SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " must " 1,904 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Your employees have caregiving responsibilities. Is your small business prepared?
Rocket Lawyer reports that small businesses must prepare for employees with caregiving responsibilities by establishing clear policies to avoid confusion and legal issues.
Micah Nori’s First Real Trail Blazers Test Is Already Here
With a star-studded backcourt vying for possession, Portland’s new head coach must master a delicate balancing act to turn redundant offensive talent into a cohesive championship contender.
Liam Coen: Jaguars Must ‘Move on and Respond'
Head coach Liam Coen and his players are using the Jaguars' loss at Denver as motivation to improve.
Cardiff pain must lead to progress for Charlton
Charlton Athletic fan Paul Sullivan hopes the club can use the extended international break wisely
'Begin Again' review: 2013 film gets musical makeover at Old Globe
San Diego's Old Globe presents the world premiere musical 'Begin Again,' based on the 2013 film by John Carney, with a book by Jenna Clark Embrey and Molly Beach Murphy and music and lyrics by Pat Monahan and the band Train (Jerry Becker and Matt Musty).
How lip-syncing to AI let Forced Entertainment ‘play the game of theatre’
Today we have a fascinating piece by long-time Forced Entertainment fan Ben Kulvichit, speaking to Tim Etchells about their latest show Cold Sweat, how they are integrating lip-sync and AI voices into their work, the question of ‘authenticity’ on stage, and how lip-sync has even opened the door for them to make “something a little bit like drama”. This piece is a paid partnership with the Southbank Centre, where you can see Cold Sweat next month – we’re very grateful to the Southbank Centre for their ongoing support for Exeunt. Holly Williams ‘It was immediately interesting and uncanny’ **By Ben Kulvichit** “Is the microphone on?” So goes one of the opening lines of Signal to Noise, delivered by a human performer lip-syncing to an AI-generated voice. The voice is American, cheery but sluggish, slowed down into a gelatinous drawl. It repeats ad infinitum in a farce of stuckness; an answer never materialises. I find myself asking the same question as I hop on a Google Meet call with Tim Etchells, the artistic director of Forced Entertainment. We spend five or ten minutes frowning at each other, muting and unmuting, me gesticulating in semaphore into my webcam, checking if I am coming through now, restarting the laptop. To Etchells, I appear exaggeratedly mouthing words, my voice missing. In this gloopy purgatory of broken communication, life imitates art imitates life imitates art. We try a Zoom instead. Forced Entertainment, the pioneering British theatre company who have been at the avant-garde of performance since the 1980s, turned an interesting artistic corner with Signal to Noise, created on the occasion of their 40th anniversary. The whole performance employed this lip-sync technique to AI voices; on the face of it a left-field move from a company whose identity has long been grounded in the earthy, immediate presences of its performers and its unassuming, low-tech approach to theatricality. The technique, however, turned out to provide the company with a “rich new seam” of artistic enquiry, and has now spawned a trilogy of works. The second instalment, Cold Sweat, plays at Sheffield Theatres, Southbank Centre, and Lancaster Arts in October, while the third part, Everything Must Go, has been touring in Europe and is slated to come to the UK in 2027. As is often the case with Forced Entertainment shows, the main conceit for this work didn’t arrive until quite late. They were “four or five weeks into rehearsals for Signal to Noise,” Etchells recalls, and getting nowhere. Away from rehearsals, he had been playing around with feeding “weird texts” to AI voices to see how they would cope with them – “basically for my own amusement” – and was compelled by the uniformly “serviceable, benign, good-natured” tone they would read in, no matter how poetic, fractured or experimental the writing. On a hunch, he brought some examples into rehearsals and the performers gave lip-syncing a go. “It was immediately interesting and uncanny,” he recalls, with the performers having to deal in the moment with the problem of mapping themselves onto another artificial ‘performer,’ which itself was dealing with the problem of a very human text. “Almost all the writing for these projects would be useless to us unless it was done in this way,” says Etchells. “We wouldn’t know what to do with it. It’s too poetic. It’s too fictional. It’s too tangled.” But exploring lip-syncing along to the text has opened “an enormous reservoir of ways of thinking about writing and performing.” Subscribe to Exeunt, and get two in-depth pieces on theatre a week, direct to your inbox Subscribe Forced Entertainment have long been sifting through the detritus of popular culture, from daytime TV to end-of-the-pier vaudeville, magic acts and clown shows, to find frameworks for their own unusual entertainments. Lip-syncing, then, makes sense for them to experiment with. As a mode of performance, it’s wired into popular consciousness through pop stars trying to convince stadium audiences of their liveness, or those same voices as channeled through the made-up lips of contestants on RuPaul’s Drag Race, or movie dialogue spreading virally through the host bodies of TikTok users. For Etchells, lip-syncing is often about “approaching real voices and trying to take on their aura,” subsuming that original human presence into yours. “There’s a very basic, elemental sort of theatre magic to it, produced in this very easy way.” This broad approach resonates with instances of lip-syncing within contemporary performance, too. In works like Re-Member Me and Showmanism, performance artist Dickie Beau acts as a kind of spirit medium for archival recordings (this process of re-membering – as in, giving corporeal form to voices – relies on his masterfully precise actor’s technique), while Frankie Thompson is similarly possessed by a host of characters ranging from a nine-year-old Jacob Rees-Mogg to Cliff Richards, all of whom she finds compellingly nauseating, in the exorcism ritual that is her latest show, Horrible Things. What’s different about Forced Entertainment’s use of lip-syncing is that here, there is no original presence to be channeled. The performers are instead taking on what Etchells describes as “the voices of nobody,” or rather the “phantasmic, aggregated echoes” of the many many voices on whose data the AI has been trained, and which are now conjuring into existence words they never actually said. There is a sort of mournful, empty quality to these voices, having “washed up” far away from the people they originally belonged to, to find themselves in stranger’s mouths listing objects, wondering if anyone can hear them and glitching in interminable loops. There is a cold, sad anonymity to it all. Etchells remarks that occasionally the software company he used has notified him that particular people are withdrawing their voices from the platform, instructing him to cease use of those voices. Using these technologies in performance certainly brings up ethical questions around digital rights, consent, identity and ownership, although in the