As the technology and grade of health care rises, so does the number of years we are living. According to an article on The New York Times website, the life expectancy in the United States has risen above 78 years of age.


The estimate of 78 years 2 months is for a baby born in 2009, and comes from a preliminary report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts do not believe there is one simple explanation for the increase, but better medical treatment, vaccination campaigns and public health measures against smoking are believed to be having an impact. The infant mortality rate hit a record low of 6.42 deaths per 1,000 live births, a drop of nearly 3 percent from 2008. Male life expectancy is roughly 75.5; for females, it is about 80.5.


As the mortality rate goes down and the life expectancy goes up, one question comes to mind; won't this also cause population to increase? And where will all these people be living? Our planet is already tight on space. So maybe in the near future we'll finally see scientists start to really take a look at how we could live on another planet.