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As Republicans plan to gather in Bush’s backyard, his influence is largely absent from the party

Next week's Republican convention in Dallas takes place in the same city that helped give rise to the Bush political dynasty. But George W. Bush himself — and many policies he pushed 30 years ago — are largely missing from today's GOP, political scientists say.

Sep 2 • 1:23 PM EDT • Politics • houstonpublicmedia.org

US medical groups urge people to get flu and Covid shots in counter to Trump guidance

Top medical groups band together to ease confusion from Trump administration’s changing immunization advice

Sep 2 • 11:14 AM EDT • Health • theguardian.com

Doctors say they’re filling a void left by CDC on vaccines. Here’s what to know about flu, Covid-19 and RSV this fall

With children back in school and the looming threat of respiratory viruses like Covid-19, influenza and RSV on the horizon, many people may now be wondering how to stay healthy.

Sep 2 • 10:00 AM EDT • Health • cnn.com

Fall vaccine guide: What to know about covid, flu and RSV shots this year

Influenza, covid-19 and RSV are expected to send hundreds of thousands of Americans to the hospital this fall.

Sep 2 • 10:00 AM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com

Business travelers are taking control of the booking journey

Today’s business traveler isn’t just along for the ride. They’re increasingly involved in how trips are planned and booked, and that shift has important implications for travel marketers. According to the latest SmartBrief Business Travel Audience Survey: 80% book or influence travel decisions 40% book travel directly through apps or websites 84% take trips lasting […]

Sep 2 • 9:51 AM EDT • Business • smartbrief.com

Tiger Woods Strikes Plea Deal In DUI Case—Loses License For 5 Years, Avoids Jail

Billionaire golfer Tiger Woods will lose his driver’s license for five years after accepting a plea deal that reduced his driving under the influence charge to reckless driving.

Sep 2 • 9:32 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Cooper Standard Achieves SBTi Validation of Near-Term Science-Based Emissions Reduction Targets

/PRNewswire/ -- Cooper Standard (NYSE: CPS), a leading global supplier of sealing and fluid handling systems and components, today announced that the...

Sep 2 • 8:30 AM EDT • Science • prnewswire.com

New research explores the frequency in which CMS devalues radiology services

“Variation in valuation adjustment rates and amounts may reflect factors such as specialty society influence, valuation methods and negotiation strategies,” experts write in JAMA Network Open.

Sep 2 • 7:34 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com

Stoke improve despite Thomas exit

BBC Radio Stoke's Mark Elliott reflects on Stoke City's first win of the season despite the transfer of influential player Sorba Thomas to Hull City.

Sep 2 • 6:03 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

As Republicans plan to gather in Bush's backyard, his influence is largely absent from the party

Next week's Republican convention in Dallas takes place in the same city that helped give rise to the Bush political dynasty. But George W. Bush himself — and many policies he pushed 30 years ago — are largely missing from today's GOP, political scientists say.

