SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " Learn " 3,774 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Fort Bend County Fair to Reveal 2026 Entertainment Lineup at Free Sugar Land Event
SUGAR LAND, Texas (Covering Katy News) — The Fort Bend County Fair and Rodeo will reveal its 2026 entertainment lineup during a free public event Wednesday as the organization prepares to celebrate its 90th anniversary. Fort Bend County Fair 2026 Lineup Reveal Set for July 8 in Sugar Land The “Who’s Playing at the Fair?” gathering is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. at Talyard Brewing Company, 1033 Imperial Blvd. Attendees will be the first to learn which artists are set to perform, with giveaways, special guests and family-friendly activities planned. Food and beverages will be available for purchase.2026 Fort Bend County Fair Dates and Schedule The fair’s Championship BBQ Cook-Off is set for Sept. 18-19, with the main fair and rodeo running Sept. 25 through Oct. 4. The events will feature nightly concerts, livestock shows, youth competitions, rodeo performances and carnival attractions. What to Expect at the Fort Bend County Fair 90th Anniversary Celebration "We’re excited to kick off our 90th year by answering the question everyone is asking — who’s playing at the fair?” Fair President Brian Graeber said. “This event is a chance for residents to come together, become part of our fair family, and get an early look at what’s in store for our milestone celebration.” Fort Bend County Fair Scholarship and Youth Impact For 90 years, the Fort Bend County Fair and Rodeo has focused on benefiting youth, promoting agriculture and supporting education. This year, the organization awarded $250,000 in scholarships and generated more than $1.4 million through its junior livestock and other auctions. The lineup reveal is free and open to the public. For more information, visit fortbendcountyfair.com or follow the fair on social media. The fairgrounds are located at 4310 Hwy. 36 South in Rosenberg.
Grand View goalkeeper channels love for sports into podcast
Louis Helm helped Grand View win a national soccer championship. Now he's using his podcast to learn more about the world of sports.
4 Health Benefits of Sardines
Sardines are great sources of nutrients like protein and omega-3s. But before you toss a few down, learn about their potential downsides, too.
I'm the organizer in my friend group. Someone has to be.
I've learned that strong female friendships don't happen by accident. Usually, someone has to send the text first.
AI in Mental Health: Why Clinicians Need to Be in the Room
As clinicians, we learn not to be agreeable, we learn to challenge and sit in discomfort. We ask the hard questions underneath the one being asked. That is the work these tools are not yet built to do.
How I Cleaned Up the Thousands of Photos and Videos I Had Scattered Across the Internet
I reduced my storage subscription fees and learned a valuable lesson in how to back up priceless memories.
Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math, science students Showcase Knowledge, skills gained at Summer Academy
GREENEVILLE – Five weeks of thorough preparation and mentoring by Tusculum University staff members with local high school students participating in a summer program resulted in high-caliber research projects that highlighted their hands-on learning experience. Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and
Yankees legend reveals the tragic health lesson he learned from his 'old school' dad
3 ‘Bad’ Snacks That Actually Support Heart Health
Not all “bad” snacks are actually bad for your heart. Learn which dietitian-approved picks can support a heart-healthy eating pattern.
Notes From A Career In Private Equity: David Mussafer On Business
David Mussafer emphasized leadership, teamwork, continuous learning, disciplined investing, and AI adoption as keys to long-term business success.
Bemotrizonal is coming to a sunscreen near you. Here’s what to know about the new ingredient.
Learn about the latest FDA-approved sunscreen ingredient, Bemotrizinol, and why it's changing American sun protection.
Pokémon Go Sobble Community Day
Sobble is June 2026's Community Day Pokémon in Pokémon Go! Time to learn how to get a Shiny Hundo Sobble with Perfect IV CP during the event.
Learn to Fresco Paint with the Science Museum of Western Virginia
7@four learns to Fresco Paint with Play-Doh.
