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The weather and science behind a perfect fireworks show
A great fireworks show is about far more than the fireworks themselves — the weather plays a starring role. Clouds, wind and even the humidity can mean the difference between a crisp, dazzling display and a hazy, muffled dud. Meteorologist Caitlin Kaiser breaks down the science that makes fireworks burst into color and the conditions that can make or break the perfect show.
Oregon’s top public health official resigns
Oregon’s top public health official is stepping down from her role after two and a half years. Dr. Sejal Hathi, who joined the Oregon Health Authority in January 2024, will leave Aug. 1 to focus on family and personal priorities, the governor’s office announced Thursday. Hathi, who earns $265,488 per year, joined the Oregon Health […]
IDP Rookie Profile: Anthony Hill Jr. in Redraft Leagues
Anthony Hill Jr. lands in Tennessee with a starting role and enough downhill ability to become a useful rookie IDP option.
Millie Bobby Brown was left 'broken' after losing role in Hugh Jackman movie as a kid
Millie Bobby Brown is opening up about how 'broken' she felt after leaving an audition with Hugh Jackman for 'Logan': 'I felt like I probably didn't get it.'
CVS Health (CVS) Takes A Leading Role In America250 Community Health Events
CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) is partnering with America250 to support community events tied to the United States’ 250th anniversary celebrations. The company plans to help lead community engagement at block parties and public celebrations across major cities. CVS Health intends to use its workforce and local footprint to provide health screenings and volunteer support during these events. CVS Health, with its shares recently trading at $104.81, is adding a fresh public health angle to the...
Computer science society creates new research integrity role to address case backlog
AndreyPopov/iStock Over the last five years, the Association for Computing Machinery has been dealing with a rapid rise in allegations of research misconduct that have created a backlog of cases to…
Supreme Court ruling lifts limits on political party campaign spending
The decision could play a role in the battle for control of Congress this November.
Ukraine's General Valery Zaluzhny emerges as a key figure in national politics
While still hypothetical, elections have reportedly been discussed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the fall, fueling speculation about a possible candidacy by the former commander-in-chief. Like Zaluzhny, several senior officers enjoy strong public support and could play a major role in political life after the war.
Identity Politics: The Good, The Bad, And The… Hotly Contested
Should our government ignore our identities or focus on them? In this episode of Crash Course Political Theory, we’ll explore the role identity plays in politics and government, from affirmative action to white backlash, and ask, “What is fair?”
Sports Audio Report: Female Fans
The latest report, Sports Audio Report: Female Fans with Edison Research, SiriusXM Media, and GroupM explores the unique audio listening habits of U.S. female sports fans and shows how they interact with sports beyond the field. Sports audio plays an integral role in female sports fandom – 57% of female sports fans “frequently” or “occasionally” listened to sports audio content in...
Michael Weatherly to return to 'NCIS' after cancellation of 'Tony & Ziva' spinoff
Michael Weatherly is set to reprise his role of Tony DiNozzo in a season-long arc on 'NCIS.'
Healthy Returns: Walmart, CVS step in to help seniors navigate Medicare coverage of obesity drugs
Medicare has started covering obesity drugs for the first time – and companies like Walmart and CVS Health are playing an important role for patients.
Meta names Denise Moreno as its new CMO
Denise Moreno, a marketing vet, is stepping into the role as Alex Schultz becomes Meta's first chief data officer.
Cause of death revealed for Oregon-raised star of 'The Ring,' 'Lilo & Stitch'
Daveigh Chase, the Oregon-raised actress known for her roles in the films like "Spirited Away," “Lilo & Stitch” and “The Ring," died June 16 from complications due to AIDS, The Oregonian reports.
Chad Michael Murray admits fatherhood changed the roles he takes
Chad Michael Murray is known to the world as an actor, but at home, he's just dad.
VA’s top healthcare official is stepping down
As VA's undersecretary for health, John Bartrum played a leading role in the resumed rollout of its new Electronic Health Record…
Protecting Science. Advancing HIV Prevention. Preparing for What's Next
Global health is being reshaped by rapid geopolitical shifts, scientific breakthroughs and the growing role of artificial intelligence — creating both new opportunities and new challenges. Translating scientific breakthroughs into impact requires protecting research, advancing equitable access and ensuring communities are at the center. Explore AVAC’s latest resources to help navigate and shape what comes […]
Your guide to summer grilling and heart health - Baylor College of Medicine Blog Network
Dr. Nidal Buheis explains the role red meat plays in heart health and suggests how to enjoy red meat in moderation this summer.
The Case for Performance-First Management
What began as a crisis-driven response to the Covid pandemic laid the foundation for today’s dominant management paradigm: people-first management. But today’s business demands a different approach, as performance and productivity have replaced engagement and retention atop the CEO agenda. Performance-first management represents a gentle shift toward an approach where managers empower their teams to deliver high-impact results within a complex and evolving reality. It keeps people at the center, but reorients the manager’s role around enabling performance, not just supporting satisfaction. Gartner research shows that managers who shift toward a performance-first approach are up to 21% more likely to deliver the business results that are expected of them. And employees who say that their managers are performance-first report higher overall satisfaction with their employee experience.