Sep 2 • 6:01 AM EDT • Politics • keranews.org

August Monthly Review: ChatGPT In Epic

Death, taxes, another frontier lab healthcare launch inspiring truly insane LinkedIn takes. As much as I want to stay away, I repeatedly am the crewman unplugging his ears whenever we pass these sirens. So it’s not the first and probably not the last time we dial up the typewriter rather than tie ourselves to the mast. The full blow-by-blow timeline: Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe The End of the Standalone PHR (Jan 8): ChatGPT Health arrives for consumers, at the time powered by b.well. I was bullish on the approach in that the best way for the PHR to finally solve distribution was to meet consumers were they already are (i.e. When Horizontal Meets Healthcare (Jan 9): OpenAI for Healthcare puts out the shingle for enterprises, with SharePoint ingestion standing in for the EHR integration the product actually needed. Another One: Anthropic’s Healthcare Debut (Jan 16): Claude's version, on HealthEx rails instead of b.well, with Agent Skills for FHIR development as the one true vertical-specific investment. ChatGPT for Clinicians: The Trap Sprung (Apr 24): OpenAI filled in the missing GTM middle with a free product for verified clinicians, effectively peeling the enterprise wrapper off ChatGPT for Healthcare and taking the PLG fight directly to OpenEvidence. OpenAI’s Second Attempt at Health (Jul 31): a relaunch of their patient specific app, now branded Health in ChatGPT, where the privacy partition came out, the connectors thinned, and b.well disappeared in favor of first-party FHIR work against a smaller network Beyond a Shingle So what was announced now? Today, we’re introducing a new electronic health record integration that brings authorized patient context from Epic into ChatGPT for Healthcare, along with the Healthcare Public Data plugin for direct, structured access to official healthcare datasets like PubMed, DailyMed, and CMS Coverage. Together, these capabilities bring ChatGPT closer to the systems and sources healthcare teams trust, while supporting the controls and compliance healthcare work requires. The core portfolio is unchanged from prior announcements we delineated and discussed (aside from the relaunch of patient-facing). Since trade publications still seem to be confusing them by using the wrong names: Enterprise sales motion: ChatGPT for Healthcare Protecting their core product / PLG: ChatGPT for Clinicians Consumer/patient-facing product: Health in ChatGPT So really, this is a feature release (specifically for ChatGPT for Healthcare when it comes to EHR integration). What’s cool about it, though, is that we are moving beyond just putting out a shingle. Everything in the January enterprise launch was horizontalizable: Horizontal tech companies thus generally start verticalization with their “putting out a shingle phase”. Telling the world you’re open for business as a horizontal tech company reliably attracts early inbound interest from buyers who are already trying to force-fit horizontal tools into domain-specific workflows and are eager for any signal that the vendor intends to support their use case more directly. Nothing was really vertical specific, which is exactly what you'd expect from the ultimate hypergrowth horizontal company dipping their toes into specific industries. But eventually you have to stop changing the sign on the door and start changing the product. Can you guess where the horizontal product was going to run out of road? This is the core dilemma writ large: verticalization requires differentiation, while scale economics of consumer and horizontal push toward unification. I’ve buried the lede so deep here it will be painful to some readers, but what should be shocking to no one is that my perspective is that EHR integration is the only path that meaningfully resolves this tension for ChatGPT for Healthcare. Integration with Microsoft Sharepoint is fine, but it is categorically insufficient for any product that hopes to influence clinical decision-making. SMART Money Well here we are, eight months later! Real vertical investment has begun, which surprised a few people. One friend in the industry messaged me: “Absolutely no way Epic gave ChatGPT API access.” Looking forensically at the announcements, the integration is notably read-only across appointment notes, laboratory results, medications, and specialist documentation. So while I’m not a betting man, I'd wager the house this is a SMART on FHIR launch: That sounds a lot like USCDI! The recommended path for the workflow they outline would be SMART on FHIR Their Health AI lead’s post is evocative of both standalone and EHR launch SMART, which another termed “ChartGPT” and “EHR Plugin” The implementation burden for SMART on FHIR is the lowest of the available integrative paths This is the team who literally did patient-facing SMART on FHIR with Epic last month Most importantly, if you’re a horizontal company, you generally still haven’t taken the full plunge and thus (overly) value reusability. SMART on FHIR is the logical compromise: healthcare-specific enough to matter, but standardized enough to reuse. Nobody Asked Judy Another friend asked “I thought they had to go to each health system, or did they go direct to Epic and now health systems opt in?” Given the trust paradigms in healthcare, this functionally cannot be Epic hoovering up all the data for OpenAI and shoving ChatGPT in their customers’ faces (or they would revolt). However, I do believe the aforementioned terrible coverage by TechCrunch and other outlets is probably responsible for that question, given the 325 million reference. When using FHIR as a business associate to an Epic customer, there is no EHR gatekeeping to speak of, as that isn’t how fhir.epic.com works: You register an app You pick your APIs You test against the sandbox APIs You list as “Ready for Production” Hospitals pick your app You test and go live with them Bluntly, nobody had to say yes or no in Verona (nor were they given the chance). Vendor Services (their next developer tier up that I doubt OpenAI is using quite yet in this initial release) certainly has contractual paperwork that some resent, but even there, the twin pressures of mounting antitrust and information blocking make outright gatekeeping increasingly fraught. My friend’s sentiment is, to me, representative of a broader industry neurosis, perhaps a sort of scar tissue of prior eras: people assume the gate is still there and never actually try the door. There are certainly other ways Epic (and any EHR) can put its thumb on the scale, but they are not so dumb as to stand in front of a federally mandated API and play bouncer at this exact moment in time. So I think they can and probably should go deeper, as this release is at best parity and at worst behind vertical-specific competition. OpenEvidence did a basic SMART launch with Sutter Health in February, allowing for more convenient evidence search by providers. They then add patient-context (the equivalent SMART on FHIR flow to what we see here) when Cedars-Sinai went enterprise-wide in May. UpToDate has four distinct applications across deeper workflows like patient engagement listed in Epic Showroom and announced a partnership with Epic to power Art at UGM Abridge and other ambient scribes have invested deeply into the deepest bidirectional clinical copilot workflow with integrations well beyond SMART on FHIR. In that light, the “Who is OpenAI primarily targeting here?” is clear. This release brings them into striking distance of OpenEvidence, but not the others quite yet. They are the only one of the three you can reach without building something truly Epic-specific. When will they go further? Competition is a great motivator to overcome the horizontal demons and start building things that can’t be reused: not across industries, not across EHRs, maybe not past the customer you built them for. That’s the price of actually verticalizing. The question is if and when OpenAI will be willing to pay it. Month in Review Here is the monthly review. As a reminder, this is a regular round-up of the month’s posts and other content to surface things you may have missed across regulation, litigation, interoperability, and beyond. AI assistance is used in these bullet summaries so I can focus on articles. Articles Published: None this month Video Content: The Information Exchange: Standards-based Thruple Edition (Aug 14): Back to school for us too, with Brad reporting in from the CMS Health Tech Ecosystem’s one year anniversary in DC. We get into the January CMS-0057 deadline, the fall rulemaking reading list, and why enrollment still keeps most apps off FHIR. The Information Exchange: Epic Dúnadan Edition (Aug 25): A UGM roundup with Ryan Brickner joining for the first time to check our takes against what the building actually thinks. Rangers, Ergo sitting on top of EHI, and a down-market lineup that needs some cuts. Regulatory: Stacked Deck, Bad Hand (Aug 05): ONC’s website refresh took the entire HIT Policy Committee record with it, so I rebuilt the archive and went looking for the regulatory capture story everyone assumes is buried in there. Stacking the deck and winning the hand turn out to be very different things. The Sixth Generation of Patient Access (Aug 19): A quick catalog of the five generations of patient access we’ve layered on since HIPAA, and the two candidates now competing to be the sixth. One is planned. The other is the market routing around the plan entirely. Court cases: Three Cases Walk Into a Docket (Aug 06): Two surprise settlements cleared the board in a single week, and then Judge Maddox dropped ninety-four pages on Vyne v. Henry Schein. The sleeper is a DMCA holding that makes direct-to-database a considerably riskier business model. Epic v. Health Gorilla: Into the MDL (Aug 10): Nine class actions are headed to Miami, and the Panel signaled it wants to bring the case that spawned them along too. That would leave Epic arguing the requests were obviously fraudulent in one courtroom and unknowable in the other. Amazon v. Perplexity: Agents Are Legalized! (Aug 11): The Ninth Circuit vacated the injunction against Comet, holding that the user is the one accessing the servers rather than the company that built the agent. A real win for agentic access, and a much narrower one than the headline suggests. Veeva v. Epic: Come At Me, Bro (Aug 26): Epic’s response brief wants the dismissal affirmed and, unusually, wants the opinion published as precedent. Buried in it is Epic’s own description of what its non-competes actually prohibit, which current and former employees should read closely. EHRs: The Contract Epic Would Never Sign Today (Aug 04): A 1999 SEC exhibit catches Epic licensing nearly its entire product line, Tapestry included, to the company that became TriZetto. The marketing services menu attached to it is the part that will make you blink. Forecast from Verona (Aug 07): The Epic Almanac makes one argument six different ways: the AI is only as good as the networks behind it. Emmie headlines, Art’s context stack is the most ambitious part, and Penny finally gets an autonomous coding date on the calendar. Works With Epic MyChart (Aug 17): Epic’s first new Showroom category since the death of Workshop certifies hardware instead of software, badge on the box and all. Made for iPhone, but for blood pressure cuffs, and rough news for anyone selling the RPM stack sitting in between. UGM Hot Takes 2026 (Aug 20): Everyone else covered the AI announcements, so I went after Savvy deleting the payment gateway, Rangers as Boost with the timer removed, and a down-market lineup with too many entries. Plus the Health Grid tidbits I cannot help myself on. MyChart Central Grows Up (Aug 24): Device data and Emmie turn Epic’s identity hub into a full consumer platform, which is both a logical answer to ChatGPT and a bit of a mistake. It also happens to be the best scraping target Epic has ever shipped. Industry Analysis: The Wrong Yardstick (Aug 12): Vertical software keeps getting judged against Superhuman and Notion, which is the wrong bar entirely. Your user is comparing your product to a whiteboard and forty phone calls before lunch. Primitives vs. Abstractions (Aug 27): Developers want building blocks, systems of record prefer to hand out business logic, and both sides have a real case. There’s no test from the outside that separates the engineering reason from the competitive one, which is why this keeps ending up in court. Cross-industry Comparisons: The Two Kinds of Platform Power (Aug 18): Attention power and record power are different problems that keep getting handed the same regulatory toolkit. Congress’s latest swing at Big Tech shows both what’s possible and where it falls apart. The Dogs of (Platform) War (Aug 21): A CourtListener alert turned up a property management fight with healthcare’s exact shape and none of the Cures Act. Shell prospects, ghost accounts, a notetaker bot that came back to haunt someone, and a lawyer arguing both sides of the same theory in two states. Fractals All the Way Down (Aug 31): Yardi dominates property management right up until you zoom into one segment, where AppFolio owns it outright and Yardi doesn’t appear at all. Where you draw the line around a B2B software market is about to decide an awful lot of cases. Other News: If Judy Had the Courage (Aug 13): A short eulogy for the era when software was allowed to look insane: WinAMP, bold colors, and everything the grey chatbot era has taken from us. External Media: Portland Monthly Health Tech Meetup: Erin O’Brien channeled my own feelings - maybe it’s just because it’s August and beautiful, but the monthly edition of the PDX Health community meetup was a ripper. Make sure to reach out if interested to join for the next one. STAT’s Coverage of Epic This Month: Brittany Trang of STAT did a fantastic job of breaking the FTC investigation that’s been lurking, as well as UGM related coverage, so I had to give her her wish of a meme. Fall Conferences: I’m pumped to be kicking off my fall conference season in NYC at Nabla Accelerate next month, which Chrissy provided the link to apply for. Here’s the rest of my schedule in case you want to meet up: Commonwell (Redwood Shores, CA): Oct 13-14 Open@Epic (Madison, WI): Oct 21-22 eHealthExchange (Austin, TX): Oct 27 Sequoia Project (Austin, TX): Oct 28-29 HLTH (Vegas): Nov 15-18 RSNA (Chicago): Nov 29-Dec 3 Posts I Liked: HTI-6 Should Unbundle API Certification: Josh Mandel makes the case that HTI-6 should split (g)(10) into separate authorization and data certifications, so a PACS or a genomics platform can certify only the role it actually performs. Imaging is the urgent example, but the structure solves a much bigger problem. On implementing ePrior Auth with Epic: Scott Rossignol’s field notes from a live ePrior Auth build on Epic, including the two app registrations nobody warns you about and the CPT mapping problem waiting at the end. CMS-0057 implementations are going to be such a beast. Healthcare point solutions are starting to look a lot like streaming services: Spencer Dorn runs the cable-to-streaming arc against health IT and lands squarely on the bundling half of the cycle. Bundling can be good! It can also be bad! Life is nuanced. Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

