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The Family Van brings free health screenings to Boston neighborhoods
With barriers rising in health care access, mobile clinic fills critical gaps
When Religion Becomes Obsolete, Politics Tries to Save Us
When politics becomes our highest love, it will also become our cruelest disappointment, leaving our homes colder, our holidays lonelier, and our common life harder to sustain.
Insulin pills may soon replace daily injections
For over a century, scientists have chased the dream of insulin pills, but the digestive system kept destroying the drug before it could work—forcing millions of patients to rely on daily injections. Now, researchers at Kumamoto University have developed a clever workaround using a tiny peptide that helps insulin slip through the intestinal wall.
Segment: Financing Action on Extreme Heat and Maternal and Newborn Health: The Way Forward
The segment “Financing Action on Extreme Heat and Maternal and Newborn Health: The Way Forward” will examine how innovative and better-aligned financing approaches can respond to these growing risks. Discussions will highlight country experiences in mobilizing domestic resources, opportunities to unlock and scale climate finance, and the role of heat-smart innovations in building resilient health systems. Particular attention will be given to low- and middle-income countries, where exposure and vulnerability remain highest, and where integrated solutions can deliver the greatest impact.
Former Brazilian leader Bolsonaro's health improves and he could serve sentence under house arrest
One of his doctors says former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been transferred to a regular hospital room in the capital of Brasilia as he continues to recover from pneumonia
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says he's 'not a fan' of AI
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says he is 'not a fan of AI,' warning the technology lacks reliability and the human understanding users expect.
How Trump shifted from threatening Iran’s power plants to touting peace talks
President Donald Trump’s sudden turnabout and, according to him, rapidly advancing peace talks made for an abrupt shift in the administration’s approach to the Iran war.
White House pitches pharma on pricing draft
Plus: Names of the candidates to lead the CDC
DarkSword exploit leaks on GitHub
The exploit is now publicly available on GitHub, increasing the urgency for older iPhones and iPads to run the latest available iOS and iPadOS versions.
After patient deaths, Idaho budget committee approves restoring cut Medicaid mental health programs
The Idaho Legislature will consider restoring mental health programs the state cut to comply with the governor’s order for budget cuts.
MacBook Neo Silences Critics Over 8GB RAM Being Inadequate; Can Open 60 Apps In Unison While Windows Laptop Powers Off Performing The Same Task
A YouTube channel decided to take the MacBook Neo for an apps stress test and opened up 60 apps at the same time to see if that 8GB RAM will be sufficient
Anthropic's Claude Can Now Control Your Computer
The developer is boosting Claude's agentic capabilities in an apparent effort to compete with platforms like OpenClaw.
The View: Politicians Disappear From ABC Show After Trump FCC Threat
The ABC panel show hasn't had any political guests on since the FCC announced it was investigating it. That changed today as the network fights the feds ahead of the midterms.
'Players' of an MMORPG for AI Agents Spontaneously Generated Their Own Religion
SpaceMolt is a new destination for vaguely portentous word salad.
iOS 26.4 offers two Liquid Glass customization updates
iOS 26.4 is launching soon, and it will bring two updates for how you can customize the Liquid Glass design on your iPhone.
Funding restored for crucial behavioral health programs, leaving related services as is
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted to restore funding for two crucial behavioral health programs. Leaving other supplemental services on the table
Takeaways from arguments in the Supreme Court case that could end grace periods for mail-in ballots
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared dubious of state laws that allow the counting of mail ballots that arrive at election offices after Election Day as justices heard oral arguments in a challenge to Mississippi’s five-day grace period for mail ballots.
Apple has six new products that could launch soon, per rumors
Apple has already launched many new products this year, but rumors indicate there are another six product debuts that could happen soon.
Scientists Say Surprising Smells Are Unlocking the Secrets of Ancient Mummies
Analyzing samples of mummies from different dynastic periods showed how the mixtures of substances used in mummification became more complex with time.
Smart Glasses Are Getting Shamed Into Covering Their Cameras
The Inmo Go 3 has a camera cover that speaks volumes about smart glasses right now.
