SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " every " 7,503 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
5 AI projects every solo business owner should try
I have 23 AI projects—here are a few of my favorites AI tools for solopreneurs.
Democrats’ long-shot bid to flip Alaska’s Senate seat
Democrats are hoping for an upset in Alaska’s Senate race. U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat, is trying to unseat Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan. We discuss the major issues at play, plus why Republicans are backing an effort to repeal Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system.This episode: voting correspondent Miles Parks, senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro, and Alaska Public Media Washington correspondent Liz Ruskin.This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.
Advancing Science, Students Provide Fun and Free STEM Programs for Low-Income Youth
Alyssa Huang seriously loves science and math. And she’s on a mission to make every kid feel the same way.
Nancy Bostock lands support from majority of Pinellas legislative delegation
'Our students and parents deserve leaders at every level of government who will work together to put them first.'
Marvel Rivals confirmed for Nintendo Switch 2
It's now been officially confirmed that Marvel Rivals is on its way to Nintendo Switch 2, as shared by Marvel Games.
‘School Spirits’ Renewed for Season 4: Everything We Know so Far
We're headed back to Split River.
‘Scooby Doo Live Action’ Netflix Series Casts Paul Walker Hauser
Plus, everything you need to know about the upcoming series.
Trump and Republican National Committee Lean Toward Dallas for Unusual 2026 GOP Midterm Convention
Parties normally hold conventions every four years to nominate presidential candidates, but Republicans hope to hold one this year in the face of midterm headwinds.
2026 MLB Division Winner Odds: Dodgers, Mariners Favored to Repeat
The Dodgers and Mariners are expected to repeat as division champs. Every other division? Up for grabs. See the Opening Day odds.
MLB Opening Day 2026: How to watch every game, including Yankees vs. Giants, full four-day schedule, streaming info and more
Opinion | Nothing against California-based Sutter Health, but Allina’s local governance matters
Allina is built on a "model of care that puts patients and families at the center of everything. That is not something that transfers automatically with a transaction. It has to be protected deliberately, by people who understand what it is and why it matters," the writer says.
Women's NCAA Tournament Round 2 winners, losers: Virginia make history, Iowa fizzles
USA TODAY has followed every upset, buzzer-beater and game from the 2026 Women's NCAA Tournament and rounded up our winners and losers from round two:
Every pandemic is followed by amnesia. But Covid’s is very different
In this excerpt from their new book “Whiplash,” David Blumenthal and James A. Morone describe how scientists became villains to MAGA.
Support pours in for 76-year-old DoorDash driver forced out of retirement over health care costs
The Vietnam veteran delivers food every night of the week, except Wednesday when he attends church.
$5 flat-fee deliveries: A Haverhill business is built on community connection
From restaurant supplies to last-minute hardware runs, Store to your Door is meeting everyday needs
Scientists found a rhino in the Arctic and it changes everything
Scientists have uncovered a new species of rhinoceros in the Canadian High Arctic, revealing that rhinos once lived far farther north than expected. The fossil, dating back 23 million years, is unusually complete and has helped reshape ideas about how these animals migrated between continents. Evidence suggests rhinos crossed from Europe to North America more recently than scientists once thought.
A mission NASA might kill is still returning fascinating science from Jupiter
We can’t quite afford to support everything that we have done in the past."
Fall River's Day of Portugal announces dates, entertainment lineup for 2026
A festival that brings food, faith, and entertainment to the city will be returning once again. Day of Portugal Fall River, which takes place every year at the Gates of the City down near the waterfront on Ponta Delgada Blvd., is back in 2026. One of the more popular events in Fall River which
Trump was offered an off-ramp to the DHS shutdown but he didn’t take it
President Donald Trump was presented Sunday with a potential off-ramp to the more than month-long Department of Homeland Security shutdown: fund every part of the department except enforcement operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, two sources familiar with the conversations told CNN.
2026 MLB standings predictions: Expert picks for every division, full projections as baseball season begins
Here are the predictions from our CBS Sports MLB staff for the 2026 season
Microsoft Realizes It’s Epically Screwed Up Windows 11 as Users Rage at Copilot AI Crammed Everywhere
Windows VP Pavan Davuluri effectively admitted outright that the company went too far to shove AI down users' throats at all costs.