Long Reads for the Long Weekend
(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) Happy Fourth of July weekend! As has been a tradition of mine going back to the beginning of the EntStrategyGuy website, I’m sharing my favorite long reads of the last year, like I did in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024, and 2025. Let’s dive right in! Subscribe “Different Prices for the Same Ride: How Uber and Lyft Use AI to Get More Money Out of You“ by Derek Kravitz in Consumer Reports I don’t think surveillance pricing, like the kind described in this brilliant Consumer Reports article, is long for the world—it’s toxically unpopular—but we’ll see if either party takes on this issue. If I ran a political party focused on affordability, I would focus on a few pro-consumer and pro-market policies: Banning non-compete agreements. Ending surveillance pricing Eliminating junk fees (read more here...) Ensuring “right to repair” for consumer (and military!) products Capping excessive app store fees Stopping digital/algorithmic price-fixing tools. Preventing automatic subscription price increases. And more. If you want to fight inflation, there are a lot of great ways to do it quickly. Speaking of higher prices... “Secret Documents Show Pepsi and Walmart Colluded to Raise Food Prices Across the Economy“ by Matt Stoller in BIG Again, I think a political party should focus on lowering prices for consumers. And deals like this—Walmart making a deal/forcing Pepsi to offer the lowest prices at its stores and nowhere else—hypothetically lower prices at Walmart...but raise them everywhere else. “15 DUIs, still driving: California’s failure to take repeat drunk drivers off the road“ by Robert Lewis and Lauren Hepler in CalMatters CalMatters does terrific reporting in California, something the Golden State desperately needs more of, and this article is a great example of that. “PugLips: The next insanely popular thing you’ve never heard of…” by Simon Carless in Game Discover Co I thought that this parody article (and yes, it’s a parody, but I was definitely unsure at first) was hilarious and totally nailed how much tech/business journalism feels these days. Actually, three of my favorite articles this year were on hype in the video game industry, including Georg Zoller’s “The Video Game Industries Very Dark Night”—which I linked to recently and wrote a follow-up here—and Owen Mahoney’s “Derek Zoolander, Videogame Exec”. In particular, I like Mahoney’s focus on user experience as a guide to what trends will actually grab hold of customers. “The Matrix Lies“ by Evan Shapiro in Media War & Peace Evan Shapiro’s first person account of his experience with AI was hilarious. I think LLMs capabilities have significantly grown from last summer, and yet...my editor/researcher just had an abysmal experience using an LLM to do a quite basic task (which our LLM normally does each week) and the LLM made a mistake on every single data entry...along with seven different mistakes affecting twelve of the twenty or so entries, including mistakes that are explicitly spelled out in the prompt. That’s a brutal failure rate. Again, if you use AI/LLM for data collection, you need to take a lot of extra steps to verify and check the data. “Ghosts in the Balcony: A Cross-Country Trip to 58 Theaters Fighting to Survive“ by Matthew Frank in The Ankler I thought Matthew Frank’s pitch to head across America to visit theaters sounded insane aggressive at the time—at least it felt that way to someone a decade older than him; man, to be in your twenties again, am I right?—but I knew the result would be great. And it was, a terrific feature by a great young writer. Also, I loved Matthew’s recent article on who’s getting the precious few entry level jobs in Hollywood. (Hint: nepotism.) “Disney erased FiveThirtyEight“ and “Did Las Vegas get too greedy?” by Nate Silver in Silver Bulletin I love media history and analysis, and there’s no one better to get the history of FiveThirtyEight than from Nate Silver, who wrote about his personal experience in one of my favorite pieces from this year. I also loved Nate’s breakdown of what’s causing Vegas’ woes, but I’ll offer one criticism, summarized as “Might I suggest antitrust?” Many centrists/center-right/libertarian thinkers (Nate is self-described as the latter) often don’t consider consolidation or antitrust as factors in policy issues like housing, America’s military readiness, or, in this case, Las Vegas. Even if libertarians want to debunk antitrust/consolidation concerns, I’d love to read that debunking. In this case, Vegas is incredibly consolidated (though it also has been for a long time) and I’d have loved to read Nate at least contending with this factor, since he addresses almost every other potential factor for Vegas’ decline. “Why Microsoft’s Carbon Removal Pullback Is Such a Big Deal“ by Robinson Meyer in Heatmap News I’m a big supporter of carbon removal efforts, but this nascent industry faces a lot of headwinds, including this big move most recently. I think it’s clear that solar panels and batteries should be able to get the world to its carbon footprint goals, but effective carbon renewal remains necessary to prevent the worst impacts of global warming. “AI is killing the cheap smartphone“ by David Oks LLMs and AI will impact the world in ways we’re not ready for, and already, third world countries are seeing the prices of cheap cellphones skyrocket due to the cost of chips skyrocketing. This article by David Oks is a terrific breakdown. “100 Days of Madness: Netflix, Paramount, Warner and the Future of Hollywood“ by Wade Major at Hollywood Heretic Wade Major dove deep into Hollywood/streaming’s financials in this must read piece. Not that I agree with everything in this article (read my take on Warner Bros./Paramount here) but the analysis is top notch. I think many people discount how quality thinking, regardless of the argument/conclusion, will make you a better thinker. “Erased by the UFC: Frank Shamrock, The MMA GOAT of the 20th Century“ by Nate Wilcox in The MMA Draw Newsletter Growing up playing the UFC fighting game on the Dreamcast, Frank Shamrock was my favorite MMA fighter, and this history/tribute to him was great. Other Fun Reads “The Hardest Part Of History To Tell Is How It Felt“ by Craig Fehrman at Defector “Unmasking the Sea Star Killer“ by Craig Welch at bioGraphic “What Could Save the Industry? Fin-Syn“ by Richard Rushfield in The Ankler Alex Rollins Berg in Underexposed on movie bumpers, pillow shots, Disney trash cinema, cult films, and Casablanca. David H. Montgomery in YouGov’s The Surveyor on punctuation marks, condiments, dinosaurs, and comic strips and kids media. “How Medium finally pivoted its way to profitability“ and “Why the best journalists on YouTube are all former Vox employees“ by Simon Owens in Simon Owens’s Media Newsletter “It’s Not Just You, Netflix Shows Have Gotten Slightly Shorter: Here’s What the Data Says“ by Kasey Moore at What’s on Netflix “Numlock Awards: How Diane Warren became the biggest loser in Oscar history“ by Nathaniel Rakich and “Numlock Awards: The Oscar Bait era is over. The Oscar Chum era is here.” by Walt Hickey & Michael Domanico at Numlock Awards
Congress Tackles Public Health Preparedness for World Cup
Learn how congress is tackling public health preparedness, as the United States hosts the World Cup and gears up for the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Mamdani’s politics of joy: What can Arkansas politicians learn from New York’s jubilant mayor?
