SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " key " 7,526 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Minnesota Wild, NHL mourn hockey writer Jessi Pierce after death in house fire
Pierce and her three children were killed in a house fire outside of Minneapolis early Saturday morning.
Exit polls suggest lead for Merz's SPD in key west German state
Far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) looks set for a record score in western Germany
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.
Home health aides epitomize a key problem in the current job market
About 4 million people were employed as home health and personal care aides in 2024. They earn just $16.78 an hour, despite the need for their services being intense.
VoidStealer malware steals Chrome master key via debugger trick
An information stealer called VoidStealer uses a new approach to bypass Chrome's Application-Bound Encryption (ABE) and extract the master key for decrypting sensitive data stored in the browser.
Give Your Phone a Huge (and Free) Upgrade by Switching to Another Keyboard
Change up the default keyboard in Android and iOS and feel the benefit.
White House navigates vaccine politics, midterm risks in CDC director search
The Trump administration faces complicated political dynamics as it seeks someone to helm the key public health agency suffering a prolonged leadership vacuum.
White House navigates vaccine politics, midterm risks in CDC director search
The Trump administration faces complicated political dynamics as it seeks someone to helm the key public health agency suffering a prolonged leadership vacuum.
Opinion | Are Ed Markey and other politicians hooked on power?
Can neuroscience explain why politicians like Bill Galvin won’t quit?
'Education and communication key to voter turnout' in Jersey
Researcher says more work is needed to increase Jersey's low voter numbers.
Can Manchester City's Guehi play in EFL Cup final?
Manchester City will be without a key defender for Sunday's final at Wembley against Arsenal.
Arizona softball walks off ASU to even series
Arizona softball earned a walk-off win over ASU Saturday night, though not the kind the Wildcats may have been expecting through the first part of the game. Arizona jumped out to an 8-0 lead, then allowed the Sun Devils to claw all the way back before Regan Shockey delivered a walk-off single in the seventh […]
New to AI? This 'Master Key' prompt is the only one you need to start
This simple prompt teaches you how to use AI the right way — even if you’re starting from scratch
Former OSU athletes talk mental health at Scioto County Mindset Matters Summit
Big names like former Ohio State Point Guard Scoonie Penn, Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, former Buckeye Bobby Carpenter, taking the stage at the event to talk with our very own Joseph Payton about mental health.
Texas turns key weakness into strength in upset of Gonzaga
Texas overcame early interior struggles to beat Gonzaga 74-68 and reach the Sweet 16. Four Longhorns scored in double figures in Sean Miller's first season.
Celtics' Luka Garza filling key role as unfocused Wolves visit
Celtics' Luka Garza filling key role as unfocused Wolves visit
Salesforce (CRM) Partners with NVIDIA for AI Agents in Enterprise Business Workflows
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is one of the 10 Best AI Stocks to Buy for the Next 10 Years. On March 16, Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) announced a partnership with NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) to use its Agentforce platform and NVIDIA’s Nemotron models to bring AI agents into enterprise business workflows. This partnership connects Salesforce, Inc.’s (NYSE:CRM) Agentforce […]
Wisconsin's Caroline Harvey wins Kazmaier Award as top player
Wisconsin defender Caroline Harvey voted as the winner of the Patty Kazaier Memorial Award for college women's hockey's top player.
Couple left biotech jobs to run a farm, how they keep marriage strong
Working together — in corporate jobs and with our own business — has taught us key strategies to help both our careers and marriage thrive.
Crimson Desert Dev Promises Patch to Address 'Discomfort Many Players Have Experienced With the Controls,' Apologizes for Awful Keyboard and Mouse Experience
Crimson Desert developer Pearl Abyss has issued a message to players addressing complaints around the game’s controls, which have been widely criticized.
Press Release - Girls in STEM Program from Keystone Science School
Delivered in an all-girl+ learning environment, Keystone Science School’s Girls in STEM programs encourage participation, collaboration, leadership, and confidence.
Judge sides with New York Times in challenge to Pentagon policy limiting reporters’ access
A federal judge agreed Friday to block the Trump administration from enforcing a policy limiting news reporters’ access to the Pentagon, agreeing with The New York Times that key portions of the new rules are unlawful.
iOS 26.4 will automatically turn on strict security feature for all iPhones
iOS 26.4 is the next big iPhone release, and Apple plans to enable a key security feature by default in the update: Stolen Device Protection.
