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Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Kaiser Health Care Professionals Ratify New Contracts, Winning Vital Patient Safety Protections
Health care professionals, members of United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP, AFSCME), voted to ratify new contracts with Kaiser Permanente, winning critical protections that will directly improve patient care.
Do you love sleeping with your pet? Science reveals there’s a tricky trade-off
Co-sleeping with your pet produces a paradox: it feels beneficial — enhancing connection, comfort and emotional safety — but it objectively disturbs your sleep, and eventually you’re overall well-being.
How to make emergency rooms safer for people with dementia
In today's Morning Rounds newsletter: A federal vaccine adviser departs ACIP, adults turn to AI chatbots for health info, and radiologists sift through deepfake X-rays.
Trump Retained Classified Documents Because Of His ‘Business Interests,’ Jack Smith Alleged
Trump allegedly showed a classified map to people aboard his private plane, Smith found during his investigation.
The creator of Fortnite has laid off more than 1,000 staff – despite billions in revenue
Huge cuts announced this week show that truly no developer working in games is safe from corporate whims
Imaging manufacturer Guerbet faces financial challenges following recent FDA warning
Regulators recently scolded the France-based pharmaceutical firm for safety issues that occurred at its plant in Raleigh, North Carolina, which produces imaging contrast agents.
Caldara overlooked facts in slamming utilities
Normally, I appreciate the variety of perspectives published on Colorado Politics. But regarding Jon Caldara’s recent column on Xcel, he irresponsibly neglects key facts to the point of annihilating credibility (“Are our overlords normalizing power outages?” March 15). He neglects any discussion regarding the nuance of safety (or fiduciary responsibility) versus inconvenience, for example: Is […]
New Mexico jury says Meta harms children's mental health and safety, violating state law
The jury agreed that Meta engaged in "unconscionable" trade practices that unfairly took advantage of the vulnerabilities of and inexperience of children. Jurors found there were thousands of violations, each counting separately toward a penalty of $375 million.
Public health alert issued for this ground beef product. Here's why.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a public health alert for a ground beef product on March 23, due to metal contamination.
New Mexico jury finds Meta violated consumer protection law at trial over child safety
A jury in New Mexico has found that social media conglomerate Meta violated state consumer protection law and failed to disclose the risks of its platforms to children.
New Mexico jury finds Meta violated consumer protection law at trial about child safety
A New Mexico jury found Tuesday that social media conglomerate Meta is harmful to children's mental health and in violation of state consumer protection law. Jurors sided with state prosecutors who argued that Meta — which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp — prioritized profits over safety. The jury determined Meta violated parts of the state’s Unfair Practices Act on accusations the company hid what it knew about about the dangers of child sexual exploitation on its platforms and impacts on child mental health.
Marathon has sold 1.2M copies across Steam, PS5, and Xbox
Alinea Analytics estimates show that Marathon has generated gross revenues of $55M via 1.2M copies sold on Steam, PS5, and Xbox: Looking at the split between Steam, PS5, and Xbox, Steam is clearly the main platform for Marathon, accounting for a little under 70% of the audience (800K copies sold). Meanwhile, PS5 takes about 19% (217K) and Xbox (including console, PC, and cloud) accounts for a bit over 11% or 133K. Marathon is technically a first-party Sony title, so seeing the home console struggle to break 20% of the volume is a notable data point for the ongoing platform-agnostic debate. PlayStation Studios online games will almost certainly continue being multiplatform (despite Sony reportedly pulling back on PC releases). Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe As for Marathon, the consensus among hardcore players who pushed through the awkward onboarding phase – myself included – is that it’s fantastic. The gunplay, aesthetic, and presentation are among the best in the shooter genre. A great game doesn’t always equal an immediate hit, though, as shown by our estimates. Things are looking lukewarm right now. But this might be one of those marathon-not-a-sprint situations. Had to, didn’t I? Why wasn’t Marathon a hit on the same level as Arc Raiders? One topic that came up in a lot of conversations at GDC this year was why Marathon hasn’t hit the same stratosphere as Arc Raiders. On paper, they’re both extraction shooters, and Marathon has the Bungie pedigree – the house that built the gold standard for gunplay in Halo and Destiny. Marathon’s neon-futuristic aesthetic also distinguishes itself from the gritty realism of Tarkov or the post-apocalyptic hope of ARC Raiders. But vibes can only get you so far for first impressions if the onboarding feels like a brick wall. Marathon is a sweaty PvP-focused experience with a first-time user experience and UI that I can only describe as dreadful. Players are dropped into a complex ecosystem where the UI, though visually striking, is functionally uninformative, forcing users to manually hover over nondescript, identical icons just to identify basic gear or weapon mods. This lack of clarity is compounded by punishing mechanics like a severe heat gauge for movement and a scarcity of vital resources, all without a clear tutorial or a low-stakes mode to learn the ropes. Most people – even top streamers and veteran shooter players – have no idea what’s going on in Marathon at first. Arc is on the complete other end of the spectrum. As we covered here and here, Arc Raiders offers a more collaborative, approachable loop where players often work together toward shared goals. And the objectives are instantly clear. To many players, this contrast only emphasised Marathon’s issues, especially during the testing period. Players understand the Arc Raiders loop within 30 minutes, while Marathon acts as a massive filter, chewing up newcomers and spitting them out before they can experience the depth of Bungie’s signature gunplay. What I’m getting at here is that the poor first-time user experience of Marathon’s Server Slam likely stifled launch sales, while the opposite was true for Arc. Let’s look at the pre-launch copies sold for each game during their respective Server Slams (launch-aligned) : Looking at the trajectory: Arc Raiders saw a massive 80% jump in copies sold during its three-day Server Slam (day -13 to -11). Players jumped in, realised the water was fine, and immediately opened their wallets. Marathon, meanwhile, saw a 49% increase in the four days following its Slam (Day -7 to -3). At the time of each game’s respective launch, Arc Raiders had nearly double the Steam footprint of Marathon – and word of mouth only continued to grow. Bungie could have had more time to fix the onboarding process had the beta happened earlier. But Marathon launched three days after the beta finished. These factors limited the launch sales quite a bit, I reckon. Marathon has found a niche audience, though Despite the friction-heavy start, the data suggests that those who survived Marathon’s onboarding are loving life. We’ve been tracking cross-platform DAUs, and while there’s the expected post-launch leakage, many players are sticking with it. After peaking at 478K total DAUs on its first Saturday, Marathon has settled into a respectable rhythm, holding 345K DAUs as of yesterday and averaging 380K DAUs across the weekend. Steam continues to do the heavy lifting here, consistently accounting for the lion’s share of the daily players. Players have been putting in the hours, too: On Steam, Marathon’s average playtime has climbed to 27.8 hours, significantly outpacing the console averages on PS5 (16.5h) and Xbox (17.3h). Even more telling than the averages: 22% of the Steam audience has surged past the 50-hour mark, and nearly 7% have already logged over 100 hours. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe This data suggests that once the Bungie magic clicks, it hooks players deeper than the average extraction shooter. There’s also started to be a shift in the game’s discourse. Marathon launched as one of those games that’s cool to hate. But as Marathon’s 100-hour club grows, we’re seeing conversations around its mechanical merit outweigh the negativity. Several high-profile creators, who were initially vocal critics, have spent the last week coming around on the mechanical depth of the endgame. It’s a subtle but positive signal; the hate train is losing steam, and a new narrative about the game is emerging. Bungie faithfuls unite Another interesting metric in Marathon’s first few weeks is who, exactly, is playing. Bungie leans heavily on its prestige as the “makers of Halo and Destiny,” in its marketing, and that message has clearly