Every NFL franchise's biggest position to improve, plus free agency and draft solutions
The Cowboys need to add to their defense, and they have the draft capital to make it happen.
By Director Mr. Sakurai, Kirby Air Riders: Development Insights — Part 5 - News
Join Kirby Air Riders director Masahiro Sakurai as he shares insights into the development and details behind some of the game's modes and features. Check out the rest of the interview Part 1: Air Ride and Top Ride Part 2: Cramming everything into S…
A surprising foam discovery could change everyday products
Foams have long baffled scientists because liquid drains from them far sooner than theory predicts. New research shows the reason: the bubbles don’t stay put—they rearrange, opening pathways for liquid to escape. The key factor is the pressure needed to shift bubbles, not just push liquid through them. This insight reshapes how we understand foams and could improve everyday products.
Every bulb on Govee’s new outdoor string lights can display multicolor effects
Level up your patio.
Starmer says ‘every lever’ will be explored to ease rising costs of living from Iran conflict
PM will chair Cobra meeting with key ministers and Bank of England on Monday, as experts warn of economic shock
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for March 23 #546
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
Everything you need to know about 'BTS: The Return,' the new Netflix documentary
On Friday, Netflix will release a documentary about the biggest band in K-pop, BTS. It is titled “BTS: The Return.” It is from director Bao Nguyen. He is known for his work on “The Stringer”...
Everything you need to know about 'BTS: The Return,' the new Netflix documentary
On Friday, Netflix will release a documentary about the biggest band in K-pop, BTS. It is titled “BTS: The Return.” It is from director Bao Nguyen. He is known for his work on “The Stringer”...
Everything you need to know about 'BTS: The Return,' the new Netflix documentary
On Friday, Netflix will release a documentary about the biggest band in K-pop, BTS.
Your Thymus and Your Healthspan
Our thymus gland plays a central role in the development or our immune system, specifically for supporting T cell development (how these cells got their name, maturation and differentiation in the thymus) and discriminating between self and foreign, non-self antigen proteins with production of dendritic cells. As we age, our thymus gland shrinks—the process known as involution—with progressive change from spongy to fatty tissue, with loss of functionality. But this process, with respect to timeline and extent, markedly varies from one person to the next. And to make things even more complicated, our thymus gland anatomy and precise location in the chest also is highly variable. So the famous Frank Netter diagrams from the 1960s (such as at left below) don’t capture the remarkable heterogeneity that a random set of 12 chest CT scans (below at right). What I consider as 2 landmark papers in Nature this week (here and here) used AI to quantify health of the thymus in 2 large cohorts, and then correlate the metric to a broad array of health outcomes. In this edition of Ground Truths, I’m going to cover three questions: (1) How was thymus health determined by AI?; (2) How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? and (3) Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? Subscribe 1. How was thymus health determined by AI? This was accomplished by extensive work developing and validating an AI pipeline for 2 stages, the first for localization and segmentation of the thymus bed, and the second to quantify a digital marker, termed the thymic health score. There’s a lot to this algorithmic development, so I won’t go into all the details, but just provide a rudimentary outline of what was done. The 1st stage used supervised learning with 2 radiologists reviewing 2,461 chest CT scans. That work trained a 3D U-Net model to automatically identify the thymic bed’s 3D cropped region using center of mass coordinates, which reached 99.8% accuracy. The 2nd stage used a foundation model that was pre-trained with SwAV (which stands for Swapping Assignment between multiple Views), a self-supervised model, that generated a high-dimensional thymus representation of 4,096 features. That compares to the radiology reductionist and subjective scoring of 0 to 3 where 0 means the thymus is fully degenerated and fatty, and 3 is considered dense, intact glandular soft tissue. Notably, the self-supervised learning (SSL) performance was superior to supervised (AUC ~0.75 vs 0.55, respectively) reflecting the shallowness of the 0-3 classifier vs SSL’s holistic, self-taught AI. The thymic health score ranged from 0 to 100, with the highest number indexed to fully preserved thymic health. The algorithmic work extended to explainability with both Shapely value distribution, meaning the model was holistic not relying on any “magic” pixel, and occlusion sensitivity, demonstrating the model’s performance was not affected by ribs, sternum, lung tissue, but rather focused on the thymic bed directly. Below are a few saliency maps from the occlusion sensitivity that indicate the thymic bed focus, not affected by neighboring structures, using the jet color scale. Now the AI was ready for processing ~25,000 CT scans, each over 30 MB files, from the 2 large participant cohorts to provide a thymic health score, it did so in less than 14 hours, which is less than 2 seconds per scan! Share 2. How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? The two cohorts were the National Lung Screening Trial, NLST (N=25,031) and the Framingham Heart Study, FHS (N=2,581) each with baseline demographics and long term follow up of >12 years for health outcomes. From the NSLT, you can see below that increased age