Kitchen workshops stress dairy’s role in health
Learn more about Kitchen workshops stress dairy’s role in health, News and College of Health Sciences. Texas Woman's University (TWU) is the nation's largest un
Ovaries Appear to Develop an Incredible Second Role After Menopause
The human body continues to surprise us.
LA sports radio host torches Lebron in blistering reaction: ‘Wasn’t a Laker’
The longtime broadcaster also suggested the split ultimately boiled down to money, saying he believes contract negotiations played a larger role than basketball considerations.
Scrolling for science: How a Twitter post discovered a new wasp in Fukuoka, Japan
Researchers at Kyushu University recently identified a wasp species, Eupelmus curvator, in Japan for the first time after citizen scientists posted photos of it on Twitter (now X), marking both a new national record and the first formal description of the male of the species. The discovery highlights the growing role of social media in biodiversity research, allowing scientists to tap into observations from the public that would otherwise go unnoticed.
What Today’s Biggest Business Stories Reveal About National Security
Yoday's international business headlines suggest that industries aren't strategic for their products, as much as they are for their foundational role.
Lawmakers Criticize Private Equity’s Influence in Youth Sports
A House hearing Tuesday probed private equity’s role in the rising cost of youth sports.
Trump nominates acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling to permanent role
President Donald Trump nominated acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling to keep the role permanently. Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, touting his experience during his first and second terms in the Labor Department. “Throughout his career, Keith has proven his dedication to delivering strong results for the Hardworking People of our Country, and I […]
How 'Bad Santa' brought naughty Billy Bob Thornton onto 'Landman'
If you've ever thought that you'd seen Billy Bob Thornton's Tommy Norris before, you're jolly right. The "Landman" central character is the spiritual cousin to Thornton's infamous role as Willie
SGMC Health Names Chad Nelms Associate Vice President of Nursing
SGMC Health announces the promotion of Chad Nelms, RN, to Associate Vice President of Nursing. In this role, Nelms will provide strategic and operational leadership for nursing services across the organization, supporting a cohesive and patient-centered approach to care.
The 2027 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Is Officially a 200-MPH Car
There's no cheaper way to get into a new automobile that can hit the double century mark.
Band Together to Take Down Criminals and Earn Bounty Hunter Bonuses
Bring dangerous criminals across the frontier to heel and earn 3X RDO$, XP, and Role XP dragging in Regular Bounties, and 3X RDO$, XP, and Gold hauling in Legendary and Infamous Bounties.
No more selling PlayStation hardware at "significant" loss, says Sony, as everyone braces for a PS6 console that costs over $1,000
Sony is seemingly no longer interested in subsidising the cost of its hardware to reduce the price for the end user.
England maternity commissioner role would be ‘fundamentally dangerous’, says campaigner
Founder of Maternity Safety Alliance says recommendation in Amos report will not solve wider cultural problems
Science for Living: How acupuncture is earning its place in modern medicine
UMass Chan researchers discuss the growing evidence behind acupuncture’s role in modern integrative medicine and how it is helping to reduce chronic pain.
ERISA’s Important but Limited Role in Health Care Cost Containment
Executive Summary Rising health care costs have brought renewed attention to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) as policymakers and advocates look for new ways to address increasingly expensive employer-sponsored coverage. Leveraging requirements under ERISA appears attractive because other cost-containment efforts have had limited success, making the statute seem like a potential […]
APS Fellow Persis Drell heads DOE science advisory committee
Drell, a Stanford physicist, began in the new role in February.
‘Grateful and humbled’
MARSHALL — Two individuals who played important roles in building the Marshall baseball program into one of the state’s best were honored Sunday evening with induction into the Marshall Baseball Hall of Fame. Steve Fleck and Blaine Schnaible became the 20th and 21st members of this select group during a pre-game ceremony prior to the […]
Penelope Keith, British sitcom icon, dies at 86 after health battle
Actress Penelope Keith, best known for her roles on the British sitcoms "The Good Life" and "To the Manor Born," has died. She was 86.
Yale New Haven Health System CEO steps down
Christopher O’Connor, chief executive of Yale New Haven Health System, is stepping down from his role, according to an announcement Monday.
Ravens Rookies Expected to Make Immediate Impact in ‘Projected Roles’
The Baltimore Ravens are known for drafting players who can make an immediate impact on the field. For example, look at Kyle Hamilton.Hamilton is already a three time All-Pro after being drafted by Baltimore in 2022. In this year’s draft class, Baltimore’s draft picks have the same potential to make an immediate impact as soon […] The post Ravens Rookies Expected to Make Immediate Impact in ‘Projected Roles’ appeared first on HEAVY.
