Living to 200 is theoretically possible / Nearly half of Americans can’t afford basic necessities / Big dogs age faster because of jumping genes

The New York Times covered new research suggesting the theoretical human lifespan ceiling may be 146 to 194 years — but even in the most optimistic scenario, irreversible DNA mutations accumulate in ways that eventually stop the heart and brain from functioning. A Pew Research Center survey of more than 5,000 U.S. adults finds 44% had trouble paying for at least one basic necessity — food, housing, medical care, or transportation — in the past year, with 71% of lower-income adults affected, 27% unable to pay their monthly bills in full, and 1 in 5 Americans using a food bank this year. And an Arizona State University study published in Science, drawing on 864 dogs from the Dog Aging Project, found that larger breeds lose DNA methylation in specific “jumping gene” sequences about 35% faster per year than smaller breeds — offering the first compelling molecular explanation for why Great Danes die at 8 while Chihuahuas live to 15. Plus WWII grenades from an estate sale, AI researchers taking up smoking, the dodo de-extinction update, and a hungry great white. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.