hit the mark. On Steam, the gravity (hammer) of Bungie’s previous work is unavoidable. A staggering 78.2% of Marathon players also played Destiny 2. The trend carries across other platforms, with 74.2% of PS5 players and 82.7% of Xbox players also having played Destiny 2. The Halo legacy lives on, it seems. More on that in a bit. While Destiny 2 went free to play, these numbers still represent a high-intent migration of a fanbase that trusts Bungie’s specific brand of kinetic gunplay and cryptic world-building. The Xbox data adds another layer of legacy. About 85.7% of Marathon players on Xbox have played Halo Infinite, while over half of the Steam audience has spent time in Halo Infinite and 36.1% in the Master Chief Collection (a paid collection of the old Bungie-made legacy games). Interestingly, we see a 55.9% overlap with ARC Raiders on Steam. Overlap is even higher there on PlayStation (60.5%) and Xbox (66.5%). And there’s also significant crossover with Helldivers 2 on all platforms, too. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe Bungie has found some of its fans with Marathon, and the challenge now is keeping this engaged in a high-stakes PvP environment when they’ve spent the last decade primarily enjoying the power fantasies of PvE. On that note… Go the full 26 miles? Or cut and run? Time for some could’ve, should’ve, would’ve. These things would have improved Marathon’s performance at launch: A more robust onboarding process, perhaps in the form of a short single-player/PvE campaign. We know Bungie fans love this stuff. A traditional arena-based mode akin to Destiny’s Crucible could have been a bridge for the cautious players who’d have been otherwise deterred by the Server Slam. It’s also a great palate cleanser after getting merked. Introducing a dedicated PvE environment would have similarly diversified the conversation and lowered the barrier for the Bungie faithful who found the pure PvP extraction loop too abrasive. PvE is safer than PvP these days. There’s an argument that a thin PvE mode would have just felt like a budget Destiny, potentially hurting the brand more. But given how dire the FTUE is, I think it would have been a net positive. Any kind of tutorialised loop that demystifies the stakes, really. While there is merit in a studio sticking firmly to a singular creative vision, and going all in on the hardcore extraction loop. Less forgiving is the technical reality is that the user interface and first-time user experience (FTUE) were not at a commercial standard for launch. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe In a landscape where player time is oversaturated and the most contested currency, a flawed FTUE is a critical failure point. But it’s not all doom and gloom, as Marathon has an incredible, unique gameplay loop, suggesting that financial success is still attainable if Bungie can pivot effectively. Bungie and PlayStation now face a difficult strategic crossroads, though – one within a challenging games market. They could: Double down on Marathon with a long-term Rainbow Six Siege- or No Man’s Sky-style recovery plan, which is something I heard Last Stand Media’s Chris Maldonado mention last week. While this could be a sunk-cost fallacy in action, it could eventually yield the audience the game’s mechanical depth deserves. Shift focus toward the inevitable Destiny 3 or another project, mitigating the escalating opportunity cost and cutting their losses, so to speak. Doing both is an expensive proposition, given the high overhead and burn rate of operating out of Bellevue, Washington. With Sony recently demonstrating a lower threshold for underperforming studios and projects, the margin for error has vanished. Whatever happens, the next six months will determine whether Marathon becomes a cornerstone of Sony’s live-service portfolio or a cautionary tale of vision exceeding accessibility. I’m hoping it’s the former, because Marathon rocks. As always, hit subscribe to get updates on Marathon and other relevant games. Subscribe Want to get your hands on our data for yourself – for free? We’re offering a free trial of our platform for games companies. Send us a message here, or reply to this email, and we’ll set you up. The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]
Claude Code can now take over your computer to complete tasks
But Anthropic urges caution as "research preview" safeguards "aren't absolute."
Ford recalls more than 254,000 SUVs due to software issues
Ford is recalling more than 254,000 SUVs in the U.S. after a software defect was found to impact rearview cameras and key driver-assistance safety systems.
