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See inside Louisiana’s tent at the Washington, D.C. fair celebrating America’s 250th birthday
“Louisiana looked at this as a prime opportunity to showcase the Louisiana that people don't know.”
VA’s top healthcare official is stepping down
As VA's undersecretary for health, John Bartrum played a leading role in the resumed rollout of its new Electronic Health Record…
The Supreme Court’s trans sports ban ruling is about exclusion, not safety, advocates say
The Supreme Court can't stop using biological arguments to advance bigotry. In a 6-3 ruling, the justices sided in favor of state laws that ban transgender athletes from women's sports teams, citing unfair competition and physical danger.
Justices Hold Sex, Not Gender Identity, Matters in Girls’ Sports
Alliance Defending Freedom’s Kristen Waggoner says the decisions upholding Idaho’s and West Virginia’s women’s sports laws protect fair competition and the rule of law alike.
'Legally Blonde' prequel 'Elle' is soulless and senseless
In the seminal 2001 comedy "Legally Blonde," our young fair-haired heroine Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) is a kind-hearted yet naive valley girl who trades beach days for study sessions as
Private sector added 98,000 jobs in June, below expectations, ADP says
The figure reported on Wednesday is below economists’ estimates of an increase of 118,000 jobs. The prior month's reading was unrevised at 122,000.
Sony will cease production of discs for new PlayStation games in 2028
New games sold for PlayStation consoles will only be available digitally and won’t be sold on discs effective January 2028, Sony has announced. The move applies to all PlayStation games released from that point on, including those made by Sony and those released by third parties. The PlayStation group calls the change “a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs,” according to a PlayStation blog post reviewed by Game File in advance of its publication. As movies, TV and music have shifted from physical media to an age of downloads and streaming, Sony’s move could speed the demise of physical media in a gaming. The industry has offered consumers games via cartridges, cassettes, floppy discs, CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays across a 50-year stretch. Sony has been reporting to investors in recent years that PlayStation games have been increasingly purchased as downloads, not as discs. The most recent figures show nearly four in five purchases of full games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 were purchased digitally in the past year. Stats like that may cause today’s news to carry an air of the inevitable. But Sony’s declaration for 2028 is still likely to produce a shock, as the biggest gaming platform on the planet that uses game discs leaves them behind. Discs going away, but the fate of game boxes is unknown Sony is committing to still selling games in physical retailers even after they drop discs in 2028. Just how those games will be sold—in boxes with codes inside, as cards marked with digital redemption codes—is unclear. Digital games will also continue to be sold in the online PlayStation Store. New games released for PlayStation consoles prior to January 2028 will be unaffected by the policy change, Sony says. That means the PS5 games of 2027, be they a new Madden, a new God of War, a new Call of Duty, a new Sly Cooper (one can dream?), would still potentially be offered on disc. PlayStation 6 implications Sony’s timeline for a transition to a no-disc era will also spin up more speculation about the timing and configuration of Sony’s next-generation console, the probable PlayStation 6. “This pretty much guarantees that PS6 won’t arrive until 2028 at the earliest,” Piers Harding-Rolls, senior games research analyst at Ampere Analysis tells Game File. Harding-Rolls also concludes from today’s news that “the base version of a PS6 will not include a physical media drive,” as Sony looks to keep costs down on the device. Sony itself is saying nothing about the PS6 today: not its timing, nor how it might or might not support internal or external disc drives in order to run disc-based PS4 and PS5 games, should the console be backwards compatible. The many signs this was coming Industry support for games being released on physical media has been waning. As has consumer interest in them. PC games effectively went all-digital years ago, thanks to the popularity of playing games through Steam and other digital storefronts. The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that kept much of the global population home helped shift shopping patterns toward downloads. Sony’s own data shows PlayStation game downloads being an uncommon consumer choice a decade ago and now becoming the norm. On consoles, physical media has been in such decline that Sony and Microsoft both launched their current gen Xbox Series and PS5 consoles in 2020 with cheaper versions that lacked disc drives. In early 2024, Phil Spencer, then head of Xbox, told me that ““[w]e ship games physically and digitally, and we’re really just following what the customers are doing.” He added that the game industry had become an outlier in still supporting disc-based entertainment, even as movies and TV have bailed on discs in favor of downloads and steaming: “Gaming consoles themselves have kind of become the last consumer electronic device that has a drive. And this is a real issue, just in terms of the number of manufacturers that are actually building drives and the cost associated with those. And when you think about cogs that we’re going to go put in a console—and as you have fewer suppliers and fewer buyers—the cost of the drive does have an impact.” Last year, the Nintendo’s Switch 2, which uses cartridges rather than discs, introduced the concept of game-key cards, which are physical media that contain no game, just a prompt for a download. Even disc-based games aren’t what they once were, now frequently containing just stubs of games rather than the whole thing. The website Does It Play has tested over 3000 games and found that, for example, that the disc version of this year’s hit 007: First Light, only contained the game’s first mission, with the rest needing to be downloaded. Beyond all that, last week brought the news that Grand Theft Auto VI, likely the biggest game launch this decade, will debut for PS5 and Xbox Series without a disc-based version. Today’s big news comes to you for free. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and ensure more of my work is possible, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Discs helped define PlayStation However the trends in entertainment may be going, it is still remarkable to see PlayStation ditch discs given their importance in PlayStation history: In the late 1990s, the first PlayStation’s support for games on relatively cheap CD-ROMs instead of traditional game cartridges allowed the upstart console to outmaneuver cartridge-based systems from Nintendo and Sega, as it drove down game prices down in the process. (The cheaper disc format even prompted Final Fantasy VII maker Square to taunt Nintendo in a magazine ad, saying that if the game was “available on cartridge, it’d retail for around $1200.”) PlayStation devices often doubled as machines for watching movies and TV on the latest disc-based formats. In the late 2000s, for example, Sony’s pricy PS3 gained traction as a go-to device for playing then-novel Blu-Ray discs. In 2013, Sony effectively roasted the digital game-sharing restrictions proposed by rival Microsoft for its upcoming Xbox One console by showing how games could be shared for the then-upcoming PS4. In a 21-second clip that has over 20 million views on YouTube, one PlayStation executive simply handed a game box—presumably with disc inside—to another, who said “thanks.” Sony’s possible