[{"totalItems":"32,265","totalPages":10755,"currentPage":0,"items":[{"id":"phhg4e\/node\/235248","site":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/","hash":"phhg4e","entity_id":235248,"entity_type":"node","bundle":"basic_content","bundle_name":"Basic content","ss_language":"und","path":"node\/235248","url":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/february-east-coast-heat-climate-change","path_alias":"february-east-coast-heat-climate-change","label":"Februarys will continue to get warmer, which is good for picnics but bad for humans","content":" Our fingerprints are all over this week\u2019s record-breaking heat. Temperatures across the United States on Wednesday, February 21, 2018 at 3 pm. NOAA Summer came early to New York City on Wednesday, as temperatures soared to a record 76 degrees Fahrenheit \u200a\u2014\u200amore than 30 degrees warmer than the average February high. Up and down the the East Coast, from Atlanta to Baltimore to Cleveland to Boston, an unusual warm spell broke temperature records. While everyone enjoys t-shirt weather in February, this week\u2019s mild weather is an ominous sign of global climate change. When heat makes history, it tends to bear a human fingerprint. Carbon pollution from cars, trucks, factories, farms, and power plants is trapping heat, driving up temperatures around the world. The result is more days of extreme heat and fewer days of extreme cold. Over the last year, the continental United States saw more than twice as many record highs as record lows. Global warming is shifting the entire distribution of temperatures, making extreme cold less likely and extreme heat more likely. Environmental Protection Agency \u201cThe world is not quite at the point where every hot temperature record has a human fingerprint, but it\u2019s getting close to that,\u201d said Noah Diffenbaugh, a Stanford University climate scientist and lead author of a 2017 study that showed that climate change is loading the dice for record-breaking heat. \u201cWhen you look at the historical data, there\u2019s no question that global warming is happening and that extremes are increasing in many areas of the world.\u201d This week\u2019s unusual heat may have come as a pleasant surprise for winter-weary East coasters, but a few days of tropical weather in February can wreak havoc on plants, animals and insects. Flowers may emerge before birds and bees arrive to pollinate them. Or worse, trees blossom early only to perish amid a late-winter frost. Weather reporters in New York, Washington and elsewhere catalogued early blooms on Wednesday. On the other side of the country, it\u2019s a completely different story. From Los Angeles to San Francisco, California endured record cold. Both the cold weather out west and the warm weather back east are explained by the weakening of the jet stream, another symptom of climate change. Temperature records over the last week. coolwx The jet stream is no longer a reliably firm barrier between the frigid north and the temperate south. Now, it is prone to wobbling, allowing cool Arctic air to reach further south and warm tropical air to push further north. That\u2019s what happened this week. Frigid northern air moved south, chilling the West Coast, while balmy tropical air edged north, warming the East Coast. Consistent with climate change, the warm weather back east proved more anomalous than the cool weather out west. Rising temperatures around the world mean that when it\u2019s cold, it\u2019s cold, but when it\u2019s hot, it\u2019s really hot. Heating up. NOAA In more disturbing climate news, temperatures in the Arctic were 45 degrees higher than normal this week. Because the Arctic is warming roughy two to three times faster than the rest of the planet, it is prone to unusually warm weather. Cape Morris Jesup in Greenland, the northernmost weather station on Earth, saw temperatures rise above freezing on Tuesday. The Arctic outpost hasn\u2019t seen the sun since October. Jeremy Deaton writes for Nexus Media, a syndicated newswire covering climate, energy, policy, art and culture. You can follow him @deaton_jeremy. ","teaser":" Our fingerprints are all over this week\u2019s record-breaking heat. Temperatures across the United States on Wednesday, February 21, 2018 at 3 pm. NOAA Summer came early to New York City on Wednesday, as temperatures soared to a record 76 degrees Fahrenheit \u200a\u2014\u200amore than 30 degrees warmer than the","ss_name":"climatenexus","tos_name":"climatenexus","ss_name_formatted":"climatenexus","tos_name_formatted":"climatenexus","is_uid":1387,"bs_status":true,"bs_sticky":false,"bs_promote":true,"is_tnid":0,"bs_translate":false,"ds_created":"2018-02-23T16:00:00Z","ds_changed":"2018-02-23T16:00:01Z","ds_last_comment_or_change":"2018-02-23T16:00:01Z","bs_field_sponsored":false,"bs_field_display_social":true,"bs_field_custom_page":false,"bs_field_feed_builder_exclusion":false,"bs_field_display_author_bio":true,"bs_field_display_bottom_recirc":true,"bs_use_sir_trevor_body":true,"bs_field_flag_gallery":false,"bs_field_flag_video":false,"bs_field_display_off_ramp":true,"bs_in_nps":false,"bs_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":true,"bs_field_x90_hide":false,"bs_field_last_updated":false,"bs_field_exclude_from_cl":false,"ts_field_credit":"Nexus Media<\/a>\n","ts_bonnier_summary":"
