• Maddux Alexander Springer was free diving in Hawaii when he noticed green sea turtles with huge tumors.
• He spent 2.5 years researching the disease and discovered its likely root cause, plus a solution.
• He won a top award at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, securing $10,000 for college.

Maddux Alexander Springer spent his pandemic free time in Oahu's blue waters.

Every day the high schooler left the sea horses and eels and octopuses in his at-home fish tanks, walked a short distance to Kāneʻohe Bay, and went free diving.

"It's almost like you're an alien," Springer, who is now 18, told Business Insider. "You're just there by yourself in this environment that you don't really belong in."

Sometimes, though, it seemed like he was diving through a graveyard. He kept seeing green sea turtles with cauliflower-like tumors.

"They were just gross masses that were anywhere from the size of a penny to the size of a football. And it would just encapsulate the green sea turtles," he said. "They're on their eyes, their skin, their flippers, everywhere. And there would just be turtles on the bottom of the ocean just dying there with these tumors."

He started scouring the internet for an answer. The turtles had a disease called fibropapillomatosis, or FP for short. It affects up to 97% of all sea turtles, but according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, scientists don't fully understand what causes the disease to spread.

That disappointing Google search launched Springer into a two-and-a-half year investigation. Green sea turtles are crucial for the health of reefs worldwide, as they eat algae that would otherwise suffocate the coral. Ultimately, FP is a threat to coral reefs everywhere, which are already stressed by rising ocean temperatures and acidity.

Springer may have gotten to the root of the disease's spread in Oahu. Even better, he found a clear solution.

Last week he won the $10,000 Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication for his work, which he presented at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair along with over a thousand students. The money is for post-secondary education, but he hopes the prize will also bring attention to FP and the plight of sea turtles.

"It was an incredible feeling, just having my research validated," he said. "It's been a very long time since I have felt like some change can be made from my research."

Solving a biological mystery

At the beginning of his investigation, Springer applied for permits that would allow him to biopsy the turtles' tumors. But he was denied.

Determined not to give up, he set out to find a non-invasive way to conduct his research. He donned his diving gear and set up motion-sensing underwater cameras to snap photos of green sea turtles.

The tumors caused by FP can only form internally if they've already formed externally, so these pictures gave him a census of all the FP-infected turtles in Kāneʻohe Bay. The data confirmed his previous observations — FP was highly prevalent.

But the herpesvirus that causes FP must be activated by an external factor before it can produce those tumors. Previous biopsies of green sea turtle tumors had shown that they contained high levels of the amino acid arginine. Maybe that was the trigger, but where would the turtles get so much arginine?

Algae is a sea turtle's main food source, and they're not picky eaters. They'll eat whatever type is available. Through a photo survey, Springer found that most of the algae in Kāneʻohe Bay is invasive.

This invasive algae is extremely good at absorbing sewage. In fact, it absorbs 11 times more than native algae and converts the wastewater's rich nitrogen into arginine, which the algae stores in its tissues, Springer said.

Indeed, Oahu had a likely source of sewage entering the ocean.

"In Kāneʻohe Bay, and in Hawaii overall, cesspools are a huge problem," Springer said.

Cesspools are pits dug beneath houses to collect wastewater. They have no barriers around them, and thus contaminated water leeches into Hawaii's porous, volcanic soil. During high tide, that wastewater gets pulled into the ocean.

400 hours of diving for algae

Springer had his suspicions, but he needed to test them out.

So he spent his weekends and evenings after school collecting algae samples, drying them, and crushing them into a powder. Then, he sent them off to a lab to run through a mass spectrometer, a machine that reveals the elements in a substance.

He was looking for a specific isotope of nitrogen that's associated with human wastewater, and he found it. That confirmed that the algae was, in fact, absorbing wastewater.

The sea-turtle food was rich in FP-causing arginine.

After two and a half years and 400 hours of diving, Springer found a link between rampant FP in Kāneʻohe Bay and wastewater pollution.

Students' research at ISEF is not held to the peer-review standard that studies published in scientific journals like Nature must meet. More research is needed to confirm the causal link Springer may have discovered.

"I believe this study shows that there is a significant relationship between wastewater output and this disease," Springer said. Without intervention, he fears that this entire marine ecosystem will be devastated.

