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The New Party Politics of Abortion

Some Republicans remain consistently pro-life. But under Trump’s lead, the GOP has become an anti-Roe yet pro-choice coalition.

Mar 23 • 6:00 AM EDT • Politics • christianitytoday.com

Venezuelans in New York City remain hopeful, weeks after Maduro’s capture

Maduro remains in U.S. custody facing federal charges.

Mar 23 • 5:44 AM EDT • Politics • ny1.com

Alcaraz eyes clay court season after early Miami exit

World number one Carlos Alcaraz remained confident his game is improving despite a third-round exit at the Miami Open, and after a few days to reset he'll be turning his attention to the clay court season.My mind right now is to take some days off, to reset my mind, reset the batteries, be ready and in good shape for the clay season."

Mar 22 • 7:44 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

The Times' top 25 high school baseball rankings

St. John Bosco and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame remain unbeaten in high school baseball

Mar 22 • 2:30 PM EDT • Sports • latimes.com

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.

Mar 22 • 2:18 PM EDT • Health • erictopol.substack.com

Maine progressive Senate candidate Graham Platner responds to Gov. Janet Mills’ attack on his online past

Mar 22 • 9:50 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Purdue vs Miami live updates: Prediction, how to watch March Madness Round 2 game

Braden Smith has the NCAA assists record, now he can focus on his main goal: a championship. Miami stands in Purdue's way in Round 2 of March Madness.

Mar 22 • 9:44 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com

New Apple TV and HomePod Mini Remain 'Ready' to Launch

Apple has unveiled nine new products this month, but the wait continues for the next-generation Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini models. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said new versions of the Apple TV and HomePod mini have been "ready" since last year, but he reiterated that Apple has held off on releasing them until the more personalized version of Siri and other Apple Intelligence upgrades are released later this year.

Mar 22 • 9:33 AM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

Core operating profit rises 4% as net profit holds steady, with full-year dividend maintained at HK35 cents

March 22, 2026 -- The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (stock code: 0003, hereinafter referred to as “the Group”) has announced its 2025 ...

Mar 22 • 8:07 AM EDT • Business • markets.businessinsider.com

In Maine’s marquee Senate primary, Janet Mills reaches out to women by raising Graham Platner’s online past

Janet Mills and her allies are counting on a gender gap to narrow Platner’s wide lead ahead of the June 9 primary to decide who will face incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins. They are betting that the unfiltered style that has brought Platner widespread attention as someone who could help Democrats reach young men will backfire with women.

Mar 22 • 7:00 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Inflatable homes on the Moon? Scientists reveal how humans could live there sooner than expected - Futura-Sciences

How could humans live on the Moon? Although the Artemis program has taken a more cautious approach following recent delays, the goal remains the same: send astronauts back to the lunar surface. Doing so will require systems that allow crews to stay there for several days, or even several weeks....

Mar 22 • 7:00 AM EDT • Science • futura-sciences.com

Luka Doncic Explains Controversial Exchange with Goga Bitadze Before Suspension

Luka Doncic did not let up on Saturday night, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 105-104 win over the Orlando Magic. Doncic has been on an absolute heater of late, and he kept his foot on the gas against the Magic. The Lakers improved to 46-25 and remain third in the Western Conference.

Mar 21 • 11:33 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

UCLA overcomes broken tooth and stubborn UCF 75-71

UCLA remains in the hunt for a 12th national championship

Mar 21 • 8:08 PM EDT • Sports • spectrumlocalnews.com

Trump continues to target Robert Mueller after his death

Mueller, who led the Russia investigation and the bureau after 9/11, remained a target of Trump years after his probe of possible election interference.

Mar 21 • 6:05 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com

Waterfront staple Shooters brings new life to Flats entertainment district

Shooters became a hotspot in the Flats during Cleveland nightlife's heydey period before the 2000's.

Mar 21 • 4:45 PM EDT • Entertainment • spectrumnews1.com

Waterfront staple Shooters brings new life to Flats entertainment district

Shooters became a hotspot in the Flats during Cleveland nightlife's heydey period before the 2000's.

Mar 21 • 4:45 PM EDT • Entertainment • spectrumnews1.com

Trump Is Finally Eyeing an Exit From Iran. But Will He Take It?

President Trump says he is considering “winding down” operations in Iran. But many of his original war goals remain unaccomplished.

Mar 21 • 3:29 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

Mainieri out as South Carolina's baseball coach in 2nd season

Paul Mainieri is out as South Carolina's baseball coach midway through his second season after he couldn't approach the level of success he had produced at LSU.