The East Coast experienced record-breaking heat this week, showing the human fingerprints of climate change.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_summary_long":"
The East Coast experienced record-breaking heat this week, showing the human fingerprints of climate change.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_eyebrow":"\n
\n Nexus Media News<\/a> <\/div>\n","timestamp":"2018-02-23T16:00:02.563Z","bm_field_display_off_ramp":[true],"sm_field_image":["https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sites\/popsci.com\/files\/styles\/325_4x3\/public\/images\/2018\/02\/heat1_0.png?itok=VtN3CbD9&fc=50,50"],"bm_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":[true],"bm_field_sponsored":[false],"bm_field_flag_gallery":[false],"bm_field_custom_page":[false],"bm_field_flag_video":[false],"sm_field_credit":["[Nexus Media](https:\/\/nexusmedianews.com\/)"],"bm_field_display_bottom_recirc":[true],"bm_use_sir_trevor_body":[true],"bm_field_x90_hide":[false],"tid":[212048,212186,200249,204929,200392,69,220786],"sm_field_layout_standard":["right-sidebar"],"sm_field_primary_channel":["environment"],"tm_vid_2_names":["Jeremy Deaton"],"tm_vid_1_names":["weather winter climate change global warming nature Environment"],"spell":["Februarys will continue to get warmer, which is good for picnics but bad for humans"," Our fingerprints are all over this week\u2019s record-breaking heat. Temperatures across the United States on Wednesday, February 21, 2018 at 3 pm. NOAA Summer came early to New York City on Wednesday, as temperatures soared to a record 76 degrees Fahrenheit \u200a\u2014\u200amore than 30 degrees warmer than the average February high. Up and down the the East Coast, from Atlanta to Baltimore to Cleveland to Boston, an unusual warm spell broke temperature records. While everyone enjoys t-shirt weather in February, this week\u2019s mild weather is an ominous sign of global climate change. When heat makes history, it tends to bear a human fingerprint. Carbon pollution from cars, trucks, factories, farms, and power plants is trapping heat, driving up temperatures around the world. The result is more days of extreme heat and fewer days of extreme cold. Over the last year, the continental United States saw more than twice as many record highs as record lows. Global warming is shifting the entire distribution of temperatures, making extreme cold less likely and extreme heat more likely. Environmental Protection Agency \u201cThe world is not quite at the point where every hot temperature record has a human fingerprint, but it\u2019s getting close to that,\u201d said Noah Diffenbaugh, a Stanford University climate scientist and lead author of a 2017 study that showed that climate change is loading the dice for record-breaking heat. \u201cWhen you look at the historical data, there\u2019s no question that global warming is happening and that extremes are increasing in many areas of the world.\u201d This week\u2019s unusual heat may have come as a pleasant surprise for winter-weary East coasters, but a few days of tropical weather in February can wreak havoc on plants, animals and insects. Flowers may emerge before birds and bees arrive to pollinate them. Or worse, trees blossom early only to perish amid a late-winter frost. Weather reporters in New York, Washington and elsewhere catalogued early blooms on Wednesday. On the other side of the country, it\u2019s a completely different story. From Los Angeles to San Francisco, California endured record cold. Both the cold weather out west and the warm weather back east are explained by the weakening of the jet stream, another symptom of climate change. Temperature records over the last week. coolwx The jet stream is no longer a reliably firm barrier between the frigid north and the temperate south. Now, it is prone to wobbling, allowing cool Arctic air to reach further south and warm tropical air to push further north. That\u2019s what happened this week. Frigid northern air moved south, chilling the West Coast, while balmy tropical air edged north, warming the East Coast. Consistent with climate change, the warm weather back east proved more anomalous than the cool weather out west. Rising temperatures around the world mean that when it\u2019s cold, it\u2019s cold, but when it\u2019s hot, it\u2019s really hot. Heating up. NOAA In more disturbing climate news, temperatures in the Arctic were 45 degrees higher than normal this week. Because the Arctic is warming roughy two to three times faster than the rest of the planet, it is prone to unusually warm weather. Cape Morris Jesup in Greenland, the northernmost weather station on Earth, saw temperatures rise above freezing on Tuesday. The Arctic outpost hasn\u2019t seen the sun since October. Jeremy Deaton writes for Nexus Media, a syndicated newswire covering climate, energy, policy, art and culture. You can follow him @deaton_jeremy. ","weather winter climate change global warming nature Environment","Jeremy Deaton","Nexus Media<\/a>\n","
The East Coast experienced record-breaking heat this week, showing the human fingerprints of climate change.<\/div>","
