Civilization. When Buettner realized that adults were also following his expeditions, he approached National Geographic with the idea to research longevity hotspots and was given support to move forward. He then met with Robert Kane, as of 2016 the Director, Center on Aging, at the University of Minnesota, who introduced him to demographers and scientists at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) in Washington, DC. Buettner was awarded a grant from the National Institute of Aging. Previous research identified the longevity hotspots of Sardinia, Okinawa, and Loma Linda. In 2003, Buettner began leading trips to these destinations while collaborating with a variety of experts, including anthropologists, historians, dietitians, and geneticists, "to reverse engineer longevity". His early trips focused on Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; and Monterrey, Nuevo Leon and Loma Linda, California. Blue Zones In 2003, Buettner formed Blue Zones LLC. Buettner reported his findings of communities with increased longevity, identified as blue zones, in his cover story for National Geographic Magazine'''s November 2005 edition, "Secrets of Long Life." In 2006, under aegis of National Geographic, Buettner collaborated with Michel Poulain and Costa Rican demographer Dr. Luis Rosero-Bixby to identify a fourth longevity hotspot in the Nicoya Peninsula. In 2008, again working with Poulain, he found a fifth longevity hotspot on the Greek Island of Ikaria. In April 2008, Buettner released a book on his findings, The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest, through National Geographic Books. It became a New York Times Best Seller and resulted in interviews for Buettner on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Dr. Oz Show, and Anderson Cooper 360, among other national media. In September 2009, Buettner gave a TED talk on the topic, titled "How to live to be 100+", which, as of this date, has over two million views. In October 2010, he released the book Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way, largely based on research taking a data-based approach to identify the statistically happiest regions of the happiest countries on Earth. He argues that creating lasting happiness is only achievable through optimizing the social and physical environments. In April 2015, Buettner published The Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World's Healthiest People which listed Ikaria (in Greece), Okinawa (Japan), Sardinia (Italy), Loma Linda (California), and Costa Rica as the places with top longevity. It became a New York Times Best Seller. The book