Supreme Court Expands Presidential Power by Allowing Trump to Fire F.T.C. Official
President Trump’s firing tested a precedent that had insulated independent regulators. But the justices carved out the “unique role” of the Federal Reserve.
Hayao Miyazaki voice actor Akihiro Miwa dies at 91
Akihiro Miwa has died at age 91. The Hayao Miyazaki voice actor, who played roles in 'Princess Mononoke' and 'Howl's Moving Castle,' was also an iconic singer in Japan.
Liver health is the latest wellness obsession
Interest in liver health and sales of liver-focused supplements is soaring as people become more aware of the organ's role in overall health, and rates of liver disease rise.
The role customer relationship management plays in small business growth and efficiency
Nutshell reports that small businesses benefit from CRM systems, improving customer retention and sales, while starkly contrasting with larger firms' efficiency.
How Jude Bellingham SAVED England against Panama
England are through to the World Cup knockout rounds following a 2-0 win over Panama. But after another sluggish start, which looked for a while like it could be a repeat of the Ghana game, Jude Bellingham both scored and assisted to get England through. Adam Clery looks at how, without Declan Rice in the side, Bellingham played every single midfield role to drag Thomas Tuchel's side to a vital win.
Investor Clive Meanwell on designing biotechs for population health, and AI's role as a catalyst
Clive Meanwell, chairman of investment firm Population Health Partners, was an AI skeptic until recently. Now, he thinks it's a catalyst.
Khalid Robinson takes next step as Warriors' head coach for NBA Summer League
As he enters his 11th season with the Warriors, Khalid Robinson is about to step into a new role as Golden State's NBA Summer League head coach
AI could unleash ‘single greatest productivity revolution’ if Washington avoids overreach: report
The Unleash Prosperity report, titled "Boomsday Not Doomsday," argues AI could help ease housing costs, boost productivity and move workers into higher-value roles.
Miles Bridges trade details: Hornets send athletic forward to Suns, land Grayson Allen
Phoenix and Charlotte kept the NBA offseason rolling on Sunday, reportedly agreeing to a deal involving some key role players.
Steelers Insider Reveals Drew Allar's Likely Role In Rookie Season
Pittsburgh selected Allar in the third round.
Michelle Pfeiffer reveals why she felt 'humiliated' auditioning for her breakthrough film role
AI isn't killing real tech jobs. It's hitting here instead.
AI isn't killing tech jobs, says Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince. It's changing which roles companies value most.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner to hit 30g fiber goal: Nutrition scientist
You may eat fiber for gut health, but it plays many crucial roles in the body, from lowering cholesterol to helping to control glucose levels.
Former Giannis Role Players Now On Milwaukee Bucks Trading Block
The Milwaukee Bucks are turning the page to a new chapter in their franchise following the trade of Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Milwaukee Bucks. Along with opening a new era, the Bucks are also looking to move on from some of their role players during the team’s Giannis phase. Among them are Kyle Kuzma and […] The post Former Giannis Role Players Now On Milwaukee Bucks Trading Block appeared first on HEAVY.
Steelers’ Drew Allar Addresses Rookie Role Behind Aaron Rodgers
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Drew Allar spoke out on his place behind Aaron Rodgers on the team's depth chart entering 2026 NFL training camp. The post Steelers’ Drew Allar Addresses Rookie Role Behind Aaron Rodgers appeared first on HEAVY.
Presidential ambitions? Moore speech to contrast Trump rally
Wes Moore has repeatedly said he's focused on his role as governor, but political analysts say his actions point to a run for higher office.
Jessica Plummer new deputy administrator of Behavioral Health Services
A founding department staff member, Jessica Plummer has stepped into the new role of deputy administrator for Larimer County Behavioral Health Services (BHS)
Health system CEO fired without cause in wake of class-action lawsuit over unnecessary surgeries
Reese Jackson, the former president and CEO of Chesapeake Regional Healthcare was unceremoniously dismissed from his role on June 1. Jackson has been named as a defendant in a pending class-action lawsuit filed by 900 women.
Early Homo sapiens may have lived in rainforests, new clues suggest — and it could overturn our understanding of human evolution
The long-held idea that rainforests held a minor role in our species' evolution is changing — and our ability to adapt to these tropical areas may give insight about 'what it means to be uniquely human.'
How PENN’s US$360 Million Aurora Resort Shift At PENN Entertainment (PENN) Has Changed Its Investment Story
PENN Entertainment has opened the US$360 million Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora, replacing its former Fox River riverboat with a 388,500-square-foot, 24/7 land-based resort featuring over 1,000 slots, 50 table games, a sportsbook, 226-room hotel, spa, event center, and extensive dining options. The Aurora project, which created around 700 permanent roles and mirrors PENN’s broader shift into higher-amenity land-based properties, highlights how the company is reinvesting heavily to refresh...