The East Coast experienced record-breaking heat this week, showing the human fingerprints of climate change.<\/div>","\n
\n Nexus Media News<\/a> <\/div>\n"],"bm_field_feed_builder_exclusion":[false],"im_field_author":[220786],"bm_field_display_social":[true],"bm_field_exclude_from_cl":[false],"bm_field_last_updated":[false],"bm_in_nps":[false],"sm_field_sponsor_label":[""],"sm_field_subtitle":["Our fingerprints are all over this week\u2019s record-breaking heat.\n"],"bm_field_display_author_bio":[true],"im_field_tags":[212048,212186,200249,204929,200392,69],"im_vid_2":[220786],"sm_vid_Authors":["Jeremy Deaton"],"im_vid_1":[212048,212186,200249,204929,200392,69],"sm_multi_blog_blog_reference":["multi_blog:47"],"sm_vid_Tags":["weather","winter","climate change","global warming","nature","Environment"]},{"id":"phhg4e\/node\/235228","site":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/","hash":"phhg4e","entity_id":235228,"entity_type":"node","bundle":"basic_content","bundle_name":"Basic content","ss_language":"und","path":"node\/235228","url":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/marinate-meat-in-yogurt","path_alias":"marinate-meat-in-yogurt","label":"Yogurt marinades make meat perfectly tender\u2014here's why","content":" It's all about that acid. Chicken and rice Deposit Photos Open the fridge in most South Asian households, and you will find a tub of thick, creamy yogurt. But this isn\u2019t the sweet stuff that you eat for breakfast with granola and a rainbow array of fruit. It\u2019s the secret ingredient in savory meat dishes like chicken tikka and skewers of tender kebabs. Cooks from South Asia marinate meat in a blend of yogurt and spices like garam masala, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and ginger and garlic pastes. The technique is common in several dishes from the subcontinent, although it\u2019s not particularly prevalent in other East Asian, Arab, or European dishes. A fermented dairy product also makes up a key ingredient in that classic American comfort food: fried chicken. Before breading and frying pieces of the meat, an overnight soak in buttermilk and poultry seasonings ensures it will be perfectly juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside. But why do certain recipes call for dairy-based marinades at all? The answer comes down to acid: The lactic acid in fermented dairy products, such as yogurt and buttermilk, react with the proteins in meat at the molecular level. Although the research behind this technique isn\u2019t exhaustive or definitive, there are a few theories about what\u2019s going on, says Ted Russin, the dean of the Culinary Institute of America\u2019s food science program. A chemist by training, Russin says he thinks of meat as a gel, \u201ca wad of water held in a protein matrix.\u201d Yogurt and buttermilk both contain acids that break down that protein wall. As the meat becomes more acidic, it can absorb more moisture. Think of it like a dry sponge that gets soft and squishy once you add water. At the same time, the acidity of dairy speeds up chemical reactions. This makes it easier for enzymes already present in the meat to break down proteins from the inside out. It also leads to the breakdown of collagen, which is what gives meat\u2014and living skin tissue\u2014its rigid structure, Russin says. An acidic marinade thus softens meat by increasing its water content and breaking down its structure\u2014and science backs that up. In one study, researchers coated meat in an lactic acid and measured the pH at different intervals. The more acidic the meat was, the softer it became in comparison to a tougher and chewier chunk of beef that served as a control. But before you start whipping up a yogurt marinade, be aware of a crucial pitfall. In a different study, researchers tried soaking large chunks of beef in lactic or acetic acid. When they tested the meat, they found that the pH level on its surface was a full unit lower than the pH inside, meaning that the marinade hadn\u2019t really seeped into it. Russin says you can counteract that problem in a few ways. \u201cMarinades can literally be injected with pins into the center of the meat,\u201d he says. As an alternative, he suggests you can vacuum tumble the meat, a process where you vacuum-seal a piece of meat in marinade and then suddenly open the package. The pressure change forces the liquid deeper into the chunk of steak or lamb. However, most of us don\u2019t have access to a professionally-equipped kitchen. To achieve similar results at home, Russin advises, cut your meat into flat pieces about a quarter-inch thick. Then leave the meat in the marinade for at least a few hours, or up to a day. (Any longer than that, and you start running into shelf-life problems.) Ready to test out the science in your kitchen laboratory? Here\u2019s one of my personal favorite recipes, as told to me by family members. It makes incredibly tender and flavorful chicken kebabs that you soak in a yogurt-based marinade before cooking. Chicken dinner Yogurt-marinated meat with all the fixings Amal Ahmed How to make chicken kebabs Tools Large bowl Knife Cutting board Refrigerator