Public health alert issued for ground beef product; possible foreign material contamination
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY)– The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a public health alert for a ground beef product. Officials say the R…
Health alert issued for ground beef sold in Pennsylvania
(WHTM) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a public health alert for a ground beef product because it may be contaminated by a fo…
Pacers Sports & Entertainment Launches Fieldhouse Media Network, Delivering First-Of-Its-Kind Global Media Channel for Partners
Deloitte and Yieldmo help PS&E to grow market size through first-party fan data while producing convertible ROI INDIANAPOLIS (March 24, 2026) – Pacers Sports & Entertainment today launched the Fieldhouse Media Network, a first-of-its-kind global AI-powered media platform built on authenticated sports fandom, giving brands measurable access to one of the most engaged audiences – the fan. Developed in collaboration with Deloitte and Yieldmo, the network leverages Yieldmo’s Ymax.ai, an advertising platform with a dedicated sports vertical, and Converge™ by Deloitte for Sports fan data platform built on Deloitte Ascend™ to activate first-party, authenticated data from approximately 250 million sports and entertainment fans worldwide in a privacy-safe, cookieless […]
Pacers Sports & Entertainment Launches Fieldhouse Media Network, Delivering First-Of-Its-Kind Global Media Channel for Partners
Deloitte and Yieldmo help PS&E to grow market size through first-party fan data while producing convertible ROI INDIANAPOLIS (March 24, 2026) – Pacers Sports & Entertainment today launched the Fieldhouse Media Network, a first-of-its-kind global AI-powered media platform built on authenticated sports fandom, giving brands measurable access to one of the most engaged audiences – the fan. Developed in collaboration with Deloitte and Yieldmo, the network leverages Yieldmo’s Ymax.ai, an advertising platform with a dedicated sports vertical, and Converge™ by Deloitte for Sports fan data platform built on Deloitte Ascend™ to activate first-party, authenticated data from approximately 250 million sports and entertainment fans worldwide in a privacy-safe, cookieless […]
Do you need political risk insurance? How to insure your business amid uncertainty
Political risk insurance took center stage earlier this month after vessels struggled to safely navigate the Gulf of Hormuz. But do you need it?
Public Health Alert For Ground Beef—‘Do Not Consume’
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a public health alert for certain ground beef products.
Opinion | Why Are So Many Democrats So Far Out of Touch?
Candidates in safe districts are under no pressure to moderate in order to win.
Standout safety reclassifies to 2027, recruitment picking up
One of the top safeties in the 2028 class has opted to reclassify to the 2027 class with his recruitment picking up steam.
WATCH LIVE: Trump joins Memphis Safe Task Force roundtable, initiative aimed at combating crime
Data Is at the Heart of What Public Health Does
Data is key to protecting the health and safety of a community, from identifying and tracking disease outbreaks to ensuring that water is safe to drink. Data is also vital to understanding where resources are most needed. This value is especially apparent to the officials charged with protecting public health, such as Dr. Janet Berreman, Kauai’s (Kauaʻi’s)* district health officer.
Free sports physicals return for public school students in Flagler and Volusia counties
Thousands of middle and high school students in public schools across Volusia and Flagler counties can receive free sports physicals this spring as AdventHealth helps young athletes prepare safely for the upcoming season.
What’s the science behind ice thickness and when it’s safe to drive on a lake?
A Canadian ice researcher came up with a formula in 1971 for ice roads. It’s still the foundation for safety guidelines.
Sheffield business owners 'don't feel safe' next to illegal waste site
An Attercliffe dumping ground is identified as one of the worst in the country by the government.
This Couple Turned A Facebook Marketplace Side Hustle Into A Seven-Figure Business
When Harrison Gordon and Paige Sandher couldn't find a modular custom sofa that was also affordable, they designed their own. They built a fast-growing business around their idea.
Student researchers bring Kentucky State University science to Posters-at-the-Capitol
With lawmakers just steps away, three Kentucky State University undergraduates presented research on cattle health, soil amendments and food safety at the Capitol Annex on March 5, bringing student-led agricultural […]
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.
Breaking down Bills’ selections in latest NFL mock drafts
According to the latest NFL mock drafts, the Bills could go wide receiver, linebacker, safety, or defensive linemen at pick 26.
Top 5 states with the highest number of safe hospitals, according to new report
The war on Iran is in its fourth week. Here’s what to know
Three full weeks of the war the US and Israel launched against Iran have shocked the world oil market, pierced a sense of safety in parts of the Middle East, and claimed the lives of US service members and civilians in multiple countries.
Marc Abrahams, founder of the satirical Ig Nobel Prizes: ‘Scientists in the US are very angry. People are waking up’
The awards are moving to Switzerland, because their founder believes he can no longer guarantee the laureates’ safety in the United States
Top 5 states with the highest number of safest hospitals, according to new report
Healthgrades named 438 hospitals across 40 states for its 2026 Patient Safety Excellence Award, with Texas and Florida among the top-performing states.
