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Tropical Cyclone Narelle Crosses Australia
The powerful storm lashed the northern edge of the continent with damaging winds and drenching rain as it made landfall multiple times.
Amid competition for sponsors, top sports clubs are investing in social media operations
Sponsors used to want hospitality access and pitch-side banners. Now they want access to a club's social following.
We disagreed on politics. We agreed on wine. That was enough.
At the Virginia Governor’s Cup Gala in Richmond earlier this month, a very dapper gentleman approached me and introduced himself. In his light-colored suit and bowtie, he looked very Southern in a classical sense, the sort of Virginia Gentleman you used to see south of the Rappahannock as recently as my college days. “I’m a longtime reader and fan of your writing, if not your politics,” he said. His comment was the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove, simultaneously conveying praise and disapproval while establishing boundaries. Man, I wish we still discoursed like this instead of shouting bromides and insults to try and “own” our opponents with a funny meme and a furrowed brow. Subscribe “Well, we’ll always have wine to share together,” I said, and thanked him for his kind words. We clinked glasses, exchanged pleasantries about the delicious gold medal-winning wines being poured that evening, and went our separate ways. Our exchange reminded me that more unites us than divides us. Wine brings people together to share a meal and a few hours of joy despite our differences.1 That’s why I refer to the wine community — including readers and consumers — rather than the wine industry. Together, we are so much more than production, distribution and sales statistics. A few minutes later the evening’s awards ceremony began. Applause grew as the 12 winemakers who made the top-scoring wines for the Governor’s Case took the stage, including a loud cheer for Jonathan Wheeler of Trump Winery and his 2018 Blanc de Noir sparkling wine. All the winemakers on stage had reason to be proud, Wheeler perhaps more so. Trump Winery was the only winery to win six gold medals in the competition this year. (Wineries are limited to six entries.) Two of Wheeler’s ciders also won gold medals in a separate competition. When you cover the labels and take the sour taste of politics off your palate, the wines are pretty darn good.2 Then Gov. Abigail Spanberger, newly elected Democrat and Virginia’s first female governor, was introduced to great applause to announce which of the 12 wines had won the Governor’s Cup. She spoke for a few minutes about the importance of wine to Virginia’s economy and tourism and the international acclaim Virginia wine has received. Just two weeks earlier, she gave the Democrats’ response to Trump’s State of the Union speech, but this night wasn’t about politics. That didn’t stop several people in the crowd from speculating on the irony should she have to present the trophy to Trump Winery. In the end, Valley Road Vineyards was displayed on the screen behind Spanberger as the winning winery. Blue Bee Cidery in Richmond took top honors for that category. The crowd cheered a female governor presenting the state’s highest trophy to a female winemaker and then resumed the evening’s festivities, united by their mutual love of wine. A whiff of politics couldn’t dim the cheer of celebration and a community united by its love of wine. In Memoriam: Michel Rolland The global wine community lost a giant March 20, with the passing of Michel Rolland. He was 78. Rolland was the original “flying winemaker,” a globe-trotting consultant who helped Bordeaux regain its mojo in the 1970s and then shaped the rise of Napa Valley cult Cabernet as consultant to Simi, Harlan, Newton, Screaming Eagle, Araujo, Dalle Valle and other wineries. He was instrumental in Argentina’s rise to prominence and even had his own winery, Clos de los Siete, in a partnership with other wine families. Rolland’s career arc paralleled that of Robert Parker, the world’s most influential critic. Parker championed many of the wines Rolland consulted on, helping build his reputation and demand for his services. It also made him a target for Parker’s critics. As W. Blake Gray wrote on Wine-Searcher in his excellent tribute to Rolland: Rolland created the type of wines Parker loved: rich body, plenty of fruit, soft tannins. He sometimes faced the accusation of creating a generic international style of red wine, where the great wines he made in Argentina were indistinguishable from the great wines he made in France. Rolland chafed at that critique, as did many of his fans. He was credited with championing green harvesting and leaf pulling, as well as careful selection of grapes in the winery, practices we nearly universally think of today for high-quality winemaking. “Michel was an incredible innovator who changed how wine was made and how grapes were grown,” Napa Valley winemaker Aaron Pott wrote on Facebook. “His work has transformed the wine trade. He created new ways of looking at wine, tasting wine, evaluating ripeness and quality. … This was not just a man with a ‘style’ that he imposed on vineyards but a man that understood how to make great wine from