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Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo Extra Service
To accommodate passengers attending the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) taking place March 27-29, 2026, at McCormick Place, the South Shore Line will be offering extra train service on Saturday, March 28. As McCormick Place is not a scheduled stop, passengers traveling to C2E2 should purchase tickets for Museum Campus. MCCORMICK PLACE SERVICE: Please click here for special […]
Meet Three Sagehens Playing Spring Sports in 2026 | Pomona College in Claremont, California
The spring sports season offers a smorgasbord of options for Sagehens fans, with teams taking to the diamond, track, pool, field and golf course to test their mettle against Division III athletes from across the country.
Scientists Say Surprising Smells Are Unlocking the Secrets of Ancient Mummies
Analyzing samples of mummies from different dynastic periods showed how the mixtures of substances used in mummification became more complex with time.
Woman dies after collapsing inside business while seeking help
Woman dies after being shot in vehicle, collapsing in business while seeking help
A woman who was shot inside her vehicle at an Aurora apartment complex and collapsed in a nearby business while looking for help has died, and Aurora police are looking for information about the su…
The Supreme Court seems alarmingly willing to trash thousands of ballots
At least four justices appear to be on board with a frivolous lawsuit attacking voting by mail.
Uncommon Ground seeks new operator as longtime Wrigleyville restaurateurs plan to retire
The longtime restaurateurs behind Uncommon Ground at 3800 N. Clark St. in Wrigleyville are seeking a new operator for the restaurant, brewery and music venue.
Mills, Collins on opposite sides of trans athlete issue
Collins, who is seeking a sixth term, posted on social media over the weekend that she’s held a “longstanding position that transgender athletes should not compete in girls’ and women’s athletics.”
The live-action 'Moana' trailer debuts Dwayne Johnson as Maui — and fans can't stop talking about his hair
The remake of the 2016 animated film hits theaters July 10.
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 ...
Trump’s Political Risk Insurance Plan for Ships in the Gulf Could Benefit China, Says Democratic Senator
President Trump’s $20 billion plan to provide political risk insurance for ships aimed at unblocking the Strait of Hormuz could end up ultimately
Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus Review - Disrupting AMD's Entry-Level
Intel is breathing new life into its Arrow Lake lineup with the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus. Priced at an attractive $200, this little powerhouse outperforms most AMD CPUs in applications and delivers competitive gaming performance, too. It's a strong contender for budget-friendly builds, and overclocking potential is good, too.
NBA MVP rankings: Luka Dončić is rising, but can anyone take the trophy from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?
Borussia Dortmund names second-division exec as sporting director
Borussia Dortmund has dipped into the German second division to appoint a new sporting director who won praise for making impactful transfers on a budget.
Cargo Headed to Station, Week Begins with Science Prep and Maintenance
A cargo spacecraft is in orbit catching up to the International Space Station for a docking tomorrow to deliver food and supplies to the Expedition 74 crew. Aboard the orbital lab, the seven residents kicked off the week with science operations prep, routine maintenance, and getting systems ready for a future spacewalk.
Microsoft-backed startup raises $40 million for advanced chipmaking equipment tech
Lace, a Norway-headquartered chipmaking equipment startup which is backed by Microsoft, has raised $40 million in funding to further develop a technology that could enable significant advances in semiconductor design and manufacturing, the company said on Monday.
Microsoft-backed startup raises $40 million for advanced chipmaking equipment tech
Lace, a Norway-headquartered chipmaking equipment startup which is backed by Microsoft, has raised $40 million in funding to further develop a technology that could enable significant advances in semiconductor design and manufacturing, the company said on Monday. To make cutting-edge chips, manufacturers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Intel employ a process called lithography that uses light to draw complex circuits that form the foundation of advanced artificial intelligence chips. Manufacturers use light-based lithography systems made by the Dutch company ASML - which dominates the market - as they race to shrink chip components and squeeze in more features to boost the computing horsepower on a limited area of silicon.
Trump Poised to Skip CPAC For First Time in a Decade
President Donald Trump is poised to skip the Conservative Political Action Conference this week, breaking with an annual tradition that has helped define his political rise and shaped the conservative movement.
This Web Tool Sabotages AI Chatbots By Making Them Really, Really Slow
Artist Sam Lavigne created ‘Slow LLM’ to make people question their dependence on tools like Claude and ChatGPT. Or at least, make them super annoying to use.
How Health Care Workers Use Medical Manikins
Medical manikns help health care workers learn how to handle fast-changing and complex scenarios.