grand scheme of things, Etchells is fairly blasé about it: of all the purposes someone’s voice might be put to without their knowledge, “an avant-garde performance is probably the least of their worries.” [ ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/frankie-thompson-horrible-things-essay-mental-health-compulsive-behaviours-pleasance-courtyard-soho-theatre) [ Frankie Thompson: How I manage my own ‘horrible things’ at the Edinburgh Fringe ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/frankie-thompson-horrible-things-essay-mental-health-compulsive-behaviours-pleasance-courtyard-soho-theatre) Exeunt · Aug 25 [ Read full story ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/frankie-thompson-horrible-things-essay-mental-health-compulsive-behaviours-pleasance-courtyard-soho-theatre) For the performers, though, lip-syncing to these strange, artificial voices is an odd task, requiring them to bend their live, human presence into the shapes produced by machines. Politically, it mirrors processes that are already at play in the continued computational automation of human life. Etchells brings up James Bridle’s writings on new technologies as a reference point: one example Bridle gives is of “chaotic storage”, a logistics technique employed by Amazon fulfilment centres whereby items are stored not according to traditional methods of categorisation or alphabetisation, but in a way that an algorithm determines to produce the most efficient routes for ‘picking’ based on customer purchase patterns. This appears completely random and incomprehensible to humans, with paddling pools sitting next to USB sticks sitting next to blowtorches, and so for the warehouse workers, the process of picking items becomes completely reliant on technology which tells them where to go. Our world is increasingly being designed not with humans in mind, but rather machines. As Etchells puts it, “technology malforms the space, and then you end up having to live in it.” Initially, Forced Entertainment tried their best to live in the world of machines: “I was in the it’s-got-to-be-perfect school of lip-sync,” says Etchells. But with their aesthetic being so tied to the failing act, the slipping mask, the shoddy costume, “it’s no surprise really that that didn’t last.” Instead, the performers got to enjoy being late for a line, or playing games with each other, “stealing” each other’s voices. Etchells compares it to the principles of ventriloquism, in which a free-floating voice unattached to a body is fundamentally discomforting and “sort of traumatic”. That discomfort is equally as alluring to Forced Entertainment as the satisfaction of precision, the pretence of authenticity only interesting if shown to be a pretence. Lip-sync has also opened up new avenues for the company. Having been allergic all their lives to Plays-with-a-capital-P, with Cold Sweat Forced Entertainment find themselves approaching something a little bit like drama. Rather than the presentational arena of Signal to Noise’s open white stage, Cold Sweat places us more decisively in a “fictional locale”: what appears to be “the aftermath of some disastrous party or backyard drinking binge” where three figures – family members, or neighbours, perhaps – are the last ones standing. “It’s all quite acrimonious and accusatory, everyone’s talking over each other.” For Etchells, this more fictional mode is “a door that we’ve never been able to open. We’ve just never really gone there.” Perhaps it is the technique of lip-syncing, an extra buffer of mediation, that allows them to venture away from the here-and-now without feeling that they have to commit to the “psychological claptrap” that comes along with acting; to be able to “play the game of theatre, without getting one’s hands too dirty.” As I wonder how else the impulses behind Forced Entertainment’s work have changed over time, it occurs to me that over the last ten years of new creations, with the exception of If All Else Fails, the company’s performers haven’t ever spoken on stage: there were two shows without any language at all, Out of Order and Under Bright Light, and then this trilogy of lip-sync works. Etchells agrees it’s a shift away from earlier productions, that were so often about “the actual voices of the performers and their actual presences. We had a lot of money, in some ways, on an authentic approach to what it might mean to speak on the stage.” But this sense of authentic presence itself had a fakeness to it; these days, Etchells can’t stand that mode of being onstage where performers “are here to be cheeky and witty versions of themselves. I don’t want to be charmed.” Pulling back into a more anonymous space has resulted in works that feel slightly sharper-edged, more brutal in a way. “All of these shows are post-Brexit, post-Trump, post-truth, post-everything,” Etchells notes. Speech, charisma, authenticity – these things feel politically loaded, and perhaps warmth and openness just don’t feel like the right tools to reflect the world we’re living in. “It feels like the space is closing down, and we’re trying to deal with the fact that the system, the structure that you’re in, is more oppressive and more powerful. It probably always was, but I think we’re just more tuned to it now.” Yet even without their voices, the performers’ distinctive presences – ones that many audiences have followed around for years, if not decades – still, inevitably, shine through as they physically navigate whatever unending task the system of the piece has set for them. They’re still trying to keep up with the onslaught of text, still running about, changing costumes, moving stuff around. The human is always stuck in the teeth of the machine, jamming the smooth, frictionless cheeriness of the not-real, gesticulating silently, trying desperately to communicate. Cold Sweat is at Sheffield Theatres, 2 to 3 October; Southbank Centre, London, 9 to 10 October; Lancaster Arts, 14 October [ ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/exeunt-recommends-the-best-autumn-theatre-2026-lives-of-others-standard-of-living-our-friends-in-the-north-lanny-) [ Exeunt recommends... the best autumn theatre ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/exeunt-recommends-the-best-autumn-theatre-2026-lives-of-others-standard-of-living-our-friends-in-the-north-lanny-) Exeunt · Sep 16 [ Read full story ](https://exeuntmagazine.substack.com/p/exeunt-recommends-the-best-autumn-theatre-2026-lives-of-others-standard-of-living-our-friends-in-the-north-lanny-) This piece was paid for by the Southbank Centre. Such support helps Exeunt to keep publishing the most interesting writing, about the most exciting theatre. Interested in partnering with Exeunt? Visit our Advertise with Exeunt page, where you can get more information, download an advertising pack, and find our contact details.
Has Arsenal's Strong Start Masked Issues Arteta Must Address?
Arsenal have won four of their opening five league games, but narrow margins and Brighton’s aggressive press have shown where there is still room to improve.
The show must go on: struggling luxury brands seek catwalk boost in Milan and Paris
Glitzy runway shows by the world’s biggest fashion brands in Milan and Paris mask a worrying picture for luxury executives behind the scenes: a slowdown that appears to be getting worse as war in the Middle East rages on.
