Is immortality plausible? Or is it quack science? Two experts face off.
Walter Bortz and Aubrey de Grey are both sights to behold. It’s a
Friday morning—opening time—at The Tied House Brewery and Café in
Mountain View, California. Flags emblazoned with the logos of local
sports teams (San Francisco Giants, San Jose Sharks) dangle from the
rafters, and colorful signs for house-made ales (New World Wheat Beer,
Hoptopia IPA) adorn the yellow cinder-block walls, in typical
microbrewery fashion.
Bortz appears first: tall, lean, tanned, in a white polo shirt and
brown sport coat, with a shock of white hair. Three months ago, Bortz
participated in his 10th Boston Marathon, and 43rd marathon overall. He
is 83 years old.
De Grey, 50, materializes next. He looks like
some sort of steampunk shaman: long russet-gray hair, pulled back in a
ponytail; equally long beard, with a footlong mustache to match;
lavender striped shirt unbuttoned past his sternum; dark jeans; and what
appear to be black Dr. Martens boots. De Grey is six feet, 150 pounds
or so. Wraithlike. He has saved us a table near the window.
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