Saving Hawaii's sea turtles

In total, there are 88,000 cesspools in Hawaii, and 11,000 on Oahu alone, according to Hawaii's Department of Health.

Springer says that the solution is to get rid of these cesspools and divert residential wastewater to treatment facilities. That would keep this contaminated water from polluting Hawaii's oceans and making sea turtles sick.

Building wastewater treatment facilities and the infrastructure needed to transport sewage to them would be expensive, Springer admitted. But based on his research, he thinks this is an issue that requires urgent attention.

"If we continue to go at this rate, and if we continue to just release raw wastewater into the bay, the environmental devastation is going to be unparalleled," he said.

But it's not just cost that stands in the way. In 2017, Hawaii's legislature passed Act 125, which protects the state from having to remove cesspools until 2050. To Springer, that's not nearly soon enough.

"Hawaii just really needs to step up, put the money down. I know it'll be expensive, but in the end it'll be worth it because 2050 is an unacceptable date, and it needs to happen now or unforeseen environmental devastation will occur," he said.

Currently, the state legislature is considering a bill that would begin imposing "pollution fees" on homeowners who have cesspools by 2025. That money would funnel into a new fund for mitigating the effects of cesspools, Honolulu Civil Beat reports.

It may be a step in the right direction, but Springer hopes that his research will help draw more attention to the urgency of this issue.

"I just really want to raise awareness that this is an issue, and that the only way that this can be solved is by government intervention," he said.

Springer has plans to further his scientific career at Oregon State University, where he'll pursue a bachelor's degree in marine biology.

"I'm excited to explore somewhere new, and do more research on new problems that exist because research is problem-driven," he said. "I feel like it's going to be a fun way to get more into research and delve deeper into the issues that fundamentally control our environment and run our ecosystem."

• China says its large-scale exercise surrounding Taiwan is a test of its ability to conduct a real assault.
• The two-day drills are a joint force effort, coming directly after the inauguration of Taiwan's new president.
• An invasion is just one of the many strategies China can employ to force Taiwan into submission.

China's large-scale military drills around Taiwan aren't just a show of force in response to the remarks of the democratic island's new president. It's also a kind of rehearsal.

China says the joint force live-fire exercise, lasting two days, is a test of its ability to launch a full-scale, lethal assault on Taiwan and ultimately force it to succumb to Beijing's rule.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army exercise "Joint Sword" began Thursday morning, focusing on "joint sea-air combat readiness patrols, joint seizure of comprehensive battlefield control, and joint precision strikes on key targets," Chinese state media reported.

BBC China Correspondent Stephen McDonell posted a segment from CCTV showing the intended purpose of the simulated airstrikes during the exercise, during which live missiles were used. The report identified potential critical targets as ports and airports, among other points.

On Friday, the Chinese military's Eastern Theater Command said that it was continuing the drills to "test the ability to jointly seize power, launch joint attacks and occupy key areas."

In other words, China is using these drills to see how its forces would effectively execute an assault against the island of Taiwan in addition to demonstrating to Taiwan that it has the ability to pull off such an operation.

As China's Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard conduct training operations around Taiwan's main island, as well as offshore islands, Taiwan has been sounding the alarm, sending out its forces to observe the exercises closely for signs of escalation.

Taiwan has scrambled fighter aircraft and put its naval and ground forces, including elements of its missile force, on alert.

Its defense ministry called the drills "irrational provocations and actions that undermine regional peace and stability."

"We stand by with firm will and restraint," the ministry added, saying, "We seek no conflicts, but we will not shy away from one. We have the confidence to safeguard our national security."

While "Joint Sword" isn't the first exercise of this kind, it is the largest in more than a year and comes just days after the inauguration of the island's newest president, the Democratic Progressive Party's Lai Ching-te, who is hated in Beijing for his positions on Taiwan's sovereignty.

Lai's election marked a historic third consecutive term for the DPP, which often takes a stronger stance on cross-strait relations and prioritizes Taiwan's autonomy. Lai has indicated he'll largely continue his predecessor's policies, and he has already agitated the Chinese leaders in Beijing, who perceive Lai's recent rhetoric as fueling pro-independence sentiments. China has said the exercises are intended as "strong punishment."

