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Glyphosate: A story of science, risk, and nuance

In the summer of 2014, a California groundskeeper named Dewayne Johnson started noticing patches of raw, weeping skin spreading across his body. He had spent years applying Roundup, Monsanto’s glyphosate-based herbicide, for a school district, sometimes drenched in it when equipment malfunctioned. By 2014, he had a diagnosis: non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In 2018, a jury awarded him $289 million in damages, later reduced on appeal. Tens of thousands of lawsuits followed. The story hasn’t quieted down. It’s all over the internet, swinging between “this will kill you, buy organic” and “relax, you’re fear-mongering.” Some of that recent chatter stems from an Executive Order protecting glyphosate and its production, which set off intense infighting within the MAHA movement. Some of it reflects a deeper truth: Americans genuinely care about harmful chemicals in their environment (see poll below). And the conversation isn’t going anywhere, with a Supreme Court case involving Monsanto set for this April. Glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) is one of the most widely used herbicides in the world. But does glyphosate cause cancer? And how much exposure is actually risky? With so much mistrust in institutions and corporations (and some genuine conflicts of interest), making sense of the actual scientific evidence is genuinely hard. Here is a translation of what the scientific evidence actually says. Does glyphosate cause harm? Glyphosate is an herbicide that kills most plants it contacts rather than targeting specific species. It works by blocking an enzyme pathway (EPSPS) that plants and many microorganisms need to produce essential amino acids. Without those amino acids, the plant can’t grow and dies. Glyphosate was first developed by Monsanto in the 1970s and became ubiquitous after the company introduced “Roundup Ready” crops in the 1990s. In 2024, Bayer removed glyphosate from residential Roundup-branded products due to litigation pressure. But today it is still the most widely used herbicide in the world. Farmers also discovered they could spray it directly on crops like oats, lentils, beans, and peas just before harvest to dry them out faster and make harvesting easier. Because of its widespread use, it’s obviously really important to understand if it’s harmful to humans. The key principle: The dose makes the poison The most important concept in toxicology is that “the dose makes the poison.” Sixteenth-century physician Paracelsus articulated what remains the foundational principle of toxicology: sola dosis facit venenum. Water will kill you if you drink enough of it. Aspirin saves lives at 81 milligrams and causes internal bleeding at higher chronic doses. So, at what dose is glyphosate poisonous? The LD50 in rats (the dose that kills half the test animals) is around 5,600 mg/kg body weight. Table salt is roughly 3,000 mg/kg. By that classic measure, glyphosate is less acutely toxic than salt. But some people are exposed to a lot of glyphosate through their work. And among the general public, there are many questions about low-dose, cumulative exposure from multiple sources over long periods. Does glyphosate cause health problems? Cancer Correlation maps are striking, with one analysis finding that 60% of counties that spray the most glyphosate have non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma rates above the national average. But correlation alone doesn’t establish cause, which is why animal and human studies matter. In animals: Rat studies are typically what most fear is rooted in, but most people don’t know the study details on the dosage given to rats. A pooled analysis of the 13 most rigorous rat studies found evidence that very high doses, around 55,000 times greater than typical food residue exposure, can cause certain cancers. In humans: One of the strongest studies followed 55,000 herbicide users over 20 years and found no overall increased cancer risk. There was one signal: among those with the highest use, rates of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) appeared elevated. A broader meta-analysis of 18 human studies also found no overall cancer risk, though a separate meta-analysis focused specifically on non-Hodgkin lymphoma found that people with high cumulative glyphosate exposure faced a 41% higher relative risk compared to those with low or no exposure. These human studies are observational studies (randomized controlled trials would be unethical), and meta-analyses are only as reliable as the studies they pool. But the story seems consistent: at very high exposure levels, there may be some cancer risk. But that’s about as far as the science currently takes us. Emerging research: gut and reproductive health Gut: Because glyphosate targets a pathway that exists in some gut bacteria, scientists have questioned whether it could affect the microbiome. In mice, a 2023 University of Iowa study found that glyphosate altered gut bacterial composition and raised markers of intestinal inflammation. A 2024 systematic review found similar patterns: disrupted gut bacteria and problems with the mucus layer that protects the intestinal wall in mice. Whether this translates to humans is an open question. The human gut is highly variable and resistant, and we don't yet have strong studies confirming the same effects in people. Reproductive health: Animal studies have found that glyphosate-based herbicides can interfere with reproductive hormones, including disrupting egg cell development in mice and reducing the number of eggs available in sheep’s ovaries. However, the doses used in these experiments were high, so it’s not yet clear whether the same effects would occur in humans. On the human side, a 2021 pilot study led by Mount Sinai researchers tested urine samples from pregnant women across the U.S. and found glyphosate in 95% of them. The study also found a possible connection between higher glyphosate exposure during pregnancy and a subtle physical difference measured in female newborns. That said, some connections weren’t statistically reliable and this was a small study. The researchers themselves said more and larger studies are needed before drawing firm conclusions. What do regulators say about glyphosate safety? In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans" (Group 2A). The classification is worth taking seriously. But, there’s an important distinction: IARC classifies hazard, meaning the potential to cause harm under some conditions. It does not assess risk, which accounts for actual exposure levels and the real-world probability of harm. The U.S. EPA, the European Food Safety Authority, Health Canada, and regulatory agencies in Australia and Japan have all concluded that glyphosate is “unlikely to be carcinogenic to humans” at realistic exposure levels. They’re asking a different question: given how much of this people actually encounter, what is the probability of harm? Your actual exposure is what determines your actual risk. What does glyphosate mean for your daily life? At the grocery store: Food residues are small. The EPA’s acceptable daily intake is 1.75 mg/kg of body weight per day. To hit that threshold from oatmeal alone, a 150-pound adult would need to eat roughly 50 pounds of oats every day. But this calculation addresses only one pathway (food), and we don’t yet have robust tools to measure people’s actual total exposure. If reducing exposure matters to you, organic certification prohibits synthetic herbicides, and organic oat products generally test at lower or undetectable levels. Either way, a diet rich in whole grains, conventional or organic, is far better for your health than one that omits them out of fear of residues. On the farm: Occupational exposure is orders of magnitude higher than consumer exposure. Farmers and farm workers who mix, load, and apply glyphosate-based herbicides, especially without protective equipment, face meaningfully different risk profiles. Proper PPE isn’t optional. Integrated weed management strategies that rotate chemical modes of action are also worth taking seriously, both for health and for long-term effectiveness. If you live near a farm: Spray drift is real. Concentrations near field edges can spike during and after application, particularly on windy days. This is an area where I think public health could really step up and empower rural communities with buffer zones, rather than placing the onus on individuals. But for now, knowing your local agricultural calendar and keeping windows closed during application are the first steps. Bottom line Dewayne Johnson was exposed to glyphosate at levels most people will never encounter, and a jury decided he deserved compensation. That outcome is not evidence that the oatmeal in your pantry is dangerous. But it is a reminder that the dose, the context, and the person doing the exposing all matter enormously. Glyphosate is a chemical tool with benefits, trade-offs, and genuine open scientific questions. Learning to hold that complexity without collapsing into panic or dismissal is, honestly, one of the most useful and hardest things to do in navigating modern health science. Love, YLE Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) is founded and operated by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, MPH PhD—an epidemiologist, wife, and mom of two little girls. Hannah Totte, MPH, is an epidemiologist and YLE Community Manager. YLE reaches more than 425,000 people in over 132 countries with one goal: “Translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people will be well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. This newsletter is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support the effort, subscribe or upgrade below: Subscribe

Mar 25 • 10:25 AM EDT • Science • yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com

Deaths and Health Care Issues in ICE Detention Centers Under the Second Trump Administration

This brief provides an overview of deaths in ICE custody and detention centers under the Trump administration based on KFF analysis of ICE detainee death reporting and news releases and reviews recent reports of health care issues in detention centers.

