From a balanced diet to regular exercise, many of us are dedicated to habits that might extend our lifespan. While stories of people living past 100 continue to inspire curiosity, scientists now believe they may have pinpointed the upper limit of human life without medical intervention. According to a report by UNILAD, statisticians at Tilburg University and Rotterdam's Erasmus University have delved into this very question.
Smiling senior man wearing beret sitting in armchair . (Representative image source: Westend61 for Getty Images)
Their study analyzed the lifespans of over 75,000 people who passed away in the 30 years leading up to 2017. By examining the age at death among this extensive group, researchers sought to estimate how long humans might live by following a healthy lifestyle alone. They concluded that while many people can reach their 90s through good habits, the maximum age achievable under ideal conditions caps around 115 years.
It was also discovered that women live a slightly longer life than men since a woman's maximum lifespan can reach up to 115.7 years while the same was estimated to be 114.1 years for men. "On average, people live longer, but the very oldest among us have not gotten older over the last thirty years. There is certainly some kind of a wall here. Of course, the average life expectancy has increased. Nevertheless, the maximum ceiling itself hasn't changed," Professor John Einmahl, one of three scientists who was associated with the study, told AFP in an interview.
Smiling senior woman looking at husband while dancing in ballroom. (Representative image source: Thomas Barwick for Getty Images)
Even though the research suggests that it is highly unlikely for a human being to live beyond 115 years, Professor Einmahl revealed that there are certain instances when people can surpass the maximum lifespan as well. The Guinness Book of World Records has named a French lady named Jeanne Louise Calment as the oldest person to have ever lived as per documentation available so far. Calment was born on 21 February 1875 and passed away on 4 August 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days. She not only witnessed the Eiffel Tower being built but she was born even before Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone.
Some believe that her secret to longevity was her lifestyle which did not require her to work hard to provide for her family. She married a wealthy distant cousin and used to swim, play tennis, cycle, and skate which helped her live a healthy life. Calment outlived her husband, daughter and her grandson. She was healthy throughout her lifetime and even started fencing at the age of 85. Her diet included food rich in olive oil and she used it for her skincare too. Even though Calment smoked for the longest time till she was 115 years old and had a glass of wine every once in a while, it did not affect her health. Calment also became a recording artist at 120 and her voice was featured on a four-track album titled "Time Mistress."
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person holding white ceramic bowl with yellow food
Small gestures often spark the kind of chemistry that deepens relationships, serving as building blocks for lasting love. Mac-and-cheese soup might not seem like a symbol of romance, but for a Reddit user known as u/his_stargazer, this humble dish marks the beginning of a love story that’s lasted a lifetime. Sharing her story in the r/wholesome group, she explained how a bowl of mac-and-cheese soup first made her fall for her high school sweetheart—now her husband.
Man at Home in the Kitchen Preparing Vegetables in the Frying Pan (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | HMVart)
Her post, titled “Something I’ve never told my husband,” quickly went viral, racking up 9,700 upvotes in a single day. She described a day back in high school when she visited his house and mentioned she was hungry. Eager to help, he ran to the kitchen to whip up some mac-and-cheese, but accidentally added too much milk, resulting in a soupy mixture he thought was a disaster. She reassured him, calling it the “best thing” she’d ever tasted, and even confessed her love. “The way he looked at me after that will never leave my mind,” she wrote, capturing a moment that remains as warm and comforting as that first bowl of mac-and-cheese soup.
Adorable couple enjoys cooking together in their well-lit, modern kitchen, playfully sharing bites of food (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Natalia Lebedinskaia)
To this day, her husband proudly tells everyone how he made her fall in love with him with his “mac-and-cheese soup.” The truth, however, is that, even though the soup tasted “okay,” she fell in love with him because “he is the most generous and amazing person” she has ever known. She added, “Now every time he makes me a bowl of mac and cheese soup, he has the biggest smile and I get to fall in love with this man all over again.”