Beijing has a lot to gain from the military drills, from understanding operation logistics and joint force cooperation to demonstrating military power to attempting to intimidate the people of Taiwan into accepting that unification is inevitable.

Training doesn't necessarily mean an invasion of Taiwan is imminent, but the drills are a stark reminder that China has never taken the use of force off the table with regard to Taiwan.

The use of force against Taiwan could take different forms, from an all-out assault to something like a blockade. The latter could cut Taiwan off from the rest of the world, prevent the US and its allies from coming to the island's aid, and potentially force Taiwan to give in to Beijing's demands.

Strikes on Taiwan's infrastructure, too, could leave its people without clean water or electricity, rapidly degrading the quality of life and potentially the island's will to resist.

But China could also pursue other courses of action. While the US and its allies are actively discussing how to respond to an assault on Taiwan, some experts believe they may be missing more likely scenarios for China to take over Taiwan — some of which are already happening in the form of continuous pressure and coercion.

• Doctors' custom food prescriptions featuring beans and greens are helping patients prevent illness.
• A doctor said healthy food plans can help address high healthcare costs and chronic illness rates.
• This article is part of "Trends in Healthcare," a series about the innovations and industry leaders shaping patient care.

Picture this: At your next health checkup, your doctor hands you a prescription for potatoes instead of pills.

For some patients, this scenario is becoming a reality.

Providing personalized recommendations for healthy food — along with information on how to prepare it and the resources to afford it — is fast becoming a trend in preventive healthcare. Recent research has examined how nutrition may help lower healthcare costs and improve health outcomes, and the US Department of Health and Human Services held its first summit on the topic this year.

Food prescriptions could be a major tool in helping people get healthier faster, and for less money, by treating or preventing disease before it becomes severe, said Dr. Dexter Shurney, a board-certified physician in preventive medicine, lifestyle medicine, and public health. Food as medicine can also address some of the big challenges facing the healthcare system, such as the ballooning medical bills that can make even basic care, such as regular checkups, difficult to access.

Shurney initially trained as a surgeon and in 2017 became the chief medical officer of Foodsmart, a telehealth company that connects patients with registered dietitians to create custom meal plans and resources to tackle food insecurity.

"I made that pivot because a lot of the things I was treating as a surgeon I saw were preventable, and I thought there needed to be more done on the prevention side," he told Business Insider.

But simply telling people to eat their veggies and cut back on processed food can be complicated. Healthy food can be hard to access and may not always fit the culinary traditions and eating habits people grew up with.

Take Maya Garcia, one of Shurney's clients at Foodsmart, who'd been trying since 2020 to manage worsening chronic illness and related weight gain. But their weight loss attempts led to yo-yo dieting and cycles of excessive restriction and binge eating.

When Garcia, who lives in Chicago, found Foodsmart through their insurance provider, they were given a meal plan that included foods like corn, cactus, and dark chocolate that were nutritious and fit into their Indigenous heritage.

"Accessing enough nutritious food has been a challenge for me," Garcia said. "I've learned not only about foods that help promote better nutrition for me, but they've also incorporated a lot of ancestral foods that I was craving but didn't realize were so nutritious. A lot of that involves letting go of dieting rules and instead looking for what my body needs and what my body craves."

While personalized nutrition needs can vary widely, Shurney said simple swaps, such as eating more whole foods and prioritizing nutrient-dense plants and lean protein, can make a huge impact — and some of the most beneficial foods are in your local grocery store.

Beans are a secret superfood

Shurney said one of the big misconceptions about food as medicine is that nutritious ingredients are expensive or hard to find.

"People think that a healthy diet has to cost more, a lot of the staples of a healthy diet are very inexpensive," he said.

One of his top recommendations is cheap, easy to cook, available in every grocery store, and it's probably in your kitchen right now.

Beans, despite their humble nature, have been called a superfood because they're a rich source of plant-based protein. Chickpeas, for instance, contain about 14 grams of protein in a one-cup serving.

Beans are also high in fiber, an important nutrient for digestive health.

Some of the longest-living people in the world eat beans regularly, often with simple preparations like soups or salads. Because of the variety of beans available, they can be a versatile addition to recipes and are easy to cook in bulk for healthy meal prepping.