Wooden or metal skewers Barbecue grill or oven Ingredients 2-3 tablespoons of plain, thick (Greek or Indian-style) yogurt 1 tablespoon of olive oil \u00bd teaspoon ginger paste 1 teaspoon garlic paste Juice of half a lime or lemon 2-3 tablespoons of a Shan Masala brand kebab seasoning blend, like Tikka Seekh Kebab or Tikka Boti (Be forewarned: These blends are fairly spicy, even for seasoned taste buds! A few spoonfuls should be more than enough for smaller batch of meat.) 2 pounds of chicken breasts Instructions In a large bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients except for the chicken. Cube the chicken breasts and add the pieces to the marinade, coating them well. Cover and refrigerate the bowl for at least three hours, or overnight. Skewer the chicken on wooden or metal skewers. For best results, grill the chicken in a barbecue until it\u2019s cooked through (this takes about 15 minutes). You can also pop the skewers into an oven preheated to 450\u00b0F for about 15 minutes, making sure to flip the skewers or switch to broil halfway through. If you opt for the oven, lay the skewers evenly on a baking tray covered in foil. Serve with naan or rice and a simple salad with cucumbers and tomatoes. If you feel confident in your lactose-digesting ability, you could also serve the dish with a yogurt-based dressing called raita. ","teaser":" It's all about that acid. Chicken and rice Deposit Photos Open the fridge in most South Asian households, and you will find a tub of thick, creamy yogurt. But this isn\u2019t the sweet stuff that you eat for breakfast with granola and a rainbow array of fruit. It\u2019s the secret ingredient in savory","ss_name":"Amal Ahmed","tos_name":"Amal Ahmed","ss_name_formatted":"Amal Ahmed","tos_name_formatted":"Amal Ahmed","is_uid":2252,"bs_status":true,"bs_sticky":false,"bs_promote":true,"is_tnid":0,"bs_translate":false,"ds_created":"2018-02-23T14:30:00Z","ds_changed":"2018-02-23T14:30:01Z","ds_last_comment_or_change":"2018-02-23T14:30:01Z","bs_field_sponsored":false,"bs_field_display_social":true,"bs_field_custom_page":false,"bs_field_feed_builder_exclusion":false,"bs_field_display_author_bio":true,"bs_field_display_bottom_recirc":true,"bs_use_sir_trevor_body":true,"bs_field_flag_gallery":false,"bs_field_flag_video":false,"bs_field_display_off_ramp":true,"bs_in_nps":false,"bs_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":true,"bs_field_x90_hide":false,"bs_field_last_updated":false,"bs_field_exclude_from_cl":false,"ts_bonnier_summary":"
Forget secret sauce\u2014marinating meats in yogurt gives you the most flavorful, tender results. And food science can explain why.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_summary_long":"
Forget secret sauce\u2014marinating meats in yogurt gives you the most flavorful, tender results. And food science can explain why.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_eyebrow":"
DIY<\/a><\/div>","timestamp":"2018-02-23T14:30:01.793Z","bm_field_display_off_ramp":[true],"sm_field_image":["https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sites\/popsci.com\/files\/styles\/325_4x3\/public\/images\/2018\/02\/depositphotos_71515685_l-2015.jpg?itok=_QE79jjl&fc=50,50"],"bm_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":[true],"bm_field_sponsored":[false],"bm_field_flag_gallery":[false],"bm_field_custom_page":[false],"bm_field_flag_video":[false],"bm_field_display_bottom_recirc":[true],"bm_use_sir_trevor_body":[true],"bm_field_x90_hide":[false],"tid":[200299,210464,64,207046,205117,209195,224390,224533],"sm_field_layout_standard":["right-sidebar"],"sm_field_primary_channel":["diy"],"tm_vid_2_names":["Amal Ahmed"],"tm_vid_1_names":["food spice DIY meat grilling recipes life upgrades"],"spell":["Yogurt marinades make meat perfectly tender\u2014here's why"," It's all about that acid. Chicken and rice Deposit Photos Open the fridge in most South Asian households, and you will find a tub of thick, creamy yogurt. But this isn\u2019t the sweet stuff that you eat for breakfast with granola and a rainbow array of fruit. It\u2019s the secret ingredient in savory meat dishes like chicken tikka and skewers of tender kebabs. Cooks from South Asia marinate meat in a blend of yogurt and spices like garam masala, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and ginger and garlic pastes. The technique is common in several dishes from the subcontinent, although it\u2019s not particularly prevalent in other East Asian, Arab, or European dishes. A fermented dairy product also makes up a key ingredient in that classic American comfort food: fried chicken. Before breading and frying pieces of the meat, an overnight soak in buttermilk and poultry seasonings ensures it will be perfectly juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside. But why do certain recipes call for dairy-based marinades at all? The answer comes down to acid: The lactic acid in fermented dairy products, such as yogurt and buttermilk, react with the proteins in meat at the molecular level. Although the research behind this technique isn\u2019t exhaustive or definitive, there are a few theories about what\u2019s going on, says Ted Russin, the dean of the Culinary Institute of America\u2019s food science program. A chemist by training, Russin says he thinks of meat as a gel, \u201ca wad of water held in a protein matrix.