LONDON, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Life expectancy in Britain has been rising at a rate of five hours per day, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Saturday.

    The newspaper quoted Prof. Tom Kirkwood, director of the Institute for Aging and Health at the University of Newcastle, as saying on Friday at the annual conference of the National Association of Pension Funds in London that evidence from the past two centuries indicated that people were living for around two years longer each decade.

    "Biological research over the last 20 years has shown us that actually there is no strict biological program for aging and no set upper limit for the length of human life," said Kirkwood, urging people to heed the realization.

    The professor believed that average life expectancy would rise to 90 or more, then slow, but "strongly discounted" the claims by certain scientists in the aging field that advances could lead to people living for up to 200 years.

    Kirkwood called for "smart options" for the transition from full-time work to full-time retirement as well as profound change in attitudes. Enditem