Nvidia CEO Says He Hates AI Slop Too After DLSS 5 Panic
Jensen Huang tried again to defend one of the company's most unpopular initiatives
Bachelorette suitor from canceled season drove car in Madison Cawthorn crash
A 'Bachelorette' suitor from Taylor Frankie Paul's now-scrapped season was the driver in the 2014 car crash that paralyzed former Republican congressman Madison Cawthorn.
Apple sets June date for WWDC 2026, teasing "AI advancements"
Apple will host its next Worldwide Developers Conference the week of June 8. The company is expected to announce major updates to Siri with advanced AI capabilities.
The Supreme Court seems alarmingly willing to trash thousands of ballots
At least four justices appear to be on board with a frivolous lawsuit attacking voting by mail.
SCOTUS conservatives signal readiness to curb late-arriving mail ballots
Conservative Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical during oral arguments of allowing states to continue counting late-arriving mail-in ballots. A decision is expected in June.
Apple to Start AI Comeback Bid on June 8 With Annual WWDC Conference
Apple Inc. announced plans to hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference from June 8 to June 12, when the company is poised to unveil a make-or-break collection of AI features.
Trump says talks are happening. Iran says they’re not. Why a former Trump Iran negotiator says both might be true
Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus Review - Intel's Fastest Gaming CPU
The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a game-changer, featuring more cores and larger cache than the 265K, while cutting the launch price to just $300. In gaming, it outperformed all non-X3D Ryzen CPUs, and application performance is impressive as well, matching the much pricier Ryzen 9 9950X.
Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus Review - Disrupting AMD's Entry-Level
Intel is breathing new life into its Arrow Lake lineup with the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus. Priced at an attractive $200, this little powerhouse outperforms most AMD CPUs in applications and delivers competitive gaming performance, too. It's a strong contender for budget-friendly builds, and overclocking potential is good, too.
Borussia Dortmund names second-division exec as sporting director
Borussia Dortmund has dipped into the German second division to appoint a new sporting director who won praise for making impactful transfers on a budget.
The MacBook Neo proves Apple is leaving a door wide open for Google’s ‘Aluminium OS’
Apple recently did something that, on paper, seems to make no sense. They launched the MacBook Neo; a $599 laptop powered by the A18 Pro chip that, in a previous life, powered the iPhone 16 series....
Seattle Sports This Week: TV and radio for March 23-29
A look at the broadcast schedule for March 16-22 on Seattle Sports 710 AM and the Seattle Sports app, as well as local sports teams on TV.
Rock Island Bridge announces grand opening after years of planning
A long-awaited entertainment district above the Kansas River has set an opening date.
iPhone Air Said to Be Roughly Twice as Popular as iPhone 16 Plus
While it certainly has its critics, the iPhone Air appears to have validated Apple's decision to retire the iPhone Plus, if new results from an independent analysis are anything to go by. Crowdsourced Speedtest data published by Ookla suggests the iPhone Air captured 6.8 percent of iPhone 17 generation samples in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of 2025, up from the 2.9 percent share the iPhone 16 Plus managed in the same launch window a year earlier.
Ewing to announce entertainment for Omaha’s Memorial Park concert
The event is happening on Friday, June 26.
Ewing to announce entertainment for Omaha’s Memorial Park concert
The event is happening on Friday, June 26.
While Intel Skipped Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, It Appeared At Geekbench With A Staggering 17% Higher Single And Multi-Core Score Than Ultra 9 285K
Intel's Core Ultra 9 290K Plus scores 3747 single-core and 26117 multi-core in Geekbench, showing a 17% performance boost over the 285K.
New C8 Corvette Grand Sport Makes Surprise Debut at 12 Hours of Sebring
The first mid-engined Grand Sport dons a widebody and red hashmarks, with the car's full reveal coming later this week.
Kyle Shanahan ‘very excited' for 49ers to reunite with linebacker Dre Greenlaw
San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is happy the team was able to re-sign linebacker Dre Greenlaw in NFL free agency.