Why Pollinators Matter for Human Health | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
New research shows that wild insect pollinators play a critical role in nutrition and livelihoods.
Sweden and WHO launch new long-term initiative to transform Ukraine’s health system
WHO and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) have launched a new multi-year cooperation project to support the long-term recovery and transformation of Ukraine’s health system. The new project, “Ukraine’s Health System Transformation Initiative: Strengthening Health Governance, Health Financing and Service Delivery for Long-Term Recovery”, was launched at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026 in Gdansk, Poland on 26 June, and will run from June 2026 to 2029. Sweden will contribute approximately US$ 26 million (240 million Swedish krona) to support this project. This contribution forms part of Sweden’s broader support to Ukraine through the Team Europe approach, which brings together the European Union, its Member States, and key partners such as the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood and Enabel, and WHO as lead health agency, to support Ukraine’s recovery, reform agenda and European integration.“Ukraine’s health recovery cannot be measured only by what is rebuilt, but by whether people can count on the health system when they need it most. The scale of the task is immense, with health reconstruction and modernization needs estimated at US$ 19.4 billion over the next decade. Sweden’s US$ 26 million contribution to Ukraine’s Health System Transformation Initiative is a timely investment in the institutions, financing and services that will support Ukraine’s long-term recovery and European integration. WHO remains a trusted partner of the Government of Ukraine in advancing this process. I am deeply grateful to Sweden for its consistent support and partnership,” said Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe. More than 4 years of war have placed unprecedented pressure on Ukraine’s health system, creating 3 interconnected challenges. The first is responding to the immediate consequences of the war and the urgent health needs of the population. The second is recovering and modernizing health services today. The third is continuing reforms and aligning the health system with European standards in the context of Ukraine’s future accession to the European Union. The war has led to large-scale population displacement, an increasing need for trauma care and rehabilitation, and shortages of health workers. High out-of-pocket payments in Ukraine make access to health services more difficult. Around 46% of total health expenditure is paid directly by individuals, placing a significant financial burden on many households and underscoring the need for reforms in health financing. Older people, persons with disabilities, women, children and veterans continue to face the greatest difficulties in accessing health services. “Ukraine is demonstrating that health system transformation can continue even during war. Ukraine is also continuing to align its health system with European norms and standards. WHO is committed to supporting Ukraine on this journey. We provide technical support, help coordinate partners’ efforts and support the institutional changes needed to strengthen the system. We are grateful to Sweden for its support. Through this partnership, we can help Ukraine build a more resilient, accessible and people-centred health system,” said Dr Jarno Habicht, WHO Representative in Ukraine. About the Health System Transformation InitiativeThe new initiative will support Ukraine through 3 interconnected areas: strengthening governance and coordination of health sector reforms through more inclusive coordination platforms and structured policy dialogue; transforming service delivery by reinforcing a primary health care-centred model that integrates family medicine, nursing and midwifery; and improving financial sustainability by supporting reforms that ensure the long-term viability of the national health system and reduce out-of-pocket payments for households. Overall, these reforms are expected to make the health system more coherent and easier to navigate, improve the quality and continuity of care, and ensure more equitable access to services, particularly for those who need them most. They will also support Ukraine’s progress towards a more modern health system aligned with European standards. “We are convinced that long-term recovery is not possible without strong, high-quality, person-centred health services that are accessible to everyone. Our partnership with WHO is designed to support deep and lasting systemic changes. Investments in human capital especially autonomous midwives, whose role for maternal, newborn and adolescent sexual and reproductive health cannot be understated, stronger governance, digital transformation and the financial sustainability of the health system are investments in Ukraine’s future. We are proud to support this process,” said Malin Perhult, the Head of the Ukraine Unit at Sida. Focus throughout implementation will be given to the most vulnerable population groups, including older people, women and children, and persons with disabilities, who have been affected by the war and face greater health-care needs. The initiative will be implemented in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the National Health Service of Ukraine, the Public Health Centre of Ukraine, regional authorities and international partners. This project will help Ukraine move towards a system where everyone can access the health care they need. It will strengthen primary care, make the health finance system more stable and predictable, and reduce the out-of-pocket costs that Ukrainians face when using health services. As a result, the Ukrainian health system will become more aligned with European standards and more sustainable in the long run.
Sam Fuld, player-turned-business exec, is a new Wharton grad. Up next: The Phillies’ future.
Last month, Fuld graduated from Penn's Wharton School and formally assumed his new role as the Phillies' president of business operations.
What could be next for Gakpo?
Following the departure of Mohamed Salah, at least one more attacking signing is expected at Anfield this summer. Liverpool have already signed Victor Munoz from Osasuna for £34.5m and the pursuit of Yan Diomande is heating up. Talented teenager Rio Ngumoha is also set to play a more prominent role, while Florian Wirtz played off the left for Liverpool at times last season and is featuring there for Germany in the World Cup.