Reusse: Spotlight on Gophers women’s sports is a welcome sight
The women’s basketball and hockey teams are in the headlines with NCAA tournament games in town and a coaching vacancy to fill.
US furiously seeks to avert potential months-long closure of Strait of Hormuz
US officials are furiously trying to avert a potential months-long closure of the Strait of Hormuz, privately acknowledging that reopening the key waterway is a problem without a clear solution and dependent at least in part on what lengths President Donald Trump is willing to go to force the Iranian regime’s hand, multiple administration and intelligence officials tell CNN.
Four Key Moments: Hearing on Improving Kidney Health Through Better Prevention and Innovative Treatment
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Medicare’s coverage and reimbursement policies for chronic kidney disease (CKD), and its most severe form, end-stage renal disease...
Men are losing a key chromosome with age and it may be deadly
Aging men often lose the Y chromosome in a growing number of their cells—and it may be far more dangerous than once believed. This loss has been linked to heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and shorter lifespans. Researchers suspect Y-less cells may grow faster and disrupt normal body functions. What seemed like a minor genetic quirk could actually be a major driver of age-related disease.
Can Fungi Control the Weather? Scientists Say It’s Possible
Fungi may hold a little-known key to ice formation in clouds.
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.
March Madness boosts local businesses in WNY
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Basketball fans have been flooding local bars and restaurants in Buffalo as the first of the March Madness games are underway Thursday night at KeyBank Center. “I…
Illinois Gov JB Pritzker on key Dem win in his state and 2028 speculation
Treasury Department to take over some federal student loans, as Trump administration works to dismantle Education Department
The Treasury Department will begin to manage federal student loans in default, taking on a key function of the Education Department as the Trump administration further pushes to dismantle it.
Sense of belonging predicts who stays in science
New research shows that feeling connected to a scientific community may be key to reducing attrition, with professional societies positioned to strengthen belonging across disciplines.
New dispute emerges around Subnautica 2’s early access release
Lawyers for the ousted—and now partially reinstated—leadership team of Unknown Worlds, the studio behind Subnautica 2, are crying foul over news that the game will be released into early access in May. The release announcement earlier this week was made improperly, potentially “damaging the game and sowing additional confusion among the Subnautica community,” the lawyers said in a letter sent on Tuesday to Vice Chancellor Lori Will of Delaware’s Court of Chancery. In their letter, the lawyers also floated the idea of asking Will to find Krafton in contempt of the court’s ruling. The letter was sent just one day after Will’s bombshell ruling that publisher Krafton had breached its contract with Unknown Worlds’ executive team, when it fired them last June. The new issue isn’t necessarily the May early access timeframe, but how the news was announced. The letter and Krafton’s response have not been previously reported. A quick recap of prior events: Subnautica 2 is an unreleased, underwater survival adventure and the most-wishlisted game on Steam. Last year, longtime Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill, along with studio co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, were fired by Krafton. They swiftly sued, saying the publisher had terminated them to avoid paying out up to $250 million in potential performance-based bonuses. The studio leaders had hoped to earn that with an early access release of the game, which Krafton had blocked. The publisher argued in court that Subnautica 2 wasn’t ready, which the ousted execs disputed. On Monday, Will ruled that Krafton had violated its contract, firing the execs to avoid the performance payouts, and that it had to reinstate Gill and give him full authority over any early access release for Subnautica 2. On Tuesday, IGN reported on a new memo issued that day to Unknown Worlds staff by Steve Papoutsis, the executive Krafton had put in charge of Unknown Worlds after the 2025 firings. In the note, Papoutsis said that Subnautica 2 had passed a key development milestone “last week” and that he and Krafton had determined the game “is ready for Early Access release in May.” This news appeared to catch the lawyers for Gill, Cleveland and McGuire by surprise. On Tuesday night, they sent a letter to Will expressing “serious concerns” about whether it would be possible to forge an agreement with Krafton consistent with the judge’s order. Papoutsis’ memo was a problem, they wrote. He didn’t have the authority to declare anything about Subnautica 2’s release. As of 9am ET on Monday, March 16, the effective date of Will’s order, Papoutsis wasn’t CEO of Unknown Worlds. Gill was. And, per Will’s order, only Gill could make Subnautica 2 release decisions. They continued: Krafton self-servingly announced the launch without any regard to its