Zohran Mamdani’s first half-year in office has been a mixed bag when it comes to policy outcomes. There is, however, one area of unquestioned success for the NY mayor: the forging of a sustained politics of joy unmatched by that of any major American politician in recent decades.
Learning the Mike McCarthy offense: Making sense of the stats
What do the numbers say about Mike McCarthy’s offensive prowess? How improved will the Steelers be?
3 Olympia-area businesses are closing or closed, plus library approves furloughs
Learn about the latest happenings with Thurston County businesses.
Is AI A Threat To Healthcare Jobs? Which Jobs Are And Aren’t At Risk
Will AI replace healthcare jobs? Not exactly. Learn which roles face the greatest disruption, which remain resilient, and how the workforce is evolving.
TSMC, Arizona Science Center join forces for kids event
Kids from the Boys and Girls Clubs had the opportunity to learn from interns at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Arizona on Wednesday at an event at the Arizona Science Center.
Businesses Are Stuck in an Efficiency Illusion — Here's Why More Decks Don't Mean Better Decisions
In an AI-accelerated workplace where output is increasingly easy to generate, real professional value comes from judgment, restraint and clarity. Here's why professionals must move beyond volume-based execution and learn to deliver the strategic conviction leaders actually trust.
Comic-Con Shocker: Entertainment Weekly Scraps Annual Party
Entertainment Weekly’s annual Saturday night comic-con party is skipping Comic-Con this year, TheWrap has exclusively learned.
Comic-Con Shocker: Entertainment Weekly Scraps Annual Party
Entertainment Weekly’s annual Saturday night comic-con party is skipping Comic-Con this year, TheWrap has exclusively learned.
Arkansas basketball learns Bahamas opponents ahead of summer trip
The Razorbacks will face two Canadian universities, a Colombian professional team and the Bahamas national team while in Nassau.
Team's prediction task compares GPT-4o with classic machine learning
Large language models have been functionally opaque. Seeking transparency, a team undertook a comparison with traditional machine learning.
ConsentFix and ClickFix: How Microsoft 365 Accounts are Hijacked in 3 Seconds
ConsentFix and ClickFix attacks steal Microsoft 365 tokens in seconds using fake prompts and OAuth flows. Learn how these MFA bypass tactics work and how to defend against them.
Science achievement is not a one-year event
Educational systems often encourage leaders to focus on immediate science achievement while science learning unfolds over many years.
Vinton Cerf says AI must learn these 3 lessons
From standardization to turning a product into a platform, Vinton Cerf said there are lessons AI must learn from the internet boom.
UP libraries host Super Science Fest this week
Kids learned about animals, science, and art while beating the summer heat.
US decides not to renew USMCA trade pact, will seek separate deals with Canada, Mexico
President Trump has opted against the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and will instead pursue separate trade deals with the two major trading partners, FOX Business has learned.
DOOM: The Dark Ages Goes Supersonic With New DLC Chain Spear
DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations is its first major DLC, showcasing a versatile new Chain Spear. Read more inside to learn about the deep movement tech it adds to the game:
The 4 Skills That Matter Most In Global Business Today
Learn the four essential skills for cross-cultural communication, global leadership, and building trust across cultures in today's increasingly global workplace.
University of Phoenix to launch three-year Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Administration for experienced professionals
/PRNewswire/ -- University of Phoenix announces today that it has received approval from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), hlcommission.org, to launch its...
Students Explore Science And Research At Fourth Annual Discovery Day
Local students joined Cincinnati Children’s Discovery Day to explore research labs, meet scientists, and learn about careers in science and medicine.
Exploring STEM Futures through UConn 4-H’s Biotechnology Club
The Biotechnology Club is intentionally designed to complement classroom learning and prepare Connecticut students to enter the skilled, science-literate wo ...
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
Why Some Businesses Sell For Millions While Others Never Sell At All
Learn why some businesses sell for millions while others never sell, and discover the key factors buyers look for before making an offer.
ER visits spiked around Boyle Heights during warehouse fire, public health data shows
While some residents say the smell of rotting food is improving, we are learning that ER visits nearby tripled during the warehouse fire.