Queens small businesses push for stronger safety measures after attempted robberies
QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) — Business owners in Queens are calling for stronger public safety measures after an attempted break-in at one of Woodhaven’s most well-known landmarks. The incident happened earl...
These are my favorite budget-friendly iPhone 17e accessories
Best budget accessories for iPhone 17e: cases, chargers, MagSafe gear, AirPods, and more to upgrade your setup for less.
Judge rules US government overreached with transgender health care declaration
A federal judge has ruled that the government overreached when it declared certain types of gender-affirming care unsafe for young people.
Politics Friday: Consumer safeguards gain bipartisan support at the Capitol
Friday at noon, MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst talks about proposals to protect consumers from scams and other ways Minnesotan’s might be swindled. Plus, a check-in with the state’s economic development commissioner.
Judge rules US government overreached with transgender health care declaration
A federal judge has ruled that the government overreached when it declared certain types of gender-affirming care unsafe for young people
Judge rules the government overreached with transgender health care declaration
A federal judge has ruled that the government overreached when it declared certain types of gender-affirming care unsafe for young people.
Judge Rules US Government Overreached With Transgender Health Care Declaration
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge said the government overreached by issuing a declaration that called treatments like puberty blockers and surgeries unsafe and ineffective for young people experiencing gender dysphoria, according to a ruling Thursday in Oregon. Judge Mustafa Kasubhai's ruling ...
Hermès Now Sells $1,250+ MagSafe Chargers Wrapped in Calfskin Leather
Luxury brand Hermès has a new series of MagSafe-compatible chargers for the iPhone and Apple Watch, with prices that are higher than the cost of an iPhone 17 Pro Max. The $1,250 Paddock Solo Charger is a magnetic charger that works with a single device, while the $1,750 Paddock Duo can charge an Apple Watch and iPhone at the same time. The $1,750 Paddock Yoyo is also a dual charger, but it has a USB-C cable that wraps around the charger for travel purposes.
Tooele business owners worry proposed road project could negatively impact daily operation
A proposed road project aimed at improving safety has drawn mixed reactions from local business owners.The Utah Department of Transportation, along with Tooele
Gamers Rebel Against Nvidia’s DLSS 5 ‘AI Slop Filter’
Nvidia’s DLSS 5 graphics upgrade sparked backlash, memes and mockery, with gamers rejecting the proposed “AI slop” filter.
Business Briefs: Funding available for Rockwood storefronts
Rockwood storefront improvement grants Funds are available to freshen businesses across the Rockwood Urban Renewal Area. The storefront improvement grants aim to boost property values, improve perceptions of safety, increase […]
MLB further embraces sports betting in deal with prediction platform Polymarket
MLB is currently mired in a betting scandal involving several pitchers. MLB and Polymarket execs say deals like this make the game safer.
Google gives Android users a way to install unverified apps if they prove they really, really want to
: Chocolate Factory describes concession as an attempt to balance openess with safety
Hermès made a $5K leather MagSafe Duo charging case for iPhone and Apple Watch
Apple may be out of the leather business for environmental reasons, but its partner Hermès is far from it. The...