\u201d Yogurt and buttermilk both contain acids that break down that protein wall. As the meat becomes more acidic, it can absorb more moisture. Think of it like a dry sponge that gets soft and squishy once you add water. At the same time, the acidity of dairy speeds up chemical reactions. This makes it easier for enzymes already present in the meat to break down proteins from the inside out. It also leads to the breakdown of collagen, which is what gives meat\u2014and living skin tissue\u2014its rigid structure, Russin says. An acidic marinade thus softens meat by increasing its water content and breaking down its structure\u2014and science backs that up. In one study, researchers coated meat in an lactic acid and measured the pH at different intervals. The more acidic the meat was, the softer it became in comparison to a tougher and chewier chunk of beef that served as a control. But before you start whipping up a yogurt marinade, be aware of a crucial pitfall. In a different study, researchers tried soaking large chunks of beef in lactic or acetic acid. When they tested the meat, they found that the pH level on its surface was a full unit lower than the pH inside, meaning that the marinade hadn\u2019t really seeped into it. Russin says you can counteract that problem in a few ways. \u201cMarinades can literally be injected with pins into the center of the meat,\u201d he says. As an alternative, he suggests you can vacuum tumble the meat, a process where you vacuum-seal a piece of meat in marinade and then suddenly open the package. The pressure change forces the liquid deeper into the chunk of steak or lamb. However, most of us don\u2019t have access to a professionally-equipped kitchen. To achieve similar results at home, Russin advises, cut your meat into flat pieces about a quarter-inch thick. Then leave the meat in the marinade for at least a few hours, or up to a day. (Any longer than that, and you start running into shelf-life problems.) Ready to test out the science in your kitchen laboratory? Here\u2019s one of my personal favorite recipes, as told to me by family members. It makes incredibly tender and flavorful chicken kebabs that you soak in a yogurt-based marinade before cooking. Chicken dinner Yogurt-marinated meat with all the fixings Amal Ahmed How to make chicken kebabs Tools Large bowl Knife Cutting board Refrigerator Wooden or metal skewers Barbecue grill or oven Ingredients 2-3 tablespoons of plain, thick (Greek or Indian-style) yogurt 1 tablespoon of olive oil \u00bd teaspoon ginger paste 1 teaspoon garlic paste Juice of half a lime or lemon 2-3 tablespoons of a Shan Masala brand kebab seasoning blend, like Tikka Seekh Kebab or Tikka Boti (Be forewarned: These blends are fairly spicy, even for seasoned taste buds! A few spoonfuls should be more than enough for smaller batch of meat.) 2 pounds of chicken breasts Instructions In a large bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients except for the chicken. Cube the chicken breasts and add the pieces to the marinade, coating them well. Cover and refrigerate the bowl for at least three hours, or overnight. Skewer the chicken on wooden or metal skewers. For best results, grill the chicken in a barbecue until it\u2019s cooked through (this takes about 15 minutes). You can also pop the skewers into an oven preheated to 450\u00b0F for about 15 minutes, making sure to flip the skewers or switch to broil halfway through. If you opt for the oven, lay the skewers evenly on a baking tray covered in foil. Serve with naan or rice and a simple salad with cucumbers and tomatoes. If you feel confident in your lactose-digesting ability, you could also serve the dish with a yogurt-based dressing called raita. ","food spice DIY meat grilling recipes life upgrades","Amal Ahmed","
Forget secret sauce\u2014marinating meats in yogurt gives you the most flavorful, tender results. And food science can explain why.<\/div>","
Forget secret sauce\u2014marinating meats in yogurt gives you the most flavorful, tender results. And food science can explain why.<\/div>","
DIY<\/a><\/div>"],"bm_field_feed_builder_exclusion":[false],"im_field_author":[224533],"bm_field_display_social":[true],"bm_field_exclude_from_cl":[false],"bm_field_last_updated":[false],"sm_field_sponsor_label":[""],"bm_in_nps":[false],"sm_field_subtitle":["It's all about that acid.