Sep 2 • 5:05 AM EDT • Health • healthapiguy.substack.com

Browns Make new Flurry of Moves, Adjusting Practice Squad and 53-man Roster

The Browns waived Michael Coats Jr. from the 53-man roster, while adding several to the practice squad in several new moves.

Sep 1 • 11:49 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Cleveland Clinic survey highlights social media's influence on men's health

Seventy-four percent of men rarely or never trust health information shared by influencers, yet 39% admit they tried a new diet or wellness trend after seeing it on social media.

Sep 1 • 5:00 PM EDT • Health • spectrumnews1.com

gamescom 2026’s Steam wishlist winners

gamescom wrapped up last weekend, and it was bloody fantastic. It really felt like the industry had a spring in its step again. The show itself was BUZZING, with 368K attendees (+3% over last year), maxed-out exhibit space, and Opening Night Live pulling over 78M online views (+7.5%). Let’s have a look at the games at the event that brought in the most new Steam wishlists between August 23 and 30. One quick thing before we start, and stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but wishlists are NOT a barometer for launch sales (they’re bookmarks, not baskets is what we always say over here at Alinea). With that aside, wishlists are a nice gauge of hype, so let’s dive in. Witche(r)s and Warlocks take the top two spots The biggest game of the event (by new wishlists, anyways) wasn’t a game at all. It was an expansion. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s upcoming expansion, Songs of the Past, nabbed 451K Steam wishlists by the end of the weekend. It’s a big example of something we bang on about constantly: proven IP with built-in fandom is the most powerful force in this market. But said IP can also ripple into other external success stories (more on that later!). Anyway, Songs of the Past debuted at Opening Night Live, and it’s the first Witcher 3 expansion in over a decade, landing next year after a full Witcher 3 remaster (free for existing owners!) arrives next month. The Witcher 3 has sold around 66M copies, and I’ll be one of those owners jumping back in to refresh myself on the core game (like there isn’t enough to play!), then play the expansion next year. This is all part of CDPR’s plan. The studio is clearly whetting everyone’s appetite for The Witcher 4 in 2028 via a classic bridge strategy. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Releasing a free 4K remaster next month – followed by a proper expansion in 2027 – keeps IP top-of-mind across a huge gap between content (games-wise, anyway). It kind of echoes Capcom’s evergreen catalogue strategy. And outsourcing co-development to Fool’s Theory (a studio led by trusted Witcher 3 veterans) keeps CDPR’s internal headcount focused on The Witcher 4. #2 by wishlists between Aug 23 and 30 went to another giant IP: Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons, published by Wizards of the Coast and developed by Invoke Studios (a team of ex-Far Cry, Watch Dogs, and Splinter Cell devs). It’s due to launch in 2027, and it looks brilliant so far. It’s a dark-fantasy open world with third-person spell-slinging. It’s a very Witcher-ish aesthetic. As you might expect, 48% of Warlock’s Steam wishlisters have played Baldur’s Gate 3, and 46% have played The Witcher 3. One to watch. For sure! Mash-ups: Anime GTA (!?) and a city-builder for kids (and adults) Ananta took #3 with 302K new wishlists. It’s an open-world game that looks like GTA and Persona had a baby. It was published by NetEase, developed by Naked Rain, and got a trailer at Opening Night Live. I got hands-on at the show, and it wears its influences openly; there’s literal web-slinging (very Spider-Man) and a LOAD of mini-games (Like a Dragon). It’s free-to-play and out in January. For Ananta, Naked Rain is taking the free-to-play, cosmetics-only route. That’s certainly a choice for a single-player open-world game. Without gacha mechanics driving high ARPU, Ananta is betting purely on top-of-funnel reach and long-term retention. This puts pressure on skin appeal when there’s no multiplayer lobby to flex in (although, co-op is reportedly coming later). Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Then there’s Lego Skylines (273K wishlists between Aug 23 and 30), which does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a cosy Lego twist on the city-builder genre, as shallow or as deep as you fancy (five min quick sesh or ten-hour no-lifer session; latter for me). There’s some family-friendly stuff in there like couch co-op, which is only really viable on console. Iceflake Studios, which Paradox acquired back in 2020 is developing this one. So Paradox is probably looking for a family-friendly onramp to its rad Cities: Skylines games. The overlap there is plain, with 33% of Lego Skylines wishlisters having played Cities: Skylines and 16% Skylines II. There’s no doubt plenty of parents here (and uncles, ahem) planning to indoctrinate the next gen of city-builders. I’ll definitely be playing with my youngest nephew. This one could be big and educational. I’m very curious to see more. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Mature IP, new and old, rounds out the list As for the rest of the list of gamescom games by new wishlists between Aug 23 and 30: Heroes of Might & Magic III Remake got 189K new wishlists. It remakes the iconic 1999 turn-based-strategy classic in full 3D and 4K. It follows this year’s Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era (~1.8M copies sold, as per our estimates), and around a quarter of the III Remake wishlisters have played Olden Era, including 7% of them this month. Wardogs – a $40 PvP shooter – added another 146K to an already massive pile (nearly 1.6M total). It’s published by Team17 and made by Bulkhead. It plays somewhere between the tactical squad stuff of … Squad and the all-out-chaos battlefield of … Battlefield. It’s up to 100 players, and it’s out in about 10 days. It’s already pre-sold over 500K copies on Steam ($16.6M), boosted by a pre-order-only beta. It sold another 70K copies during gamescom, too. Afterworld managed 121K new wishlists. It’s a Paradox-made post-apocalyptic grand-strategy game, and it was announced at the show. It’s a departure from Paradox’s usual historical stuff, and the studio’s first new setting in over a decade. The Paradox purists are into it, with over half its wishlisters having played Hearts of Iron IV (19% this month) and 41% Crusader Kings III (17% this month). Metro 2039 got 110K during the show, tunnelling its total past 1.3M. Nearly 40% of wishlisters have played 2020’s Metro Exodus, the previous mainline title in the series. The Metro novels are Russian, dev 4A Games is Ukrainian, and it’s set in Moscow, so it’s unsurprising that – after the US (17.3% of wishlisters) – the next two countries are Russia (12.7%) and Ukraine (10.0%). The Blood of the Dawnwalker drew in (the blood of) 108K new wishlisters, now totalling an impressive 1.7M (at a $70 price point, though). It’s an open-world dark-fantasy action-RPG set in 14th-century Europe (with vampires!), made by some former Witcher devs at Rebel Wolves. Again, it shows. Over half of Blood of the Dawnwalker’s wishlisters have played The Witcher 3, and its #2 market is Poland, home of Rebel Wolves. That’s that hometown-hero effect we keep banging on about again! And Blood of the Dawnwalker plays very well, by the way. While it looks like a Witcher clone on the surface, it actually brings a lot to the table mechanics-wise. I love the whole time-as-a-currency spin on RPG gameplay. It gives the game a different, refreshing pace. Essentially, you start Blood of the Dawnwalker with a pool of 480 action points spread across 30 days and 30 nights. As for how the game performs, we’ll be posting some numbers next week, so hit subscribe below to get that in your inbox when it’s ready. Subscribe The Witcher’s legacy ripples Make no mistake: on a high level, this was The Witcher‘s gamescom. The #1 game by wishlisters was a Witcher 3 DLC. Warlock is clearly Witcher-inspired – as is Blood of the Dawnwalker, which was made by ex-Witcher devs. There was a lot of other cool stuff on the floor that we’ll no doubt be covering in subsequent newsletters, though! As always, wishlists went through the roof for sequels, remakes, DLC, and licensed IP. As always, though, these wishlists will likely convert to about 5% to 10% of launch-day buyers, with the probable exception of The Witcher DLC – the exception that proves the rule. Either way, we’ve got a nice, diverse list here – one that is very Witcher-y, Paradox-y, and – if you’re a fan of great games on Steam – a bloody good list. We even got a bunch of new IP to get excited for. Great gamescom! Even if we are still processing that unfathomable number of mini Kölsch beers! One more thing: GTA 6 broke the internet (again) Move aside, Spider-Man and The Odyssey (I love you both, really). But the decade’s defining entertainment zeitgeist is round the corner. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Rockstar dropped an extended look at GTA 6 last week. It was INSANE, the most impressed I’ve ever been by a showcase like this. You can see the budget seeping through every second of the extended look, and this level of game is unobtainable for any other publisher. Everyone’s going nuts, and rightly so. GTA 6 is out in holiday 2026, and it’ll be the biggest entertainment release ever, full stop. For those without a PS5 or Xbox Series console, a $500-$900 console is a big ask in this economy, but GTA will pull a lot of last-generation-console fence sitters over the current-gen fence either way: The autumn timing puts GTA 6 on (digital) shelves for the holidays, meaning a PS5 or Xbox (let’s be honest, mostly the former) will be on many a Christmas and Hanukkah list. Demand will outweigh the struggling supply, though, and PS5 Pros are already sold out and being sold at a markup via scalpers. Every console that isn’t on a shelf is a sale deferred or lost, and worse, it hands scalpers the margin. GTA has cultural clout that reaches everyone. It’s been a mainstream fixture since 2001’s GTA III and its clout has only grown exponentially since then. There’s a touchpoint for every generation alive. The FOMO-word-of-mouth double punch does the rest. Loading... It’ll reactivate the lockdown cohort, the millions who picked up gaming in 2020-21 and churned. GTA 6 will bring them back. Remember when College Football 25 brought a bunch of US gamers to current-gen consoles? GTA will do that globally. Once they’re back (or upgraded), and all GTA’d out, the fresh current-gen-console folks will check out the rest of the current-gen catalogue they missed. GTA Online, if not free to play, will also lead to a boost for PS+ and Xbox Game Pass, another boost for the ecosystem players. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Even some of the smug PCMR 60FPS crew won’t be able to resist their FOMO and will bite the bullet on a console to play this one early (then double dip). The consoles cost the same as a decent stick of RAM these days anyway lmao… Don’t get me wrong, though. GTA 6 is no silver bullet for the mature console market, but it does prime the current gen for a couple of strong swan-song years. And it’ll also give the consoles more users from which to maximise ARPU. ‘’We are in the latter half of the lifetime cycle of [the PS5],’’ said Sony President and CEO Hiroki Totoki in a Wall Street Journal interview. ‘’That means we do not need to aggressively sell the console today; rather than that, we are focusing on the current revenue from the current user base.’’ The biggest, best premium games always arrive late in a console cycle, so getting more players aboard now, ahead of that content storm (the new current-gen-only Call of Duty included), is a clear win for the platforms. On the Netflix thing, though: let’s all chill out a bit, like. Half my LinkedIn feed was going bonkers treating the reveal debuting on Netflix like it’s the future of entertainment. It wasn’t. It was a six-hour head start, and Netflix left that detail out of the “first-of-its-kind partnership” press release. The extended look hit Netflix at 3pm ET on 27 August, then went up on YouTube and Rockstar’s site for everyone six hours later. And it was all over social immediately, anyways. This reveal was going to reach an untold number of people whether it debuted on Netflix, YouTube, a Times Square screen, or a group chat. The last trailer did nearly half a billion views in a day with no gatekeeper at all. Netflix just stood next to that audience for six hours, borrowing it. It’s was a tidy deal for Netflix, sure. But every outlet on earth was breaking the thing down frame by frame by the evening anyway. Anyway. I’m hype. And we’ll be covering some GTA numbers on the newsletter soon. So hit subscribe below to get that in your inbox when it’s ready! Subscribe The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]