"Beans should be part of your diet every day," Shurney said.

Potatoes are an easy, filling way to get more nutrients

While starchy carbs often get a bad rap, potatoes are actually a great way to eat healthfully on a budget as long as you're not reaching for fries or chips. Potatoes are rich in vitamin C and potassium, which helps promote healthy blood pressure.

"Often misunderstood, regular potatoes are a great source of potassium and have a long shelf life. They are inexpensive and can be prepared in many healthy ways, such as baking, boiling, or steaming," Shurney said.

Preparation is key here, and basic kitchen skills, such as how to use knives safely and make foods delicious by steaming or roasting, can help people take better care of their health.

As a result, education is a big part of implementing food prescriptions so that people with limited resources can take advantage of affordable options for healthy eating and stretch their budget or SNAP (supplement nutrition assistance program, often known as food stamps) benefits further.

"You need to have that education to say, what can I actually afford on a budget?" Shurney said.

Green veggies like broccoli could help stave off cancer and other illnesses

It's no secret that eating your greens is good health advice, but kale and broccoli offer even more benefits than you might think, according to Shurney.

Cruciferous veggies are some of the most nutritious foods because they're high in antioxidants, which may help protect against cancer. Leafy greens are also a major part of the Mediterranean diet, which is widely considered the healthiest diet in the world.

The challenge in getting people to eat their greens is convincing them that a little cooking skill can make veggies taste delicious.

"If people don't have access to the food, they can't afford it, it's not available, they don't even know what it is, they might look at a broccoli and say, that doesn't look like it's going to taste real good," Shurney said. "They have to experience that it can taste good. There's more than one way to cook it. If you don't like the way that it tastes the first time, maybe you cook it differently or season it differently. You can find a way that you like it, but you have to make it accessible."

Simple recipes like roasting veggies, sautéing them with an acid like citrus juice or vinegar, and seasoning well can help make healthy cooking less intimidating.

Blueberries could help protect your brain health

Emerging research suggests that eating well is just as important for a healthy mind as it is for a healthy body.

Loading up on brightly colored produce like berries, peppers, herbs, and the like — sometimes called "eating the rainbow" — can help you get a variety of micronutrients, Shurney said.

"I always say seven colors, and we're not talking about fruit loops, so we're talking about real food," he said. "We've known for a long time that increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables creates health."

While berries can be a bit more expensive than other fruit, a budget-friendly option is shopping the freezer aisle, since frozen produce is as healthy as fresh, or buying on sale and freezing yourself to use later.

Seeds like flax and chia are a great source of healthy fats

Shurney also recommends seeds like chia and flax as a way to get more fiber in your diet as well as omega-3 fatty acids, a type of healthy fat linked to better heart health and lower inflammation.

Eating more nuts and seeds can also help you reduce your intake of processed foods, such as chips and other popular snacks.

Reaching for whole foods and being mindful of food labels can be a simple way to start eating healthier since ultra-processed foods are linked to health issues like a higher risk of cancer and heart disease.

Shurney said if there are more than five ingredients on the label, it's a processed food. "There are little tricks like that that you can teach people that stay with them and help them to sustain this kind of lifestyle that you're nudging them into."

• Robinhood brought workers back to the office in 2023, a year after telling them they could be remote.
• CEO Vlad Tenev explained in a podcast interview how the company talked staff through the reversal.
• He says being direct and having answers for employees' concerns was key.

The past few years have seen some companies declare themselves remote-first only to backtrack later and mandate workers return to the office.

One such company is Robinhood. Vlad Tenev, cofounder and CEO of the financial services firm, explained in a new interview how he brought employees back to the office after initially telling them they were working at a remote-first company.

"In January of 2022, we were like alright let's just make a decision here and announce we're a remote-first company and I think as soon as that blog post went out I was like, 'Oh God, I made a terrible mistake here, this is not good' — I felt bad about it," Tenev said in an episode of the podcast "The Logan Bartlett Show" published Friday.

"The feedback I heard when we decided to go back into the office was not only has no other company managed to get their people back into the office successfully while hedging and saying that we're not remote-first, but it was much, much harder that we announced we were remote-first and then we wanted to change our minds."

