Compatibility is usually our biggest driver in the search for a romantic partner, but it turns out that age is still a major part of that compatibility. Tawkify’s matchmaking service surveyed about 98,798 Americans over two years, asking whether they’d date someone older and younger and how far outside their own age range they’d go. The data reveal both geographic and dating patterns, with a recurring pattern: smaller dating pools push singles to date across wider age ranges.

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Wyoming tops the list of states with men willing to date outside their age range. 71.1% of Wyoming singles are willing to date an average of 11.22 years older than they are. North Dakota and Alaska also appeared in the top three. Delaware emerged as an interesting outlier. They have the largest average age gap in dating among men, at 11.26 years. 93.1% of Alaskan women are open to dating older partners, and they have the nation’s largest age gap by far at 20.57 years. West Virginia and Wyoming women follow in second and third. It seems that less-populated states show greater willingness to date outside their age range, which could be a very simple explanation. A smaller dating pool means singles widening their options.

As for willingness to date younger partners, Hawaii leads for both genders. 96.8% of Hawaiian men are willing to date someone younger, with 18.59 years as an acceptable age gap. This is the widest that appears in the study. 92% of Hawaiian women are open to dating younger, but their average age gap is only 9 years. Hawaii has an older-than-average population, with a median age of 41.5 years, so this limited island dating pool makes dating younger people more common. The runners-up for willingness to date younger were Nevada, Idaho, and Maine.

According to the data, women are dramatically more open to dating older than men are. 95% of women would date an older partner, compared with 65.7% of men. This pattern flips with dating younger. 96.5% of men would date someone much younger, with a national average age difference of 14.7 years. 88.1% of women would date younger men, but at a much smaller average age gap of 7.14 years. This shows that across the country, men tend to date younger partners, while women tend to date older partners. Women are consistently willing to tolerate a wider gap when dating up.

The team threw us a little fun fact from the Guinness Book of World Records, which lists Gertrude and John Janeway, married in 1927, as the largest spousal age gap of 63 years. Age-gap relationships can succeed but face challenges like judgment and assumptions about power dynamics and differing life stages. Strong communication, shared values, and aligned goals matter most in relationships, more than the number of years lived. Geography and gender seem to shape who Americans date, but the data also suggest that openness to age-gap romances often comes down to opportunity.

A study from the University of Texas at Austin found that during COVID-19 lockdowns, a simple phone call to 240 seniors over four weeks measurably reduced depression rates. Can something as simple as a phone call meaningfully ease senior loneliness? The data that Ooma collected shows that a phone call can mean the world to a senior. It’s a simple act with outsized mental and physical health benefits for older adults.

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The team created a helpful map that also highlights key findings from their study. Here are a few of the most important figures:

• 1 in 3 adults aged 50 to 80 (34%) report feeling isolated.
• 77% of seniors with poor mental health report feeling isolated compared to only 29% of seniors with better mental health.
• 7% of American adults over 65 have been diagnosed with a depressive disorder.
• The map shows a wide variation in seniors reporting 14 or more poor mental health days, with a range of 5.5% among North Dakota seniors to 12.7% of West Virginia seniors.

Their data also shows that isolation is a health crisis, more dangerous than a simple mood problem. When people feel isolated, their mortality risk is comparable to that of people who are obese, inactive, or who smoke regularly. Isolated seniors have a 50% higher risk of dementia. There are nearly quadruple the death risk odds for heart failure patients who are isolated, and a 68% higher hospitalization risk. Isolated seniors are also at a 32% higher stroke risk and a 28% higher hearing loss risk. Rural seniors are the most vulnerable due to limited Internet access, transportation barriers, and a cultural stigma around expressing loneliness.

The dangers of loneliness are clear, and luckily, there are clear solutions. UT Austin’s empathetic phone call program created rapid drops in depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Weekly phone calls could improve mental health and even cognitive functioning. A 2024 telehealth study showed that both phone and video calls can have these effects.

The Ooma team also provided helpful tips that can help people spot signs of loneliness in their loved ones. If their social behavior changes, that’s a warning. This could look like withdrawal, dwelling on the past, canceled planes, and drawn-out conversations. Cognitive issues are another major red flag, like forgetfulness, trouble concentrating, and less engagement. If a senior’s sleep or appetite changes, they have persistently low energy, neglect their hygiene, or develop an unexplained ailment, this could also signal loneliness.

If you want to help fight the senior loneliness crisis, you could volunteer with the Institute on Aging’s Friendship Line, LBFE, or DOROT. Local assisted living communities might have an adopt-a-grandparent program. Volunteering for Meals on Wheels not only provides seniors with food but also offers a chance to socialize and conduct safety checks. If you are short on time, simply pick up the phone and call an elderly neighbor or relative. This study makes it clear that it’s a powerful act of kindness.

When a language disappears, a worldview, history, and culture fade with it. There are thousands of languages at risk of going extinct, as a report from Preply shows. Their Endangered Languages Report gathers data showing where the crises are most acute, while offering hope that extinction isn’t inevitable. They’ve shown areas where revival is working, too.  The study highlighted problem areas in vanishing languages, the reasons they are in danger, and hopeful signs that languages can be revived.

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Australia leads the world in the number of critically endangered languages indigenous to its borders (133). In general, the Pacific region and islands have the most endangered languages overall, at 250. Africa has the highest number of threatened languages at 217. In many of these locations, globalization puts pressure on Indigenous and isolated communities. A globalized world pushes young working-age people toward learning a globally dominant language like English or Mandarin, so they have expanded opportunities. It’s worth paying attention to the scale the study creates with at-risk, vulnerable, threatened, endangered, severely endangered, and critically endangered languages. This shows that risk is a spectrum in the world of language, just as it is in plant and animal species.

In the data, a language stands out as a relative success story. Welsh is a vulnerable language, with 19%–20% of the population speaking it. After over 50 years of effort and education, it rose to 30% of children between 3 and 15 years old who spoke it. The nation of Wales set a goal of a million fluent speakers by 2050. If they can meet that goal, it will prove that policy and education can revive a language.

The Lakota language is a cautionary tale of historical oppression. There are only 2,000 speakers today and it’s an endangered language. The United States assimilation policies pushed Indigenous people into residential schools, where children were forced to drop their language and speak English. Today, only 1% of the Lakota population of 170,000 can speak their native language fluently.

Cornish is a rare and unique language brought back from extinction. It officially went extinct in the 1800s, and thanks to a standardized written form revived and adopted in 2008, there are now 557 speakers of a once-dead language.

“Awakening” languages are revivals of once-extinct languages, like Cornish. Kaurna, an Australian language, was nearly lost when the last speaker passed away in 1929. But a program worked to revive it among 50 speakers using dictionaries, songs, and formal education programs. These aren’t the only awakening languages. Wampanoag, Palawa Kani, and Natchez have also awakened back into existence. Revitalization is slow, meticulous work, but these languages show that it’s possible.

Non-native speakers can do their part to support efforts by studying an at-risk language or helping out a revival group. Native speakers carry the heaviest burden and will most effectively save a language by teaching it to their children early. Schools and governments also have a part to play by offering classes in endangered languages. Language survival is possible when ordinary people decide the language is worth speaking.