and body-mass index were correlated to reduced thymic health. And, overall, men had reduced thymic health scores compared with women. There are a lot of graphs in the paper for outcomes, for both the NLST and FHS cohorts. To simplify the major outcomes, below is a composite Figure with striking reduction of all-cause mortality and for the different causes of death. The results were consistent between the 2 cohorts. For example, the cardiovascular mortality hazard ratio average was 0.57 in NLST and 0.38 in FHS (weighted to be 0.53 for the aggregate). The reduction of mortality also extended to digestive diseases and pulmonary disease (data not shown below). Lung cancer incidence was reduced by 36% for high vs low thymic health (Figure below, with a panel -incidence and b panel-mortality, adjusted for age, sex, BMI, smoking status). Notably, there was a smoker’s paradox: lower incidence and improved survival for lung cancer in smokers who had a high thymus health score. Smoking was associated with lower thymic scores whereas alcohol was not. Higher thymic health was linked to higher HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides, lower fasting blood glucose, and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Inflammation biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, were elevated in the people with lower thymic health scores. In their second paper, the same team looked at the relationship between thymic score and outcomes for 3,476 patients receiving cancer immunotherapy. The non-small cell lung cancer progression-free survival was reduced in patients with low thymic health score. A parallel relationship for survival was seen for other types of cancer including melanoma, breast, and kidney with a 44% lower risk among high thymic scores (Figure). A similar pattern was seen with different immune checkpoint inhibitors. The thymus health score outperformed programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1)and tumor mutation burden (TMB) assay of the tumor and was an independent prognostic marker of progression-free survival. In this dataset, a direct connect with thymus score and adaptive immune function was noted with a correlation before cancer treatment for both T-cell diversity and thymus T-cell production (a metric known as T cell receptor excision circles). Thymus Removal Study There is a highly relevant citation about thymus function before moving onto ways to rejuvenate it. In 2023, a very important study of thymus removal during cardiothoracic surgery was published, with 1146 patients undergoing thymus removal vs 1146 matched controls (mean age 55 years). The adverse outcomes for thymus removal were striking, with a 2.9 higher risk of all-cause mortality and doubling of cancer incidence, 1.5 fold increase in cancer mortality, and 1.5-fold increase in autoimmune diseases. The immune function showed marked compromise after thymus removal, as reflected by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (Figure below) Share Ground Truths 3. Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? In recent months we’ve learned a lot about the process of thymus involution and the pathways by which this may be modulated. Thymus involution is primarily due to loss to thymus epithelial cells (TECs) and there are 2 subtypes with different functions: the cortical, responsible for positive selection of T cells, and the medullary, for negative selection. When adipose tissue infiltrates the thymus, thymic adipocytes are pro-inflammatory, knocking out T-cell output. Likewise, systemic inflammation, or “inflammaging,” from smoking, obesity, and chronic stress promote thymic adipocytes. Now, from preclinical studies, we know about key pathways that account for these processes. Historically, back in 2014, FOXN1 was recognized as a single master transcription factor essential for TEC function, with studies in mice with forced FOXN1 upregulation leading to thymus regeneration. That laid the foundation for potential regrowth of quiescent thymus cells. It took awhile to find pathways to accomplish this goal and to even refute its role as the master regulator. The Liver-Thymus Axis Feng Zhang and his team recently showed that injection of an mRNA vaccine to the liver encoding DLL1, IL-7 and FLT3-L in combination, factors known to support thymopoiesis (Figure), successfully enhanced immune function in aged mice. However, the effect was transient. The FGF21 Story Two reports in 2025 addressed the thymus gland’s production of FGF21, a growth factor (fibroblast growth factor 21) and its control of thymus involution. This growth factor is also produced by the liver, but it doesn’t have impact on the thymus in aged rodent models. In contrast, The liver’s hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been shown to reverse senescent TEC structural changes. Growth hormone stimulates production of insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in the liver and the thymus. Two small studies in human participants (TRIIM, for Thymus Regeneration, Immunorestoration, and Insulin Mitigation) of 6 and 50 people, respectively, treated with combined human growth hormone, metformin and DHEA, suggested the potential of slowing epigenetic aging and improving thymus mass and function. But the combination of drugs, small sample, and lack of controls make conclusions murky. Increased thymus FGF21 led to increased CD8 T cells in old mice and extended healthspan and improved physical performance. Building on the previous FOXN1 data, ablation of β-klotho, the obligatory co-receptor for FOXN1, accelerated thymic aging. The benefit to FGF21 was confirmed in a companion paper using an FGF21 knock-in mouse model showing thymus enlargement and increased TECs throughout the lifespan. (schematic Figure below). The accompanying editorial for these 2 papers speculated: “The proposed link between age-associated thymus involution and organismal aging is intriguing, and suggests we might seek to achieve systemic rejuvenation by counteracting thymic involution.” Other Factors Lessons from the Axolotl (Mexican Salamander) In an elegant set of experiments of the axolotl (Figure), known for its complete thymus regeneration after total surgical removal, mediators were identified. Surprisingly FOXN1 was dispensable. But midkine, a growth factor, appeared to be the driver, the initiator of thymus cell growth, survival, and repair. Other components that contributed were Postn+ (periostin-expressing mesenchymal niches) and Ccl19, a chemokine protein from the bloodstream. RANK and RANKL RANK (receptor activator of nuclear factor κB its ligand (RANKL) have been considered key regulators of medullary TECs. In a study of both aged mice and human thymus cell cultures, their key role was confirmed, with multiple benefits of resorting TEC function, recruitment of progenitor cells, and T cell development. Subscribe Summing Up This body of work strongly supports the health of the thymus gland as a critical regulator of human healthspan, not just a correlate or link. The new landmark studies are reinforced by the regenerative biology experimental models that have shown, via an array of mediators, that healthspan of aged mice is at least in part dependent on thymus gland function and its critical role for maintaining adaptive immunity. It sure seems that we’d be better off having an immune reservoir of naive T cells instead of a profile in older adults of exhausted, low quality, memory T cells, with a senescent phenotype. It is striking that we ignored the importance of the thymus gland for many decades. A wake-up call was the results of the thymectomy matched control study reviewed here, with the opposite of high thymic health score improved health outcomes. The convergence of AI and healthspan here is notable. The exceptional and laborious work for developing and validating (no less explaining) the AI to quantify thymus health set the foundation for probing the connect the major health outcomes in two cohorts with extensive follow-up. We’ve never had a way to meaningfully quantify the thymus gland before, so this represents important leverage of supervised, self-supervised, and transformer models. The study wouldn’t have been possible without AI. And it begs the question as to whether there are ways we can maintain our thymus at a high health score. But it’s not so simple to rejuvenate our thymus. There are multiple risks including the induction of autoimmunity, increasing the risk of cancer, and inducing a pro-inflammatory state. For example, factors that increase TEC proliferation could compromise the medulllary negative selection process and leak out auto-reactive (self-attacking) T cells. Thymic cells could be induced to proliferate, but we know, for example, that growth hormone and IGF-1 are associated with an increase risk of cancer. If thymus rejuvenation doesn’t clear out the accumulated senescent cells in older adults, then inflammation within the gland could block the production of TECs. Keeping these risks in mind, we now have identified many ways to keep our thymus healthy as we age that undoubtedly will be tested in clinical trials going forward. Ultimately, the benefit-to-risk tradeoffs will be defined. In the meantime, we have desperately needed an immunome. As I’ve stressed in multiple prior Ground Truths, we have no test in the clinic to assess a patient’s immune status! It was very encouraging for me to get an email from Hugo Aerts, the senior author of the landmark papers in the days after they were published: “I also wanted to say that your Substack on “Why We Need an Immunome” was inspiring for this work. We found it a very compelling perspective and greatly enjoyed reading it.” Just having an assessment of a person’s immune status via a chest CT scan, with millions of these performed per year, might help in guiding the right immunotherapy for cancer (e.g. more intensive, combinations for those with low thymic health scores) and help define people who are increased risk for age-related diseases of cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative. The main theme of Super Agers is that we now have many layers of data (genetics, proteins, biomarkers, organ clocks that can be integrated via multimodal AI) for us to define a person’s specific risk decades before one of these age-related diseases leads to symptoms, enabling prevention. From the new studies this week, we can add thymus health score as yet another way to understand a person’s risk, a window into their adaptive immune system and healthspan. And perhaps someday we will be able to safely rejuvenate the thymus, or maintain its health through one’s life, and use the thymus health score to monitor. NB: I wrote this post (No A.I.) A Quick Poll Loading... ********************************************************************* Thanks to Ground Truths subscribers (now > 200,000) from every US state and 212 countries. Your subscription to these free essays and podcasts makes my work in putting them together worthwhile. Please join! If you found this interesting PLEASE share it! Share Ground Truths Paid subscriptions are voluntary and all proceeds from them go to support Scripps Research. They do allow for posting comments and questions, which I do my best to respond to. Please don’t hesitate to post comments and give me feedback. Let me know topics that you would like to see covered. Leave a comment Many thanks to those who have contributed—they have greatly helped fund our summer internship programs for the past two years. It enabled us to accept and support 47 summer interns in 2025! We aim to accept even more of the several thousand who will apply for summer 2026.
