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5 Everyday Breakfast Foods to Support Brain Health
Start the day with foods that may sharpen memory, focus, and cognitive performance.
The surprising reason you’re so productive one day and not the next
Feeling mentally “on” isn’t just in your head—it can significantly boost what you accomplish. Researchers found that sharper thinking on a given day leads people to set bigger goals and actually follow through. That edge can equal up to 40 extra minutes of productivity. But push too hard for too long, and the effect reverses.
ETSU Health receives $2.4M grant to expand care for unhoused communities
ETSU Health Family Medicine’s new street medicine program brings care directly to people experiencing homelessness while training resident physicians.
NFL Draft Source Program gets Pittsburgh businesses in the game
Michael Pattillo has a thriving spice and catering business. The end goal, though, of this classically trained culinary wiz is to work as a private chef. Now,...
A new approach to brain health, one neuron at a time
Neuroscientist Paul Nuyujukian likens the brain to a stadium full of people. To eavesdrop on the crowd you could put a microphone in the middle of the stadium. But to understand the conversations you need to record individual people. He thinks about the brain the same way. To understand brain disease, he studies neurons—one at a time. And his insights are shedding light on a big global issue—stroke. The World Health Organization predicts one in four adults will have a stroke in their lifetime. Strokes can cause death, or lead to paralysis or speech problems. But there’s still a lot researchers don’t know about how the brain recovers from an event like a stroke. Nuyujukian directs a lab at Stanford University that studies how the brain controls movement, including after neurological events like stroke. We get into how he does this, and why he hopes his research could eventually help people who’ve been paralyzed. Email us your questions about the brain – or anything else to do with science at shortwave@npr.org. We may turn it into an episode in the future!Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
How Midi Health is using AI to transform care and scale fast
Midi Health is using AI to train providers and scale care for menopausal women. Here's how it built its own chatbot and reshaped operations.
Dodgers being cautious with Mookie Betts’ return from oblique injury
LOS ANGELES — Technically, Wednesday’s series finale against the New York Mets is the first day Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts is eligible to return from the injured list. But he won’t be returning any time soon from his oblique strain, taking a more deliberate approach in his rehab. “He’s moving well. I see him throwing, […]
Asian carp politics, teen takeover solutions | The Chicago Report
The Trump administration and Illinois continue their back-and-forth over the vital Asian carp Great Lakes project. A child psychologist discusses the rise in viral teen takeovers. And we hear from Yusef Jackson as he takes over his father's organization, Rainbow PUSH.
Primary Care Training Expands Access to Pediatric Mental Healthcare for Anxiety and Depression
Training and coaching can equip primary care clinicians to take on a larger role in pediatric mental healthcare.
Microsoft's massive Patch Tuesday: It's raining bugs
: One CVE under attack, one already disclosed by angry bug hunter, and 163 more
Boone Health, Missouri Heart Center progress toward split
Boone Health withdrew its request for a temporary restraining order against its contracted private cardiology provider.
MusiCares Launches Groundbreaking Suicide Prevention Training And Mental Health Resources For Music Professionals In Partnership With The Jed Foundation
The groundbreaking digital microsite provides suicide prevention and mental health resources, evidence-informed learning and support tools, and a suicide prevention training course — all tailored to music professionals.
Max Hodak’s Science Corp. is preparing to place its first sensor in a human brain
Human trials on the hybrid sensor are expected to begin in the years ahead.
Max Hodak’s Science Corp. is preparing to place its first sensor in a human brain
Human trials on the hybrid sensor are expected to begin in the years ahead.
I'm a New Yorker who went to Seattle for first time, what surprised me
I was surprised by free bananas, cheap train travel, and hilly streets during my first trip to Seattle.
Beyond brains: How CCHS’ science team grew, triumphed, and bonded
Built from scratch. the Concord-Carllsle team placed ninth out of 78 at the recent Massachusetts State Science Olympiad.
Train tickets to 2026 World Cup matches at MetLife Stadium could reportedly cost over $100
Wealth management firm Hightower names new president
The appointment comes about a year after CEO Larry Restieri took the reins at the Chicago-based wealth management firm.
