One thing that puzzles me - why people in general (and especially people in power) accept the fact that they and everyone they love will age and die. Why don't the rich and powerful frantically organize a Manhattan project to stop aging?

After all, aging is a genetic disease that we all carry. It is not "natural" - just a left over from an earlier evolutionary period - and not something that can't be fixed. All we need to do is adjust our genetic information to remove the programs that set pointless limits on cell life.

These programs made sense millions of years ago, when each member of the species needed to breed then die off; but they do not make sense now, and the result in a limited life style and the loss of useful members of society (such as physicians and scientists).

Instead, our "elites" in business, government, the military, etc, spend our precious resources on pointless enterprises, while only a tiny fraction of our talent, money, and energy are spent on the most basic quest of all - staying alive. Doesn't make sense to me.