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Peter Alexander Exiting NBC News After 22 Years
The Saturday ‘Today’ anchor explained that he has had to miss ‘more than 220 Friday nights’ with his family in the last seven years.
Eskimo kiss, anyone? Science explains nose-to-nose contact between mammals
A new study analyzes why the social gesture is important when it comes to information and survival, even among antisocial animals
What to Know About Caffeine and Brain Health
A neurologist explains a recent study which found that moderate caffeine consumption reduces the risk of dementia.
Boston Children's enhances care with clinical intelligence platform
Two of the hospital's physicians explain how the decision support technology aggregates patient signals to indicate health trajectories – which tells clinicians when to evaluate a patient's evolving state and determine an appropriate response.
Saros has been made easier than Returnal due to player feedback, though creative director claims its still "a very challenging game"
According to Saros' creative director, the game has been made easier thanks to player complaints around Returnal not having auto saves or multiple save slots.
Nassau County business owner sues The Home Depot for allegedly interfering with window covering sales
Darren Zuckerman, owner of Custom Coverings Corp. headquartered in Plainview, filed a complaint in Nassau County Supreme Court last week for damages exceeding $5 million.
19th-Century Blues: When Science Killed God and Made Some Englishmen Sad
With the Royal Navy ruling the waves, Queen Victoria safely on her throne, science explaining a confusing world, and British missionaries, explorers, and armies turning the map pink you’d think tha…
Spencer Pratt: Newsom is seeing his political ambitions unravel
Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt explains why he is running and criticizes Mayor Karen Bass on ‘Fox News @ Night.’
Faculty voice: Why I'm a community-centered health psychologist
Kaston Anderson Jr. is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University. Here, he explains how his professional training and lived experience built his belief that a community approach is the best way to solve complex social issues.
This Phillies sports fan knows bad. He says fans have little to complain about
The Parx Casino sports gambling influencer is playing the reverse Uno card on curmudgeonly fans upset about paying steep tix prices.
Science Communication Is Central to the Practice of Science
Opinion | Explaining and defending knowledge is as essential to the scientific enterprise as publishing research.
Costly auto mandate amounts to needless overkill
HB26-1199 is currently in the legislature, and let me explain how this affects you. Currently in the state of Colorado, your vehicle’s emissions have to meet California standards even though you do not live in California. Though we all can agree we want clean air for all of us, meeting the California specifications further harms you, the […]
The T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra "On Us" Deal Explained (No Trade-In or Port-In Required)
Samsung's new flagship phone was released on March 11 and is now shipping.
Hastings College professor, students present research at political science conference
A Hastings College professor and four students recently traveled to the University of Missouri–Kansas City to present original research at the Great Plains
Hastings College professor, students present research at political science conference
A Hastings College professor and four students recently traveled to the University of Missouri–Kansas City to present original research at the Great Plains
UConn Health Minute: AI and Teen Mental Health
More teens are using AI chatbots for mental health support. In this UConn Health Minute, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Meha Saxena explains that while q ...
She taught backyard swim lessons. A single complaint shut them down.
Local governments should encourage home businesses instead of making them illegal.
Congress needs to protect 340B for rural Colorado
By Rod Pelton A lot of politicians talk about understanding what life is like for our rural communities, but not many really do. I’m a third-generation Cheyenne County farmer and rancher; I grew up on the eastern plains of Colorado, raised my family here, and as such am deeply committed to our state’s agricultural communities. I […]
Epstein accountant, lawyer explain finances in Congress testimony
Jeffrey Epstein's longtime lawyer Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn manage Epstein's $630 million estate without salaries.
Blog explains why context matters in discussions on health care spending
An AHA blog published March 24 responds to a recent KFF brief on the role of hospital care in recent health care spending growth.
Supercomputers just solved a 50-year-old mystery about giant stars
Astronomers have finally cracked a decades-old mystery about red giant stars—how material from their deep interiors makes its way to the surface. Using cutting-edge supercomputer simulations, researchers discovered that stellar rotation plays a powerful role in mixing elements across a previously unexplained barrier inside the star.