Survey finds 95% of insured Americans worry about hospital bills
Survey reveals financial strain for many Americans due to healthcare costs, even with insurance. Unexpected medical bills can lead to debt.
Germany's aid to Ukraine faces challenges
Ukrainian-German government talks in Berlin on Tuesday, were overshadowed by worries about continuing support for Ukraine. Political resistance is growing.
Jon Prosser Still Not Fully Cooperating in Apple's iOS 26 Trade Secrets Lawsuit
A joint status report filed yesterday in Apple's trade secrets lawsuit against YouTuber Jon Prosser and Michael Ramacciotti shows Prosser is still failing to comply with discovery, prompting Apple to seek a court order to compel him. The latest filing, submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California yesterday, covers developments since the parties' last update in February 2026.
Arteta on team fitness, 'pure fire' and Sporting
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been speaking to the media before Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final second leg against Sporting at Emirates (kick-off 20:00 BST). Arteta was vague on team news, adding that "a few of the boys" will be assessed Wednesday morning to see if they can play. Declan Rice, who did not train on Tuesday, is one of those but Arteta would not give details on the reason he is sidelined.
Scientists reverse brain aging, with a nasal spray
New therapy is turning back the clock in aging brains, healing inflammation, restoring memory and reshaping the future of brain age-related therapies.
Inside Gaming: Strip room rates gradually increasing, analyst says
Plus, a temporary restraining order blocking the enforcement of Arizona gaming laws against prediction markets has been ordered in U.S. District Court in Arizona.
6 Arsenal youth players join senior training pre-Sporting clash
Six Arsenal youth players were spotted in first-team training ahead of Wednesday’s match against Sporting CP, with at least one expected to make the senior squad for the game.Photo via Mitchell on I...
What trainers actually think about the 12-3-30 workout
Have we finally unlocked exercise’s biggest secret? Or is this yet another lie perpetrated Big Treadmill?
Register for 25Live training at Health Sciences Center
The Facilities Planning and Scheduling team will provide a 25Live training session from 2-3 p.m. on May 8 at the Health Sciences Center.
New digital card connects service members to brain health resources in the Military Health System
Military Health System unveils a new digital resource card to support service members who may have experienced a concussive event. The tool serves as a centralized guide to quickly locate information on brain health, including recognizing symptoms, seeking care, and vital resources supporting cognitive health.
Building a mission-ready DAF mental health enterprise for the future fight
Air Force Medical Service leaders advanced the efforts to align mental health policy, training and leadership practices to mission readiness requirements outlined in the Department of War’s 2026 National Defense Strategy, during the Mental Health Leadership and Readiness Symposium in Orlando, Florida, on March 9-12.
Conagra’s new CEO faces a pricing bind with no clear fix
John Brase inherits a company squeezed by an industry-wide struggle to win back cost-conscious consumers — a force J.M. Smucker contended with before cutting his job.
Key players miss training before Sporting clash
Five of Arsenal's key players were missing from the open part of training before the Gunners quarter-final second-leg match against Sporting in the Champions League. Arsenal have a 1-0 advantage from the first leg but have a number of injury issues in the squad. Declan Rice, who played 90 minutes of Arsenal's 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth at the weekend, was not seen in the first 15 minutes of the training session that was open to the media.
Pixel battery drain issues persist for some, but one user may have cracked the problem
Now we just need Google to fix it
Indian American Neurologist Pria Anand wins literary science writing award
Boston-based physician earns PEN/E.O. Wilson prize for exploring the brain, the mind, and the soul.
STAR Seminar- Reimagining Youth Sport as a Brain-Based Environment for Mental Health
Youth mental health challenges are rising globally, yet one of the most accessible youth-serving systems — sport— remains underutilized as a public health strategy. This Stress, Trauma, and Resilience (STAR) Seminar explores how insights from developmental neuroscience, trauma research, and sport-based youth development can transform everyday sport experiences into environments that promote regulation, connection, and resilience.
In the West, businesses can only watch, not stop drone threats
With few options available, businesses and the wealthy in the West are buying drone detectors, a technology used often in Ukraine, to spot threats.