Sep 1 • 10:27 AM EDT • Technology • alineaanalytics.substack.com

The Bear’s Den: Practice squad formed & roster moves made

The Chicago Bears roster is still in flux as they fill out the Practice Squad, navigate injuries

Sep 1 • 6:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

$7.5-billion California science bond measure awaits Newsom’s sign-off

California lawmakers sent a $7.5-billion science research bond measure to Gov. Gavin Newsom. If signed, it would go before voters on the March 2028 ballot.

Aug 31 • 10:41 PM EDT • Science • latimes.com

Browns claim one, waive one, and add to practice squad

Cleveland has made a flurry of moves the day after cutdowns.

Aug 31 • 10:24 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Fluid Panthers sign ILB Bobby Okereke, claim OL Corey Bullock

Carolina general manager Dan Morgan continues to construct the NFL team's 53-man roster.

Aug 31 • 9:13 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Instagram puts new limits on undisclosed AI profiles

As frustration over AI influencers has been growing, Instagram is limiting the reach of undisclosed AI profiles.

Aug 31 • 3:16 PM EDT • Technology • techcrunch.com

A chat with the leaders bringing a nationally recognized health care culture program to Vanderbilt Health’s Regional Hospitals

Now in its fourth decade, Vanderbilt Health's Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy is a cornerstone of health care culture transformation in the U.S. and the world. A Q&A on its influences on how staff and patients interact all around the Midstate.

Aug 31 • 1:55 PM EDT • Health • news.vumc.org

Instagram cracks down on AI accounts pretending to be human

Give us a proper AI filter, you cowards.

Aug 31 • 9:00 AM EDT • Technology • theverge.com

Politicians paying influencers for support — some without disclosing: Report

Unbiased Politics News

Aug 31 • 8:00 AM EDT • Politics • thehill.com

Meet the “intellectual super influencers” of the new right

A new top 20 ranking of influences on the “national populist” right is at once surprising and revealing.

Aug 31 • 7:00 AM EDT • Politics • vox.com

The Zelda-Influenced NES Classic 'Battle of Olympus' Is Being Remade By Its Original Husband-And-Wife Team

"A handcrafted Steam remake by its original creators"

Aug 31 • 4:00 AM EDT • Technology • timeextension.com

South Korea court finds Unification Church leader Han guilty

A ​South Korean ‌court on Monday ​found ​Unification Church leader ⁠Han Hak-ja ​guilty ​in a case concerning political ​funds ​law violations and ‌bribery ⁠tied to alleged efforts ​to ​cultivate ⁠influence with ​former ​President ⁠Yoon Suk Yeol's ⁠administration.