Nominate a Capital Region health care executive who’s making a difference
Who’s running the organizations shaping health care in the Capital Region — and doing it well? That’s the question at the heart of the Outstanding Health Care Executive category in Business Report‘s inaugural Excellence in Health Care Awards. This recognition is for the senior leaders who are making the hard calls, building strong teams and […]
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.
Seven most intriguing offensive additions during the 2026 NFL free agency period
Kyler Murray joining Kevin O'Connell with the Vikings, plus more interesting offensive moves
Kyler Murray Vikings Era Begins
Why Kyler Murray's stats say he could be Darnold 2.0 — plus free agency, the draft, and Harrison Smith's future.
2026 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Sleepers, busts, breakouts from model that nailed Cal Raleigh's epic season
SportsLine simulated the entire MLB season 10,000 times and identified 2026 Fantasy baseball sleepers, breakout and busts
Apple Reportedly Preparing 'Biggest Set of iPhone Revamps' Ever
Apple is working on "the biggest set of iPhone revamps in the product's history," according to the latest word from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Specifically, he is referring to the long-rumored foldable iPhone, as well as an ambitious 20th-anniversary iPhone with a truly "edge-to-edge" design.
The week ahead: Another big (and tough) week for Penguins
Looking at what the Pittsburgh Penguins need to do to secure their spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season.
Trump attacking Newsom's dyslexia proves president's incompetence
President Trump claims Gov.
Cycling, crystals and cutting-edge science: the secrets of Hodgkinson and Hunter Bell’s success
The training duo who oversaw famous medal success in Torun believe the best is yet to come for their athletes
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?
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
Microsoft Exchange Online service change causes email access issues
Microsoft is working to address an ongoing service issue that has intermittently prevented some users from accessing their cloud-based Exchange Online mailboxes via Outlook mobile and Mac desktop clients since Thursday.
Live Science Today: Earth hits record energy imbalance, Hawaii floods and NASA prepares for Artemis II launch
Monday, March 23, 2026: Your daily roundup of the biggest science stories making headlines.
UNH Paul College Top Public Business School in New England for Academic Experience and Career Outcomes
UNH’s Paul College ranks No. 63 nationally in 2026 Poets&Quants rankings, leading New England public schools in academic experience and career outcomes.
Data Is at the Heart of What Public Health Does
Data is key to protecting the health and safety of a community, from identifying and tracking disease outbreaks to ensuring that water is safe to drink. Data is also vital to understanding where resources are most needed. This value is especially apparent to the officials charged with protecting public health, such as Dr. Janet Berreman, Kauai’s (Kauaʻi’s)* district health officer.
University of Richmond Robins School of Business Ranked as Top 20 Undergraduate Business School
The University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business ranked in the top 20 of the annual by Poets&Quants for Undergrads, the leading online publication for undergraduate business education news.
As President Trump’s Attacks on Science Escalate, Big Oil Moves to Avoid Legal Accountability
This piece was originally published in Climate Home News. The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) recently agreed to hear arguments in Boulder v. Exxon and Suncor a case that could decide whether communities harmed by climate change can hold polluters accountable in state court. Origin
Sports Bar Streaming Setups Complicated as EverPass, DirecTV Evolve
How do sports bars keep up with the streaming revolution? A mix of satellite and digital distribution has some stores asking the government for help.
My husband and I were laid off at the same time. Instead of panicking, we started our own business that now has 600 employees.
Health care advisory Chartis brings AI development engine in-house to build tools for clients
With the acquisition of artificial intelligence incubator Leap AI, Chicago-based Chartis’ health care advisers will move from making suggestions about AI to rolling up their sleeves and building custom AI solutions.
MTSU Agrees to Long-Term Extension with NIKE and BSN SPORTS - Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
MTSU Athletics announced on Monday that it will continue to partner with the world's leading brand for apparel and footwear after inking a long-term extensio...
Ambani's Reliance Jio: businesses and investors of the IPO-bound firm
Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio Platforms is gearing up to file papers seeking regulatory approvals for a Mumbai listing, in what is likely to be the biggest-ever stock offering in the country.
Meet CT’s 2026 Women in Business honorees
Hartford Business Journal’s 2026 Women in Business awards recognize top leaders who are making a significant difference within their organization and the broader community.
Inside the Turmoil at RFK Jr.’s CDC, as Told by Current and Former Employees
Forty-three current and former C.D.C. employees on the changes they say are replacing science with ideology — and making Americans more vulnerable.