From War Hero to Politics, Zelenskiy’s Top Aide Steps out of the Shadows
Kyrylo Budanov was taken from military intelligence to run Ukraine’s presidential office. It’s a political post that has Kyiv powerbrokers speculating over his future career path.
Fulshear leaders, businesses navigating rapid growth as population rises
Fulshear, one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, has grown from about 2,500 residents to more than 50,000, according to city leaders. Business owners say the population boom is bringing both new customers and growing pains, including heavier traffic and increased strain on infrastructure and public safety.
Inside the Trump Family’s Business Expansion and How It Could Reshape the Presidency
While U.S. presidents have historically attempted to refrain from personal business dealings while assuming the highest office in the land, the Trump family’s business expansion could potentially resh...
Scientists finally know where the Colorado River’s missing water is going
For years, water managers have been puzzled as the Colorado River kept delivering less water than expected—even when snowpack levels looked promising. New research reveals the missing piece: spring rain, or rather, the lack of it. Warmer, drier springs mean plants are soaking up more snowmelt before it can reach rivers, fueled by sunny skies that boost growth and evaporation. In fact, this shift explains nearly 70% of the shortfall, tying the mystery directly to the long-running Millennium drought.
Google.org and the Johnson & Johnson Foundation are launching a $10 million initiative to train rural U.S. healthcare workers in AI.
Google is providing AI training and grants to help rural health clinics use tools that improve operations for healthcare workers.
Operation Metro Surge costs Minnesota schools, businesses millions as relief bills advance
The financial fallout from Operation Metro Surge is hitting Minnesota communities hard, with businesses and schools across the state starting to see the strain show up in tax figures.
Scientists Grow Electronics Inside the Brains of Living Mice
The technology harnesses the brain's own blood chemistry to assemble soft, light-controlled electrodes around neurons.
LinkedIn enters AI training market, challenges startups
LinkedIn is launching an AI labor marketplace, offering up to $150 an hour for AI training, challenging startups like Mercor and Surge AI.
Fluoride in drinking water has no effect on IQ or brain function, major study shows
The new research is the first to measure community water fluoridation exposure during childhood in the U.S. and any potential impact on cognition up to age 80.
Scientists Uncover Brain Changes That Link Pain to Depression
A hidden process in the brain may quietly decide whether long-term pain results in resilience or depression.
Public Health Actions for Extreme Heat Protections
The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI), American Public Health Association (APHA), and ecoAmerica are partnering to offer the Public Health Actions for Extreme Heat Protections Training.
THCA Flower Sales Resume in Texas After Judge Grants TRO
Administrative agency rules that had banned smokable flower are now on pause due to the temporary restraining order.
2026 All-Juice Team: One play from Fernando Mendoza earned him instant entry to this squad
On a team and in a process that has always sought QBs who could lead and elevate players around them, Mendoza's inclusion became a no-brainer. With that in mind, we give you the 12th installment of the All-Juice Team.
Kansas governor signs sports authority bill to guide Kansas City Chiefs’ developments
The governor, state legislative leaders and owners of the NFL franchise announced in December the framework of a deal for developing a domed stadium surrounded by an entertainment district in Wyandotte County, in addition to the team’s headquarters, training facility and related developments in Johnson County.
Conagra CEO Connolly is out after 60% stock slide
The Chicago-based company said today that CEO Sean Connolly will step down at the end of next month and be replaced by consumer goods veteran John Brase, on June 1.
Ethan Rii | Notable Leaders in Health Care 2026
Ethan Rii, partner in the national health care group at Ice Miller, is one of Crain's Chicago Notable Leaders in Health Care 2026.
Trump accounts complicate the wealth gap debate
First baby bonds, now Trump Accounts for newborns. A debate ensues on who will benefit the most from these child wealth-building vehicles.
Did Neuralink make the wrong bet?
The field of brain-computer interfaces is moving away from mind-controlled computer cursors to restoring speech.
On the job with Jessika Varner, business manager/community engagement coordinator at Horizon Science Academy of Lorain
Jessika Varner, business manager and community engagement coordinator at the Horizon Science Academy in Lorain, said she started working for a school system in her early 20s. Varner worked for the Concept Schools location in…
Sam Wang, Politician-in-Training
The neuroscientist went from analyzing elections to running for Congress. But can this rookie win over New Jersey locals—and Trump voters?