Bucket hats and home run chains: Getting decked out for baseball season at Poor Boys Sports
From shirts featuring new players to hats in every color, Poor Boys Sports has all your Orioles merch needs for Opening Day.
30 Must-Have Gadgets For Every Room In Your House
Prepare to power up your homes, my friends!
Everything you need to know about the ‘Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special’ — How to watch, premiere time, who’s coming back and more
Sweet niblets! Hannah Montana is back for an anniversary special. Here's what to know.
Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo says César Chávez allegations are "just the tip of the iceberg"
California lawmakers this upcoming week are set to move quickly to rename César Chávez Day to Farmworkers Day ahead of the holiday that takes place every year on March 31.
The best seafood restaurant in every state, according to Yelp
Yelp picked the best seafood restaurant in every state based on customer reviews.
'Everybody Loses' author discusses the meteoric rise of sports gambling
Two years ago, Americans bet $120 billion on sports, a 27% increase from the previous year. That figure grew to $150 billion in 2024. Journalist Danny Funt investigates what's considered one of the most consequential — and least scrutinized — shifts in modern American sports in his new book, "Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling."
Gen Z really, really loves China's trains
This is a condensed version of Business Insider Today, a newsletter that gives you a look at the week’s top stories. Sign up here to get the full Business Insider Today in your inbox every day for the top stories in markets, tech, and business.
AI was everywhere at gaming’s big developer conference
Developers say it removes the craft from making games.
How investors use the BRRRR strategy to scale real estate portfolios
"My strategy is basically to use every property to fund the next one," said one real estate investor.
Prior authorization can delay needed health care. A new 'Gold Card' targets that bottleneck.
Getting approval for a medical procedure scan or medicine has become a frustrating hurdle in health care as insurers try to ensure that every test is appropriate...
Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement listed for Nintendo Switch, plus an unannounced 505 Games Switch 2 title
Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement has been listed for Nintendo Switch alongside an unannounced Switch 2 title from 505 Games. The Scarlet Engagement, a sequel to the original, was previously announced last year. Although there wasn’t any news about a Nintendo release, the latest discovery suggests that we’ll be getting it on Switch at the very least. It’d be somewhat surprising...
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for March 22 #545
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
Urban Entertainment Society crowns this year’s Beat Battle champion
The Urban Entertainment Society hosted its annual Beat Battle at the Chris Young Cafe on Friday, highlighting talented students across every major.
"Derby of the dead child": This match changed football forever
When does a game become legendary? Is it when everyone can remember where they were at the time of the match? When the game has its own Wikipedia article? When the game marks a turning point in footba...
Who is Jazzy Davidson? True freshman guard leads USC into March Madness
Jazzy Davidson leads the USC women's basketball team in every major statistical category. Now, she leads the Trojans into March Madness.
Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson on the values needed to keep a billion-dollar business in the family
Jenny Johnson is CEO of $12 billion family-run asset management business Franklin Templeton, which oversees nearly $2 trillion in assets. Growing the company and succeeding in the role took everyone in the family, including herself, putting their egos aside.
