Lifestyle

Above, British artist Alex Chinneck and his twisted phone booth. (Photo source: My Modern Met)

British artist Alex Chinneck creates public sculptures that challenge our perception of reality

November 1, 2024

British artist Alex Chinneck creates public sculptures that challenge our perception of reality. His works transform familiar urban objects—like phone booths, street lamps, and post boxes—into whimsical, twisted forms, as if a giant hand has reshaped them in a moment of mischief, reports My Modern Met.

Chinneck’s metal sculptures are showcased at Assembly Bristol, the southwest England city’s new waterfront office complex. Just outside “Building A,” a classic British phone box titled Wring Ring stands with its body spiraling in a bold 720-degree twist. Casting light onto the street at night, it captivates passersby with its mind-boggling form.

“This family of steel sculptures looks to connect key points and sight lines across Assembly, inviting visitors to come to and move through the site,” says Chinneck. “Their playful, yet technically complex, elevation of everyday objects into surreal sculptures hopes to contribute an uplifting personality and unique identity to Assembly. The illuminated lamp posts are my first steps into function, bridging public art and civic design.”

Check out the artist’s twisted and tied sculptures below and find more of his fantastical work by following Alex Chinneck on Instagram.

Research contact: @mymodernmet

Above, some professionals believe that the current standard of care—taking dental X-rays on a set schedule of every six to 18 months—is woefully out of date. (Photo source: Helotes Family Dentistry)

Do you really need dental X-rays? Some doctors say no!

October 29, 2024

According to a recent study, 92% of Americans say they would delay dental care because of the cost. While fillings and root canals may not be negotiable, some experts say that routine dental X-rays should be the first thing to go.

Indeed, in a series of recent letters published by the medical journal, JAMA Internal Medicine, some dental experts argued that our current standard of care—taking dental X-rays on a set schedule of every six to 18 months—is woefully out of date, reports Best Life.

“Evidence-based medicine, a movement that gained prominence in the 1990s, has profoundly affected the practice of medicine. Unfortunately, little progress has been made on using data from clinical trials to determine best practices for dental care,” wrote Paulo Nadanovsky, DDS, PhD; Ana Paula Pires dos Santos, DDS, PhD; and David Nunan, PhD; a group of Brazilian dental experts who penned the opening letter.

According to that trio, many dental care practices are driven by “the economic pressures of running a dental practice, dentists’ professional training and opinions, and patients’ expectations,” all of which lead to excessive intervention. “The result is that while many people who have low income go without any dental care, those who can pay are subjected to overdiagnosis and overtreatment,” they argued.

Yehuda Zadik, DMD, MHA, a board-certified specialist in oral medicine, responded with his own letter, calling this a “critical viewpoint.”

However, others disagreed. In written responses to the original JAMA letter, several experts emphasized the importance of preventative care and the early detection of dental issues, both of which can be buoyed with the help of dental imaging.

New 2024 recommendations outlined by the American Dental Association (ADA), which serve as an update to the 2012 FDA/ADA recommendations for dental radiographic examination, call for dentists to make more personalized decisions on a patient-by-patient basis.

“The dentist must weigh the benefits of taking dental radiographs against the risk of exposing a patient to x-rays—the effects of which accumulate from multiple sources over time. The dentist, knowing the patient’s health history and vulnerability to oral disease, is in the best position to make this judgment in the interest of each patient,” the ADA writes.

“For this reason, the guidelines are intended to serve as a resource for the practitioner and are not intended as standards of care, requirements, or regulations. The guidelines are not substitutes for clinical examinations and health histories,” their experts add.

Not all dentists will agree on the exact schedule for optimal imaging: Paul Casamassimo, DDS, MS, a pediatric dentist, titled his own response to the letter, “It’s Complicated.” However, most can agree that it’s time to bring down costs and increase access to care.

“The lack of necessary care for those in need—and there are millions of people in that category—and the provision of low-value care to equally as many are conflicting challenges that U.S. dentistry needs to address,” Casamassimo wrote.

Research contact: @bestlife

Above, two participants who were lucid dreaming participated in the experiment. (Photo source: REMspace)

Startup claims it’s achieved communication between two people who were both dreaming

October 28, 2024

A San Francisco-based startup supposedly has broken through the dream barrier. REMSpace claimed that it’s achieved “new dimensions of communication” between two humans who were sleeping, by sending messages while both were in a lucid dream state, reports Futurism.