Wilmington Small Business Coalition: Building Momentum in 2026 by Heather McWhorter
This article was contributed by Lydia Thomas, UNCW CIE Program Manager. North Carolina continues to be one of the best states to start a business and in 2025, Wilmington, North Carolina earned a spot on the GoDaddy list of the top 10 most entrepreneurial cities in the U.S. While many know Wilmington as small beach town with exceptional food, lots of coffee shops, and fun, vibrant summer activities, a closer look reveals a thriving innovation economy. You’ll find startups emerging across industries including software, healthtech, bluetech, and fintech. At the core of this entrepreneurial ecosystem is the Wilmington Small Business Coalition, with small business advocates and entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) dedicated to helping founders grow, thrive, and succeed. “No Wrong Door” Established in 2016, the Coalition was designed to make it easier for individuals and small businesses to access resources most suited to their particular needs. The Coalition is designed to have a “no wrong door” entryway into the regional startup ecosystem. Whether you are exploring a new idea sketched on the back of a napkin or leading a more established, growth-stage company, Coalition members can help connect you with the programs, funding opportunities, mentors, and resources best suited to your needs. No matter where you are in your entrepreneurial journey, any Coalition organization can help point you in the right direction. Coalition Members and Leadership Coalition members include the UNCW Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (UNCW CIE), AARP, Brunswick Community College Small Business Center, Cape Fear Community College Small Business Center, Cape Fear Region SCORE, Genesis Block Foundation, Network for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington (NEW), Small Business & Technology Development Center (SBTDC), Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, YWCA Living the Dream Center for Entrepreneurship, Carolina Community Impact Fund (CCI Fund), Partner Community Capital, 717mkt Office Collaborative, NC Biotech, and Institute NC. In May 2026, the Coalition held its leadership elections, resulting in the selection of a new executive team. The following officers were elected to serve two-year terms: Chair: Lydia Thomas, UNCW CIE Vice Chair: Diane Lantz, CCI Fund Secretary: Aariene Hansley, Genesis Block Foundation Treasurer: Gloria Monroe, SBTDC Vision for the Wilmington Small Business Coalition In 2026, the Wilmington Small Business Coalition continues its work as a collaborative network of organizations. By connecting programs, expertise, and services across partner organizations, entrepreneurs can more easily find the right support at the right time. Rather than operating in silos, the Coalition aims to function as a unified, cohesive system of support for small businesses and entrepreneurs, ensuring that resources and expertise across partner organizations are visible and accessible. Through stronger collaboration and shared pathways, entrepreneurs can move more seamlessly from idea to startup to growth. Looking to dive into the Wilmington entrepreneurial ecosystem? Connect with any of the Coalition partners to get started! Connect with CIE To learn more about CIE and our services, programs, and events, join the CIE newsletter. You can also follow us on social media: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, or YouTube. CIE’s website is uncw.edu/cie. Heather McWhorter is the director of the UNCW Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE). CIE supports innovation-forward start-ups and helps to build a vibrant innovation economy for all in southeast NC.
Fly Phishing: How Business Aviation Can Fight AI-Supercharged Cybertheft
AI is making cybercriminals faster, smarter and harder to detect. Learn how business aviation operators can recognize emerging threats, defend against sophisticated phishing attacks and protect their aircraft, data and organizations.
Rethinking “Soft” Leadership Skills in Public Health
Learn how public health leaders can leverage interpersonal skills to better navigate cross-sector partnerships in this blog post.
Community Health Workers Learn Perinatal Outreach Approaches at UAMS Training
LITTLE ROCK — Twenty community health workers (CHWs) from across Arkansas recently gathered in Springdale with a shared goal: to build connections and learn how to better support mothers across the state. Hosted by the UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation, the three-day Perinatal CHW Upskill Training provided interactive, hands-on…
This microbe turns into a cannibalistic ‘Hulk’
Euplotes gigatrox’s shape-shifting may reveal how early life learned to act in surprisingly complex ways.
The Satire, Autograph Collection | The Hotel Collection
Discover The Satire, Autograph Collection an American Express Travel Luxury Property. Learn More About The Offerings & Features of The Satire, Autograph Collection in Alexandria, Virginia US.
Lawsuit accuses businessman behind unfinished entertainment venue in Bryan of diverting company funds
The Schulman’s Movie Bowl Grille at Midtown Park is years behind schedule, and its owner is facing other legal issues, KBTX has learned
Jaxson Dart Learning 2 New Skills from Giants ‘Enhancement’ Guru
Jaxson Dart is learning two new skills from an "enhancement" guru for the New York Giants. The post Jaxson Dart Learning 2 New Skills from Giants ‘Enhancement’ Guru appeared first on HEAVY.
Northwest Earth and Space Science Pathways Project Celebrates Student Innovation Through ROADS from Earth to Venus National Challenge
The Northwest Earth and Space Science Pathways (NESSP) project recently concluded its 2025–2026 ROADS (Rover Observation And Discoveries in Space) from Earth
Netflix and Superheroes Are Having a Rough Stretch on Streaming....