motivations The PlayStation announcement today cites “consumer preferences” and a shift away from discs among “the broader entertainment industry,” but does not delve into the decision-making process that brought Sony to this point. Sony is not discussing the economics of this move (I asked!), but there are a number of potential factors: Abandoning discs will spare Sony the cost of manufacturing and shipping them, which analysts and industry veterans I spoke to said could account for $1 or so of a game’s retail price. For first-party games, that’s direct savings for Sony, though the amount is limited by the winnowing percentage of people who were even buying the disc-based versions. For third-party games, Sony could pass the savings on to partners or just retain the better profit margin for themselves. As the 2024 comments from Phil Spencer alluded to, leaving discs behind could mean leaving disc-drives behind, allowing Sony to produce consoles more cheaply. Switching to digital-only for games could diminish the risks of copies of new games leaking. It would also seemingly make second-hand sales of used games impossible, pushing more people to buy their own copies of games. These economic benefits for Sony could be boons for the games industry overall, Ampere analyst Piers Harding-Rolls tells Game File. Among other things, it could free publishers and retailers from having to worry about securing an inventory of game discs when trying to sell games, he noted. “If there is a way to streamline the business of games retail, I generally think it’s a good thing for the industry as it removes unnecessary costs,” Harding-Rolls said. “This will help offset pressure on margins from other directions – development and staffing costs for example.” Should the industry shift from game boxes that contain discs to smaller, cheaper game cards, Harding-Rolls said, that reduces pressure on publishers and retailers. “The advantage of everything going digital for the industry is that sales can be tracked much more easily and there is less commercial risk for publishers wanting to continue selling via retail,” he said. The shift to no discs will also likely impact game development timelines, as developers will no longer face the same urgency to have a build ready to submit to PlayStation for the production of a disc, as industry experts noted around GTA VI’s no-disc news last week. Instead, projects may gain weeks of development time, in the event delivery deadlines for platform approval move closer to release date. Preservationists’ likely worries While millions of gamers have shifted to digital, there are still people who associate game discs—and only game discs—with actual ownership of PlayStation games. That portion of the gaming community spoke up last week about wanting to buy a version of GTA VI that they could hold in their hands, could lend to a friend and could potentially pop into a well-preserved PS5 console three decades from now and still see it run. Such gamers didn’t want to worry that they’d merely purchased a digital copy that could lose access to the game if, say, the company behind the game someday turns of the servers that transmit downloadable copies. Digital copies of games are inherently less long-lasting, because consumers aren’t actually buying a game (on a disc), just buying access to the game. The fine print in online gaming shops notes this, as does a recent law that went on the books in California in 2025. That lasw requires game publishers doing business in the state to refrain from words like “sell” when offering digital copies of games, unless they explicitly tell consumers that what’s being sold isn’t the game itself but a potentially revocable license to access it. A Sony spokesperson noted to Game File that “[w]ith all digital content, including games, movies, and music, players are purchasing a personal license for non-commercial use.” Regarding the fears of PlayStation games being lost to time in an all-digital era, the rep also noted that Sony remains “committed to delivering experiences from past generations to the new platforms our players are using.” They noted that PlayStation has used emulation and remasters to keep offering its classic games to modern gamers. It’s true that many consumers have become accustomed to not having physical copies of new music albums or movies, but the relative precariousness of digital copies of games is in fact being highlighted today by…. Sony’s other big announcement: the upcoming closure of the PS3 and PS Vita online stores Sony said today that it will be closing the online marketplaces for its PlayStation 3 console and PS Vita handheld in most countries in July 2027 (sooner elsewhere: August 2026 for the PS3 store Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua; late 2026 for PS3 in other Latin American countries and the Middle East). “We know this news may be disappointing to PS3 and PS Vita players who hold a special place in their hearts for this generation of gaming,” Sony said in its announcement, saying the move “was not an easy decision for us to make.” Sony said that PS3 and Vita marketplaces “are no longer able” to support modern commerce systems, prompting a “need” to close the shops and focus on more modern PlayStation platform stores. The news may spark some deja vu. Sony announced back in March 2021 that it planned to take the PS3, Vita and PlayStation Portable marketplaces offline that summer. The move would have caused some 2,000 digital-only games to become unavailable for new purchasers, according to a VGC analysis at the time. Fans complained loudly. By April 2021, Sony walked back the PS3 and Vita shop closures, with then PlayStation boss Jim Ryan saying “it’s clear that we made the wrong decision here.” This time around, Sony is giving a longer notice period in most regions. The closure of those stores is still likely to cut off access to new purchases of digital-only PS3 and Vita games. The current PlayStation 5 marketplace sells PS5 and PS4 games, as well as a selection of PS1 and PS2 games. It does not sell PS3 games, because games for that platform can’t run on the system (some are offered via a PlayStation Plus streaming option). Vita games also aren’t sold via PS5. Sony says digitally purchased PS3 and Vita games will be downloadable after the stores’ shutdowns “for the foreseeable future.” Sony’s move contrasts with Microsoft’s Xbox platform, which continues to sell and support games from all four Xbox console generations. But it puts it in line with Nintendo, which disabled purchases in the marketplace for its Wii console (a contemporary of the PS3) in 2019. Nintendo discontinued purchases in the online shop for its 3DS portable (a contemporary of the Vita) in 2023. The big questions about Sony’s 2028 post-disc era Will Microsoft follow suit, ending support for new disc-based games on Xbox platforms and therefore all game consoles, too? Whether Microsoft does or not, will third-parties that can no longer release games on discs for PlayStation, simply ditch the disc options across the board? Given the GTA VI no-disc experiment launching this November, will more game publishers decide to forgo disc-based offerings even in 2027? How will no-disc PS5/6 games be packaged and sold in brick-and-mortar retail stores? What becomes of game sharing in an all-digital era? Will Sony modify its current set-up, which currently allows some sharing of digital games across a pair of consoles, to allow more casual lending? (See for example, Nintendo’s year-old system of letting players lend a digital game to another player in a “family group” for up to 14 days.) Will there be a version of a PS6 with a disc drive? Or will a drive be offered as an add-on? And how will gamers who want to retain access to PS4/PS5 disc-based games react to whichever configurations Sony chooses to offer? What will the final disc-based PlayStation game be?