\n"],"bm_field_display_author_bio":[true],"im_field_tags":[200299,210464,64,207046,205117,209195,224390],"im_vid_2":[224533],"sm_vid_Authors":["Amal Ahmed"],"im_vid_1":[200299,210464,64,207046,205117,209195,224390],"sm_vid_Tags":["food","spice","DIY","meat","grilling","recipes","life upgrades"]},{"id":"phhg4e\/node\/235253","site":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/","hash":"phhg4e","entity_id":235253,"entity_type":"node","bundle":"basic_content","bundle_name":"Basic content","ss_language":"und","path":"node\/235253","url":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/longevity-studies","path_alias":"longevity-studies","label":"The Grim Reaper does not care about the latest longevity study you saw on Facebook","content":" If it sounds too good to be true, maybe it is. A generic stock photo of happy-looking old people that could be at the top of any story about longevity Deposit Photos Centenarians always want to tell you how much beer they drank. How many cigarettes they smoked. How often they ate bars of chocolate. Similarly, headlines regularly belt out accolades for every study that purports to show a link between living past 90 and drinking\/smoking\/eating mac & cheese three times a day. You know the one\u2014its an article that probably goes something like this: There\u2019s reason to celebrate if you love\/hate [insert whatever habit the study looked at]. A new study suggests [doing or not doing the thing] might help you live longer. The research looked at a group of [probably a few thousand people, enough to make you think this is legit] and found that [whatever food or habit we\u2019re talking about either decreased risk of death or increased average lifespan] by [a small, but statistically significant, amount]. \u201cOur study found that [insert food\/habit] significantly [increases\/decreases] lifespan,\u201d says [lead study author], though s\/he cautions that [whatever they found could also be explained by a third factor]. The study didn\u2019t prove causation, but it did [insert a compelling statistic that people can cite to their friends]. It sounds so familiar because its an appealing story that draws people in. There\u2019s a reason that scientists study longevity and journalists like us cover their research. We all want a shortcut to living longer. Unfortunately, scientific work is far more nuanced than a single sentence can convey, and \u201ceating more nuts may or may not help you live longer, we\u2019ll probably never know\u201d isn\u2019t a compelling headline. If you search for enough correlations, eventually you'll find one. XKCD\/Randall Munroe Though there\u2019s plenty of valid research on how to live longer, most of what you hear about in the news is misleading at best. Most longevity research relies on following a group of people for decades, gathering whatever relevant information about each person that you can think of, and then analyzing that data to see which traits pop up in people who live the longest. There\u2019s not a lot of other ways to study aging because we simply don\u2019t know how long people live until they\u2019re dead. Longevity is also something you can\u2019t really design an experiment for. Or at least, not an experiment that allows you to determine causality. Practically\u2014not to mention ethically\u2014you can\u2019t tell a whole group of people to exercise three times a week for their whole adult lives, or eat exactly one square inch of chocolate per day, and then wait to see who lives the longest. There are just too many variables about a person\u2019s life that influence the length of their time here on Earth. Controlling for every single factor is next to impossible. In the end, it\u2019s not that the links you read about regularly are wrong, it\u2019s that they\u2019re just links. They\u2019re correlations, not causations. It may be true that people who eat oat bran every morning live longer, but we can\u2019t say that eating oat bran causes you to live longer. Maybe people who eat oat bran also tend to exercise more. Maybe they drink less. Maybe they\u2019re wealthier, and therefore have better access to healthcare. Maybe families with a genetic predisposition to longevity tend to eat more oat bran because they\u2019ve always chalked up their longevity to healthy eating. You get the idea. So here\u2019s a running list of misleading longevity studies and stories that you might encounter: February 2018: Drinking alcohol regularly Research showed that nonagenarians who drank 2 glasses of alcohol a day were more likely to live longer than their peers. These results are just small part of a much larger, ongoing research project focused on people who live past 90. The problem is that the study starts looking at people when they\u2019re 90, so anyone who dies earlier than that\u2014say, of liver damage from alcohol, or any of the myriad diseases that we know alcohol consumption increases your risk of getting\u2014you are automatically not included. And nonagenarians who don\u2019t drink at all, or drink infrequently may have given up alcohol for other health-related reasons. So really what these results tells us is that if you\u2019re already predisposed to living past 90 and can still drink regularly, you\u2019re likely to live longer. October 2017: Living near trees Despite the fact that researchers controlled for the effects of potential confounding factors like gender, location and air pollution, there\u2019s just no way they could control for everything. Yes, maybe being near nature makes you less stressed and therefore helps you age slower, but maybe people who live near nature are already less stressed. While the study found an overall benefit, the authors noted that coming from a lower-income household negated the longevity boost of living near a green space, indicating that other factors were certainly at play. By all means, move to be near trees, but don\u2019t expect them to make up for