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Ask me anything: Mary Bishai – ‘For a self-professed nerd like me, doing big science is heaven’
Mary Bishai is an experimental neutrino physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the US
Would you return a favor? Scientists say it depends on the relationship
People generally only engage in reciprocal generosity with others of equal or unknown status, MIT researchers experimentally demonstrated. During repeated interactions between people of different social status, generosity typically flows only one way, either up or down.
Small businesses: Understand new research expense rules and a July 6 filing deadline
If your business has research and experimental (R&E) expenses, recent tax law changes may affect how you deduct those costs and whether you can claim relief for prior tax years.
A drug may help people on GLP-1 meds preserve muscle
In a clinical trial, an experimental antibody reduced lean-mass loss in people on a GLP-1 drug. Whether that improves health is unclear.
Scientists found a new Alzheimer’s trigger and a drug that stops it
Researchers have identified a new Alzheimer’s target and created an experimental compound that blocks a damaging process inside brain cells. In mice, the treatment slowed nerve cell loss, reduced Alzheimer’s-related changes, and even appeared to promote healthier aging.
Integrating citizen science with experimental data uncovers how switchgrass adapts flowering by region
In its native habitat, switchgrass flowered earlier when growing farther north. In experiments with diverse genetic samples, it flowered earlier in the south.
Google wants to release 64 million bacteria-riddled mosquitoes across California and Florida. Here’s why scientists are enthusiastic.
Google has applied for an experimental mosquito release permit to deploy millions of non-biting southern house mosquitoes that it has infected with the bacterium Wolbachia pipientis, in an effort to reduce mosquito-borne diseases like West Nile virus.
This new diabetes pill burns fat without the downsides of Ozempic
Scientists have developed an experimental diabetes and obesity pill that works in a completely different way from drugs like Ozempic. Rather than reducing hunger, it activates metabolism in skeletal muscle, helping lower blood sugar and increase fat burning while preserving muscle mass. Early clinical results suggest the treatment is safe and well tolerated.
Scientists deploy experimental corals to Dry Tortugas to test introduction of new genetic diversity
The new corals are also intended to increase heat tolerance in Florida’s depleted elkhorn corals.
How one state’s medical meal program lowered health care costs
Medicaid work requirements, fast-tracked funding for experimental Ebola vaccines, and more health news from Morning Rounds
'Transformative' pancreatic cancer drug doubles survival time
People with advanced pancreatic cancer taking an experimental daily pill lived nearly twice as long as those receiving chemotherapy infusions
Health body fast-tracks three Ebola vaccines as virus continues spread
Global health body CEPI is fast-tracking three experimental vaccines against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola as the outbreak in Central Africa continues to spread.
This strange crystal acts like metal and glass at the same time
A remarkable crystal called molybdenum oxychloride could help make futuristic technologies like smart contact lenses and ultrathin AR glasses a reality. Scientists have created the first detailed experimental map of its optical properties, revealing the strongest light-bending effect ever measured in a natural material. The crystal can act either like a reflective metal or transparent glass, allowing it to manipulate light with extraordinary efficiency while being thousands of times thinner than a human hair.
Experimental drug shows promise against deadly pancreatic cancer
A novel pill helped people with advanced pancreatic cancer live longer, researchers reported Sunday, raising hopes of long-needed better treatments for one of the deadliest types of cancer.
Cultivating Data-Driven Approaches with Plant Science
Launched this winter, the Data-Driven Plant Science course bridges experimental biology with embedded sensing, bioinformatics, and machine learning.
An experimental GLP-1 pushes the limits of weight loss. There are risks.
Eli Lilly is developing the the most powerful GLP-1 drug yet. But how much weight loss is too much?
Princeton scientists identify first experimental evidence of a 'co-extinction' connection: Without elephants, dung beetles disappear
A new study from Princeton University, the Smithsonian Institute, the Mpala Research Centre and many partner institutions has now documented the interconnection between the largest animals in the savanna and some of the smallest.
Graduate Exhibition Showcases Intersection of Health, Technology, Art, Design
From digital data and technology to the environment, healthcare and the body, graduate students from across the College of Letters and Science at University of California, Davis, are pushing boundaries with their experimental research and creative expression. The results, varied in medium and discipline, will be on display at the Arts & Humanities 2026 Graduate Exhibition.
One-and-Done Heart Disease Prevention? Scientists Show It May Be Possible.
A single infusion of an experimental gene-editing drug seemed to reduce LDL long-term in a small trial. The results may point to something “curative,” one expert said.
One-and-Done Heart Disease Prevention? Scientists Show It May Be Possible.
A single infusion of an experimental gene-editing drug seemed to reduce LDL long-term in a small trial. The results may point to something “curative,” one expert said.
How Unusual Tuesday became LA's home for misfit artists
In Shadow Hills, LA, 'Unusual Tuesday' at Sun Space offers a unique, church-like haven for experimental and misfit artists.
Experimental Alzheimer’s drug could reduce alcohol withdrawal damage, researchers say
Researchers say an experimental Alzheimer's drug may calm brain inflammation linked to alcohol withdrawal, potentially reducing relapse and neural damage.
Pancreatic cancer seemed ‘undruggable,’ then scientists cracked a key target
An experimental pill has shown unprecedented success, upending conventional wisdom about the disease.
Pancreatic cancer seemed ‘undruggable,’ then scientists cracked a key target
An experimental pill has shown unprecedented success, upending conventional wisdom about the disease.
Experimental mRNA vaccine may protect against multiple Ebola viruses
Tests with rodents suggest an mRNA vaccine in development offers protection against three strains of Ebola virus, including the one behind the current crisis
New obesity drug helped patients lose up to 85 pounds in trial
A new experimental obesity drug from Eli Lilly helped patients lose an average of about 85 pounds in a late-stage clinical trial. Duke Health expert Dr. Susan Spratt says the results are reaching levels typically only seen with gastric bypass surgery.
Google launches Gemini for Science AI research toolkit
The Gemini for Science suite includes three experimental tools covering hypothesis generation, computational testing, and literature review
Phonon-polaritonic skyrmions: transition from bubble- to Néel-type
Light: Science & Applications - We demonstrate wavelength-tunable surface phonon-polariton skyrmions on silicon carbide membranes. Leveraging strong material dispersion, we experimentally...
‘We really need this science’: Here’s some of the research happening at NH’s experimental forests
Simulating ice storms, the discovery of acid rain and more. Hubbard Brook’s executive director Anthea Lavallee spoke with NHPR’s Julia Barnett on what New Hampshire’s experimental forests do and what she’s keeping an eye on moving forward as the Forest Service continues its nationwide reorganization.