These messages weren’t sent over the ether, but through a special device designed by the company and attached to each participants’ heads—thus facilitating “the first ever ‘chat’ exchanged in dreams.”

But since it hasn’t published its latest research yet, you’ll have to take the company’s word for it: “Yesterday, communicating in dreams seemed like science fiction. Tomorrow, it will be so common we won’t be able to imagine our lives without this technology,” CEO Michael Raduga said in a statement, adding that pursuing REM sleep technology “will become the next big industry after AI.”

REM-shackle

Here’s how REMSpace describes the experiment in a press release, in lieu of scientific documentation. You can also “watch” the experiment in a video that the company shared, which is just a visualization without real footage.

In a nutshell, it involved having two participants sleep at their homes while their devices, connected to a server over WiFi, collected polysomnographic data, which included monitoring their brain waves and heart rate.

Then, through earbuds, a secret word was transmitted to the first person to enter a lucid dream, a state in which the dreamer becomes aware that they’re dreaming. He then repeated the word in their dream— via facial expressions, it sounds like—which was “captured” by the server and stored there. When the other participant entered a lucid dream minutes later, she supposedly “received” the stored message after it was sent to her.

“Our server detected his reply and confirmed that it was right. And when the next person found herself in a lucid dream, we sent his answer to her, and she repeated it as well,” Raduga told ABC 7 News last week.

Language barrier

The word, which remains undisclosed, came from no ordinary lexicon. Instead, it was derived from “Remmyo,” a dream language that the company claims can be detected with a device that looks for distinct EMG patterns made by performing certain facial movements.

“When you talk in this language in your dreams, we can hear you and we can connect two dreamers together,” Raduga told ABC 7.

If all of this sounds a little dubious, don’t worry: REMSleep says it’s got a peer-reviewed study coming down the pipe.

“The paper on communication within lucid dreams has already been written and submitted for review to a scientific journal,” the company announced on Facebook. “We anticipate its publication within the next two [months] to six months.”

Research contact: @futurism

Above, the beauty of silence is that it can never be misquoted. (Photo source: Deposit Photos)

To get what you want, try shutting up

October 25, 2024

A well-deployed silence can radiate confidence and connection. The trouble is, so many of us are awful at it, reports The Wall Street Journal.

We struggle to sit in silence with others, and rush to fill the void during a pause in conversation. We want to prove we’re smart or get people to like us, solve the problem or just stop that deafening, awkward sound of nothing.

“I should just shut up,” Joan Moreno, an administrative assistant in Spring, Texas, often thinks while hearing herself talk. Still, she barrels on—giving job candidates at the hospital where she works a full history of the building and parking logistics. She slips into a monologue during arguments with her husband, even when there’s nothing good left to say. She tries to determine, via a torrent of texts, if her son is giving her the silent treatment. (Turns out, he just had a cold.)

“I should have just held it in,” she thinks afterward.

We often talk ourselves out of a win. Our need to have the last word can make the business deal implode or the friend retreat—pushing us further from people we love and things we want.

“Let your breath be the first word,” advises Jefferson Fisher, a Texas trial lawyer who shares communication tips on social media. The beauty of silence, he says, is that it can never be misquoted. Instead, it can act as a wet blanket, tamping down the heat of a dispute. Or it can be a mirror, forcing the other person to reflect on what they just said.

In court, he’ll pause for ten seconds to let a witness’s insistence that she’s never texted while driving hang in the air. Sure enough, he says, she’ll fill the void, giving roundabout explanations and excuses before finally admitting, yes, she was on her phone.

For a mediation session, he trained a client to respond in a subdued manner if the other party said something to rile him up. When an insult was lobbed, the client sat quietly, then slowly asked his adversary to repeat the comment. No emotional reaction, just implicit power.

“You’re the one who’s in control,” Fisher says.

Acing negotiations

To be the boss, “you gotta be quiet,” says Daniel Hamburger, who spent years as the chief executive of education and healthcare technology firms.

He once sat across the negotiating table from an executive who was convinced his company was worth far more than Hamburger wanted to pay to acquire it. What Hamburger desperately wanted to do was explain all the reasons behind his math. What he actually did was throw out a number and then shut his mouth.

Soon they were shaking on a deal.

Hamburger, who retired last year and now sits on three corporate boards, also deployed strategic silence when running meetings or leading teams. If the boss chimes in first, he says, some people won’t speak up with valuable insights.

Days into one CEO job, Hamburger was confronted with two options for rewriting a piece of the company’s software. He didn’t answer, and instead turned the question back on the tech team.