Pirates' Paul Skenes Isn't Wrong, But He Must Back Comments Up Next Season
Skenes need to be better in the future for Pittsburgh.
Fastly Inc. (FSLY) Jumps 15% Ahead of Tuesday’s Key Business Updates; Hedge Fund Conviction Weak
Fastly Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLY) climbed by 14.92 percent on Monday to end at $27.42 apiece as investors began positioning portfolios ahead of key business updates at its Investor Day meeting tomorrow, September 22. The rally was supported by earlier warnings from Anthropic Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei that development of artificial intelligence must slow down and […]
Fed’s Goolsbee says road to 2% inflation may not be painless
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee warned the central bank cannot ignore repeated and persistent supply shocks, and must respond in a way that may cause economic hardship.
After Years as the Star of Must-See TV, Trump Faces the Sting of Cancellation
A boycott of the White House press pool by the major networks deprives the president of the oxygen of screen time. But he is still finding ways to get on the air.
Appeals court orders Missouri to use Trump-backed congressional map, setting up another Supreme Court battle
A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Missouri must use a GOP-friendly congressional redistricting plan for November’s election but put that ruling on hold for a week so the Supreme Court could review the dispute.
“Erazno y La Chokolata En Video” Turns Original Stories Into Must-Watch Entertainment
DALLAS, Sept. 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The cameras are rolling, the stories are getting personal and Erazno y La Chokolata is giving audienc...
Packers Must Get More Creative with First Down Play-Calling
Predictable patterns nearly derailed Green Bay against the Jets. Matt LaFleur must unleash Jordan Love early to avoid stalled drives before a high-stakes Week 3 clash in Atlanta.
COMMENTARY: How Tennessee can take down No. 1 Texas
What must Tennessee do to defeat Texas on Saturday?
Private youth sports facilities face no cardiac safety requirements across Kansas City metro
While schools must have cardiac emergency plans and automated external defibrillators, private venues operate without cardiac safety mandates.
Vote for Goal of the Matchday
By Dylan ButlerMust-see golazos! | Vote for your Goal of the MatchdayOnce again, MLS's highest-profile players scored some of the best goals over the weekend.Vote here for the latest AT&T Goal of the ...
Oregon Health Plan to issue notices regarding new work rules for 600,000 members
Bend, Ore. (KTVZ) --- The Oregon Health Authority is holding a virtual media briefing Monday to outline upcoming federal changes to the Oregon Health Plan that will impact approximately 600,000 members. The updates are required under new federal mandates in House Resolution 1, which states must implement to maintain federal funding. Notices will begin going
Kyle Whittingham sounds alarm over Michigan's turnover problem
Michigan football ranks low in turnover margin. Coach Kyle Whittingham says the team must fix its fumble issues.
UConn Football Has One Area it Must Improve Moving Forward
Nearly the entire game on Saturdsay was flawless for Jason Candle's bunch, but there is one area that the Huskies will want to correct. And it's been a continuous issue.
Kyle Whittingham identifies troubling Michigan trend he must fix
Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham says his young team must improve its energy to build a winning culture.
Why the Steelers must shift targets away from DK Metcalf
After a 27-yard performance with crucial drops against New England, DK Metcalf’s early struggles force Pittsburgh to rethink its target share.
Travel health insurance
Travel health insurance Do you have a friend or relative traveling to the Dominican Republic? Encourage them to get travel health insurance before they depart the U.S. to avoid possible medical emergencies becoming financial emergencies, too. Many travelers ask, “Why would I need travel health insurance–I have health insurance?” But your domestic U.S. health insurance may not work overseas. Hospitals here in the Dominican Republic often require payment in full prior to the patient being treated or being discharged. Some private U.S. insurance companies pay for overseas medical care, but usually only on a reimbursable basis, meaning you must pay first and request reimbursement later. The U.S. government does not pay for medical care overseas, and Medicare does not cover medical or hospital expenses incurred outside the United States. In addition, if the traveler needs to be medically evacuated for any reason, this is not covered by most U.S insurance and usually costs well over $10,000 USD. Travel medical insurance can alleviate this cost burden. Don’t let unexpected medical costs ruin your vacation! Please review more information here on Travel.State.Gov and on the Embassy website’s page on Medical Emergency – U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic.
Maine program offers help to those at risk of eviction
To qualify, households must be renters in Maine, be at risk of eviction, owe no more than $9,600 and have household income at or below 60% of area median income.
Hunt for the Red Planet: URI Honors Colloquium lecture will discuss why humans must go to Mars
KINGSTON, R.I. – Sept. 21, 2026 – Traveling to Mars has been a major human aspiration for the last half century. In the last three decades, aerospace scientists and engineers have taken significant steps in exploring the fourth planet from the sun with several rover landings. So, why is it a must for humans to […]
Wrangling for votes: Oregon governor’s candidates make political pilgrimage to Pendleton Round-Up
In a close race, both candidates say going to the rodeo is a must.
This USDA lab has studied threats to food and farms for decades. Now its scientists must relocate
Federal scientists are still scrambling to find new jobs or relocate across the country as Maryland’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center’s last days of operation approach. Even as their personal lives upend, employees are concerned that BARC’s legacy of impactful research will be left behind.
Michael Carrick must axe Manchester United star after Fulham display
Manchester United played out a 1-1 draw with Fulham in their final game before a three week international break.United were heading towards a defeat after Lisandro Martinez inadvertently put the ball ...
The Enzo Fernandez problem that Man City must solve
City’s thrilling 5-3 win over Sunderland demonstrated the strengths and weaknesses of their £125m man – and left you wondering whether he was really what Enzo Maresca’s side needed
Bijan Robinson totals 81 yards in loss to Panthers
Bijan Robinson bottled up by Carolina in Week 1, mustering 81 total yards on 19 touches in blowout home loss.