Mar 21 • 3:22 PM EDT • Sports • espn.com

Flood-prone Kīhei Crossroads for sale as its popular businesses remain closed from latest storm

In June of 2025, the popular strip shopping center near the Kīhei Canoe Club and the surrounding vacant land went on the market for $15.85 million.

Mar 21 • 12:01 PM EDT • Business • mauinow.com

For decades, no one listened to him… today his theory about the origin of life is intriguing scientists - Futura-Sciences

When Tibor Gánti passed away at the age of 75 on April 15, 2009, he remained largely unknown. Much of his career unfolded behind the Iron Curtain, which divided Europe for decades and limited the exchange of scientific knowledge. While his theories gained some attention during the communist era, today...

Mar 21 • 9:00 AM EDT • Science • futura-sciences.com

Exclusive Blue Lagoon Skin Science Discount as Seen on TODAY

Shop TODAY's Adrianna Brach gets a behind-the-scenes look at the brand's innovative products.

Mar 21 • 7:50 AM EDT • Science • today.com

Combating youth suicide tilts increasingly toward early intervention

A suicidal child or teenager may never talk of taking their life. Parents, peers and teachers might not even know they’re living with mental illness. Despite younger generations showing greater openness to discussing mental health struggles, fears of punishment or social exclusion remain, experts say. Even at medical appointments, minors

Mar 21 • 5:01 AM EDT • Health • triblive.com

Vertical Farms Tried to Compete With Open Field Farming. It Isn’t Going Well.

The industry was a darling of the venture capital world 10 years ago. With many farms out of business, the remaining companies have scaled back.

Mar 21 • 5:00 AM EDT • Business • nytimes.com

Devils' win streak snapped with 2-1 loss to Capitals

Logan Thompson made 30 saves, losing his shutout bid with just 43 seconds remaining, and the Washington Capitals beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Friday night.

Mar 20 • 9:56 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Maine health officials encourage parents to protect babies from RSV

Cases of RSV are hanging around longer than usual this year.

Mar 20 • 6:31 PM EDT • Health • wgme.com

Hillsborough water main construction: Sales drop 60% for Bloomingdale businesses

A construction project to build a major water main is causing several businesses in eastern y to see sales drop by sixty percent.

Mar 20 • 4:45 PM EDT • Business • fox13news.com

Prairieville’s Sarah Taylor is scaling a health network for industrial growth

As Ascension Parish’s industrial boom continues to draw contractors and skilled workers to the region, the demand for occupational health services is rising alongside it. NuREADY Health Network is expanding its footprint across the Gulf South to help companies manage workforce testing, injury care and compliance across multiple job sites. Major industrial construction and maintenance […]

Mar 20 • 3:08 PM EDT • Health • businessreport.com

Tilman Fertitta Bid Puts Caesars Entertainment Value And Future In Focus

Tilman Fertitta is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire Caesars Entertainment, ahead of a rival bid from investor Carl Icahn. The potential deal would combine Fertitta's Golden Nugget casino interests and sports assets with Caesars Entertainment's Las Vegas Strip footprint. This development is attracting attention from shareholders as a possible turning point for NasdaqGS:CZR. Caesars Entertainment, trading as NasdaqGS:CZR, last closed at $27.44. The share price return is up 44.8% over...

Mar 20 • 10:05 AM EDT • Entertainment • simplywall.st

“Loyal Slaves” and Campfire Entertainment in Frank Vizetelly’s Confederate Camp

Frank Vizetelly’s illustration titled “Night Amusements in the Confederate Camp” appeared in the Illustrated London News on January 10, 1863. It was one among a number of wartime scenes that Vizetelly captured for the newspaper. Subscribe Following the war, the illustration appeared in a number of books, including John O. Casler’s Four Years in the Stonewall Brigade (1893) and Campfires of the Confederacy (1898) by Ben La Bree. The scene depicts a Confederate camp at night with an enslaved man, most likely a camp servant, performing a dance around a fire with the music provided by a soldier playing a banjo. Another enslaved man looks on at the right. Vizetelly likely witnessed the scene—one that would have been common throughout the war. It’s a wonderful example of the way in which Confederates—slaveowners and nonslaveowners alike—experienced the presence of slave labor in the army. Vizetelly was deeply sympathetic to the Confederate cause. His depiction of the enslaved man as more than happy to entertain the very people who were fighting to keep him enslaved was precisely the kind of image designed to reassure a British audience that slavery was benign, and by implication, that Britain need not feel morally troubled about recognizing or supporting the Confederacy. Share Just as importantly, the sight of a dancing slave reassured Confederates themselves that the institution of slavery remained secure even after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. I’ve come across this illustration many times before and I plan on using it in my next book project on the role of enslaved labor in the Confederate army during the Gettysburg Campaign, but this is not the reason I am sharing it with you today. It has to do with where I recently found it, which came as a complete surprise and is incredibly revealing. Let’s take a look.

