Humans have peaked as a species and are now set to decline, a study in the scientific journal Frontiers in Psychology suggests.
The study analyzed data from the past 120 years and concluded that humans have reached their limits in terms of age, height, strength and sporting ability, Newshub reported.
"These traits no longer increase, despite further continuous nutritional, medical, and scientific progress," Professor Jean-François Toussaint of Paris Descartes University said in the study, according to Newshub. "This suggests that modern societies have allowed our species to reach its limits."
While we are seeing ground-breaking developments in technology, it seems that as humans we are slowing down, with less sporting breakthroughs to report and a plateau in mortality as people are living up to but not exceeding the current highest life expectancy.
The Daily Express pointed to athletics as an example, noting that Usain Bolt's 100m and 200m records that were set in 2009 still stand along with Kevin Young's 1992 record in 400m hurdles.
Newshub noted that the oldest person to have ever lived died 20 years ago, at the age of 122 and, while there have been new records set in swimming, this was largely down to the design of new swimsuits.
"This will be one of the biggest challenges of this century as the added pressure from anthropogenic activities will be responsible for damaging effects on human health and the environment," said Toussaint, according to The Independent. "The current declines in human capacities we can see today are a sign that environmental changes, including climate, are already contributing to the increasing constraints we now have to consider."
Toussaint noted that in certain African countries, the average human height has decreased in the last decade, suggesting that the inability to provide sufficient nutrition to children in some societies could also be at play.