People in the comment section were left swooning over the cutesy love story, and sharing their personal stories of how and when they fell in love. u/motormouth08 recalled the moment when she knew that she wanted to marry a guy. It was a pre-cellphone era and she was utterly sick one day. She had a sore throat and hadn’t eaten much for days. But then, when she felt better, she called her boyfriend and told her that she could afford to eat some pudding. Since calls were not so prominent during those days, he returned with two gigantic cans full of chocolate and tapioca, to make sure that she had the pudding she wanted to eat. They got married a year later. u/his_stargazer responded to the story with the comment, “The feeling of being cared for is indescribable!”
This woman, who is head-over-heels in love with her husband, says, that now, the mac-and-cheese soup has become such a beautiful relationship booster for them that he would make it for her even in her afterlife. In addition to mac-and-cheese, the beautiful couple has other little things that add an eternal spark to their relationship. Sharing the “best memory with her husband,” the woman said in r/love that when times are hard and she’s having nightmares, her husband always steps up to comfort her. “He pulls me in close and I lay my head on his chest, I love the way his hair tickles my nose. He holds me tight and tells me stories. He makes up the most random stories about characters, the weird adventures they go on, and how they fall in love every single time. He always knows how to make me smile and make me feel safe,” she wrote.
Comment by u/zenarian-369 appreciating the couple (Image Source: Reddit)
Meanwhile, people in the comments also shared other recipes that gave momentum to their love stories, including mashed potatoes, meatloaf soup, fettuccine pasta, grilled corn, spaghetti, and more.
If you’ve ever babysat, you know that parents—especially first-timers—can leave you with some incredibly detailed instructions. From how to put the baby to sleep to exactly what to feed them, these lists can feel like reading a novel of child-rearing advice.
Pexels | Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
But one parent took a different approach. Instead of the usual exhaustive checklist, they left their babysitter with a hilariously unexpected list that turned all the typical rules on their head. It was either comedy gold… or the mark of the world’s most "chill" parent.
The babysitter sent the list to her boyfriend, a popular YouTuber named Leek, and he posted it to social media.
In the letter, the chill parent tells the sitter to let the kid watch TV, eat sugar, and avoid a creepy neighbor named David.
1. I encourage the kids to watch as much TV as possible, so they leave me the hell alone. Feel free to do the same. 2. Don’t waste your valuable time cooking or providing healthy snacks. Just give them the pizza and snacks I leave. 3. They still breastfeed on demand. Just download a video on youtube. It’s not hard or I wouldn’t not do it. 4. Do not take any kittens/candy/ puppies from David. Or take a ride in his van. 5. If any of my neighbors come to the door, treat them like Jehovah’s Witness’s. Don’t lend them any eggs/milk/cigarettes. they know where the store is. And-no-, you don't know want to babysit for them. 6. Let the kids have as much sugar as they want, as long as they will go away. They take pills to sleep anyway. 7. If you bring any boys over just make sure they have an uncle/dad/brother/friend that I can call later. 8. Don’t answer the house phone unless you feel like paying bills. 9. If you look through my drawers, please throw away any overdue bills and gum wrappers. 10. Do not believe ANYTHING the kids tell you.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on December 13, 2018. It has since been updated.
When the Moon formed around 4.5 billion years ago, probably due to Earth’s collision with a Mars-sized planet called Theia, Earth used to spin at a much faster rate. One day at this time was just 10 hours long. Back then, the Moon was roughly 14,000 miles away from Earth, 17 times closer than it is today. As the Moon kept moving farther away from its host planet, the angular momentum and speed of Earth’s rotation kept on slowing down, resulting in longer days. Today, one day equals 24 hours. However, given these billions of years, one day today should be around 60 hours or longer. In a study published in the journal Science Advances, astrophysicists reveal the reason behind this: for a billion-year period in Earth’s history, its rotation rate remained steady, which kept a day at a constant length of 19.5 hours.