It's Xbox's turn (again), as console prices keep going up
Microsoft announced a price hike for the Xbox Series consoles today, the third in little over a year. Effective August 1, the Xbox Series S, which launched in 2020 for $300, will cost $500 in the U.S. The Xbox Series X, which launched in 2020 at $500, will go for $800. This follows a round of PlayStation 5 price increases from Sony this spring, and a slow-motion increase for Nintendo’s Switch 2, which will kick in in the U.S. in September. (Mind you, there were also eight video game industry price hikes in six months of 2025). The chart up top shows the sudden ascent of console prices over the past year, a sudden surge in an already unusual hardware generation. Prices had been flat for years, now “up” is the new “flat.” Game console prices used to go down across the length of a console generation, but not this time around. Microsoft’s explanation for the new price hike today: We hoped another price increase would not be necessary, and we have spent the last several months working with suppliers on options. Unfortunately, console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027. The entire consumer electronics industry is struggling with the current components crisis, but the effects are particularly hard on consoles. Unlike phones, computers, speakers, and other consumer devices, consoles are typically not sold at a profit, but instead for less than they cost to make. This is an issue well beyond game consoles. Apple announced price hikes on its computers and tablets today as well. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Item 2: Brutal Bungie cuts Bungie laid off “most” of its Destiny development team and some developers who worked on Marathon, the newest game from the struggling Sony-owned studio. A WARN notice issued by Sony to Washington State, where Bungie is based, tallied cuts impacting 292 workers, effective next month. That’s strictly for Bungie/Sony jobs in Washington and wouldn’t account for any elsewhere. The video I clipped below shows the redacted list of Bungie cuts filed to Washington State officials. As you’ll see, I had to scroll for a while… In a note emailed to PlayStation workers and published online, PlayStation game studios chief Hermen Hulst offered the following explanation for these latest cuts at Bungie: This is painful news, especially for talented colleagues whose roles have been eliminated. This decision was made only after extensive discussion and careful consideration, and I want to provide some context on how we arrived here. Over the past several months, together with Bungie leadership, we reviewed the studio’s long-term direction, development priorities, resource needs, and role within our broader portfolio strategy. We explored multiple alternatives before concluding that a reduction was necessary to align the studio’s resources with its current priorities and long-term goals. In 2022, Sony bought Bungie for $3.7 billion. The studio’s marquee game, the multiplayer live service shooter Destiny 2 was losing popularity at the time. Its next game Marathon, released earlier this year, has been well-reviewed but had a slow start. Bungie is renowned for making great shooter games, and Destiny fans have mourned the wind-down of Destiny 2. They’ve also expressed bewilderment over reports that Destiny 3 is not, per Bloomberg, immediately in the cards.
Justices Clash on Whether Race Played a Role in Trump’s Bid to Deport Haitians
The split mirrored one that has long divided Americans: how seriously to take the president’s loose, provocative and sometimes ugly remarks.
Making Our Own Luck
We are cross-posting a piece that former NIH official Kris Willis wrote for Macroscience. Kris is now the President and Founder of the Woodley Park Institute, for which I’m a board member. Picking winners or hedging bets? Federal science agencies have long wrestled with the question of how to ensure their billions of dollars of grants and contracts result in maximum benefits for Americans. On the surface, it might seem that a goal-oriented, interventionist style of management would be the best policy: prioritize our most pressing problems and distribute funding accordingly.This top-down strategy creates a unique hazard, though: bad choices can send resources in the wrong direction, resulting in slow progress that impedes the delivery of tangible benefits to citizens. Moreover, if decision makers pursue an applied advance when the underlying scientific principles remain poorly understood, they risk costly failures and a loss of support for the research enterprise at large. Examples include Nixon’s 1971 War on Cancer, undertaken on the premise that a cure could be achieved in less than a decade, the drive to build an operational commercial fusion plant by the mid-1990s, and the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, which failed to produce the effective treatments and prevention strategies promised by 2025. The contrasting laissez-faire approach is to hedge your bets. If the path to an advance is impossible to predict, then the wisest choice might be to distribute funding to as widely as possible. The main risk of this strategy is that spreading funding thinly may limit the resources available to the most promising research, resulting in the same negative outcomes as the interventionist approach: limited support for the most promising topics, slow progress, and delayed returns. In reality, at science agencies like the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, program managers navigate between these two extremes, setting some funds aside to target high-priority areas and using the rest to cover the widest possible range of meritorious proposals. This middle path seems like the most rational way to proceed, but it still requires making choices. How much should be set aside for high priority topics? What should those topics be? How should we define merit? Expert opinion can provide a helpful guide, but leading experts can have remarkably different opinions about what matters and what should be prioritized. Moreover, experts and administrators alike can be risk averse, giving an edge to high-profile, well-established concepts. What’s really needed is a data-driven framework to help guide decision-making, one that doesn’t simply repackage prestige or incumbency. Recognizing breakthroughs years in advance Many breakthroughs