Nvidia CEO tries to explain why DLSS 5 isn’t just “AI slop”
If game makers don’t like it, “they could decide not to use it, you know?"
Health inspectors found thawed seafood, food stored in buckets leading to temporary closure of Mama Tina’s Gumbo
Houston health inspectors investigating a customer illness complaint after eating Mama Tina’s Gumbo at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo found thawed seafood labeled “keep frozen” and learned the gumbo had been moved to a freezer at an unlicensed off-site location without temperature logs before being served, according to Houston Health Department records obtained by KPRC 2 News.
Voice of America Journalists Sue, Saying Trump Officials Interfered in Coverage
The journalists said in the complaint that the administration was trying to force them to be a “mouthpiece” and that one official demanded “loyalty” if reporters wanted to “keep their jobs.”
Emmanuel Grégoire, Socialist long involved in local politics, voted new Paris mayor; AP explains
Grégoire won over 50% of the votes, beating out prominent conservative contender Rachida Dati who reached 41% while hard-left contender Sophia Chikirou got about 8%.
Science Explains Why You Wake Up at 3 am, and How to Go Back to Sleep
About one in five people have middle-of-the-night insomnia.
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
Precision Nutrition: Tufts University Expert Q&A On How Personalized Diet Science May Transform Health - Where The Food Comes From
Tufts expert José Ordovás explains precision nutrition and how personalized diet science could transform health and prevent disease.
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.
Tom Steyer explains why he should be California's next governor
Tom Steyer sat down for an interview with California Politics 360 for a wide-ranging conversation on his run to be the state's next governor.
‘Project Hail Mary’ Author Andy Weir Bases His Blockbusters in Science
The bestselling writer and self-described “dork” explains how he crafts upbeat space-set thrillers from dire scenarios only expertise can solve.
‘We can create hype’: H&M’s UK boss on its commitment to the high street
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Opinion | Are Ed Markey and other politicians hooked on power?
Can neuroscience explain why politicians like Bill Galvin won’t quit?
Bill Self health scare, explained: Why Kansas coach was hospitalized during 2025-26 season
Bill Self was briefly hospitalized after experiencing symptoms related to heart problems he has dealt with in the past.
Luka Doncic Explains Controversial Exchange with Goga Bitadze Before Suspension
Luka Doncic did not let up on Saturday night, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 105-104 win over the Orlando Magic. Doncic has been on an absolute heater of late, and he kept his foot on the gas against the Magic. The Lakers improved to 46-25 and remain third in the Western Conference.
New Research Shows the 6 Skills You Need to Master Anything
Scientists explain why some of us benefit more than others from expert guidance.
Politics Unplugged (Full Episode) March 22, 2026
This week on Politics Unplugged, Progressive activist Kai Newkirk explains why he is running to unseat Democratic incumbent Greg Stanton in the congressional race in CD4. Then, consultants Marcus Dell’Artino and Matt Grodsky discuss the fallout from the Cesar Chavez allegations and the political importance of high gas prices.
Sony PlayStation Network down: PS5 users report widespread server issues; 'please fix it'
Sony PlayStation Network appeared to be down for thousands on Saturday as many flocked to social media to voice their complaints. | World News
Dueling Complaints Alleging Open Meeting Law Violations Emerge After…
Nantucket Current is the island's leading online news source. We deliver the news, stories, and people of Nantucket, unbiased and unfiltered.
Farmers and rural community members can access free mental health resources
KGAN CBS 2 and KFXA Fox 28 provide local news, weather forecasts, notices of events and items of interest in the community, sports and entertainment programming for Cedar Rapids and nearby towns and communities in the Corridor and throughout eastern Iowa, including Iowa City, Waterloo, Dubuque, North Liberty, Coralville, Marion, Morengo, Williamsburg, Washington, Tiffin, Tipton, Solon, Mount Vernon, Lisbon, Central City, Urbana, Independence, Manchester, Dyersville, Oelwein, Cedar Falls, Waverly, Evansdale, Guttenberg, West Union, New Hampton, Decorah, Waukon, Maquoketa, Sigourney, Fairfield, Grundy Center, La Porte City, Dysart, Fayette, Elkader, Strawberry Point and Belle Plaine.