Mar 25 • 9:54 AM EDT • Health • kff.org

About 40 'No Kings' protests planned across Tennessee. See when and where

In total, organizers estimate about 3,000 events nationwide, surpassing previous 'No Kings' mobilizations since the movement gained traction on President Trump’s birthday in June 2025.

Mar 25 • 8:33 AM EDT • Politics • tennessean.com

Marathon has sold 1.2M copies across Steam, PS5, and Xbox

Alinea Analytics estimates show that Marathon has generated gross revenues of $55M via 1.2M copies sold on Steam, PS5, and Xbox: Looking at the split between Steam, PS5, and Xbox, Steam is clearly the main platform for Marathon, accounting for a little under 70% of the audience (800K copies sold). Meanwhile, PS5 takes about 19% (217K) and Xbox (including console, PC, and cloud) accounts for a bit over 11% or 133K. Marathon is technically a first-party Sony title, so seeing the home console struggle to break 20% of the volume is a notable data point for the ongoing platform-agnostic debate. PlayStation Studios online games will almost certainly continue being multiplatform (despite Sony reportedly pulling back on PC releases). Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe As for Marathon, the consensus among hardcore players who pushed through the awkward onboarding phase – myself included – is that it’s fantastic. The gunplay, aesthetic, and presentation are among the best in the shooter genre. A great game doesn’t always equal an immediate hit, though, as shown by our estimates. Things are looking lukewarm right now. But this might be one of those marathon-not-a-sprint situations. Had to, didn’t I? Why wasn’t Marathon a hit on the same level as Arc Raiders? One topic that came up in a lot of conversations at GDC this year was why Marathon hasn’t hit the same stratosphere as Arc Raiders. On paper, they’re both extraction shooters, and Marathon has the Bungie pedigree – the house that built the gold standard for gunplay in Halo and Destiny. Marathon’s neon-futuristic aesthetic also distinguishes itself from the gritty realism of Tarkov or the post-apocalyptic hope of ARC Raiders. But vibes can only get you so far for first impressions if the onboarding feels like a brick wall. Marathon is a sweaty PvP-focused experience with a first-time user experience and UI that I can only describe as dreadful. Players are dropped into a complex ecosystem where the UI, though visually striking, is functionally uninformative, forcing users to manually hover over nondescript, identical icons just to identify basic gear or weapon mods. This lack of clarity is compounded by punishing mechanics like a severe heat gauge for movement and a scarcity of vital resources, all without a clear tutorial or a low-stakes mode to learn the ropes. Most people – even top streamers and veteran shooter players – have no idea what’s going on in Marathon at first. Arc is on the complete other end of the spectrum. As we covered here and here, Arc Raiders offers a more collaborative, approachable loop where players often work together toward shared goals. And the objectives are instantly clear. To many players, this contrast only emphasised Marathon’s issues, especially during the testing period. Players understand the Arc Raiders loop within 30 minutes, while Marathon acts as a massive filter, chewing up newcomers and spitting them out before they can experience the depth of Bungie’s signature gunplay. What I’m getting at here is that the poor first-time user experience of Marathon’s Server Slam likely stifled launch sales, while the opposite was true for Arc. Let’s look at the pre-launch copies sold for each game during their respective Server Slams (launch-aligned) : Looking at the trajectory: Arc Raiders saw a massive 80% jump in copies sold during its three-day Server Slam (day -13 to -11). Players jumped in, realised the water was fine, and immediately opened their wallets. Marathon, meanwhile, saw a 49% increase in the four days following its Slam (Day -7 to -3). At the time of each game’s respective launch, Arc Raiders had nearly double the Steam footprint of Marathon – and word of mouth only continued to grow. Bungie could have had more time to fix the onboarding process had the beta happened earlier. But Marathon launched three days after the beta finished. These factors limited the launch sales quite a bit, I reckon. Marathon has found a niche audience, though Despite the friction-heavy start, the data suggests that those who survived Marathon’s onboarding are loving life. We’ve been tracking cross-platform DAUs, and while there’s the expected post-launch leakage, many players are sticking with it. After peaking at 478K total DAUs on its first Saturday, Marathon has settled into a respectable rhythm, holding 345K DAUs as of yesterday and averaging 380K DAUs across the weekend. Steam continues to do the heavy lifting here, consistently accounting for the lion’s share of the daily players. Players have been putting in the hours, too: On Steam, Marathon’s average playtime has climbed to 27.8 hours, significantly outpacing the console averages on PS5 (16.5h) and Xbox (17.3h). Even more telling than the averages: 22% of the Steam audience has surged past the 50-hour mark, and nearly 7% have already logged over 100 hours. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe This data suggests that once the Bungie magic clicks, it hooks players deeper than the average extraction shooter. There’s also started to be a shift in the game’s discourse. Marathon launched as one of those games that’s cool to hate. But as Marathon’s 100-hour club grows, we’re seeing conversations around its mechanical merit outweigh the negativity. Several high-profile creators, who were initially vocal critics, have spent the last week coming around on the mechanical depth of the endgame. It’s a subtle but positive signal; the hate train is losing steam, and a new narrative about the game is emerging. Bungie faithfuls unite Another interesting metric in Marathon’s first few weeks is who, exactly, is playing. Bungie leans heavily on its prestige as the “makers of Halo and Destiny,” in its marketing, and that message has clearly hit the mark. On Steam, the gravity (hammer) of Bungie’s previous work is unavoidable. A staggering 78.2% of Marathon players also played Destiny 2. The trend carries across other platforms, with 74.2% of PS5 players and 82.7% of Xbox players also having played Destiny 2. The Halo legacy lives on, it seems. More on that in a bit. While Destiny 2 went free to play, these numbers still represent a high-intent migration of a fanbase that trusts Bungie’s specific brand of kinetic gunplay and cryptic world-building. The Xbox data adds another layer of legacy. About 85.7% of Marathon players on Xbox have played Halo Infinite, while over half of the Steam audience has spent time in Halo Infinite and 36.1% in the Master Chief Collection (a paid collection of the old Bungie-made legacy games). Interestingly, we see a 55.9% overlap with ARC Raiders on Steam. Overlap is even higher there on PlayStation (60.5%) and Xbox (66.5%). And there’s also significant crossover with Helldivers 2 on all platforms, too. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe Bungie has found some of its fans with Marathon, and the challenge now is keeping this engaged in a high-stakes PvP environment when they’ve spent the last decade primarily enjoying the power fantasies of PvE. On that note… Go the full 26 miles? Or cut and run? Time for some could’ve, should’ve, would’ve. These things would have improved Marathon’s performance at launch: A more robust onboarding process, perhaps in the form of a short single-player/PvE campaign. We know Bungie fans love this stuff. A traditional arena-based mode akin to Destiny’s Crucible could have been a bridge for the cautious players who’d have been otherwise deterred by the Server Slam. It’s also a great palate cleanser after getting merked. Introducing a dedicated PvE environment would have similarly diversified the conversation and lowered the barrier for the Bungie faithful who found the pure PvP extraction loop too abrasive. PvE is safer than PvP these days. There’s an argument that a thin PvE mode would have just felt like a budget Destiny, potentially hurting the brand more. But given how dire the FTUE is, I think it would have been a net positive. Any kind of tutorialised loop that demystifies the stakes, really. While there is merit in a studio sticking firmly to a singular creative vision, and going all in on the hardcore extraction loop. Less forgiving is the technical reality is that the user interface and first-time user experience (FTUE) were not at a commercial standard for launch. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe In a landscape where player time is oversaturated and the most contested currency, a flawed FTUE is a critical failure point. But it’s not all doom and gloom, as Marathon has an incredible, unique gameplay loop, suggesting that financial success is still attainable if Bungie can pivot effectively. Bungie and PlayStation now face a difficult strategic crossroads, though – one within a challenging games market. They could: Double down on Marathon with a long-term Rainbow Six Siege- or No Man’s Sky-style recovery plan, which is something I heard Last Stand Media’s Chris Maldonado mention last week. While this could be a sunk-cost fallacy in action, it could eventually yield the audience the game’s mechanical depth deserves. Shift focus toward the inevitable Destiny 3 or another project, mitigating the escalating opportunity cost and cutting their losses, so to speak. Doing both is an expensive proposition, given the high overhead and burn rate of operating out of Bellevue, Washington. With Sony recently demonstrating a lower threshold for underperforming studios and projects, the margin for error has vanished. Whatever happens, the next six months will determine whether Marathon becomes a cornerstone of Sony’s live-service portfolio or a cautionary tale of vision exceeding accessibility. I’m hoping it’s the former, because Marathon rocks. As always, hit subscribe to get updates on Marathon and other relevant games. Subscribe Want to get your hands on our data for yourself – for free? We’re offering a free trial of our platform for games companies. Send us a message here, or reply to this email, and we’ll set you up. 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!]