Tenev said "explaining the why of things" was important in getting employees on board with the policy reversal.

"I think we very directly said, 'I'd like people to come in person, I think it's better for collaboration, I think that we do a lot of important work across functions,'" he said.

He added that "you have to have answers for all the concerns that people have that, I think, are reasonable."

"I mean, some people are going to say, 'Well we've got people all around the world, they've moved, nobody that I work with, nobody from my team is in my office, so why would I come in?' And I think the answer to that is everyone in this company is on your team," he said. "You shouldn't just engage with people on your team because what happens if you need to talk to someone from compliance or legal and you're an engineer? Having those relationships are extremely important. Having some awareness for what people are doing is important, and I think that's something that's very difficult to manufacture in the remote world."

Tenev said Robinhood drew a radius in calling employees back, meaning those who lived too far away from an office didn't have to return, though he added "most people actually clustered around locations where we have offices anyway."

"Up until January of 2022, we were hiring people within radius of offices so very little hiring happened outside of those in the first place and that was the good part about it," he said. "We weren't remote-first for very long, the period where we were remote-first and we were hiring aggressively was pretty short."

Robinhood in 2022 declared itself a remote-first company and said it would be "staying primarily remote."

A year later, the company told staff to expect to return to the office at least four days a week on average.

"I've seen it firsthand — there is value in us being together," Tenev wrote to employees in a leaked Slack message at the time. "While the adjustment period may not be easy, I am confident that in the long run we will all benefit as coworkers and owners of Robinhood."

Many companies began issuing return-to-office mandates in 2022 and into 2023, including Apple, Amazon, Meta, Google, and more. The latest large company to jump on the bandwagon is Walmart, which said earlier this month it's also laying off several hundred workers and relocating others to one of three main campuses, in a reversal of its remote work policy during the pandemic.

• Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant had a weekend-long pre-wedding party in March.
• The couple continue their festivities next week with a luxury cruise, the Deccan Chronicle reported.
• They'll reportedly be joined by about 800 guests on a cruise from Italy to the south of France.

The Ambanis are continuing their glitzy pre-wedding celebrations with another set of festivities.

Anant Ambani, the son of India's richest person, Mukesh Ambani, and his fiancée, Radhika Merchant, threw a weekend-long affair in March to commemorate their upcoming wedding.

They are now said to be embarking on a luxury cruise next week, which will set sail from Italy to the South of France with about 800 guests and 600 staff, according to the Deccan Chronicle.

Bollywood stars including Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt are expected to join them on the cruise, per the report.

The couple held lavish star-studded parties in March as part of the festivities, where Rihanna performed. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, and Ivanka Trump also turned up for the events.

Zuckerberg and Chan wore Alexander McQueen ensembles that cost $22,000 in total for the festivities.

The couple also hosted a communal dinner for thousands of local residents in Gujarat before the weekend parties, The Hindu reported. The wedding is said to be taking place in July although the venue remains unclear.

Mukesh Ambani is chair of the Fortune 500 company Reliance Industries and worth $114 billion, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He's in 12th place and $5 billion ahead of the next Indian on the list, Gautam Adani.

Representatives for the Ambanis at Reliance Industries did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• Spotify is bricking Car Thing, its first hardware launch.
• The company isn't offering trade-ins on the $80 devices, and told users to trash them.
• Some jilted customers want the devices to stay operational and want a refund.

Spotify is scrapping its first foray into hardware — and early adopters are feeling left in the lurch.

That's because as of December 9, the streaming platform's Car Thing is being discontinued and getting bricked.

Car Thing is a small touchscreen device targeting owners of older cars without infotainment systems. It connects to smartphones and car speakers, enabling drivers to control Spotify with voice recognition and buttons. It launched in 2021 for $80.

Now the device will be turned off completely and stop working, Spotify announced.

"This decision wasn't made lightly," Spotify wrote on its website, adding it was discontinuing Car Thing to "streamline our product offerings."

Spotify isn't offering trade-in options and told users to reset their devices to factory settings before throwing them in the trash according to their local electronic waste guidelines.

On Spotify's community forum and Reddit, Car Thing owners were not happy.