North Shore Health continues CNA training program with new sessions
North Shore Health is continuing its certified nursing assistant (CNA) training program this spring, with a session scheduled from late April through July and another planned for September. The program includes 75 hours of training and provides students with opportunities to work near the end of the course. Participants can have their training costs covered...
USC Brain Health Center could be hub for Alzheimer’s treatment, new tech for mental health
A new $30 million Brain Health Center at USC in Columbia will be a magnet for advanced diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia but also deploy new technology for mental health.
The essential role of a health plan in Ohio
How health plans in Ohio can simplify care, improve affordability and provide personal support when families face complex health needs.
Washington Announces Naval Blockade of Iranian Ports After Talks Collapse
The war in Iran has already strained supply chains and energy markets, and the US blockade threatens to destabilize global trade flows.
FDA accepts previously rejected application for new PET imaging agent
The radiopharma firm hopes to soon begin selling Pixclara (Floretyrosine F 18), an investigational product for glioma, a type of brain cancer.
The Science of Strength: New Study Casts Doubt on Training to Failure
New research shows going all out may limit strength gains. Here’s the smarter way to build strength and muscle
Sports tournament benefiting South Austin family impacted by fire rescheduled due to rainy weather
The Movement Turns Ten. Black Mothers Are Still Fighting. Blood Donors Can Help.
Black Maternal Health Week turns 10. Dr. Monique Rainford on the maternal mortality crisis and how blood donors can help. #BMHW26 #NationalMinorityHealthMonth
UCLA Gets $33M Grant for Youth Mental Health Training
UCLA received $33 million from Ballmer Group to expand youth mental health workforce training in Los Angeles County, aiming to produce 2,600 new graduates by 2031.
Phillies rookie Andrew Painter scratched from Sunday afternoon's start
Phillies rookie right-hander Andrew Painter was scratched from his scheduled start on Sunday due to a migraine, the team announced.
Bird brain: New study finds birdwatching may boost brain health, slow cognitive aging
A simple look out the window at your favorite bird could do more than brighten the day. In fact, according to a recent study, it may help keep the brain sharp.
Why you never forget how to ride a bike
The brain stores skills differently than facts, making them harder to forget.
Watch: Provost Dittmar, Project Metis leaders outline vision for brain health, brain economy
Four months after its launch, Project Metis is building momentum — with a new website and video offering a deeper look at the initiative’s vision to position the Houston-Galveston region as a global leader in brain health and the emerging brain economy.
⚠️ Concern for Mbappé! Not training with the squad after eyebrow stitches
Real Madrid completed training this Sunday with an absence that raised alarm bells, although the club is conveying complete calm. According to several media outlets, Kylian Mbappé did not go out onto...
Are ancient grains better for you? The surprising truth about quinoa and spelt
Is the hype around the health benefits of ancient grains justified? Scientists say its not as clear-cut as you might think.
How to keep your brain sharp and avoid overreliance on AI
A Workday report revealed that nearly half of workers are concerned about AI agents eroding their critical thinking skills.
Green Eats healthy cafe opens in Glen Cove
The owners are bullish on vegetables and whole grains, organic wherever possible.
'Not about politics': Miami Beach unveils repurposed rainbow crosswalk installation
Pride is back on display in Miami Beach, as city leaders unveiled a new installation repurposing the bricks from the former Ocean Drive rainbow crosswalk.