Aug 31 • 1:53 AM EDT • Politics • reuters.com

Lawmakers send bills to Newsom shoring up ballot security, transparency for paid political posts

California lawmakers on Sunday approved bills aimed at preventing interference in this fall’s midterm elections and requiring more transparency from social media influencers who are paid by political campaigns.

Aug 31 • 12:25 AM EDT • Politics • latimes.com

Four Quick Thoughts on Patriots Initial 53-Man Roster Cutdown

Expect the team to be active and as coach Mike Vrabel said, "fluid" with the roster as the opener approaches on Sept. 9.

Aug 30 • 8:15 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

100 Days to Kickoff: Mercer and Stanford

Two teams in flux round out the first third of Tech’s season

Aug 30 • 3:42 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

North Carolina: Rabid baby goats at a mobile petting zoo prompts health warning

On Friday, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported confirmed multiple rabies cases in baby goats at a mobile petting zoo located in Iredell County. They were first notified of a potential rabies exposure among four baby goats at Farm Adventures in Harmony, North Carolina on August 27. The goats were most likely exposed to rabies by a skunk that had entered the pen where they were kept in late July. The NC State Laboratory of Public Health confirmed rabies viruses in three of the baby goats on August 28; a fourth goat was not tested but is also assumed to have been infected. Based on information gathered on August 28, it was determined that no other animals on the farm pose a risk of rabies exposure to people. Learn about rabies Anyone who had contact with baby goats from the Farm Adventures mobile petting zoo either at their location in Harmony, North Carolina, or at an off-site event, between July 28 and Aug. 27, 2026, may have been exposed while the animals were infectious. Impacted individuals should contact their local health department to determine whether medications are needed to prevent infection. Individuals are encouraged to call before visiting an emergency department or urgent care clinic to determine if treatment is needed and where it can be accessed. Known potential exposure dates and locations include: July 28: Jurney’s Assisted Living, 1942 Van Haven Drive, Statesville in Iredell County July 30: Private event in Mecklenburg County Aug. 1: Community Connections Back-to-School Bash, Breeden Amphitheater, 333 S. Main St., Lexington in Davidson County Aug. 6: Brookdale Peachtree, 2806 Peachtree Road, Statesville in Iredell County Aug. 8: Private event in Watauga County Aug. 9: Private event in Burke County Aug. 15: Masonic Picnic Grounds, 201 Poplar St., Mocksville in Davie County Aug. 16: Private event in Durham County Aug. 22: Private event in Iredell County Aug. 23: Private event in Durham County Rabies is a deadly disease that can spread from wild animals to pets and people, primarily through a bite, scratch or when infected saliva touches broken skin or mucous membranes. Human rabies infections are extremely rare in the United States. No human cases have been reported in North Carolina since 2011. Rabies is almost always fatal in mammals, including people, unless medications to prevent infections are given before symptoms develop. Symptoms can begin weeks to months after someone is exposed. Early symptoms are flu-like illness including weakness, fever or headache as well as a prickling or itching sensation where someone was bitten or exposed. In 2025, over 4,000 animals were submitted to the NC State Laboratory of Public Health for rabies testing, and of these, approximately 6% tested positive. In North Carolina the disease most often occurs in wild animals especially skunks, raccoons, bats and foxes. Outbreak News Today is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

Aug 30 • 2:52 PM EDT • Health • outbreaknewstoday.substack.com

Trump ‘border czar’ denies that Milo Yiannopoulos was deported after arrest

Tom Homan says rightwing influencer overstayed visitor visa after receiving final order of removal

Aug 30 • 2:50 PM EDT • Politics • theguardian.com

Influencer pleads guilty to criminal impersonation for viral pranks at Arizona businesses

An influencer known for prank videos pleaded guilty to posing as an employee during chaotic business takeovers in Tempe, Arizona.

Aug 30 • 2:38 PM EDT • Business • azfamily.com

NH's Business: Ongoing housing developments in New Hampshire

Fred Kocher sits down with Elissa Margolin with Saint Anselm College and Sarah Marchant with NH Community Loan Fund to talk about on how a bipartisan housing act could influence the housing market in NH.

Aug 30 • 9:01 AM EDT • Business • wmur.com

US Open predictions: Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff? The Sky Sports Tennis panel pick their winners and dark horses ahead of the Grand Slam in New York

Who are the winners and dark horses for this years US Open at Flushing Meadows? watch the final Grand Slam of 2026 from Sunday at 3pm live on Sky Sports Tennis and Sky Sports+, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app

Aug 30 • 3:00 AM EDT • Sports • skysports.com

Influencer pleads guilty to criminal impersonation for viral pranks at Arizona businesses

An influencer known for posting viral prank videos has pleaded guilty to criminal impersonation in Arizona for posing as an employee of businesses in a Phoenix suburb and orchestrating brief but chaotic takeover attempts.

Aug 29 • 10:09 PM EDT • Business • latimes.com

Influencer pleads guilty to criminal impersonation for viral pranks at Arizona businesses

An influencer known for posting viral prank videos has pleaded guilty to criminal impersonation in Arizona for posing as an employee of businesses in a Phoenix suburb and orchestrating brief but chaotic takeover attempts.

Aug 29 • 8:29 PM EDT • Business • seattletimes.com

Influencer pleads guilty to criminal impersonation for viral pranks at Arizona businesses

An influencer known for posting viral prank videos has pleaded guilty to criminal impersonation in Arizona for posing as an employee of businesses in a Phoenix suburb and orchestrating brief but chaotic takeover attempts

Aug 29 • 8:28 PM EDT • Business • abcnews.com

Green Bay Packers Cut Former Saints DB Before Roster Deadline

The Green Bay Packers made one of their initial roster moves after finishing the preseason, and it ended one of the shortest stays on their summer roster.The Packers announced Saturday that they had signed veteran tight end Jonnu Smith and released safety Tra Fluellen. KPRC 2 NFL insider Aaron Wilson also noted the corresponding moves […] The post Green Bay Packers Cut Former Saints DB Before Roster Deadline appeared first on HEAVY.

Aug 29 • 8:11 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

3.2K views · 13 reactions | Our media and politics reporter Ken...

Our media and politics reporter Ken Bensinger examines how political campaigns in the U.S. are increasingly paying social media influencers for support, though the ties are not always clearly...

Aug 29 • 2:55 PM EDT • Politics • facebook.com

LinkedIn Is No Longer a Business Network—It’s a Platform for Influencers Now

The Microsoft-owned platform has changed dramatically over the past few years. LinkedIn in late 2026 just feels different.

Aug 29 • 7:00 AM EDT • Business • inc.com

Political Campaigns Are Quietly Paying Influencers to Support Candidates

Their videos have proliferated on social media, but the payments are frequently hidden from viewers.

Aug 29 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

DKNG Soars Nearly 10%, FLUT Jumps 8% — DraftKings, Flutter Entertainment Rally On Ruling That Sports Bets Aren’t Swaps

A Ninth Circuit appeals court ruling that sports bets are not swaps removes a potential regulatory hurdle for DraftKings and Flutter Entertainment.

