Connect with us

Science & Technology

The Science of Lifespan — and the Impact of Your Five Senses | Christi Gendron | TED

What you experience through your senses — sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch — can impact how healthy you are and how long you live, says neurobiologist Christi Gendron. She explores how environmental cues like temperature, light and even just the sight of death have influenced the lifespan of fruit flies, suggesting your everyday perceptions…

Published

on

What you experience through your senses — sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch — can impact how healthy you are and how long you live, says neurobiologist Christi Gendron. She explores how environmental cues like temperature, light and even just the sight of death have influenced the lifespan of fruit flies, suggesting your everyday perceptions may have direct repercussions on your ability to live a long, healthy life.

If you love watching TED Talks like this one, become a TED Member to support our mission of spreading ideas:

Follow TED!
X:
Instagram:
Facebook:
LinkedIn:
TikTok:

The TED Talks channel features talks, performances and original series from the world’s leading thinkers and doers. Subscribe to our channel for videos on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.

Watch more:

TED’s videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy: . For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at

#TED #TEDTalks #science

Continue Reading
Advertisement
55 Comments

55 Comments

  1. @manishagrahari4519

    May 27, 2024 at 7:26 am

    wonderful explanation❤

  2. @qazxxxzzzpdjd

    May 27, 2024 at 7:32 am

    I’m in big trouble now. As a life long funeral director with many friends who work in mortuaries, I never noticed that we are dying so much sooner than everyone else. Except that this is nonsense 🙄😆

    • @annar731

      May 27, 2024 at 7:40 am

      So are you a fly or a human? Do you see the dead people hanging on sticky walls or what?

    • @qazxxxzzzpdjd

      May 27, 2024 at 7:45 am

      I assume you heard the part about how this might impact on humans. Really hoping it doesn’t as I’ve seen decades of dead people. ​@@annar731

    • @michaelbaute8891

      May 27, 2024 at 7:53 am

      There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all argument and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance. This principle is contempt prior to examination.

      Herbert Spencer

    • @ziyadshafeek

      May 27, 2024 at 8:03 am

      I thought of this very possibility, but this is the way we do research. We try to build from the ground up.

    • @qazxxxzzzpdjd

      May 27, 2024 at 8:07 am

      This has nothing to do with being closed minded. An easy way to check would have meant a global study on the ages of death of people who work in the death industry. My sample of people may be small but there are so many colleagues who have lived to a great age, if there is an effect, it will be unnoticeably tiny.

  3. @JD-eh3co

    May 27, 2024 at 7:33 am

    This lady out here traumatizing flies

  4. @08wolfeyes

    May 27, 2024 at 7:48 am

    Is it possible that any gases or chemicals given of by the dead fly is what increases the chances of the living fly dying?

  5. @Miss_Distress

    May 27, 2024 at 7:58 am

    I wouldn’t worry. Climate change, violence, plastics, or famine will kill a lot of us first! 😅

  6. @user-ew8xj5pg7y

    May 27, 2024 at 8:12 am

    God loves you and cares for you so that this message reaches you. God is the one who created this large universe and controls it completely. The greatest loss a person loses in this life is that he lives without knowing God who created him and knowing the Messenger of Muhammad, the last of the messengers, and the Islamic religion, the last of the heavenly religions.  Great intelligence, before you believe in something or not, is to read it, study it, and understand it well, and after that you have the choice to believe in it or not to believe in it. I advise you to do this now, before you no longer have time to do so. Life is very short. It is just a test, just a passage to eternal life. Great advice to those who…  Understands

    • @MrMrMadMax92

      May 27, 2024 at 8:41 am

      Try to read science books as well <3. You wont believe the knowledge you get.

  7. @saraeastman40

    May 27, 2024 at 8:19 am

    It’s animal cruelty. Keeping insects in vials and in the dark all their lives is not valid research, because that’s not their natural and normal environment

  8. @denisZsuave

    May 27, 2024 at 8:20 am

    There’s a fruit fly on my screen watching this with me. I hope he learnt something😄

    • @bollweevil8112

      May 27, 2024 at 12:19 pm

      Did she say anything useful?