great sites.” Rolland started his consulting company in 1973 in Libourne, in Bordeaux, with his wife, Dany. Both had graduated the year before from Bordeaux’s Institute d’Oenologie. The couple sold their majority share in the business in 2020, according to Wine Spectator. Over his career, Rolland reportedly worked with more than 100 wineries in 20 countries. He even made it to Virginia, where he consulted for Kluge Estate in the mid-2000s. (Kluge Estate is now Trump Winery.) Reader feedback, please! Last week, I did my first WineLine Live! with Dr. Laura Catena of Catena Zapata winery in Argentina. We enjoyed a fascinating discussion about her efforts to preserve the genetic heritage of old vineyards in Mendoza. I conceived of WineLine Live! for paid subscribers, as a thank you for your financial support. And while only a few people joined live, the video now has more views than I have paid subscribers, so I guess that’s pretty good. Even so, I’m considering opening future installments to anyone on Substack to reach a broader audience. So my questions to you: Should these be public? And what format do you prefer? Live gives a chat feature with the potential for viewers to interact with me and the guest, while a video post would just be that. Another alternative is a podcast, which would just be audio, without video of my chins. Please let me know in the comments. Leave a comment In the Glass A few wines I’ve enjoyed recently: Bonny Doon Vineyard Take Me to Your Liter, Le Cigare Volant, Red Wine of the Earth. 2023, Central Coast, CA. Blend of Grenache, Syrah Cinsaut and Petite Sirah. Delightful wine with expressive red fruit flavors, casual drinking. Doon lovers of a certain age will remember Randall Grahm’s Big House Red; this is more in that style than his original Le Cigare Volant, modeled after Chateauneuf du Pape. The liter bottle makes it an even better value. I see this online at about $15. Great value. Albert Bichot Bourgogne Pinot Noir Origines 2023. 13% - Textbook pinot noir and an excellent, affordable entry (regional) Burgundy. Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Wines of 2025. $24 at Total Wine & More. Loma Larga Pinot Noir 2021 “Coastal Cool Climate Wine”, Valle de Casablanca, Chile. An older sample, showing beautifully. Spicy and fruit forward. I’m seeing widely varied pricing online, from $18-$32. At the lower end, it’s a terrific value. 13.5% Dr. Loosen Riesling Dry 2016, Mosel, Germany. Found this “in the stack.” And it stacked up well, shedding some of its youthful acidity for opulent Riesling character, including a hint of the mineral oil older Riesling often features. A great value, as I’m seeing it as low as $14 online. 12% abv. Red Tail Ridge Blau Franc Blend 2024, Sans Oak, Finger Lakes. 13.4% abv. The name is a neat portmanteau of Blaufrankisch and Cabernet Franc, thus Blau Franc. The blend is 50-50, no oak involved. The Blau dominates on the palate, with the spicy caraway seed (think New York deli rye bread). The Franc adds body. The result is juicy, energetic and joyful. Sokol Blosser Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir 2025, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon. This first rosé of 2025 was a welcome respite to our cold, snowy winter here in the Mid-Atlantic. Oh man, I needed this! Bright and energetic, exuberant even, it perks up the mood and goes down fast. 13%. Certified B Corp. Ingredient and nutrition labeling, and in a modest way that doesn’t occupy a lot of label space. (Since it’s not required, presumably there are no minimum font size requirements.) More wineries should follow this example. Dave McIntyre's WineLine is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Thanks for reading Dave McIntyre's WineLine! This post is public so feel free to share it. Share 1 Some restraint may be required. 2 Especially the bubblies.
Lithia sports facility proposal sparks heated zoning battle between neighbors, supporters
A growing dispute is unfolding in Lithia, where a proposed private youth sports complex is drawing strong reactions from both neighbors and supporters.
Milledgeville teen runs car detailing business in school, wins $1,000 in chamber contest
At 19 years old, Kyan Silas has started a successful business and received second place in the youth entrepreneur program, landing him a $1,000 prize.Kyan Sila
Segment: Financing Action on Extreme Heat and Maternal and Newborn Health: The Way Forward
The segment “Financing Action on Extreme Heat and Maternal and Newborn Health: The Way Forward” will examine how innovative and better-aligned financing approaches can respond to these growing risks. Discussions will highlight country experiences in mobilizing domestic resources, opportunities to unlock and scale climate finance, and the role of heat-smart innovations in building resilient health systems. Particular attention will be given to low- and middle-income countries, where exposure and vulnerability remain highest, and where integrated solutions can deliver the greatest impact.
Demand for GLP-1 pills and shots surges, and not just for weight loss
Use of blockbuster anti-obesity drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound is growing, with about 1 in 8 adults in the U.S. saying they currently take the medications.
