It was once said that nothing is certain in life except death and taxes. While the tax office will still get their cut, the grim reaper’s job is looking less secure.

The life expectancy of Australians has grown by 10 years since the 1970s and some believe the first person to live to 1000 has already been born, but how will this be achieved?

Professor Federico Rosei, Director of Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Énergie, Matériaux et Télécommunications, Université du Québec, Varennes (QC) Canada.

Selby Travelling Fellowships are awarded to distinguished overseas scientists to visit Australia for public lecture/seminar tours and to visit scientific centres in Australia. Fellows are expected to increase public awareness of science and scientific issues and accordingly will be outstanding lecturers to the general lay public.

2016 saw the first ever detection of gravitational waves, 100 years after their initial theoretical prediction by Einstein and following 50 years of arduous experimental effort.

However, even theoretically, the existence of gravitational waves was a controversial matter for much of the last century.