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) I have a quick prediction before we start today’s article: You might see this data in future news articles. Not my specific charts or analysis, but the core trend I’ve been monitoring—Netflix is having a lackluster Q2—will become inescapable. Often, folks want to know “What does the data say?” Well, that’s what it says. I haven’t seen this analysis hit the trades really yet, but I have a feeling some other outlets are going to start making this case soon. Remember, you read it here first. You probably have read about the problems facing superhero films at the box office this weekend. Well, this week, I explore whether superheroes are dying on TV as well! And the data says: definitely maybe! We have a lot to cover in today’s Streaming Ratings Report, which covers the two weeks of 18-May and 25-May. Today, I’m just looking at TV, like Netflix’s disappointing Q2, superhero shows underwhelming, a few TV shows dropping off the charts, The Pitt finally ending its epic run on the viewership charts (and whether “view counts” change its status as one of the biggest shows of all time), all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. Tomorrow, I’ve got a great rundown of the film side of things. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, Showlabs, TV Time trend data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of May 18th to May 31st, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Television - Netflix’s Q2 Slump Continues Having analyzed streaming ratings for going on half a decade, I have learned to trust my gut, but I’m always relieved when I can find actual data to back it up. For example, after a string of very popular shows like Stranger Things, Bridgerton, The Lincoln Lawyer and The Night Agent came out, week after week, in January and February, my gut wondered if Netflix had enough new and returning TV shows to sustain them throughout the year. Since then, Netflix’s post-March slate of shows has not impressed me. This week seemed to feature a potential new hit, but then, like a classic Duffer Bros. TV show, there was a twist. I speak of The Boroughs, Netflix’s latest (and last) Duffer Bros. produced show. The pitch is “Stranger Things with older actors”. And it topped the Nielsen charts: With just two weeks of viewership, The Boroughs would have been a top 25 debut show last year: But here’s the twist: Netflix has already cancelled The Boroughs! What happened? Likely a few things. First, the show didn’t do as well globally as it did in the US. As What’s on Netflix showed, it lagged behind several other shows that got cancelled. Second, its completion rate was likely low; after an initial burst of interest, it quickly dropped off on the Samba TV and Luminate charts. Third, the Duffer Bros. left Netflix for Paramount, and that may have factored into Netflix’s decision here. (Though I tend to believe that if a show is doing well, Netflix would have kept greenlighting seasons.) Still, just because I can explain why Netflix may have cancelled this show doesn’t mean I’m justifying it. In particular, as I’ve noted before, Netflix is losing a lot of their bigger shows as they reach their natural ends, and they need to replace those shows. This show had the hallmarks of a big new genre show, and it’s their biggest hit of the last few months (in the US at least), but now it’s done. Netflix’s other show this week—The Four Seasons, the second season of the “hit” show from last year—definitely disappointed. Its sophomore season had about half the viewership of the first, only 12.7 million hours. It also only had a two week run on Samba TV, and its numbers were all down on Luminate too. In other words, even with two successes, the Q2 slump for Netflix looks real: I could add to the list of disappointments: Both Lord of the Files and Man on Fire had short runs on the Nielsen charts. Running Point’s sophomore season also opened to about half its viewership, similar to The Four Seasons. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’s second season—see below—didn’t even make any of the three viewership charts I track, unlike the first season. Netflix is absolutely having a dismal second three months of 2026. If this Nielsen data is any indication, and I think it is, I think this will show up in Netflix’s engagement report, and maybe even their financial outcomes. And the rest of June doesn’t look much better. We have two hit shows coming back—Sweet Magnolias, one of their quietest big shows, and Avatar: The Last Airbender, a big hit for them in 2024—but the other big swings are limited series crime thrillers i.e. no future season potential. Like I said above, sometimes when I uncover a juicy nugget like this, other outlets end up writing very similar articles mimicking the data without credit. We’ll see if that happens this time! Share Television - The State of Superhero Shows on Streaming When I first heard the pitch for Spider-Noir—a Sony TV show on Prime Video that binge-released eight episodes first on MGM+ then on Prime Video two days later—I had my doubts. It’s a live-action Spider-Man show set in the 1930s, starring Nicholas Cage, based on a cameo of a character in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. No, seriously, that’s the pitch. That could either go terrifically well or horribly wrong. Great because, Spider-Man. He’s the biggest superhero we have. I’ve seen tracking numbers that put the new _Spider-Man: Brand New Da_y as the blockbuster of the year and initial pre-sales back that up. And yet this Spider-Noir pitch feels very esoteric. (Also, the eight-episode binge release feels very “Amazon copying Netflix” again.) So what’s the data say? And what does this say about the future of superhero shows?
Jodie Turner-Smith offers rare comments about co-parenting with ex Joshua Jackson
Jodie Turner-Smith says she and ex-husband Joshua Jackson are 'learning' and 'not alway getting it totally right' when it comes to co-parenting their daughter together.
Small and medium businesses aren't waiting for an AI invitation—they're already leading
SMBs are using secure AI to build trust, integrate workflows, and turn security into a foundation for scalable growth. Learn more.
The Six Biggest Questions About ‘GTA VI’
We’ve learned a lot about the most anticipated video game of all time. But much of Rockstar’s blockbuster sequel to ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ remains a mystery.
Students immersed in marine science during camp
MOREHEAD CITY — From microscopic sea life to majestic whales, county middle and high school students are spending June and July learning about everything ocean related during innovative marine science
Taylor Launches New Bachelor's Degree in AI & Machine Learning
Taylor University is launching a Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, building on four decades of AI expertise.
How to end a TV show
The creative minds behind From talk about learning from Lost, fan expectations, and wrapping up a story loaded with mysteries.
Viewpoint: The dangerous influence of ‘woke’ post-modernism in science
rom an article in Science magazine by journalist Rachael Zamzow, we learn that many social scientists believe that a published paper should
After months of unanswered pain, a Philly woman learned she had Stage 3 colon cancer. Now she’s pushing for equitable care
Medical advances mean that more people are surviving cancer. But not everyone is benefiting from those gains equally, a new report shows.
Experts convene to make the 'early connections' that matter for children's health, learning
A June event in Chapel Hill assembled the state's agencies and sectors that shape early childhood development, health, and learning.