New AI tool developed by Stowers Institute and Helmholtz Munich scientists predicts how cells choose their future — helping uncover hidden drivers of development
Scientists at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research and Helmholtz Munich have developed RegVelo, a new AI framework that predicts how cells acquire their identities and identifies the genetic regulators guiding those changes. Published in Cell, the study used zebrafish neural crest development to show RegVelo can uncover early drivers of cell fate, including regulators of pigment cell formation, and then support those predictions experimentally. The researchers also applied the framework across multiple biological systems, suggesting its value extends beyond neural crest cells as a broadly useful tool for studying how cells change over time. The team says the new model could pave the way for future cell therapy treatments.
Microsoft brings free Windows 11 upgrade, big improvements to File Explorer, with new builds
Microsoft has released new Windows builds under the Experimental and Beta channels. They bring improvements and fixes.
The National Academy of Sciences Elects Two Berkeley Lab Researchers
Two Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientists have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. They are part of a cohort of 120 new members and 25 international members. The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and — alongside the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine — provides science, engineering, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations. The 2026 electees bring the total number of active members to 2,705 with 557 international members. Gary Karpen is a biologist senior faculty scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Biological Systems and Engineering Division and a Professor of Cell and Developmental Physiology in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley. Karpen studies how the structure, organization, and maintenance of genetic material impact inheritance and cell function. His lab focuses on chromatin — a packaged form of DNA strands wrapped around proteins that comprises our chromosomes — with a particular emphasis on centromeres, rarely expressed sequences called heterochromatin, DNA repair, and regulatory RNAs. His research reveals insights into fundamental aspects of nuclear organization and genome regulation that are shared across the tree of life, broadening our understanding of cancer and other diseases, birth defects, and aging. Kam-Biu Luk is a Professor Emeritus of physics at UC Berkeley and a retired senior faculty scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Physics Division. He is an experimental particle physicist whose research has focused on neutrinos: nearly massless, electrically neutral elementary particles that can pass through matter virtually undetected. Neutrinos are created during radioactive decay processes, including the fusion process occurring in stars and the fission process that powers nuclear reactors. Luk initiated and co-led the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment, a project based in China with more than 200 international collaborators. In 2012, the Daya Bay experiment discovered a new form of a phenomenon called “neutrino oscillation” in which neutrinos change from one type to another. For this discovery, Luk and his collaborator Yifan Wang received the 2014 American Physical Society Division of Particles and Fields W.K.H. Panofsky Prize for outstanding work in experimental particle physics, and he was also the co-recipient of the 2016 Breakthrough Prize. Luk is currently participating in the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) hosted by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, which will investigate any potential difference in behavior between neutrinos and antineutrinos that may shed light on the evolution of the universe, especially why antimatter is absent in the present universe. ### Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to groundbreaking research focused on discovery science and solutions for abundant and reliable energy supplies. The lab’s expertise spans materials, chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental science, mathematics, and computing. Researchers from around the world rely on the lab’s world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 17 Nobel Prizes. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.
Science diplomacy lessons from a North Korean volcano
Mount Paektu, a mythic, active volcano on the border between North Korea and China, is almost the epitome of a scientific challenge that crosses political lines. In 946 CE, it erupted in one of the five biggest volcanic events of the past 10,000 years, kicking up huge quantities of ash and sending destructive mud flows down river channels for hundreds of kilometres. Should this happen again, the entire region, including easternmost Russia, South Korea and even Japan could be hit. “It’s definitely got the potential to be big,” said James Hammond, a professor of geophysics at Birkbeck, University of London. An eruption on the scale of 946 would have “huge regional impact.” For the past 15 years, Hammond has helped lead a groundbreaking collaboration with North Korean scientists to study the volcano, navigating scientific sanctions, tough export controls on scientific equipment and a long, pandemic-enforced exodus from the country. Although he seems more at home on far-flung research expeditions – before speaking to Science|Business, Hammond was camping out on a Greenland ice sheet – he has also advised the European Commission on its changing science diplomacy strategy. His long experience with North Korea has made Hammond sceptical of blanket bans on science collaboration, no matter the country.This is a live question in Europe, where in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, institutional ties with Russian universities were almost entirely severed, although some scientists fear this could undermine our understanding of climate change’s impact on the Arctic. Here, Hammond tells the story of the Mount Paektu mission and the policy lessons he takes from it. Ominous rumblingsThe genesis of Hammond’s collaboration came in 2002, when Mount Paektu began to rumble ominously. Earthquake activity picked up and the volcano began to emit unusual gases. North Korean scientists took notice. “People felt we need to know more about this volcano,” said Hammond. In 2011, North Korean vulcanologists put out a request for international expertise to help them learn more. At the time, Hammond and his collaborator, Clive Oppenheimer, were working on a vulcanology project in another sanctioned country, Eritrea, and so decided to answer the call. Within a month, they had flown into Pyongyang. “It was pretty incredible,” recalls Hammond (left). “We were made to feel like honoured guests, and invited to official celebrations.” The scientific opportunity was huge. Paektu is unusually positioned, a thousand kilometres from where tectonic plates rub against each other in the Pacific. “It was an incredibly interesting volcano, but not much research had been done, at least not in the international community,” he said. “There was so much we felt we could do. And we had these partners that were super keen to engage.”The mission received an unusual visitor in the form of volcano-obsessed filmmaker Werner Herzog, who accompanied Hammond and Oppenheimer while directing his 2016 film Into the Inferno about volcanos across the world. Four days into the trip, the German director delivered a long speech about reunification to his North Korean hosts, recalls Hammond. “He got to the heart of the Koreans and how they felt, and how they thought, in a way that I'm not sure I ever will,” he said. UN sanctionsHowever, Hammond realised he’d been “naïve” about how difficult it would be to collaborate with North Korea, which was sanctioned far more heavily than Eritrea. “We didn’t fully appreciate the all-encompassing nature of restrictions,” he said. In 2016, as tensions escalated over Pyongyang’s nuclear tests, a United Nations resolution banned all joint scientific work with North Korea. However, the UN sanctions did allow countries to request carve outs, and the UK successfully requested an exemption for Hammond’s work. Related articlesEU pushes for joint science diplomacy, but care needed to avoid gridlock, experts sayRussia severs its last ties with German scienceAnchor Greenlanders in Arctic climate research, experts tell EU ahead of policy updateExport controls have also delayed Hammond’s work. In