impact on the game, the team, or the community—let alone this Court’s Opinion. Announcing the release of a game is momentous, and it is typically accompanied by significant marketing activity, fanfare, and community coordination. And most importantly, the announcement is carefully designed to maximize excitement for the game. That entire process was supposed to be driven by Mr. Gill. However, in defiance of the Court’s Opinion, Krafton has now taken that away, further damaging the game and sowing additional confusion among the Subnautica community. The lawyers speculated that Krafton had “intentionally leaked” Papoutsis’ memo and then issued an official statement to confirm the leak. Game File is a reader-supported publication. My reporting is only possible through support from readers like you. To support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe On Wednesday, lawyers for Krafton defended their client in their own letter to vice chancellor Will, saying nothing they did violated her order nor showed contempt: Papoutsis’s message was simply celebrating the UW employees’ efforts toward a past event: Krafton’s pre-Opinion determination that Subnautica 2 was ready for Early Access release. There was nothing improper about conveying the results of the milestone review or thanking the development team for their dedication and talent. They added that Gill could still make his own call about Subnautica 2’s release: In his role as CEO, Gill will be able to assess independently his views on the state of Subnautica 2 and the appropriate release schedule; nothing in Papoutsis’s message alters Gill’s authority or discretion. Vice chancellor Will has not responded to the letters and doesn’t necessarily have to. Both parties were previously ordered by Will to confer this week and submit a proposed judgment consistent with her ruling. The letter from Gill’s attorney’s this week doesn’t indicate whether he would or would not support a May release for Subnautica 2. But it could limit his options. And, if Gill’s lawyers are right, the lack of marketing fanfare around the leak of the May date could dull the launch of the game. Any harm to Subnautica 2’s launch is an extra sensitive issue given the context of the legal dispute: millions of dollars of payouts are on the line, tethered to the scale of the game’s initial performance. In her ruling on Monday, Will noted that there was obvious “bad blood” between Gill’s side and Krafton but that the two would need to work together: “They can—and must—act in good faith to navigate their remaining contractual relationship.” Item 2: A new kind of couch co-op game A highlight of GDC each year is the Alt.Ctrl showcase that features games played with extremely experimental controllers. Perusing this year’s offerings last Friday, I found a game controlled with giant scissors, another with big toothbrushes and one that amounted to dumpster diving. My favorite was Pivot, a co-op game about collectively maneuvering a couch. It was developed by students at the University of Utah’s masters of arts and engineering games program. Players lift and tilt the physical couch in order to control the position of a virtual one. That virtual one is moving through an obstacle course on-screen, while being pursued by a giant skull. Developer Nishant Verma told me at GDC that the couch is made of styrofoam (this became more evident as I watched!) and that the name was a riff on an episode of the sitcom Friends. Item 3: In brief… 🚫 Ubisoft is laying off more than 100 workers at its Red Storm studio, as the North Carolina location known for decades for its Tom Clancy games, ceases in-house game development, VGC reports. 👀 On Monday, Nvidia’s revealed its DLSS 5 AI-driven graphics technology that purports to improve game graphics… and it has been roasted about it by the media and the online gaming public for the remainder of the week. The tech changed the faces of characters in footage from Resident Evil Requiem, Hogwarts Legacy and EA Sports FC, drawing accusations of giving carefully art-directed games the generic look of AI “slop.” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had said on Monday that “DLSS 5 is the GPT moment for graphics—blending handcrafted rendering with generative AI to deliver a dramatic leap in visual realism while preserving the control artists need for creative expression.” By mid-week, Huang was telling Tom’s Hardware that the new tech’s critics were “completely wrong” because game-makers could still “fine-tune the generative AI” to suit their game’s aesthetics.
Report: Blackhawks Had 'Serious Interest' In Maple Leafs Star
Cracks emerge in GOP over Iran war cost as administration floats more than $200B request to Congress
Cracks are emerging among congressional Republicans over the Iran war with key lawmakers skeptical about spending hundreds of billions of dollars to prolong the conflict and several refusing to support any money without a clear White House strategy.
New study challenges a site that’s key to how humans got to the Americas
A new study challenges a site that's crucial to our understanding of how people got to the Americas.
A new study questions when people first reached South America
Data suggest people lived at Chile’s Monte Verde site thousands of years later than thought, challenging key “pre-Clovis” evidence. Not all agree.