Special election on Tuesday will test whether national political winds reach Florida
Tuesday is a special election day for 300,000 voters in Florida's Senate District 14.
Knicks go for 7th straight win, face improved Pelicans
The New York Knicks are surging as the NBA regular season enters its final three weeks.
Microsoft Aims to Supercharge Windows Performance and Cut RAM Waste in 2026
Perhaps this would help return some of the goodwill it lost in 2025.
MacBook Neo Silences Critics Over 8GB RAM Being Inadequate; Can Open 60 Apps In Unison While Windows Laptop Powers Off Performing The Same Task
A YouTube channel decided to take the MacBook Neo for an apps stress test and opened up 60 apps at the same time to see if that 8GB RAM will be sufficient
Veterinary Science Certificate Program promotes early steps on career path
Rural communities face a growing shortage of veterinary professionals, creating challenges for pet owners and livestock producers alike.
Ottawa County Health Dept. issues new 'no body contact advisory' following sewage discharge
Oura Ring 5 leak reveals design tweaks and Deep Rose finish
The Oura Ring 5 has surfaced in a leak showing design tweaks and colour options. An FCC registration hints the device may launch in 2026.
How LuGus Studios Turned a Viral Prototype Into a Successful Business
LuGus Studios discusses building Liftoff, growing a niche drone sim audience, and sustaining a 15-year indie studio through community-driven development, iterative workflows, and a focus on impact over scale.
Bill introduced seeks to ban sports bets on prediction markets
A bipartisan Senate bill introduced Monday seeks to ban prediction markets from allowing transactions that mimic sports betting.
Review: Inside the night Jo Koy and Fluffy made comedy history at SoFi Stadium
The veteran comedians created an intimate experience despite the enormous venue, drawing the crowd together through storytelling and humor from start to finish.
Airport chaos is adding urgency to the DHS shutdown debate. But who has the leverage?
DHS has been shut down for more than a month. But extremely long and growing TSA wait times have created newfound political urgency to reach a deal.
NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi | North Central Bronx Brings Novel Minimally Invasive Vascular Surgery Procedures to the Bronx - NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi | North Central Bronx today announced it has begun offering two types of minimally invasive surgical procedures that were
SCOTUS conservatives signal readiness to curb late-arriving mail ballots
Conservative Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical during oral arguments of allowing states to continue counting late-arriving mail-in ballots. A decision is expected in June.
Trump administration to pay French company $1B to walk away from US offshore wind leases
The Department of Interior says a French energy company has agreed to give up two U.S. offshore wind leases and invest in fossil fuel projects instead.
Bird‑like robots promise greater flexibility and control than drones
A bird banking in a crosswind doesn't rely on spinning blades. Its wings flex, twist and respond instantly to its environment. Engineers at Rutgers University have taken a major step toward building bird-like ...
LIVE AT 3:30 P.M.: Ewing to announce entertainment for Omaha’s Memorial Park concert
On Monday, Omaha Mayor John Ewing Jr. is expected to announce details for the Memorial Park concert.
Linden Entertainment Signs ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’, ‘Tow’ Director Stephanie Laing
EXCLUSIVE: Linden Entertainment has signed Emmy-winning director, writer, and producer Stephanie Laing for management. Laing is coming off the theatrical release of her new film, Tow, a comedy-drama s...
iPhone Air Said to Be Roughly Twice as Popular as iPhone 16 Plus
While it certainly has its critics, the iPhone Air appears to have validated Apple's decision to retire the iPhone Plus, if new results from an independent analysis are anything to go by. Crowdsourced Speedtest data published by Ookla suggests the iPhone Air captured 6.8 percent of iPhone 17 generation samples in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of 2025, up from the 2.9 percent share the iPhone 16 Plus managed in the same launch window a year earlier.
Ewing to announce entertainment for Omaha’s Memorial Park concert
The event is happening on Friday, June 26.
Ewing to announce entertainment for Omaha’s Memorial Park concert
The event is happening on Friday, June 26.
While Intel Skipped Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, It Appeared At Geekbench With A Staggering 17% Higher Single And Multi-Core Score Than Ultra 9 285K
Intel's Core Ultra 9 290K Plus scores 3747 single-core and 26117 multi-core in Geekbench, showing a 17% performance boost over the 285K.
Trump admin dumps Biden-era wind projects for billion-dollar investment in US oil
The Trump Department of the Interior secured a landmark agreement with energy giant TotalEnergies to redirect nearly $1 billion away from "unreliable" and "ideological" wind projects.