My twins separated for the first time at 19
After doing everything together their entire lives, my twin sons separated for six weeks and hardly checked in. It was good for their relationship.
iPhone spyware is everyone's problem now
Anyone with an iPhone can now be the target of invasive malware that siphons off personal texts, call histories and calendar data.
Microsoft Promises Slew of Windows 11 Changes in Response to "Microslop" Criticisms
With every Windows 11 update seemingly introducing a new bug or somehow breaking some core functionality, it seems as though trust in Microsoft and Windows is at an all-time low, with the recent "Microslop" insult popping up in online tech circles as a sort of culmination of the recent spate of issu...
Democrats excluded from USC governor debate urge rivals to boycott
Four Democrats running for California governor who were excluded from an upcoming debate at USC urged their rivals to boycott the event because it excludes every candidate of color.
Why the Trump administration is easing sanctions on certain Iranian oil stockpiles
Trump administration officials are making a desperate push to secure every available barrel of oil amid a worsening energy crisis — even if it means lifting sanctions on the very country that they’re fighting against.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for March 21 #544
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
Swalwell sees attacks from left and right as California's race for governor heats up
There is finally a breakaway leader in California’s crowded race for governor, at least by one measure: Eric Swalwell is just about everyone’s favorite target.
2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Highlights: Round of 64
The 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament continues on Friday, and we’re tracking every top moment of the Big Dance!
Nintendo reportedly planning Switch 2 revision with replaceable battery for Europe
New report details Nintendo Switch 2 revision which will feature a replaceable battery for Europe.
Google Unveils New Process For Installing Unverified Android Apps
It’s no secret that Google really doesn’t like it that people are installing Android applications from any other source than the Play Store. Last year they proposed locking everyone int…
A Grip on Sports: The Zags survive a first-round rock fight in Portland, one that also caused contusions for those watching from home
A GRIP ON SPORTS • There was one thing I was certain of when I began writing this column almost 15 years ago. The day Chuck Norris died, I would share my story of the lone interaction I had with the “Walker, Texas Ranger” star. It has everything. High school football. A rickety press box. Family. Sports writing. But, alas, it may have to wait. Today is just not the day.
How did these flowers evolve to survive a megadrought?
A multi-year megadrought in the Western U.S. has claimed untold populations of wild plants. Amid the conditions, some have survived. Scientists have produced a stunningly complete picture about how populations of one particular flower – the scarlet monkeyflower – made it through. In a new study published in the journal Science, a team of scientists spent decades studying and sampling select populations of scarlet monkeyflowers in California and Oregon. Through genetic sequencing, the team discovered that the populations that did best went through genetic changes in a short time period. This is known as rapid evolution. The team found that three of the populations that recovered the BEST adapted their stomata to open less, so they could conserve more water. Stomata act like a plant’s pores, managing gas exchange and water loss. This allowed the scarlet monkeyflowers to hunker down in the drought and survive. Interested in more stories about rapid evolution? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.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.Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.This episode was produced by Jeffrey Pierre, Rachel Carlson and Hannah Chinn. It was edited by Christopher Intagliata and Rebecca Ramirez. Aru Nair checked the facts. The audio engineers were Becky Brown and Robert Rodriguez.
The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics
Every week political cartoonists throughout the country and across the political spectrum apply their ink-stained skills to capture the foibles, memes, hypocrisies and other head-slapping events in the world of politics. The fruits of these labors are hundreds of cartoons that entertain and enrage readers of all political stripes. Here's an offering of the best of this week's crop, picked fresh off the Toonosphere. Edited by Matt Wuerker.
Trump’s global agenda flies into domestic headwinds
Even as US President Donald Trump calls for international support for the war in Iran, within the US there are dissenting voices, as not everyone is convinced that war is the answer. What is clear is that domestic factors will increasingly limit Trump’s foreign policy and diplomatic engagement. Academic Derek Grossman discusses the issue.
Dothan senior breaks 75-year barrier with international science fair qualification
Alexis Saffold earned her spot in the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair by turning an everyday problem into a potential breakthrough.
Valve’s huge SteamOS 3.8 update adds long-awaited features — and supports Steam Machine
Xbox Ally gets SteamOS improvements too.