German Health Minister Nina Warken and WHO Hub in Berlin highlight 2025 achievements
Germany’s Federal Minister of Health, Nina Warken, visited the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin today to review progress and launch its 2025 Annual Report. The report highlights advances in using artificial intelligence, data science and pathogen genomics to strengthen global preparedness for future pandemics.In 2025, the WHO Hub in Berlin worked with more than 160 Member States and over 190 partners to help countries and organizations develop new systems and tools to detect and understand new public health threats as quickly as possible, whenever and wherever they occur.BMG to confirm whether they wish to contribute a quote. “Detecting outbreaks early is one of the most effective ways to save lives and prevent epidemics from becoming global crises,” said Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken. “Germany is proud to host and support the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. Its work strengthens our safety at home and helps protect people worldwide.”Artificial intelligence is increasingly transforming the detection of outbreaks. In 2025, the Hub launched an upgraded version of the Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) system, which uses enhanced AI functions to scan global online information in real time and help experts quickly identify unusual health events. The system is now used by 120 countries.To better anticipate health threats, countries need information beyond traditional health data. The Hub supports countries in implementing Collaborative Surveillance, which integrates data on climate, animals, travel, and population movement to provide a more comprehensive and real-time understanding of health threats.The Hub also expanded global access to pathogen genomics, which helps scientists detect new pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria, understand how they spread and how dangerous they may become. Through the International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN), the WHO Hub in Berlin worked with 309 partners in 101 countries to expand access to these technologies.“We are in a new era of global health threats, and we need new tools to face tomorrow’s challenges,” said Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme. “The WHO Hub in Berlin helps countries use data and technology more effectively so they can identify risks earlier and respond faster. No country can address these threats alone. Strong cooperation remains our best defence.”“Berlin offers an ideal environment for our work. We collaborate closely with world-leading institutions such as the Robert Koch Institute and the Charité Center for Global Health,” said Dr Oliver Morgan, Head of the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. “Germany has supported the WHO Hub since its establishment, and we are pleased to welcome Federal Minister Nina Warken to the Hub today. This strong partnership helps us advance innovation in pandemic and epidemic intelligence and better support countries to prepare for future health threats.”The Hub is expanding the use of advanced analytics and mathematical modelling to forecast how outbreaks may develop and to assess which response measures are most effective. Through its Collaboratory, the Hub connects modelers and analysts with governments to ensure their work addresses real public health needs. In 2025, the community grew to 1300 members from 50 countries and 200 institutions. An AI-powered pandemic simulator, currently in the prototyping phase, will help decision-makers compare outbreak scenarios and help identify effective disease control measures.
Meet The Small Business Claiming To Have Cracked AI Software Testing
Sauce Labs says its approach to testing, based on business intent, can help enterprises break the logjam caused by the need for quality assurance in software development
3M to create a leading fire and safety business; acquires Madison Fire & Rescue and combines with Scott Safety
/PRNewswire/ -- 3M (NYSE: MMM) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Madison Fire & Rescue, in partnership with Bain...
Should R.I. regulate private equity in health care after crisis at safety-net hospitals?
On the R.I. Report podcast, a Salve Regina University expert talks about what Massachusetts, Maine, and Oregon have done to control private equity and protect patients.
Health care advocates warn drug program change will erode safety net
The changes are being made to the 340B program.
Pierce County resolution condemns political violence, seeks safety for public servants
The Pierce County Council has formally condemned political violence, adopting a resolution Tuesday that calls for renewed commitment to public safetyand constr
Deep Ellum Foundation calls for new extensive security network to keep entertainment district safe
CA lawmakers pushes forward bill to curb mental health diversion for public safety
Opponents of the measure say the drive to restrict the diversions neglects statistical success.
Spring Break chaos hits Houston streets and businesses
Spring break in Houston turned chaotic over the weekend, with streets overtaken by crowds, businesses forced to shut down early, and safety concerns on the rise.
Bill to tighten mental health diversion passes key Senate committee
Assembly Bill 46 took a big step toward becoming law on Tuesday. The bill, designed to address what many believe is a loophole in the state’s mental health diversion program, was unanimously approved by the Senate Public Safety Committee.
iPhone 17e Teardown Shows How Apple Made It An Effortless Process To Add MagSafe Charging To The iPhone 16e In A Few Minutes
A teardown performed by iFixit shows that the iPhone 17e is easy to get into and how you can added MagSafe charging to the iPhone 16e
The race for a safe Democratic House seat offers clues about the party’s future
It’s Primary Day in Illinois, where 15 Democrats, spanning three generations, are vying to succeed longtime Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky in the state's 9th Congressional District. We discuss what the race tells us about the future of the Democratic Party.This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, political reporter Elena Moore, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.
How KultureCity Is Reshaping Accessibility in Live Entertainment
Over the past decade, conversations around live events have increasingly centered on safety [...]
iFixit Tears Down the iPhone 17e, Discovers MagSafe Upgrade Path for iPhone 16e Owners
Repair site iFixit today took apart the iPhone 17e, which is the new low-cost iPhone that Apple launched last Wednesday. The iPhone 17e is almost identical to the iPhone 16e in design, but it does include a MagSafe back panel that supports MagSafe and faster Qi charging than the iPhone 16e. When disassembling the iPhone 17e, iFixit found that the MagSafe panel for the device is the same size as the panel for the 16e, and the two are interchangeable.
iFixit teardown shows iPhone 17e back panel can add MagSafe to iPhone 16e
After opening up the MacBook Neo a few days ago, iFixit is back with a full teardown of the new...
