What if, when a player gets wiped or taken to one cell (and remains there for a week with no activity, say) the player can start that very same hero (not a new hero or that wiped hero with a new name) from an era at or near to where he or she was when wiped.
I think this is a brilliant idea and I hope the developers read and re-read it. The time spent on science is a huge loss when a hero is forced out of their location.