Louisville tops South Florida: Highlights and Postgame Videos
Feel free to watch every second of these, or turn the highlight videos off around the 9-minute mark of the second half. Either way, go ahead and soak this up. It’s been a while. Highlights: Pat Kelsey postgame from the bus: Locker room celebration:
Brooklyn businesses, consumers feeling the pinch from soaring oil prices
The soaring crude oil prices continue to push up the price at the pump, but it's also impacting everything from airfare to farmers, and products you buy at the store.
2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Highlights: Duke Escapes Siena
The 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tips off today, and we’re tracking every top moment of the Big Dance!
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for March 20 #543
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
Bungie Reveals All Details of Marathon's First Raid, Cryo Archive; Goes Live on March 20 and Weekends Only
Here's everything you need to know about Marathon's Cryo Archive raid that goes live on March 20, which will only be available on weekends.
Steam Spring Sale 2026: The Best And Biggest PC Gaming Deals
From newer games like Assassin's Creed Shadows to older hits like Fallout: New Vegas, there's something for everyone in this big sale
Green Bay Packers officially announce full 2026 coaching staff
Expect the Green Bay Packers to run a 3-4 defense in 2026. Everything is trending that way, including staff titles
Essentia Health holding advance care planning classes
ACP is a process that helps you think and talk about your choices for health care in the future. It’s important for every adult to have an advance directive, also known as a living will or health care directive.
I tried custom soda chain Swig for first time; left disappointed
Swig's dirty sodas are everywhere online. I visited the fast-growing US chain and reviewed it to see if the sugary, customizable drinks are worth it.
Spring Position Battles: Cornerback
If there’s one constant across the Mizzou defense entering the 2026 season, it’s transition — and nowhere is that more apparent than at cornerback. Like nearly every other defensive position group, the Tigers lost a massive amount of production at corner this offseason. Both starters from last fall, Dreydon Norwood and Toriano Pride, Jr., have […]
Trading or gambling? How a new way to wager on sports is evading Nebraska’s betting ban
Prediction markets have allowed Nebraskans to put money on everything from Husker basketball to Omaha's mayoral election. The markets say their users aren’t "betting" — they’re "trading."
2026 NFL mock draft: Every team makes a pick -- even those without a first-rounder
Five teams won't be on the clock on Day 1, but we've still projected their first selection.
How worried should you be about ultra-processed foods?
We are constantly told to watch out for the health risks of eating ultra-processed food, but should you be worried every time you sit down for a meal? Sam Wong takes a look at the evidence
Everything New In Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 2
Bugs Bunny just stumbled into a grudge match between Dwayne "The Foundation" Johnson and the Ice King.
Michael Kay: 'I don't like wrapping sports in a flag and preaching patriotism'
Michael Kay may have been rooting for Team USA in the WBC, but it wasn't to prove the United States was better than every other country.
A more personal digital health experience for people in Europe
Google and DocMorris have announced a partnership to create a more intuitive and supportive digital health experience.
Crisis or opportunity? Thousands of baby boomer business owners to retire in West Michigan
Roughly ten thousand baby boomers, every single day in the United States, retire from the workforce.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for March 19 #542
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
Chia Seed Water Is Going Viral for Gut Health. Dietitian Shares 1 Warning Before Trying It
The "internal shower drink," made with chia seeds and water, is going viral once again for its purported gut health benefits. But it's not for everyone.
5 Portland sports bars where you can watch every wild March Madness moment this year
From an early-bird option near the Moda Center to a neighborhood spot devoted to women's sports, these Portland bars offer full menus and multiple TVs for tournament viewing.
Snowflake Launches Project SnowWork, Bringing Outcome-Driven AI to Every Business User
MENLO PARK, Calif. – March 18, 2026 – Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW), the AI Data Cloud company, today announced the research preview of Project SnowWork, a new autonomous enterprise AI platform designed to help business users massively accelerate workflows.
What everyone gets wrong about the science of lip-reading
Letter: Jill Jones responds to the news that royals and celebrities have been warned to watch their words when out and about
Samsung Is Now Allowing Users In A Key Market To Use The Galaxy S26 Series For A Year By Paying Just 50 Percent Of The Price
Samsung Mobile is throwing everything, including the proverbial kitchen sink, to keep the sales cadence for the Galaxy S26 series elevated.