Mar 20 • 6:43 AM EDT • Entertainment • kevinmlevin.substack.com

World Cup Jerseys! Did Curaçao's Kit Top Mexico, Argentina, Spain?

Did Curaçao's World Cup away jersey by adidas upstage Mexico, Argentina and Spain?

Mar 20 • 2:01 AM EDT • Sports • foxsports.com

Crimson Desert Day One Update Goes Live in Full on PC, in Part on Console — Check Out the Patch Notes

Crimson Desert has launched across all platforms, and with it comes a day one update that makes some significant improvements to the game, some balance changes, and various fixes. Pearl Abyss recommended players download the patch “for the best experience.” Check out the patch notes.

Mar 19 • 6:45 PM EDT • Technology • ign.com

Exclusive | Unilever in Talks to Separate Food Business and Combine It With McCormick

The remaining Unilever company would focus on beauty, personal-care products and home.

Mar 19 • 6:42 PM EDT • Business • wsj.com

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.

Mar 19 • 5:28 PM EDT • Technology • gamefile.news

'We're not out of the woods yet': JFAC reworks Health and Human Services budget

After failing on the senate floor, JFAC reworked the Health and Human Services maintenance budget for Fiscal Year 2027. Making it out of committee with an addit

Mar 19 • 4:50 PM EDT • Health • idahonews.com

Warren Endorses Platner in Maine, Splitting With Schumer

The intervention by Ms. Warren is the latest instance of her embracing a candidate at odds with Mr. Schumer, the top Senate Democrat.

Mar 19 • 3:23 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

Earthquake scientists reveal how overplowing weakens soil at experimental farm

Plowing, or tilling, is an age-old agricultural practice that readies the soil for planting by turning over the top layer to expose fresh earth. The method—intended to improve water and nutrient circulation—remains ...

Mar 19 • 2:00 PM EDT • Science • phys.org

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.

Mar 19 • 2:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencenews.org

Earth’s continental plates were moving 3.48 billion years ago

Magnetic crystals provide the earliest evidence yet of the plate tectonics that likely made Earth habitable, pushing its start back by 140 million years.

Mar 19 • 2:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencenews.org

Trump launches investigation of states that mandate health insurance covers abortion

The states with the coverage requirements include California, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, and more.

Mar 19 • 1:46 PM EDT • Health • bostonglobe.com

Ubisoft announces layoffs and the cease of game development at Red Storm Entertainment

The studio will remain open, but 105 people are being laid off as part of Ubisoft's cost reduction programme

Mar 19 • 10:19 AM EDT • Entertainment • gamesindustry.biz

The White House Is Lost in the ‘Weave’

The Trump administration has a coherence problem. This issue starts at the top with a fabulist president who is increasingly unfiltered and unfocused, offering up ping-ponging thoughts with little purpose or explanation. His approach to governing and to waging a war has itself become “the weave,” his term for the random asides that pepper his speeches. For much of his political life, Trump, 79, understood the importance of a simple and repetitive story, the need to keep the main thing the main t

Mar 19 • 9:10 AM EDT • Politics • bloomberg.com

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.

Mar 19 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

German Health Minister Nina Warken and WHO Hub in Berlin highlight 2025 achievements