Trump’s State Fair Commits a Cardinal Sin
I have been to a great state fair. I have now also been to Trump's state fair.
Trump’s Great American State Fair: Modest crowds, $23 turkey legs, MAHA and controversy
WASHINGTON – The Great American State Fair, a Freedom 250 centerpiece on the National Mall, has drawn modest crowds, Democratic state snubs and performer cancellations amid criticism that the celebration has taken on a pro-Trump political tone.
New health care system director appointed at Montana VA
The Department of Veteran Affairs appointed a new healthcare system director.Kimberly Adkins is responsible for 21 sites of care statewide including a medical c
'Save Women's Sports' legal defense and trans athlete's attorneys speak out after landmark SCOTUS ruling
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador and West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey praise the ruling as a victory for fairness in women's sports.
PA business owner slams Gov Shapiro over missing booth at Great American State Fair
Quarter Pine Tree Farm owner Beth Ann Bossio joins 'The Faulkner Focus' to discuss how Sen. Dave McCormick and Sen. John Fetterman bypassed Gov. Josh Shapiro to rescue the state's 250th Great American State Fair booth.
Gov. Little celebrates U.S. Supreme Court’s decision upholding protections for women’s sports
Boise, Idaho – Governor Brad Little commented today on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Little v. Hecox. The ruling upholds Idaho’s ban on men participating in women’s sports. “Idaho was the very first state to ban men from participating in women’s sports with the passage of the Fairness
My MAHA Monday at the Great American State Fair | WSJ Politics Newsletter for June 30
Plus, the Supreme Court tells President Trump he can’t fire Lisa Cook, and why Jamie Dimon wants to finance missile makers
Morgan Fairchild 'knew what it was' when Rock Hudson got sick with AIDS: 'Everybody in Hollywood knew Rock was gay'
Morgan Fairchild looks back on the death of actor Rock Hudson and reveals she 'knew what it was' when he got sick with AIDS in 1984: 'Everybody in Hollywood knew Rock was gay.'
Faculty and staff recognized for professional excellence
Binghamton University faculty and staff have been recognized for their professional excellence and dedication to their work by the SUNY chancellor, the University, and the University’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.
Slotkin Joins Michigan Delegation Urging Small Business Administration to Approve Disaster Declaration
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, joined members of the Michigan Congressional Delegation in urging the Small Business Administration (SBA) to support Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s request for an administrative disaster declaration following the severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, high winds, large hail and torrential rainfall across the state in April. […]
How Mississippi reacted to the Supreme Court mail-in ballot ruling
In a rare move out of lockstep with President Trump, the U.S. Supreme Court backed Mississippi's law counting mail-in ballots after Election Day.
Trump voters say costs are crushing their wallets — but look past president for blame
Trump rally attendees say rising gas prices are linked to the Iran conflict, not Trump's policies, and express confidence costs will decline soon.
Expert: Tennessee Redistricting Plan Driven by Politics, Not Race
An expert defends Tennessee's congressional redistricting plan, arguing racial consequences stem from partisan aims, not racial discrimination.
DMC Sinai-Grace holds 2nd annual health fair with free screenings, food, entertainment
DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital is taking patient care beyond the hospital walls and into the heart of the Detroit community.
DMC Sinai-Grace holds 2nd annual health fair with free screenings, food, entertainment
DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital is taking patient care beyond the hospital walls and into the heart of the Detroit community.
FAIR Health Price-Informed Tools Support Healthcare Decisions Among Diverse Older Adults
/PRNewswire/ -- Price-informed shared decision-making tools developed by FAIR Health, a national, independent nonprofit, can facilitate meaningful healthcare...
From invention to impact: Hong Kong Science Fair gives young innovators a wider stage
Organised by the Hong Kong Innovation Foundation, with Sino Group as Principal Patron and the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau as Supporting Bureau, the Fifth Hong Kong Science Fair has drawn to a close. Students are already looking beyond their prototypes, with international exchanges and future applications now firmly in sight.
Have a safety fair
Safety fairs are an interactive way for employers to provide education on injury prevention, emergency preparedness and health.
BUSINESS BRIEFS June 29, 2026: Business news in the Berkshires and beyond
Business news from Christine Bilé, BFAIR, UCP of Western Massachusetts, Lipton Energy, BCC, and more.
Trump’s Great American State Fair attendees say they haven’t noticed politics overshadowing the celebration
The gloomy, overcast weather on Saturday didn’t disturb visitors who attended the first weekend of President Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair, an event commemorating America’s 250th anniversar...
Trump’s Great American State Fair attendees say they haven’t noticed politics overshadowing the celebration
President Donald Trump kicked off the event with a headlining speech Wednesday after musical acts dropped out of the lineup citing concerns over partisanship.
Again, Trump said nobody left his speech. Again, that wasn’t true
President Donald Trump posted on social media on Thursday about the speech he gave the day prior to kick off the Great American State Fair in Washington, DC: “Everybody stayed right until the end of my Speech because they loved hearing about a truly successful America.”