Grand Theft Auto VI Rumored to Offer 60 FPS Mode on PS5/Xbox Series X, But Maybe Not at Launch
One of the reasons Grand Theft Auto VI fans are eager to learn the currently missing details on PS5 Pro enhancements is that the most powerful console available on the market is expected to include a performance mode targeting 60 FPS. However, according to a credible source, there's a decent chance that even the base PlayStation 5 and Microsoft's roughly equivalent Xbox Series X will support 60 FPS in Rockstar's massively anticipated game. The rumor comes from the popular Polish gaming podcast Rock and Borys, which features Remigiusz "Rock" Maciaszek and Borys Nieśpielak. It is the latter who shared in […]
Learn Science with Dr. V: Is air weightless?
Air is a mixture of gases, mainly nitrogen and oxygen, along with small amounts of other gases such as carbon dioxide, argon, and water vapor.
2027 NFL Draft Summer Report: Drew Mesetmaker, QB, Oklahoma State
Is Drew Mesetmaker the wild card in the 2027 NFL Draft? Read his summer scouting report to learn more.
This Jibber-Jabber Night in Acadiana prohibits jibber jabber. Here's why it works.
Learn how Acadiana Talent in Lafayette provides a platform for musicians of all ages to perform, experiment and connect, contributing to the city's diverse music scene.
Ex-Google engineer says Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Sundar Pichai share the same trait—it’s the lesson he swears by as a $7.2 billion AI CEO
$7.2 billion AI founder Arvind Jain ‘observed’ Sundar Pichai at Google for years before he became CEO—he learned you need to ‘think crazy’ to be successful
Ex-Google engineer says Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Sundar Pichai share the same trait—it’s the lesson he swears by as a $7.2 billion AI CEO
$7.2 billion AI founder Arvind Jain ‘observed’ Sundar Pichai at Google for years before he became CEO—and learned you need to ‘think crazy’ to be successful
This Week’s Small Business Tech News: Apple Significantly Raises Their Prices
AI is reshaping small business IT, customer service and marketing. Learn why Microsoft agents, Apple price hikes and AI influencers matter to your business.
I overcame my fear of learning about AI and landed a Big Tech AI job
A product designer share how embracing her inner "mad scientist" and experimenting with AI helped her land a job at Adobe, with no formal background in machine learning.
I overcame my fear of learning about AI and landed a Big Tech AI job
A product designer share how embracing her inner "mad scientist" and experimenting with AI helped her land a job at Adobe, with no formal background in machine learning.
4 Marketing Lessons Every Business Can Learn From the 2026 FIFA World Cup
Nike, Adidas, Home Depot, and FIFA itself offer a powerful reminder: marketing success depends on far more than how much you spend.
The Arts and Sciences of Judo: The New Edition Expands the Frontiers of Knowledge
The publication of Volume 6, Number 1 of "The Arts and Sciences of Judo" marks another important milestone in the development of judo research worldwide. As the International Judo Federation's interdisciplinary journal, under the supervision of Professor Sanda Čorak, it has become a recognised platform where science, education and the values of judo come together to deepen our understanding of the many dimensions of our sport. It also forms an integral part of the IJF Academy's mission to promote education, lifelong learning and the dissemination of knowledge throughout the global judo community.
Community baby shower in Landover aims to address disparities, promote healthier lifestyles
This weekend in Prince George’s County, people came together for a community baby shower aimed at promoting healthier lifestyles among Black and Brown families across the DMV. With a lot of energy and laughter in the room, hundreds of people gathered at Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex in Landover. The free event offered support for expecting mothers and parents…
Good Sports: Former Bulldog track and field athlete aims to be flag football Olympian
Last June, Kaja Bins didn't know what flag football was. Kaja now has the potential to become an Olympian in a sport she learned a year ago.
Jackson Parish young business leaders class
Town of Jonesboro and Mayor James Harris look to host class for young kids learn the business world
MSU Vet Tech program awarded $150k NIFA-USDA grant
Morehead State University's nationally ranked veterinary technology program was recently awarded significant financial support to help it maintain its place as the #1 program of its kind in Kentucky. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), part of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), awarded MSU's vet tech program a $150,000 NIFA-USDA grant for equipment to support small and large veterinary technology education and workforce competency at MSU. Learn more about veterinary technology programs at MSU by emailing Staton at a.staton@moreheadstate.edu or calling 606-783-2328. Find out more about MSU's veterinary technology program by calling 606-783-2662.
From Linchpin to Lever — Part 1: Measuring Trust in Public Health
Learn how local health departments can measure public trust using existing public health tools to strengthen relationships and improve community health outcomes.
Stillwater’s early start for school is big challenge for football, fall sports
Learn why Stillwater is starting early and how teams are trying to make adjustments.
Small Business Central to American Prosperity Celebration
House Small Business Committee celebrates small businesses as key to American prosperity ahead of nation's 250th anniversary. Learn why Main Street matters.
Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen: What We Learned In Capcom's Showcase
Kento Kinoshita, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen's original director, is returning for Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen
Four bad habits tournament golf exposed within my game
What one writer learned from his second tournament round of the year.
Warren Buffett Bought A Business For $1.7B ‘Over The Phone Without Ever Meeting The People There’ Using The ‘Most Valuable Skill’ He Learned
Buying a company for $1.7 billion without meeting management sounds like the kind of decision that would keep lawyers busy for months. Warren Buffett did it over the phone. Speaking at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2003, Berkshire Hathaway Chair...
Taylor Launches New Bachelor's Degree in AI and Machine Learning
Taylor University is launching a Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, building on four decades of AI expertise.
