fact or fiction
Is it a fact or is it merely fiction? Fact or Fiction explores the lesser known truths in the health and wellness world of Longevity.
A 10-second kiss can pass on 80 million bacteria.. AI-Generated.
Germ-Sharing Truth Did you know a simple kiss can share a whole lot more than just affection? We are talking about 80 million bacteria that can transfer in just 10 seconds. That's a mouthful! A study brought this surprising fact to light, showing just how much we exchange when we lock lips. This article will explore the types of bacteria involved, the potential health impacts (good and bad), and how to kiss safely. Ready to dive into the world of the kissing microbiome? The Kissing Microbiome: What's Really Being Exchanged? When you kiss someone, you're not just swapping spit. You're also swapping a complex mix of bacteria. This includes the good, the bad, and the neutral. Saliva plays a big role in this transfer. It acts like a delivery system for these tiny organisms. What Kind of Bacteria Are We Talking About? The bacteria in your mouth are very diverse. Some common types include Streptococcus, which can contribute to tooth decay. Staphylococcus is another one that sometimes causes infections. Also, some beneficial bacteria aid digestion and keep your mouth healthy. It’s a whole community in there. Oral Microbiome Basics Think of your mouth as its own little ecosystem. This is your oral microbiome. It’s made up of all the bacteria, fungi, and viruses that live there. A healthy microbiome helps keep bad bacteria in check. Kissing can disrupt this balance, even if temporarily. The Role of Saliva Saliva is more than just spit. It helps break down food, neutralizes acids, and protects your teeth. It also contains antibacterial compounds that fight off harmful germs. When you kiss, saliva helps transfer bacteria from one person to another. It is a pretty important bodily fluid! The Good, The Bad, and The Unknown: Health Implications Swapping spit isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes it can boost your immune system. Other times, it can lead to unwanted infections. What's the real deal? Potential Benefits of Bacterial Exchange Believe it or not, sharing bacteria may have some perks. Some scientists believe that exposure to new bacteria can strengthen your immune system. It’s like a natural vaccine. Plus, some bacteria might actually improve your oral health. Potential Risks of Bacterial Exchange On the flip side, kissing can spread harmful germs. Think about viruses that cause colds, the flu, or even herpes. Bacteria that cause infections can also hitch a ride during a kiss. It's worth being mindful. Oral Health Impact Sharing saliva can impact your teeth and gums. Harmful bacteria can lead to tooth decay and gum disease. If your partner has poor oral hygiene, you are more at risk. It’s something to consider. Beyond the Bacteria: Other Factors at Play It's not just about the bacteria. Kissing style, duration, and hygiene all play a role. Let's look closer at those different variables. Kissing Style A quick peck on the cheek transfers way less bacteria than a full-on French kiss. A French kiss involves more saliva and tongue contact. That means more bacteria are likely to be swapped. Duration and Frequency A longer kiss means more bacteria are exchanged. Frequent kissing with the same person leads to a more shared microbiome. Your mouths kind of get used to each other. Hygiene and Oral Health Good oral hygiene is key. Brushing and flossing reduce the amount of harmful bacteria in your mouth. This lowers the risk of spreading them to your partner. Minimizing the Risks: Kissing Safely Want to keep kissing fun without the risks? Here are a few ways to reduce the spread of harmful germs. Maintaining Good Oral Hygiene Brush your teeth twice a day. Floss daily too. Use an antibacterial mouthwash. These habits keep your mouth clean and healthy. Choosing Your Kissing Partners Wisely Knowing your partner's health status is important. Be open about any potential risks. If someone is sick, maybe skip the kissing for a while. Recognizing and Avoiding Kissing When Sick If you are feeling under the weather, avoid kissing. This will prevent the spread of illness. Nobody wants to catch a cold from a kiss. Kissing Around the World: Cultural Considerations Kissing isn’t the same everywhere. Different cultures have different customs and attitudes toward hygiene. It's a fascinating topic! Cultural Differences in Kissing Habits In some cultures, kissing is a common greeting. In others, it's reserved for intimate relationships. Some cultures may kiss on the cheek, while others don't kiss at all. Hygiene Practices and Cultural Norms Cultural norms around hygiene can affect germ transmission. Some cultures prioritize oral hygiene more than others. This influences the types and amount of bacteria shared during a kiss. Conclusion So, that 10-second kiss really does share a lot of bacteria. It can be beneficial or risky. It is all about balance. Focus on good oral hygiene, be aware of your health, and be mindful of those around you. Keep brushing and flossing!