Four things to know from Neshoba County Fair political speaking
Here are some of the highlights from the political speeches at the Neshoba County Fair and developments Mississippians can expect in the coming months.
Black Hills Renaissance Fair draws crowds for weekend of medieval entertainment
The kickoff of the Renaissance Festival started on Saturday
See the fun at the 2026 Boone County Fair
See Kentucky residents embrace the rainy weather at the 2026 Boone County Fair. The fair also included a monster truck show.
Starz Entertainment (STRZ) Stock Sees Fair Value Lift After Q1 Analyst Target Increases
Price targets for Starz Entertainment have shifted as the analyst fair value estimate moved from US$19.38 to US$28.50, putting a higher reference point in focus for investors tracking the stock. Recent Street research has turned more constructive after the Q1 report, with several firms lifting price targets and updating models to reflect how they now view execution risks and valuation support. In the sections that follow, you will see how to interpret these changing targets and what they...
Senators, Pennsylvania businesses to represent Commonwealth at Great American State Fair
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WHTM) — Pennsylvania will be represented at the Great American State Fair after all. The Commonwealth’s delegation to the U.S. Senate announced a planned “strong…
Dean Cain discusses stark contrast in patriotism among political parties
Actor Dean Cain joins 'Fox News Live' from the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., to share his take on patriotism and a tense border hearing with DHS Secretary Mullin.
Peters, Bergman lead Michigan delegation in calling on Small Business Administration to approve disaster declaration
WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, led members of the Michigan Congressional Delegation in urging the Small Business Administration (SBA) to support Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s request for an administrative disaster declaration following the severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, high winds, large hail and torrential […]
Testing gives science-based data for Fairmont lakes
FAIRMONT— A partnership between the city of Fairmont and Minnesota State University-Mankato will result in comprehensive scientific data on the Fairmont Chain of Lakes. The $25,000 contract started on April 1 and will go through Dec. 31 of this year. Fairmont’s Water Resources Coordinator, Hannah Neusch, acknowledged that while the water treatment plant in Fairmont […]
ACES hosts event looking at health impacts of climate change
Dr. Mark Gladwin, the dean of University of Maryland School of Medicine and the vice president of Medical Affairs, is slated to speak with Aspen Center for Environmental Studies from 6 to 7 p.m. July 2 on the worsening health impacts in the face of human-driven climate change.
Burglars steal from Grand Forks business, cancer fundraiser
The owner of An Elegant Affair says burglars stole merchandise, cash and donations collected for an employee battling cancer.
‘A total fairytale’: Former Watergate prosecutor reacts to Vance’s comments on the scandal
Confederate flag displayed at N.C. exhibit at America's State Fair
A flag featured in the North Carolina exhibit at America’s State Fair on Washington’s National Mall is drawing some unwanted attention.
His Fortune’s From the Trash Business. His Basquiats Are Priceless.
In the last few years, waste-management billionaire Patrick Dovigi has become one of the biggest art collectors on the scene. But he’s still under the radar—maybe the shots fired on his home have something to do with that.
CT Summer Fair brings live entertainment, carnival rides, and more. ‘30,000 expected to celebrate
Suffield’s 6th Annual Summer Fair is running through Saturday, June 27, according to a statement.
North Dakota State Fair 2026: Food, Entertainment, Pride of Dakota Festival, Contests, and More
MINOT, ND (KXNET) — There are now three weeks until this year’s North Dakota State Fair kicks off, and the Fair is including America’s 250th birthday. The fair is an official partner of…
Senate Indian Affairs Committee Advances Mark Cruz’s Nomination to Lead Indian Health Service
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, led a nomination hearing to consider Mr. Mark Cruz, of Oregon, to be Director of the Indian Health Service within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and expressed her intent to support his nomination. Representative Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a citizen […]
WATCH: House Democratic leaders hold hearing on fair elections and voting rights
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Democratic lawmakers held a hearing Thursday on defending fair elections and voting rights.
Valve Quietly Walks Back Steam Machine 4K 60 FPS Performance Claims
Valve's Steam Machine has earned more than its fair share of skeptics, thanks to performance claims and more recently its unfortunate pricing. More recently, though, Valve has seemingly taken some of this criticism to heart and silently changed some of those performance claims on the Steam Machine p...