What Happens to Your Liver When You Drink Green Tea Every Day
What does green tea do for your liver? Learn how it may affect fat buildup, inflammation, and liver enzymes, plus risks and benefits.
Braille is literacy: Rice researchers are reshaping the science of reading
As schools across the country increasingly embrace evidence-based approaches to reading instruction through the science of reading, two Rice researchers are leading an effort to ensure students who learn through braille are not left out of the research shaping literacy education.
Nevada Global Business travels to Tokyo
Students explore Japan’s economy, culture and business practices through company visits and immersive learning in the Nevada Global Business program.
County Invites Youth, Camps To Register For ‘Mind Your Business’ July 7 - Town-Crier Newspaper
Palm Beach County’s Mind Your Business Youth Entrepreneurship Forum returns on July 7, offering a full day of hands-on learning and innovation for young people across the county. Now in its seventh year, the forum is designed to inspire the next generation of creators, problem-solvers and emerging business leaders. Open to youth ages 10 to […]
What we learned as Bryce Harper caps Phillies' shocking comeback trilogy
The Phillies erased another five-run deficit, rallied late again and reached the season’s halfway point with another reminder of how much has changed.
👀 Brazil learn first World Cup knockout opponents
The Brazil National Team already knows who it will face in the FIFA World Cup Round of 32.Vini Jr., Matheus Cunha & Co. will take on Japan in their first knockout match of the World Cup. Japan finish...
Baxter Health Heart and Vascular Clinic Welcomes Brandi Watson, APRN
Baxter Health is proud to welcome Brandi Watson, APRN, to the Baxter Health Heart and Vascular Clinic. Watson joined the team on May 15 and is currently accepting new patients. Watson brings more than 25 years of experience caring for some of the most critically ill patients. Much of her career has been spent in intensive care settings, where she learned to make fast, high-stakes decisions for patients whose lives depended on getting the right care at the right moment. That kind of experience, which is gained through years at the bedside, is exactly what heart and vascular patients need from a provider.
Discovery Education Earns Five 2026 CODiE Award Nominations Spanning Math, Science, Digital Citizenship, and Immersive Learning
Discovery Education Earns Five 2026 CODiE Award Nominations Spanning Math, Science, Digital Citizenship, and Immersive Learning
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.
Chris Evert shares devastating health update
It is the news that no one wanted to hear about Chris Evert. Amid the Netflix press tour and her upcoming ESPN commentary duties at Wimbledon, we learned on Wednesday that she quietly stepped away to deal with a health…
Gov. Shapiro on Mamdani-backed wins in NYC: Candidates doing ‘performative politics’ must learn ‘how to deliver results’
Lionel Richie cuts concert short over health issue after sitting down mid-performance
"What I have learned about my years of being in the business. When you are feeling dizzy, sit your ass down," Richie told the crowd.
After my divorce, I rebuilt my life, starting with friendship
After my divorce, I felt lonely and had to make new friends. I learned a lot about friendship — and myself — in the process.
How should European scientists respond to the US AI kill switch?
Earlier in June, Europe’s worst fears of technological dependence were confirmed when the White House ordered the AI firm Anthropic to stop non-US citizens using its leading models. This kill-switch moment crystalised anxieties in Brussels that the continent, lagging the US on the creation of leading-edge AI models, is now a technological of vassal of Washington. The shock has specific implications for European scientists and universities. Some governments are now worried that with AI being integrated into labs, Donald Trump now has his finger hovering over an off switch for European science. “Having restrictions on this tool, it can have an impact on our own research,” said France’s research minister, Philippe Baptiste, at the VivaTech conference in Paris on June 18.Baptiste, himself a former academic, said that colleagues in mathematics had recently warned him they were now cut off from leading-edge US models, risking their work. “This model is not available anymore now because of the US restriction, and for the first time this had an impact on mathematics,” a field where large language models (LLMs) are making a significant contribution, said Baptiste. So, should European scientists avoid relying on US models in the future? Or would this be a self-harming overreaction? And how is AI being used in science, anyway? What happened?On June 12, it emerged that Washington, citing cybersecurity concerns, had ordered Anthropic to stop non-US citizens using two models: Claude Mythos 5, and Claude Fable 5, a version of Mythos but with guardrails to prevent abuse. Anthropic said Washington’s concerns were overblown. But forced to follow the order, yet with no way to check who was using the models, the company suddenly shut down access for everyone, US citizens included. There’s still no agreement on how to restore broad access. But last week, Bloomberg reported that select US companies, and the US government, still had access to Mythos despite the ban, but the EU’s cybersecurity agency Enisa had been shut out. Class division of researchersIn the longer term, access outside the US should be restored, said Marcel Salathé, co-director of the AI centre at the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL), because a permanent restriction would be financially ruinous to US AI firms. “Even Trump will eventually budge to economic pressure,” he said.However, US AI firms might end up operating rather like banks, doing due diligence on users of their leading-edge AI models, he went on.European scientists are unlikely to fall foul of such checks, he said. But having a Chinese postgraduate in their lab, or doing a type of research the US disapproved of, could potentially result in access being denied. “It will create a sort of class division of researchers,” he said. More than frontier modelsHowever, successfully deploying AI in science is about far more than just having access to leading LLMs such as Mythos.Instead, many science-specific tools, most famously Alphafold, which predicts protein folding