fail to attract funding or recognition at the earliest stages of development. Katalin Karikó, for example, spent years struggling to win grants for work on mRNA that would eventually win her and Drew Weissman a Nobel Prize. Similar stories can be told about Jim Allison’s groundbreaking studies leading to the development of cancer immunotherapy, Stan Pruisner’s demonstration that prions can self-replicate without DNA, or Robin Warren and Barry Marshall’s proof that Helicobacter pylori, not stress, causes ulcers. Yet at some point, the scientific community recognizes and responds to transformative breakthroughs like these. How does that change happen? And what if science funders could identify the areas that are on the cusp of a breakthrough? Those questions led my collaborators and me to study how scientists responded to past breakthroughs. Based on patterns in that data, we developed a means of predicting future breakthroughs, using biomedicine as a proof of concept. It’s worth taking a moment to describe how our approach works. Briefly, our prediction process begins by grouping the 18 million or so peer-reviewed papers in PubMed, the authoritative database of biomedical research, into roughly 50,000 unique topics. A small subset of these topics are so widely acclaimed as breakthroughs that they have been recognized with a major prize like a Nobel or a Lasker Award. We theorized that studying the development of these outliers over time, especially before they gained acclaim, was the key to identifying future instances of them. After defining topics, we chose 21 representative breakthroughs and asked what they looked like before they won prestigious prizes. To answer that question, we re-ran our topic-mapping algorithm repeatedly, winding back the clock one year each time, stringing together the years to follow the progress of each field as it grew and advanced. We found that in each case, the years leading up to a discovery followed a pattern: a burst of papers on a new, rapidly evolving topic, many of which quickly became influential. These characteristics—the percent of papers that are new, the percentage of papers that are brought in from other topics, and the influence of each individual paper—can all be measured separately for any given topic. Together, they act as a predictive signal that is detectable an average of five years before a transformative discovery is made, and up to thirty years before the discovery receives a major prize. Scanning the current research landscape for topics that display this signal allows us to predict what work will likely produce a future breakthrough. Each year we analyzed includes four or five signals, a number that appears to have remained constant across a twenty year time frame. In their classic work on the sociology of science, Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar established that the desire to participate in a major discovery is an important motivator for scientists as they consider whether they should take up (or abandon) a research problem. Although further work is needed, the simplest explanation for our results is that this behavior is widespread enough to detect at scale. A foundational advance, or something like it, draws the attention of scientists and causes them to change the direction of their research. They vote with their feet, staking their own reputation and careers by publishing on and citing the new idea. That upswell of interest is the foundation of our breakthrough signal. What kind of research does our model identify as a breakthrough? After building a model based on the patterns in our 21 preselected breakthroughs, we tested it by identifying all early signals of discovery from 1994 through 1997. Of the 18 signals we found in that time period, 17 can be traced forward in time to a breakthrough. Examples include super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (see the image above), the directed evolution of proteins and enzymes (Chemistry Nobel, 2018), and sequencing the human genome (National Medal of Science, 2008). The discovery of the role of leptin signaling in obesity is a particularly interesting case study. Around 1950, scientists noticed the existence of a type of lab mouse that suffered from a unique inherited form of obesity. When given the freedom to choose their own diet, these mice ate more than normal and preferred food that was high in fat. Researchers had few clues as to why the animals overate; early experiments pointed to the existence of a soluble ob factor found circulating in the bloodstream that regulated appetite, but its identity was unknown. In 1994, Jeffrey Friedman and colleagues identified and sequenced the ob gene, noting that the protein it encoded appeared to fit the profile of a circulating factor. A year later, a trio of high-profile publications demonstrated that ob was a hormone that regulated body weight and fat deposition by regulating appetite. One of these was co-authored by Friedman, who christened it leptin from the ancient Greek word for thin. Using our model, the data from 1996 make it clear this advance would become a breakthrough. Scientists had flocked to study the biology of the new hormone, generating the flurry of new papers and citations required to produce a signal. One of these demonstrated that serum leptin concentrations reflected the amount of adipose tissue in the human body, providing clinical validation of the earlier mouse studies. Before the identification of leptin, scientists were unable to point to a specific molecule that controlled appetite and adiposity, so that it was impossible to rule out non-physiological causes of obesity; its characterization fundamentally changed our concept of weight gain. In 2010, Friedman and fellow pioneer Douglas Coleman were awarded a Lasker for the discovery. Our work also identifies breakthroughs in clinical practice and behavioral and social sciences, even though these areas are less likely to draw the attention of major prize committees. One example that falls into this category is the introduction of endovascular aneurysm repair, a minimally invasive surgical procedure for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm, a leading cause of death among Americans over the age of 65. Relative to the previous standard of care, it reduces in-hospital mortality by almost four-fold. In 2017, Timothy Chuter received the American College of