one case, it took 18 months to get approval from the UK government to take seismometers, which measure earthquakes, to North Korea. “It was frustrating,” he said. “But they didn’t just say no.” However, one instrument, called an induction coil, used to measure how the earth conducts electricity, was blocked entirely because it can in theory be used to detect submarines. Karaoke bondingSince the collaboration started in 2011, Hammond has visited the country around 15 times, although the pandemic closed off North Korea for more than five years. A trip last November was Hammond’s first since the outbreak. Despite this lengthy interlude, Hammond has deep bonds in the country. The North Korean scientists Hammond works with are somewhat isolated, as they struggle to access the latest research papers and travel to international conferences. That said, they are “excellent geophysicists” and are “very well trained in the field,” he said. Over karaoke and chats about their families, “we’ve made friendships, for sure,” he said. The authorities have to sign-off things like the placement of seismometers, for example, but Hammond said these requests have been approved. “Everything that we've asked for within a scientific context has been delivered.”Scientific backchannels? These kind of personal links between scientists across political lines are one purported benefit of science diplomacy. During the Cold War, some historians argue, scientific contact between the US and Soviet Union laid a groundwork of trust for other cooperation, such as on arms control. Hammond agrees that backchannel contacts to North Korean geophysicists are hardly likely to defuse a military crisis on the Korean peninsula, but the simple fact of the scientific collaboration makes contacts between diplomats that little bit easier. “It creates opportunities to understand each other a little bit better,” he said. “When maybe you have those more difficult discussions as diplomats, it's coming from a slightly better place.” Cutting tiesDrawing lessons from the Mount Paektu mission for today’s links with Russian science isn’t simple. The analogy is far from exact, Hammond said, “because one is essentially a Cold War, versus a pretty hot war in the case of Russia.” But Hammond’s broader argument is that the challenges we face, such as climate change, pandemics, biodiversity loss, pollution and so on, have globalised in an unprecedented way, making blanket shutdowns in collaboration with any country unwise.He’s somewhat critical of the UN scientific sanctions imposed on North Korea in 2016, even though they did allow for exceptions. “I think a blanket halt to some of these things, when we face big global challenges [. . .] that’s quite a risky thing to do,” he said.Institutional endorsement?European academics are still by and large free to work individually with Russian counterparts. However, official, institutional partnerships have largely ended. Shortly following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian university rectors wrote a public letter endorsing the war, meaning European universities fear official collaboration could also be seen as a kind of endorsement. Hammond acknowledges there is a risk of legitimising regimes, and state-controlled universities, through scientific cooperation. “That’s the trade off you have to make,” he said. Strategic projectsWith Russia, instead of giving a green light to restart all Arctic science, a middle ground might be firing up a few carefully selected “strategic” projects, said Hammond. After all, European countries are still collaborating with Russia on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, an experimental nuclear fusion plant in the south of France. However, even if Europe did try to revive Arctic science with Russia, there’s no guarantee Russian scientists would play ball. A series of high-profile arrests of physicists in Russia accused of sharing their findings with the outside world has made collaboration fraught. Even before the invasion of 2022, “the Russian regime made it increasingly difficult, and this sort of discouraged people,” Dag Rune Olsen, rector of the Arctic University of Norway, told Science|Business last year.
Google preps ‘Gemini Agent’ as your ’24/7 digital partner’
With the launch of Gemini 3, Google introduced “Gemini Agent” as an “experimental feature that handles multi-step tasks.” A big upgrade...
Scientists finally solve 40-year-old physics puzzle about how things grow
In a major breakthrough, scientists have experimentally confirmed a universal growth law in two dimensions using a quantum system of fleeting light–matter particles. The finding strengthens the idea that wildly different processes—from crystals to living systems—may all follow the same hidden rules.
FDA authorizes early access for experimental pancreatic cancer pill
The FDA said the action recognizes the dire need for a drug to improve survival for pancreatic cancer patients, who face the worst survival odds in oncology.
Google releases experimental ‘COSMO’ AI assistant app on Play Store
Yesterday, Google published “COSMO,” an “experimental AI assistant application for Android devices” on the Play Store.
I'm trying to delay menopause to 60. Here's how I'm doing it
Kayla Barnes-Lentz is using diet, lifestyle changes, and experimental treatments to slow ovarian aging and push menopause as late as possible.
Alleged would-be Trump assassin once made an "atomic fighting game", which Steam have now yanked from sale
Valve have disabled Steam purchases of Bohrdom, an experimental 2D game made by the developer accused of shooting up a White House press dinner in April 2026.
Oklou enhances excellent debut album with bold Milwaukee concert
The French experimental pop artist had one of the best albums of 2025 with "Choke Enough." Her Pabst Theater concert made the music more meaningful.
The AI Tools Small Businesses Are Using - Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
By Karen Kerrigan – Artificial intelligence is no longer experimental for small businesses. According to SBE Council’s 2026 Small Business Tech Use Survey, 82% of small business employers have invested in AI tools and they are rapidly being embedded across daily functions and workflows. In fact, AI has become essential to competitiveness and growth as […]
“Us versus them”: How political propaganda polarises beliefs without providing any news
Political polarisation is often attributed to misinformation, echo chambers, or biased news. But new experimental evidence suggests that merely making a social conflict salient – without providing any information at all – is enough to sharply increase disagreement on both factual and normative questions. This column discusses how politicians and media can ‘artificially’ amplify societal tensions by strategically choosing which conflicts to highlight, and why this mechanism is harder to counter than standard misinformation.
Chinese researchers turn desert sand into fertile soil in just 10 months using cyanobacteria
Science News: The researchers at the Shapotou Desert Experimental Research Station in China have developed a revolutionary approach for reversing desertification an.
Experimental drug doubles one-year survival in pancreatic cancer
A new drug that works by making tumors more susceptible to chemotherapy and the immune system has increased survival in those with advanced pancreatic cancer in a trial.
NSWCPD Applies AI and Machine Learning to Predictive Machinery Health
In a soundproof chamber at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division (NSWCPD), a steel-gray air compressor hums as engineers test an experimental machine learning model designed to detect early signs of failure through vibration analysis. The effort, part of NSWCPD’s growing portfolio of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) projects, shows early promise for potential future Navy use.
First Look: The Luminous Ceramic IWC Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar Ceralume
Let there be light, with the fully luminous ceramic Big Pilot, bringing IWC’s experimental Ceralume technology into series production.
Google rolls out April Android Canary build with experimental features for Pixel devices
Google has just released the April Android Canary build with new experimental features for Pixel 8 and above.
GSK sees blockbuster potential in targeted cancer therapy after promising early data
British drugmaker GSK's experimental targeted cancer drug Mo-rez has blockbuster potential, its head of oncology research has told reporters, after early data showed the drug helped shrink tumors in patients with advanced, hard-to-treat cancers.