Aug 28 • 4:42 PM EDT • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com

Rep. Wozniak votes to crack down on corporate influence in Michigan politics

State Rep. Doug Wozniak this week voted to get money out of politics by blocking state-regulated utilities and companies with major government contracts from donating to political campaigns and candidates. The state House approved the Michiganders for Money Out of Politics (MMOP) citizen-initiated proposal after more than half a million Michigan residents signed petitions supporting […]

Aug 28 • 2:59 PM EDT • Politics • gophouse.org

Pappas Announces 43 New Cosponsors of His Bill to End Corrupting Influence of Dark Money in American Elections, Bringing Total to 181

Today Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) announced that his DISCLOSE Act has gained 43 additional cosponsors since its introduction, bringing the total number of cosponsors to 181 in the H

Aug 28 • 11:17 AM EDT • Politics • pappas.house.gov

How NYC plans to get young people to vote: Less politics, more influencers

Ahead of this fall’s midterm elections, New York City’s Campaign Finance Board is betting that one way to reach young voters is to make voting information

Aug 28 • 8:00 AM EDT • Politics • amny.com

Democrats aim to emulate Republicans in building state power

A growing number of progressive groups looking to combat the influence of conservative groups. Experts say the left has years of work ahead if it wants to match the prowess of the organized right. But the second Trump administration has rallied Democrats across the states seeking to oppose federal policies.

Aug 28 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • stateline.org

How A Tribal Health System Built A Wastewater Early-Warning System From Scratch

Tribal health org in remote Alaska proved wastewater surveillance can detect flu, RSV, and COVID-19 days before clinical cases in underserved communities.

Aug 27 • 3:41 PM EDT • Health • globalbiodefense.com

Carlos Alcaraz favored at US Open with Jannik Sinner injured

The return of Carlos Alcaraz and the absence of Jannik Sinner has had a significant influence on US Open betting futures. Alcaraz, the reigning champion, is +250 to retain his title according to DraftKings odds as of midday Thursday.

Aug 27 • 1:53 PM EDT • Sports • espn.com

Nvidia to start employee-funded US political action committee

Tech company Nvidia will ‌start an employee-funded political action committee, a source familiar ​with the plans told Reuters, as ​the company seeks to step ⁠up its efforts ​to influence U.S. policy.

Aug 27 • 11:38 AM EDT • Politics • reuters.com

Greenland research institutions halt new US collaborations citing mistrust

Although US President Donald Trump still harbours ambitions to take over Greenland, for US researchers his actions seem to have had the opposite effect. Over the summer, Greenland’s two largest research institutions, the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources and the University of Greenland, both announced policies of not starting new research projects with US researchers.Both institutions cite a mistrust of the US as a motivation for the decision. At the University of Greenland, the change of policy has already led to the rejection of specific proposals for new collaborations, rector Mari Kleist told Science|Business. “The reason is the changed political situation between the US and Kalaallit Nunaat [Greenland], and the uncertainty that the American interest in Kalaallit Nunaat has created,” she said.For the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, a partially state-funded environmental research institution, the decision was also prompted by a lack of trust in US intentions. In a July interview with local broadcaster KNR, director Josephine Nymand cited concerns about data ownership, US “influence operatives” and social media monitoring of researchers entering the US.The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources has long collaborated with the US National Science Foundation (NSF). The policy change will not affect these existing partnerships but will apply to collaborations with new, “unknown” partners, Nymand said. At the University of Greenland, the policy is the same.The changes come amid proposals of severe cuts to the NSF, which would likely also see the US research presence in Greenland reduced. In spite of this, when asked about the Greenlandic policy change, the NSF remained optimistic of its continued presence in Greenland.“We are grateful to our partners in Greenland for their collaboration in advancing scientific knowledge and training the next generation of researchers. NSF remains committed to the long-term collaborations with Greenland that enable scientific research near communities and on Greenland’s ice sheet,” an NSF spokesperson told Science|Business.Fewer US researchers in GreenlandMost research published on Greenland is on natural science topics such as the cryosphere, ice dynamics, permafrost and climate change. In recent years, US researchers have been the most prolific publishers on Greenland.The US research presence in Greenland goes far beyond the capital of Nuuk, where the two research institutions are located. It includes the Pituffik Space Base in northwest Greenland, various projects in settlements and research stations along the coast, as well as research stations on the Greenland ice sheet itself.The largest of these sites, Summit Station, is located at the highest point of the Greenland ice sheet, about 3,200 metres above sea level, and since the 1980s it has been used for drilling cores out of the ice sheet. These ice cores provide valuable information on the global climate going back at least 100,000 years. About 30 kilometres from Summit Station, the Danish-led Greenland Ice-core Project (Grip), funded by the European Research Council, is also drilling ice cores. Although they initially competed, the relationship between the two research teams has “long been amiable,” Jørgen Peder Steffensen, a Danish researcher who has been part of Grip for more than 40 years, told Science|Business.However, since Trump took office in early 2025, Steffensen has noticed a reduction in US research in the country. “Several of our American partners did not make it into the field this year. Their field seasons were cancelled because they lacked the budget,” he said.He ascribed part of the reduction in US researchers to a renovation of Summit Station. “A very large share of NSF funding has gone into renewing the station. Money has been taken from research and allocated to rebuilding it,” he said.A report published in August by Arctic Hub confirms Steffensen's observations of fewer US researchers. It shows that US research publications on Greenland took a dip towards the end of the period spanning 2015 to 2024. In 2024, before Trump took office, the number of publications had fallen from an average of about 250 articles a year, to just 164, second behind Canada at 169.Data from the NSF logistics provider Battelle also shows a reduction in US research presence in Greenland in recent years. In 2023, Battelle counted 48 projects across 78 locations, but in 2025 that number had fallen to 40 projects across 38 locations. And while relations with US personnel in Greenland have remained strong, some tensions have arisen since Trump took office. “On a personal level, there is nothing. But it’s hanging in the air. It hangs unspoken,” Steffensen said.Cutting ties with US researchers entirely would come at a higher cost for the ice core researchers than the Nuuk-based institutions. To get cargo to and from their bases, both Grip and Summit Station rely on unique, ski-equipped Hercules LC-130 aircraft operated by the New York Air National Guard. Without these, maintaining a research base on the Greenland ice sheet would not be viable on current budgets, Steffensen said. “[If the Hercules planes were not available], we would have to think outside of the box. We would have to use smaller planes, and we would have to build a base closer to the coast. But staying in our current location would be too expensive and it would create a huge carbon footprint,” he said.Suspicious people in NuukIn her explanation of the severed US ties, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources director Josephine Nymand compared the decision to past situations when the institute had to cut ties with China and Russia, the latter due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. And although the current situation is less severe, the comparison reflects the seriousness with which Nuuk sees the US threats. “From Greenland’s perspective, the US may not look so different from Russia right now: a much larger neighbouring power threatening to invade,” Lin Alexandra Mortensgaard, a researcher of international politics in the Arctic at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told Science|Business. “From a European perspective, it is not a comparable situation, because we are entangled with the US on all possible fronts and do not want to destroy more than is absolutely necessary. But from Greenland’s side, there may well be a need to send a clear signal to the US,” she went on. Suspicions have been fuelled by instances of Trump-affiliated people in Greenland trying to persuade Greenlandic citizens to support a US takeover. The most prolific among them is Tom Dans, a former venture capitalist and pecan farmer who was appointed by Trump as the chair of the United States Arctic Research Commission. Observers fear that he is now using research to achieve a US takeover.“Greenland is a small society with a small population, so when Americans with unclear affiliations wander around, trying to be good friends with people, and you don't know what they want, that creates mistrust. This probably played into the research institutions taking these drastic steps,” Mortensgaard said.Related articles:The US ‘golden age’ science strategy: what Europeans need to knowEU polar research melts into the backgroundAnchor Greenlanders in Arctic climate research, experts tell EU ahead of policy updateAnd although Greenland’s population is small at just 57,000, for Mortensgaard, it serves as a microcosm for the geopolitical situation as a whole: global powers fighting for their interests to the detriment of the common interest. Arctic research already suffered when collaborations with Russia broke down in 2022, she said, so a split with the US would be a serious hit to climate science.“The Arctic climate system does not respect borders or geopolitical divides. When collaboration across those lines suddenly becomes impossible, it is a huge problem for knowledge production,” she said. European alternatives?The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources is funded partly by research grants from external sources like the NSF. To replace the US funding, the institute will have to look for alternative revenue sources, and Nymand said that she is looking to Europe for those. Aside from Denmark, of which Greenland is formally a part, she also noted increased interest in research collaborations from the UK, France and Switzerland. Kleist of the University of Greenland told Science|Business that it was too early to say if the severed US ties would lead to more collaborations with Europe. Meanwhile, Mortensgaard believed that the tensions in Arctic research could well leave room for closer European partnerships, or stronger links with Canada. “I spoke to Canadian researchers who had long-standing relationships with American colleagues and who collaborated with the US Navy, but who had gotten worried that their data on sea ice could be used if Trump suddenly decided to follow through on his threats of invading,” she said. “Like Canada, I think Greenland is considering creating closer ties to Europe and I think European capitals will be open to this,” she said.

