Aging, Health & Happiness

Scientists have found that humans age dramatically in two bursts – at age 44, then 60. The study, which tracked thousands of different molecules in people aged 25 to 75, detected two major waves of age-related changes.

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For the younger millennials and zoomers who grew up in a world where fully digital was the norm, the question is no longer what can we put behind a screen, but what should we? Which screens were mistakes? What should be reverted? Which “progress” actually set us back? We’re beginning to see that reversion to analog in real time when it comes to things dating, cars, books, etc.

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If you go to the most expensive doctors in the country, they’re pretty much all going to tell you to do the same four things to stay healthy or get healthier: (1) Eat clean food, drink clean drinks (2) exercise (3) get a good night sleep (4) practice mindfulness/mediation/appreciation. *Or replace number 4 with the obvious one: avoid alcohol, tobacco and drugs.

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The mental health of high school students is still a crisis, but it’s shown very small improvement over the last 2 years. When we look at the persistent sadness and hopelessness, it went from 42% down to 40%. While girls and LGBTQ+ students are still more likely to report feelings of sadness and hopelessness, the share of girls reporting this went down from 57% in 2021 to 53% in 2023.

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Derek Thompson discusses happiness and the science of cognitive time travel with Laurie Santos. They talk about modern happiness research, lessons on striving and anxiety from existential philosophy, our relationship to time, temporal mind tricks to reduce anxiety like “psychological distancing,” and more.

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These past few years have been a great time to bet on sports. As most states have legalized sports wagers since 2018, sportsbook operators have climbed over each other to offer generous promotional terms. But sportsbooks have lost money in the gold rush to recruit new bettors, and only a few of them are on solid financial footing. Now the sportsbooks have decided they’d like to actually make some money, and they have pared back their promotional offerings to spend less on “customer acquisition.” In four states that have levied the highest taxes on sportsbooks’ receipts, DraftKings will levy a surcharge on winning bets. That passes part of the company’s tax burden to bettors, who are already subject to normal taxes on their winnings. It worsens the odds on every bet, lowering the payout for winners.

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In more than 200 U.S. cities, buyers will find a price tag of $1 million or more on the typical starter home. The typical “starter home” — defined for this analysis as being among those in the lowest third of home values in a given region — is worth at least $1 million in 237 cities, the most ever. Five years ago, there were only 84 such cities.