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) Shares Higher After Jim Cramer Advised In August To Step In Due To Fundamentals
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) is one of the Jim Cramer’s Biggest Quantum Computing & Data Center Stock Hits. International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) is one of the largest enterprise computing companies in the world. While Cramer is also a fan of its enterprise business, the firm is one of two quantum computing stocks that […]
Keypoint Intelligence Launches Keypoint Engage, Delivering AI-Powered Business Execution as a Service
Keypoint Intelligence today announced the launch of Keypoint Intelligence Keypoint Engage, a new suite of AI-powered execution services designed to help organizations turn trusted industry operations intelligence into measurable business results across sales, marketing, and customer service.
The best strength training plan might be simpler than you think
New strength training guidelines emphasize that doing any resistance training is what truly matters. Based on decades of research, experts say even simple routines can increase muscle, strength, and physical function. The key is not perfection but consistency. In fact, the best workout plan is the one you can maintain long term.
Valve has thrown a curveball at Counter Strike 2 with a massive reloading change, forcing players to shake off old habits
Valve has added a bold change to reloading in Counter Strike 2, which is shaking up old habits for players.
Norway’s Improving Business Outlook in Survey Dents Easing Bets
A key survey of Norway’s business sentiment signaled somewhat better prospects for the nation’s companies, suggesting less pressure on the central bank to consider any easing moves in the near term.
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.
NHL 26 Predicts Stars vs. Avalanche
Let's see what real life has in store for us.
Scientists recreated a dinosaur nest to solve a 70-million-year-old mystery
Scientists recreated a life-size oviraptor nest to understand how these dinosaurs hatched their eggs. Their experiments showed the parent likely couldn’t heat all the eggs directly, meaning sunlight played a key role. This uneven heating could cause eggs in the same nest to hatch at different times. The results suggest oviraptors used a hybrid incubation method unlike modern birds.
NN, Inc. Provides Update on Business Growth in the Data Center, AI Reasoning, and Cloud Computing Markets
CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 18, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NN, Inc. (“NN” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: NNBR), a global diversified industrial company that engineers and manufactures high-precision components and assemblies with six sigma quality, today provided an update on its growing presence in the data center market, a key targeted growth market for the Company. NN has secured multiple new awards with a leading global provider of AI infrastructure and data center computing equipment. As this industry
2026 NCAA women's Frozen Four ice hockey: How to watch on ESPN
The NCAA Frozen Four action will unfold Friday at Penn State's Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, Pennsylvania.
iOS 26.4 fixes iPhone keyboard accuracy, here's how
Apple confirms iOS 26.4 improves keyboard accuracy by fixing a bug that caused missed keystrokes during fast typing.
iOS 26.4 Fixes iPhone Keyboard Accuracy Bug
The iOS 26.4 update that Apple plans to release as soon as next week includes improvements for the built-in iOS keyboard. In its notes for the software, Apple says iOS 26.4 offers "improved keyboard accuracy when typing quickly". There was a bug in iOS that caused some characters to be missed when a user was typing quickly. The character appeared to be tapped in the keyboard, but was ultimately not inserted.
100 Years of Documentary, Funding Cuts, Politics in CPH:DOX Focus
A panel at the Copenhagen doc festival's industry conference also discussed a key reason for the documentary Oscar win for 'Mr. Nobody Against Putin' on Sunday.
Double Fine’s Pottery Party Brawler Kiln Arrives April 23 (Plus a Direct Look at the First Public Play Sessions)
Kiln arrives on April 23! Read on for beta details and our observations of the first public play sessions:
Thymus may be critical to adult health
Research indicates the often-overlooked organ can be key predictor in longevity, disease risk, and cancer treatment outcomes.
Utica Comets Host Speedway Night
Racing fans and hockey fans will come together for a unique event at the Adirondack Bank Center.
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.
Al Hilal identify Liverpool’s Richard Hughes as leading contender for sporting director role
The former Scotland midfielder was widely credited with playing a key role in Liverpool’s Premier League title win last season.
Playoff-bound Nuggets, jockeying for position, take on undermanned Grizzlies
Playoff-bound Nuggets, jockeying for position, take on undermanned Grizzlies
Birth control skepticism, teen fertility education center stage at Trump’s women’s health summit
Seeking to reach women at a moment when President Donald Trump’s support is slipping among a key voting bloc, the Make America Healthy Again movement, the administration-sponsored event elevated perspectives outside conventional standards of medical care and counter to many women’s health choices.
PWHL reaches TV deal with Scripps Sports to air Walter Cup Finals to national U.S. audience in May
“Fans shouldn’t have to wait another four years to experience this level of passion, skill and drama. So we’re keeping the momentum going.”
