I live near a large hospital and drive past it almost every day. I do not like hospitals. They are places of health care and healing, but also of death. A hospital is the last line of defence where we mortals try in desperation to end suffering and prevent death. But our science almost always leaves us behind in the dust. 

The quest for immortality has obsessed humans for as long as we have walked the earth. Alchemists over many eras and civilisations tried to create the elixir of eternal life. The ancients in India, China and Mesopotamia pursued ways to avoid death. Some call it the  philosopher’s stone, a potion believed to bring perpetual youth. ..

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