Column: Like it or not, these billionaires are shaping the direction of discovery

The first stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket returns to land in a time exposure at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, on the launcher's first mission since a June failure, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, December 21, 2015. Today's billionaires regularly channel their wealth into traditional areas of philanthropy like education and public health. Bill and Melinda Gates have spent billions to eradicate polio and malaria, Warren Buffet has pledged to give 85 percent of his Berkshire Hathaway wealth to the Gates Foundation and other charities, and duty-free shopping magnate Charles Feeney's giving includes almost 1 billion of donations to his alma mater, Cornell University. READ MORE: Cancer'moonshot' panel releases blueprint, but lacks guarantees on funding But the richest of the rich are also devoting significant resources to futuristic moonshots. Two billionaire fixations have caught my attention: space travel and life extension.