If you want to help the scientific community (and potentially save a few lives), there are some offbeat but potentially lucrative steps you can take.
Below is a short list, though be warned: these strategies
are not all easy money.
Lie in bed for 60 days straight
Payment: US$18,500.
Lie in bed for 60 days straight.
Payment: US$18,500.
NASA has recruited volunteers to spend two months in bed.
The research, which took place in Germany, was part of a study into how artificial gravity might affect the body.
The 24 selected people
spent 60 days lying down
, with all experiments, meals, and leisure activities performed in a horizontal position, reports
Science Alert
.
Bed rest studies help NASA researchers see some of the changes an astronaut's body experiences due to the weightlessness of spaceflight.
NASA announced a nearly $50 million contract to continue conducting bed rest studies.
Getting paid to lie down for a few months may seem like easy money, but keep in mind that the selection committee is looking for participants who possess the
physical and psychological characteristics of a real astronaut.
You'll need to keep your head tilted down
six degrees at all times
while lying down, including when you're washing, eating and using the bathroom,
Science Alert says.
As Roni Cromwell, a senior scientist who conducted bed rest studies for NASA, told Forbes: "We want to make sure we select people who are mentally prepared to spend two months in bed. Not everyone is comfortable with that. Not everyone types of person can tolerate prolonged time in bed.
For future selections see here https://www.nasa.gov/hrp.
I sold your blood plasma
Payment (by donation): around US$ 50.
I sold your blood plasma.
Payment (by donation): around US$ 50.
Plasma is the largest component of human blood.
It's a protein-rich liquid that contains mostly water, but is also full of enzymes, antibodies, and salts, says
Science Alert.
This sticky yellowish material can be used to create therapies that treat people with blood clotting disorders, autoimmune diseases, and even burn victims.
Plasma donation is often referred to as "the gift of life," according to
DonatingPlasma.org
, since treatments for some conditions cannot be made synthetically and require this human contribution.
During plasma donation,
blood is drawn
and an automated machine separates the plasma from other blood components, which are returned to the donor, reports
Science Alert.
Plasma donation payment varies from site to site, but the average payment is usually around $50 per donation .
You can safely donate about
once a month
, according to the American Red Cross, with a typical session lasting
less than two hours
.
To find a licensed and certified plasma center, see here https://www.donatingplasma.org/donation/find-a-donor-center.
donate your eggs
Payment (per donation): typically US$8,000 to US$14,000.
Donate your eggs.
Payment (by donation): normally from US$ 8,000 to 14,000 (iStock).
Egg donation allows people whose ovaries do not produce healthy eggs
to become pregnant
using eggs donated by another person,
Science Alert reports.
In the United States, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine used to suggest that it was "not appropriate" for someone to be paid more than $10,000 for their eggs, but in 2016, the ASRM removed that guidance as part of a federal antitrust law.
At the Langone Fertility Center in New York City, compensation per egg donation cycle today is exactly $10,000
and includes a free medical exam.
Weill Cornell Medicine https://eggdonor.weillcornell.org/whats-involved outlines the standard steps for egg donation, which requires a time commitment of approximately
four weeks.
During the donation cycle, patients
are injected with fertility drugs
so that their ovaries produce more eggs.
(Eligible women are generally
between the ages of 21 and 35.
)
The egg retrieval procedure takes about
20 minutes,
but can require several days of recovery, says
Science Alert.
You should be aware of the risks involved in the egg donation process before signing up.
Complications can include health problems such as long-term abnormal growth of tissue outside the uterus (endometriosis),
moodiness,
infection, kidney damage, and
in rare cases, death.
Egg donation could even cause cancer, though scientists say it will take decades to determine for sure if there is a link.
And of course, since children born from donated eggs will share common DNA with their donor, women who donate should also be aware that the children they help create may one day want to communicate and make contact
.
donate your sperm
Payment (per donation): Typically $35-$125.
Donate your sperm.
Payment (per donation): Typically $35-$125.
Sperm donation, of course, is much easier and less risky than egg donation.
You can be paid between $35 and $125 per donation, according to
SpermBankDirectory.com
https://www.spermbankdirectory.com/sperm-banking-faq/ and
The Sperm Bank of California http://donors.thespermbankofca.org/.
Many programs require a six-month or one-year
gift commitment
.
In general, sperm banks are demanding with donors.
They are looking for
healthy, relatively tall
, young
(under 40)
and educated men,
Science Alert reports.
Sperm donors should keep in mind that even if they choose to donate anonymously, sperm donation
is never truly 100 percent incognito
.
Your DNA always knows who you are, and with the rise of more DNA testing services, your offspring
could one day reach you.
Being a surrogate mother
Payment: US$ 24,000 to 45,000.
Being a surrogate mother
Payment: US$ 24,000 to 45,000.
Women who carry a baby for another couple can earn a lot of money for the nine-month incubation, known as
"gestational surrogacy."
But enlisting and paying for a surrogate
is not legal everywhere
.
State laws on surrogacy in the US are complicated and contradictory, notes
Science Alert.
Surrogacy contracts are prohibited in New York and Michigan, and you can spend time
in jail
or pay heavy fines for complying with one.
However, some states are pushing to change those rules.
Washington state made it legal to directly pay someone to have a baby in 2018, while California has allowed surrogacy since 2013.
Sign up for a paid clinical trial
Payment: Varies according to the program.
Sign up for a paid clinical trial.
Payment: Varies according to the program.
The National Institutes of Health maintains a searchable database,
ClincalTrials.gov
, for worldwide human clinical studies https://clinicaltrials.gov/.
Participants may be
guinea pigs
for new medical products, such as drugs to treat high blood pressure, or take part in observational research, such as a study tracking the effects of different
lifestyles
on heart health,
Science Alert says.
Subjects are typically paid to participate in clinical trials, and most of the time,
the greater the risk, the greater the reward.
If you decide to sign up for a study, choose wisely and carefully because not all studies on the site are regulated.
Enroll in a psychological study
Payment: Varies according to the program.
Enroll in a psychological study.
Payment: Varies according to the program.
Paid psychological studies, such as those examining human behavior and brain function, may not generate as high a return as clinical trials, but they are generally lower risk
and
require a shorter time commitment,
Science Alert reports.
Most research universities maintain an online database of studies so that people
can easily register.
For example, here is a list of the most recent paid research studies offered by New York University https://as.nyu.edu/psychology/research/participate-in-research/paid-studies.html.
You can earn $10
to identify a few colors or
$130 to receive "gentle wrist taps"
and plunge your arm into a bath of ice water,
Science Alert reports.
donate your bone marrow
Donation Payment: A reimbursement for travel and other expenses.
Donate your bone marrow.
Donation Payment: A reimbursement for travel and other expenses.
Similar to selling your blood plasma, you can also sell your bone marrow.
For people who need a bone marrow transplant, the wait can sometimes be long and exhausting.
The bone marrow is one of the
most difficult organs to find
a match for when looking for a transplant.
The probability of finding a match is 29 to 79 percent "depending on the ethnicity of the patient," says
Science Alert.
Give your corpse to science
Payment: a free cremation.
Deliver your corpse to science.
Payment: one free cremation (Thinkstock).
This last idea is a bit morbid, but if you're worried about being a nuisance when you're dead, you can donate your body to science.
This helps with a variety of types of
research and education.
Places like BioGift https://biogift.org/ and Science Care https://www.sciencecare.com/resources/faq-whole-body-donation-science-care cover cremation costs.
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