Arbitrary Numbers
It is, unfortunately, that time of year again, when I have to deal with another birthday. There is of course, nothing wrong with birthdays, unless you are getting much older. But the numbers we use are arbitrary, it is just the way we have of measuring our time here.
So let’s play around with some numbers and see what happens. Our year is defined by the time it takes for our planet to revolve around the sun once. That length of time is 365.25 days and every 365.25 days we are said to have passed through another year. So what if the time we spent going around the sun were longer? Say 512 days. Within that year, the age of 80 would suddenly be the age of 57 in a longer solar revolution with the 512 days. And a shorter rotation period of say 243 days would yield a lifetime of 120 years instead of the normal 80. Mind you, we are still living the same amount of time, we have just changed the way we number it. (A shorter year would give you a lot more birthdays and more parties, presents, cake and ice cream.)
Other factors too, could advance or shorten our lifespans. A planet with heavier gravity would shorten our lives while with a little lighter gravity it would probably lengthen them. Oxygen was a deadly poison to early life, so would less oxygen in the atmosphere prolong our lives or make them shorter. Much less stress would certainly help and proper habits of exercise and eating always make things better for us.
When we settle a colony on Mars, (and we will one day), will we adopt the martian year of 687 days or keep the earthly numbering? A lifespan of 80 years on earth will only yield a similar life of 42.5 years on Mars. I guess martians will always be thought of as perpetually younger then earthlings. Also since Mars gravity is 38% of Earths, there would be a lot less stress on the human body, would that help with the life span? Hard to say, since we are used to the full impact of Earth’s gravity, other effects will come into play without that heavier pull. I would say that no matter the length of a years time, I still have to say to myself, Happy Birthday, you made it around the sun another year.
(Things were simpler when you are younger in the number of years. You generally have to bake your own cake when you get older.)
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