Germany’s Federal Minister of Health, Nina Warken, visited the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin today to review progress and launch its 2025 Annual Report. The report highlights advances in using artificial intelligence, data science and pathogen genomics to strengthen global preparedness for future pandemics.In 2025, the WHO Hub in Berlin worked with more than 160 Member States and over 190 partners to help countries and organizations develop new systems and tools to detect and understand new public health threats as quickly as possible, whenever and wherever they occur.BMG to confirm whether they wish to contribute a quote. “Detecting outbreaks early is one of the most effective ways to save lives and prevent epidemics from becoming global crises,” said Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken. “Germany is proud to host and support the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. Its work strengthens our safety at home and helps protect people worldwide.”Artificial intelligence is increasingly transforming the detection of outbreaks. In 2025, the Hub launched an upgraded version of the Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) system, which uses enhanced AI functions to scan global online information in real time and help experts quickly identify unusual health events. The system is now used by 120 countries.To better anticipate health threats, countries need information beyond traditional health data. The Hub supports countries in implementing Collaborative Surveillance, which integrates data on climate, animals, travel, and population movement to provide a more comprehensive and real-time understanding of health threats.The Hub also expanded global access to pathogen genomics, which helps scientists detect new pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria, understand how they spread and how dangerous they may become. Through the International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN), the WHO Hub in Berlin worked with 309 partners in 101 countries to expand access to these technologies.“We are in a new era of global health threats, and we need new tools to face tomorrow’s challenges,” said Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme. “The WHO Hub in Berlin helps countries use data and technology more effectively so they can identify risks earlier and respond faster. No country can address these threats alone. Strong cooperation remains our best defence.”“Berlin offers an ideal environment for our work. We collaborate closely with world-leading institutions such as the Robert Koch Institute and the Charité Center for Global Health,” said Dr Oliver Morgan, Head of the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. “Germany has supported the WHO Hub since its establishment, and we are pleased to welcome Federal Minister Nina Warken to the Hub today. This strong partnership helps us advance innovation in pandemic and epidemic intelligence and better support countries to prepare for future health threats.”The Hub is expanding the use of advanced analytics and mathematical modelling to forecast how outbreaks may develop and to assess which response measures are most effective. Through its Collaboratory, the Hub connects modelers and analysts with governments to ensure their work addresses real public health needs. In 2025, the community grew to 1300 members from 50 countries and 200 institutions. An AI-powered pandemic simulator, currently in the prototyping phase, will help decision-makers compare outbreak scenarios and help identify effective disease control measures.

Mar 19 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • who.int

Apple’s 'Just Right’ Goldilocks MacBook Is the One Most People Should Buy

Set between the MacBook Neo and MacBook Pro, the M5 MacBook Air remains the laptop that I recommend for most people.

Mar 19 • 6:30 AM EDT • Technology • wired.com

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."

Mar 19 • 6:00 AM EDT • Sports • flatwaterfreepress.org

Should R.I. regulate private equity in health care after crisis at safety-net hospitals?

On the R.I. Report podcast, a Salve Regina University expert talks about what Massachusetts, Maine, and Oregon have done to control private equity and protect patients.

Mar 19 • 5:55 AM EDT • Health • bostonglobe.com

Let's keep Kentucky judges judging and leave politics to politicians

A proposal in the legislature would undermine the nonpartisan judiciary that Kentuckians believe is necessary to maintain the fairness of their courts.

Mar 19 • 5:30 AM EDT • Politics • kentuckylantern.com

Helium prices increase due to ongoing conflict in Middle East

The price of helium has doubled as the Straight of Hormuz remains closed.

Mar 18 • 10:00 PM EDT • Business • spectrumlocalnews.com

NJ college dean, former youth sports coach to remain in jail in child sex assault case

During a detention hearing, Superior Court Judge W. Todd Miller ordered that James Hadley, 65, of Barnegat, remain in jail pending trial.

Mar 18 • 9:20 PM EDT • Sports • 6abc.com

Game Developers "Found Out At the Same Time as the Public" About NVIDIA DLSS 5

Much has been said about NVIDIA's recent DLSS 5 announcement, with many criticisms of the tech stemming from how the neural rendering potentially alters the artistic vision and tone of the game. While NVIDIA insists that developers remain in full control, and that the game studios were involved in c...

Mar 18 • 5:49 PM EDT • Technology • techpowerup.com

Where big spending won – and lost – in the Illinois primary

Illinois Democrats ushered in a new generation of lawmakers Tuesday night, picking five new nominees for Congress in open seats that are favored to remain in Democratic hands this fall

Mar 18 • 3:11 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com

FNC acquires McPherson-based farm management business

Farmers National Company has acquired a Kansas-based farm management division to help provide sustainability for ag operations. FNC says the purchase from Peoples Bank and Trust in McPherson, Kansas, will give producers access to specialized management, local knowledge, and resources to help maintain profitability for producers. Grant Fitzgerald, Senior Vice President of Farm and […]

Mar 18 • 1:52 PM EDT • Business • brownfieldagnews.com

George Kittle details fractured relationship between Brandon Aiyuk, 49ers as breakup remains imminent

Kittle saw firsthand how the Aiyuk saga progressed last season

Mar 18 • 1:29 PM EDT • Sports • cbssports.com

Maine gubernatorial candidates outline health care visions

The Democratic and Republican primaries are set for June 9 and the general election is set for November 3.