Spotlight on St. Johns: Small businesses struggle but community holds on
St. Johns businesses struggle with safety and costs, but community ties keep owners hopeful as KATU spotlights their fight to survive.
Spigen celebrates Apple’s 50th with retro Mac-inspired accessories
Spigen’s Classic LS lineup adds a retro MagSafe wallet and AirPods case inspired by classic Apple design with modern features.
Nvidia’s AI-Powered Photorealistic Gaming Technology Roasted As ‘AI Slop’
Nvidia promised its new technology is a “dramatic leap in visual realism,” though gamers voiced fears it will diminish the artistic appearance of video games.
Iran negotiating with FIFA to move World Cup games to Mexico from US
Iran’s soccer federation is in discussions with FIFA about moving their World Cup matches to Mexico from the United States due to concerns about the safety of their players, Iranian soccer president Mehdi Taj said on Monday.
Oil prices jump as Iran warns Strait of Hormuz ‘cannot be the same’
Oil prices spiked Tuesday as Iran intensified its attacks on energy infrastructure across the Middle East and a senior regime figure suggested that the crucial Strait of Hormuz wouldn’t become safe for ships anytime soon.
Boards protected CEO bonuses as tariffs threatened business. Now, as Iran disrupts trade, CEOs may get more protection
An exclusive analysis of 50 companies found CEOs in the lowest-performing tier still collected 87% of their target bonuses last year—and boards may start adding more comp safety nets to protect from Iran economic impact.
‘Room for improvement’: EU sports czar warns FIFA over leadership before World Cup
Glenn Micallef tells POLITICO that Gianni Infantino has not provided safety assurances for European fans heading to the U.S. this summer.
Live Whole Health #309: Natural pain relief
Experts recommend non-drug methods of managing low back pain as a first line of treatment, and yoga is on the list of safe and effective ways to manage pain.
Free Health Screenings & Safety Demos Scheduled For Thursday
Emergency responders and health care providers are hosting a free community event this week for local residents.
Integrated Crisis Stabilization Services supports individuals experiencing substance use and mental health crises at United Counseling Service’s Battelle House in Bennington, VT
As part of a State of Vermont request, United Counseling Service (UCS) created an Integrated Crisis Stabilization Program (ICSS) this year to expand its services for individuals experiencing mental health and substance use crises in Bennington County. ICSS provides therapeutic groups, skill-building, and a safe place to recover.
UP Health System - Marquette to operate on only essential services due to weather
In a Sunday afternoon Facebook post UP Health Systems - Marquette says they will only operate on essential services for the safety of their patients and staff.
Public health alert issued for frozen meat products sold at popular retailer
The Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a public health alert for frozen ready-to-eat meat products sold at a popular retailer.
Public health alert issued for frozen meat products sold at popular retailer
The Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a public health alert for frozen ready-to-eat meat products sold at a popular retailer.
Every Business Owner Needs This Password Manager for Just $24.97
Sticky Password Premium stores passwords safely for businesses, and is on sale for $25.
Boulder businesses braced for Xcel Energy's power shutoffs on Saturday
The affect of Saturday's Xcel Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) is being felt in different ways by people across Boulder. Some good, others not as much.
Resident Evil Requiem Has Unique Idle Animations For Each Gun
It only triggers in the safe rooms.
What are peptides, and are they safe? Here's what to know
Lots of people are talking about peptides. But what are they? Here’s a quick primer on the health trend and what we know about peptides’ safety.
Meet Renita Williams Thomas, Business Report’s Executive of the Year
Renita Williams Thomas had parented five children and spent years as a pediatric nurse before she understood the impossible choice facing parents of medically fragile children: Keep working or keep your child safe and healthy. That understanding came with her sixth child—Kai-Li, a baby girl born severely premature that she and her husband adopted. “When […]
Chicago Bears lose another safety to free agency
The Chicago Bears have lost three of their top four safeties to free agency, and Jonathan Owens is the latest to find a new home.
