Hacking the human lifespan / Boing Boing – Boing Boing

Biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey has said that the first person likely to live to 1,000 years-old has probably been born already. de Grey's nonprofit lab, and others, some of which are funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, are boldly focused on how science may find a cure for aging. In the new issue of Smithsonian, Elmo Keep writes about these efforts to "hack" mortality and quotes my Institute for the Future colleagues Rachel Maguire and Jake Dunagan, both of whom cast a concerned eye on the obsession with longevity. From Smithsonian:

One thing we do know is that there are more elderly people alive now than there have ever been in the history of the planet. Even if todays life-extension researchers made meaningful breakthroughs, the therapies wouldnt be available for many years to come. That means were about to face a lot of death, says Rachel Maguire, a research director focusing on health care at the Institute for the Future, in Palo Alto. By 2025 or 2030, there will be more of a culture of dying and lots of different ways of experiencing it. There are early signs of new types of funerals and spiritual formations around this. Maguire foresees new end-of-life plans, including assisted dying. When it comes to aging, she points out that biological research is only one piece of a puzzle that must also include economics, politics and cultural change. I dont think we have answers yet for how wed do the other pieces. And the financial piece alone is huge.

Theres already a huge disparity between the life spans of rich and poor Americans, and critics of the new longevity research worry the gap may only grow wider. A 2016 report from the Brookings Institution found that, for men born in 1920, there was a six-year difference in life expectancy between men at the top 10 percent and bottom 10 percent of the earnings ladder. For men born in 1950, the difference was 14 years. For women, the gap grew from 4.7 to 13 years. In other words, advances in medicine havent helped low-income Americans nearly as much as their wealthier counterparts....

Dunagan has little patience for Silicon Valleys longevity research; he says proponents are not sufficiently interested in the details. The rich people are defining the terms of the longevity conversation and have enhanced access to these technologies, he says. Everyone wants to live longer, to some degree, but its also the sense of privilege, of selfishness to it thats I want mine. I always want mine. Well, what if everyone had this? What would be the long-term implications of that?

Derek Muller of the YouTube channel Veritasium uses a nifty trick to make visible the invisible air currents, temperature gradients, and differences in air pressure around us. The process is called Schlieren photography and with the right equipment and some precision alignment, you can try it at home. As Muller explains: I first saw a []

On June 16, 1963, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. She orbited the Earth 48 times over a period of three days. Inspired by Yuri Gagarin who in 1961 became the first person in space, Tereshkova applied to the Russian space program and was accepted based on her extensive background as []

In this nifty YouTube video, Dave Hax talks through the properties of gallium, the metal that liquefies at just 86F and is safe to play with. (Just dont eat it!) Hax has a whole collection of videos about gallium on his YouTube channel. If you want to give it a try yourself, you buy 20 []

COGZ is a game where up to six players compete to see who can fix a mad scientists color-coded machine, and its currently available in the Boing Boing Store.In this Mensa-endorsed tabletop game, players take turns laying gear tiles to connect like-colored segments. Points are scored when complex paths are finished, but your unfinished arrangements []

Whether you desperately need to locate your wedding ring in the sink drain or accurately determine how much hair is clogging your shower, this Waterproof Endoscopic Camera will give you a clear window into your homes tightest crevices.This rugged camera comes with an adjustable LED lamp to illuminate the situation. Its 720p HD resolution provides []

While the portability of smartphones and tablets is undeniably convenient, the occasional need to support your device while typing or video chatting can get exhausting after awhile. To give you an extra hand with your mobile devices, this trio of foldable stands is availablein the Boing Boing Store.These device props have an adjustable metal back, []

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Hacking the human lifespan / Boing Boing - Boing Boing