Politics & Film: ‘Fahrenheit 9/11,’ March 27
Join Politics & Film for a screening of Michael Moore's award-winning documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11” on Friday, March 27 at 5:00 p.m. in Wehr Life Sciences 111.
Caesars Entertainment (CZR) Valuation Check After Recent Share Price Recovery
Caesars Entertainment stock overview Caesars Entertainment (CZR) has been drawing attention after recent share price moves, including a gain over the past month. This has prompted investors to reassess how its current valuation lines up with recent financial results. See our latest analysis for Caesars Entertainment. Recent trading has been choppy, with a 26.05% 1 month share price return contrasting with a 4.87% decline in 1 year total shareholder return. This signals momentum building in...
Microsoft Realizes It’s Epically Screwed Up Windows 11 as Users Rage at Copilot AI Crammed Everywhere
Windows VP Pavan Davuluri effectively admitted outright that the company went too far to shove AI down users' throats at all costs.
Microsoft announces Xbox Partner Preview for this week, with Ryu Ga Gotoku's Stranger Than Heaven finally making a showing
Microsoft has announced its next Xbox Partner Preview showcase will take place later this week, focused on third-party games from the likes of Sega and GSC.
Rahm Emanuel proposes banning all federal employees from betting on prediction markets
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (AMC) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
Zacks.com users have recently been watching AMC Entertainment (AMC) quite a bit. Thus, it is worth knowing the facts that could determine the stock's prospects.
Sewing And Munro Continue Dominance In New Global Sports Alliance International Pickleball Tour With Two Golds In Vietnam
The third event of the new Global Sports Pickleball Alliance saw the tour head to Ho Chi Minh City over the weekend, where Jack Munro and Sofia Sewing both won two golds.
MLB Power Rankings: Dodgers open 2026 season as best team (again) with a World Series three-peat on the line
Ready for another MLB season? How many teams can win the World Series?
Latest World & National News & Headlines
USA TODAY delivers current national and local news, sports, entertainment, finance, technology, and more through award-winning journalism, photos, and videos.
Blue Jays extend manager John Schneider, GM Ross Atkins following World Series appearance
The Blue Jays are locking up two architects of the team's World Series run.
Happening this week | Women Working and Winning in Politics Roundtable
The 3rd annual Women Working & Winning in Politics Roundtable will be held at Dillard University
Danone to buy protein shake maker Huel as health nutrition craze drives demand shift
Merging the companies is an opportunity in fast-growing nutrition space, said Danone CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique.
Benjamin Logan students shine at Regional Science Day competition
Benjamin Logan students had a strong showing at the Ohio Academy of Science Regional Science Day at Ohio Northern University. Competing against top students from […]
Peace of mind was Mikaela Shiffrin's biggest victory in 2026 Winter Olympics
Olympic legends Mikaela Shiffrin and Simone Biles are fierce advocates for athletes prioritizing their mental health.
UCLA tries to enjoy rare opportunity for Lauren and Sienna Betts
UCLA works to celebrate Lauren and Sienna Betts as successful sisters and individual playmakers pushing to help the Bruins win.
AI-generated attack ads are already slopping up Mass. races
AI attack ads are already showing up in Massachusetts races — and the 2026 cycle is just getting started.
Staff revolts, secret meetings: Inside the tense fight between Mike Pence and the Heritage Foundation
Mike Pence used to dream of following two successful Donald Trump terms with his own turn in the White House.
Microsoft Plans Better Windows 11 RAM Management and a Smoother User Experience
Microsoft recently announced a plethora of changes coming to Windows 11 to reshape the operating system into a completely stable and enjoyable experience. Today we learn that Microsoft plans a major background usage overhaul with future updates, focusing on RAM usage and overall memory management, s...
German men's biathlon coaches stay, women's coaches leave after flop
Tobias Reiter und Jens Filbrich have kept their jobs as coaches of Germany's men's biathlon team despite their equivalents in the women's team leaving their roles. The season which finished on Sunday was hugely disappointing for the former biathlon powerhouses, with just one Olympic bronze medal and no World Cup wins.
Ohio State vs Notre Dame predictions, picks, odds for NCAA Tournament Second Round
Our March Madness experts pick the winner for No. 3 Ohio State vs No. 6 Notre Dame in the 2026 women's NCAA Tournament on March 23
UConn vs Syracuse predictions, picks, odds for NCAA Tournament Second Round
Our March Madness experts pick the winner for No. 1 UConn vs No. 9 Syracuse in the 2026 women's NCAA Tournament on March 23
Palm Beach County high school sports weekly schedule for March 23-28
High school sports are back in full swing in Palm Beach County. See the full schedule for baseball, softball, lacrosse and more.