Microsoft finally lets Windows 11 testers unlock experimental features without ViVeTool
The changes are part of the fix Windows 11 effort
Project Indigo expands support to iPads and the iPhone 17e
The new update to Adobe’s experimental camera app adds initial support for iPads with at least 6GB of RAM and the new iPhone 17e.
Integrative experiment design reveals hidden patterns in decades-old social science research
Led by MIT Sloan School of Management PhD graduate Mohammed Alsobay and associate professor Abdullah Almaatouq, the researchers demonstrate that integrative experiment design, an approach that systematically varies multiple experimental conditions within a shared design space, enables researchers to discover how factors combine to determine social and behavioral outcomes.
Scientists Just Discovered There’s Actually Something Faster than the Speed of Light
Scientists experimentally confirmed what we’ve known to be true for half a century—darkness can “travel” faster than light.
Chinese satellite with robotic 'octopus arm' passes key refueling test in orbit — making longer-lived space assets more likely
The experimental Hukeda-2 satellite and its highly flexible robotic arm have passed a major refuelling test in low Earth orbit. The demonstration is the latest step toward China significantly expanding the longevity of its spacecraft.
The experimental drug transforming weight loss, retatrutide
Here’s how retatrutide works and how it differs from existing weight management medications.
Quantum computers take a step into real materials science
An IBM quantum computer reproduced experimental signatures of real materials, according to a new preprint from IBM and researcher partners.
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.
Markiplier to Microdramas: The Ankler x NAB Show’s Future of Entertainment
Share Subscribe Vegas, baby! The Ankler is heading back to NAB Show for a second year in a row — and doubling down on conversations with the smartest people in the industry. From April 18–22, we’re partnering again with the industry’s biggest media and tech gathering to break down the Business of Media and Entertainment as it’s actually evolving: faster, riskier and increasingly driven by new formats, new audiences and new power players. This curated series will bring together top creators, executives and innovators to tackle the forces reshaping the industry — from the AI disruption of Hollywood’s creative ecosystem to the rise of the creator economy, shifting audience behavior and the changing economics of production. We’ll be rolling out more programming in the coming weeks — including top speakers from leading AI studios, prediction markets and beyond — so keep an eye on the Business of Media and Entertainment hub. But first up, we’re announcing two panels about what’s actually working in Hollywood: The Scary-Smart Business of Horror A good scare has become one of the entertainment economy’s most reliable engines. With disciplined budgets, built-in fandoms and global box office upside, horror consistently outperforms. From theatrical releases to streaming-first originals and creator-driven IP, the genre is artistically flexible and financially durable — and one of the last truly communal experiences for Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences. Join YouTube creator Mark Fischbach, aka Markiplier, whose independent feature Iron Lung earned more than $50 million at the global box office, Atomic Monster president Michael Clear and screenwriter Akela Cooper (M3GAN, Malignant) for a conversation moderated by Like & Subscribe’s Natalie Jarvey about why horror travels so effectively across platforms and borders, how studios and independents are building sustainable genre pipelines and why the next wave of breakout franchises may emerge from unexpected sources. Inside the Microdrama Boom Short-form serialized storytelling is having a major moment. Microdramas, social-native series and creator-led narratives are capturing massive audiences with low-cost, rapid production cycles and direct-to-fan distribution. What was once dismissed as niche or experimental is now attracting major platform investment. Moderated by Jarvey, this panel of microdrama creators and executives — including one of the format’s top stars and producers, Kasey Esser, and Dhar Mann Studios’ head of vertical content, Erin McFarlane — examines how format innovation, fandom dynamics and algorithmic discovery are reshaping the economics of scripted storytelling and what traditional studios can learn from these agile models. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Lynne@theankler.com Share
New dispute emerges around Subnautica 2’s early access release
Lawyers for the ousted—and now partially reinstated—leadership team of Unknown Worlds, the studio behind Subnautica 2, are crying foul over news that the game will be released into early access in May. The release announcement earlier this week was made improperly, potentially “damaging the game and sowing additional confusion among the Subnautica community,” the lawyers said in a letter sent on Tuesday to Vice Chancellor Lori Will of Delaware’s Court of Chancery. In their letter, the lawyers also floated the idea of asking Will to find Krafton in contempt of the court’s ruling. The letter was sent just one day after Will’s bombshell ruling that publisher Krafton had breached its contract with Unknown Worlds’ executive team, when it fired them last June. The new issue isn’t necessarily the May early access timeframe, but how the news was announced. The letter and Krafton’s response have not been previously reported. A quick recap of prior events: Subnautica 2 is an unreleased, underwater survival adventure and the most-wishlisted game on Steam. Last year, longtime Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill, along with studio co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, were fired by Krafton. They swiftly sued, saying the publisher had terminated them to avoid paying out up to $250 million in potential performance-based bonuses. The studio leaders had hoped to earn that with an early access release of the game, which Krafton had blocked. The publisher argued in court that Subnautica 2 wasn’t ready, which the ousted execs disputed. On Monday, Will ruled that Krafton had violated its contract, firing the execs to avoid the performance payouts, and that it had to reinstate Gill and give him full authority over any early access release for Subnautica 2. On Tuesday, IGN reported on a new memo issued that day to Unknown Worlds staff by Steve Papoutsis, the executive Krafton had put in charge of Unknown Worlds after the 2025 firings. In the note, Papoutsis said that Subnautica 2 had passed a key development milestone “last week” and that he and Krafton had determined the game “is ready for Early Access release in May.” This news appeared to catch the lawyers for Gill, Cleveland and McGuire by surprise. On Tuesday night, they sent a letter to Will expressing “serious concerns” about whether it would be possible to forge an agreement with Krafton consistent with the judge’s order. Papoutsis’ memo was a problem, they wrote. He didn’t have the authority to declare anything about Subnautica 2’s release. As of 9am ET on Monday, March 16, the effective date of Will’s