Aug 27 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencebusiness.net

“I jumped from my chair” – Astronomers spot Betelgeuse’s hidden companion

Astronomers have captured their clearest image yet of Betelgeuse’s long-suspected companion, potentially ending a search that lasted about 100 years. The surprisingly massive hidden star could help explain Betelgeuse’s changing brightness and may influence its future supernova.

Aug 27 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

The obscure documentary fueling Islamophobia in Texas

A documentary warns about a coming cultural conflict with Muslims in the US. It’s had surprising political influence.

Aug 27 • 6:30 AM EDT • Politics • vox.com

Dolly Parton’s 10 Leadership Lessons For Business Executives

Dolly Parton’s carer offers business leaders lessons about authenticity, judgment , delegation, values, influence, and building a lasting legacy

Aug 27 • 6:24 AM EDT • Business • forbes.com

Levanta raises $22 million Series B to grow social-commerce network

Creator commerce platform Levanta has raised a $22 million Series B round as it looks to drive more influencer affiliate sales on retail sites.

Aug 27 • 6:00 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

The primaries testing Democratic 2028ers

Democrats have used their endorsements of candidates in tough primaries as a way to wield influence over the party.

Aug 27 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • politico.com

How public safety can influence public health

UC Irvine study links community-led program to more physical activity at South L.A. parks, especially among Black visitors

Aug 26 • 1:28 PM EDT • Health • news.uci.edu

Stan Wawrinka Finally Gets His US Open Farewell

Swiss tennis legend Stan Wawrinka will get his final Grand Slam bow at Flushing Meadows after all. The three-time major champion and 2016 US Open winner has been awarded a men's singles main draw wild card for the 2026 US Open, the USTA confirmed, after Patrick Kypson withdrew from the tournament with an injury. It …

Aug 26 • 12:57 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Rep. Robinson votes to crack down on corporate influence in Michigan politics

State Rep. Ron Robinson yesterday voted to get money out of politics by blocking state-regulated utilities and companies with major state contracts from donating to political campaigns and candidates. The state House overwhelmingly approved the Michiganders for Money out of Politics (MMOP) citizen-initiated law proposal, which was initiated after hundreds of thousands of Michiganders signed […]

Aug 26 • 11:55 AM EDT • Politics • gophouse.org

New Mac Mini and Mac Studio Add Genlock Support for Camera Syncing

Apple's new Mac mini and Mac Studio feature genlock support over USB-C, allowing users to precisely synchronize a display with a camera such as the iPhone 17 Pro, without the need for additional equipment. Apple's new Mac mini and Mac Studio feature genlock support over USB-C, allowing users to precisely synchronize a display with a camera such as the iPhone 17 Pro, without the need for additional equipment.

Aug 26 • 10:25 AM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

Mapping North Carolina’s Climate Health Risks

From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Atlantic coast, North Carolina's geography does more than shape its landscape. It may also influence the health risks people face.At Duke University School of Medicine, researchers are combining climate data, geographic information, and real-world health records to better understand how environmental conditions affect health and why some communities face greater risks than others.

Aug 26 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • medschool.duke.edu

Luxury home builder turns social media following into multimillion-dollar business

Construction influencer Tyler Farrell joins 'Fox & Friends First' to share how he built a successful second career and social media following by showcasing his custom home building projects and craft.

Aug 26 • 7:34 AM EDT • Business • foxnews.com

Stuck on science

MOSES LAKE — It was just another Saturday at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center, with Program Assistant Savannah Betz explaining non-Newtonian physics and the scientific method to a group of grade-school children. “We know that something is solid because we can feel that it’s solid,” Betz said. “We know that something is liquid because it looks like liquid and feels like liquid. And you know that something is a gas because, well, you can’t see it, really. Sometimes you can smell a gas, and you kind of feel it as you wave your arms around. (Oobleck) is called a non-Newtonian fluid because it doesn’t conform to those states of matter.”

Aug 26 • 6:20 AM EDT • Science • columbiabasinherald.com

Why the White House and a MAHA influencer are fighting on social media

Influential MAHA activists are channeling their anger over pesticides at Heidi Overton, a top aide the president picked to lead the FDA.

Aug 26 • 5:00 AM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com

Dolly Parton built a better world, with rhinestones and songs

Dolly Parton was a beloved icon whose influence spans music, film and philanthropy. Parton, who died Tuesday, was known for her rhinestone-studded style and quick wit, as she captivated fans

Aug 26 • 12:09 AM EDT • Entertainment • yakimaherald.com

Enough with the podcasts. We elected politicians, not influencers.

From bikini pics to podcast launches, our elected officials are increasingly obsessed with becoming influencers – chasing followers while the actual job of governing gets left behind.

Aug 25 • 8:11 PM EDT • Politics • detroitnews.com

ADHD and Gut Health: Surprising Insights from New Research

Gut health and ADHD are more connected than we know. Gut microbiota, influenced by nutrition, affects attention, mood, impulsivity, and executive function…

Aug 25 • 6:35 PM EDT • Health • additudemag.com

Tisdel stands with Michigan voters to get money out of politics

State Rep. Mark Tisdel today voted to reduce the influence of powerful special interests in Michigan politics and strengthen public confidence that decisions in Lansing are made on behalf of taxpayers, patients and ratepayers, not major corporations seeking political influence. “The people of Michigan have been clear: They want money out of politics and accountability […]

Aug 25 • 4:47 PM EDT • Politics • gophouse.org

Flush with campaign cash, Uthmeier gets a boost from GOP attorneys general group

The Republican Attorneys General Association is pumping six-figures into the campaign

Aug 25 • 4:38 PM EDT • Politics • miamiherald.com

Election Live Updates: South Carolina and Oklahoma Primary Runoffs Will Test Trump's Influence

Darline Graham, the sister of the late Lindsey Graham, has President Trump’s backing in her bid for the South Carolina seat. Oklahoma is also holding primary runoffs.

