Immortality and more in reader feedback

Limiting life

Dying early may provide an evolutionary advantage. New simulations that pitted short-lived organisms against immortals found that mortals leave more resources behind for future generations, Andrew Grant reported in “Evolution may favor limited life span” (SN: 7/11/15, p. 6).

“How would the childbearing propensity of immortals change compared to mortals, and how would that affect the outcome of the simulation?” asked reader Mike Van Horn.