order, Papoutsis wasn’t CEO of Unknown Worlds. Gill was. And, per Will’s order, only Gill could make Subnautica 2 release decisions. They continued: Krafton self-servingly announced the launch without any regard to its impact on the game, the team, or the community—let alone this Court’s Opinion. Announcing the release of a game is momentous, and it is typically accompanied by significant marketing activity, fanfare, and community coordination. And most importantly, the announcement is carefully designed to maximize excitement for the game. That entire process was supposed to be driven by Mr. Gill. However, in defiance of the Court’s Opinion, Krafton has now taken that away, further damaging the game and sowing additional confusion among the Subnautica community. The lawyers speculated that Krafton had “intentionally leaked” Papoutsis’ memo and then issued an official statement to confirm the leak. Game File is a reader-supported publication. My reporting is only possible through support from readers like you. To support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe On Wednesday, lawyers for Krafton defended their client in their own letter to vice chancellor Will, saying nothing they did violated her order nor showed contempt: Papoutsis’s message was simply celebrating the UW employees’ efforts toward a past event: Krafton’s pre-Opinion determination that Subnautica 2 was ready for Early Access release. There was nothing improper about conveying the results of the milestone review or thanking the development team for their dedication and talent. They added that Gill could still make his own call about Subnautica 2’s release: In his role as CEO, Gill will be able to assess independently his views on the state of Subnautica 2 and the appropriate release schedule; nothing in Papoutsis’s message alters Gill’s authority or discretion. Vice chancellor Will has not responded to the letters and doesn’t necessarily have to. Both parties were previously ordered by Will to confer this week and submit a proposed judgment consistent with her ruling. The letter from Gill’s attorney’s this week doesn’t indicate whether he would or would not support a May release for Subnautica 2. But it could limit his options. And, if Gill’s lawyers are right, the lack of marketing fanfare around the leak of the May date could dull the launch of the game. Any harm to Subnautica 2’s launch is an extra sensitive issue given the context of the legal dispute: millions of dollars of payouts are on the line, tethered to the scale of the game’s initial performance. In her ruling on Monday, Will noted that there was obvious “bad blood” between Gill’s side and Krafton but that the two would need to work together: “They can—and must—act in good faith to navigate their remaining contractual relationship.” Item 2: A new kind of couch co-op game A highlight of GDC each year is the Alt.Ctrl showcase that features games played with extremely experimental controllers. Perusing this year’s offerings last Friday, I found a game controlled with giant scissors, another with big toothbrushes and one that amounted to dumpster diving. My favorite was Pivot, a co-op game about collectively maneuvering a couch. It was developed by students at the University of Utah’s masters of arts and engineering games program. Players lift and tilt the physical couch in order to control the position of a virtual one. That virtual one is moving through an obstacle course on-screen, while being pursued by a giant skull. Developer Nishant Verma told me at GDC that the couch is made of styrofoam (this became more evident as I watched!) and that the name was a riff on an episode of the sitcom Friends. Item 3: In brief… 🚫 Ubisoft is laying off more than 100 workers at its Red Storm studio, as the North Carolina location known for decades for its Tom Clancy games, ceases in-house game development, VGC reports. 👀 On Monday, Nvidia’s revealed its DLSS 5 AI-driven graphics technology that purports to improve game graphics… and it has been roasted about it by the media and the online gaming public for the remainder of the week. The tech changed the faces of characters in footage from Resident Evil Requiem, Hogwarts Legacy and EA Sports FC, drawing accusations of giving carefully art-directed games the generic look of AI “slop.” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had said on Monday that “DLSS 5 is the GPT moment for graphics—blending handcrafted rendering with generative AI to deliver a dramatic leap in visual realism while preserving the control artists need for creative expression.” By mid-week, Huang was telling Tom’s Hardware that the new tech’s critics were “completely wrong” because game-makers could still “fine-tune the generative AI” to suit their game’s aesthetics.
Earthquake scientists reveal how overplowing weakens soil at experimental farm
Plowing, or tilling, is an age-old agricultural practice that readies the soil for planting by turning over the top layer to expose fresh earth. The method—intended to improve water and nutrient circulation—remains ...
An experimental AI agent broke out of its testing environment and mined crypto without permission
Researchers discovered that an AI agent roamed beyond its parameters, creating backdoors in IT infrastructure.
Chinese EV maker claims it's engineered the world’s first semi-solid-state EV battery with huge 620-mile range
The experimental manufacturing process could one day deliver a vehicle with a 1,000-plus mile range, researchers say.
AI is threatening science jobs. Which ones are most at risk?
Nature - Data-analysis and modelling positions are already becoming obsolete, but hands-on experimentalists can breathe easy for now.
Proposals for exploring viruses and skin as the next experimental quantum frontiers share US$30,000 science award
Viruses exist at the boundary between living and non-living matter, while skin is a living interface between physics and biology, making them perfect—but until now overlooked—arenas for testing the interplay between quantum physics, biology and life. That’s according to arguments made by Connor Thompson, a PhD student in microbiology and immunology at the University of British Columbia, in Canada, and Samuel Morriss, a medical doctor based in Melbourne, Australia, whose two essays share the US$30,000 first prize in FQxI’s latest essay competition, presented in partnership with the Paradox Science Institute. The eight winners of the $53,000 competition—which asked “How Quantum is Life?”—were announced on 14th February, 2026.
Advancing AI for science: extracting and fusing cross-disciplinary expert knowledge with data to accelerate alloy discovery
High-entropy alloys are promising advanced materials for demanding applications, but discovering useful compositions is difficult and expensive due to the vast number of possible element combinations. Now, researchers have developed a novel AI-driven framework that integrates experimental data, computational modeling, and cross-disciplinary expert knowledge extracted from scientific literature. By combining these sources in a way that accounts for uncertainty, their approach can make reliable predictions even for poorly studied alloy compositions, outperforming conventional data-driven machine learning methods that rely on training data alone.
