杏吧原创

IN THE 5th century BC, Greek historian Herodotus wrote of strange waters that were said to extend the life of people who bathed in them. Thus was born one of the most enduring of myths, the fountain of youth.

Myths, by definition, are not true. But on page 36 we report how one biochemist believes that drinking deuterated or 鈥渉eavy鈥� water could lead to a longer life. How ironic that modern science may have stumbled across such an elixir.

To some the idea will be just plain hubris 鈥� an attempt to cheat death that is doomed to fail. In its defence, heavy water does have plausible science on its side. And it鈥檚 a testable hypothesis too.

One of our writers has even tried a sip. We鈥檒l let you know what happens.