  9. @ravishankarjoshi317

    May 27, 2024 at 8:22 am

    Total BS. Let’s bring something logical.

    • @gtavtheavengergunnerlegend3340

      May 27, 2024 at 1:47 pm

      nobody cares about your opinions

    • @RuSerious117

      May 27, 2024 at 2:25 pm

      @@gtavtheavengergunnerlegend3340I mean it’s ok for someone to express their opinion no matter what it is…….right? What’s is the criteria for acceptable opinion giving? Lol

  10. @dlouise5680

    May 27, 2024 at 8:50 am

    I would need more facts and statistics to believe this theory. It didn’t make sense to me. Sitting with my mother right after she died, holding her hand, seeing her at peace was very healing and meaningful for me at age 64. I am
    still alive at 74!

    • @gustavo18x

      May 27, 2024 at 9:49 am

      more ppl Saw no peace situation

  11. @heatherblume6615

    May 27, 2024 at 9:13 am

    This topic is important, i appreciate her research. People experiencing gun violence, famine, mass shootings, war, etc are forced into high terror
    , a far cry from the comfort
    of a funeral “parlour ” Science and research benefits us all.

    • @beverleypeacock

      May 28, 2024 at 12:29 am

      Yes. Thinkig of the children who have war death around them..

  12. @coolParadigms

    May 27, 2024 at 9:19 am

    Totally agree and we have interesting real life examples where imagining the worst leads to the worst! Like The Raft of the Medusa 90% death after 13 days at sea!

  13. @rainmanjr2007

    May 27, 2024 at 9:25 am

    The sky is not blue. That is a misperception of our ability to detect longer light waves. It is black, just like at night.

    • @kevinnugent6530

      May 27, 2024 at 10:11 am

      Since Color exists in our heads it is probably better to say the sky seems to be black

    • @rainmanjr2007

      May 27, 2024 at 4:27 pm

      @@kevinnugent6530 The entire Universe only exists in our heads.

    • @PeppoMusic

      May 28, 2024 at 9:11 am

      The sky isn’t pure black (if you define black as a complete absence of light). That’s a misperception of our inability to detect longer wavelengths of light (radiation) and weaker light sources. Even in all the space between galaxies, stars and nebulae that emit light, there’s still the cosmic microwave background that can be seen with the right equipment.

    • @rainmanjr2007

      May 28, 2024 at 11:52 am

      @@PeppoMusic okay

  14. @pbinsb3437

    May 27, 2024 at 10:05 am

    Humans have the ability to decide how we perceive aging, ill health and death.
    I took care of my dying mother and at the time it felt like it could in fact kill me.
    It took all my strength and determination to not let the exhaustion, emotional and physical stress kill me.
    Eventually I decided to perceive it as one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life.

    • @mikejettusa

      May 27, 2024 at 4:12 pm

      🫂🙏💕

    • @scotchbarrel4429

      May 28, 2024 at 1:46 am

      But in the moment when dealing with the stress of it all, imagine how people around you would have reacted to your change in mood, assuming you’re human, at some point, those moments of annoyance would of spilled out to those people, so despite your insight after the fact, those people were shaped by your interaction, small or not small, what might have come from those interactions where your frustrations spilled out 😂

    • @Apollo440

      May 29, 2024 at 10:45 am

      There is science showing that context (the way we see facts) plays an important role in how one particular circumstance influences our health. People who learn that stress is bad get worse health check results after experiencing stress. People who learn that stress is good and stimulating get better health results when being checked after experiencing stress. But there are some things which are universal and embedded in our genes: death, misery, and those things are hard to reprogram our reaction to. Meaning that you can think your way out of a situation, by diminishing the negative effects it has/had on you, but you can’t make historically bad things do you good.

  15. @rolan638

    May 27, 2024 at 10:06 am

    arent all researchers aging?