2025 US ACT on Health Equity Community Investments Recipients
Author: Kennesha VanBurch, Director, Health Equity and Community Investment Partnerships 2025 marks the fifth year of the US Accelerate Change Together (ACT) on Health Equity: Community Solutions Challenge (CSC) and National Strategic Collaborations (NSC). This year, we received more than 250 applications from organizations across the country dedicated to prioritizing the social, cultural and linguistic needs of communities that have experienced barriers to care and opportunity. The overwhelming response underscores the vital role these organizations play in advancing health equity at the local level and across the nation. Since the launch of ACT on Health Equity in 2021, the initiative has invested more than $18 million in nonprofit organizations and their health equity programming through CSC and NSC. This year, $3.4 million in funding has been provided to 47 nonprofit organizations that focus on healthcare access, nutrition and lung health. Together, we are making meaningful progress toward health equity across the US. Supporting Organizations Advancing Community Well-being and Health Equity The awarded organizations address critical needs across health, education, and social support through initiatives aligned with AstraZeneca’s areas of expertise, including lung disease, lung and breast cancer, and cardiology. Their work spans across culturally competent senior care, equitable healthcare access, cancer and chronic disease support, and preventive health education, as well as hunger relief, community gardening, dental and transportation services, and resources for underserved families. Together, they are working to remove barriers to care, reduce preventable conditions, and empower individuals and communities of all ages and backgrounds to achieve better health outcomes. Photo courtesy of Medical Motor Service of Rochester and Monroe County, Inc. Description: MMS driver speaking to a Wegmans shopper. GGWNY staff; Lincoln Memorial Church Community Garden and lead gardener Diane Learn more about our recipients and the impact they make within their communities below. Community Solutions Challenge Advocates for Women’s Health, Inc. Advocates for Women's Health exists to provide access to high quality prenatal care and gynecology care to lower-income communities in and around Fresno, CA. They operate a nonprofit OB/GYN clinic located in Fresno. American Rescue Workers (ARW) ARW is a faith-based, non-profit organization providing homelessness and hunger prevention services in Central PA since 1934. ARW cares holistically for men, women, and children who find themselves facing food insecurity, and emergency situations that may lead to homelessness, or an actual homeless crisis, by providing shelter and social services. ARW serves people no matter their faith, regardless of faith. Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL) AJSOCAL is a social justice organization that protects and strengthens the rights and dignity of AAPI communities, especially those that are most disadvantaged. Byrd Cancer Education and Advocacy (BCEA) BCEA’s mission is to effectively assist individuals battling cancer by connecting them to vital support and resources. BCEA ensures that all relevant information reaches those in need, guiding them towards the resources necessary to fight their battle against cancer. Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa creates access to opportunities for self-sufficiency by providing innovative and compassionate services to people of all backgrounds, beliefs and cultures. Chosen Hearts Chosen Hearts’ mission is to rebuild lives and restore hope by fostering a sense of community and creating lasting, positive change. Columbia Student Medical Outreach The Columbia Student Medical Outreach Program (CoSMO) Clinic is the oldest and largest student-run free clinic at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. At its core, CoSMO is guided by the belief that all people—regardless of immigration or insurance status—deserve access to high-quality, equitable medical care. Eagle’s Nest Community Kitchen and Resource Center and Mobile Pantry Eagle’s Nest Community Kitchen, Resource Center and Mobile Pantry’s mission is to empower underserved and rural communities through hands-on STEM education grounded in sustainable agriculture. By combining mobile workshops, community gardens, and mentorship, they deliver accessible training in science, technology, engineering, and math that builds practical skills, advances food security, and fosters environmental stewardship. Through collaborative partnerships and by honoring local knowledge, they cultivate resilient communities and inspire the next generation of agricultural innovators. eClose Institute eClose Institute’s mission is to make medically relevant scientific discoveries using an education platform that embraces equality and empowers participants to contribute ideas, life experience and experimental data to improve disease treatment. Equal Hope Equal Hope is an organization dedicated to saving lives and improving quality of life by eliminating health inequities. This organization challenges the status quo in striving to understand the context of people’s lives and the barriers they experience to help them achieve better health outcomes for their lives. Through research, quality assessment and improvements, advocacy, education, and patient navigation, they approach health holistically to achieve sustainable outcomes and true health equity. Food For Free Committee Food For Free improves access to healthy food through establishing innovative programming and partnerships to overcome barriers and strengthen the community food system. They believe that access to healthy food is a fundamental right. Grassroots Gardens of Western New York (GGRWNY) The missions of GGRWNY is to share knowledge, powers, and resources to grow health food, heal systemic harm, and strengthen neighborhood connections through community gardens. Greater Providence YMCA (GPYMCA) GPYMCA builds healthy spirit, mind, and body for all, through inclusive programs and relationships grounded in core values of caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility. Programs are intentionally designed to close equity gaps in health, education, and wellness. GPYMCA serves individuals and families across all life stages and income levels, including medically vulnerable and underserved populations. Hearts of Valor INC Hearts of Valor’s missions it to keep the heart pumping through advocacy, collaboration, education, and support. Ibn Sina Foundation Ibn Sina Foundation ensures the health of the community by providing integrated, preventive, and primary care in a clinical setting through the dissemination and application of health-related knowledge, thereby enhancing the quality of life for future generations. India Home India Home is a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing the needs of and empowering the South Asian and Indo-Caribbean senior immigrant community in New York City through culturally competent services. At India Home’s centers, seniors find community and resources through a diverse range of programs and activities. Programs include congregate meals, creative aging programs, case management programs, and educational talks on health, nutrition, financial safeguards and elder law. La Colaborativa La Colaborativa empowers the Latinx community, enhancing social and economic health, and holding institutional decision-makers accountable. Lancaster County Food Hub At the heart of the Lancaster County Food Hub’s (LCFH) work is a strong commitment to meeting basic human needs, fostering respectful relationships, and connecting neighbors with supportive services in a nurturing and welcoming environment. Guided by their vision of a Lancaster County where every individual is supported and empowered to live with dignity and stability, they strive to not only provide immediate relief but also to create pathways to lasting self-sufficiency. Maryland Foundation of Dentistry (MFD) MFD is dedicated to improving oral health outcomes and preserving dental function for one of the state’s most vulnerable populations: adults with intellectual, physical, and/or developmental disabilities who are unable to afford the cost of dental care. Maternity Care Coalition (MCC) The missions of MCC is to improve the health and well-being of pregnant women and parenting families and enhance school readiness for children 0-3. MCC achieves this through direct service, advocacy, and research, in collaboration with individuals, families, providers, and communities. Medical Motor Service of Rochester and Monroe County, Inc. Medical Motor Service of Rochester and Monroe County’s mission is to provide specialized transportation for community organizations, as well as individuals with disabilities and special needs to improve their independence and quality of life. Milwaukee Consortium for Hmong Health (MCHH) MCHH’s mission is to create a thriving and healthy Southeast Asian and Hispanic community by empowering families through education and screenings. MCHH utilizes established community health workers and focuses on addressing health disparities related to cancer and chronic disease among the Hmong, Bumese, Karen, Karenni, Lao, and Hispanic populations living in Milwaukee, WI and other areas if needed. Mission Hospice and Home Care Mission Hospice and Home Care is delivering compassionate support and exceptional care in the home for individuals and communities, guiding them with choice and dignity to navigate significant care decisions. North Alabama AHEC (NAAHEC) The mission of the NAAHEC is to improve healthcare access, quality, and equity in rural and underserved communities across North Alabama. They strengthen the health workforce - particularly through the development of community health workers by providing comprehensive training, resources, and advocacy. By fostering strong community partnerships and promoting healthcare literacy, NAAHEC aims to address disparities, improve outcomes, and cultivate a healthier future for North Alabama. Our Neighbors’ Table Hunger comes in many forms. Our Neighbors’ Table is committed to establishing a community that provides for the whole person with nourishing food, kindness and dignity. Panhandle Breast Health Panhandle Breast Health works to decrease breast cancer deaths by providing education and reducing financial barriers to increase screening rates. Pitney Meadows Community Farm Founded in 2026, Pitney Meadows