Many wondered why the devices couldn't stay operational even if production had ceased, and some threatened to switch to rival subscription services.

"If you don't make this right and my car thing stops working in December we will be switching to apple music," one user wrote on the Spotify forum, garnering 539 responses.

Some asked for compensation, and others requested Spotify unlock the devices so developers could create their own software.

"Feels like we're being punished for supporting them," one Redditor wrote. "Dissuades me from buying anything Spotify puts out in the future."

Spotify did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• My only child has chosen to go to school in Los Angeles, which is thousands of miles from home.
• I wished he had chosen a college closer to home, so that we can visit easily. 
• I am dreading my empty nest, but I know it's time to let him go.

When you become a parent, you get all sorts of advice from well-wishers: sleep when the baby sleeps; ask for help; trust your instincts; the days are long, but the years are short.

Admittedly, I never bought into that last little gem. Every moment, especially in those first few years, felt long. There were many nights when my son was sick or fussy or "just not tired, Mommy!" Those difficult years seemed as if they would never end. There was certainly nothing short about them.

Motherhood taught me an enormous amount. I learned to be patient and a better listener, when to intervene, and when to let my child test the waters on his own. I also learned first-hand that time is a sneaky thief.

Fast forward, and here we are, 18 years gone with a finger snap. My only child is now an adult and about to finish his high school career. The peace and quiet I longed for on those long, sleepless, stressful nights I thought would never end? That's right around the corner.

I'll soon have an empty nest, with my bird nearly 2,000 miles away, and I'm already dreading it.

He decided to go to college far from home

His father and I are incredibly proud of him and know he's ready for this next big step. He worked hard for his great grades, applied to more than a dozen top universities, and was rewarded with incredible choices during one of the most hellacious admissions cycles on record. We cheered as his acceptances rolled in from across the country — including those relatively close to home.

But my stomach began to drop — and if I'm being honest, my heart broke just a little bit — as I watched his focus shift from schools on the East Coast and the Midwest (where we live) to southern California. He'll be studying film, so it made logical sense that he was drawn there.

As he started to whittle down his list, and it came down to two SoCal schools, a tough reality set in: He will be much further away for college than I anticipated or wished.

I can't just hop in my car and drive to see him whenever I want, and he can't just grab an Uber home to do laundry or join us for Sunday supper on a whim. This is going to be a tidal shift.

My son is ready for this next step, but I'm not sure I am

We recently traveled to Los Angeles as a family to tour his final college choices and to get a better feel for each campus. It immediately became apparent that he's thrilled about heading to Los Angeles for his undergraduate degree. He's ready to be close to the ocean, meet new friends, and dive headfirst into his film studies.

We did all the touristy things: drove to the Hollywood sign, strolled the Walk of Fame, and grabbed breakfast at Grand Central Market. All the while, I could see him sizing up the city and settling in. I have no doubt he'll make LA his home in no time.

My husband and I have done all we can to prepare and equip him for this new chapter. While our son is raring to go and ready to meet the world on his own terms, I'm not sure I'm ready for him to be thousands of miles away. I'm also not sure that matters.

While my emotions about his impending departure are valid, they are mine to handle, not his. This summer, I will do my best not to project big feelings onto my son. Instead, I will focus on all the exciting things ahead of him as he transitions into adulthood — even if that transition takes place halfway across the country and out of my immediate view. Southwest has direct flights, after all.

And while my relationship with my kid might be shifting and evolving, it's not disappearing and will never go away. I'm still his mom and always will be, no matter how far away he is. But it's time for me to take a step back, watch him soar, and be ready as a safety net — even if it's on FaceTime instead of in person.

In the meantime, get ready world. Here he comes.

• The first McDonald's franchise opened in Des Plaines, Illinois, on April 15, 1955.
• By the 1970s, McDonald's had grown into an increasingly popular fast-food establishment.
• The Quarter Pounder, Quarter Pounder with cheese, and Egg McMuffin were also added to the menu.

National Burger Day is May 28, and no fast-food chain knows burgers quite like McDonald's. 

In the 1970s, less than a decade into its operation under businessman Ray Kroc, McDonald's was already a thriving company that had served millions of customers.