  16. @svendnielsen4427

    May 27, 2024 at 11:03 am

    ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

  17. @travcat756

    May 27, 2024 at 11:47 am

    Trump will shorten lifespans

  18. @DipakGotam76239

    May 27, 2024 at 11:48 am

    Tapaskar🌹🇮🇳🙏. Prime numbers and quantum world are connected with our senses.

  19. @bollweevil8112

    May 27, 2024 at 12:15 pm

    Playback speed 2x

    • @Ad-Infinitum

      May 27, 2024 at 1:04 pm

      1.25 is perfect. 1.5 if you’re a little impatient 😆

  20. @user-cv9cd4sq2n

    May 27, 2024 at 12:44 pm

    What she just showed in advertently and unknowingly is that all lab experiments done on animals are flawed and the results may differ, depending on how the animals lived in an outside, happier environment than it did in an enclosed cage, air conditioned, dark environment.

  21. @user-sf7rj2tv2b

    May 27, 2024 at 1:16 pm

    I knew I shouldn’t have wasted my time on this video. “We” scientists, what a joke. Here’s a clue, report back when you have something to report.

  22. @HaErBeSo

    May 27, 2024 at 3:21 pm

    Isn’t being affected by your environment and reacting to it the essence of life? I’m not sure about the value of this research.

  23. @ranaprince01

    May 27, 2024 at 3:27 pm

    Commenting for farest reach

  24. @ReadingAdam

    May 27, 2024 at 3:54 pm

    Wonder what the implications of this are on people consuming a lot of negativity through the internet. I know I feel a lot “healthier” when I spend less time scrolling through social media.

  25. @LinaLeyda

    May 27, 2024 at 5:00 pm

    05.27.24 I learn so much watching Ted Talks but not this one. It’s got to be those darn flies I couldn’t stand.

  26. @michaelharris8598

    May 27, 2024 at 10:37 pm

    Think about the longest living person documented. She lived to a 121. What did she do for a living? She was a nanny to multiple families then became a nun and worked in out reach until retiring at least 110 yrs old. What have I learned studying ultra long lived people? They have a purpose in life. In the form of a job or business that keeps them active in the community and gives them a reason to get up. Does it have to be religious work? No. I’ve met miners that worked until 95 and enjoyed it. Ditto for architects and moonshine still makers. Farmers and nazi’s, as well. They all had a purpose that got them out of bed in the morning and gave their days meaning. I’ve known dozens that worked until 65 retired(in relatively good health)and sat down and watched tv and slept in who died 6 months later…usually bitter and angry. Learn from tgese people and choose the life you’d rather live.

  27. @kmarasakatla

    May 27, 2024 at 11:41 pm

    Interesting talk but not a new concept. This is exactly what the ancient Indian Kriya yoga methods are teaching for thousands of years. Less number of breaths leads to less agitation in the mind. Calming the mind cuts the sensory input. That gives the yogis longer lifespan than normal people. Turtle life span is longer than a rat for the same reason.

  28. @Newstatejournal1

    May 28, 2024 at 12:24 am

    Excellent! Maybe it has something to do with how the brain hallucinates reality!

  29. @nataliecutler7103

    May 28, 2024 at 12:40 am

    I have a question; I appreciate your research , however , you may want to look into how ants might respond to these situations. I am a key person. , but I have found , the worst thing you can do is kill an ant … it seems to attract more ants. They seem to be sacrificial animals , that live for the group and not for themselves. This seems like an important issue to factor in when you are considering first responders and those who are serving in the military. It seems as if some animals and insects are self or selfish driven and others are driven my self sacrifice for the good of the group.

    I am very interested in what you might have to say about this. I would appreciate a response. Thanks.

  30. @Summitic

    May 28, 2024 at 7:31 am

    10:25 Here are the Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine that were awarded for discoveries involving fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster):

    Thomas Hunt Morgan (1933): Awarded the Nobel Prize for his discoveries concerning the role of the chromosome in heredity. Morgan conducted pioneering research on fruit flies, demonstrating that genes are located on chromosomes and are the basis of heredity…..

