Now researchers have used US economic, health, and demographic data to put a price on just how valuable such an intervention could be. In a paper in Nature Aging, they showed that treatments that slow down aging could be worth US$38 trillion for every extra year of life they give people.

This isn’t the first time someone has tried to pin a number on the benefits of slowing aging. The authors reference a 2013 study in Health Affairs, which estimated that a 2.2-year increase in life expectancy could be worth as much as $7.1 trillion over 50 years.

The new study uses a different methodology, though, known as value of statistical life. This is the measure used by various US agencies and represents how much people would be willing to pay to reduce their risk of dying. It incorporates concepts like health, consumption, and leisure, and therefore measures not just quantity but quality of life.

When immortality is available to the masses and not just the rich.

This is when immortality is granted on a large scale: to an entire civilization, or a village. Species that are naturally immortal such as elves fall under this as well. This can sidestep some of the problems inherent to immortality because when everyone is immortal then no one is alone and the general culture and mindset is that immortality is ‘normal’ and death is not.

Their source of immortality may be a large or mass-produced Immortality Inducer. If their immortality involves Immortality Immorality it may overlap with Town with a Dark Secret. There’s also the question of what type of Immortality the civilization has; a society whose members can respawn quickly after death will be different from one whose members never die from old age and both will be different from one whose members never die, period. Regardless, Immortal Procreation Clause is likely to be in effect and little attention will be paid to the traditional gender roles.

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It’s that time of year where the federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence of the United States, (on July 4, 1776) is celebrated. To all my American fans I hope you have an awesome day! To celebrate I’m listing my favorite superheroes to rock the “Red, White and Blue”.

Happy Independence Day (Fourth of July)!

As the need for urgent climate solutions grows, scientists want to put more research into a technology known as solar geoengineering — the idea of chemically altering the atmosphere to reflect sunlight away from Earth.

It is seen as a potential method of cooling the planet and offsetting climate change. But could such a technology curtail a climate catastrophe — or become the cause of it?

Those against solar geoengineering fear unintended consequences, including irreversible changes to weather patterns, and many climate activists are wary of using the Earth’s atmosphere as a testing ground. Last month in Sweden, an experiment led by Harvard University researchers was cancelled following opposition by environmental and indigenous groups. Researchers had planned on testing a high-altitude balloon that could be used to disperse reflective aerosol particles into the atmosphere.

In this episode of The Stream, we’ll learn more about solar geoengineering and the debate surrounding it.

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