Mar 18 • 12:14 PM EDT • Health • wgme.com

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.

Mar 18 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • pmnch.who.int

Best fits for the Top 20 unsigned NFL free agents, ranked

USA TODAY Sports examines the best fits for the top remaining free agents.

Mar 18 • 7:02 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com

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.

Mar 18 • 6:56 AM EDT • Business • cnn.com

Michigan's Corewell Health East nurses vote to authorize strike

Employees say demands include better nurse-to-patient ratios and fair wages. Hospital system said it 'remains committed' to reaching a pact.

Mar 17 • 9:05 PM EDT • Health • detroitnews.com

No Trump Endorsement for Cornyn or Paxton in Texas Senate Race as Deadline Passes

President Trump’s decision not to weigh in before the deadline means both John Cornyn and Ken Paxton remain on the ballot, extending their costly and increasingly personal battle into a May runoff.

Mar 17 • 7:38 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

Kharg Island Is an Appealing Target for Trump, With High Risks

A U.S. attack or a move to seize control of Iran’s main oil export hub could cripple the country’s ability to profit from its natural resources. But it would also risk sending energy prices even higher.

Mar 17 • 5:58 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

Quincy, GREDF now accepting RFQs for sports complex project

The City of Quincy is now taking the next step on an indoor sports complex proposal for 48th and Maine St.

Mar 17 • 5:23 PM EDT • Sports • khqa.com

‘Worst-case scenario’: Middle East nuclear concerns haunt top health officials

The WHO is remaining “vigilant” for any kind of atomic threat.

Mar 17 • 3:59 PM EDT • Health • politico.eu

Mainers to vote on whether to end transgender inclusion in school sports

Mainers will vote on the rights of trans students to access sports teams and bathrooms aligning with their gender identity this November

Mar 17 • 1:43 PM EDT • Sports • mainemorningstar.com

NEWS CENTER Maine

Through in-depth storytelling, through direct contact on digital on social platforms, through long-standing community service programs like Coats & Toys for Kids, Project Heat and Buddy to Buddy, NEWS CENTER Maine is dedicated to keeping Mainers connected. We can't do it alone, though. Only by listening and interacting with YOU can we continue to connect ALL Mainers.

Mar 17 • 1:06 PM EDT • Sports • youtube.com

It’s official. Maine will vote on proposal to ban trans athletes in girls sports.

The Maine secretary of state announced Tuesday that it had verified the signatures collected by proponents to get the measure on the November ballot.

Mar 17 • 12:15 PM EDT • Sports • pressherald.com

Science & Innovation

Challenges to the American scientific enterprise—from the reproducibility crisis, to administrative bloat within research institutions, to diminished public trust in universities—together with sweeping reforms to the government’s role in science, make this a pivotal moment for science policy. An agenda to strengthen American science must enhance its productivity and credibility, preserve our research advantages, and ensure that the scientific enterprise remains accountable to American citizens.

Mar 17 • 10:24 AM EDT • Science • thefai.org

Edge rusher concerns linger for Eagles despite their recent addition

Despite signing Arnold Ebiketie, questions remain about the Eagles’ pass rush after losing Jaelan Phillips to Carolina. Here’s why Philly may still need help off the edge.

Mar 17 • 10:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

DETROIT PISTONS PARTNERING WITH SCRIPPS SPORTS, TV-20 DETROIT TO BROADCAST FIVE GAMES OVER REMAINDER OF SEASON

The Detroit Pistons announced today that the organization will partner with Scripps Sports and FanDuel Sports Network Detroit for a third consecutive season

Mar 17 • 9:00 AM EDT • Sports • nba.com

Fields now set for Maine June primaries

Gov. Janet Mills, combat veteran and oyster farmer Graham Platner and David Costello, a former senior level government official, are all competing for the right to face Sen. Susan Collins in the fall.

Mar 17 • 8:48 AM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com

Alibaba shakeup hints at an AI business model

The $325 bln group ‌is separating its AI initiatives from its cloud computing unit. It’s a nod to a craze for digital agents like OpenClaw and willingness of consumers to pay for these standalone services. Monetising AI will remain daunting but the rejig makes sense.

Mar 17 • 12:58 AM EDT • Business • reuters.com

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.