Mar 24 • 2:06 PM EDT • Technology • alineaanalytics.substack.com

Lowndes County leaders cut ribbon on medical, mental health jail expansion

The new facility includes 60 cells with a total of 90 beds, according to the county.

Mar 24 • 11:51 AM EDT • Health • witn.com

Saturn Gets 11 New Moons, Bringing Its Total To A Whopping 285 –66 Percent Of All The Solar System's Moons

There's actually a rule which stops these moons from being given proper names. Don't give them the attention.

Mar 23 • 11:48 AM EDT • Science • iflscience.com

Trump admin dumps Biden-era wind projects for billion-dollar investment in US oil

The Trump Department of the Interior secured a landmark agreement with energy giant TotalEnergies to redirect nearly $1 billion away from "unreliable" and "ideological" wind projects.

Mar 23 • 11:28 AM EDT • Business • foxbusiness.com

Scientists Open Moon Rocks Locked Away Since 1972 – and Find Something Totally Unexpected

Decades after being sealed away, Apollo-era lunar samples are revealing unexpected chemical signatures that challenge long-standing assumptions about the Moon’s composition.

Mar 22 • 9:32 PM EDT • Science • scitechdaily.com

Your Thymus and Your Healthspan

Our thymus gland plays a central role in the development or our immune system, specifically for supporting T cell development (how these cells got their name, maturation and differentiation in the thymus) and discriminating between self and foreign, non-self antigen proteins with production of dendritic cells. As we age, our thymus gland shrinks—the process known as involution—with progressive change from spongy to fatty tissue, with loss of functionality. But this process, with respect to timeline and extent, markedly varies from one person to the next. And to make things even more complicated, our thymus gland anatomy and precise location in the chest also is highly variable. So the famous Frank Netter diagrams from the 1960s (such as at left below) don’t capture the remarkable heterogeneity that a random set of 12 chest CT scans (below at right). What I consider as 2 landmark papers in Nature this week (here and here) used AI to quantify health of the thymus in 2 large cohorts, and then correlate the metric to a broad array of health outcomes. In this edition of Ground Truths, I’m going to cover three questions: (1) How was thymus health determined by AI?; (2) How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? and (3) Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? Subscribe 1. How was thymus health determined by AI? This was accomplished by extensive work developing and validating an AI pipeline for 2 stages, the first for localization and segmentation of the thymus bed, and the second to quantify a digital marker, termed the thymic health score. There’s a lot to this algorithmic development, so I won’t go into all the details, but just provide a rudimentary outline of what was done. The 1st stage used supervised learning with 2 radiologists reviewing 2,461 chest CT scans. That work trained a 3D U-Net model to automatically identify the thymic bed’s 3D cropped region using center of mass coordinates, which reached 99.8% accuracy. The 2nd stage used a foundation model that was pre-trained with SwAV (which stands for Swapping Assignment between multiple Views), a self-supervised model, that generated a high-dimensional thymus representation of 4,096 features. That compares to the radiology reductionist and subjective scoring of 0 to 3 where 0 means the thymus is fully degenerated and fatty, and 3 is considered dense, intact glandular soft tissue. Notably, the self-supervised learning (SSL) performance was superior to supervised (AUC ~0.75 vs 0.55, respectively) reflecting the shallowness of the 0-3 classifier vs SSL’s holistic, self-taught AI. The thymic health score ranged from 0 to 100, with the highest number indexed to fully preserved thymic health. The algorithmic work extended to explainability with both Shapely value distribution, meaning the model was holistic not relying on any “magic” pixel, and occlusion sensitivity, demonstrating the model’s performance was not affected by ribs, sternum, lung tissue, but rather focused on the thymic bed directly. Below are a few saliency maps from the occlusion sensitivity that indicate the thymic bed focus, not affected by neighboring structures, using the jet color scale. Now the AI was ready for processing ~25,000 CT scans, each over 30 MB files, from the 2 large participant cohorts to provide a thymic health score, it did so in less than 14 hours, which is less than 2 seconds per scan! Share 2. How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? The two cohorts were the National Lung Screening Trial, NLST (N=25,031) and the Framingham Heart Study, FHS (N=2,581) each with baseline demographics and long term follow up of >12 years for health outcomes. From the NSLT, you can see below that increased age and body-mass index were correlated to reduced thymic health. And, overall, men had reduced thymic health scores compared with women. There are a lot of graphs in the paper for outcomes, for both the NLST and FHS cohorts. To simplify the major outcomes, below is a composite Figure with striking reduction of all-cause mortality and for the different causes of death. The results were consistent between the 2 cohorts. For example, the cardiovascular mortality hazard ratio average was 0.57 in NLST and 0.38 in FHS (weighted to be 0.53 for the aggregate). The reduction of mortality also extended to digestive diseases and pulmonary disease (data not shown below). Lung cancer incidence was reduced by 36% for high vs low thymic health (Figure below, with a panel -incidence and b panel-mortality, adjusted for age, sex, BMI, smoking status). Notably, there was a smoker’s paradox: lower incidence and improved survival for lung cancer in smokers who had a high thymus health score. Smoking was associated with lower thymic scores whereas alcohol was not. Higher thymic health was linked to higher HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides, lower fasting blood glucose, and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Inflammation biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, were elevated in the people with lower thymic health scores. In their second paper, the same team looked at the relationship between thymic score and outcomes for 3,476 patients receiving cancer immunotherapy. The non-small cell lung cancer progression-free survival was reduced in patients with low thymic health score. A parallel relationship for survival was seen for other types of cancer including melanoma, breast, and kidney with a 44% lower risk among high thymic scores (Figure). A similar pattern was seen with different immune checkpoint inhibitors. The thymus health score outperformed programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1)and tumor mutation burden (TMB) assay of the tumor and was an independent prognostic marker of progression-free survival. In this dataset, a direct connect with thymus score and adaptive immune function was noted with a correlation before cancer treatment for both T-cell diversity and thymus T-cell production (a metric known as T cell receptor excision circles). Thymus Removal Study There is a highly relevant citation about thymus function before moving onto ways to rejuvenate it. In 2023, a very important study of thymus removal during cardiothoracic surgery was published, with 1146 patients undergoing thymus removal vs 1146 matched controls (mean age 55 years). The adverse outcomes for thymus removal were striking, with a 2.9 higher risk of all-cause mortality and doubling of cancer incidence, 1.5 fold increase in cancer mortality, and 1.5-fold increase in autoimmune diseases. The immune function showed marked compromise after thymus removal, as reflected by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (Figure below) Share Ground Truths 3. Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? In recent months we’ve learned a lot about the process of thymus involution and the pathways by which this may be modulated. Thymus involution is primarily due to loss to thymus epithelial cells (TECs) and there are 2 subtypes with different functions: the cortical, responsible for positive selection of T cells, and the medullary, for negative selection. When adipose tissue infiltrates the thymus, thymic adipocytes are pro-inflammatory, knocking out T-cell output. Likewise, systemic inflammation, or “inflammaging,” from smoking, obesity, and chronic stress promote thymic adipocytes. Now, from preclinical studies, we know about key pathways that account for these processes. Historically, back in 2014, FOXN1 was recognized as a single master transcription factor essential for TEC function, with studies in mice with forced FOXN1 upregulation leading to thymus regeneration. That laid the foundation for potential regrowth of quiescent thymus cells. It took awhile to find pathways to accomplish this goal and to even refute its role as the master regulator. The Liver-Thymus Axis Feng Zhang and his team recently showed that injection of an mRNA vaccine to the liver encoding DLL1, IL-7 and FLT3-L in combination, factors known to support thymopoiesis (Figure), successfully enhanced immune function in aged mice. However, the effect was transient. The FGF21 Story Two reports in 2025 addressed the thymus gland’s production of FGF21, a growth factor (fibroblast growth factor 21) and its control of thymus involution. This growth factor is also produced by the liver, but it doesn’t have impact on the thymus in aged rodent models. In contrast, The liver’s hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been shown to reverse senescent TEC structural changes. Growth hormone stimulates production of insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in the liver and the thymus. Two small studies in human participants (TRIIM, for Thymus Regeneration, Immunorestoration, and Insulin Mitigation) of 6 and 50 people, respectively, treated with combined human growth hormone, metformin and DHEA, suggested the potential of slowing epigenetic aging and improving thymus mass and function. But the combination of drugs, small sample, and lack of controls make conclusions murky. Increased thymus FGF21 led to increased CD8 T cells in old mice and extended healthspan and improved physical performance. Building on the previous FOXN1 data, ablation of β-klotho, the obligatory co-receptor for FOXN1, accelerated thymic aging. The benefit to FGF21 was confirmed in a companion paper using an FGF21 knock-in mouse model showing thymus enlargement and increased TECs throughout the lifespan. (schematic Figure below). The accompanying editorial for these 2 papers speculated: “The proposed link between age-associated thymus involution and organismal aging is intriguing, and suggests we might seek to achieve systemic rejuvenation by counteracting thymic involution.” Other Factors Lessons from the Axolotl (Mexican Salamander) In an elegant set of experiments of the axolotl (Figure), known for its complete thymus regeneration after total surgical removal, mediators were identified. Surprisingly FOXN1 was dispensable. But midkine, a growth factor, appeared to be the driver, the initiator of thymus cell growth, survival, and repair. Other components that contributed were Postn+ (periostin-expressing mesenchymal niches) and Ccl19, a chemokine protein from the bloodstream. RANK and RANKL RANK (receptor activator of nuclear factor κB its ligand (RANKL) have been considered key regulators of medullary TECs. In a study of both aged mice and human thymus cell cultures, their key role was confirmed, with multiple benefits of resorting TEC function, recruitment of progenitor cells, and T cell development. Subscribe Summing Up This body of work strongly supports the health of the thymus gland as a critical regulator of human healthspan, not just a correlate or link. The new landmark studies are reinforced by the regenerative biology experimental models that have shown, via an array of mediators, that healthspan of aged mice is at least in part dependent on thymus gland function and its critical role for maintaining adaptive immunity. It sure seems that we’d be better off having an immune reservoir of naive T cells instead of a profile in older adults of exhausted, low quality, memory T cells, with a senescent phenotype. It is striking that we ignored the importance of the thymus gland for many decades. A wake-up call was the results of the thymectomy matched control study reviewed here, with the opposite of high thymic health score improved health outcomes. The convergence of AI and healthspan here is notable. The exceptional and laborious work for developing and validating (no less explaining) the AI to quantify thymus health set the foundation for probing the connect the major health outcomes in two cohorts with extensive follow-up. We’ve never had a way to meaningfully quantify the thymus gland before, so this represents important leverage of supervised, self-supervised, and transformer models. The study wouldn’t have been possible without AI. And it begs the question as to whether there are ways we can maintain our thymus at a high health score. But it’s not so simple to rejuvenate our thymus. There are multiple risks including the induction of autoimmunity, increasing the risk of cancer, and inducing a pro-inflammatory state. For example, factors that increase TEC proliferation could compromise the medulllary negative selection process and leak out auto-reactive (self-attacking) T cells. Thymic cells could be induced to proliferate, but we know, for example, that growth hormone and IGF-1 are associated with an increase risk of cancer. If thymus rejuvenation doesn’t clear out the accumulated senescent cells in older adults, then inflammation within the gland could block the production of TECs. Keeping these risks in mind, we now have identified many ways to keep our thymus healthy as we age that undoubtedly will be tested in clinical trials going forward. Ultimately, the benefit-to-risk tradeoffs will be defined. In the meantime, we have desperately needed an immunome. As I’ve stressed in multiple prior Ground Truths, we have no test in the clinic to assess a patient’s immune status! It was very encouraging for me to get an email from Hugo Aerts, the senior author of the landmark papers in the days after they were published: “I also wanted to say that your Substack on “Why We Need an Immunome” was inspiring for this work. We found it a very compelling perspective and greatly enjoyed reading it.” Just having an assessment of a person’s immune status via a chest CT scan, with millions of these performed per year, might help in guiding the right immunotherapy for cancer (e.g. more intensive, combinations for those with low thymic health scores) and help define people who are increased risk for age-related diseases of cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative. The main theme of Super Agers is that we now have many layers of data (genetics, proteins, biomarkers, organ clocks that can be integrated via multimodal AI) for us to define a person’s specific risk decades before one of these age-related diseases leads to symptoms, enabling prevention. From the new studies this week, we can add thymus health score as yet another way to understand a person’s risk, a window into their adaptive immune system and healthspan. And perhaps someday we will be able to safely rejuvenate the thymus, or maintain its health through one’s life, and use the thymus health score to monitor. NB: I wrote this post (No A.I.) A Quick Poll Loading... ********************************************************************* Thanks to Ground Truths subscribers (now > 200,000) from every US state and 212 countries. Your subscription to these free essays and podcasts makes my work in putting them together worthwhile. Please join! If you found this interesting PLEASE share it! Share Ground Truths Paid subscriptions are voluntary and all proceeds from them go to support Scripps Research. They do allow for posting comments and questions, which I do my best to respond to. Please don’t hesitate to post comments and give me feedback. Let me know topics that you would like to see covered. Leave a comment Many thanks to those who have contributed—they have greatly helped fund our summer internship programs for the past two years. It enabled us to accept and support 47 summer interns in 2025! We aim to accept even more of the several thousand who will apply for summer 2026.