By Story silver book 2 years ago in Longevity
Après-coup. Second Place in The Life-Extending Conundrum Challenge. Content Warning.
I am here. Her eyes are red. "How were they red?" you ask. Shattered capillaries. She's been smoking. It doesn't make her less angry, just more paranoid. But she hurts too. I can see she's been crying. She slumps, half against the wall, half on the doorway, weed smoke curling from the ashtray in her hand.
By Addison Alder2 years ago in Longevity
Fugue
The new age of AI ( artificial intelligence) had arrived …much earlier than predicted! ..Herein, I had arrived ——The time this journey took me seemed way too long, And yes, the way of it seemed all unbound …but a new beginning was at the horizon. And for the most closest course—ever nearest to be found, was this open door 🚪 that was untimely drawn.But thro’ all the impermeable stuff, as in the ephemeral, remote, and all inviting —an ushering mirage unleased. But never finding a way out, I extended over unending grounds. A veil over eyes, to keep me company, (all about, all around,) was this day’s light, straight up moving forward, headlong into the endless eternity’s tireless run. It was a strange kind of home coming ! A peculiar kind of serene calm enveloped my mind. It had been aeons since I had last met someone familiar.All my thoughts were diffusing into memories and cogently trying to deduce an identity. In spite of the changes casted upon me, I could feel that I was apparently getting extrapolated —disarrayed and distantly distracted to become a new person.Perhaps, the whole point of me subjected to this—metamorphosis—as such was a kind of human experiment.It was to try and test my entity towards the altruistic evolution of species.The protective magnetic fields surrounding me were warping human ingenuity and translating it into a realm of electro-chemical fields that were in turn magnetically levitating in the electron transfers on the elemental levels. An odyssey wherein probing theories were getting trapped behind wafts and wefts of space time shields. On surface everything seemed bathed in batteries but underneath a strange counterintuitive intelligence was flowing.Simultaneously an under play of counter events were also being formed into an antimatter …like some cause nand effect series …. For every matter , there was an opposite mark of being …..a new reality was emerging!Where was I , you may wonder ? It was part of a futuristic paradise and I was prowling along the edges of saber coasts. It was like I was dipping in some sort of dissonance but not feeling really abandoned. A strange kind of crimson enveloped me, even though, it was like gunfires blazing right across the horizon. A sort of blank nothingness was approaching. I was stepping upon a land which had been inhabited by my forefathers, but I was a complete stranger to it. All around it was like a volcanic dust settling in a suffocating manner wherein a radical experiment had been attempted and the call of morphogenetic fragmentation was erasing every trace of organic human species. No corner of humanity was left untouched by this technological revolution. It was a powerful descent into the extraordinary. Subtle wonders of luminous glimmers were playing all thro’ the ongoing sweeps of this conscious evolution.Technically everything was getting lost and found in the flowing stream of wondrous possibilities and emerging anew in this evolutionary play of existence.For decades, I had remained in ignorance, and now, I was about to see ranges beyond the comprehensible limits of understanding. I did not realize that taking this journey would be so colossally enchanting and yet, standing at the verge of guarded destinies, I was feeling like a blinded sentinel watching over a mistaken identity. Who knows how, but for too long , and for better or worse, I was lingering in this state of ether .All the while , I was conscious of only a small part of me. I was invisible —-out of sight, normally unaware, unseen for ages by my own people, and evermore so, by my own superficial eyes. But then, there were truths about to reveal, of which I was becoming more perpetually aware in the midst of those splendors of light. Truths which were only recently beginning to be seen. Was I alive ?! If yes, then in What form or state . And if I wasn’t alive, then how long would eternity keep me on this momentum-continuum ( a quantum leap) of undefined nothingness.Suddenly a static alarm flew at my face as an unexpected turn. With that happening, I was boarding a flight far back in the universe; soaring high into the clouds with a significant prospect of meeting the true me; where the real mine were shrouding in the distant valleys; all reposing in the verdant lawns of this starship city called EM68.Struck by the living conditions, everything was in a state of emergency. A snowy static field of awareness was signaling a glitch , a sort of distortion in the visible continuity of the past with the present. It