Aug 25 • 4:05 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

Trump’s influence put to the test in South Carolina Senate run-off

Aug 25 • 4:00 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Sci-fi action platformer Elta: Defy All Gods announced for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC

Publisher Focus Entertainment and Dreamscaper developer Afterburner Studios have announced Elta: Defy All Gods, an “adrenaline-fueled action platformer blending free-form melee combat, fluid …

Aug 25 • 1:52 PM EDT • Technology • gematsu.com

Coating stops tooth decay in children

A clinical trial found that a topical treatment called silver diamine fluoride stops cavities in young children from getting worse.

Aug 25 • 11:49 AM EDT • Health • nih.gov

Small Business Spotlight: Kabob-It Turns Global Flavors into an Expanding Food Concept - Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Kabob-It, a restaurant in Hutchinson Commons on the UChicago campus that pairs Mediterranean cuisine with African American culinary influences and a growing range of flavors from around the world.

Aug 25 • 11:03 AM EDT • Business • polsky.uchicago.edu

Politics & Power: Congress in flux — New faces, high stakes, shifting power

Rick Mullaney, head of the Jacksonville University Haskell Public Policy Institute, joins News4JAX anchor Bruce Hamilton on this week’s episode of Politics & Power to discuss the November midterms. How new faces, new fault lines, and turnover and turnout could decide the Congressional balance of power.

Aug 25 • 10:02 AM EDT • Politics • news4jax.com

Peacemaking Is Power Politics Again

The post-Cold War model of institutionalized peacemaking has waned. But influential capitals are still looking to end and avoid conflicts.

Aug 25 • 9:51 AM EDT • Politics • foreignpolicy.com

New dementia prevention guidance expands risks

Brain health is influenced by more than genetics and aging alone. Learn WHO's latest dementia prevention guidelines and modifiable risks.

Aug 25 • 9:23 AM EDT • Health • utphysicians.com

Creatine: is there truth behind the hype?

Creatine has become the go-to supplement for anyone wanting to give their fitness a boost and build muscle. It’s even made it out of the gym, with influencers touting its cognitive benefits. But what’s the science behind creatine, and does the evidence stack up? Madeleine Finlay hears from science editor Ian Sample and Dr Justin Roberts, professor of nutritional physiology at Anglia Ruskin University

Aug 25 • 7:31 AM EDT • Science • theguardian.com

Sagebrush Collaborative unveils a new summer market

Already famous for drawing crowds with the Confluence Night Market and Boise Craft Holiday Market, Sagebrush Collaborative is launching a fresh summer event this year

Aug 25 • 7:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • idahopress.com

Fishy business: who really profits when sardines go viral?

Once a cheap store-cupboard staple, sardines are fast becoming a luxury food item. Last year, #SardineGirlSummer saw influencers promoting the health benefits of sardinemaxxing, while sardinecore became the must-have fashion trend. Now, demand is accelerating just as Morocco’s sardine stock has collapsed, causing shortages on supermarket shelves. The Guardian travels to Matosinhos in Portugal, the cultural home of the sardine industry, to investigate who is profiting from the boom, how it has affected local fishermen, and what sustainability looks like in an era of global heating

Aug 25 • 6:00 AM EDT • Business • theguardian.com

California lawmakers vote to increase transparency over influencers’ paid political posts

The California Senate has passed a bill to fine content creators who don’t disclose they were paid to post in support of a political candidate or issue on the ballot

Aug 24 • 8:06 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com

California lawmakers vote to increase transparency over influencers’ paid political posts

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The California Senate passed a bill Monday that would fine content creators who don’t disclose they were paid to post in support of a political candidate or issue on the ballot.

Aug 24 • 8:03 PM EDT • Politics • wral.com

South Carolina runoff to test Trump’s political influence

Darline Graham has differentiated herself from her brother, who was known for his outspoken stances on foreign policy.

Aug 24 • 2:21 PM EDT • Politics • newsnationnow.com

Bird flu is spreading. Your backyard feeder could make it worse

Backyard bird feeders could become unexpected hotspots for H5N1 as Australia’s bird flu outbreak spreads, bringing species together in ways that rarely occur naturally. Experts say stopping feeding is safest, while smaller amounts of food, no hand-feeding, and careful cleaning can reduce the danger.

Aug 24 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

A spatially programmable microfluidic chip for multi-stage particle and cell separation

A programmable microfluidic device developed at Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, combines deterministic lateral displacement, a microfluidic technique that is used to separate particles according to their size, with temperature-responsive polymer micropillars to dynamically change the separation conditions along a single channel. Using this device, the researchers successfully separated multiple particle populations. Additionally, they efficiently isolated viable cancer cells, white blood cells, and red blood cells from diluted whole blood.

Aug 24 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • eurekalert.org

Sudan’s conflict worsening, UN political and peacebuilding chief warns

On 24 August, the Security Council held a briefing on Sudan at the request by Denmark to discuss the protection of civilians and the humanitarian consequences of the ongoing conflict. “The consequences of this conflict will be long-lasting and should shock us all,” said Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.Civilians face one of the worst humanitarian crises, she said, as they deal with frequent drone attacks against markets, schools, fuel stations and water infrastructure, and the rainy season. Some 13 million people have fled their homes, but access challenges have made it impossible to confirm the true death toll, "it is likely to be in the hundreds of thousands", she said. “Brutal mass killings and atrocities, abductions of women and girls and mass rapes are recurring patterns,” she warned.In North Kordofan, drone attacks continue as both parties compete for control of strategically important towns, she said, reiterating deep concern at the imminent risk of large-scale atrocities by the Rapid Support Forces in and around El abdede. Drone strikes near Tina, on Sudan’s border with Chad, where the refugee influx has intensified pressure on already scarce land, have led to violent disputes over resources. Plus numerous armed movements are pursuing their own territorial and political interests. The UN continues to support efforts of the QUAD - United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates – for a humanitarian truce. And it is working with the Quintet partners, the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the League of Arab States, and the European Union to help advance a viable political path. “Our goal is to build confidence in the political path and pave the way for an inclusive Sudanese-led dialogue for a shared vision for the country’s future,” she said. Sudanese authorities have also bolstered efforts to support civilian dialogue. “Their desire for an inclusive and durable peace is clear,” she said. Both parties must now make concrete commitments on releasing of prisioners, particularly vulnerable groups such as women and children. “The Personal Envoy will travel to Sudan shortly to advance these conversations," she said.

Aug 24 • 8:00 AM EDT • Politics • dppa.un.org

Common medications may change your gut for years

Common medications may reshape the gut microbiome long after the last dose is taken. In a study of more than 2,500 people, researchers found lasting microbial changes linked not only to antibiotics, but also to antidepressants, beta-blockers, acid-reducing drugs, and benzodiazepines. Some effects were still detectable years later, suggesting past medication use may strongly influence the gut bacteria people carry today.

Aug 24 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

ASUS Republic of Gamers Announces ROG Flux Charger Dock

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the ROG Flux Charger Dock, a premium all-in-one charging and connectivity hub for gamers and creators. With 260 watts of total power output, it easily turns a laptop into a full gaming setup with an external monitor, mouse, and keyboard. A built-in...

Aug 24 • 7:48 AM EDT • Technology • techpowerup.com

This democratic socialist has upset the party establishment. Here’s her strategy for Congress

As the Democratic Party’s socialist summer comes to a close, Darializa Avila Chevalier has become one of the most polarizing — and potentially most influential — faces of an insurgency that has bested several congressional incumbents and left the party at a crossroads.

Aug 24 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Big business bought political influence. The bill is now due.

Corporate leaders’ attempts to buy political access under Trump could leave businesses exposed to public backlash and future administrations.

Aug 24 • 4:30 AM EDT • Politics • japantimes.co.jp