other life-shortening factors. July 2017: Drinking coffee Overall, coffee habits aren\u2019t bad for you. They might even be good for you. But this study fell prey to one of the classic blunders: if you go looking for a correlation, you can eventually find one. These researchers examined links between coffee drinking and a long list of specific cancers and heart problems, among many other diseases. There was absolutely no connection for most of those, but the list was long enough that they found a few correlations. And\u2014surprise, surprise\u2014those were the ones highlighted in the news coverage. August 2016: Reading Books Apparently if you just read 30 minutes a day, you can live incrementally longer. And the more you read, the more you seem to extend your life. But also reading periodicals didn\u2019t count. Books, specifically, do the trick. Look, it\u2019s true there are lots of wonderful reasons to read books, including the positive cognitive effects of regularly exercising your mind. It\u2019s also true that plenty of other habits that frequent readers might have could explain this link. Those who make time for novels may also watch less television and therefore be more physically active, or they may tend to eat healthier. Or maybe if you have time to read, you just have less stress. Either way, pick up a book for better reasons than your longevity. June 2014: Giving birth later in life There are a ton of hormonal changes that women go through during and after pregnancy, but not even the researchers believed that the mother\u2019s age changed how long she lived. Rather, they said, it was probably that women with \u201cgood\u201d aging genes are more likely to be able to have kids later in life. That just means that women who are still capable of giving birth at 35 seem to age slower. Don\u2019t wait to have kids just because you\u2019d like another couple years tacked onto your life. ","teaser":" If it sounds too good to be true, maybe it is. A generic stock photo of happy-looking old people that could be at the top of any story about longevity Deposit Photos Centenarians always want to tell you how much beer they drank. How many cigarettes they smoked. 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Deadlines regularly belt out accolades for every study that purports to show a link between living past 90 and drinking\/smoking\/eating mac & cheese three times a day.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_summary_long":"
Deadlines regularly belt out accolades for every study that purports to show a link between living past 90 and drinking\/smoking\/eating mac & cheese three times a day. You know the one\u2014its an article that probably goes something like this.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_eyebrow":"
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A generic stock photo of happy-looking old people that could be at the top of any story about longevity Deposit Photos Centenarians always want to tell you how much beer they drank. How many cigarettes they smoked. How often they ate bars of chocolate. Similarly, headlines regularly belt out accolades for every study that purports to show a link between living past 90 and drinking\/smoking\/eating mac & cheese three times a day. You know the one\u2014its an article that probably goes something like this: There\u2019s reason to celebrate if you love\/hate [insert whatever habit the study looked at]. A new study suggests [doing or not doing the thing] might help you live longer. The research looked at a group of [probably a few thousand people, enough to make you think this is legit] and found that [whatever food or habit we\u2019re talking about either decreased risk of death or increased average lifespan] by [a small, but statistically significant, amount]. \u201cOur study found that [insert food\/habit] significantly [increases\/decreases] lifespan,\u201d says [lead study author], though s\/he cautions that [whatever they found could also be explained by a third factor]. The study didn\u2019t prove causation, but it did [insert a compelling statistic that people can cite to their friends]. It sounds so familiar because its an appealing story that draws people in. There\u2019s a reason that scientists study longevity and journalists like us cover their research. We all want a shortcut to living longer. Unfortunately, scientific work is far more nuanced than a single sentence can convey, and \u201ceating more nuts may or may not help you live longer, we\u2019ll probably never know\u201d isn\u2019t a compelling headline. If you search for enough correlations, eventually you'll find one. XKCD\/Randall Munroe Though there\u2019s plenty of valid research on how to live longer, most of what you hear about in the news is misleading at best. Most longevity research relies on following a group of people for decades, gathering whatever relevant information about each person that you can think of, and then analyzing that data to see which traits pop up in people who live the longest. There\u2019s not a lot of other ways to study aging because we simply don\u2019t know how long people live until they\u2019re dead. Longevity is also something you can\u2019t really design