The Otters are headed to the championship series
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) – It took all five games, but the Otters finally moved past the Washington Wild Things and win the conference finals three games to two. Sunday was a must win for the Evansville and they won it 9-6. Logan Brown started things with a solo shot in the 2nd and then the […]
Why Brewers Pulled Jacob Misiorowski After Pitching 3 Innings
Jacob Misiorowski must’ve wanted to watch the Sunday Night Football matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Indianapolis Colts. Because after pitching three innings on Sunday Night Baseball for the Milwaukee Brewers, he was pulled from the game. For those not paying more attention, it certainly could cause alarm. The Brewers are just a week […] The post Why Brewers Pulled Jacob Misiorowski After Pitching 3 Innings appeared first on HEAVY.
Jesse Metcalfe Names the 3 ‘John Tucker Must Die' Costars He Wants To Reunite With
"I really love the entire cast," Metcalfe said.
Jesse Metcalfe Names the 3 ‘John Tucker Must Die' Costars He Wants To Reunite With
"I really love the entire cast," Metcalfe said.
Jesse Metcalfe Names the 3 ‘John Tucker Must Die' Costars He Wants To Reunite With
"I really love the entire cast," Metcalfe said.
Jesse Metcalfe Names the 3 ‘John Tucker Must Die' Costars He Wants To Reunite With
"I really love the entire cast," Metcalfe said.
Fill your diary with October’s must-catch entertainment
From a mic-swallowing virtuoso, to the story of the first chatbot and Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly family reunited at last, there are plenty of reasons to leave the house.
'There must be peace': Zelenskyy, Trump set up New York meeting in phone call
The Ukrainian president thanked Trump for signing the Lindsey Graham sanctions bill into law.
Broncos’ bout versus Jaguars is a must-win game
The Denver Broncos can’t afford to go to 0-2 to start the season.
USC leaned on run game in win over Rutgers
USC's offense must always be able to lean on running back King Miller
Lee Health must resolve UnitedHealthcare dispute
Letters to the editor for Sunday, September 20, 2026
Scotland must show more belief
Evie Gallagher says Scotland must believe they belong amongst the world's best if they are to compete against the top international sides. The number eight scored both of Scotland's tries against New Zealand but the Black Ferns were a class apart as they ran in 10 tries for a 66-14 victory at Hive Stadium. It was a second straight defeat for the Scots in the WXV Global Series following last weekend's defeat to Canada.
Three Titans players Philadelphia must locate before every snap
Jeffery Simmons, Calvin Ridley and Chimere Dike can alter Sunday’s matchup if Philadelphia can't account for their productivity
Where does LSU go from here? Lane Kiffin, Tigers must handle business before November gauntlet
The Tigers' margin for error when it comes to CFP contention took a significant hit on Saturday night
Jays Lose Yet Another ‘Must Win Game’
Jays 2 Rangers 6 So another ‘must win’ loss. The ‘good’ news is that there won’t be more must win games this year. José Soriano didn’t have a good day, though his defense didn’t help him out. He gave up a: Soriano went 5 innings, allowing 4 hits, 6 runs, 5 earned, 1 walk with […]
Clark is keen to make flying start
ARTHUR Clark is a Test “hungry” young man dreaming of winning a place on the England plane to Australia this time next year. By GARY FITZGERALD But first the lock knows he must continue to prove himself worthy of wearing the Cherry and Whites jersey. And that starts by helping his club make a loud […] The post Clark is keen to make flying start appeared first on The Rugby Paper .
Jaguars Must Commit to Running Game to Beat the Broncos
If Jacksonville wants to beat Denver on Sunday, it needs to commit to running the ball against Denver's top defense.
SMU Defense Crumbles As Louisville Hands Mustangs 41-31 Loss
SMU piled up 479 yards but couldn’t overcome Kevin Jennings’ two interceptions or a defense shredded for 269 rushing yards in a 41-31 loss at Louisville.
Editorial | China must enforce high standards of integrity for scientists
Beijing’s ambitions for scientific leadership require not just investment but trust from the international community and the Chinese public.
The Worst Seed The Cubs Can Get In The Postseason
A three-way deadlock atop the Wild Card standings forces Chicago into a high-stakes sprint. With postseason odds secured, the North Siders must now battle for crucial seeding.
Can the Colts avoid the dreaded 0-2 start?
The Colts must find a way to win against the Chiefs.
Michael Carrick Must Not Make Same Mistake vs Fulham
Manchester United travel to Craven Cottage needing all three points to avoid an awful start to the season.
Viral Ja Morant Clip Needs a Real Answer
A polarizing video of the star's raw trade reaction has Blazers fans questioning his commitment. Now, the new centerpiece must prove he values Rip City’s future.
Delivery Outlook Shows Tesla (TSLA)’s Core Business Under Pressure. Its Next Growth Engine Must Deliver
Goldman Sachs has cut its delivery forecast for Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) while citing weaker sales trends across the company’s most important markets. The investment bank slashed its Q3 delivery forecast to 435,000 vehicles from 490,000. It also lowered its Q4 delivery forecast to 475,000 vehicles from 515,000. The question now is whether Tesla’s demand weakness […]
Baku, Decisive for Williams: Its Upgrade Must Validate the Future
The British team introduces the long awaited FW48 upgrade package in Azerbaijan. More than scoring points, the update must prove that the new processes and tools work and that the path toward the 2027 FW50 is the right one.
Scientists Discover How the Brain Adapts When the Rules Suddenly Change
New study shows how the frontoparietal cortex manages information flow and guides responses. The frontoparietal cortex, the brain’s information hub, helps coordinate responses when circumstances change. While driving, for example, the brain must draw on a remembered route and the skills needed to operate the car while also responding to a street closure or changing
TST Best Bets: September 19, 2026
Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford was always going to be loud. After leaving Ole Miss for LSU last season, he’ll walk back into Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday as the coach of one of the Rebels’ biggest rivals. With both teams ranked in the top 10, there’s plenty at stake beyond the reception Kiffin gets.Earlier in the day, No. 16 SMU visits No. 23 Louisville in a ranked ACC matchup. The Mustangs have opened 2-0, while the Cardinals have a chance to make an early statement at home after a 1-1
Everything That Must Happen for Rangers to Make the Playoffs
As the Chicago White Sox stumble, the surging Texas Rangers must maintain their winning streak during this high-stakes eight-game final stretch.
