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Hank Green separates immortal cells from an immortal you

Smosh's Shayne Topp brings questions about eternal life, laughter and telepathy to Complexly's reverse-interview series.

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Complexly Story of October 27, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? 988,553 views so far, and here is what is inside it.

Is Immortality Possible? | Shayne Topp Asks Hank Anything

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2:22Green presents laughter as a possible signal of safety, intelligence and social connection.
11:29The multiverse discussion covers Many-Worlds quantum mechanics, cosmic inflation, black holes and fine-tuning arguments.
21:34The immortality question leads to a distinction between continuous cellular lineages and an individual's continued existence.
37:11Scientists use statistical methods to estimate undiscovered species, while classifications can change with new evidence.
44:17Green connects the telepathy question to rat brain-computer interfaces and fish that communicate through electric fields.

"I truly just laugh for a living," Shayne Topp tells Hank Green. It makes laughter a fitting first question for the Smosh comedian, before their conversation heads toward alternate universes and the possibility of living forever.

In Complexly's "Is Immortality Possible? | Shayne Topp Asks Hank Anything," the guest does the asking. Green begins with a hypothesis about humor: laughter can follow a brief startle that turns out to be safe, helping people signal intelligence and build social bonds. Topp brings that idea back to familiar territory, discussing how Smosh's roasts can push boundaries without becoming malicious.

The title's question arrives about 21 minutes in. Green approaches immortality through biology, describing single-celled organisms and the continuity of cellular lineages across billions of years. Human aging, by contrast, involves changes such as declining collagen. An unbroken lineage of cells is not the same thing as preserving a particular person's consciousness forever, and the conversation turns to what the self actually is, rather than offering a route to eternal youth.

The episode's later questions bring the discussion back to things scientists can investigate. Green explains how statistical methods help estimate undiscovered species. For telepathy, he points to brain-computer interface experiments involving rats and to weakly electric fish, which communicate through electric fields.

The conversation has drawn nearly a million views in six days. It was recorded in August 2025, and on-screen updates distinguish later species discoveries and classification changes from what the pair knew during filming. A separate "Future Hank" interlude examines the failed replication of the "God Helmet" experiment. The episode also includes a sponsored segment.

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What viewers say

They let him out of the Reddit Stories set!
@gandusha_See it on YouTube
I remember the day in elementary school sitting at my desk that I realized there is no edge of the universe and there is no beginning or end to time. It messed me up pretty bad. And then we went to recess and I was fine again for a while.
@PaulASmyersSee it on YouTube
37:50
The subtitles on shayne going from "-_-" to "0_0" is the highlight of my day.
@RedofthesixSee it on YouTube

3 more comments

Next season opener or finale should 1000% be Vsauce Michael.

And it should be 6 hours long.
@nickbeutlerSee it on YouTube
I love how committed Shayne (who could just as easily stick to being funnyman) is to pursuing knowledge and understanding, and it's really obvious from the types of questions he asked
@BrigisterSee it on YouTube
Cant wait for the eventual courtney miller asks hank anything
@evilbull8995See it on YouTube

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