Crimson Desert Hears Your Complaints And Will Fix The Controls
Pearl Abyss says its listening to Crimson Desert players' complaints about the complicated controls and will patch in new options ASAP.
Crimson Desert Dev Promises Patch to Address 'Discomfort Many Players Have Experienced With the Controls,' Apologizes for Awful Keyboard and Mouse Experience
Crimson Desert developer Pearl Abyss has issued a message to players addressing complaints around the game’s controls, which have been widely criticized.
Should you try the 75 Hard challenge? Experts warn the risks may outweigh the benefits
The 75 Hard regimen demands 75 days of strict rules covering diet, exercise and reading. Experts explain what helps, what harms and smarter, sustainable alternatives.
California settles with El Monte schools over misconduct complaints
The El Monte Union High School District must appoint a compliance coordinator and roll out an electronic sexual misconduct complaint system.
Possible Habitability On Mars Pushed Back Millions Of Years, The Forgotten Apocalypse: Scientists Think Earth's First Mass Extinction Has Been Hidden In Plain Sight, And Much More This Week
All the biggest science news stories of the week.
Are Pretzels Healthy? Dietitians Explain the Pros and Cons
Pretzels are a classic snack food, but are they good for you? Dietitians break down the nutrition content of pretzels and share the healthiest types.
Apple explains why M5 chips have three different core types in new interview
Apple explains M5's three core types: super cores for single-thread tasks, performance cores for multi-threading, and efficiency cores.
Scientists Make a Major Breakthrough in Solving a Hair-Raising Mystery About Static Electricity
The findings can help explain the physics behind phenomena like volcanic lightning
Pete Hegseth's Christian rhetoric reignites scrutiny after the U.S. goes to war with Iran
Hegseth has pushed policy changes that reflect his Christian views, including a revamp of the military chaplain corps.
Regularly Playing This 1 Online Game May Reduce Dementia Risk by 25%
In TODAY.com's Expert Tip of The Day, a neurologist explains how playing games that build cognitive speed can protect against dementia for decades.
Corporations flee to red states for better business climate
FOX Business contributor Lou Basenese explains the ongoing "blue state exodus," where companies like Yamaha and ExxonMobil are leaving Democrat-led states.
NCAA softens targeting punishment: Committee nixes automatic suspensions for players
After more than a decade of complaints from coaches, the NCAA is eliminating the automatic carryover suspension for first-time offenders
Trump’s Reaction to Israeli Strike on Gas Field Exposes Divergent Strategies
President Trump said he complained to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel about the attack, which sent energy markets reeling. But Israeli officials said the Americans were informed beforehand.
Jeffrey Epstein's personal lawyer explains large cash withdrawals
Darren Indyke says Jeffrey Epstein needed a lot of cash for his lavish lifestyle, including a jet, a private island, and homes around the world.
Medical expert explains why Cade Cunningham's collapsed lung likely isn't as bad as it sounds
'These guys are so athletic, they can bounce back like crazy,' a doctor told CBS Sports
Science explains why removing adhesive tape makes that unbearable squeaky noise
Scientists discover why adhesive tape makes that squeaking noise when peeled off: tiny shock waves produce the high-pitched sound.
Opinion: The dirty politics behind Judge Torgerson’s censure
Doug McMurdo: If Utah lawmakers were really worried about “the children,” where was their outrage when Stuart Adams ushered in a change to Utah’s statutory sexual assault law to protect a relative? It’s hypocrisy, plain and simple.
Sangamon County voters approve new tax increase for mental health board
Murphy explained that the mental health board would act as a centralized organization that helps coordinate groups and providers in the Sangamon County area.