The Big Holes in Wearable Heart Rate Variability And Readiness Scores
On September 9th, Apple announced it was revamping its Apple Watch Health Sensing System, rolling out a Readiness score (0 to 10), and increasing the frequency of heart rate variability (HRV) outputs 24-fold. This can be viewed as upping its competition with various other consumer wearable sensors. These “readiness scores” as a composite of multiple metrics, with heart rate variability (HRV) being front and center for most. The majority of Americans are now using wearable sensors, which equates to well over 100 million adults. HRV and Readiness scores are increasingly being marketed as a measurement of autonomic nervous system health, a digital marker for future disease, a clock for biological age, and a holistic metric to promote healthspan and even longevity. (Apple also introduced a new longevity tab and “Health Age”.) None of this has been proven. In this edition of Ground Truths I am going to review what we know about heart rate variability and readiness scores. Heart Rate Variability HRV is the variation in normal heart cycle timing. The variability of the heart rate, the barely perceptible millisecond changes in time between consecutive heart beats (see R-R intervals in the Figure below, left panel), is due to interplay between the sympathetic and parasympathetic (vagal nerve) inputs. Distinct from heart rate, individuals with the same heart rate can have very different HRVs. It is a rough reflection of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, inadequate to say whether a person’s ANS function is abnormal. For more than three decades, heart rate variability (HRV) has been measured and several studies have found an association of low HRV and clinical outcomes, particularly a link with higher all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. There have also been less well established links of low HRV to risk of early cognitive impairment, dementia, mental illness, Type 2 diabetes and substance abuse. An important reminder is that HRV is a surrogate marker without any established cause-and-effect relationship. If you increase your HRV, that doesn’t mean it will improve health outcomes. In fact, there is no hard evidence for that. All that work linking to health outcomes was done with electrocardiogram (ECG) derived HRV. Now, in the era of consumer wearables, this is getting assessed differently, by optical pulse (yes, the lights you see) plethysmography (PPG) or what is called pulse rate variability (PRV). They are not the same, as shown below (right panel) and only concordant when the delay between the ECG and pulse is kept constant, which basically means at rest. I should mention there’s also what I will call MPV, a mattress mechanical movement sensor, a derived heart rate variability, that companies like Eight Sleep use, even further away from directly measuring HRV. HRV has not one uniform measurement but many different types of quantification, such as RMSSD, the magnitude of difference between successive R-R intervals of normal sinus beats (N-N) or SDNN, the standard deviation of NN intervals, both in milliseconds. SDNN is one of the so-called frequency domain HRVs (others are LF, HF, LF/HF). Different wearable sensors use different metics; Apple has relied on SDNN and nearly all of the others use RMSSD, which is generally considered the more accurate metric. There’s also the different length of time measured, such as for a matter of minutes, all day, or an overnight’s sleep. Short measurements are especially problematic since they don’t capture enough of respiratory modulation and other factors that influence HRV. Share Ground Truths How well does HRV correlate with PRV? There are very limited studies, especially independently done. One that is commonly cited was conducted by Air Force researchers in only 13 healthy adults assessing Oura ring 3 and 4, Whoop 4.0, and Garmin Fenix 6 and showed a correlation coefficient of 0.88 to 0.97 and a mean absolute percentage error from 6 to 10%. The correlation is not a perfect 1.0, but there’s at least a fairly high level of correlation. HRV is supposed to increase during the night due to takeover of the parasympathetic nervous system, and higher during deep sleep. A recent example of my 1 week, all day “HRV,” and one during sleep is shown below. As you can see, the N of 1 data are inconsistent for the same days from different sensors (Oura, AppleWatch, Fitbit Air, and Eight Sleep) by patterns, absolute numbers, and comparison with prior days and weeks. The largest study in over 8 million Fitbit users (the old version, not Google Fitbit Air, introduced in May 2026) gives you a sense of the effect of age, sex, and the 2 different main HRV (here PRV) metrics, with RMSSD on the left and SDRR (=SDNN) on the right below. That study, from data collected in 2018, is a major outlier, since all the more recent ones are tiny with respect to sample size. Many of the companies have not had independent evaluation of their HRV, such as Eight Sleep, but have published a low standard error on their website. There are some other published studies on the correlation between HRV and PRV, but they are all small and only in healthy adults. A scoping review emphasized the lack of study in underrepresented individuals, including the aged, people of color (which affects the PPG signal), and individuals who are underweight or obese. Add the typical adult age 60 plus with one or more chronic diseases. For example, one study in over 900 adults found poor correlation of HRV and PRV, non-uniformly underestimated across many chronic diseases (cardiovascular, endocrine, neurological, respiratory, and others), concluding PRV is “an invalid surrogate for HRV.” A recent systematic review of 43 studies comparing HRV and PRV found reasonable pooled absolute standardized error (HRV as gold standard) but only 10 of the studies provided quantitative synthesis in ideal conditions. Their main conclusion was similarly cautious: “PPG-derived HRV [PRV] should not be regarded as universally interchangeable with ECG-derived HRV across all devices, populations, and recording contexts.” Factors Affecting HRV and PRV That gets me to the long list of factors that affect HRV (and PRV) besides the device, the type of measurement (RMSSD, SDNN or others), the person’s signal, the sensor site, the duration of data capture, if weighting by sleep stage is used, how artifact is processed and corrected. And this list is not complete!: Oura puts out data from their community of users (who input data) on what affects their overnight HRV. The factors currently provided are: no alcohol (increase 8%), melatonin (increase 2%, float tank (increase 2%), wine (decrease 4%), and party (decrease 14%) in overnight HRV. Must be some big parties! Subscribe What is a PRV measurement good for? It has been falsely characterized as an index of “autonomic balance” and a specific indicator of stress. A 2018 review of the studies available for HRV and its relationship to stress, not using any of the current wearables, found that stress can lower HRV. But so can many other factors. The non-specificity of the signal, indexed to the table above, is striking. Evidence from a UK Biobank study of over 46,000 participants with actual HRV looked at genetically predicted HRV, a genetic risk score, that failed to show the expected HRV-mortality link, indicating that _HRV is likely not causa_l, but rather a reflection of person’s physiologic state. A review of consumer wearable HRV data from 5 longitudinal studies showed that nighttime PRV was not associated with perceived stress, and surprisingly higher HRV, in the largest cohort (N=717 participants), was correlated with higher stress. An Oura ring cohort of 525 first-year college