“People were like, ‘Really? Are you really asking?’” he says. By morning, he had a 50-page deck from the team outlining the plan they’d long thought was best. He left them to it, and the project was done in record time, he says.

A day without speaking

Staying mum can feel like going against biology. Humans are social animals, says Robert N. Kraft, a professor emeritus of Cognitive Psychology at Otterbein University in Ohio.

“Our method of connecting—and we crave it—is talking,” he says, adding that it excites us, raising our blood pressure, adrenaline, and cortisol.

For years, Kraft assigned his students a day without words. No talking, no texting. Some of the students’ friends reported later that they’d been unnerved. After all, silence can be a weapon.

Many students also found that when forced to listen, they bonded better with their peers.

When we spend conversations plotting what to say next, we’re focused on ourselves. Those on the receiving end often don’t want to hear our advice or semi-related anecdotes anyway. They just want someone to listen as they work through things on their own.

The question mark trick

Without pauses, we’re generally worse speakers—swerving into tangents or stumbling over sounds.

Michael Chad Hoeppner, a former actor who now runs a communications training firm, recommends an exercise to get used to taking a beat.

Ask one question out loud, then draw a big question mark in the air with your finger—silently. “That question mark is there to help you live through that fraught moment of, ‘I really should keep talking,’” Hoeppner says.

At a cocktail party or in the boardroom, you can subtly trace a question mark by your side, or in your pocket to force a pause.

Sell with silence

Fresh out of college, Kyler Spencer struggled through meetings with potential clients. Some sessions stretched to two hours and still didn’t end in a yes.

The financial adviser, based in Nashville, Illinois, realized he was rambling for 15-minute stretches, spouting off random economic facts in an attempt to sound savvy and experienced.

“I basically just bulldozed the meeting,” says Spencer, now 27.

He started meditating and doing breathing exercises to calm his nerves before meetings. He now makes sure to stop talking after a minute or two. The other person will jump in, sharing about their life, fears and goals. It’s information Spencer can use to build trust and pitch the right products.

His client list soon started filling up, and happy customers now send referrals his way.

“It’s amazing,” he says, “what you learn when you’re not the one talking.”

Research contact: @WSJ

Above, Heliospect Genomics is charging parents tens of thousands of dollars to 'screen' embryos they conceive for their IQs. (Photo source: The Information)

Super-expensive startup is ‘screening’ IVF embryos for IQ

October 23, 2024

A U.S.-based startup called Heliospect Genomics that says it is “at the forefront of genomic prediction” is charging parents tens of thousands of dollars to “screen” embryos they conceive for their IQs, according to startling new reporting from Futurism.

Details of the secretive startup were largely revealed by undercover video footage collected by a UK-based advocacy group called Hope Not Hate, with further research first futconducted by The Guardian. The covertly collected videos reveal company officials openly bragging that their controversial genetic screening tactics can boost a future child’s IQ by upwards of six points.

To be clear, whether Heliospect’s technology works as claimed remains to be seen. Although IQ is determined in part by genetics, there’s not simply a gene for “smart” that can be turned off and on; rather, a person’s IQ is influenced by an overlapping, intersecting array of dozens of different genes—not to mention that intelligence itself is a slippery and notoriously hard-to-measure concept.

And beyond the question of whether something like this could feasibly work as promised, there are obvious biomedical ethical concerns. It’s not like these folks are reviewing embryos for serious, life-threatening conditions—this is genetic selection based on preference alone. Or what’s generally known as eugenics, for the parents who can financially and morally afford it.

Regardless of any scientific or ethical murkiness, however, The Guardian reports that Heliospect is offering its services to wealthy parents undergoing IVF for upwards of $50,000 for the screening of 100 embryos. And as company leaders tell it, people are buying.

“There are babies on the way,” Heliospect CEO Michael Christensen said during a conference call dating back to November 2023, while claiming that five couples it worked with already had embryos screened for intelligence and successfully implanted.

“Everyone can have all the children they want and they can have children that are basically disease-free, smart, healthy,” Christensen said on the same call. “It’s going to be great.”

In another clip, according to The Guardian, a Heliospect employee promised buyers they could rank embryos by “IQ and the other naughty traits that everybody wants.” Those “naughty” traits allegedly included obesity risk and risk of mental illness.