Mar 22 • 2:18 PM EDT • Health • erictopol.substack.com

Far-left activists stay in 5-star Cuban hotel as island suffers total blackout

CodePink sponsored flights to Cuba to protest President Donald Trump's sanctions, but the group faced backlash for staying in luxury hotels.

Mar 22 • 11:44 AM EDT • Politics • foxnews.com

Free Play Days – Sea of Thieves, Totally Reliable Delivery Service, Trailmakers, Hell Let Loose and Firefighting Simulator: Ignite

Free Play Days - hop into Sea of Thieves, Totally Reliable Delivery Service, Trailmakers, Hell Let Loose and Firefighting Simulator: Ignite this weekend.

Mar 19 • 11:00 AM EDT • Technology • news.xbox.com

HSBC mulls job cuts that could impact around 20,000 roles, Bloomberg News reports

HSBC Holdings Plc is weighing a ​wave of deep ‌job cuts over the coming years that ​could ultimately impact ​around 20,000 roles, or ⁠about 10% of ​its total workforce, Bloomberg ​News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with ​the matter.

Mar 18 • 8:26 PM EDT • Business • reuters.com

Prediabetes Detection: A Critical Lever for Health Systems

Dr Aman Chawla explains why prediabetes detection is a strategic lever for health systems aiming to improve quality and lower total cost of care.

Mar 18 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • medscape.com

European groups join aid convoy to Cuba amid crippling oil blockade

Millions have been plunged into darkness in Cuba as the US's total blockade has meant no fuel shipments in three months.

Mar 18 • 8:51 AM EDT • Politics • aljazeera.com

Does Tencent Music Entertainment (TME)ʼs New Dividend Signal Evolving Capital Priorities or Strategic Caution?

Tencent Music Entertainment Group has reported fourth-quarter 2025 revenue of CNY 8,641 million and net income of CNY 2,203 million, and for the full year 2025 revenue of CNY 32,902 million and net income of CNY 11,056 million, alongside declaring an ordinary annual cash dividend of US$0.12 per share or US$0.24 per ADS totaling about US$368 million. Beyond the headline growth in revenue and earnings, the decision to distribute a sizeable cash dividend highlights Tencent Music Entertainment’s...

Mar 18 • 6:04 AM EDT • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com

XOMA Royalty Reports 2025 Financial Results and Highlights Recent Business Achievements

Portfolio receipts: • Achieved over $50 million of cash receipts, including $33.6 million in royalties and $16.9 million milestones, in full year 2025 • Total receipts increased 9% with royalties up 68% versus full year 2024 Business development: Added 22 assets to portfolio, including five programs in Phase 2 or Phase 3 development Stock buyback program: Repurchased and retired 648,048 shares for an aggregate of $16.0 million Company acquisitions: Completed seven acquisitions, accumulating $11.

Mar 18 • 6:00 AM EDT • Business • finance.yahoo.com

A Look At Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) Valuation After Optimism Around Earnings And Analyst Upgrades

Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) has been in focus after a recent upswing in its share price, driven by optimism ahead of earnings, recent analyst upgrades, and Apple’s lower App Store commissions in China. See our latest analysis for Tencent Music Entertainment Group. That recent pre earnings optimism now sits against a sharp pullback, with a 1 day share price return of a 24.65% decline and a 30 day share price return of a 28.27% decline. At the same time, the 3 year total shareholder...

Mar 18 • 3:07 AM EDT • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com

Large California nonprofit to acquire Allina Health, creating $26B health system

The acquisition by Sutter Health would bring together nonprofits with a total of 88,000 employees, 39 hospital campuses and hundreds of clinics.

Mar 17 • 1:01 PM EDT • Health • startribune.com

Bethesda promises Nvidia's controversial DLSS 5 AI filters will be "totally optional" for players

Bethesda is committed to "further adjusting the lighting and final effect" of Nvidia's DLSS 5 visuals on Starfield following the controversial AI-tech's reveal.

Mar 17 • 8:06 AM EDT • Technology • eurogamer.net

Birdwatching May Help Protect Your Brain From Age-Related Decline

We totally knew it was cool.

Mar 16 • 10:47 PM EDT • Science • sciencealert.com

Assessing Petco Health and Wellness Company (WOOF) Valuation After Sharp Recent Share Price Gains

Recent returns put Petco’s stock performance under the spotlight Petco Health and Wellness Company (WOOF) has drawn fresh attention after a 12.1% move over the past day and a 52.1% gain in the past week, sharpening interest in its recent trading pattern. See our latest analysis for Petco Health and Wellness Company. That sharp 12.1% 1 day share price return and 52.1% 7 day share price return come after a period where long term total shareholder returns, including dividends, have been far...

Mar 16 • 2:08 AM EDT • Health • finance.yahoo.com

Assessing Caesars Entertainment (CZR) Valuation After A Sharp Recent Share Price Rebound

Why Caesars Entertainment (CZR) is on investors’ radar Caesars Entertainment (CZR) has drawn attention after a strong month for the stock, with a return of about 55%, prompting investors to reassess how its current share price lines up with recent business results. See our latest analysis for Caesars Entertainment. The recent 54.69% 1 month share price return has come after a steadier 16.87% 90 day gain. However, the 1 year total shareholder return is roughly flat and the 5 year total...

Mar 16 • 2:06 AM EDT • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com

Notes: USA in WBC final, Dodger Stadium has new sponsor

In a World Baseball Classic, which by the way does not use the automatic ball-strike challenge system that is now in use in Major League Baseball, Team USA beat The Dominican Republic 2-1 in a thrilling semifinal matchup on Sunday night at loanDepot Park in Miami. The game featured 23 total strikeouts, 15 by Dominican […]

Mar 15 • 11:26 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Battle of the Badges Hockey Championship raises $285K for Dartmouth Health Children's

This year, the event raised $285,000, the largest single-day total in the event's 18-year history.

Mar 15 • 9:27 PM EDT • Health • wmur.com

Oddsmakers project tough Ohio State season ahead

Fanduel has released their over/under projections for next season and Ohio State’s projected total comes in lower than usual.

Mar 14 • 10:52 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Assessing Caesars Entertainment (CZR) Valuation After A Strong Short Term Share Price Rebound

Why Caesars Entertainment (CZR) is on investors’ radar Caesars Entertainment (CZR) has caught investor attention after a strong month for the stock, prompting a closer look at how its current share price lines up with recent business performance. See our latest analysis for Caesars Entertainment. At a share price of US$28.06, Caesars has posted a 41.43% 1 month share price return and 19.10% year to date share price return, yet the 1 year total shareholder return is roughly flat and the 5 year...

