A new peer-reviewed paper published in The Gerontologist  provides the most comprehensive scientific response to date addressing recent critiques of the so-called “blue zones,” regions of the world known for unusually high concentrations of people living long, healthy lives. In the article, “The validity of blue zones demography: a response to critiques,” authors Steven N. Austad, PhD (Scientific Director, American Federation for Aging Research/AFAR and Distinguished Professor, Protective Life Endowed Chair in Healthy Aging Research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham) and Giovanni M. Pes, MD (Professor of Medicine at the University of Sassari) detail decades of demographic research showing that ages in the original blue zones have been rigorously validated using the highest standards of modern gerontological demography. 

New research led by Mass General Brigham investigators suggests that long COVID is more prevalent in school-aged children and adolescents who experience economic instability and adverse social conditions. The multi-center, observational study found that the risk of long COVID was significantly higher in households that faced food insecurity and challenges such as low social support and high levels of discrimination. Results are published in JAMA Pediatrics.

More than half of the world’s population speaks more than one language—but there is no consistent method for defining “bilingual” or “multilingual.” This makes it difficult to accurately assess proficiency across multiple languages and to describe language backgrounds accurately. A team of New York University researchers has now created a calculator that scores multilingualism, allowing users to see how multilingual they actually are and which language is their dominant one.