On that note, the company unsurprisingly has strong ties to some noteworthy figures in the pronatalist and pro-eugenics communities. To wit: one of its senior staffers, a philosopher named Jonathan Anomaly who has held professorships at prestigious universities including Duke and Oxford, is a noted eugenics defender.

That’s not an exaggeration; in 2018, he published a paper literally titled “Defending Eugenics.” He’s also described his ideology as “Liberal Eugenics.”

As one might expect, experts are sounding the alarm bells. One researcher, Oxford professor of reproductive genetics Dagan Wells, emphasized the lack of say that the public has had in the onset of these technologies. “Is this a test too far, do we really want it?” Wells asked. “It feels to me that this is a debate that the public has not really had an opportunity to fully engage in at this point.”

Again, it’s unclear whether Heliospect’s product even works. That folks with enough cash are biting on the offer, though, feels like yet another ominous signal that gene-selection ventures are only gaining steam—with little, if any, say from the public.

Research contact: @futurism

Above, okra water is made by cold-steeping raw, sliced okra pods overnight and then straining out the solids. (Image source: Guardian Design)

What is okra water and is it good for your health?

October 22, 2024

In the world of infused water trends, okra water is having a moment, and here’s what you need to know about it, reports The Guardian.

In the wellness world, it seems there’s always a new infused water promising to make us better. Lemon water is a familiar example—perhaps not transformative, but at least refreshing. Artichoke water, essentially the leftover liquid from boiling artichokes, is touted by “French girls” as an antioxidant-packed debloating potion. Asparagus water—infamously sold for $6 at Whole Foods—was more likely an employee error than an elixir.

Now, okra water is having its moment. Searches for the beverage have spiked by 470% on Pinterest, according to the company’s fall trend report.

Across TikTok and Instagram, users claim okra water can improve digestion, regulate blood sugar, boost female fertility, increase vaginal lubrication, and even ease labor for those expecting.

What is okra water?

Okra is a vegetable high in plant mucilage, which is a specific, slimy form of soluble fiber that’s also present in chia seeds, cacti, and many seaweeds. When steeped in water, mucilage “absorbs the liquid and forms a gel-like substance, just like it would in your digestive tract,”, explains Chelsea Rae Bourgeois, a registered dietitian and nutritionist.

Okra water is made by cold-steeping raw, sliced okra pods overnight and then straining out the solids. I t’s a gooey liquid that tastes of grassy, slightly bitter raw okra. I found it tolerable; but not enjoyable, like cooked okra. The idea of using okra just for the slime feels like eating celery just for the string. Is there any real reason to do this?

Does okra water contain nutrients?

“Okra is packed with nutrients like fiber, vitamin C, magnesium, and folate,” says Bourgeois. It also contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds—like flavonoids and phenolic acids, which help reduce intestinal inflammation and support digestive health. Additionally, because soluble fiber slows down digestion, it can help prevent blood sugar spikes.

Some studies have found evidence that okra helps control blood sugar in prediabetics; however, one animal study also found that okra reduces the effectiveness of metformin, a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes.

However, while some nutrients from okra probably do transfer into the water, the concentration is lower than when consuming the whole vegetable. “If you’re not actually eating the okra slices from your water, you’re missing out on a chunk of those nutrients,” says Bourgeois, including insoluble fiber from the pod and protein from the seeds.

Is okra water good for childbirth and fertility?

Okra contains folate, an essential vitamin for pregnant people. However, you would need to eat about two pounds of whole okra to get the 600 micrograms of folate daily that doctors recommend during pregnancy. Again, only a fraction of that folate is likely to transfer into okra water. Prenatal vitamins or higher-folate foods like spinach and lentils are better bets.

Some animal studies suggest flavonoids benefit female fertility. Okra does contain these compounds, but is not as rich in them as other vegetables, such as kale and red.

“There really is no scientific data to prove that drinking okra water or other mucilaginous foods will affect your labor … [or] cause better lubrication in the vagina for a smoother birth,” says Lauran Saunders, a Utah-based registered dietician specializing in prenatal health. “But it won’t hurt if someone feels inclined to drink okra water,” she adds. It’s still hydrating.

Research contact: @guardian

Above, concept art for Universal Epic Universe, which is the first major park to open in Orlando in 26 years. (Image source: Universal Orlando Resort)

Universal’s epic new Orlando theme park will open in May

October 18, 2024

When the Universal Orlando Resort opened its first Harry Potter rides in June 2010, people waited six hours in 90-degree heat just to get in the gate. Demand overran expectations for months, leaving some visitors with a gridlocked vacation they vowed never to repeat, reports The New York Times.