“AI polls” are fake polls
A few weeks after Donald Trump’s second presidential win, I took the train up from London (where I was living at the time) to Oxford to attend a conference on polls and forecasts of the 2024 election. Most of the attendees were pollsters or academics, but I also watched presentations from Aaru and Electric Twin, two companies that do what is interchangeably called synthetic sampling, silicon sampling, or synthetic audiences. Stripped of startup jargon, that means they use large language models (LLMs) to simulate responses to public opinion polls by having AI agents take on the role of survey respondents. I had already heard of Aaru thanks to some articles with eye-catching headlines like “No people, no problem: AI chatbots predict elections better than humans” in the months leading up to Election Day. The founders were making some big, some might even say far-fetched claims, such as: “within two years, we will simulate the entire globe — from the way crops are grown in Ukraine to how that impacts production of oil in Iraq, trade through the strait of Malacca, and elections for the mayor of Baltimore.” When Semafor asked Aaru’s cofounders — Cameron Fink and Ned Koh — about my boss, they said “we respect all those who came before us.” Nate (as he so often does) shared his thoughts on Twitter: Fink and Koh were relatively good-natured about this back-and-forth when we spoke at Oxford. They even offered to mail me one of the t-shirts featuring Nate’s quote they apparently had made. I never took them up on the offer, which I now somewhat regret. These synthetic sampling companies fell off my radar for a while, but they do still exist. In fact, Aaru recently received a $1 billion valuation. Is what they’re doing anywhere close to the most important frontier in AI development? Not by a longshot, especially when Anthropic just developed a model so adept at exploiting software vulnerabilities that it’s only being released to 40 companies. Still, silicon sampling is increasingly finding its way into public polling. Axios reported in March that “a majority of people trust their own doctors and nurses” based on findings from Aaru — without mentioning that the “people” in that sentence were actually LLMs. Around the same time, the Public Sentiment Institute “boosted” their online sample of 373 real survey respondents with 114 AI agents.1 (Spoiler alert: even the co-founder of Electric Twin doesn’t think that’s a particularly defensible approach.) Polling companies like Qualtrics and Ipsos are also developing synthetic data panels. So, what should we make of these … “polls”? Let’s get one thing out of the way: whatever they are, they’re not polls in the way that term is usually defined. Subscribe You can’t replace polls with AI On one hand, using LLMs to essentially make up fake survey respondents sort of sounds like the dumbest idea ever, one that will at best imperfectly replicate real polls while introducing all sorts of biases. On the other hand, with LLMs improving at a remarkable, perhaps even alarming rate, maybe that means I’m a dinosaur at the ripe old age of 24 because I still want to rely on polls that talk to actual people. I’m not going to argue that synthetic samples are completely useless. In fact, as I’ll return to later, there is evidence that some techniques can replicate topline survey results quickly and cheaply. But the marketing from certain companies can be slightly optimistic. “No traditional poll will exist by the time the next general election occurs,” said Fink in 2024. We’re just 206 days away from the midterms, and based on the fact that I still have to collect a bunch of polls every day, I’d say he should have run that prediction by a sample of AI agents before the interview.2 To see why synthetic samples can’t replace polls, here’s a quick primer on how they work. The simplest version of these models involves taking a LLM (like ChatGPT or Claude), giving it a demographic profile (e.g., a white, college-educated woman who lives in Utah and makes $70k a year), and then asking it to respond to a survey question. You repeat that process a few thousand times using different demographic profiles and end up with a sample of synthetic survey responses. The actual models used by private companies are more sophisticated than this, usually because they incorporate more hypothesized demographic characteristics for each agent and provide them with extra information. Aaru, for example, feeds agents a diet of news and information they’d be likely to consume, while Electric Twin incorporates their customers’ proprietary data about the audience they’re trying to replicate. The way Ben Warner, the co-founder of Electric Twin, explained it to me was “we have a large amount of data on […] for instance, 5,000 people. Can we make an accurate prediction of how they would respond to another question?” Still, it should be obvious why synthetic samples can’t replace polls. Polling is fundamentally a data collection process. We might use surveys to make predictions by feeding them into election forecasts, but the main purpose of a poll isn’t prediction, it’s gathering new data about what people think and how they feel. Silicon sampling, on the other hand, produces no new data. It’s simply a model: you input LLM training data, demographic prompts, and a bunch of other information, and it spits out a prediction for what a poll would say. We love models here, but models aren’t polls. That difference is an important philosophical