David Gallo opens up about why AI data centers, private equity are good for his company
After Katrina, David Gallo led his family's company, Gallo Mechanical, through a geographic expansion that helped grow the company to nearly $500 million in revenues and more than 700 employees. Last year, he led the 80-year-old business through a sale to a private equity firm. In this week's Talking Business, he explains why it was a good thing
Coeur d'Alene's science guy
Ahead of his retirement in May from the teaching staff at Arizona State University, behavioral neuroscientist Brian Smith has put his focus into making science more accessible to more people. “There's a lot of misunderstanding what science is,” Smith said.
What’s at stake for UK in May’s local elections: six key questions
Reform, Plaid Cymru, the SNP and the Greens are all banking on big gains and nationwide repercussions
Breaking the Cycle review – meet the charismatic Thai politician striving to change his country’s history
Gripping documentary examines the Future Forward Party’s unprecedented 2019 election result, and its leader’s aim to break Thailand’s repeated military coups
NCAA tournament takeaways, Day 4: Big Ten's March Madness domination continues with 6 league teams making Sweet 16
Costco Expands Member Offerings With Fertility Care And In Store Events
Costco Wholesale has partnered with Sesame and IVI RMA North America to offer U.S. members access to advanced fertility care with exclusive pricing and coordinated services. The retailer is also rolling out a national outdoor cooking roadshow in warehouses, featuring multiple brands and on site experiences for members. These moves extend Costco’s reach further into healthcare services and experiential retail beyond its traditional bulk merchandise model. For investors tracking...
BUSINESS MONDAY: Spotlight on Sarah's Cheesecakes & Cafe in Pittsfield
The small family-owned and -operated operation is celebrating its 20th anniversary—and looking forward to many more years to come.
2026 Best Business Schools | How Alumni Rate Their Undergraduate Business Degrees
Alumni rate their undergraduate business programs in Poets&Quants’ 2026 ranking, evaluating academic experience, career preparation, advising, and how well their degrees support long-term career goals.
The Christian Science Monitor Daily for March 23, 2026
Rethink the news: Reducing news to hard lines and side-taking leaves a lot of the story untold. Progress comes from challenging what we hear and considering different views.
Executive Council seeks greater role in half-billion-dollar rural health initiative
New Hampshire executive councilors are seeking a greater role in a $640 million rural health initiative after initially delaying approval and securing more oversight.
'Harry Potter' star details racist 'abuse' he suffered after joining upcoming TV show
Paapa Essiedu is speaking out about on 'abuse' he's endured since being cast as Severus Snape in the 'Harry Potter' TV series: 'Nobody should have to encounter this for doing their job.'
UTA College of Business to connect students, professionals with networking, elevator pitch event
Students, business professionals and recruiters will mingle from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the UTA Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology Development.
Two new features are officially announced today for the Google Messages app
Google makes it easy to notify members of an RCS group chat while your wife isn't the only reason you're taking out the trash.
Surging Hawks look to take advantage of short-handed Grizzlies
The streaking Atlanta Hawks will try to enhance their push for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference when they host the struggling Memphis Grizzlies on Monday.
The Economy Cabin on Airplanes Keeps on Shrinking
Carriers are expanding the options in premium cabins in a bid to boost their earnings.
Kansas coach Bill Self unsure about future after buzzer-beater loss to St. John's: 'I haven't decided'
After a heartbreaking last-second loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Self wasn't ready to discuss his coaching future.
Binghamton ranked No. 1 public business school in New York state
The Binghamton University School of Management jumped ahead in the prominent Best Undergraduate Business Schools of 2026 ranking by Poets & Quants, placing No. 1 among New York state’s public business schools.
A promising fatty liver treatment may raise cancer risk
A surprising new study reveals that blocking a supposedly protective enzyme, Caspase-2, could actually backfire—raising the risk of chronic liver damage and cancer over time. Researchers found that without this enzyme, liver cells grow abnormally large and accumulate genetic damage, leading to inflammation, scarring, and eventually tumors, especially with age. While inhibiting Caspase-2 may offer short-term benefits, such as reducing fatty liver disease, the long-term consequences appear dangerous.
'Project Hail Mary' blasts off to record-breaking $80 million, becomes 2026's best premiere
'Project Hail Mary' burned through the outer layer of box office projections this weekend, reaching an astounding $80 million in its domestic premiere and $141 million worldwide.