Hoping to avoid similar headaches when it opens a much splashier theme park in the resort on May 22 next year, Universal has decided to do things differently:

Initially, tickets for the general public will be sold only for the new area, Universal Epic Universe—which is the first major park to open in Orlando in 26 years—as part of multiday packages, the resort announced on Thursday, October 17.

The least expensive option, priced at $352 to $521, with the cost fluctuating based on the days chosen, will provide one-day admission to Epic Universe and two days of access to the resort’s older parks. The packages go on sale on Tuesday, October 22.

Universal said that additional ticket options, including single-day admission for the grand-opening period, would become available “in the months ahead.” (Current annual passholders can buy single-day tickets to Epic Universe starting October 24.)

Epic Universe is expected to attract roughly 10 million visitors in its first full year of operation, according to MoffettNathanson, a research firm.

The company wants to avoid congestion—to leave visitors, some of whom may be experiencing Universal for the first time, wanting to return. But the multiday focus also underscores Universal’s primary mission in adding Epic Universe: It wants more families to view the resort as a weeklong destination and not just a one- or two-day add-on to a Disney pilgrimage.

Comcast, which owns the Universal theme park chain, has poured billions of dollars into Epic Universe, which will feature 70 acres worth of attractions, dining, and shopping. (To compare, the Harry Potter area that opened in 2010 covered 20 acres.) Epic Universe will have major rides based on Nintendo video games, films like “How to Train Your Dragon,” classic movie monsters and, yes, Harry Potter. The expansion also includes three new hotels.

“Epic Universe signals a new phase in the theme park wars,” Craig Moffett, a founder of MoffettNathanson, wrote in a report this year. He estimated that Universal would siphon about a million visitors from the much-larger Disney World from mid-2025 to the end of 2026.

Research contact: @nytimes

Above, the study updated a 2021 'Operation Pottymouth,' which involved investigating the sources of the bacteria found on toothbrushes. (Photo source: Dental Nursing)

Scientists take swabs of toothbrushes—and are shocked by the hundreds of viruses they find

October 16, 2024

Scientists have found more than 600 distinct viruses after swabbing peoples’ toothbrushes and shower heads—but, thankfully, the vast majority of them are more helpful than harmful, reports Futurism.

Northwestern University microbiologist Erica Hartmann, lead author of a new study published this week in Frontiers in Microbiomes, tells Futurism that she was equal parts shocked and fascinated when discovering that these everyday objects were teeming with bacteria-eating viruses known as bacteriophages.

“There is so much about the world around us that we don’t understand—including the things that may seem familiar,” explained, she says. “We started out looking at things like toothbrushes and showerheads because they are important sources of microbes that we’re exposed to, but we don’t know which microbes they carry or what factors influence them.”

The latest study was an update to the Northwestern team’s 2021 project, “Operation Pottymouth.”

Although there was incredible diversity among the more than 600 phage samples, a type that kills illness-causing mycobacteria was slightly more common than any other, Harmann says. Given that mycobacteria can cause serious infections like leprosy and tuberculosis, it’s a good thing that viruses killing them were present as well.

“Toothbrushes and showerheads harbor phage that are unlike anything we’ve seen before,” the microbiologist said. “Not only did we find different phage on toothbrushes and showerheads, we found different phage on each toothbrush and each showerhead.”

Phages have in recent years been studied and used as treatments for bacterial infections—especially those that have mutated to resist antibiotics. While Hartmann insists these findings are captivating on their own merit, knowing that they may be used in medical treatments makes them that much more useful.

“It could be,” she said, “that the next great antibiotic will be based on something that grew on your toothbrush.”

While that’s not exactly pleasant to think about, it certainly sounds a hell of a lot better than leaving a mycobacterial infection like TB or chronic ulcers untreated.

Research contact: @futurism

Above, Elon Musk's fully self-driving car has not made an appearance yet. (Photo source: Tesla)

Tesla’s much-hyped robotaxi event was a massive ‘disappointment,’ investors say

October 14, 2024

For ten years now, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has promised a fully self-driving car. But despite his many reassurances that an autonomous car would be a reality “next year,” the company still doesn’t have a lot to show, reports Futurism.

On Thursday, October 10, the EV maker held its long-awaited “robotaxi” event, showing off a prototype of its “Cybercab,” which supposedly will go into production in 2026 and cost under $30,000. Musk also showed off a separate “robovan” that can carry up to 20 passengers.