Community Farm’s mission is to celebrate and explore agricultural education, healthy food production, and recreation. Located on 166 acres in the heart of the city of Saratoga Springs and preserved in perpetuity as a working farm, Pitney Meadows is a unique resource. Prince William County Community Foundation (PWCCF) PWCCF’s mission is to create a stronger, healthier, and more connected community by addressing critical needs in food insecurity, health & wellness, scholarship, and philanthropy. PWCCF is committed to empowering individuals and families through equitable access to nutritious food, comprehensive healthcare, educational opportunities, and community-driven support. By fostering partnerships and promoting sustainable solutions, PWCCF aims to enhance the quality of life for all, ensuring a brighter future for every member of their community. Raytown Christian Church (Raytown Summer Lunch Ministry) Raytown Summer Lunch Ministry’s mission is to provide nutritious and kid-friendly meals to children during the summer months when they are not in school and receiving school meals. Regents of the University of California, Davis UC Davis Health is improving lives and transforming health care by providing excellent patient care, conducting groundbreaking research, fostering innovative, interprofessional education, and creating dynamic, productive partnerships with the community. RSVP Volunteers RSVP Volunteers creates and runs unique community programs powered by skilled volunteers to advance education and wellness for all ages and strengthen nonprofits through capacity-building and volunteer services. Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, in collaboration with partners, provides dignified, equitable and consistent access to nutritious food, creating a foundation for community health. The Icla da Silva Foundation The mission of the Icla da Silva Foundation is to save the lives of patients whose only cure is a bone marrow transplant by providing financial, emotional, and logistical support to remove barriers to treatment. There With Care of the Bay Area Founded in 2012, the mission of There With Care of the Bay Area is to provide a wide range of meaningful and fundamental services to children and families during the critical phase of a medical crisis. Universal Community Health Center Universal Community Health Center’s mission is to provide quality and accessible healthcare to under-served communities and to provide a patient centered model of care to empower communities towards wellness. West Cancer Foundation West Cancer Foundation breaks through barriers to cancer care and improves patient outcomes by providing accessible patient resources, early detection and education, and community-based research. Westside Family Healthcare Westside Family Healthcare’s mission is to improve the health of communities by providing equal access to quality healthcare, regardless of ability to pay. National Strategic Collaborations Foundation of Asthma and Allergy Impact Rescue (AAIR) The mission of The Foundation for Asthma and Allergy Impact and Rescue (AAIR) is to make sure that every child is rescued at school, healthy at home, and connected to care. Family Reach Foundation Family Reach is a nonprofit that provides non-medical financial support to families facing cancer. Cancer treatment requires more than medicine — families need a roof over their heads and food on their tables to survive. If a family can’t meet these basic needs, cancer treatment takes a back seat. They work with patients, providers, and community organizations to challenge the systems that force families to choose between their health and their home. LUNGevity Foundation LUNGevity Foundation is transforming what it means to be diagnosed and live with lung cancer through research, advocacy, and community. This mission brings them closer to their vision: a world where no one dies of lung cancer. Association of Black Cardiologists The Association of Black Cardiologists is dedicated to preventing and treating cardiovascular disease, including stroke, through education, research, advocacy, and community engagement, striving for optimal health for all by eliminating disparities. Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation (CCF) The Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation’s (CCF) mission is to find a cure and improve the quality of life for those affected by cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer). Founded in 2006, in Salt Lake City, UT, by a family who lost a loved one to cholangiocarcinoma, CCF has grown to become the leading global resource in research, education, and public awareness. ZERO Prostate Cancer Zero Prostate Cancer’s mission is to improve and save lives from prostate cancer through advocacy, awareness, education, and support. GO2 for Lung Cancer GO2 for Lung Cancer relentlessly confronts lung cancer on every front, every day, for everyone. As the nation’s leading lung cancer advocacy organization that was founded by patients and survivors, they are dedicated to increasing survival and quality of life for those at risk, diagnosed, and living with lung cancer. National Minority Quality Forum The National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF) is a national 501(c)(3) with a mission to reduce patient risk for all. Young Survival Coalition (Breast) Young Survival Coalition supports the young breast cancer community and ignites global collaboration to improve quality of life worldwide. Black Women’s Health Imperative Black Women’s Health Imperative’s mission is to solve the most critical health issues that Black women and girls face through innovative programs, transformative research, and lifesaving policies.
Celebrating Women in Science Day 2026 at CERN
Every year, on 11 February, CERN celebrates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. In an effort to amplify diverse voices in STEM, six women scientists from CERN open up about their careers and the lessons they hope to pass on to the next generation. Francesca is an Italian biomedical engineer pursuing her PhD at CERN, working in the robotics team of the Beams Department. She’s currently working on the MARCHESE project, in affiliation with Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, focusing on contactless monitoring of physiological parameters. Despite choosing a scientific career and often volunteering in scientific outreach initiatives, Francesca continues to nurture her passion for the humanities and arts. “I firmly believe that collaboration and inclusion are the right paths to improve the world together. I’m driven by a strong curiosity about everything around me.” Berare is a Turkish experimental physicist who worked with the ATLAS experiment during her MSc and PhD on searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. During her PhD, she became a Support Scientist for the Beamline for Schools (BL4S) competition, which marked the beginning of her journey combining research with science communication. She now works for both BL4S and ELISA, the mini proton accelerator at CERN’s Science Gateway. She fondly remembers the moment when the BL4S 2022 winners arrived at the experimental zone: “I felt incredibly lucky to share my passion with young, curious and really passionate people. We spent two weeks of beam time together watching their ideas turn into reality. All the intricate details of running an experiment, we accomplished them as a team.” Mia is a Canadian research fellow in the Accelerator Systems Department, working on beam developments for fundamental physics with radioactive molecules. Mia pursued a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering before moving to Vancouver for a master’s degree in engineering physics. Her interest in radioactive ion beam production brought her to CERN, where she studied actinide beams for three years as a PhD student in the Marie Curie European Training network “LISA” (Laser Ionisation and Spectroscopy of Actinides) at ISOLDE – a facility at CERN where scientists study the properties of atomic nuclei, with further applications in fundamental studies, astrophysics, and material and life sciences. Laura is a German mechanical engineer at CERN working on research and development to produce cavities for future accelerators. She studied mechanical and aerospace engineering at the Technical University of Munich. She joined CERN four years ago as a technical student for her master’s thesis and continued as a fellow working on collimators. Laura says that “as a child, I took part in girls’ day initiatives, which sparked my fascination for astrophysics and engineering. Later, it felt natural for me to give something back by organising workshops for young students to make STEM seem less intimidating and more accessible.” She particularly enjoys being close to the CERN Main Workshop and understanding how design ideas become real components. Paraskevi is a Greek physicist working at CERN’s HiRadMat (High-Radiation to Materials) facility, designed to deliver high-intensity beams to an irradiation area where material samples, as well as accelerator component assemblies, can be tested. She studied physics at NKUA, specialising in nuclear and particle physics, and is now pursuing her PhD at HiRadMat in collaboration with the University of Liverpool, studying novel materials for high-intensity beam diagnostics. “Continuous learning is one of my biggest motivators, and I am looking forward to exploring the limits of our knowledge on beam-material interactions,” says Paraskevi. Silvia is a Spanish physicist and deputy project manager for the Muon Drift Tube of the CMS detector, a general-purpose detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). She started her career at CERN more than 20 years ago as a technical student, working on prototypes of the first dipoles for the LHC. “My first motivation came in high school, from my teacher,” says Silvia about what made her pursue a career in STEM. “My favourite part about my job is learning. You can learn something new every day.” In parallel to this initiative, like every year since 2017, from 2 to 6 February 66 women scientists and engineers visited schools in Geneva, Switzerland, and in the Haute-Savoie and Ain regions of France to meet with students. Organised in collaboration with CERN, the University of Geneva, EPFL, LAPP and LAPTh, this event allowed more than 4200 students between 6 and 17 years old to meet a woman scientist, discuss their profession and career path, ask questions and participate in classroom activities.