Richard and Maurice "Mac" McDonald opened the first McDonald's in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant, and Kroc opened its first franchise location in Des Plaines, Illinois, on April 15, 1955. That year, he also founded McDonald's System, Inc., which would become the McDonald's Corporation we know today.

By 1958, McDonald's had sold 100 million burgers, and the restaurants had adopted a signature design style prominently featuring the chain's iconic "golden arches." In 1961, Kroc bought the McDonald brothers out, and by the 1970s, the company was going from strength to strength.

Today, there are around 34,000 McDonald's locations around the world, but there are also new challenges. Consumers are being more cautious about their spending, so the brand's focus this year is on offering affordable meal options amid surging global food prices, its execs said in May.

Here's what it was like to eat at McDonald's in the 1970s.

Before the introduction of high-tech cash registers, McDonald's employees would take down orders by hand to give to the kitchen.

By the 1970s, the company was well-established and beginning its global expansion. In 1967, the first McDonald's restaurant outside the US opened in Richmond, British Columbia, according to McDonald's website. By 1970, the chain had sold over 6 billion burgers.

The self-service concept allowed customers to order at the counter and watch as their meal was being prepared by employees through a large window into the kitchen.

McDonald's meals were served on plastic trays, which customers could then bring over to a dining-room table to enjoy.

McDonald's got its first drive-thru in 1975.

While chains like In-N-Out Burger already had drive-thru windows, McDonald's didn't have one until 1975, when a franchisee in Sierra Vista, Arizona, skirted around an Army regulation that prevented military members from entering local businesses in fatigues. 

According to Fast Company, he got around the regulation by knocking down a wall in his restaurant's kitchen and installing a drive-thru window in order to serve them.

The menu at McDonald's in the 1970s already had a few familiar options.

Before the 1960s, the McDonald's menu was simple. It included burgers, cheeseburgers, fries, milkshakes, and other fast-food classics. The first new item to be added to the national menu was the Filet-O-Fish sandwich in 1965, followed by the iconic Big Mac in 1968.

After the release of the Big Mac in 1968, the burger rose in popularity throughout the 1970s to become the chain's signature menu item.

In 1973, the chain added two more signature burgers to its menu: the Quarter Pounder and Quarter Pounder with cheese.

In 1979, Happy Meals were introduced to attract parents who wanted to feed all family members at a great price.

In 1972, McDonald's began offering breakfast for the first time.

The introduction of the Egg McMuffin marked a turning point for the brand, attracting a wide customer base at a new time of day. 

Dining in at McDonald's was popular among families, who could sit, grab a cheap bite, and even play cards.

In this photo, a family plays cards at a McDonald's in Mill Valley, California, in 1973.

This is what Ronald McDonald looked like in 1974.

Ronald McDonald was introduced in 1963 during a Washington, DC-marketed advertisement for the restaurant. In the ad, Ronald McDonald pulled hamburgers out of his belt and had a McDonald's cup for a nose. His hat was a tray with a Styrofoam hamburger, fries, and a milkshake on top of it.

McDonald's considered changing Ronald McDonald's character to a cowboy or spaceman, but those ideas were quickly discarded.

 

For kids who grew up in the 1970s, there was no better place to celebrate a birthday than McDonald's.

Fast Company reported that the first McDonald's PlayPlace was introduced in 1971, forever changing the McDonald's dining experience for families and children. While parents relaxed and ate their meals, kids could play in colorful climbing structures, jungle gyms, and slides. 

The introduction of the PlayPlace solidified McDonald's reputation as a destination for families on a budget, as many were during the 1970s amid a time of financial insecurity, high inflation, and the Vietnam War. 

You could even get married at McDonald's.

Annette Scaramozza and Anthony Francis are pictured at their wedding ceremony in a McDonald's in 1975. 

• Callendar House in Falkirk, Scotland, was a filming location for 'Outlander' season two.
• The mansion dates back to the 14th century and was home to the powerful Livingston family.
• Callendar House is now a free tourist attraction and wedding venue, showcasing its rich history.

Fans of "Outlander" can visit an ancient Scottish mansion where part of the series was filmed — and it won't cost a penny.

Callendar House in Falkirk, Scotland, was used as a filming location in season two of the historical drama series.