A prototype Cybercab—a flashy two-seater with no steering wheel or pedals—was seen navigating some mocked-up streets at the event, which ironically took place inside a Hollywood movie studio.

But the flashy presentation left plenty of glaring questions unanswered. For one, the company didn’t show off the long-awaited “Model 2“—a rumored $25,000 passenger vehicle that shareholders have said could help the company boost sales.

Investors in particular were left wanting more, with Tesla shares dropping six percent in premarket trading on Friday.

As many analysts predicted, the company didn’t get into the details.

There was no discussion, for instance, about when said robotaxi could go on sale or how long it would take for Tesla to establish a service that can compete with the likes of the autonomous taxi company Waymo, which maintains a significant lead over the Musk-led carmaker.

Musk took the opportunity to ham it up at the event, appearing in a leather jacket while addressing the crowd in front of a flashy, neon-lit stage. “The autonomous future is here,” he proclaimed. “With autonomy, you get your time back.”

The billionaire has previously described a Tesla-based robotaxi service as “some combination of Airbnb and Uber,” enabling owners to have their vehicles make money on their behalf. But such a service is likely still many years out—if it ever becomes a reality—despite a decade of development.

“I’m a shareholder and pretty disappointed,” Triple D Trading equity trader Dennis Dick told Reuters. “I think the market wanted more definitive time lines.”

“I don’t think he said much about anything,” he added.

Instead of relying on industry-standard tech like light detection and ranging (liDAR), Tesla’s robotaxis are designed to only make use of cameras and AI-powered hardware—a controversial approach that has prompted plenty of skepticism.

At the event, Musk promised that the EV maker would kick off trials of “unsupervised FSD,” referring to the company’s controversial “Full Self-Driving” driver assistance software—which still requires drivers to pay attention at all times —sometime next year in Texas and California with its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.

Whether the company will be able to actually improve on its software, which still leads to plenty of close calls on public streets, remains to be seen.

“For all the hype that Elon Musk puts behind Tesla Full Self-Driving, it does not work,” noted Tesla critic Dan O’Dowd wrote in a statement following the event.

“The latest version of Full Self-Driving travels 71 miles between critical disengagements, in contrast to Waymo’s 17,311 miles. Elon Musk is trying to compete in the Tour de France on a tricycle.”

Research contact: @futurism

Above, a videographer described an encounter with Bigfoot—captured in this viral clip—as the 'scariest moment of my life.' (Photo source: Tiktok_@e_man580)

Bigfoot captured in wild viral video by terrified hiker: ‘Scariest moment of my life’

October 10, 2024

It was only a matter of time before Bigfoot became a TikTok star. A content creator allegedlyhas captured the furry beast on video in what could be the clearest footage of the much-debated, mythical beast to date, reports the New York Post.

The video boasts more than 1.2 million views on TikTok.

“I really think I caught a f–king Bigfoot on camera,” exclaimed Emmanuel Alfaro (@E_ManAlfaro) in the caption to the brief clip, which was shot in the Parallel Forest in Lawton, Oklahoma.

While no one thought Sasquatch finally had been found, it turns out the sighting was all part of an ad campaign for the Bigfoot Head Shop in Lawton.

However, the videographer wrote that he’d been “doing some sightseeing and enjoying the day” when he “saw something in the distance.” That’s when the hiker allegedly stumbled upon the podiatrically-endowed primate—which he described as the “scariest moment of my life.”

The ten-second footage shows the tufty orange creature chilling against a tree and sniffing some flowers like the start of a Jack Link’s beef jerky commercial.

Unlike in the ads, however, the videographer doesn’t start “messing with Sasquatch.” In fact, at the end of the footage, the ginger shaggamuffin looks up, causing his gawker to exclaim, “Oh, s–t!”

Among the TikTok commenters who had a hard time believing that the videographer had clapped eyes on Bigfoot were the following:

“It’s nice to see real footage of a real Bigfoot,” wrote one troll in jest. “I completely believe this is real. Thank you for sharing this.”

“Where can I purchase one of these costumes?” scoffed another.

“I don’t believe it’s a costume,” replied the original TikTok poster, standing his ground.

Meanwhile, one jokester quipped, “It can’t be him, the REAL Bigfoot is blurry, haven’t yall seen the pics,” to which the videographer responded, “That’s why I had to capture him myself when I saw him, but you can see I was terrified getting this footage.”

Research contact: @nypost