Chelsea’s huddle and pre-match rituals in sport: Psychological weapon or silly gimmick?
Chelsea's huddle has drawn a lot of debate. So what is the point of it and other pre-match rituals? Sarah Shephard explains
Prediabetes Detection: A Critical Lever for Health Systems
Dr Aman Chawla explains why prediabetes detection is a strategic lever for health systems aiming to improve quality and lower total cost of care.
Eveleth: Congress must fix joint employer rules for Michigan businesses
Former Owosso mayor Chris Eveleth explains how 'joint employer' rules create uncertainty for Michigan small businesses.
Mama Tina's Gumbo reopened at Houston Rodeo after temporary closure, Houston Health Department says
Mama Tina's Gumbo was reopened on Tuesday at the Houston Rodeo after being temporarily closed as a result of a complaint investigation, according to the Houston Health Department.
Cleveland business owner pushes back on illegal burning concerns after years of complaints
A Cleveland business owner is defending himself after neighbors raised concerns about suspected illegal burning on his property.The concerns first surfaced afte
Texas primary results showed limitations of polling
Many factors explain why pollsters face challenges in getting good sample sizes that truly reflect who is going to cast a ballot.
I moved my company from Wall Street to Florida—wish I'd done it sooner
Webull's chief of staff and head of strategic partnerships explains the benefits of moving the company's headquarters to a less saturated market.
Wave of Dust Rolls Through Texas
An advancing cold front kicked up a sharp line of sand and other small particles that swept over the high plains.
11Alive
WXIA (Atlanta) — 11Alive is your source for breaking news, Georgia weather, traffic, and live coverage in Atlanta and across the metro area. Get the latest updates from the 11Alive team — from major local headlines and investigations to severe weather, community stories, and the moments everyone’s talking about. Watch live newscasts, stream breaking coverage, and catch up on the top stories shaping Atlanta, Marietta, Sandy Springs, Decatur, and surrounding communities. Subscribe for: • Atlanta breaking news + live updates • Georgia weather forecasts, storms, and severe weather alerts • Investigations and accountability reporting • Community stories across the metro area • Major events, sports, and local explainers WXIA / 11Alive — Atlanta news and weather, live and on demand. 🔗 More: https://www.11alive.com
What is happening in Cuba? Economic struggles, US tensions explained
Trump has recently increased pressure on the island nation of Cuba, adding March 17 Washington would be doing "something with Cuba" soon.
Inside SMU’s Strategy for NIL, Revenue Sharing, and the New College Sports Business Model
SMU Athletic Director Damon Evans and Deputy AD Brian Ullmann explain the new financial models, private equity conversations, and renovations needed at Ford Stadium.
Colorado Springs charter school drops creationism lesson
A complaint prompted the school to remove creationism from an eighth-grade science unit.
Samsung finally responds to complaints about the Galaxy S26 Ultra's headline feature, but the explanation ...
The feature is definitely not as perfect as you would expect.