Public Administration as Solution Science
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization. By Naim KapucuMarch 13, 2026 Public administration is often described as the bridge between public goals and real results. When communities face complex problems such as public safety, health threats, climate risks, housing pressures or […]
The New CEO Of Acquisition.com: From Goldman To Building The ‘Disney Of Business’
Most Goldman Sachs bankers leave with a set of deal-structuring skills and a polished LinkedIn profile. Sharran Srivatsaa left with a lesson he learned at a closing dinner.
How Safe Is Plasma Donation?
Two recent deaths tied to for-profit clinics in Canada raised concerns about the health effects of having plasma drawn as often as twice a week.
Safer space travel: Scientists create a cosmic ray simulator
Cosmic rays are one of the greatest challenges for space travel and pose a considerable risk to humans and materials. For the first time on European soil, an international research team in collaboration ...
SGMC Health Earns ISO 9001 Quality Management System Certification from DNV
SGMC Health announced that its teams have earned ISO 9001 Quality Management System certification through DNV Healthcare Inc., an internationally recognized standard that validates strong quality, safety, and performance systems across the health system. […]
EXCLUSIVE: Woodhaven’s Neir’s Tavern targeted in attempted burglary, owner announces ‘Small Business Safety Summit’
On Wednesday, March 4, a security breach was captured on surveillance footage, showing four masked individuals attempting to break into Neir’s Tavern, located
Legislators reject Flock’s first political donations in California
Campaign representatives for two Democratic lawmakers said they'd return the money amid concerns that Flock’s data could be accessed by ICE investigators.
Three Baystate Health Hospitals Achieve 2026 Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award
Baystate Health is pleased to announce that Baystate Franklin Medical Center, Baystate Noble Hospital, and Baystate Wing Hospital have achieved the 2026 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ from Healthgrades, the #1 site Americans use to find a doctor or hospital.
Police, South Boston businesses prepare for St. Patrick's Day Parade: "Be safe, be respectful"
Vaxart Provides Business Update and Reports Full Year 2025 Financial Results
Topline data from 400-person sentinel cohort of the Phase 2b COVID-19 trial anticipated early Q2 2026 Published positive clinical results in the first quarter of 2026 demonstrating oral norovirus vaccine candidate was safe and immunogenic in lactating women and resulted in passive transfer of antibodies to their infants via breast milk Cash, cash equivalents and investments of $63.8 million as of December 31, 2025; Runway into second quarter of 2027 Conference call today at 4:30 p.m. ET Live sto
‘This war has not made us safer’: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand shares concerns over Iran’s retaliatory attacks
White House Uses ‘Wii Sports’ Imagery In Iran War Video—After Usage Of ‘Pokémon’ Sparked Rebuke
The “Wii Sports” video was posted days after The Pokémon Company said it did not give permission to the White House to use imagery from “Pokémon Pokopia” in a social media post.
Colorado’s election audits are built on math, not politics
By Amanda Gonzalez You don’t build a secure election system overnight. You build it over years — layer by layer — reinforcing it with stronger safeguards, better technology and more transparency. In Colorado, one of those safeguards is a little-known but critically important process called a Risk-Limiting Audit (RLA). It’s math-driven, public and one of […]
At China’s Big Political Meeting, a Rare Debate About Inequality
China’s plan to raise pensions for farmers by less than $3 a month prompted rare criticism from lawmakers about the country’s threadbare social safety net.
Ravens to sign safety Jaylinn Hawkins to 2-year deal
After seeing Ar’Darius Washington and Alohi Gilman depart on the first day of free agency, the Ravens have found their replacement at safety. As first reported by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Wednesday afternoon, Baltimore agreed to terms with free agent Jaylinn Hawkins on a two-year, $10 million contract. Hawkins, 28, is coming off an impressive […]
Packers lose free-agent safety Zayne Anderson to Dolphins
Zayne Anderson, a safety and special-teams ace, will leave the Packers in free agency for the Miami Dolphins.