Making Our Own Luck
We are cross-posting a piece that former NIH official Kris Willis wrote for Macroscience. Kris is now the President and Founder of the Woodley Park Institute, for which I’m a board member. Picking winners or hedging bets? Federal science agencies have long wrestled with the question of how to ensure their billions of dollars of grants and contracts result in maximum benefits for Americans. On the surface, it might seem that a goal-oriented, interventionist style of management would be the best policy: prioritize our most pressing problems and distribute funding accordingly.This top-down strategy creates a unique hazard, though: bad choices can send resources in the wrong direction, resulting in slow progress that impedes the delivery of tangible benefits to citizens. Moreover, if decision makers pursue an applied advance when the underlying scientific principles remain poorly understood, they risk costly failures and a loss of support for the research enterprise at large. Examples include Nixon’s 1971 War on Cancer, undertaken on the premise that a cure could be achieved in less than a decade, the drive to build an operational commercial fusion plant by the mid-1990s, and the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, which failed to produce the effective treatments and prevention strategies promised by 2025. The contrasting laissez-faire approach is to hedge your bets. If the path to an advance is impossible to predict, then the wisest choice might be to distribute funding to as widely as possible. The main risk of this strategy is that spreading funding thinly may limit the resources available to the most promising research, resulting in the same negative outcomes as the interventionist approach: limited support for the most promising topics, slow progress, and delayed returns. In reality, at science agencies like the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, program managers navigate between these two extremes, setting some funds aside to target high-priority areas and using the rest to cover the widest possible range of meritorious proposals. This middle path seems like the most rational way to proceed, but it still requires making choices. How much should be set aside for high priority topics? What should those topics be? How should we define merit? Expert opinion can provide a helpful guide, but leading experts can have remarkably different opinions about what matters and what should be prioritized. Moreover, experts and administrators alike can be risk averse, giving an edge to high-profile, well-established concepts. What’s really needed is a data-driven framework to help guide decision-making, one that doesn’t simply repackage prestige or incumbency. Recognizing breakthroughs years in advance Many breakthroughs fail to attract funding or recognition at the earliest stages of development. Katalin Karikó, for example, spent years struggling to win grants for work on mRNA that would eventually win her and Drew Weissman a Nobel Prize. Similar stories can be told about Jim Allison’s groundbreaking studies leading to the development of cancer immunotherapy, Stan Pruisner’s demonstration that prions can self-replicate without DNA, or Robin Warren and Barry Marshall’s proof that Helicobacter pylori, not stress, causes ulcers. Yet at some point, the scientific community recognizes and responds to transformative breakthroughs like these. How does that change happen? And what if science funders could identify the areas that are on the cusp of a breakthrough? Those questions led my collaborators and me to study how scientists responded to past breakthroughs. Based on patterns in that data, we developed a means of predicting future breakthroughs, using biomedicine as a proof of concept. It’s worth taking a moment to describe how our approach works. Briefly, our prediction process begins by grouping the 18 million or so peer-reviewed papers in PubMed, the authoritative database of biomedical research, into roughly 50,000 unique topics. A small subset of these topics are so widely acclaimed as breakthroughs that they have been recognized with a major prize like a Nobel or a Lasker Award. We theorized that studying the development of these outliers over time, especially before they gained acclaim, was the key to identifying future instances of them. After defining topics, we chose 21 representative breakthroughs and asked what they looked like before they won prestigious prizes. To answer that question, we re-ran our topic-mapping algorithm repeatedly, winding back the clock one year each time, stringing together the years to follow the progress of each field as it grew and advanced. We found that in each case, the years leading up to a discovery followed a pattern: a burst of papers on a new, rapidly evolving topic, many of which quickly became influential. These characteristics—the percent of papers that are new, the percentage of papers that are brought in from other topics, and the influence of each individual paper—can all be measured separately for any given topic. Together, they act as a predictive signal that is detectable an average of five years before a transformative discovery is made, and up to thirty years before the discovery receives a major prize. Scanning the current research landscape for topics that display this signal allows us to predict what work will likely produce a future breakthrough. Each year we analyzed includes four or five signals, a number that appears to have remained constant across a twenty year time frame. In their classic work on the sociology of science, Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar established that the desire to participate in a major discovery is an important motivator for scientists as they consider whether they should take up (or abandon) a research problem. Although further work is needed, the simplest explanation for our results is that this behavior is widespread enough to detect at scale. A foundational advance, or something like it, draws the attention of scientists and causes them to change the direction of their research. They vote with their feet, staking their own reputation and careers by publishing on and citing the new idea. That upswell of interest is the foundation of our breakthrough signal. What kind of research does our model identify as a breakthrough? After building a model based on the patterns in our 21 preselected breakthroughs, we tested it by identifying all early signals of discovery from 1994 through 1997. Of the 18 signals we found in that time period, 17 can be traced forward in time to a breakthrough. Examples include super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (see the image above), the directed evolution of proteins and enzymes (Chemistry Nobel, 2018), and sequencing the human genome (National Medal of Science, 2008). The discovery of the role of leptin signaling in obesity is a particularly interesting case study. Around 1950, scientists noticed the existence of a type of lab mouse that suffered from a unique inherited form of obesity. When given the freedom to choose their own diet, these mice ate more than normal and preferred food that was high in fat. Researchers had few clues as to why the animals overate; early experiments pointed to the existence of a soluble ob factor found circulating in the bloodstream that regulated appetite, but its identity was unknown. In 1994, Jeffrey Friedman and colleagues identified and sequenced the ob gene, noting that the protein it encoded appeared to fit the profile of a circulating factor. A year later, a trio of high-profile publications demonstrated that ob was a hormone that regulated body weight and fat deposition by regulating appetite. One of these was co-authored by Friedman, who christened it leptin from the ancient Greek word for thin. Using our model, the data from 1996 make it clear this advance would become a breakthrough. Scientists had flocked to study the biology of the new hormone, generating the flurry of new papers and citations required to produce a signal. One of these demonstrated that serum leptin concentrations reflected the amount of adipose tissue in the human body, providing clinical validation of the earlier mouse studies. Before the identification of leptin, scientists were unable to point to a specific molecule that controlled appetite and adiposity, so that it was impossible to rule out non-physiological causes of obesity; its characterization fundamentally changed our concept of weight gain. In 2010, Friedman and fellow pioneer Douglas Coleman were awarded a Lasker for the discovery. Our work also identifies breakthroughs in clinical practice and behavioral and social sciences, even though these areas are less likely