People residing in these Blue Zones are outliving us because they have figured out what others have not, according to Buettner. In 2009, he piloted his first "Blue Zones Project" in Albert Lea, Minnesota. The goal was to reverse-engineer it into a Midwestern Blue Zone. Playa Santa Teresa, on the Nicoya peninsula in Costa Rica, is in one of Buettner's Blue Zones. AdvertisementAdvertisementUpdate: A previous version of this story mentioned Belgian professor Michel Poulain as the inventor of the phrase "Blue Zone."

---

Persons: Dan Buettner, Michel Poulain, Gianni, Buettner, Toru Yamanaka, Loma, Albert Lea, Albert, Al Brooks, MinnPost, Gerhard, Enrico Spanu, dietitians, demographer Gianni Organizations: Service, Gianni Pes, Geographic, Getty, Albert Lea City, Fort Worth, demographer Gianni Pes Locations: Wall, Silicon, Kohama, Okinawa, Sardinia, Italy, Japan, Costa Rica, Ikaria, Greece, Loma Linda, California, Minnesota, Albert Lea , Minnesota, Albert Lea, Santa Teresa, Fort Worth , Texas, Fort, Belgian