sticking point for most pollsters I talk to. “I think politics should stay away from [synthetic sampling], because we’re trying to […] represent the voice of the people,” said Natalie Jackson, a vice president at GQR Insights. Democratic pollster John Hagner told me: “I think I’m just incredibly skeptical of this idea. I don’t think it’s research. At that point, you’re asking the machine to tell you what you already believe.” Hagner has seen some presentations of early synthetic sampling experiments, but so far, “if it’s being used in a campaign, people are keeping it incredibly quiet.”3 But Eli, I hear you saying, aren’t polls themselves increasingly governed by modeling decisions? Indeed they are: pollsters’ choices on which sampling method to use, how to define their likely voter models, and how to weight their samples can and do lead to dramatic differences in the results they publish. Aaru even referenced these limitations in the methodology statement included with that maternal mortality “poll” — although I’m using the term “methodology statement” loosely here, because it doesn’t really explain how the model works at all. We can ignore the (frankly preposterous) implication that synthetic sampling isn’t subject to a separate set of biases. The important point is that there’s still a meaningful difference between using weighting and other statistical techniques on actual polling data and using a model to predict what a poll would say. The latter is far closer to election forecasts or techniques like MRP — potentially useful models, but not a replacement for polls.4 To be fair, other synthetic sampling companies are perfectly happy with the distinction between polls and models. Warner compared polling and synthetic sampling to different tools in a toolbox. “The mistake I think we make is we think that these new tools should either work in exactly the same way or somehow replace these old tools,” he said. “Rather than thinking of it as, okay, so we’ve always had the hammer, we’ve always had the screwdriver, now we’ve got a saw. But don’t use a saw to try [to] do the job of a hammer.” A quick comment from Nate Eli didn’t ask me for a comment — rather rude of him, don’t you think? But since I’m editing this story, I figured I’d add a few quick thoughts rather than putting words in his mouth. Beyond the frequently misleading marketing, what bothers me about the AI “poll” hype is that as AI tools make statistical inference cheaper and/or better (note that these are not synonyms) that actually increases the comparative value of collecting original data. You might be able to train a model to make a reasonable estimate of what some hard-to-reach poll respondent would say — say, a young Black man who voted for Trump. (Such a person checks a number of boxes for a voter who is usually hard to reach in surveys.) Indeed, this is closely related to what models like the Silver Bulletin forecast already do. They essentially smooth out the kinks in noisy survey data by making inferences based on past voting patterns or national polls or surveys of other states. But you don’t actually know what these voters think unless you’re reaching them directly. If there’s a shift in opinion among this subgroup, you’re not going to detect it. So if I were running a campaign, I’d invest more in going the extra mile to find a representative sample of those voters. And then I’d hire some smart quants — or Claude? — to figure out the implications for campaign strategy based on proprietary data that my competitors didn’t have access to. -Nate Silver Are these models any good? If synthetic surveys are just a new type of model, the next obvious question is whether the models are at least accurate. The answer very much depends on who you ask. On one end of the spectrum, you have the maximalist argument that synthetic sampling is more accurate than actual polls. “It’s an incredibly challenging problem to go to someone and say ‘hey, we’re going to be more accurate at predicting human behavior than you, even when you talk to your customers directly’,” Koh recently told CNBC. In his view, synthetic sampling isn’t a saw to polling’s hammer, it’s “magic.” There’s certainly evidence that synthetic samples can replicate certain survey toplines. But if Aaru does have any examples of their approach outperforming the polls, they’re keeping those to themselves.5 Aaru’s 2024 election model, for example, had Kamala Harris leading in Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin on November 4th. And although they’ve since taken down their forecast page, they gave Harris a 50.5 percent chance of winning the race on November 2nd.6 After the election, Fink told Semafor he was happy enough with those results because they were “within margin of error,” a term that is completely meaningless when applied to a “sample” of AI agents. And of course, Aaru says their models have improved since 2024, so supposedly now they’d be more accurate than the polls? Still, their stronger argument is on cost: “We are significantly faster and cheaper than traditional polling, and still more accurate,” said Fink. The first two claims are undeniably true, but the third brings us to the opposite end of the spectrum. Both Jackson and Hagner are skeptical that these models are reliable for anything beyond replicating common survey toplines. “I just […] don’t think the machines are what we want when we’re looking for nuanced views. My example on this is people in Arizona and Nevada in 2024 who voted for Trump and voted