to draw the attention of major prize committees. One example that falls into this category is the introduction of endovascular aneurysm repair, a minimally invasive surgical procedure for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm, a leading cause of death among Americans over the age of 65. Relative to the previous standard of care, it reduces in-hospital mortality by almost four-fold. In 2017, Timothy Chuter received the American College of Surgeons’ prestigious Jacobsen Innovation award for his multiple refinements to the technique. Another under-recognized breakthrough identified by our model is the development of standardized survey instruments to assess the quality of life for HIV+ patients. The antiretroviral cocktails introduced in the mid-1990s reduced AIDS mortality, but treatment came with serious side effects. The new evaluations showed that patients whose disease progressed had worse physical functioning than Americans with other chronic diseases, while those who were asymptomatic maintained a health-related quality of life on par with the overall US population. This evidence made it possible for patients and activists to argue that even in the absence of a total cure, and in spite of the side effects, alleviation of symptoms was a worthwhile priority for clinicians. My colleagues and I have failed to identify any significant recognition for the physicians and health policy experts who pioneered this advance, although in 2016, researchers called for the World Health Organization to set targets for good health-related quality of life as part of its framework to end the AIDS pandemic. From forecasting to funding How should science funders use our predictions? Any serious discussion of what we should do with this new capability needs to begin with an understanding of its limitations. We can’t (and shouldn’t) invest all of our resources in the small number of topics predicted to produce breakthroughs. Innovative new fields are born from existing ones; they rarely arise de novo. If funders don’t maintain a diverse portfolio, the breakthroughs of tomorrow will have no antecedents. Think of this as eating the seed corn, or killing the goose that lays the golden egg. There are also multiple goals of funding beyond basic scientific discovery, including translating discoveries into clinical practice, developing new technologies, supporting economic development, and training new scientists. The investments needed to accomplish these goals are likely different from those required to support emerging breakthroughs. Finally, we must be aware that we may not capture every instance of a breakthrough. The concept is fuzzy, and not every significant discovery is recognized with a major award. Further, breakthroughs are rare, meaning that our dataset is, by necessity, small. This makes formal estimates of accuracy challenging. Although our overall success rate appears to be high, any one signal may turn out to be a false positive. We found one apparent example: the development of the third generation COX-2 inhibitors, Vioxx and Celebrex, which were much celebrated in the early 2000s as effective but non-addictive pain relievers, meets all the algorithmic criteria of a breakthrough. Five years after it received FDA approval, researchers demonstrated that Vioxx was associated with serious cardiovascular complications, and the manufacturer voluntarily pulled the drug from the market. Celebrex remains available, although like other NSAIDs, it carries an FDA warning for increased cardiovascular risk. Decision makers who were overly focused on the breakthrough potential of this research might have wasted substantial resources nurturing an area that ultimately proved to be a failure—but so would those who relied on expert opinion at the time. That said, the potential benefits of funding the next mRNA vaccine or cancer immunotherapy years earlier than we might have are large. When we can’t assume the outcome of an action, it’s worth conducting an experiment. Can targeted support for areas that are poised to produce a breakthrough increase the return on scientific investment without cannibalizing future advances? With the necessary administrative infrastructure in place, conducting this experiment would be straightforward. First, identify all the breakthrough signals between 2018 and 2023, select half at random, and commit to a decade of investment. For biomedicine, a six year window should yield about 30 topics with the potential to produce a breakthrough. Providing strong support to half of these might be accomplished for $300 million a year. That’s roughly half of the recent annual budget of the NIH Common Fund or around 20% of the fiscal year 2025 budget for ARPA-H. After five years, then again at ten, compare to see which group — the one that was actively managed, or the control — produced more breakthroughs, and on what timescale. Although we used biomedicine as an example, the same experiment could just as well be run for physics, materials science, or any other discipline. Any attempt to undertake such an experiment should keep three points top of mind. First, we can predict the topic of future breakthroughs, but the people and vision for how to move the work forward are still important. In practice, this means success requires active program managers with the expertise to develop the science and the authority to do so, including by recruiting investigators. Second, we would be wise to learn from the failures of past attempts to fund transformative research. High among these are funding modestly repackaged work, confusing the genuinely novel with the merely unfamiliar, and relying too much on incumbent investigators. All of these risks can be mitigated by thoroughly and intelligently integrating high quality data into portfolio management. Finally, we need to have patience. Even with strong funding support, producing a breakthrough takes time. If supporting breakthroughs is the best way to nurture the birth of new fields, we also need to accurately describe and properly manage the other two stages, so that we invest wisely throughout the productive lifetime of ideas and divest once they reach the point of diminishing returns. We would benefit from more study of all of these phases, especially the transition from one to another. More research could answer questions like: When does a breakthrough become an established field? How do the availability of funding, the size and characteristics of the available workforce, and the accumulation of evidence that disagrees with prevailing models affect a field’s decline? Exactly how do old ideas give birth to new ones, and can we speed up the process? The more we understand about the dynamics of scientific progress, the better we can maximize the odds that our curiosity leads to results. I’d call that finding a way to make our own luck.
Edgefield County health fair offering free screenings, vendors, and entertainment
JOHNSTON, S.C. (WJBF) — A free community health fair is headed to Edgefield County. “Prevention Today for a Healthier Tomorrow,” set for Friday, June 26 from 10 to 1 at Strom Thurmond High School i…
CMS projects national health spending grew to $5.7 trillion in 2025
National health spending is projected to have reached $5.7 trillion in 2025, up 7.3% from 2024, according to an analysis by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published yesterday by Health Affairs. It marks the third consecutive year of growth greater than 7%. CMS projects growth to continue in 2026 due to continued demand for high-cost retail prescription drugs, mostly from individuals with Medicare and private insurance.
What we know about Trump’s Great American State Fair
The Trump administration’s 16-day-long Great American State Fair has begun, offering visitors to the National Mall in Washington, DC, the chance to visit pavilions showcasing every US state and territory.
Is Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s fan survey grade fair?
Boone’s team begins a four-game set in Boston tonight.
As Trump kicks off state fair festival, he once again says Iran war is ‘done’
The president made his declaration before a mix of locals and tourists at a scaled-down version of the event after some performers canceled.
Trump kicks off the Great American State Fair after musicians pulled out
A number of musical acts backed out of the event on the National Mall last month, concerned about being part of something that appeared political.
‘America is back’: Trump kicks off Great American State Fair with flyovers, patriotic National Mall speech
Trump kicks off the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, comparing his political movement to the American Revolution at the 250th anniversary.