Mar 14 • 6:16 PM EDT • Entertainment • simplywall.st

Trump says US 'totally destroying' Iran: 'Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today'

President Trump asserted that the U.S. is "totally destroying" Iran, declaring, in a Friday Truth Social post, "Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today."

Mar 13 • 6:57 AM EDT • Politics • foxnews.com

First UCSF Health patient to move from total artificial heart to transplant

Milestone procedure gives young father with advanced heart failure a new heart and new future with his family.

Mar 12 • 8:11 PM EDT • Health • universityofcalifornia.edu

Pokemon Pokopia sales top 2.2 million in four days

Total sales for Pokemon Pokopia surpassed 2.2 million units in its first four days of release, The Pokemon Company announced. One million units were sold in Japan alone.

Mar 11 • 8:07 PM EDT • Technology • gematsu.com

Nebraska players challenge CSC over rejected NIL deals in potential precedent-setting arbitration

Eighteen Nebraska players are challenging the CSC's rejection of NIL deals worth more than $1 million total

Mar 11 • 12:15 PM EDT • Sports • cbssports.com

Bam Adebayo makes NBA history, delivers 2nd-best single-game point total of all time, top fantasy High Score of season

Mar 10 • 10:43 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

How pollutants interact inside the body to impact health | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Peng Gao studies the “exposome”—the measure of an individual’s total environmental exposures over the course of their life and how those exposures impact biology and health.

Mar 10 • 4:37 PM EDT • Health • hsph.harvard.edu

South Carolina measles outbreak nears 1,000 cases; most unvaccinated

The South Carolina Department of Public Health reported two new measles cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases linked to the Upstate outbreak to 9

Mar 10 • 1:26 PM EDT • Health • wpde.com

Total Wireless by Verizon Is Offering the New Apple iPhone 17e "On Us" With No Trade-In or Port-In Required

Apple's newest iPhone is out this week.

Mar 9 • 7:30 PM EDT • Technology • ign.com

A Look At Global Business Travel Group’s Valuation As Earnings Turn Positive For 2025

Global Business Travel Group (GBTG) has caught investor attention after reporting full year 2025 earnings, with sales of US$2.718b, net income of US$109m, and earnings per share of US$0.22 from continuing operations. See our latest analysis for Global Business Travel Group. Despite the earnings turnaround, Global Business Travel Group’s recent share price performance has been weak, with a 90-day share price return of a 24.37% decline and a 1-year total shareholder return of a 26.50% decline...

Mar 9 • 11:11 AM EDT • Business • finance.yahoo.com

Top Stories: MacBook Neo, iPhone 17e, Studio Display XDR, and More

What a week for Apple news! Across Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week, Apple unveiled a total of seven new products, including low-cost iPhone and MacBook options, new displays, and refreshes for the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and iPad Air.

Mar 7 • 9:00 AM EST • Technology • macrumors.com

53 Dems vote against declaring Iran a state sponsor of terror

A total of 53 House Democrats voted against a resolution this week that called the Islamic Republic of Iran "the largest state sponsor of terrorism."

Mar 6 • 8:18 AM EST • Politics • foxnews.com

Resident Evil Requiem almost hits Street Fighter 6's total sales in days, a reminder that fighting games are still a drop in the bucket

Inside a video game industry where many large publishers are struggling, Capcom is not falling into the same slump, but is instead trucking forward with hit after hit.Resident Evil Requiem launched last week to nearly-universal critical and fan praise ...

Mar 4 • 10:10 PM EST • Technology • eventhubs.com

'Blood moon' total lunar eclipse dazzles millions around the world (photos)

Here are the first images of the March 3 'blood moon' total lunar eclipse visible over North America, Australia, and eastern Asia.

Mar 3 • 12:35 PM EST • Science • livescience.com

Accel Entertainment Inc. Full Year Profit Advances

(RTTNews) - Accel Entertainment Inc. (ACEL) announced earnings for its full year that Increased, from the same period last year

Mar 3 • 12:00 PM EST • Entertainment • nasdaq.com

Target finishes difficult year with sales decline

Target reported a 1.7% decline in total sales for its fiscal year, but said it expects net sales growth in every quarter of 2026.

Mar 3 • 6:30 AM EST • Business • businessinsider.com

In Their Words: How Trump's and his administration's statements on Iran evolved and conflicted

President Donald Trump and his team have given shifting and sometimes conflicting reasons for striking Iran, even as they claim the mission a total success

Mar 2 • 5:00 PM EST • Politics • washingtonpost.com

TransUnion Completes Acquisition of Majority Ownership of the Consumer Credit Business of Buró de Crédito

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) has successfully completed its previously announced acquisition of an additional 68% of Trans Union de México, S.A., S.I.C., the consumer credit business of Buró de Crédito, the largest credit bureau in Mexico. The transaction brings TransUnion’s total ownership to approximately 94%. TransUnion will operate this busine...

Mar 2 • 4:09 PM EST • Business • newsroom.transunion.com

TransUnion Completes Acquisition of Majority Ownership of the Consumer Credit Business of Buró de Crédito

CHICAGO, March 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) has successfully completed its previously announced acquisition of an additional 68% of Trans Union de México, S.A., S.I.C., the consumer credit business of Buró de Crédito, the largest credit bureau in Mexico. The transaction brings TransUnion’s total ownership to approximately 94%. TransUnion will operate this business under the commercial name of Buró de Crédito going forward. Cash consideration for the transaction is approxima

Mar 2 • 4:08 PM EST • Business • finance.yahoo.com

What’s Up: March 2026 Skywatching Tips from NASA

What are some skywatching highlights in March 2026? A total lunar eclipse blood moon takes centre stage, Venus and Saturn cozy up for a conjunction, and we celebrate the vernal equinox.

Mar 2 • 3:45 PM EST • Science • science.nasa.gov

Opinion: Venture capital totals don’t tell Chicago’s full story

Chicago raised $2.6 billion in venture funding last year, but deeper investments in quantum, AI and advanced manufacturing may better signal its long-term economic trajectory, Christy George and Brad Henderson argue.

Mar 2 • 1:01 PM EST • Business • chicagobusiness.com

From Florida to Philly, a political consultant kept working as fraud claims piled up against her

Yolanda Brown has faced allegations of financial fraud and embezzlement in at least four states totaling well in excess of half a million dollars. Her attorney says it was a misunderstanding.

Mar 2 • 5:01 AM EST • Politics • inquirer.com

New research links testosterone therapy with serious health risks after total knee replacement surgery

Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) in men and women has soared in recent years, with prescriptions rising from 7.3 million in 2019 to more than 11 million in 2024.1 Now, a large-scale study presented at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) points to serious health risks for testosterone users who undergo total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Mar 2 • 1:01 AM EST • Health • finance.yahoo.com

Rare ‘blood moon’ total lunar eclipse to loom over North America, Australia and New Zealand

Eclipse will feature a deep, coppery-red full moon on 3 March, with scientists predicting the best times to see it

Mar 1 • 7:50 PM EST • Science • theguardian.com

Despite earlier alarms, Oregon programs, services can proceed largely unscathed in wake of Trump tax and budg

Several factors help explain why cuts to the current state budget won’t total $750 million or anything close to it, the co-chairs said.