If Earth’s rotation hadn’t remained steady for these billion years, the current 24-hour day would be a 60-hour day or so. According to the astrophysicists at the University of Toronto, “approximately two billion years ago until 600 million years ago, an atmospheric tide driven by the sun countered the effect of the moon, keeping Earth’s rotational rate steady and the length of a day at a constant 19.5 hours.”
Some scientists like to refer to this period as “boring billion,” as nothing much happened during this time. Oxygen in the atmosphere was stuck at a level much lower than it is today. And devoid of oxygen-rich life, the stagnant oceans stunk with iron and hydrogen sulfide. One scientist even went on to say that “never in the course of Earth’s history did so little happen to so much for so long.” However, perhaps the most remarkable thing of this period is the steadiness of Earth’s rotation rate.
When scientists investigated the cause behind this billion-year-long steadiness, they found that the answer lay in a balance of tidal pulls created by the Sun’s gravity and tidal pulls created by the Moon’s gravity. The gravitational force of the Moon is known to slow down Earth’s spinning as it pulls its oceans, triggering tides that rise and fall. Adding to this, the friction of these tides with the ocean floor acts like a “brake” on Earth’s rotation. The same happens with the Sun’s gravity, except that instead of slowing down the rotation, it speeds it up.
“Sunlight also produces an atmospheric tide with the same type of bulges,” astrophysicist Norman Murray said in the university press release. “The sun's gravity pulls on these atmospheric bulges, producing a torque on the Earth. But instead of slowing down Earth’s rotation like the moon, it speeds it up.” For most of Earth’s history, the tidal force of the Moon has overpowered the tidal force of the Sun, causing the gradual slowing down of Earth’s rotation.
During this billion-year period, when a day on Earth had reached the length of 19.5 hours, the Sun’s tidal force suddenly became stronger than the lunar tidal pull. Due to factors like warmer temperatures and atmospheric resonance, the Sun’s pull was speeding up Earth’s rotation at the same rate that the Moon’s pull was slowing it down. The result was a consistency of a day’s length for a billion years.
But around 600 million years ago, the two tidal forces got out of sync once again. Once again, the Moon’s pull became stronger than the Sun’s pull, which led to the gradual slowing down of Earth’s rotation. Today, while a day is 24 hours long, the thermal tides produced by the Sun take 22.8 hours to reverberate around the planet. Ultimately, it’s the Moon’s gravity once again, that decides how long a day will last on Earth, while the Sun just governs other factors.
The whole scenario makes us wonder whether that time will come again when the gravitational forces of the Sun and Moon align again. According to Murray, it won’t anytime soon. The rate at which global warming is affecting the planet will only increase the dissonance between the two forces. “As we increase Earth's temperature with global warming, we’re also making the resonant frequency move higher — we’re moving our atmosphere farther away from resonance,” said Murray. “As a result, there's less torque from the sun, and therefore, the length of the day is going to get longer, sooner than it would otherwise.”
Twenty years ago, inside a maternity ward at Sutter Maternity Center in Santa Cruz, California,
Philippe Kahn’s Toshiba laptop computer sat on a desk alongside a C-section operating table where his wife was going to deliver their baby. Kahn, a French software engineer, also had a Motorola flip phone and a Casio digital camera stacked in his bag. He was nervous as he hadn’t been able to build the prototype he desired. He couldn’t find a way to connect the three things: camera, laptop, and web server. But while his wife, Sonia Lee, spent 18 hours in labor, she gave him an idea. The idea changed the photographic scene of the world forever. That day, on June 11, 1997, Kahn witnessed two births – one of his daughter Sophie and the other of the “world’s first camera phone,” a revolutionary beginning of instant photography, reported IEEE Spectrum.
Kahn had been working on his web-based photo technology for over a year. He called this technology by the name “Picture Mail.” The concept of Picture Mail was akin to what is today known as “sharing.” Users who wanted to share a picture and text with their friends and family were required to upload the picture on this web-based server. After the picture is uploaded, the server automatically creates a link to it on the web and sends it to all the people in the list through email alerts. The technology worked like a digital update system, quite similar to the social media notifications people receive today on platforms like X, Instagram, and Facebook.