PWHL reaches TV deal with Scripps Sports to air Walter Cup Finals to national U.S. audience in May
“Fans shouldn’t have to wait another four years to experience this level of passion, skill and drama. So we’re keeping the momentum going.”
Survey Findings: Integrating Sexual and Reproductive Health into UHC Requires Leadership, Financing, and Political Will
SRHR remains critically underfunded, leaving 164M women with unmet needs and driving preventable maternal deaths. Global survey findings show political commitment is the key driver of financing and integration into UHC. While fiscal constraints persist, leadership determines whether resources are prioritized, enabling equitable access and strengthening health systems.
Oil prices hold steady even as Iraq resumes some exports via Turkey
Oil prices held steady Wednesday after Iraq clinched a deal to resume some crude exports via Turkey. It’s not a ton of oil, but it’s what amounts for good news these days as the Strait of Hormuz remains largely blocked.
Lawmakers’ health care fraud clash
On Tuesday, Republicans and Democrats on a key House committee sparred over GOP efforts to investigate Medicaid fraud.
Port of Charleston's box-ship business hits a nearly 6-year low
The operator of the Port of Charleston says it isn't insulated from the "chaos" and "uncertainty" that's been roiling the shipping industry. Controlling costs will be key, the agency's CEO says.
Israel is a key issue in Democratic primaries as support for the U.S. ally drops
Support for Israel is down among Americans, particularly Democrats, with the last couple years being a major turning point.
Health literacy: 5 key lessons for better global health
One in four people around the world have low health literacy. Tackling that challenge could improve lives and save billions in healthcare funding globally.
Oil price falls after Iraq ‘signs deal’ to resume exports via Turkey
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
BrightSpring Health (BTSG) Climbs 7.8% on Double-Digit Growth Outlook
BrightSpring Health Services Inc. (NASDAQ:BTSG) is one of the 10 Stocks That Made Millionaires Today. BrightSpring rallied for a second day on Tuesday, jumping 7.81 percent to finish at $42.10 apiece, as investors welcomed the company’s reaffirmed growth outlook for this year. In a shareholders’ meeting on the same day, BrightSpring Health Services Inc. (NASDAQ:BTSG) […]
Minnesota fires women's hockey coach Frost after 19 seasons
Minnesota dismissed women's hockey coach Brad Frost on Tuesday after 19 seasons, a decade since the program's last national championship.
Bill to tighten mental health diversion passes key Senate committee
Assembly Bill 46 took a big step toward becoming law on Tuesday. The bill, designed to address what many believe is a loophole in the state’s mental health diversion program, was unanimously approved by the Senate Public Safety Committee.
As polls head toward closing time, precincts report low turnout
A roundup of the results in key Chicago-area congressional primaries.
A unique combo of two top diets slowed brain aging by over 2 years
A diet focused on the best foods for brain health slowed aging in key parts of the brain by over 2 years, a new study found.
Here's Where Apple is Hosting More 50th Anniversary Events Following New York
After hosting a surprise Alicia Keys concert at its Grand Central store in New York last week, Apple is turning to Asia for more 50th-anniversary celebrations. So far, it has been discovered that there will be events held in China and South Korea. Apple's retail store at Taikoo Li in Chengdu, China is temporarily closed this Wednesday, March 18, according to the store's page.
Microsoft combines Copilot teams and moves Mustafa Suleyman to focus on frontier AI models
It's the latest leadership change in a shakeup after a key Microsoft executive announced plans to retire.
Philip Morris International U.S. to Launch New Business Solutions Center, Creating 180 Jobs in Tampa Bay Area
Today, Philip Morris International's U.S. businesses ("PMI U.S.") announced an investment of approximately $50 million in a new Business Solutions Center in Tampa, Florida. The Center will create approximately 180 direct and indirect high-skilled jobs and represents a pivotal expansion of PMI U.S. operations, consolidating key functions—business solutions, distribution operations, and customer service—into a single hub. This investment is designed to enhance operational efficiency across these f
Syracuse.com’s 2026 media day baseball coach poll: Most likely to have breakout season? (photos)
Some key players could be on the verge of making a name for themselves this season.
Maine Democratic Senate primary grows increasingly bitter as party vies to unseat Susan Collins in key race
A bitter Democratic primary is unfolding in Maine as Gov. Janet Mills and Graham Platner battle for the chance to challenge GOP Sen. Susan Collins — pitting a governor with a long political resume against an anti-establishment oyster farmer.
