"How high do you think Methuselah was when he died at 969?"
They wrote back, could they publish my letter, but rewrite it/
Yes sure, but I think my version was clearer than theirs.
Read all about it this week...
You know, people were shorter in the olden days. Remember the Ice Man who was discovered in a glacier about 10 years ago?
He was from about 5000 years ago. Suppose Methuselah then was about 5 feet tall, or say 150 cm.... then he lost height at a constant 1.5 cm per decade? And of course if there was a compounding effect like bank interest, the there would be even more loss of height....
That is 1.5 per 10 years x 10 x 9 to take him from age 50 to 950. Equals 135 cm. Add the 19 years. Say 3 cm. That leaves the poor man about 2 inches high.
Lets see how The Bulletin deals with that.
For my mind, let me repeat, if your science and your religion disagree, maybe its time to change your science...
Ross
EXTRACT FROM THE BULLETIN…25 APR 2006-04-24
That Shrinking Feeling
Jack Dyer was a giant of the AFL, although at 185 cm the Richmond ruckman wasn’t overly tall. People who met Dyer late in his life were struck by how much he’d shrunk in old age; by the time of his death, in 2003, Dyer was perhaps 7.5 cm shorter than during his playing days.
Which is only slightly more than the average amount (6.9 cm) of shrinkage most men can expect if they live to 85 (women average a loss of 10 cm). So why are we subject to shortening, which typically kicks in during our late 40s?
Compression of discs between vertebrae, increased splaying of hips and knees, and flattening of the arches are all largely unavoidable, but the main reason – the disease osteoporosis – is both preventable and treatable through diet and exercise.
Even with healthy bones, you can expect to shed about 1.5 cm per decade once into your 50s. Feeling tired? Stumpiness may be something to do with it; for every 2.5 cm you lose, your lung capacity is reduced by 10 %. Not that any of this slowed Dyer, who lived until he was 90, and whose head bore abundant evidence of another ageing inevitability: our ears continue to grow at a rate of 0.025cm per year throughout our entire lives.
Great. Just great.
Clementine
posted by Ross at 11:55 pm
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