David Clapham: A Life in Science Chasing Ion Channels
Over a 50-year career, former HHMI scientist and leader David Clapham reshaped our understanding of ion channels by relentlessly pursuing experimental evidence across scientific disciplines.
Wine-Staging 11.2 Brings More Patches To Help Adobe Photoshop On Linux
Building off Friday's release of Wine 11.2 is now Wine-Staging 11.2 as this experimental/testing version of Wine with hundreds of extra patches that have yet to be introduced in upstream proper for this open-source software enabling Windows games and applications on Linux
New type of magnetism discovered in 2D materials
In collaboration with international partners, researchers at the University of Stuttgart have experimentally demonstrated a previously unknown form of magnetism in atomically thin material layers. The ...
Cardiologist impressed by experimental pill that significantly lowers cholesterol
An experimental oral PCSK9 inhibitor is associated with LDL-C reductions that could prove to be a game-changer for patient care.
Gemini app Tools menu adds ‘Labs’ section, Personal Intelligence toggle
As the Gemini app picks up more features, Google is improving organization of the Tools menu on the web with Experimental Labs.
Scientists discover hidden geometry that bends electrons like gravity
Researchers have discovered a hidden quantum geometry inside materials that subtly steers electrons, echoing how gravity warps light in space. Once thought to exist only on paper, this effect has now been observed experimentally in a popular quantum material. The finding reveals a new way to understand and control how materials conduct electricity and interact with light. It could help power future ultra-fast electronics and quantum technologies.
Crockett, Seung, win major prizes from National Academy of Sciences
Molly Crockett will receive the 2026 Troland award for early-career researchers in experimental psychology, Sebastian Seung the Pradel award in neuroscience research.
Gemini gets ready for new Live Experimental Features, Thinking Mode, and more
We're getting a sneak peek at some of the new Gemini features likely to debut in Gemini Labs.
Gemini Live preps big upgrades with ‘Thinking Mode’ and ‘Experimental Features’
Gemini Live today is still based on 2.5 Flash, but big upgrades are coming according to the latest beta version of the Google app.
Google announces AI Overviews in Gmail search, experimental AI-organized inbox
Last year's premium Gmail AI features are also rolling out to free users.
All the laptops that caught our eye at CES 2026
From experimental form factors to slimmer gaming machines and a new wave of AI-focused notebooks, CES 2026 offered an early look at how laptop makers plan to compete this year
Quantum structured light could transform secure communication and computing
Scientists are learning to engineer light in rich, multidimensional ways that dramatically increase how much information a single photon can carry. This leap could make quantum communication more secure, quantum computers more efficient, and sensors far more sensitive. Recent advances have turned what was once an experimental curiosity into compact, chip-based technologies with real-world potential. Researchers say the field is hitting a turning point where impact may soon follow discovery.
Scientists find a safer way to make cells burn more calories
Researchers have developed experimental compounds that make cells burn more calories by subtly tweaking how mitochondria produce energy. Older versions of these chemicals were once used for weight loss—but were banned for being deadly. The new approach fine-tunes the effect, allowing cells to burn extra fuel safely. If successful, this could pave the way for new obesity treatments with added health benefits.
An experimental mRNA treatment counters immune cell aging in mice
A trio of mRNA molecules could help guard against the harmful effects of aging on immune cells, a study in mice finds.
Homegrown entertainment catches on across Southeast Asia in 2025
Increase in middle-income earners boosts experimental spending
D7VK 1.1 Released With An Experimental Direct3D 6 Frontend
Between the DXVK and VKD3D(-Proton) projects there is good support for Direct3D 8 through Direct3D 12 implementations atop the Vulkan API for Linux gaming usage
A new drug could stop Alzheimer’s before memory loss begins
New research suggests Alzheimer’s may start far earlier than previously thought, driven by a hidden toxic protein in the brain. Scientists found that an experimental drug, NU-9, blocks this early damage in mice and reduces inflammation linked to disease progression. The treatment was given before symptoms appeared, targeting the disease at its earliest stage. Researchers say this approach could reshape how Alzheimer’s is prevented and treated.
Google Labs testing ‘CC’ productivity AI agent that connects to Gmail & Drive, waitlist open
Google Labs today announced a “new experimental AI productivity agent” called “CC.” It will generate and send a “Your Day Ahead” briefing...
Google is building an experimental new browser and a new kind of web app
Meet the GenTab, nothing like the plain ol’ browser tab.
Google announces experimental ‘Disco’ browser with ‘GenTabs’ powered by Gemini 3
Google today announced “Disco” as an experiment to “shape the future of web browsing.” GenTabs are the first flagship feature...
Could aging eggs be 'rejuvenated'? New tool may help pave the way to fertility-extending treatments
Scientists invented a new experimental system to study how age-related changes in egg cells make them more prone to chromosomal errors.
How To Scale Your Business With Influencers
Influencer marketing has evolved from experimental tactics to a channel driving impact across the full funnel, with leaders recognizing its bottom-line value.
The Ten Best Science Books of 2025
From “experimental archaeology” to the mysterious appeal of exploration, the wide-ranging subjects detailed in these titles captivated Smithsonian magazine’s science contributors this year