Mar 16 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

Knicks endeavor to remain focused against NBA-worst Pacers

The New York Knicks know they shouldn't have any reason to lose focus Tuesday night.

Mar 16 • 6:54 PM EDT • Sports • cbssports.com

10 Audio Improvements in Apple's New AirPods Max 2

Apple refreshed the AirPods Max today, and the main new addition is an H2 chip that replaces the H1 chip. The H2 chip has previously been used in the AirPods 4 and the AirPods Pro 2 and later, but it's new to the AirPods Max. It brings multiple audio improvements alongside an updated high dynamic range amplifier. We've listed all of the audio features that are new to the AirPods Max according to Apple.

Mar 16 • 6:28 PM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

Going Panther Lake very quickly: Lenovo updates ThinkPad P1 line with the P1 Gen 9 after just six months

An unexpected update: Lenovo is already replacing the ThinkPad P1 Gen 8 with the next gen model, the new ThinkPad P1 Gen 9. This new version is only a small update, focused mainly on internal changes.

Mar 16 • 5:30 PM EDT • Technology • notebookcheck.net

Manayunk restaurant owner says repeated vandalism threatening business

Anna Yu, owner of Platform Z Restaurant on Main Street, said the latest incident happened over the weekend when someone punched through one of the restaurant's windows.

Mar 16 • 5:24 PM EDT • Business • 6abc.com

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.

Mar 16 • 5:11 PM EDT • Health • healthcareitnews.com

Nvidia adds Hyundai, BYD and other automakers to self-driving tech business

AVs are important to Nvidia as self-driving cars remain one of the primary areas where the company can show growth outside of artificial intelligence.

Mar 16 • 4:38 PM EDT • Business • cnbc.com

Why Loadstar’s Brian Haymon chose the riskier path

When Brian Haymon created his own grassroots, from-the-ground-up company at the age of 57, he didn’t want it to be just another 2.0 version of the business he’d just left. He wanted to tap into one of the main advantages afforded to a new entrepreneur: a chance to create a resilient, malleable business model not […]

Mar 16 • 3:32 PM EDT • Business • businessreport.com

First case of severe mpox disease reported in major city: ‘Life-threatening’

First severe mpox clade I case identified in NYC resident who traveled abroad. Health officials say local transmission risk remains low for the community.

Mar 16 • 3:05 PM EDT • Health • foxnews.com

ECU Health seeks sustainable contract during UnitedHealthcare renewal, emphasizes commitment to protecting rural health care access

ECU Health remains steadfast in its mission to improve the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina.

Mar 16 • 11:25 AM EDT • Health • ecuhealth.org

GREDF seeks proposals for managing Quincy Regional Sports Complex

The Great River Economic Development Foundation is seeking qualified firms to submit a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for management, operations, and maintenance services for the Quincy Regional Sports Complex.

Mar 16 • 10:20 AM EDT • Sports • wgem.com

Eagles News: A.J. Brown’s situation remains fluid

Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 3/16/26.

Mar 16 • 7:37 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

The Persian Gulf, a booming business for the Trump family

The US president and his children maintain a thriving relationship with entities and authorities in the Middle East, where they have expanded their activities since the Republican’s return to the White House

Mar 16 • 7:09 AM EDT • Business • english.elpais.com

Denver Broncos free agency: Top remaining free agents available

The Denver Broncos haven’t made any outside splashes in free agency. However, there are still some players available who would help round out their roster.

Mar 16 • 7:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Top 5 remaining linebackers for the Bengals to target

They still need some help at linebacker.

Mar 16 • 6:59 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Africa’s great divide: Why the continent’s split is so exciting for science

The African continent is splitting along a triple junction of rifts that converge in Afar, Ethiopia. A new ocean may take millions of years to form, but that is giving scientists ample time to glean important discoveries from one of the world’s most inhospitable regions.

Mar 16 • 5:56 AM EDT • Science • cnn.com

Healthy ageing in Singapore: why health literacy matters

As Singapore becomes a “super-ageing” society, health literacy is key to helping older adults navigate care, stay healthy and remain socially connected. Explore the policies and initiatives supporting healthy ageing.

Mar 16 • 5:55 AM EDT • Health • impact.economist.com

Small Businesses Are Pushing Back Against Private Equity

Touting local and family-owned credentials, Main Street companies say they’re fending off sometimes multiple inquiries a day from PE firms.

Mar 16 • 5:00 AM EDT • Business • bloomberg.com