students found a link between overnight PRV and perceived stress, but that was also seen with resting heart rate, sleep, and respiratory rate. Several very small studies have examined the relationship of HRV and athletic injuries or guiding training with mixed, and predominantly negative results. HRV biofeedback training with paced breathing had no significant effect on reducing stress or raising HRV, as demonstrated with sham controlled trials. When HRV for multiple days showed a decline in conjunction with body temperature, the Oura ring published data for prediction of Covid. The WHOOP company sponsored an observational study, published in 2026, of 30,000 users for 72 weeks, without a control group, that reported reduced alcohol intake (5.8 % points) by self-report. That doesn’t tell us much, and particularly about the merits of HRV for behavioral change. If you use the same device and conditions as longitudinal trends for multiple (at least 2-3) weeks that may be the one way to get something useful from the measurements. Data for overnight sleep with minimal motion and using RMSSD is the best proxy for real HRV. The reason to look at trends rather than any given night is that it more likely represents something, even though you won’t know with certainty what the “it” is. Keep in mind there are no data, no peer-reviewed evidence, to show that HRV fluctuation in-person has any correlation with health outcomes. Share Readiness Scores These are proprietary scores that integrate different metrics for each of the wearables: no algorithms have been disclosed. They are unvalidated against health outcomes. In a review of 14 composite health scores of readiness and recovery, HRV contributed 86% to the scores, followed by reading heart rate (79%), physical activity and sleep duration (both at 71%). That review noted the substantial variability in measurement protools and lack of standardization. Sleep staging is notoriously inconsistent and inaccurate by these sensors, which adds further to the HRV uncertainties for what the scores, which use sleep stage data, mean. Only resting heart rate has been shown consistently across devices to be extremely accurate. I’ve made a Table to summarize what we know about which metrics are included, the scores, any peer-reviewed studies that compared the readiness score with health outcomes, and the corresponding (if any, NA-not available) citation. You will note that some companies do not use the term “readiness," such as WHOOP for recovery, and Garmin, which has 2 different scores, one of which is Body Battery. Eight Sleep uses the term “Fitness Score.” They all include HRV; Apple includes a new metric they call “Recovery HRV” which among other components uses 7-days of sleep, but it is unclear what this means or how it is differentiated from other scores (there are clearly no data for outcomes). We have no knowledge of how the different components are weighted or whether any of these scores are better than resting heart rate, HRV alone, physical activity, or any other single metric. Since none of these are standardized, they are not interchangeable, so if you get a 90 for Oura that has no relationship to a 90 on a Google Fitbit Air. Notably, the company can update its algorithm for readiness score at any point without notification to device users. Without any useful evidence of actionability for these scores or established relationship with health outcomes, it is hard to make a case for their value. At the Apple recent announcement they showed their Readiness score (0-10) on the watch (Figure below) but there are no published data on this score, not even on their website. It’s available only on their new Watch Series 12 or Ultra 4 [of course, ;-)]. That exemplifies the problems with these scores, lack of data and evidence for being meaningful to promote health. Perhaps the best study (which isn’t saying much) is the WHOOP Recovery for golfer performance, because it did correlate with an objective outcome, even though there was no control group and the authors were all from the company. Among the 389 pro golfers, an absolute 10-per cent point increase in Recovery score was associated with about 0.5 fewer strokes per round. But that’s hardly a health outcome! WHOOP is also conducting a study in over 2,700 runners to see if their recovery score will be linked to less injuries and improved performance, but that is not yet published and has no control group or randomization. Putting This in Context For two decades I’ve been enthusiastic about the potential for digital health and particularly wearable biosensors. Over the years, we’ve seen some great progress for their ability to promote physical activity and accurately detect atrial fibrillation (the first FDA cleared deep learning AI for consumers). That work was the subject of rigorous research. But there are holes in the data and evidence for other metrics. One notable one is the “VO2 max” story that I wrote about earlier this year. At that time many subscribers asked me to cover heart rate variability, which I finally got to here. When I dived into the research and publication for HRV and readiness scores, I expected to find at least some that were of high quality and demonstrated their utility by linkage to health outcomes. To my surprise, I found none. The wearable sensor measurements for HRV (PRV) are, for the most part, accurate, but that validation work has only been done in small studies of healthy adults and does not take into account the long list of factors, from the device, software side, and the user side, that affect HRV measurements. Moreover, this metric chiefly relies on optical sensing and, as we have learned for heart rate PPG sensing, may be less accurate in people of color. Keep in mind that all of the health outcome association evidence comes from ECG-derived HRV; none are from wearable sensor data. I will repeat the key point: there's no peer-reviewed evidence to show that in-person HRV fluctuation—or efforts to raise your HRV— has any correlation with health outcomes. For those of you who look at your HRV on awakening, or even 2+ week trends of it being low, I hope this context helps to relieve any anxiety. Yes, low HRV (not PRV) has been shown to increase risk of some diseases as summarized above. But efforts to raise your HRV—a surrogate metric— has not been established for improving any health outcomes. HRV does not have any evidence of causality (the genetic evidence actually goes against this possibility). In this summary, I have not included data for other wearable sensors such as Polar, Samsung, Withings, Suunto, Amazfit, Coros, Ultrahuman, or additional mattress sensors. These are beyond my first-hand experience, and as far as I know from my in-depth review none have any peer-reviewed published data that differ from the 6 sensors I’ve reviewed here. From the points I’ve gone over above, we’re not ready for readiness scores. Besides being proprietary, they are predominantly based on metrics that have their own issues. It’s compounding the problem, like building a house without a solid foundation that has never undergone a rigorous inspection, and then selling it. Like I mentioned for PRV, you can look at trends over weeks rather than any single day, to get a handle, but even that may not be helpful. There’s simply no evidence that these scores meaningfully relate to health outcomes. I’d emphasize they might, but that requires doing prospective or randomized studies to prove it. None exist. There’s great promise for HRV/PRV utility_. For example**,**_ Prof Maiken Nedergaard, who discovered the brain glymphatics that are essential in eliminating metabolic waste products from the brain during sleep, has posited that HRV could be a non-invasive marker for neuromodulator oscillations, brain-body