was especially apparent that some secrets were being held privy to me.Such was the magnificent thrill of meeting (my) people that, from the platform of high skies, my eyes never batted a wink. I lay still with the gaze of a wanton traveler, not letting go of any passing scene. All the while, I was watchful over my skyship's bearings; enjoying every "mise-en-scene"a scenery which appeared astute right before me. A field where quantum leaps were bolting into temporary positional leads. It was like mind was bolting down to lucid programming that was turning itself on me. My mind was getting skewed into another scripted adventure of no nothing realities belonging to the previous chimerical fields . It was dreamlike and yet I was to say or feel or do —nothing about it. All controls were being applied. I was getting mixed in the amalgam of converging fields … it was like a part of my DNA 🧬 was ripped and something else had been stitched to it. The vacant threads were laddering in shielded outspreads,as if, entering into a mating dance conjugated by it’s partner , with another half of another shared thread willing to complete a wholesome duo. Organically, co-created to be bred with extraordinary supernatural powers, I was balanced up to elevate to a different new healthy species. And yes, I was conscious of it . And in all this, I was headed to gain some information that wasn't disclosed to me. All these years, cruising away in the skyseas, the fleeting course of time and the nature of its workings, were keeping many secrets away from me. Secrets that were tantalizing and shaking the very essence of existence in me. But, some secrets are better kept buried until wishes in miniscule measure up and dare to whistle their pleasures over fated destinies. Stuck to nothing, I was hoping to discover a mystery in the making of me.Then the unforeseen happened …Encroaching raptures of enigmatic landscapes came sliding in. All of a sudden my identity weaved towards an unimaginable updraft and steered me towards a landings in a deep forest. Diving along the cliffs and portaging in the midst of trails , I found myself in the tranquil woods. There was something about the mid summer afternoon. These woods were remarkably tucked amidst the remote mountainous ranges, running through strathy terraces, throng alongside those mesmerizing scenes. The dreary dense pathways of the woods were part of an enchanted region. The entrance to it was guarded by thick tropical vegetation, concealing everything that c'd be seen ahead. Wading through those boroughs was like venturing boldly into nature’s vagaries. The whole forestry surrounding was reared in wildernesses. Most of the trees had their branches sinking down to the grounds enmeshing creepers to set forth wildernesses deep. Beneath the canopy of trees , I was longing for a vision espied in the beauty of evergreens. Lingering in the expectations of finding supra-natural, I was headed towards the prospects of finding a sacred city tucked somewhere amidst the hills.I knew not much of the surroundings as I had been whisked away aeons ago. Dusk was drawing near and I had to find a safe haven to rest. A cave was a possibility from the views which lay up ahead over the spread of rocks shrouding in the vicinity.Many centuries ago, I had been subjected to an unique technological innovation. I had been displaced elsewhere as a brig pilgrim overseas. Except that those seas were hinged over outer spaces and every new voyage was a new happening ( instance) in itself. And in the years that followed, I couldn't imagine that people whom I considered "my own" wouldn’t actually remain the same for me; especially in terms of considering and accepting me as their own. These were those fellow romantics shrouded in distant valleys; all of whom , reposing in the verdant groves of their own virtuous vice, held on to schemes by their long and loose caged dreams. And in moments like these--so indistinct, the big question holding my breath was -"Where was I headed?” Amidst such paltry of inner languish, I felt I was evoking-- “much ado about everything. “To that, I had found myself darting quickly, soon passing over many entities, relationally orienting towards the underlying frameworks of casted schemes.In this peculiarly programmed atmosphere, I felt like a spy ready to sleuth, search and strike through the underlaid ways of the ordained decrees. In ways, I felt deceived by the apparent wavers of the past, betraying me towards new beginnings. All of a sudden something weird was happening and it had started running through my veins, nerves as well as the entire surroundings. Hardly was I about to catch a foothold into this journey, and everything was to change automatically at unimaginable speeds. An unseen multitude of events were passing through in fleets. "What in the heaven is this?” I started thinking through those wrung out states especially when they were making me reason through those cleaves of sensory gates. And as per my creators’ vision, I would soon be blessed off, that is, I would soon receive an assistance that would wire me off to an estranged land of beliefs. I was expected to run through this fine. It was ,as if, a simulation had met me face to face. I was to believe eternity in it’s entirety in itself. And that was so crucial for me to come about that way. As nearly as it could be discerned, apparently, I was an external observer, anyways! 