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Lead story I’ve long known in that abstract, I’ll-take-that-under-advisement kind of way that chronic stress ages you. It wasn’t until this past week, when – in a gasp of breath stolen between the crush of too many deadlines – I looked at myself in the mirror and saw the glint of a gray hair that I understood: Chronic stress ages you. Some of you are probably thinking, “Oh, boo-hoo, you’ve a single gray hair – I’ve a headful of them!” But what’s setting off alarms in my head isn’t so much the aesthetics of aging than the implication that my body may be biologically older than it is chronologically. Somewhere out there, a wellness influencer is brandishing one of those trendy biological age tests at a camera and telling me I can uncover my own biological age at the irresistible price of $30 to over $1,000. Can these tests really tell me whether I’m prematurely aging? If you ask scientists who are using the analytical tool these tests are based on to study aging, the answer is no – for individual people, at least. Idan Shalev and Abner Apsley are two such researchers who use these tools – epigenetic clocks – in their work at Penn State and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, respectively. “Epigenetic clocks are helping scientists advance scientific research on the aging processes,” they write, “but they aren’t medical tests to measure individual health.” They explain several reasons that biological aging tests don’t meet the standards of common medical tests, and why “for now, epigenetic clocks sold as biological age tests are best used and refined by researchers who are studying populations rather than individual people.” [ Understand what’s going on in Washington and around the world. Get our Politics Weekly newsletter. ] |
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Vivian Lam Associate Health and Biomedicine Editor |
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Biological age tests are pricey – and are not approved medical tests. liulolo/iStock via Getty Images Plus
Idan Shalev, Penn State; Abner Apsley, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Epigenetic aging clocks allow scientists to study how populations age. They aren’t intended for individuals to make health decisions.
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Environment + Energy |
Moncef Krarti, University of Colorado Boulder Small-scale solar panels usable by renters and without rooftop installation can boost renewable energy use and reduce the effects of high electricity prices. Yinchu Li, Georgia Institute of Technology Understanding why some faults creep rather than sticking and causing massive earthquakes is important for gauging the future risk of both earthquakes and tsunamis. |
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Ethics + Religion |
Michal Raucher, Rutgers University Three women sat for an exam administered by Israel’s Rabbinate, the latest sign of growing recognition for women’s religious leadership within Orthodox Judaism. |
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Politics + Society |
Barbara Clark Smith, Smithsonian Institution Is the US a democracy or a republic? That’s a misleading question, writes a historian of early America. The values of republicanism and the values of democracy have both been vital to the nation. Nancy La Vigne, Rutgers University - Newark A new policy at Allegheny County Jail allows incarcerated people to earn money for their work. The goal is to improve conditions for everyone involved. |
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Education |
Qingqing Yang, University at Albany, State University of New York New research suggests that bullying prevention work should address the broader classroom environment, not just students’ individual characteristics and behaviors. |
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Science + Technology |
Mohammad Ahmad, West Virginia University Mythos’ dramatic hacking abilities are as much a reflection of the precarious state of digital defenses as a revolutionary tech breakthrough. |
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International |
Firmesk Rahim, UMass Boston The Gulf Cooperation Council was formed after the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Since then, GCC members have tried different strategies to contend with Tehran. |
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Health + Medicine |
Thomas Jeffries, Western Sydney University Authorities are racing to contain a suspected outbreak of a rare respiratory disease. A microbiologist explains what it is and how it spreads. Christian Franck, University of Wisconsin-Madison An expert in traumatic brain injuries explains why you need to protect your noggin.
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Arts + Culture |
Marie Helweg-Larsen, Dickinson College Unstructured play – especially the kind that allows kids to test their limits – can help children become competent, independent adults.
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Reader Comments 💬 |
"...By learning your creative style in the background, future generations of much more personalized AI agents - locally hosted LLMs - will be able to work alongside us not instead of us. More like Michelangelo had a whole team working for him but under his creative direction, AI will eventually feel more like this; an understudy who you can choose how much creative authority to delegate to.” – Reader Andrew Young on the story Sora’s downfall signals broader problems with AI’s creative utility More of The Conversation
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About The ConversationWe're a nonprofit news organization dedicated to bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. We can give away our articles thanks to the help of foundations, universities and readers like you. |
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