Good vibes only? The science behind optimism and manifestation
Psychologist Deepika Chopra says that optimism isn’t about being positive all the time. It’s about staying open, curious and resilient. In her new book, The Power of Real Optimism, she explains the science behind optimism and evidence-based manifestation, and how affirmations done the right way can lead to success. Follow us on Instagram: @nprlifekitSign up for our newsletter here.Have an episode idea or feedback you want to share? Email us at lifekit@npr.orgSupport the show and listen to it sponsor-free by signing up for Life Kit+ at plus.npr.org/lifekit
85-year-old Rep. Jim Clyburn explains his decision to run for re-election
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WKYC (Cleveland) is your source for breaking news, Northeast Ohio weather, traffic, and live coverage in Cleveland and across the region. Get the latest updates from the WKYC team — from major local headlines and investigations to severe weather, community stories, and the moments everyone’s talking about. Watch live newscasts, stream breaking coverage, and catch up on the top stories shaping Cleveland, Akron, Canton, and surrounding communities. Subscribe for: • Cleveland breaking news + live updates • Northeast Ohio weather forecasts and severe weather alerts • Investigations and accountability reporting • Community stories across the region • Major events, sports, and local explainers WKYC — Cleveland news and weather, live and on demand. 🔗 More: https://www.wkyc.com/
US National Academy of Sciences awards four Spaniards for explaining how life escaped an evolutionary dead end
After research spanning more than 30 years, Jordi Bascompte, Bartolo Luque, Fernando Ballesteros, and Enrique Muro managed to explain the abrupt change in living beings that allowed the appearance of plants and animals, including humans
Subnautica 2's Publisher Used ChatGPT For Legal Advice In Messy Court Battle
A judge has explained how the CEO of Krafton relied on an AI chatbot for legal advice and planning
How plants moved from sea to land and changed Earth forever
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Partisanship and science
I recently participated in a symposium of the Denver-based Institute for Science & Policy, during which I had a “fireside chat” with Tony Mills of the American Enterprise Institute. Mills has written extensively on the politicization of science, and the two of us had a very enjoyable hour-long conversation on the topic. You can watch it below. The main questions we dealt with are why there is such a vast partisan gap in trust of science, and to what extent this is a unique moment. Mills helpfully brings a good deal of data to the discussion, as he did in this useful piece at Issues in Science & Technology. Tusk depends on reader support. To support this work, please become a paid subscriber. Subscribe Note this graph, drawing on a range of survey data to demonstrate partisan attitudes toward science since 1970s. As it demonstrates, there’s been a very sharp partisan divergence in confidence in science during the Trump Era, starting prior to the Covid pandemic. At least in part, we can attribute this to a rise in populist anti-science rhetoric embraced by Trump, his appointees, and those in his media orbit. But as the graph also shows, the partisan divide has existed in the past, and it’s not always in the same direction. The largest divergence in party views toward science prior to 2016 was in the 1970s, when liberals equated scientific achievement with the military-industrial complex and thus trusted it less. That era of scientific mistrust is often overlooked. Indeed, as Mills notes, the Moon landings (1969-72), which today are considered one of the last great moments of national unity, were experienced nothing like that at the time. There was sharp debate back then over whether the Apollo missions were worth the vast expenditures when the country had so much else to deal with. It’s outside the dataset, and we don’t have the partisanship lens for it, but the 1950s was another deeply anti-science decade, with critics of intellectuals and college professors alleging their ties to communism and their lack of commitment to basic American moral beliefs. This was the subject of Richard Hofstadter’s 1962 book Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, in which he quotes religious leaders like Franklin Graham: [In place of the Bible] we substituted reason, rationalism, mind culture, science worship, the working power of government, Freudianism, naturalism, humanism, behaviorism, positivism, materialism, and idealism. [This is the work of] so-called intellectuals. Thousands of these “intellectuals” have publicly stated that morality is relative—that there is no norm or absolute standard.… This fervor was heavily whipped up by Sen. Joe McCarthy (R-Wisconsin), although it’s clear that not all his fellow Republicans were on board with his red-baiting. What ended that era? The simple answer is the 1957 launch of Sputnik. Americans became afraid that they were losing to Soviet scientists, and suddenly university researchers and government projects were awash with funding. In our conversation, I asked Mills about the possibility of us having a Sputnik moment again that would rally the American public in favor of science today. Mills argued that the COVID-19 pandemic was essentially a Sputnik moment — a terrifying threat to all Americans that required scientific advances to address. But thanks in part to political polarization and the populist and conspiratorial leanings of Donald Trump, we got the opposite of a unifying moment. Many Americans turned against science, despite science actually stepping up in that moment. As we discussed in the chat, it’s not clear what scientists could or should be doing in this moment to increase faith in their work. As Mills notes, one of the chief complaints against scientists and professors is that they’ve become too political; scholars becoming even more political might not help them achieve their goals. This (mainly Republican-driven) anti-science era will end, of course, but it’s not clear what event will bring that about. Share
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