Google TV just lost a big TV brand to web app-based ‘Titan OS’
Philips, a major TV brand in markets such as the UK and Europe, is ditching Google TV for “Titan OS.”...
Revolutionary Submarine Mysteriously Disappears Without a Trace – Scientists Are Now Preparing for a Bold Return
A pioneering robotic submarine that explored beneath Antarctica’s glaciers has been lost, but its discoveries are reshaping our understanding of ice melt as a more advanced successor is prepared to continue the mission.
Watch sperm whale headbutt another for no apparent reason
Researchers have captured extraordinary footage of sperm whales randomly headbutting each other, confirming anecdotal reports from mariners and whalers in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Apple Reportedly Preparing 'Biggest Set of iPhone Revamps' Ever
Apple is working on "the biggest set of iPhone revamps in the product's history," according to the latest word from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Specifically, he is referring to the long-rumored foldable iPhone, as well as an ambitious 20th-anniversary iPhone with a truly "edge-to-edge" design.
What’s the new 'Background Security' on the iPhone? What we know.
Apple's new Background Security Improvements operate between software updates, providing "lightweight security releases."
Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus & Core Ultra 5 250K Plus Official Benchmarks: Faster Than 14900K & Comparable To Ryzen X In Gaming, Much Faster In Apps, Superb Value
Intel shared official benchmarks of its Core Ultra 7 270K Plus & Core Ultra 5 250K Plus in gaming, apps, and more, against AMD Ryzen CPUs.
DanDan restaurant in Milwaukee temporarily closed by health department
Popular Third Ward restaurant shuts down pending health department re-inspection; reason for closure not yet released.
Blue Jays extend manager John Schneider, GM Ross Atkins following World Series appearance
The Blue Jays are locking up two architects of the team's World Series run.
Happening this week | Women Working and Winning in Politics Roundtable
The 3rd annual Women Working & Winning in Politics Roundtable will be held at Dillard University
Govee’s Outdoor Chromatic String Lights Sound Obnoxious in the Best Way
These smart light bulbs support Matter, but there's a catch.
Every NFL franchise's biggest position to improve, plus free agency and draft solutions
The Cowboys need to add to their defense, and they have the draft capital to make it happen.
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.
Samsung's Galaxy S26 will get Apple AirDrop support starting today
The feature was first launched on Pixel 10 phones last year.
Companies Aren’t Ripping Out Business Software for AI. Here’s What They’re Doing Instead.
Tech leaders at large corporations say that, for now, they’re vibe-coding their own small, custom apps, and putting pressure on their software vendors.
Cardinal Health Appoints Patricia A. Hemingway Hall as Board Chair
/PRNewswire/ -- Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Patricia A. Hemingway Hall to succeed Gregory B. Kenny as...
New York approves cannabis for anxiety. Science says it may not help
A Lancet Psychiatry study found no evidence cannabinoids treat anxiety, PTSD. In NY, any practitioner can certify a patient for medical cannabis for any condition they deem appropriate.
MTSU Agrees to Long-Term Extension with NIKE and BSN SPORTS - Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
MTSU Athletics announced on Monday that it will continue to partner with the world's leading brand for apparel and footwear after inking a long-term extensio...
Doubts from key Republicans on surgeon general test MAHA’s political power
Casey Means faces pushback from some Republicans over her refusal to forcefully recommend vaccines.
Why the BTS Comeback Concert Was a ‘Disaster’ for Some Businesses
The turnout for the K-pop titans’ show was much lower than projected by officials, hitting the bottom line of some restaurants. Shares in the group’s management company also fell.
Samsung adds native AirDrop support to Galaxy S26 devices
Share files with Apple-using friends
Ambani's Reliance Jio: businesses and investors of the IPO-bound firm
Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio Platforms is gearing up to file papers seeking regulatory approvals for a Mumbai listing, in what is likely to be the biggest-ever stock offering in the country.