for expanding abortion in their states on ballot initiatives,” said Jackson. Hagner identified another issue. Maybe the synthetic respondents, like sycophantic LLMs, are inhuman in one important way: they’re too nice. “The reports that have come through at the meetings that I’ve been at are that the early experiments on this, they cannot get respondents to be as racist or sexist or, frankly, as negative as human respondents,” he said. Academic research mostly agrees on this point. While there are some papers that show promising results when using LLMs to replicate polling data, most show that LLMs suffer from various quirks like producing too few “don’t know” responses and can seriously overpredict the favorability of politicians like Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. They also seem to struggle with too little variation between demographic subgroups, so the difference in predicted opinion between Democrats and Republicans, for example, is too small. When I asked Warner about these studies, his response to these papers was that just because academics can’t get synthetic sampling to work doesn’t mean that the technique doesn’t work in general. “Actually, the argument is, okay, yours does not [work]. That does not mean […] for this complex set of machinery, which uses a lot of investment, a lot of time, a lot of money, you can’t get it to work.” Cards on the table, I’m somewhat sympathetic to this argument because academics aren’t exactly great at making election forecasts. Usually, the people with skin in the game are the most accurate. Warner’s argument is that the approach Electric Twin takes — which includes, for example, making multiple predictions for each synthetic respondent using different models and prompts and subsequently averaging those to get a final prediction in a sort of ensemble forecast — produces better results than the simpler academic models. Warner shared a comparison between his method and the method from a recent academic paper with me, and Electric Twin was indeed able to get more accurate replication. But even still, he acknowledged that synthetic sampling “is not a crystal ball.” “If you asked me, do I think using other data sources will be more accurate than asking somebody who they will vote for, I would probably say no. But if you asked me ‘would your system be useful for our turnout modeling today?’ I would say yes.” For better or worse, it looks like the method is already getting more popular in the market research world. Most of the clients Aaru touts these days are businesses like EY and McDonald’s. And AI will probably begin to pop up in other parts of the political polling process. Pollsters are already using it to code open-ended survey responses, and some firms, like YouGov, are testing using LLMs to ask survey respondents questions. More worryingly, one danger to actual polls is that AI agents can be used to infiltrate online surveys. Most online polls use various checks to prevent that from happening, but there’s conflicting evidence on how effective those filters are and how prevalent AI agents currently are in online panels. If those agents ever become impossible to detect, it might spell the end of online polling, but the solution isn’t to replace all of your respondents with ChatGPT. Silver Bulletin is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a subscriber. Subscribe 1 That particular poll obviously doesn’t meet Silver Bulletin standards for aggregation. But we exclude all Public Sentiment Institute polls from our averages because we classify them as an amateur polling firm. 2 You could argue that Fink meant the next presidential election, but (a) I’m also confident we’ll still have real polls in 2028 and (b) in that case he should have asked an LLM to define “general election.” 3 Quick caveat: that’s reporting from a Democratic pollster. It’s possible that Republicans are more willing to use AI in political campaigns. 4 Indeed, Silver Bulletin does not include “polls” produced by MRP in our forecasts or averages, and we think it’s extremely misleading when their practitioners describe them in a way that suggests original data had been collected among a large number of states or Congressional districts. 5 A recent report from Aaru and EY did show two examples of a synthetic estimate being closer than a survey to a real-world benchmark — but I’d take those findings with a grain of salt because the report reads more like an ad and didn’t involve any sort of prediction being made ahead of time. 6 For comparison, our odds for Harris on the same day were 48.2 percent.
Pool at Altru Sports Complex will also house UND diving facility to simulate low gravity
The neutral buoyancy facility will be built under the floor of the pool's deep end and used for experiments, research and training in the space studies program.
Not All “Plant-Based” Diets Are Equal for Brain Health
A large study suggests healthier plant-based diets may be linked to lower dementia risk, while processed plant foods may not. The findings show association, not proof.
Your nose could detect Alzheimer’s years before symptoms begin
Losing your sense of smell might signal Alzheimer’s far earlier than expected. Scientists found that immune cells in the brain actively destroy smell-related nerve fibers after detecting abnormal signals on their surfaces. This damage begins in early stages of the disease, well before cognitive decline. The discovery could help identify at-risk patients sooner and improve treatment timing.