structures, require “far less” computing power to train than frontier models, well within the capabilities of European supercomputers, according to a recent analysis by the Arq Foundation, a Brussel-based AI think tank. Instead, tools such as Alphafold are possible because certain fields, like protein folding, weather prediction or astronomy, have large, clean, standardised datasets that can be used to train predictive models. Rather than compute, “data is the central constraint for AI for science,” the report says. For example, a less powerful physics model trained on CERN’s data “will be more valuable than the best model without certain data,” said Bengüsu Özcan, author of the report. European advantage?Europe could therefore steal a march by using its scientific data and infrastructure to create models US digital giants cannot. “They might actually match or go even beyond what these big [US] companies are doing,” said Özcan.Indeed, some European start-ups hope to create automated testing labs to create the kind of standardised data that could speed up the discovery of new materials. Materials scientists say there’s currently too little data to train models. AI scientistsHowever, even if the bottleneck for AI in science is often data, rather than compute, being at the mercy of the US for LLM access could still become a problem for European scientists. A new class of “AI scientists” based on leading LLMs is also emerging, Özcan’s report says.Unlike domain-specific tools like Alphafold, these try to automate day-to-day scientific work, by providing an overarching tool that coordinates specific models to synthesise existing literature, generate hypotheses or run analysis of data. The problem for Europe, however, is that these tools are sometimes based on US leading models. Google Deepmind’s AI Co-Scientist, for example, is built on Google’s Gemini LLM. Systematic failureThese scientific automation tools are still in their early stages, and still exhibit “systematic failures on scientific tasks,” Özcan’s report says. One of the problems is that the messy, day-to-day process of scientific discovery is largely not documented, meaning LLMs don’t have a good source of data to learn how scientists actually work. Meanwhile, some tasks, such as literature synthesis, don’t typically require access to leading edge models.However, the performance of AI scientific assistants could improve as companies such as Google pour resources into developing them. Rely on US“Unfortunately, for scientific assistants, there is not much we can do right now except rely on US frontier AI,” said Antoine Bosselut, a natural language processing expert based at EPFL. Chinese-built open models, which can run on local computers, lessening the risk of a shutdown, are touted as one alternative to US dependence. There’s also Mistral, once seen as Europe’s main AI hope, but the Paris-based company has seen its recent models fall behind in performance. But the Chinese alternatives are generally not as capable as US frontier AI models, said Bosselut, unless paired with fiddly, custom tools that allows them to act as independent agents. “Most scientists do not have the time,” he said. Don’t jump ship yetAlthough the kill switch moment is seen a warning shot for European scientists, it doesn’t mean labs should abandon US AI tools immediately. “I do not think the right response is simply to abandon US-based models and systems under the banner of sovereignty or independence,” said Mattias Björnmalm, secretary general of the Cesaer university association. “That would be an overreaction.”Related articlesEuropean sovereignty in AI requires ‘ugly trade-offs,’ say experts Robotic lab start-up makes case for €500M EU-funded materials testing facilityAI in science: is it useful? Instead, European researchers need to ask themselves whether they’re becoming dependent on technology that could be turned off in Washington, said Özcan. “They might not see this today, but they should really start asking this question,” she said. European researchers need a plan B, said Salathé. “I would recommend to every researcher, very proactively explore alternatives.”Own toolsIn addition, Björnmalm and others want European research institutions to develop their own scientific AI tools.Instead of signing AI deals with US digital giants, European universities should be using this money to create their own models, which may end up being superior for research, said Sabine Leonelli, an expert on the use of AI in science at the Technical University of Munich. “Universities in Europe seem to be happy to sign commercial contracts with US companies on the assumption [their AI tools] are better,” she said. But US frontier LLMs are typically opaque, and have been developed without independent scientific input, she said. “This is not good enough for science.”Last year, Swiss researchers released Apertus, an LLM designed to be completely transparent, from its development methods to its training data. The idea is that this makes scientific tools built on top of the model far more reproducible than with closed, commercial alternatives.“Europe needs more of this: serious capacity-building that gives researchers, universities and companies credible options,” said Björnmalm.
Covington approves new round of small business incentives
The Covington Board of Commissioners approved a new round of small business incentives this week. Learn which businesses will benefit.
Scientists have just unlocked the secrets of an ancient scroll torched by Mount Vesuvius
After a centuries-long struggle, scholars managed to read five feet of text, using machine-learning methods they hope can unlock further discoveries.
How is Derry City's new pitch 'World Cup standard'?
Ahead of Friday's first game back at the Brandywell, BBC Sport learns how a giant sewing machine has helped put Derry City's new hybrid pitch together.
Women in Science: Dr Jennifer D’Souza - TIB-Blog
The blog series “Women in Science” introduces women from TIB who share insights into their careers and personal experiences in science. Dr Jennifer D’Souza studied Natural Language Processing at the University of Texas at Dallas, USA, and is now an AI/NLP research group lead at TIB. In this interview, she shares what she finds most rewarding about a career in science, the lessons she has learned along the way, and her hopes for the next generation of women scientists.
Can Bardella learn the Meloni method?
Also, in Thursday’s edition: Spain sues Commission, EEAS sec gen, Taliban