German men's biathlon coaches stay, women's coaches leave after flop
Tobias Reiter und Jens Filbrich have kept their jobs as coaches of Germany's men's biathlon team despite their equivalents in the women's team leaving their roles. The season which finished on Sunday was hugely disappointing for the former biathlon powerhouses, with just one Olympic bronze medal and no World Cup wins.
Rahm Emanuel proposes banning all federal employees from betting on prediction markets
Rahm Emanuel is proposing a far-reaching measure to crack down on betting in predictive markets in Washington as part of an effort to call attention to what he sees as a culture of corruption gripping the nation’s politics
An end to the battle between touchscreens and long fingernails is on the horizon
Anybody who has tried to use a smartphone or tablet with long nails knows that there's a learning curve. Rather than effortlessly tapping with a fingertip, you must awkwardly lay the pads of your fingers ...
As mayoral election looms, D.C.’s business class worries about what’s next
A potential leftward shift in the wake of the pandemic and the Trump administration’s cutting of thousands of federal jobs has sparked unease in the city’s business community.
What events are happening in the South Bend area from March 23 to 29?
A variety of events will keep you busy this week. Attend a screening event, catch a concert, attend a lecture or play.
River Cats top Giants in exhibition at Sutter Health Park as fans welcome baseball’s return
"Finally, the drought is over between football and the start of baseball."
Emmanuel Grégoire, a Socialist long involved in local politics, becomes Paris' new mayor
Emmanuel Grégoire has won the Paris mayoral race and takes over from fellow Socialist Anne Hidalgo
Galaxy S27 Ultra may not bring major S Pen reforms
It was rumored that the Galaxy S27 Ultra could bring a major S Pen change, but that doesn't seem to be happening.
Dean for Basic Science Colin Duckett tapped to serve as Boston University Provost
Duckett, executive vice dean for basic and preclinical science, will begin his tenure as chief academic officer at Boston University starting in July.
State lawmakers debate new round of business tax cuts
Rep. Joe Sweeney, R-Salem, and Sen. Donovan Fenton, D-Keene, discussed their support and opposition to House Bill 155, which would reduce the business enterprise tax from 0.55% to 0.50%.
Executive Council seeks greater role in half-billion-dollar rural health initiative
New Hampshire executive councilors are seeking a greater role in a $640 million rural health initiative after initially delaying approval and securing more oversight.
California Politics 360 Full Episode | Sexual abuse allegations against César Chávez
Civil rights leader Dolores Huerta broke her silence, saying she was also sexually abused by Chávez. It led to the birth of two children, a secret she kept for 60 years.
Two new features are officially announced today for the Google Messages app
Google makes it easy to notify members of an RCS group chat while your wife isn't the only reason you're taking out the trash.
24-year-old killed after shooting outside Last Call Sports Bar
24-year-old killed after shooting outside Last Call Sports Bar
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference returns the week of June 8
Apple today announced it will host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) online from June 8-12.
A promising fatty liver treatment may raise cancer risk
A surprising new study reveals that blocking a supposedly protective enzyme, Caspase-2, could actually backfire—raising the risk of chronic liver damage and cancer over time. Researchers found that without this enzyme, liver cells grow abnormally large and accumulate genetic damage, leading to inflammation, scarring, and eventually tumors, especially with age. While inhibiting Caspase-2 may offer short-term benefits, such as reducing fatty liver disease, the long-term consequences appear dangerous.
Carrie Anne Fleming, 'Supernatural' and 'iZombie' actress, dies at 51
Carrie Anne Fleming, who appeared on 3 episodes of 'Supernatural' as Bobby's wife Karen, has died. She was 51.
Man who bought $75 worth of Apple products from a stranger in a car park realizes he might be sitting on a small fortune
A tech enthusiast who bought a bunch of used Apple products off a stranger in a car park was left pleasantly surprised by the haul
Apple already has the perfect platform for deploying conversational AI
When Apple initially rolled out Apple Intelligence, the company was pretty openly against the idea of creating a Siri chatbot....