But that day, as his wife got into labor, Kahn was running short on time. He hadn’t been able to complete this technology’s prototype. He couldn’t find a way to connect his laptop to the camera. But then his wife said something about a “cable” and “soldering iron.” That’s when Kahn’s engineering brain fathomed a trick. Excited, he rushed to the hospital’s parking and ripped up his car’s speakerphone. Using its cable, he connected the camera to the laptop which was further connected to a computer server that sat in his home’s kitchen a few miles away.
As a nurse transferred his newborn daughter into his arms, he instantly snapped a picture of the lovely face by holding the camera in his other hand. In another moment, the picture was uploaded to the server and over 2,000 people received email alerts with the link to Sophie’s photo. Owing to no Wi-Fi and low internet connectivity, the picture’s resolution was limited to
320x240 pixels. The resolution was limited, but not the emotion. “I'm holding the baby in my left hand and the camera in the other. It changed society and the way people evolve," Kahn said in a film by Conscious Minds, shared by National Geographic.
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Kahn said that his instant photo-sharing technology worked like “Point, Shoot, Share Instantly!” As his family and friends received the email alerts, they were enchanted by both the baby’s picture as well as by Kahn’s innovative photosystem. However, Kahn confessed that if it wasn’t for the last-minute rush, he wouldn’t have been able to accomplish this feat with his jerry-rigged system. “It’s always the case that if it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would ever get done,” Kahn told IEEE Spectrum. Call it a new dad’s love that inspired him to do something.
Also, Kahn didn’t credit himself for inventing this instant-photo-sharing technology. He told IEEE Spectrum that other people had put photo sensors in their phones previously. Yet, it was indeed the first time when a photo was shared with hundreds of people in an instant after it got snapped. After this remarkable moment, Kahn kept working on improving and assembling his prototype. “After the baby,” he told IEEE Spectrum, “I spent the next month integrating the design, using a microcontroller, a CMOS sensor, and a phone.” In early 1998, he founded a company around the technology, Lightsurf, and is currently the holder of 235+ issued patents. He also took his project to companies like Kodak, Docomo, and Polaroid who were working on similar wireless camera products.
In 2016, Time magazine named his iconic 1997 photo of Sophie, one of the 100 most influential photos of all time. Looking back, Kahn always had the belief that his camera phone technology was going to change the way people documented the world around them. “There’s going to be a profound impact of instant imagery and sharing imagery that is going to change society and the way people evolve,” he said in the film. Nowadays, little do people know that the backstory of all their selfies and instant Instagram reels is held in a heartwarming moment when a dad held his newborn daughter for the first time.
Growing up with parents who have disabilities isn't easy for anyone and kids in such households grow up faster as they have more responsibilities at a young age. Zach and Courtney's young daughter Madison is one such child, and her life is often seen in posts on the family's Instagram account @oursignedworld. While the mom Courtney and daughter Madison are able-bodied, the father Zach is hearing impaired. In a popular video that gained over 9 million views on Instagram, Zach and Madison are seen at a drive-thru.
In the clip, Madison can be seen ordering for herself even though she is only 4 years old. The caption of the video clarified how Madison was only ordering for herself and how Zach usually places his orders. "As a Deaf person, I usually type out my order on my phone and show it at the window when I go through the drive-thru. But honestly, it doesn’t always go smoothly. However, Madison wanted to try ordering for herself this time, so I let her—and she loved it! She felt so proud of herself and like such a big girl," the caption read.