Mar 1 • 4:01 PM EST • Politics • oregonlive.com

I found a Pixel camera feature that totally changed my photos — here's what it does

From concerts to candid portraits, Super Res Zoom on the Pixel lets you shoot like a pro

Mar 1 • 7:00 AM EST • Technology • androidpolice.com

Totally wired! 8 of the best wired earphones

These are some of the best value for money audio products on sale today.

Feb 28 • 6:00 PM EST • Technology • creativebloq.com

Gunflint Trail lodges see boost in winter business after latest snowfall

A stretch of snowfall in recent weeks has put winter in Cook County and the northeast region back on familiar footing. The recent snowfall, totaling over two feet in some areas, has brought a resurgence of winter visitors eager to enjoy outdoor activities. “People are really happy,” said Ruth Wagner, owner of Golden Eagle Lodge....

Feb 28 • 1:01 PM EST • Business • wtip.org

Safe Codes and Combinations - Resident Evil: Requiem Guide

There are a total of 5 locked safes found throughout Grace's sections of Resident Evil Requiem, each of which contain valuable resources. Here's how

Feb 27 • 2:59 PM EST • Technology • ign.com

JPMorgan Has The Right To Protect Its Reputation, And Its Business

To focus on ideology as the cause of closed accounts is a non sequitur that totally misses the point.

Feb 25 • 4:00 PM EST • Business • forbes.com

How small businesses are driving a 401(k) boom

Small businesses are rapidly closing one of the biggest gaps in America’s retirement system, The Wall Street Journal writes. Since 2019, nearly 6 million additional workers at firms with fewer than 100 employees have gained access to 401(k)-style plans, bringing total coverage at small employers to more than 21 million workers. The shift is being […]

Feb 25 • 11:01 AM EST • Business • businessreport.com

CVS Health put volume heavy and directionally bearish

Bearish flow noted in CVS Health (CVS) with 3,674 puts trading, or 1.5x expected. Most active are 2/27 weekly 74 puts and 2/27 weekly 73 calls, with total volume in those strikes near 2,800 contracts. The Put/Call Ratio is 1.51, while ATM IV is up nearly 2 points on the day. Earnings are expected on April 29th.Claim 50% Off TipRanks PremiumUnlock hedge fund-level data and powerful investing tools for smarter, sharper decisions Stay ahead of the market with the latest news and analysis and maximi

Feb 25 • 10:15 AM EST • Health • finance.yahoo.com

Measles count rises in Pennsylvania with new case in Montgomery County

Another Montgomery County resident has been diagnosed with measles, the state announced Tuesday, raising Pennsylvania’s count to 11 cases in 2026 and the Montgomery County total to three cases.

Feb 24 • 3:22 PM EST • Health • lancasteronline.com

New Volunteer Data from 143 Observatories Unveils the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse

On April 8, 2024, volunteers participating in NASA’s Eclipse Megamovie citizen science project all around the United States hurried to photograph the solar eclipse with the latest, greatest equipment, capturing groundbreaking images of the Sun’s corona.

Feb 24 • 2:48 PM EST • Science • science.nasa.gov

Leader Jeffries on eve of State of the Union: ‘Donald Trump’s presidency has been a complete and total failure’

Feb 23 • 8:53 PM EST • Politics • cnn.com

Carline ’26 delivers W&M’s first Churchill Scholarship

Kate Carline '26 is the first William & Mary student to win a Churchill Scholarship. She will enroll at Cambridge University this fall. Eighteen scholarships in total were awarded but Carline is one of only two American students to receive the Kanders Churchill scholarship, devoted specifically to those who want to pursue the public policy implications of scientific research and discovery.

Feb 23 • 8:11 AM EST • Science • news.wm.edu

‘Paradise’ Pulls A Classic ‘This Is Us’ Move That Turns Season 2’s Opener Into A Totally Different Show

Sterling K. Brown’s Hulu hit goes above and beyond the bunker in a world-building second season.

Feb 23 • 7:00 AM EST • Entertainment • huffpost.com

Apple Reportedly Plans to Unveil at Least Five New Products Next Week

In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple will have a three-day stretch of product announcements from Monday, March 2 through Wednesday, March 4. In total, he expects Apple to introduce "at least five products". A week ago, Apple invited selected journalists and content creators to an "Apple Experience" in New York, London, and Shanghai on Wednesday, March 4 at 9 a.m. Eastern Time.

Feb 22 • 12:48 PM EST • Technology • macrumors.com

Pecans found to improve cholesterol and boost heart health

A sweeping new scientific review suggests that pecans — America’s native nut — may pack more heart power than many people realize. After analyzing over 20 years of research, scientists found consistent evidence that eating pecans can improve key markers of cardiovascular health, including total cholesterol and “bad” LDL cholesterol, while also supporting antioxidant defenses.

Feb 22 • 7:00 AM EST • Science • sciencedaily.com

Pecans found to improve cholesterol and boost heart health

A sweeping new scientific review suggests that pecans — America’s native nut — may pack more heart power than many people realize. After analyzing over 20 years of research, scientists found consistent evidence that eating pecans can improve key markers of cardiovascular health, including total cholesterol and “bad” LDL cholesterol, while also supporting antioxidant defenses.

Feb 22 • 7:00 AM EST • Health • sciencedaily.com

SC health officials report 11 new measles cases, bringing total to more than 970

The South Carolina Department of Public Health is reporting 11 new cases of measles since Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases in South Carolina to 973.

Feb 21 • 9:04 AM EST • Health • live5news.com

QB Joey Aguilar reportedly ineligible to play for Tennessee in 2026, will now attend NFL Combine

Aguilar totaled 28 touchdowns for the Volunteers last season, his first with the program.

Feb 20 • 4:01 PM EST • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Sports Specialty owner, salesperson indicted in multi-million plot

A federal grand jury has indicted three men who are accused of a 13-year bid rigging scheme that allegedly affected at least 44 public schools in Mississippi and 270 purchases totaling more than $1 million in taxpayer funds.

Feb 20 • 7:59 AM EST • Sports • cdispatch.com

Chiefs' projected 2026 win total a horror scenario for AFC

Some teams hope this doesn't come to fruition.

Feb 19 • 5:40 PM EST • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Live Nation Entertainment Reports Lower Net Income In FY25 Despite Revenue Growth

(RTTNews) - Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (LVY) on Thursday reported full-year revenue of $25.20 billion for the year ended December 31, 2025, up 9 percent from $23.16 billion in 2024 and above $22.73 billion in 2023.