Hong Kong Science Fair marks five years of youth innovation
As the city’s flagship I&T education event returns, it continues to connect classroom learning with real-world invention and open doors to the international stage
Affordable family entertainment coming this weekend at Yuba-Sutter Fair
(FOX40.COM)—The Yuba-Sutter Fair is selling $5 tickets for its opening day on Thursday, and organizers plan to offer a series of ticket discounts throughout the weekend. The fair will run at the Y…
Suit alleges new NCAA rule unfair to high school Class of 2022
Less than 24 hours after the NCAA Division I Cabinet approved a monumental change in eligibility rules, a group of 15 college basketball players filed a lawsuit iclaiming the new age-based model unfairly shuts them out of further competition.
Marquette poll: Few Americans paying close attention to America 250
President Donald Trump’s approval rating stayed the same as May at 38%.
DC Wrap: Trump lashes out over Iran vote; Great American State Fair begins
A look at the day's biggest stories in national politics
DC Wrap: Trump lashes out over Iran vote; Great American State Fair begins
A look at the day's biggest stories in national politics
Online violence against women in politics: what shapes political party responses to technology-facilitated gender-based violence?
Political parties have a primary role to play in tackling online violence against women and gender diverse politicians. While the prevalence and impact of TFGBV, such as coordinated disinformation campaigns, deepfake image-based sexual abuse or trolling are well documented, many parties are still building their knowledge on how to respond effectively and have not put in place internal practices and policies that respond to the rapidly evolving, poorly regulated digital ecosystem. About the ReportIn order to promote and protect fair and democratic participation in politics, this ALIGN Report explores what political parties are doing in response to TFGBV and what factors shape their action. The findings, based on existing literature and interviews with gender and politics professionals, indicate there are three sets of factors which donors, civil society and practitioners should consider when designing action to support political parties to respond to TFGBV internally. These are: (1) gender norms; (2) socio-political environment; and (3) internal party factors.Key messagesUnequal gender norms are ubiquitous across politics, shaping expectations of leaders to be strong and assertive, and practices of political parties to uphold masculinist values and sustain cultures of silence. These often lead to weak response to TFGBV against women politicians.The socio-political context can incentivise or disincentivise action, depending on the salience of gender issues, which are increasingly weaponised. Electoral competitiveness, domestic laws (i.e. quota requirements), and even the political system or global normative frameworks influence political will to act.Internal party factors that shape responses will vary across countries and contexts, but include: structures to enforce codes of conduct, policies and reporting mechanisms on (TF)GBV, political ideology, extent of centralisation of leadership, and crucially the meaningful participation of women in decision-making positions, not least through internal women’s wings.Party responses can be seen as a spectrum, with actions falling between active discouragement to address TFGBV to commitment to transform unequal norms and practices within the party.About the ToolkitTogether with the report, this ALIGN toolkit offers gender professionals and others working on democratic strengthening a set of guiding questions and reflection prompts to identify which responses could be most effective and suitable in different contexts. These actions can complement other solutions to TFGBV, such as regulations promoting safety by design. The assessment spans a broad range of factors including: (1) different manifestations of gender norms, (2) the socio-political environment and (3) internal party structures.Key messagesPolitical parties are duty-bound to take action internally to respond to the significant threats posed to women members and candidates, including from their own party colleagues, affiliates and political peers.Existing party approaches to TFGBV can be assessed along a spectrum which ranges from active discouragement and passive acceptance to minimal response and transformative change.To generate effective and context-appropriate solutions to TFGBV, it is important to consider how gender norms shape leadership expectations and internal party practices, while also analysing the impact of the socio-political environment. While actions to support women to stay safe online are very common, codes of conduct and measures to strengthen women’s voice and power in the parties are proposed as most transformative solutions.
Caravan of Care Brings Free Health Services to Goodwill on Dearborn
From dental cleanings to ORCA card help, Evergreen Goodwill's outdoor resource fair on Dearborn aims to meet community needs in one place.
Service meets science: Meet the first graduate of UAB’s Master of Science in AI in Medicine
UAB’s first graduate of the M.S. in AI in Medicine program blends clinical training with artificial intelligence, highlighting how physicians can use AI to reduce burnout, improve patient care and shape the future of healthcare.
Dave And Buster's Entertainment (PLAY) Stock Sees Fair Value Cut After Q1 Analyst Revisions
The fair value estimate for Dave & Buster's Entertainment has been revised from US$18.88 to US$17.00, bringing the price target closer to updated assumptions on comparable sales and earnings. Analysts link this adjustment to a balance of cautious near term expectations after Q1 and ongoing optimism that longer term changes in the business could still support the story if execution improves. Read on to see how this evolving narrative might shape how you track Dave & Buster's Entertainment from...
UK Police hosts campus, health care and public safety leaders for Safer Kentucky Symposium
The University of Kentucky Police Department brought together leaders from private colleges, public universities, health care institutions, public safety agencies, emergency management and student affairs for the Safer Kentucky Symposium, a statewide conversation focused on strengthening safety through communication, coordination and shared responsibility.
Bill Gates: Jeffrey Epstein used billionaire connections to get to me
Bill Gates told Congress that Jeffrey Epstein wormed his way into his life with "veiled threats" to disclose extramarital affairs.
Tickets for top entertainment events at Scotts Bluff Co. Fair go on sale Wednesday
Tickets for the ‘big three’ of the nightly entertainment at the Scotts Bluff County go on sale Wednesday morning. Starting at 9 a.m., you can get your advance tickets for the Truck and Tractor Pull…
Tickets for top entertainment events at Scotts Bluff Co. Fair go on sale Wednesday
Tickets for the ‘big three’ of the nightly entertainment at the Scotts Bluff County go on sale Wednesday morning. Starting at 9 a.m., you can get your advance tickets for the Truck and Tractor Pull…
Lincoln County Fair offers week of family entertainment
STANFORD, Ky. — From rodeo action and demolition derbies to monster trucks and fireworks, organizers say this year’s Lincoln County Fair will offer something for nearly everyone while continuing a […]
The Fitbit Air takes a smarter approach to the AI health dumpster fire
To be fair, the bar for AI consumer health is in hell.