**FYI Madison is ordering food for herself not for me. However, as a Deaf person, I usually type out my order on my phone and show it at the window when I go through the drive-thru. But honestly, it doesn’t always go smoothly. However, Madison wanted to try ordering for herself this time, so I let her—and she loved it! She felt so proud of herself and like such a big girl 🙌🏼 #asl #signlanguage #deaf #deafdad #fatherdaughter #deafcommunity #deafawareness #coda #sign #toddlersigning #dadlife #drivethru #cute #sweetvideo #love@El Pollo Loco
As the father-daughter duo reach the intercom to place the order, Madison speaks loud and clear for a small portion of Mac and cheese. Then she requests for a spoon as well. Throughout this whole process, Zach continues to communicate with his daughter using sign language to figure out what she ordered and how much it cost. The worker taking Madison's order asks if she wants anything else and when Madison is done ordering, she signals her dad to drive to the next window to get the food. Since Zach is deaf he didn't realize when the woman at the drive-thru stopped speaking.
Madison used sign language to tell him that she had finished ordering.
When they reach the next window to get the food, the man handing over the meal to Zach wonders if the little girl is the one who placed the order. Madison confirms that her dad is deaf so she is ordering. Zach appreciates his daughter for making her first successful drive-thru order before they pay $5.79 for the meal and drive away. The people in the comment section appreciated how Zach and Courtney taught their daughter sign language and encouraged her to build social skills and become self-reliant.
@lenoreeronel wrote, "I think this is an amazing opportunity for her to build self-confidence and social skills and get real-life practice for things she will have to do independently later on." @patriciab_in_la commented, "Honestly I’m 49 years old (and hearing) and I get anxiety ordering at drive-thrus. Madison did amazing! I’d like to have her order for me next time." @worl_dsocole shared, "I’m learning ASL right now, only for the purpose of being able to speak to random strangers. I’m a people person and I love talking." @_prettaymarie added, "One thing about kids that came from us? They are gonna ADVOCATE for us! I love this. I’m not deaf but I see firsthand how my son and daughter have my back in public."
You can follow @oursignedworld on Instagram for more videos on family and disability awareness.
This article originally appeared last year.
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A couple struggling with loss had a great idea after seeing someone who looked like their son.
Police officers are supposed to keep people safe in the streets but some cops go out of their way to help them cope with grief and trauma as well. One such police officer is Jiang Jingwei, who selflessly continued to play the part of a grieving couple's deceased son for more than a decade for a special reason. According to the South China Morning Post, Xia Zhanhai and his wife Liang Qiaoying lost their son after a gas leak in 2003. The couple from the Shanxi province of northern China were affected terribly by their son's death.
A Chinese elderly woman at the window (Image source: Pamela Jo McFarlane for Getty Images)
The trauma left Liang paralyzed and cognitively impaired with the mental capacity of a 5-year-old kid. Her husband came up with a lie that their son was working in a distant city to soothe Liang's trauma. Xia then encountered the police officer Jiang who was in Shanghai and realized that the police officer had a striking resemblance to his deceased son. Xia contacted Jiang through a reality show in late 2013 to seek his help.
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Jiang agreed to the idea and met the couple on the show, posing as Xia and Liang's son as the ailing mother tearfully embraced him. Jiang was dedicated to his role as their son and in 2016 he even invited the couple to a sightseeing trip to Shanghai. He took a break from work in 2018 and traveled to Shanxi to celebrate the Lunar New Year with his new family. Jiang kept in touch with the couple through video calls for the next 11 years as their bond became stronger.
Xia also penned down an emotional letter to the Shanghai Public Security Bureau to thank Jiang for all he had done and expressed his gratitude for being their "son." "Thank you for training such a kind, compassionate, and responsible police officer. For over a decade, Jiang has quietly taken on the role of a son, bringing new life to our once grief-stricken family,” he wrote in his letter. On the other hand, Jiang never felt that caring for his "parents" was ever a burden to him. “As a community police officer, I also extend the same care and compassion to the elderly in my community,” Jiang mentioned to the outlet.