😊Any guesses on —Who was I ?! But, I ,for sure, knew that the views up ahead were about to expose me to an obscureness; a quasi state which I hadn’t returned to, for so many ages! Besides, the notions that I was holding then, were out of the ordinary— which—undoubtedly, were distinguishing me from the regular array of things. But, in all these manifestations, my senses were remaining awake. Perhaps, hauled out into the streams yet obliged to anchor themselves ,ultimately, under those weighted gleams. Some may call it gravity. But taking leave of it would cast me off as nobody. Perhaps, a particle in the dust tunneling in trenches and apparently, living in an ennui. That didn't seem like an option. Rather, I was literally bidding myself towards a land , a voyage to rapidly dig and dwell into the deep. All this seemed too busily imaginative, stowing me off to the point of heave. I snuggled, almost in spells, into this tunneled odyssey, so to speak! In fact, the idea that identities could transcend imagination and prosper in the other- worldly constructs of mysteries, was a mindboggling phenomena to me. I knew I had begun a long , long journey. Strangely enough, something like a soul, merged into me —-much like a consorted symphony of a spiritual amalgam, or so it seemed. And all this was even more deceivingly unbelievable to be seen or felt as in reality. In all this , there was chance of "me," permanently being left in the dark, as I could feel that there was nothing in it ! Illusion or so it could be ultimately deemed. And so, for things put to order and in an anticipation of emancipation in it, I was to give my life to it, and I was determined that there was something worth the wait in it. Yes, determined to draw my soul, and instead of dwindling off isolated in other realms, I was ready to walkabout in these reeving strings; a roundabout —to and fro treading, much conspicuously a steerage towards the incipience of spacey connects and links . Then, in the moments which immediately followed through all this was seemingly unique. It was plausibly never failing in its fecund contributions towards lasting leads. Discovery …I was indestructible and in more ways than ordinary --immortal. That perplexed me. I guess that was the end game I was to strive for —humanity and peace; a thing, I didn't know then ,but now, know how.© ✍️ Madhu Goteti dated forever!
By Madhu Goteti 2 years ago in Longevity
Digital Legacy
Knowing Carl was a skeptic, great care was taken to explain the bequest his father had left him in the will. It was Carl's sister, Olivia, who told him, rail-roading his decision-making, "When your father tells you to do something, you do it." Father's lawyer, Ferguson, was there, too, administering his final wishes. It was he who had suggested Digital Legacy, opening Father’s mind to such prosperous horizons. Ferguson had even helped sign him up as a beta tester so the application would be free, to him, silently bequeathing any future upgrade fees to his sole beneficiary.
By Nicky Frankly2 years ago in Longevity
The Bondage of Immortech
”Kerry, you just changed the world.” Paul Kerry blinks. Then he dares to smile. But only for a flash. “No. Listen everybody, this is…. Hell, this feels like a miracle. But we need to run more tests. Log the final readouts and set everything back to zero. Start again from scratch.”
By Sam Spinelli2 years ago in Longevity
Reverse-Engineered
Chuck was an AI engineer, a pioneer who worked alongside longevity scientists to create a human chip with two objectives: 1) reduce stress on the brain by analyzing daily life inputs, and 2) increase human lifespan by fifty percent. Chuck's initial chip worked one week, so its results could not be measured. Fifteen-hour workdays of testing hypotheses and fifteen-minute standup meetings with the team daily. Finally, they decided. Five men, ten women, and ten girls, aged twelve, were implanted with the chip. The adults volunteered and were implanted in their armpits. The women volunteers perspired profusely, rivulets soaking and spreading to the breast area. The male subjects emitted a fragrance similar to almonds, acting as an aphrodisiac. The girls' hormone cycles were disrupted. Chuck tweaked the implant gradually until the body no longer identified it as foreign, ending the havoc with sweat glands and lymph nodes. The women became frigidly cold and wore thermals under heavy sweaters. One female felt continuous twitching, cut the implant out, and died from blood loss.
By Andrea Corwin 2 years ago in Longevity