Hundreds of Connecticut companies meet with lawmakers at annual Business Day event
Business owners from all over the state got together on Wednesday at The Bushnell Performing Arts Center in Hartford for the annual Connecticut Business Day event. “Every time a business owner can let their voice be heard, it is a way for us to be able to influence what decisions are being made,” said Chris Davis, vice president of public…
China targets measurement science in tech race with U.S. - Futura-Sciences
The invisible backbone of modern technology Behind every electronic chip, satellite, and medical device sits a system of measurement. Without extreme precision in units, standards, and calibration methods, no technology operates reliably. Metrology ensures that a nanometer is actually a nanometer, that a processor performs exactly as intended at atomic...
We picked every game of an NFL March Madness bracket -- and a 6-seed made the Final Four
We seeded all 32 NFL teams into a four-region March Madness-style bracket and predicted every game. Here's who made the Final Four -- and who won it all.
Video: Business Report Hall of Fame honoree Benny Alford
Benny Alford still shows up to work every day. At 80, the founder of Benny’s Car Wash keeps an open door at the company’s corporate headquarters overlooking Airline Highway, greeting employees, family members and the occasional visitor seeking advice. It’s a small but telling detail in a story that spans more than seven decades of […]
By Director Mr. Sakurai, Kirby Air Riders: Development Insights — Part 4 - News
Join Kirby Air Riders director Masahiro Sakurai as he shares insights into the development and details behind some of the game's modes and features. Check out the rest of the interview Part 1: Air Ride and Top Ride Part 2: Cramming everything into S…
Protalix BioTherapeutics Reports Fiscal Year 2025 Financial and Business Results
Company to host conference call and webcast today at 8:00 a.m. EDT The European Commission (EC) approved the 2mg/kg every-4-weeks (E4W) dosing regimen for...
Protalix BioTherapeutics Reports Fiscal Year 2025 Financial and Business Results
Company to host conference call and webcast today at 8:00 a.m. EDT The European Commission (EC) approved the 2mg/kg every-4-weeks (E4W) dosing regimen for...
Beat our March Madness expert bracket: Picks for every NCAA game
Detroit Free Press sports columnist Shawn Windsor picks every game in 2026 March Madness. Check out his predictions and see if you can beat him.
A dietitian and doctor review RFK Jr's new food pyramid
The new food pyramid was released earlier this year. It emphasizes protein, full-fat dairy and what Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. calls “healthy fats.” These guidelines influence the standards for school lunches, food labeling and programs like SNAP. Today on the show, Short Wave co-host Emily Kwong chats with registered dietitian nutritionist Shana Spence, and Dr. Sarah Kim, a diabetes specialist, about the new guidelines. Plus, NPR’s Reflect America fellow Kadin Mills unpacks how the new food pyramid could change school lunch trays. Check out more of Kadin’s coverage about the changes in dietary guidelines.Interested in more health science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.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.
Why Denver should care about conservation easements — even if you’ve never set foot on a ranch
By Jason Swan I live in Denver. I drink tap water from my kitchen sink, hike close to home when I can, worry about wildfire smoke every summer, and try, like many families, to keep up with the rising cost of living. I don’t own land. I don’t ranch. I don’t farm. And yet one […]
Anti-Fraud Practices Your Bank Should Teach Every Small Business Customer
Payments fraud against businesses is skyrocketing, but banks and customers can combat it together.
11Alive
WXIA (Atlanta) — 11Alive is your source for breaking news, Georgia weather, traffic, and live coverage in Atlanta and across the metro area. Get the latest updates from the 11Alive team — from major local headlines and investigations to severe weather, community stories, and the moments everyone’s talking about. Watch live newscasts, stream breaking coverage, and catch up on the top stories shaping Atlanta, Marietta, Sandy Springs, Decatur, and surrounding communities. Subscribe for: • Atlanta breaking news + live updates • Georgia weather forecasts, storms, and severe weather alerts • Investigations and accountability reporting • Community stories across the metro area • Major events, sports, and local explainers WXIA / 11Alive — Atlanta news and weather, live and on demand. 🔗 More: https://www.11alive.com
The race for a safe Democratic House seat offers clues about the party’s future
It’s Primary Day in Illinois, where 15 Democrats, spanning three generations, are vying to succeed longtime Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky in the state's 9th Congressional District. We discuss what the race tells us about the future of the Democratic Party.This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, political reporter Elena Moore, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.