Samsung Brings AirDrop Support to Quick Share with Galaxy S26 Series
Samsung is introducing AirDrop support to the Galaxy S26 series, making it easier for users to share content between devices using Quick Share. The feature will begin rolling out from March 231, starting in Korea and expanding to more regions including Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, Latin America, North America, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan. AirDrop support […]
How the G.O.P. and Democrats Are Talking About the Surge in Gas Prices
Republicans have largely been on defense against Democratic criticism. Here are five arguments advanced by figures in both parties.
Why Have Patriots Not Done More To Address Pass Rush?
The New England Patriots had just 35 sacks last season, ranking near the bottom of the league in the regular season.
The Cowboys are making a mistake with this move
The Cowboys still have to find help at linebacker.
Woman seeks help at Aurora business after suffering serious injuries in shooting
A woman collapsed inside an Aurora business while seeking help after she was shot Saturday night. Police are trying to determine what led up to it.
Michael McCarthy Considering Three Races As Options For Journalism's Return
After Journalism worked five furlongs in company Sunday at Santa Anita, trainer Michael McCarthy said he is looking at three potential races to kick off the colt’s 4-year-old campaign. Journalism could return in either the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) or Ben Ali (G3) at Keeneland, both on April 18, or ...
Does walking after a meal improve gut health?
If you’re looking for ways to improve your digestion and gut health, doctors say walking after a meal may help.
Kentucky Gov. Beshear takes jabs at JD Vance in his home state of Ohio
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, speaking in JD Vance’s home state of Ohio on Saturday, tore into the vice president, questioning his Appalachian roots and telling voters they “deserve better.”
The Times' top 25 high school baseball rankings
St. John Bosco and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame remain unbeaten in high school baseball
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.
Breaking down Bills’ selections in latest NFL mock drafts
According to the latest NFL mock drafts, the Bills could go wide receiver, linebacker, safety, or defensive linemen at pick 26.
Top 5 states with the highest number of safe hospitals, according to new report
Apple’s busy March continues with three notable arrivals this week
Apple has had a jam-packed March so far after launching seven new products and surprisingly announcing an eighth. Looking ahead,...
The '80s Car Feature That Would Fit Perfectly In The AI Hellscape Of Today
The '80s car feature that would fit perfectly in the AI hellscape of today is Chrysler's Electronic Voice Alert that gave drivers warnings by speaking to them.
Team USA flag football team should consider these 12 NFL stars ... but not Tom Brady
These NFL players should consider making a run at Team USA inclusion in order to earn the first football gold medal in Olympics history.
Capcom celebrates Resident Evil's 30th anniversary by promising "even more wonderful experiences" are coming, but doesn't confirm when
Resident Evil series executive producer, Jun Takeuchi, has written to Resident Evil players across the world, thanking …
I took an in-person Peleton class with Jess King. Here's how it went.
I took an in-person Peloton cycling class with Jess King. I liked how thought-out the experience was.
Oscar-Winning Alumnus Returns to Pasadena’s ArtCenter for Entertainment Design Expo
One week after winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, KPop Demon Hunters co-director Chris Appelhans returns today to ArtCenter College of Design, the Pasadena campus where he studied illustration, for the college’s third annual Entertainment Design Expo. The expo, known as ENTX, opens the Hillside Campus to the public for a full day of gallery exhibitions, game playtesting, animation screenings and interactive experiences featuring work from more than 200 ArtCenter students and alumni. General admission is free with advance registration. Two industry panels — including Appelhans’s talk — require $15 tickets. Appelhans, who graduated from ArtCenter with a bachelor of fine arts in 2002, co-directed KPop Demon Hunters with Maggie Kang. The animated film, produced by Sony Pictures Animation and released on Netflix, became the streaming platform’s most-watched film in history, according to Netflix, and swept awards season with wins at the Golden Globes, the Annie Awards and the Grammys before taking the Oscar on March 15. His talk and audience Q&A is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. in the Ahmanson Auditorium. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. The film’s ArtCenter ties extend beyond its co-director. Art director Angela Sung, cinematographer Gary H. Lee, visual development artist Celine Kim and painter Simon Baek are all ArtCenter graduates who worked on the production, according to the college. The free portions of ENTX include a concept design showcase, a production design gallery, a model gallery, a stop motion studio preview, an alumni gallery and a KPop Demon Hunters fan art gallery. Visitors can also playtest games designed by ArtCenter students. An Animation Shorts Showcase runs from 2 to 3 p.m. and includes “Boy, I’m Scared,” a capstone short by ArtCenter graduate Lindsey Tenaglia that was named a semifinalist for the 2025 Student Academy Awards in the animation category. Also screening
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