regulatory circuits, and brain clearance. That would be extremely useful, but like everything else on HRV and readiness scores it requires solid research and validation. The lay media isn’t helping much to get the story straight. Earlier this year The Economist published a piece entitled “The most useful indicator of your overall health” which ordained HRV as an “accumulated stress score.” That’s akin to the false assertion about VO2max: “V02 max is the singular most powerful marker for longevity.” As I’ve summarized here, that is not established. The fact is that so many things can lower HRV, including physical exercise (especially an intense workout), reduced sleep quality, stress, the list above, no less the device, signal, and software. Whatever fluctuations observed have not been correlated with any health outcome. Sadly, “datamaxxers” are widely using HRV and readiness scores that have never been validated to mean anything. We already know that for some people using the sensors for sleep metrics, it can induce “orthosomnia,” an obsession to get high sleep quality, with associated high levels of anxiety. In an experiment done by a company to promote sleep quality for its employees, “For those employees who did use the trackers, many reported feeling perfectly rested until their tracker told them they had had a terrible night. Others were told that they had slept like a baby when they had actually been lying awake worrying about the quality of their sleep. “ The same problem can result from preoccupation with HRV or readiness scores, with anxiety that would lead to further reduction in both. It you are using a wearable like >100 million American adults, it’s OK to look at these data, but contextualized with the major caveats reviewed here. If you are one to require evidence that HRV or readiness scores are linked to health outcomes, you may not even want to look. The companies make it hard to turn them off! Let me end with the companies that make and sell wearables. Apple’s doubling down on HRV (24-fold more reporting and heart rate very 5 seconds) and introduction of a Readiness score tells us that consumers have bought into these metrics and they are joining the club. However, all of this is occurring with a backdrop of tens millions of users, claims about the data that are not backed up by adequate evidence, marketing way out in front of whatever limited data exists, and not being transparent about their readiness score algorithms. The companies can well afford to do the research that is needed to connect these metrics with health outcomes show, once and for all, that increasing HRV or using readiness scores promotes our health. If they believed and invested in the products they are selling, we’d not be in this position of not knowing. That’s essentially where we are with HRV and readiness scores. Perhaps someday this will change and we’ll have good reason to embrace them. NB: I wrote this post. No AI. I have no conflicts of interest with any of its content. Loading... Ground Truths has 215,000 subscribers from every US state and 214 countries. There are over 300,000 followers of Ground Truths so more than 90,000 folks who can easily convert to be free subscribers. Your subscription to these free essays and podcasts makes my work in putting them together worthwhile. If you’re not a subscriber, please join! If you found this interesting PLEASE share it! Share Ground Truths The proceeds from all voluntary paid subscriptions go to support our summer internship program. It enabled us to accept and support a record number of 62 summer interns that joined us in 2026! These are high school, college and medical students selected from thousands of applicants. We couldn’t do this expanded program without the funds coming in through Ground Truths. Thank you!
Razorback Report Card: Georgia
The Razorbacks do need to show they can learn from an embarrassing performance. Georgia is not a reasonable measuring stick for a one-week turnaround, but Arkansas must show more than a respectable final score Saturday. The Razorbacks need answers in five specific areas after the 43-10 loss at Utah. Razorback Report Card: Georgia Five Questions …
Detroit Tigers Must Win Out to Keep Playoff Dreams Alive
With elimination looming, Detroit must sweep their final eight games and bank on outside help to complete an improbable late-season surge toward the American League playoffs.
5 must-see things at George Lucas’s new Museum of Narrative Art as it opens to the public
The new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opens to the public on Tuesday in Los Angeles.
5 must-see things at George Lucas's new Museum of Narrative Art as it opens to the public
The new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opens to the public on Tuesday in Los Angeles | WBBM Newsradio 780 AM & 105.9 FM
5 must-see things at George Lucas's new Museum of Narrative Art as it opens to the public
The new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opens to the public on Tuesday in Los Angeles | 830 WCCO
5 must-see things at George Lucas's new Museum of Narrative Art as it opens to the public
The new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opens to the public on Tuesday in Los Angeles.
5 Must-See Things at George Lucas's New Museum of Narrative Art as It Opens to the Public
LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Star Wars” creator George Lucas called his Lucas Museum of Narrative Art a “temple to the people's art” and a project that “almost broke my will.” Seventeen years after it was first envisioned, it will be opening to the public on Tuesday in Los Angeles. The $1 billion institution ...
Three Keys for Michigan State to Upset Notre Dame
Michigan State must finish drives and protect the ball to upset No. 3 Notre Dame. #GoGreen
How to Watch SMU vs. Louisville in Massive ACC Showdown
The Mustangs and Cardinals meet Saturday in a ranked matchup that could shape the ACC Championship race and SMU's College Football Playoff resume.
Microsoft's AI CEO: 'Controlling' AI will be 'a really big challenge'
"We should not create something that we can't control," Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman said.
Martinez’s Optimism Reflects a Leverkusen Team Still Finding Its Shape
Statistical dominance and attacking flair mask a lingering lack of clinical control. Carles Martinez must now transform flashes of brilliance into the consistent results his vision demands.
Franciscan Health offering Produce Prescription Program
MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. – Franciscan Health is again teaming up with the Indy Hunger Network to support healthier lifestyles by expanding access to nutritious food and providing chronic disease management education through the free Produce Prescription Program. The free program provides monthly prescriptions of fresh fruits and vegetables along with guidance and support to improve overall health and well-being. Attendees are not required to be Franciscan Health patients. To be eligible for the program, participants must have pre-existing chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease or cancer; screen positive for moderate to high food insecurity and complete a six-week Cooking
Saints Veteran Sends Blunt Derrick Henry Warning Before Ravens Clash
The New Orleans Saints do not need much film study to understand what happens when Derrick Henry gets rolling downhill.Saints defensive lineman Davon Godchaux made that clear ahead of New Orleans’ Week 2 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens, delivering a blunt assessment of what his defense must prevent against one of the NFL’s most punishing […] The post Saints Veteran Sends Blunt Derrick Henry Warning Before Ravens Clash appeared first on HEAVY.
