The average human lifespan is around 73.4 years. The Greenland shark’s potential lifespan surpasses 500 years, making that number seem pretty insignificant by comparison. These sharks, which inhabit the cold depths of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, can live longer than any known vertebrate species. Looking at that number, the oldest Greenland sharks were alive when Galileo made his first telescope. Some could have even been mere pups when Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. It turns out that these creatures could, aside from being living history, reveal insights beneficial for human health and th…