But the building's cultural and historical significance stretches beyond the TV show. Dating back to the 14th century, Callendar House was once home to the Livingston family, one of the most powerful noble families in Scotland.

Alexander, the 5th Lord Livingston, was appointed guardian of Mary, Queen of Scots, after her birth in 1542. The royal visited Callendar House on many occasions, and she was close friends with Alexander's daughter, also named Mary.

These days, Callendar House is a free tourist attraction and private event venue. I took a tour and was amazed by the building's beauty.

I spent a day exploring Callendar House, a 14th-century stately home known for its connection to Mary, Queen of Scots and "Outlander."

The mansion was built near the site of the Antonoine Wall in Callendar Park, which the Romans constructed in the 2nd century AD.

The wall stretches 36.5 miles across Scotland and was built mostly out of layers of turf. According to an exhibition I viewed at Callendar House, around 9,000 Roman soldiers were involved with the construction.

Though traces of the wall are visible in other parts of the country, it wasn't clearly visible at Callendar Park.

The mansion was home to the Livingston family from the 14th century until the 18th century.

Callendar House was built by William de Livingston in the 14th century, according to an exhibition I viewed during my visit.

Though initially built as a tower house for defense purposes, it was also home to the Livingston family for four centuries.

The building is free to visit. Upon entering, you will find a gift shop with postcards, books, and children's toys.

There were several "Outlander" inspired gifts, including books about the making of the show.

The mansion has more than 15 rooms across three floors.

Some rooms aren't open to the public as they are used as offices or for private event hire.

The building was previously used as a wedding venue. After my visit, a spokesperson for Callendar House informed me that the venue only currently allows weekday ceremonies and that it no longer has a wedding coordinator.

Life-size replicas of the Livingston family can be found in a permanent exhibition about the mansion's origins on the first floor.

Alexander, the 5th Lord Livingston, and his wife — whose name is unknown – were close with Mary, Queen of Scots, the exhibition said.

They hosted her at Callendar House on numerous occasions, as Alexander was a guardian to Mary following the death of her father, James V.

Like most of society during the 16th century, the Livingston family was Protestant. According to the exhibition, they were "loyal supporters" of Mary, who was Catholic.

Catholicism was outlawed in Scotland after the Reformation in 1560.

The religion was formally and legally reintroduced in the 19th century with The Emancipation Act of 1829, which "approved civil and political liberty to Catholics in Scotland," according to the Scottish Catholic Heritage Collections Trust.

The mansion's Georgian kitchen was used as a filming location for "Outlander" in 2015.

The Georgian kitchen was used to portray the Duke of Sandringham's house in the 11th episode of season two, titled "Vengeance is Mine."

Behind-the-scenes photos of the set were on display.

Callendar House is around a 30-minute drive to Wardpark Film Studios in Glasgow, where most of the season is filmed.

The mansion's second and third floors are used for various exhibitions. One exhibition is "Live it Paint it" by Falkirk-based artist Lys Hansen.

Hansen is a contemporary painter who uses art to portray her thoughts on motherhood, sex, and politics.

Many of the paintings I viewed had nudity in them. Hansen spoke of her decision to paint naked bodies in a video shown at the exhibition.

"We hide things away. We cover up, and we think more about our imperfections than our beauty," she said in the video.

"It's the thing you live in, breathe in… it's the only thing we ever own."

The exhibition is on display until August 24.

I was blown away by the mansion's colorful decor.

This mural on the ceiling above the staircase was one of my favorite pieces of decor.

After completing the tour, I sat down in the tea room on the first floor.

The tea room overlooks the leafy Callendar Park. The menu included a selection of teas, sandwiches, and cakes.

I noticed the tea room was busier than other parts of Callendar House, and I wondered if some locals had visited solely for the food since entry was free.

I opted for a cup of English breakfast tea and a banana-and-chocolate scone.

The scone was delicious, and the total price came to just over £5, or around $6.40, which I thought was reasonable.

Whether you are a history buff or an "Outlander" fan, I recommend visiting Callendar House.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Callendar House and was stunned by its beauty and history.

I learned so much about the local history and was thrilled that entry to the visitor attraction was $0.

I'd definitely recommend it to royal fanatics or "Outlander" fans — or to those looking for a fun, free day out.