The Fitbit Air takes a smarter approach to the AI health dumpster fire
To be fair, the bar for AI consumer health is in hell.
Priorities for Military Health System: ‘Our mission is readiness’
Keith Bass, assistant secretary of war for health affairs, outlines his strategic priorities for the Military Health System, with funding and staffing at the top of the list to optimize warfighter readiness.
Small Business Resource Fair in Covington connects entrepreneurs with free support and training
By Abigail Wright NKyTribune staff writer Local entrepreneurs, aspiring business owners and students gathered on Monday at the Kenton County Public Library’s Covington branch for the 2026 Small Business Resource Fair, an event designed to connect the region’s business community with free resources, training and networking opportunities. Hosted by the Economic & Community Development Institute...
Mamdani defends criticism of AIPAC after being accused of antisemitism
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday defended his remarks last week sharply denouncing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee after prominent Jewish leaders accused him of antisemitism.
Valve's Steam Machine ships June 29 for $1,049, but you probably won't be able to buy one yet
Valve says it's using a randomized purchase queue to make the experience "less frustrating and more fair."
From an indictment to an alleged affair, Ken Paxton’s controversies hang over his Senate bid
The attorney general has won statewide elections twice since his legal woes began. This time he will be at the top of the ticket, facing a fundraising juggernaut in James Talarico.
Here’s how you can reserve a Steam Machine
Valve’s reservation process is complicated, but fair.
Lonestar, Gabby Barrett included in Appalachian Fair entertainment lineup
GRAY, Tenn. (WJHL) — The Appalachian Fair revealed the entertainment lineup for its 100th anniversary year. On Monday, the fair posted on social media with a schedule of artists. Seven artists will…
Community health fair focuses on brain wellness with free screenings
The event will focus on helping attendees better understand their brain, vascular and overall health.
DCCA expands pathway for mental health professionals ahead of July 1 launch
The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is preparing for the July 1 implementation of Act 93, which creates new provisional licenses for associate psychologists, associate marriage and family therapists, and associate mental health counselors.
Nonprofit behind new Fairview behavioral health center reworks proposal after neighborhood pushback
The Anchorage Assembly will consider updated grant contract on July 7.
Ha-Seong Kim returns to Braves lineup in series finale
The Atlanta Braves are running it back for the sweep against the Milwaukee Brewers on this Father’s Day Sunday. The only batter on the Braves’ side who’s had experience against the Brewers’ Robert Gasser is Joey Bart, who’ll be batting seventh in the lineup. For the Brewers, Brice Turang has had his fair share of […]
Health fair to provide wellness advice, vaccinations
The Healthways Alliance Community Health Fair 2026 runs from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Saturday and will also feature a special keynote focused on diabetes awareness, education, and healthier living.
Apricot STEM Fair hightlights natural science, artificial intelligence
Event set for June 28 at Los Altos History Museum
Grandstand entertainment returns to Big Fresno Fair in October
Following strong Fairgoer support and attendance in 2025, The Big Fresno Fair is building on its new era of family-friendly Grandstand entertainment with the return of fan favorites and the
Students turn local fishing culture into hands-on science, business project
Crawford School students built crawler harnesses and perch rigs, designed packaging and sold products at local craft fair
Kid-run businesses will take center stage at the Acton Norman Children’s Business Fair
For one day only, kid-run businesses will take center stage at the Acton Norman Children’s Business Fair, allowing young entrepreneurs to showcase their creativity, products, and business skills.
Phoebe to host free men’s health fair in Albany
Event offers free screenings, wellness resources at Albany State University
Marlins' Pete Fairbanks: Notches save No. 10
Marlins' Pete Fairbanks: Notches save No. 10
CT Culture Corner: Shepard Fairey exhibit, Somi concert this week
The artist responsible for Obama's "Hope" poster and the "Obey" graphic comes to New London Museum, Irish dance in Torrington and who wrote the classic "Danny Boy," anyway?
The UMN, M Physicians and Fairview Health Services reach finalized healthcare agreement
On June 12, the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents voted unanimously in collaboration with other governing bodies to approve a new 10-year agreement between the University, M Physicians and Fairview Health Services, a partnership that will continue to support healthcare services and investments across the state. With the current agreement scheduled to expire at...
Sumter Men’s Health Fair aims to connect men with physical, mental, and social wellness resources
A free community health fair in Sumter is taking a holistic approach to men’s wellness by bringing physical health, mental health, and social well-being resources together in one place.
Buffalo Science Museum hosts annual Community Health Day event
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Juneteenth was a busy day at the Buffalo Museum of Science, where families attended a free health and wellness fair on Friday. Community Health Day is designed to conne…
What is the Pickaway County Fair entertainment?
The Pickaway County Fair may be known best for its livestock judging, but there is so much more! The entertainment aspects to the fair are worth looking into.
Fresno Fair Expands 2026 Grandstand Entertainment With Rodeo Derby, Monster Trucks
Discover the action-packed lineup at the Big Fresno Fair, including a new Demolition Derby and returning rodeo favorites.
Ben Wikler: My state was a ‘democracy desert.’ This is how we turned it around.
We can do the same for the entire United States. We can start working now to channel political anxiety into rebuilding the foundations of our democracy so that it offers free and fair elections for all candidates of every party.
Carmen Electra reveals why she loves the Prince diss track that 'everyone knows is written about me'
Carmen Electra is looking back on her relationship with Prince, from their brief love affair, to the album they made together in 1993, to the diss track she swears 'everyone knows' was written about her.