longevity escape velocity

This is a piece of actuarial jargon that describes the hypothetical situation in which the predicted longevity of a person based on statistics relating to the removal of barriers to old age, such as diseases, outstrips the actual time that is passing. For example, if in one year the increase in life expectancy as a result of various new health treatments and technological advances is actually more than one year, then  we can be said to have achieved longevity escape velocity.

 This obscure bit of jargon has surfaced in the discussions about the extent to which life expectancy has now increased. Futurists speculate about a world in which we can live forever, or at least for much longer than we do now. Achieving longevity escape velocity is the first step on this path to life eternal.