Surgeons’ prestigious Jacobsen Innovation award for his multiple refinements to the technique. Another under-recognized breakthrough identified by our model is the development of standardized survey instruments to assess the quality of life for HIV+ patients. The antiretroviral cocktails introduced in the mid-1990s reduced AIDS mortality, but treatment came with serious side effects. The new evaluations showed that patients whose disease progressed had worse physical functioning than Americans with other chronic diseases, while those who were asymptomatic maintained a health-related quality of life on par with the overall US population. This evidence made it possible for patients and activists to argue that even in the absence of a total cure, and in spite of the side effects, alleviation of symptoms was a worthwhile priority for clinicians. My colleagues and I have failed to identify any significant recognition for the physicians and health policy experts who pioneered this advance, although in 2016, researchers called for the World Health Organization to set targets for good health-related quality of life as part of its framework to end the AIDS pandemic. From forecasting to funding How should science funders use our predictions? Any serious discussion of what we should do with this new capability needs to begin with an understanding of its limitations. We can’t (and shouldn’t) invest all of our resources in the small number of topics predicted to produce breakthroughs. Innovative new fields are born from existing ones; they rarely arise de novo. If funders don’t maintain a diverse portfolio, the breakthroughs of tomorrow will have no antecedents. Think of this as eating the seed corn, or killing the goose that lays the golden egg. There are also multiple goals of funding beyond basic scientific discovery, including translating discoveries into clinical practice, developing new technologies, supporting economic development, and training new scientists. The investments needed to accomplish these goals are likely different from those required to support emerging breakthroughs. Finally, we must be aware that we may not capture every instance of a breakthrough. The concept is fuzzy, and not every significant discovery is recognized with a major award. Further, breakthroughs are rare, meaning that our dataset is, by necessity, small. This makes formal estimates of accuracy challenging. Although our overall success rate appears to be high, any one signal may turn out to be a false positive. We found one apparent example: the development of the third generation COX-2 inhibitors, Vioxx and Celebrex, which were much celebrated in the early 2000s as effective but non-addictive pain relievers, meets all the algorithmic criteria of a breakthrough. Five years after it received FDA approval, researchers demonstrated that Vioxx was associated with serious cardiovascular complications, and the manufacturer voluntarily pulled the drug from the market. Celebrex remains available, although like other NSAIDs, it carries an FDA warning for increased cardiovascular risk. Decision makers who were overly focused on the breakthrough potential of this research might have wasted substantial resources nurturing an area that ultimately proved to be a failure—but so would those who relied on expert opinion at the time. That said, the potential benefits of funding the next mRNA vaccine or cancer immunotherapy years earlier than we might have are large. When we can’t assume the outcome of an action, it’s worth conducting an experiment. Can targeted support for areas that are poised to produce a breakthrough increase the return on scientific investment without cannibalizing future advances? With the necessary administrative infrastructure in place, conducting this experiment would be straightforward. First, identify all the breakthrough signals between 2018 and 2023, select half at random, and commit to a decade of investment. For biomedicine, a six year window should yield about 30 topics with the potential to produce a breakthrough. Providing strong support to half of these might be accomplished for $300 million a year. That’s roughly half of the recent annual budget of the NIH Common Fund or around 20% of the fiscal year 2025 budget for ARPA-H. After five years, then again at ten, compare to see which group — the one that was actively managed, or the control — produced more breakthroughs, and on what timescale. Although we used biomedicine as an example, the same experiment could just as well be run for physics, materials science, or any other discipline. Any attempt to undertake such an experiment should keep three points top of mind. First, we can predict the topic of future breakthroughs, but the people and vision for how to move the work forward are still important. In practice, this means success requires active program managers with the expertise to develop the science and the authority to do so, including by recruiting investigators. Second, we would be wise to learn from the failures of past attempts to fund transformative research. High among these are funding modestly repackaged work, confusing the genuinely novel with the merely unfamiliar, and relying too much on incumbent investigators. All of these risks can be mitigated by thoroughly and intelligently integrating high quality data into portfolio management. Finally, we need to have patience. Even with strong funding support, producing a breakthrough takes time. If supporting breakthroughs is the best way to nurture the birth of new fields, we also need to accurately describe and properly manage the other two stages, so that we invest wisely throughout the productive lifetime of ideas and divest once they reach the point of diminishing returns. We would benefit from more study of all of these phases, especially the transition from one to another. More research could answer questions like: When does a breakthrough become an established field? How do the availability of funding, the size and characteristics of the available workforce, and the accumulation of evidence that disagrees with prevailing models affect a field’s decline? Exactly how do old ideas give birth to new ones, and can we speed up the process? The more we understand about the dynamics of scientific progress, the better we can maximize the odds that our curiosity leads to results. I’d call that finding a way to make our own luck.
