>>January
      23, 2001

      
UI professor bets
      $500 million on a 150-year-old person

      
Steven Austad thinks he's going
      to win a bet. 

      


      And, he thinks that if everything goes well, his daughters will
      receive the $500 million proceeds of that bet - when they are
      160 years old. 

      


      He thinks his daughters, 9 and 11 years old now, and other people,
      will begin to live longer and much healthier lives.

      


      "Preserving human health is a good thing. Not so much keeping
      people alive longer, but healthy longer," said Austad, a
      University of Idaho zoology professor. "If you do that,
      they are going to live longer."

      


      Austad authored a book in 1997 entitled, "Why We Age: What
      Science Is Discovering About the Body's Journey Through Life."
      His interest in age research began years ago when he was working
      with opossums and he found they age incredibly fast. 

      


      Austad, an expert in the field of age research, has been interviewed
      by national and international media, including NPR, PBS, and
      the New York Times. He was also interviewed by Katie Couric when
      he appeared on the Today Show after his book was released. 

      


      "She's a much more serious journalist than I expected. I
      was very impressed with her," he said.

      


      In fact, it was his coverage in the national media that led a
      colleague in the field of age research to pose the half billion-dollar
      wager. S. Jay Olshansky, a researcher from Chicago, was that
      colleague. 

      


      Olshansky, whom Austad has known casually for quite a while,
      read an interview in which Austad made the claim that the first
      150-year-old human is alive right now. Olshansky disagreed. 

      


      "He phoned me and said, 'I just read it again, you said
      it again!'" Olshansky then told Austad that he was wrong,
      and said, "Wanna bet?" 

      


      "I said 'sure.' Who am I to turn down $500,000,000"
      Austad said. "I'm that confident."

      


      So, both men will deposit $150 each in a trust fund, and by the
      year 2150, their money will be a $500 million money tree. 

      


      "It's the miracle of compound interest," Austad said.
      

      


      "We both had to calculate it a number of times before we
      really believed it."

      


      The money will go to the nearest living relative of the winner,
      and if there is no heir, the money will go to their colleges
      of choice to be used for scholarships. 

      


      For Austad, the money would be split between UI and UCLA, where
      he received his undergraduate degree. 

      


      Austad came to UI from Harvard in 1993, because he loves the
      area. 

      


      "I came out here for an interview and fell in love with
      it," Austad said. "I love that there are no roads through
      the middle of it."

      


      His fellow professors at UI have teased him about the bet, the
      money from which could benefit the department - in 150 years.

      


      "I've had all kinds of smart remarks, but it's all good-natured
      joshing," he said. 

      


      Joking aside, Austad is still very active in aging research and
      is writing another book. In fact, he believes that research is
      how the first person will live to be 150 years old.

      


      "It's not just better medical care, it's advances (in research)
      that will allow us to really slow down aging," he said.
      

      


      Aging research shows that the fountain of youth, of sorts - or
      at least living longer - will emerge in the not too distant future.
      And, if Austad is right, it'll be by 2150. 

      


      "People have wanted it forever, and now here it is,"
      Austad said. "Now that we have all these research tools,
      we can work on it seriously."
 
 

      
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