Legalized online sports betting faces pushback before key vote
Opponents of a bipartisan bill to legalize online sports betting in Wisconsin continue to push back as the proposal is set for a vote in the Senate.
Gossip: UCL key in Rogers decision
Aston Villa's English winger Morgan Rogers, 23, may be tempted to look for Champions League football elsewhere if Unai Emery's side fail to qualify for next season's competition. (Talksport)
Examining Artemi Panarin's Sentimental Return To New York
Penguins' Winger Set New Career-High
Devils Rally Past Bruins in OT
It’s nights like these that make you wonder, what could have been. The New Jersey Devils certainly didn’t look like the hapless, directionless mess of a hockey team that spent the past three-plus months struggling to get out of its own way while plummeting to the darkest depths of the Eastern Conference standings. Well, maybe […]
Judge blocks US government from cutting vaccine recommendations for children
The judge said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. likely violated federal procedures in revamping a key vaccine advisory committee.
Fathers’ health crucial for pregnancy and child outcomes | University of Hawaiʻi System News
Investing in the wellbeing of boys and young men is a key to improving outcomes for future generations.
Get a fuller picture with Fitbit's personal health coach
Learn how Fitbit is helping people take control of their health by linking medical records, improving sleep tracking accuracy and advancing metabolic research. Discover how the Personal Health Coach uses your health history to provide more relevant wellness information while keeping your data private and secure.
This massive crater could expose the heart of a lost planet
A mysterious metal-rich asteroid called Psyche has been baffling scientists for over two centuries, and its true origin remains one of the biggest unanswered questions in planetary science. Is it the exposed core of a failed planet, or a chaotic mix of rock and metal forged through countless violent collisions? To find out, researchers simulated how a massive crater near Psyche’s north pole formed, revealing that the asteroid’s internal “porosity” — how much empty space it contains — may hold the key to its secrets.
Cardinals Nab Key Patriots LB, Signs Two-Year Contract
The Arizona Cardinals have signed New England Patriots free agent linebacker Jack Gibbens to a two-year contract.
Judge blocks RFK Jr. from scaling back childhood vaccine recommendations
A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked federal health officials from cutting the number of vaccines recommended for every child, and said U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. likely violated federal procedures in revamping a key vaccine advisory committee.
This unified approach helps put effective healthcare AI into practice
Health systems can transition from small-scale artificial intelligence pilots to high-speed, validated rollouts that meaningfully improve patient outcomes by maintaining three key guardrails, according to presenters at HIMSS26.
Super powerful Dell Pro Precision 7 14 and Pro Precision 7 16 workstation laptops are now official
The Dell Pro Precision 7 14 and Pro Precision 7 16 workstation laptops are now official with the latest Intel Panther Lake APUs and powerful Nvidia RTX Pro graphics. Both mobile workstations feature clean designs with Dell's new modern keyboards and Thunderbolt 4/5 ports.
Federal judge puts RFK Jr.’s new vaccine schedule, advisers on ice
While the judge stayed the Health Secretary's appointments to a key advisory panel, he did not block its meeting this month.
Factbox-Lawsuits Against Trump Administration's Health Policy Changes
March 16 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday blocked key parts of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s effort to reshape U.S. vaccine policy, including a move to reduce the number of shots routinely recommended for children. U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston sided with medical ...
Hochul says she'll announce proposed changes to 2019 climate law this week
The CLCPA will likely be the key sticking point as state budget talks begin among the governor and the Democratic-led Legislature.
Opinion: New Book Helps Teachers Implement Science of Reading in Their Classrooms
Get kids reading fluently. As much as you can. Have them read and write about books. That, more or less, is the key to translating the science of reading into classroom practice, according to a new bo...
Asteroid Reveals The 5 Key Genetic Ingredients For Life on Earth
Could they be widespread in the Solar System after all?
Bondholders Approve Saks Global’s Five-Year Business Plan
Saks Global Enterprises LLC said a key group of bondholders approved its five-year business plan, showing the operator of luxury department stores is progressing toward exiting bankruptcy.
Apple Announces AirPods Max 2
Apple today unveiled AirPods Max 2, with key upgrades including the H2 chip, increased active noise cancellation, improved sound quality, and features such as Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Voice Isolation, and Live Translation. AirPods Max 2 have the same overall design as the original AirPods Max, with most of the new features coming from the upgrade to the H2 chip.