An elderly woman happy with her son in the park (Image source: hxyume for Getty Images)
He made another video call during the Chinese Chung Yeung Festival on October 11, 2024, and wished Xia and Liang good health. The news left people on social media emotional and they couldn't stop praising the police officer's efforts to protect the couple from grief. “Thank you, Jiang, for your kindness. The relationship you share with the couple has long transcended blood ties," one user on WeChat wrote, according to the South China Morning Post. “I was moved to tears. Even in a world filled with conflict and disasters, stories like this bring warmth and hope,” added another netizen. Jiang selflessly being there for more than a decade has brought happiness into the life of the couple who were left heartbroken after their son passed away.
It's not every day that a homeowner in the Bay Area's Piedmont neighborhood opens up the doors of their home to the needy. However, in 2019, property developer Terry McGrath did just that. He offered a homeless couple, Greg Dunston and his wife Marie McKinzie, a place to live in his $4 million mansion in California, per the San Francisco Chronicle.
Representative Image Source: Pexels I Photo by Pixabay
McGrath had read about the couple's plight back in January 2019. Greg and Marie had a difficult life and lived on the streets for almost a decade. Both of them faced physical disabilities. Before 2019, they were hopeful of winning of two-decade battle for disability income that would have resulted in several years’ worth of back pay. However, their claim was denied and they were back to sleeping in the doorway of an Alameda County building. After reading about the couple's difficulties, McGrath was inspired to get in touch with them and offer a space in his hilltop mansion.
Otis Taylor, a journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle who covers homelessness in the Bay Area, met McGrath and the couple in a cafe. McGrath, who had ample space on his property and in his heart, was immediately moved to help them. The thing that struck him was the love between Greg and Marie and how "it was able to survive in probably one of the harshest environments on earth," per ABC.
Representative Image Source: Pexels | Photo by Timur Weber
Taylor talked about the situation and said, "There was no decision, there was no thought, there was no judgment. I was just like 'This is done'," He continued, "I didn't vet them. These are human beings and they're not serial killers. They want to get out of the weather. They want a roof over their head. They want to be warm."
McGrath is hopeful that society will see people living on the streets as human beings before anything else. He said, "I don't think there's any other issue that is more symbolic about who we are as a society than this issue." He further added, "It's an absolute reflection of us. There is no other way to see it. Just because it's there doesn't make it right or make it acceptable."
While there were many positive responses as the couple moved into the upper-class neighborhood, there was also no shortage of negative responses. Shortly after their arrival, one neighbor who was unaware of the situation called 911 and told dispatchers, "I just pulled into the driveway and there's some strange folks hanging around the house." Someone even called the Piedmont Police and Fire Dispatch, saying, "I just wanted to notify you that this woman is sitting at Lexford and Hampton ... She's smoking a cigarette... could be drugs." But McGrath always stoop up for the couple and gave them the respect they deserved.
Representative Image Source: Pexels | Photo by Alex Green
After all the difficulties, the couple lived with McGrath for over a year and as of now, the homeowner has no plans of asking them to leave. He has clarified saying, "They're like family. There's no way I'm going to let them go back to the street," He added, "Most people who know me well know it's easy to start and it's hard to finish. And I'm never not going to finish."
Smiling senior man wearing beret sitting in armchair . (Representative image source: Westend61 for Getty Images)
Smiling senior woman looking at husband while dancing in ballroom. (Representative image source: Thomas Barwick for Getty Images)
Man at Home in the Kitchen Preparing Vegetables in the Frying Pan (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | HMVart)
Adorable couple enjoys cooking together in their well-lit, modern kitchen, playfully sharing bites of food (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Natalia Lebedinskaia)
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Pexels | Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
A Chinese elderly woman at the window (Image source: Pamela Jo McFarlane for Getty Images)
An elderly woman happy with her son in the park (Image source: hxyume for Getty Images)
Representative Image Source: Pexels I Photo by Pixabay
Representative Image Source: Pexels | Photo by Timur Weber
Representative Image Source: Pexels | Photo by Alex Green