Feb 19 • 12:00 PM EST • Entertainment • nasdaq.com

2026 NFL win totals: Best values and full schedule breakdowns

We dive into the initial win total release at DraftKings and see where the early value could lie

Feb 19 • 11:39 AM EST • Sports • cbssports.com

United States and Madagascar to Implement $175 Million Five-Year Health MOU - U.S. Embassy in Madagascar

United States and Madagascar to Implement $175 Million Five-Year Health MOU U.S. and Malagasy health officials are convening in Antananarivo for a two-day joint review process, marking the first major step in implementing the strategic health cooperation framework established in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries in December 2025. The MoU outlines the structure and terms of U.S. support to Madagascar’s health sector from 2026 through 2030, with a total commitment of $134,305,000 from the U.S. Government and $41,216,252 from the Government of Madagascar working jointly to address malaria, maternal and child health, polio and global health security issues. This approach reflects the America First Global Health Strategy by prioritizing effective, results-driven cooperation that advances mutual health security and supports Madagascar’s progress toward self-reliance and independence from foreign assistance. The events bring together U.S. Government health experts and Madagascar’s Ministry of Public Health leadership to conduct a comprehensive review of seven major health programs currently supported by United States funding, discussing current activities, and developing recommendations for programs to align with the signed Memorandum of Understanding, which advances both the America First Global Health Strategy and the Government of Madagascar’s goals. “This memorandum sets the course for U.S. strategic cooperation and support to Madagascar’s health sector over the next five years,” said Chargé d’Affaires Stephanie Arnold at the workshop’s opening. This review will help determine how to maximize the effectiveness and impact of these programs, ensuring resources provided by U.S. taxpayer dollars are used wisely,” she added. “By working together to address global health challenges, we demonstrate America’s leadership and commitment to a safer, healthier world, making both the United States and Madagascar healthier and stronger.” Under President Trump’s leadership, the United States is implementing a Global Health Strategy for foreign assistance that emphasizes increased host country ownership, resilient health systems and human resource capacity to reduce dependency, maintaining frontline support to reduce infectious disease threats, and strong performance monitoring systems for accountability and service delivery. “Diseases do not respect borders, and when we support Madagascar’s capacity to detect, prevent, and respond to infectious disease threats, we are contributing to global health security that benefits communities both here and in the United States,” Arnold emphasized, noting that “The MoU represents a commitment to transparency, accountability, and results.” The United States recognizes the commitment of Malagasy leadership in prioritizing investment of time and significant resources on the healthcare of their own citizens. With recent changes in leadership, Madagascar has an opportunity to strengthen governance, improve performance, and move forward toward greater self-reliance, particularly in the healthcare sector. Through strategic focus and thoughtful collaboration under this MoU, U.S. health programs in Madagascar will deliver meaningful results that advance both countries’ interests while supporting Madagascar’s journey toward greater self-reliance and a healthy future.

Feb 19 • 1:33 AM EST • Health • mg.usembassy.gov

New measles case brings North Carolina total to 22 since December: health officials

There have now been 22 reported cases of measles in North Carolina since December, state health officials confirmed Tuesday.

Feb 17 • 2:03 PM EST • Health • wlos.com

291 Dartmouth Health doctors ranked among New Hampshire’s best for 2026

Total of 291 Dartmouth Health doctors named to the list

Feb 16 • 1:29 PM EST • Health • dartmouth-hitchcock.org

ZIM to be Acquired by Hapag-Lloyd for $35.00 per Share in Cash at Aggregate Cash Consideration of Approximately $4.2 Billion; New Israeli Company, "New ZIM", to Acquire Portion of ZIM's Business

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (NYSE: ZIM) ("ZIM" or the "Company") today announced that it has entered into a merger agreement, under which Hapag-Lloyd will acquire ZIM for $35.00 per share in cash. The total transaction represents an equity value of approximately $4.2 billion, and the price per share of $35.00 represents a 58% premium to ZIM's stock price on February 13, 2026, a 90% premium to ZIM's 90-day WVAP and a 126% premium to ZIM's unaffected stock price of $15.50 on August 8, 20

Feb 16 • 9:21 AM EST • Business • finance.yahoo.com

Opinion | He Studied Cognitive Science at Stanford. Then He Wrote a Startling Play About A.I. Authoritarianism.

A brisk theatrical thriller, “Data” perfectly captures the slick, grandiose language with which tech titans justify their potentially totalitarian projects.

Feb 16 • 5:03 AM EST • Science • nytimes.com

Axis Health cuts three Durango staff members

Three staff members were laid off this week from Axis Health System’s Durango Integrated Healthcare clinic as part of a broader restructuring effort that eliminated a total of 13 positions across 11 c...

Feb 16 • 12:00 AM EST • Health • durangoherald.com

A Look At Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSGE) Valuation After Strong Second Quarter Earnings

Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSGE) just posted second quarter results that caught investor attention, reporting revenue of US$459.94 million and net income of US$92.72 million, along with higher earnings per share from continuing operations. See our latest analysis for Madison Square Garden Entertainment. The latest earnings release and the extended Infosys partnership come on top of a strong run in the shares, with a 90 day share price return of 38.42% and a 1 year total shareholder...

Feb 15 • 8:14 PM EST • Entertainment • simplywall.st

Flutter Entertainment (NYSE:FLUT) Valuation After Analyst Downgrades And US Betting Slowdown

Flutter Entertainment (NYSE:FLUT) has been in focus after several banks cut their views following reports of slower US online sports betting growth and a broad selloff in gambling stocks. This has left shares volatile and investors reassessing risk. See our latest analysis for Flutter Entertainment. Those analyst revisions have landed on a stock that was already under pressure, with a 1 day share price return of 11.46% decline, a 30 day share price return of 37.37% decline and a 1 year total...

Feb 14 • 6:10 PM EST • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com

Healthcare costs are eating into Social Security checks

Out-of-pocket healthcare costs eat up roughly a third of a typical retiree’s Social Security income and almost a quarter of total income, according to a new report from the Center for Retirement at Boston College.

Feb 14 • 8:00 AM EST • Health • finance.yahoo.com

'One of the Worst Decisions Ever Made': God of War Creator Tears 'Total Crap' 2D Title Apart

"Who the f*ck wants to play this?"

Feb 14 • 8:00 AM EST • Technology • pushsquare.com

Tencent Music Entertainment Group (NYSE:TME) Valuation Check After Recent Share Price Rebound

Event context and recent performance snapshot Tencent Music Entertainment Group (NYSE:TME) stock has moved sharply in recent periods, with a 4.6% gain over the past day contrasting with declines over the past week, month, and past 3 months. See our latest analysis for Tencent Music Entertainment Group. The sharp 4.6% one-day share price gain follows a period of weaker momentum, with 30-day and 90-day share price returns showing declines of 9.22% and 16.27%. However, the 1-year total...

Feb 14 • 12:19 AM EST • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com

The Sports Report: Strickland looking to recapture more Gainesville magic

In addition to his two world titles, Jeff Strickland has six Gatornationals victories in Stock and Top Dragster and he’s set to return this season looking to add to that total.

Feb 13 • 7:00 AM EST • Sports • nhra.com

Europe has 'failed' in the face of Trump and Putin's ‘wrecking ball’ politics, top security official says

The head of Europe’s biggest security forum said regional powers were “totally on the sidelines” of major discussions — but that it was their “own fault.”

Feb 13 • 4:58 AM EST • Politics • cnbc.com

Browns 2026 record according to ChatGPT: Total AI shocker

After a 5-win season, ChatGPT’s 2026 win total projection for Cleveland is a number no one saw coming.

Feb 12 • 7:57 PM EST • Sports • sportingnews.com

Minnesota sues after CDC cuts millions of dollars in public health grants

MDH reported that 107 health departments across the county received the funding, but the grants for Minnesota, Colorado, Illinois and California have been cancelled, totaling more than $1.5 billion.

Feb 12 • 6:45 PM EST • Health • mprnews.org