Leeds 0-0 Brentford
Paul: Leeds played as if they are frightened of losing rather than trying to win. Chris: Good point in the end - they are a good side pushing for a European place and have good players. Hopefully in the final run-in we will see more of Daniel James, Wilfried Gnonto and Noah Okafor, especially in the home games, to create more goals and keep us in the Premier League.
Tribune All-Area girls' basketball team full of winners
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Small swings, high drama: why UK polls are less volatile than they seem
In what is beginning to look like a fragmented five-party system, small swings carry outsized political consequences
Experience shone through for Manchester City at Wembley against Arsenal
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Historical Wigan cotton mill to reopen as entertainment venue.
Factory Floor is set to open in Wigan's Grade II-listed Eckersley Mill following a £3m revamp.
TCU completes comeback, avoids Washington's NCAA Tournament upset bid
TCU women's basketball’s 62-59 overtime win over Washington in the second round of March Madness wasn’t pretty, but it was resilient.
Winners and losers from first weekend of the NCAA tournament feature John Calipari, Darryn Peterson, Big Ten and blue bloods
I tested ChatGPT vs. Perplexity with the same 5 prompts — the winner surprised me
AI Madness Round 1: The Heavyweight meets the Challenger in our first round of Tom's Guide AI Madness
The Vogue Business Fall/Winter 2026 Size Inclusivity Report
Size inclusivity on the runway fell again this season, highlighting how far the industry still has to go.
Funding for populist-right ‘media-political complex’ exceeded £170m in five years, research finds
Handful of billionaires gave huge sums in particular to media organisations that boosted rightwing politicians, says Liam Byrne MP
Trump’s new red line could set the Iran war on a fateful course
On Friday, President Donald Trump said he was considering “winding down” his war with Iran. But a day later, he threatened to “obliterate” the country’s power plants in an escalation that could further tip the conflict out of control.
The DLSS 5 Backlash Is Still Swirling
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Wichita State wins 96-70 against Oklahoma State in NIT
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) Kenyon Giles had 28 points in Wichita State's 96-70 victory against Oklahoma State on Sunday in the NIT.
Longhorns secure major upgrade following NCAA decision on eligibility waiver
Improving the offensive line has been a major focus for Texas this offseason, and the Longhorns got a big piece of that puzzle locked in on Wednesday following weeks of eligibility uncertainty.
Microsoft: Removing some Copilots will improve Windows 11
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Auburn secures 91-85 victory over Seattle U in NIT
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Alvaro Folgueiras hits game-winner to lift Iowa past No. 1 Florida, into first Sweet 16 since 1999
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Arizona Diamondbacks Spring Training Gameday Thread, #30 @ Padres
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Chelan Co. Sheriff’s Office secures nearly $55k in funding for behavioral health unit
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Lessons from Binghamton led alumni award winner to public health
Clare Biging ’16 is an epidemiologist and public health advocate at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Wisconsin edges Ohio St., wins another title at Frozen Four
Claire Enright scored the go-ahead goal in the third period Sunday, Ava McNaughton had 34 saves, and No. 2 seed Wisconsin beat top-seeded Ohio State 3-2 at the Frozen Four to win its second consecutive national championship.
Luke Doncic facing suspension as Lakers oppose playoff-bound Pistons
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This Couple Turned A Facebook Marketplace Side Hustle Into A Seven-Figure Business
When Harrison Gordon and Paige Sandher couldn't find a modular custom sofa that was also affordable, they designed their own. They built a fast-growing business around their idea.
Notre Dame men join women in winning inaugural three-weapon title
Notre Dame's Ahmed Hesham won the men's saber Sunday, and the Fighting Irish men joined the women in winning the inaugural three-weapon national championship at the Joyce Center.
Slovenia liberals take narrow election lead over conservatives: exit poll
Exits polls suggest Prime Minister Robert Golob has blocked a fourth term for right-winger Janez Janša
Federal union says 'untrained' ICE agents shouldn't replace TSA
President Donald Trump said he would tap ICE agents to run security at US airports as unpaid TSA officers stop showing up to work.
Nevada Wins Temporary Ban on Sports Betting on Kalshi
The prediction-market platform must obtain state gambling licenses and prohibit users under 21 to offer such contracts, a state court said.
Goodyear 400 Live Updates, Leaderboard: Will Tyler Reddick Win 4th Race This Season?
Follow along here for live updates from Sunday's Goodyear 400.
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.
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