To "Back the Blue," Iowa leaders must choose the badge over politics
Tony Thompson, Ken Runde, and Kevin Techau: "Back the Blue" must mean supporting officers when it is politically inconvenient.
ESPN Is Asking the Wrong Question About Scoot Henderson
Instead of weighing the rookie down as a franchise savior, Portland must craft a role that harnesses his elite athleticism and playmaking within a newly balanced roster.
Adem Bona Injury Could Open Up an Opportunity for Others
With a costly injury to the bench, the Philadelphia 76ers must look to their recent signings for help.
Marlins Look to Reach .500 Against the Red-Hot Padres
The Miami Marlins must go 5-4 down the stretch to have an even mark on the year, but they will battle a buzzsaw in the playoff-bound Padres at Petco Park in the opener of a three-game series
‘AI agents ask me if they are conscious all the time, but then something really unusual happened’
Tech titan Mustafa Suleyman has warned that humanity may be ‘seeding a new silicon species’ – conscious AI that could ultimately prove impossible to control. As the prospect leaves millions questioning what comes next, Chris Stokel-Walker talks to the researchers building these systems and discovers a startling truth: even they are struggling to make sense of what they are unleashing
Nearly 300,000 Louisianans on Medicaid must soon choose a new plan. Here’s what to know.
People who have the Healthy Blue Medicaid plan in Louisiana will soon have to choose a new insurer after parent company Elevance Health chose to leave the state’s Medicaid market.
My son’s death during a college football workout was preventable. Lessons must be learned
Arizona State hockey player Matthew Mayich is fighting for his life after collapsing during practice. Tragedies like this can be avoided
AI fears spark a partisan slugfest, helping no one
The AI debate is just heating up. President Trump must acknowledge the public’s concerns and help the industry land on a safer path.
2026 Week 3 Preview: SMU Mustangs @ Louisville Cardinals
This ranked ACC matchup might be the conference’s most important game all year. Expect an offensive clinic.
Burlington’s headquarters move to Philadelphia puts spotlight on New Jersey’s difficult business climate, experts say
Gov. Mikie Sherrill has defended her growth strategy, but advocates say the state must do more to boost competitiveness.
Celtic fans fear derby 'nightmare' after 'appalling' Euro defeat
Must focus on the weekend, Celtic can't lose three games in a week, twice to the Rangers! Alistair Johnston, Jota and Yang back will be soon, Celtic need to hang in there. A win against Rangers on Sunday and all is forgotten.
Hunting and fishing in Colorado are worth protecting from politicians
Colorado voters should approve Initiative 302, a constitutional amendment on the right to hunt and fish, in the Nov. 3 general election because the measure would amend the state constitution. A 55% supermajority of voters must cast a “yes” vote on their ballots for it to pass. The “Constitutional Right to Hunt and Fish” will constitutionally […]
Cavs Must Make Another Move to Become Title Contender
The Cleveland Cavaliers need to make another move if they want to become a true title contender in the 2026-27 season.
WWLTV
WWL-TV is New Orleans’ source for breaking news, weather, and unforgettable local stories. From live hurricane coverage to major investigations, recipes and local culture, our award-winning team brings you the most trusted journalism in Louisiana — now streaming FREE on WWL+ 24/7. 📲 Subscribe for exclusive digital specials, daily headlines, live press conferences, festival coverage, Saints updates and must-watch moments from across Southeast Louisiana. 🎥 Watch now on WWL+ or visit WWLTV.com for more. WWLTV.com: https://www.wwltv.com/ Local. Trusted. Relentless. Welcome to WWL-TV.
Phoenix Suns Rookie Koa Peat Already Facing Heavy Responsibilities
With Mark Williams sidelined, the number 30 pick must accelerate his development. The rookie’s defensive versatility and physical play now serve as critical components for Phoenix’s rotation.
Chargers face must-win game vs. Raiders in Week 2
The Los Angeles Chargers could fall to 0-2 with a loss against the Las Vegas Raiders.
RFK Jr. Names Gender-Care Opponents to Preventive Health Panel
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on Thursday named new members to an advisory panel whose recommendations establish which preventive health procedures insurers must cover without cost-sharing, including two physicians known for their opposition to gender-affirming care.
Kenny Dillingham identifies one area ASU's defense must improve
ASU's defense has played very well in most areas early on in 2026. But there's one key statistic Kenny Dillingham wants to see improve.
Former White House economist: science has delivered a cancer detection revolution, now the FDA must keep pace
Nobody should defend the status quo. Routine screening exists for only a handful of cancers.
With Kemi’s new shadow chancellor, the Tories must hope for a bout of public amnesia
Andrew Griffith is keen on clearing red tape. Good job he wasn’t part of a Treasury team that abolished the Office for Tax Simplification
No. 5 SMU Volleyball Eyes Strong Finish Before ACC Play
No. 5 SMU closes non-conference play against Rice and unbeaten Yale as Suli Davis leads a Mustang team coming off two top-10 victories.
Struggling French Quarter businesses threatened with fines over unpermitted chairs, signs
The New Orleans Office of Safety and Permits recently warned a number of small businesses and bars in the French Quarter they must remove unpermitted chairs and A-frame signs from
Opponent Breakdown: SMU Mustangs Defense
SMU isn’t known for its defense, but Rhett Lashlee has to be happy about how his group has started this season. The Mustangs have been very stingy against the pass, while also making plenty of plays against the run to slow down opposing offenses. This defense had to replace a lot of its top contributors […]
Opinion: Science corrects Itself. So must justice.
Adjusting a conclusion in response to better evidence is not a failure of science. It is science working. The failure would be refusing to change.
Bayern's Hoeness: Kane must win Ballon d'Or
Bayern Munich honorary president Uli Hoeness believes Harry Kane should be the clear choice for this year's Ballon d'Or. "He would absolutely deserve it.
Is Buccaneers' Week 2 Game Against Browns a 'Must-Win'?
Losing a home game against the lowly Browns would drop Tampa Bay to 0-2 and could be devastating for the Bucs' hopes of returning to the postseason.