    Edward B. Lewis (1995): Awarded the Nobel Prize, along with Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard and Eric F. Wieschaus, for their discoveries concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Their work elucidated key genetic pathways involved in the development of the body plan of organisms…

    Michael Rosbash, Jeffrey C. Hall, and Michael W. Young (2017): Awarded the Nobel Prize for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm, using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism. Their research shed light on how biological clocks regulate daily rhythms in behavior and physiology…

    Enjoy ….

  31. @aphaileeja

    May 28, 2024 at 11:56 am

    This isn’t an “Aging” study, it’s a “death” study, thanks for realizing that living in a place where others are dead sucks, I want a refund

  32. @dukeon

    May 28, 2024 at 12:02 pm

    This chick talks soooo slowly

  33. @Apollo440

    May 28, 2024 at 2:26 pm

    Well now imagine what watching horror and zombie movies does to those masses of people that make the decision to watch them. And, mind you, those became unrealistically trendy the last years.

  34. @celestialcircledance

    May 29, 2024 at 6:20 am

    It’s funny but I once had a theory that leaving a swatted mosquito on my body would deter other mosquitoes from biting me .Another friend hypothesized that the smell of blood would probably have the opposite effect and in any case it didn’t work as well as her quality controlled vial lol .

  35. @Zerobob26

    May 29, 2024 at 7:59 am

    Further evidence that the psychological impacts the physical. Very interesting. Also, why was every highlighted audience member female?

  36. @worldmedic3187

    May 29, 2024 at 11:53 am

    I think this is more for weak minds. I am a combat veteran who became a nurse. I’ve seen a lot of death in my years. Over 40, perfect labs, great health, and it hasn’t impacted my life or work.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CNET

Hands On the World’s First Trifolding Phone

CNET Senior Editor Sareena Dayaram got her hands on the world’s first trifold phone: Huawei’s Mate XT Ultimate Design. Here’s what she thinks about this “remarkable feat of engineering.” #huawei #foldablephones #tech Subscribe to CNET on YouTube: Never miss a deal again! See CNET’s browser extension 👉 Check out CNET’s Amazon Storefront: Follow us on…

Published

on

CNET Senior Editor Sareena Dayaram got her hands on the world’s first trifold phone: Huawei’s Mate XT Ultimate Design. Here’s what she thinks about this “remarkable feat of engineering.” #huawei #foldablephones #tech

Subscribe to CNET on YouTube:
Never miss a deal again! See CNET’s browser extension 👉
Check out CNET’s Amazon Storefront:
Follow us on TikTok:
Follow us on Instagram:
Follow us on X:
Like us on Facebook:
CNET’s AI Atlas:
Visit CNET.com:

Continue Reading

Science & Technology

Nintendo launches a $100 sleep-tracking alarm clock | TechCrunch

Nintendo’s $100 Alarmo alarm clock was revealed as a surprise this week, and we already have a hands-on. It tracks your sleep, uses sounds from Mario and Zelda to help you fall asleep or wake up, and can even be snoozed with gestures. (video via @helloyashad)

Published

on

Nintendo’s $100 Alarmo alarm clock was revealed as a surprise this week, and we already have a hands-on. It tracks your sleep, uses sounds from Mario and Zelda to help you fall asleep or wake up, and can even be snoozed with gestures. (video via @helloyashad)

Continue Reading

Science & Technology

How To End Malaria Once and for All | Abdoulaye Diabaté @TED

Abdoulaye Diabaté explains the potential of “gene drive” technology — which aims to disrupt mosquito reproduction as a means of halting malaria transmission in Africa — and shows how his team is partnering with local communities to solve this public health challenge. Watch his full TED Talk:

Published

on

Abdoulaye Diabaté explains the potential of “gene drive” technology — which aims to disrupt mosquito reproduction as a means of halting malaria transmission in Africa — and shows how his team is partnering with local communities to solve this public health challenge. Watch his full TED Talk:

Continue Reading

Trending