Editing Life-Line (section)

{{Short description|1939 short story by American author Robert A. Heinlein}}
{{Other uses|Lifeline (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
"'''Life-Line'''" is  a short story by American author [[Robert A. Heinlein]].  Published in the August 1939 edition of ''[[Astounding (magazine)|Astounding]]'', it was Heinlein's first published short story.

The protagonist, Professor Hugo Pinero, builds a machine that will predict how long a person will live.  It does this by sending a signal along the [[world line]] of a person and detecting the echo from the far end.  Professor Pinero's invention has a powerful impact on the life insurance industry, as well as on his own life.

Pinero is mentioned in passing in the novels ''[[Time Enough for Love]]'' and ''[[Methuselah's Children]]'' when the practically immortal [[Lazarus Long]] mentions having been examined and being sent away because the machine is "broken".