The one certain dimension of US demographics these days is that the fastest growing segment of the American population is comprised of people above the age of 65. We, and all our institutions, as a result, are a greying breed. At the same time, we are, in fact, the healthiest, longest lived, most educated, most Read more
We all know what’s coming. Everywhere in the developed world, populations are greying. The media are full of stories about the surge in the numbers of the elderly within the next 20 years, while governments have been pushing the age of retirement entitlements upward. Most of the spotlight has been on the new greybeards themselves—the Read more
A church on Auckland’s North Shore has been put on the market. It is the latest of a a number of churches that have been closed or sold in recent years because of declining church attendance and changes in the worshipping habits of those who do go to church. In February this year, for example , there were 9 churches on Read more
Even as certain mental skills decline with age—what was that guy’s name again?—scientists are finding the mind gets sharper at a number of vitally important abilities. In a University of Illinois study, older air traffic controllers excelled at their cognitively taxing jobs, despite some losses in short-term memory and visual spatial processing. How so? They Read more
Church buildings are becoming a feature of the property market as church organisations cope with changes on a number of fronts. Many older churches are up for sale as congregations dwindle, populations shift, traditional designs prove unsuitable for the uses congregations want to put them to and ageing buildings require high maintenance and possible earthquake Read more
If scientist, Aubrey de Grey’s predictions are right, the first person who will live to see their 150th birthday has already been born and living forever is a definite possibility. And the first person to live for 1,000 years could be less than 20 years younger. A biomedical gerontologist and chief scientist of a foundation Read more