an experiment for. Or at least, not an experiment that allows you to determine causality. Practically\u2014not to mention ethically\u2014you can\u2019t tell a whole group of people to exercise three times a week for their whole adult lives, or eat exactly one square inch of chocolate per day, and then wait to see who lives the longest. There are just too many variables about a person\u2019s life that influence the length of their time here on Earth. Controlling for every single factor is next to impossible. In the end, it\u2019s not that the links you read about regularly are wrong, it\u2019s that they\u2019re just links. They\u2019re correlations, not causations. It may be true that people who eat oat bran every morning live longer, but we can\u2019t say that eating oat bran causes you to live longer. Maybe people who eat oat bran also tend to exercise more. Maybe they drink less. Maybe they\u2019re wealthier, and therefore have better access to healthcare. Maybe families with a genetic predisposition to longevity tend to eat more oat bran because they\u2019ve always chalked up their longevity to healthy eating. You get the idea. So here\u2019s a running list of misleading longevity studies and stories that you might encounter: February 2018: Drinking alcohol regularly Research showed that nonagenarians who drank 2 glasses of alcohol a day were more likely to live longer than their peers. These results are just small part of a much larger, ongoing research project focused on people who live past 90. The problem is that the study starts looking at people when they\u2019re 90, so anyone who dies earlier than that\u2014say, of liver damage from alcohol, or any of the myriad diseases that we know alcohol consumption increases your risk of getting\u2014you are automatically not included. And nonagenarians who don\u2019t drink at all, or drink infrequently may have given up alcohol for other health-related reasons. So really what these results tells us is that if you\u2019re already predisposed to living past 90 and can still drink regularly, you\u2019re likely to live longer. October 2017: Living near trees Despite the fact that researchers controlled for the effects of potential confounding factors like gender, location and air pollution, there\u2019s just no way they could control for everything. Yes, maybe being near nature makes you less stressed and therefore helps you age slower, but maybe people who live near nature are already less stressed. While the study found an overall benefit, the authors noted that coming from a lower-income household negated the longevity boost of living near a green space, indicating that other factors were certainly at play. By all means, move to be near trees, but don\u2019t expect them to make up for other life-shortening factors. July 2017: Drinking coffee Overall, coffee habits aren\u2019t bad for you. They might even be good for you. But this study fell prey to one of the classic blunders: if you go looking for a correlation, you can eventually find one. These researchers examined links between coffee drinking and a long list of specific cancers and heart problems, among many other diseases. There was absolutely no connection for most of those, but the list was long enough that they found a few correlations. And\u2014surprise, surprise\u2014those were the ones highlighted in the news coverage. August 2016: Reading Books Apparently if you just read 30 minutes a day, you can live incrementally longer. And the more you read, the more you seem to extend your life. But also reading periodicals didn\u2019t count. Books, specifically, do the trick. Look, it\u2019s true there are lots of wonderful reasons to read books, including the positive cognitive effects of regularly exercising your mind. It\u2019s also true that plenty of other habits that frequent readers might have could explain this link. Those who make time for novels may also watch less television and therefore be more physically active, or they may tend to eat healthier. Or maybe if you have time to read, you just have less stress. Either way, pick up a book for better reasons than your longevity. June 2014: Giving birth later in life There are a ton of hormonal changes that women go through during and after pregnancy, but not even the researchers believed that the mother\u2019s age changed how long she lived. Rather, they said, it was probably that women with \u201cgood\u201d aging genes are more likely to be able to have kids later in life. That just means that women who are still capable of giving birth at 35 seem to age slower. Don\u2019t wait to have kids just because you\u2019d like another couple years tacked onto your life. ","aging media news longevity Science","Sara Chodosh","
Deadlines regularly belt out accolades for every study that purports to show a link between living past 90 and drinking\/smoking\/eating mac & cheese three times a day.<\/div>","
Deadlines regularly belt out accolades for every study that purports to show a link between living past 90 and drinking\/smoking\/eating mac & cheese three times a day. You know the one\u2014its an article that probably goes something like this.<\/div>","
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