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David P. O'Brien
About five years ago, David P. O'Brien had a comfortable position at Marsh & McLennan Cos., where he held the top post at the financial giant's Louisville, Ky., office. Despite the lofty rank, Mr. O'Brien found himself longing to be at a smaller company that had to work a little harder to land business. That desire led him away from Kentucky five years ago and to Cleveland, where he serves as executive vice president at business insurance agency Oswald Cos. "I left Marsh before it was en vogue," he said, referring to layoffs and defections at Marsh over the course of this year that followed accusations of bid rigging at the big firm. Above all, Mr. O'Brien, 38, wanted to work at a company that relied on its inventiveness, rather than its name, for business. He said he has found that at Oswald. "It causes you to be more creative, to be more resourceful," Mr. O'Brien said. For instance, an Oswald client seeking to do business internationally might be directed to the network of offices abroad run by competitors such as Marsh and Aon Risk Services Inc. "We're going to use whatever access into the market that makes the most sense for our clients," he said. Of course, using such a strategy can be dangerous for Oswald if its client decides to further a business relationship with one of the firms Oswald recommended. "That's the obvious question and why it's nontraditional," he said. "I think if we're good, and if we're bringing value to the client, then there's no risk. I'm not threatened by it." Imaginative business solutions of that type made his career move to Oswald from Marsh worthwhile. "It's very much a challenge," he said. "It helps you keep your edge. I'm all for the competition." John Jacunski, currently vice president and corporate controller at York, Pa., paper company PH Gladfelter Co., met Mr. O'Brien four years ago when Mr. Jacunski was at WCI Steel Inc. in Warren. So impressed was he with Mr. O'Brien's work for WCI that Mr. Jacunski has retained the Oswald executive at PH Gladfelter. "He's a young guy for the position he has, but he's done a great job for us," Mr. Jacunski said. Among his roles at Oswald, Mr. O'Brien leads the firm's client retention efforts and also serves as director of its property and casualty group. "You don't have the same human resources," he said of the job jump to Oswald. "You don't have, obviously, the safety net a big company has." But sometimes, it can be difficult to ascertain individual contributions when working at a big company. "I wanted to be able to see the end results of my work and my efforts," Mr. O'Brien said.
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Online violence against women in politics: what shapes political party responses to technology-facilitated gender-based violence?
Political parties have a primary role to play in tackling online violence against women and gender diverse politicians. While the prevalence and impact of TFGBV, such as coordinated disinformation campaigns, deepfake image-based sexual abuse or trolling are well documented, many parties are still building their knowledge on how to respond effectively and have not put in place internal practices and policies that respond to the rapidly evolving, poorly regulated digital ecosystem. About the ReportIn order to promote and protect fair and democratic participation in politics, this ALIGN Report explores what political parties are doing in response to TFGBV and what factors shape their action. The findings, based on existing literature and interviews with gender and politics professionals, indicate there are three sets of factors which donors, civil society and practitioners should consider when designing action to support political parties to respond to TFGBV internally. These are: (1) gender norms; (2) socio-political environment; and (3) internal party factors.Key messagesUnequal gender norms are ubiquitous across politics, shaping expectations of leaders to be strong and assertive, and practices of political parties to uphold masculinist values and sustain cultures of silence. These often lead to weak response to TFGBV against women politicians.The socio-political context can incentivise or disincentivise action, depending on the salience of gender issues, which are increasingly weaponised. Electoral competitiveness, domestic laws (i.e. quota requirements), and even the political system or global normative frameworks influence political will to act.Internal party factors that shape responses will vary across countries and contexts, but include: structures to enforce codes of conduct, policies and reporting mechanisms on (TF)GBV, political ideology, extent of centralisation of leadership, and crucially the meaningful participation of women in decision-making positions, not least through internal women’s wings.Party responses can be seen as a spectrum, with actions falling between active discouragement to address TFGBV to commitment to transform unequal norms and practices within the party.About the ToolkitTogether with the report, this ALIGN toolkit offers gender professionals and others working on democratic strengthening a set of guiding questions and reflection prompts to identify which responses could be most effective and suitable in different contexts. These actions can complement other solutions to TFGBV, such as regulations promoting safety by design. The assessment spans a broad range of factors including: (1) different manifestations of gender norms, (2) the socio-political environment and (3) internal party structures.Key messagesPolitical parties are duty-bound to take action internally to respond to the significant threats posed to women members and candidates, including from their own party colleagues, affiliates and political peers.Existing party approaches to TFGBV can be assessed along a spectrum which ranges from active discouragement and passive acceptance to minimal response and transformative change.To generate effective and context-appropriate solutions to TFGBV, it is important to consider how gender norms shape leadership expectations and internal party practices, while also analysing the impact of the socio-political environment. While actions to support women to stay safe online are very common, codes of conduct and measures to strengthen women’s voice and power in the parties are proposed as most transformative solutions.
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Regions Bank Announces New Leaders in Key Markets to Drive Business Growth and Customer Experience
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