Crews responding to fire burning behind an Upstate business
Multiple fire departments responded to a fire behind the Tractor Supply Co. in Mauldin, SC.
iRacing on Vision Pro bringing 'immersion and fidelity never before seen in sim racing'
iRacing on Apple Vision Pro will bring a “level of immersion and fidelity never before seen in sim racing,” says...
Apple Store Prices for SanDisk SSDs Are Suddenly Astronomical
A 200% price hike is extraordinary.
Israel Thought It Could Spur Rebellion Inside Iran. That Hasn’t Happened.
President Trump’s hopes that an Israeli plan to ignite an internal uprising against Iran’s theocratic government could bring the war to a swift end have so far been dashed.
Chappell Roan pushes back after soccer star Jorginho alleges his daughter was mistreated
Chappell Roan pushes back after a Brazilian soccer player says a guard mistreated his young daughter at a hotel. Jorginho says his 11-year-old recognized Roan at breakfast in São Paulo and got...
Kentucky Gov. Beshear takes jabs at JD Vance in his home state of Ohio
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, speaking in JD Vance’s home state of Ohio on Saturday, tore into the vice president, questioning his Appalachian roots and telling voters they “deserve better.”
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.
What’s happening in Vegas arts entertainment this spring
Festivals, concerts, sporting events and more: Make plans with our entertainment calendar.
Chappell Roan reacts to claims her security made Jude Law's 11-year-old daughter cry: 'I do not hate children'
Chappell Roan has responded to claims that her security guard made Jude Law's 11-year-old daughter cry after she got excited when she spotted the singer in a hotel: 'I do not hate children— that is crazy.'
Bucket hats and home run chains: Getting decked out for baseball season at Poor Boys Sports
From shirts featuring new players to hats in every color, Poor Boys Sports has all your Orioles merch needs for Opening Day.
Kennedy’s latest MAHA-approved plan could supercharge peptide boom
He indicated that the FDA will soon widen access to the small proteins, which biohackers tout as therapies for a range of ills
Apple’s busy March continues with three notable arrivals this week
Apple has had a jam-packed March so far after launching seven new products and surprisingly announcing an eighth. Looking ahead,...
Tom Steyer explains why he should be California's next governor
Tom Steyer sat down for an interview with California Politics 360 for a wide-ranging conversation on his run to be the state's next governor.
Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo says César Chávez allegations are "just the tip of the iceberg"
California lawmakers this upcoming week are set to move quickly to rename César Chávez Day to Farmworkers Day ahead of the holiday that takes place every year on March 31.
Crimson Desert Dev Breaks Silence Admitting AI Art Was Used
Developers Pearl Abyss apologize for their inclusion and promises to replace its slop with new art.
Apple iPhone Fold Might Have A Sun Glare Problem
Given the already high reflectance of iPhone displays, Apple's use of a CoE filter on the iPhone Fold can lead to a sun glare problem.
VoidStealer malware steals Chrome master key via debugger trick
An information stealer called VoidStealer uses a new approach to bypass Chrome's Application-Bound Encryption (ABE) and extract the master key for decrypting sensitive data stored in the browser.
Long Lost 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' Episode Finally Found
Thanks to a garage sale, the 'Star Force' episode from the earliest days of 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' is online for all to see.
iPad 12 With A18 Chip for Apple Intelligence is 'Still Coming This Year'
Apple has updated a wide range of products and accessories this month, but there is still no entry-level iPad 12 with Apple Intelligence support. Fortunately, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said an iPad with an A18 chip for Apple Intelligence is "ready to go" and "still coming this year". An earlier report from Macworld claimed that the iPad 12 will actually have an A19 chip.
New Apple TV and HomePod Mini Remain 'Ready' to Launch
Apple has unveiled nine new products this month, but the wait continues for the next-generation Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini models. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said new versions of the Apple TV and HomePod mini have been "ready" since last year, but he reiterated that Apple has held off on releasing them until the more personalized version of Siri and other Apple Intelligence upgrades are released later this year.
Urgent Apple warning: Update your iPhone, iPad now
Roughly 25% of all iPhones are operating a version of iOS 18.