Splashdown party at Chabot Space and Science Center
The Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland hosted some of the brains behind the Artemis II operation from Nasa for a community-wide watch party of Orion's splashdown.
Rural Mental Health Hub Offers Tools, Training, and Support
A new program from Rural Minds gives farmers tools to recognize mental health struggles, start conversations, and offer support.
Personal trainer shocked to find health company using his photos
Sion documented his weight loss journey online and was shocked to find a company was using his photos.
Lansing business owners raise drainage issues after repeated flooding on Kalamazoo Street
Ingham County Drain Commissioner Patrick Lindemann is pushing back on residents’ concerns
Scientists Successfully Made Advanced, Lab-Grown Brains—Could They Become Conscious?
Now, prototype spinal cords are part of the brain organoid assembly.
Pokemon Center Announces Early Access Program for Preordering! -...
The Pokemon Center has announced a new early access program through an update to its FAQ. Customers subscribed to the Pokemon Center newsletter and
Federal judge extends restraining order on $6.2B merger Nexstar and Tegna
Nexstar's attorneys say the deal will lead to expanded local journalism and programming, not a reduction
Federal judge extends restraining order on $6.2B merger Nexstar and Tegna
Nexstar's attorneys say the deal will lead to expanded local journalism and programming, not a reduction
Italy's UniCredit says no plans to liquidate Russian business
UniCredit said on Friday it had no plans to liquidate its Russian business or return the banking licence held by its local subsidiary, which the Italian lender has held onto during the Ukraine conflict.
Gallery: Atrium Health Motorsports Athletic Center Facility Photos
Hendrick Motorsports opens a state-of-the-art training and wellness facility on its campus to serve its athletes and employees.
Vatican meeting at Pentagon was ‘unusual,’ a church official says
U.S. and Vatican officials have sought to downplay accounts of a strained relationship, but there have been tensions between the Trump administration and the Catholic Church.
BioFest Days event spotlights innovation at Center for Brain Health - UT Health San Antonio
The BioFest Days brought the community together April 7, for an evening of discovery and connection at the UT Health San Antonio Center for Brain Health. Hosted as part of the 12-day, citywide celebration of biomedical advancement organized by BioMed SA, the event invited attendees to explore how research, clinical care and community involvement […]
Neuroscientist To Lead Engineering-Driven Brain Health Research
Dr. Matthew Walker joined UT Dallas in January to build the future of sleep science. His research spans fundamental neuroscience and the development of innovative engineering tools to improve the quality of life. Dr. Matthew Walker is helping to transform sleep research from an observational field into one in which engineered solutions can measure and […]
Neuroscientist To Lead Engineering-Driven Brain Health Research
Dr. Matthew Walker joined UT Dallas in January to build the future of sleep science. His research spans fundamental neuroscience and the development of innovative engineering tools to improve the quality of life. Dr. Matthew Walker is helping to transform sleep research from an observational field into one in which engineered solutions can measure and […]
Scientists Found a Common Brain 'Fingerprint' Across 5 Psychedelics
"This is a breakthrough in how we think about psychedelic drugs."
Letters to the Editor: Anyone with political aspirations should be fighting to stop Trump
'Everyone knows President Trump is out of control, and yet Congress and the Supreme Court sit back and watch as we circle the drain,' writes an L.A. Times reader.
Ford Athletic Trainer Compact Passes House Business Committee
Welcome to Oklahoma's House of Representatives website!
Scientists say we’ve been treating Alzheimer’s all wrong
Alzheimer’s isn’t just one problem—it’s a tangled mix of biology, aging, and overall health. That’s why drugs targeting a single factor have fallen short, even as new treatments show modest benefits. Scientists are now pushing toward multi-pronged strategies, from gene editing to brain-cell rejuvenation and gut health interventions. The goal: stop treating Alzheimer’s as one disease and start tackling it as a complex system.
Watch out for college sports 'reforms' that shortchange student-athletes
If the system is constrained for those whose labor actually generates the revenue, that is not reform — it is codified inequality.