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iOS 26.5 adds new Apple Maps feature for trending places
iOS 26.5 beta 1 arrived today, and with it a new Apple Maps feature for discovering where to go next—dubbed simply ‘Suggested Places.’
Glyphosate: A story of science, risk, and nuance
In the summer of 2014, a California groundskeeper named Dewayne Johnson started noticing patches of raw, weeping skin spreading across his body. He had spent years applying Roundup, Monsanto’s glyphosate-based herbicide, for a school district, sometimes drenched in it when equipment malfunctioned. By 2014, he had a diagnosis: non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In 2018, a jury awarded him $289 million in damages, later reduced on appeal. Tens of thousands of lawsuits followed. The story hasn’t quieted down. It’s all over the internet, swinging between “this will kill you, buy organic” and “relax, you’re fear-mongering.” Some of that recent chatter stems from an Executive Order protecting glyphosate and its production, which set off intense infighting within the MAHA movement. Some of it reflects a deeper truth: Americans genuinely care about harmful chemicals in their environment (see poll below). And the conversation isn’t going anywhere, with a Supreme Court case involving Monsanto set for this April. Glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) is one of the most widely used herbicides in the world. But does glyphosate cause cancer? And how much exposure is actually risky? With so much mistrust in institutions and corporations (and some genuine conflicts of interest), making sense of the actual scientific evidence is genuinely hard. Here is a translation of what the scientific evidence actually says. Does glyphosate cause harm? Glyphosate is an herbicide that kills most plants it contacts rather than targeting specific species. It works by blocking an enzyme pathway (EPSPS) that plants and many microorganisms need to produce essential amino acids. Without those amino acids, the plant can’t grow and dies. Glyphosate was first developed by Monsanto in the 1970s and became ubiquitous after the company introduced “Roundup Ready” crops in the 1990s. In 2024, Bayer removed glyphosate from residential Roundup-branded products due to litigation pressure. But today it is still the most widely used herbicide in the world. Farmers also discovered they could spray it directly on crops like oats, lentils, beans, and peas just before harvest to dry them out faster and make harvesting easier. Because of its widespread use, it’s obviously really important to understand if it’s harmful to humans. The key principle: The dose makes the poison The most important concept in toxicology is that “the dose makes the poison.” Sixteenth-century physician Paracelsus articulated what remains the foundational principle of toxicology: sola dosis facit venenum. Water will kill you if you drink enough of it. Aspirin saves lives at 81 milligrams and causes internal bleeding at higher chronic doses. So, at what dose is glyphosate poisonous? The LD50 in rats (the dose that kills half the test animals) is around 5,600 mg/kg body weight. Table salt is roughly 3,000 mg/kg. By that classic measure, glyphosate is less acutely toxic than salt. But some people are exposed to a lot of glyphosate through their work. And among the general public, there are many questions about low-dose, cumulative exposure from multiple sources over long periods. Does glyphosate cause health problems? Cancer Correlation maps are striking, with one analysis finding that 60% of counties that spray the most glyphosate have non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma rates above the national average. But correlation alone doesn’t establish cause, which is why animal and human studies matter. In animals: Rat studies are typically what most fear is rooted in, but most people don’t know the study details on the dosage given to rats. A pooled analysis of the 13 most rigorous rat studies found evidence that very high doses, around 55,000 times greater than typical food residue exposure, can cause certain cancers. In humans: One of the strongest studies followed 55,000 herbicide users over 20 years and found no overall increased cancer risk. There was one signal: among those with the highest use, rates of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) appeared elevated. A broader meta-analysis of 18 human studies also found no overall cancer risk, though a separate meta-analysis focused specifically on non-Hodgkin lymphoma found that people with high cumulative glyphosate exposure faced a 41% higher relative risk compared to those with low or no exposure. These human studies are observational studies (randomized controlled trials would be unethical), and meta-analyses are only as reliable as the studies they pool. But the story seems consistent: at very high exposure levels, there may be some cancer risk. But that’s about as far as the science currently takes us. Emerging research: gut and reproductive health Gut: Because glyphosate targets a pathway that exists in some gut bacteria, scientists have questioned whether it could affect the microbiome. In mice, a 2023 University of Iowa study found that glyphosate altered gut bacterial composition and raised markers of intestinal inflammation. A 2024 systematic review found similar patterns: disrupted gut bacteria and problems with the mucus layer that protects the intestinal wall in mice. Whether this translates to humans is an open question. The human gut is highly variable and resistant, and we don't yet have strong studies confirming the same effects in people. Reproductive health: Animal studies have found that glyphosate-based herbicides can interfere with reproductive hormones, including disrupting egg cell development in mice and reducing the number of eggs available in sheep’s ovaries. However, the doses used in these experiments were high, so it’s not yet clear whether the same effects would occur in humans. On the human side, a 2021 pilot study led by Mount Sinai researchers tested urine samples from pregnant women across the U.S. and found glyphosate in 95% of them. The study also found a possible connection between higher glyphosate exposure during pregnancy and a subtle physical difference measured in female newborns. That said, some connections weren’t statistically reliable and this was a small study. The researchers themselves said more and larger studies are needed before drawing firm conclusions. What do regulators say about glyphosate safety? In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans" (Group 2A). The classification is worth taking seriously. But, there’s an important distinction: IARC classifies hazard, meaning the potential to cause harm under some conditions. It does not assess risk, which accounts for actual exposure levels and the real-world probability of harm. The U.S. EPA, the European Food Safety Authority, Health Canada, and regulatory agencies in Australia and Japan have all concluded that glyphosate is “unlikely to be carcinogenic to humans” at realistic exposure levels. They’re asking a different question: given how much of this people actually encounter, what is the probability of harm? Your actual exposure is what determines your actual risk. What does glyphosate mean for your daily life? At the grocery store: Food residues are small. The EPA’s acceptable daily intake is 1.75 mg/kg of body weight per day. To hit that threshold from oatmeal alone, a 150-pound adult would need to eat roughly 50 pounds of oats every day. But this calculation addresses only one pathway (food), and we don’t yet have robust tools to measure people’s actual total exposure. If reducing exposure matters to you, organic certification prohibits synthetic herbicides, and organic oat products generally test at lower or undetectable levels. Either way, a diet rich in whole grains, conventional or organic, is far better for your health than one that omits them out of fear of residues. On the farm: Occupational exposure is orders of magnitude higher than consumer exposure. Farmers and farm workers who mix, load, and apply glyphosate-based herbicides, especially without protective equipment, face meaningfully different risk profiles. Proper PPE isn’t optional. Integrated weed management strategies that rotate chemical modes of action are also worth taking seriously, both for health and for long-term effectiveness. If you live near a farm: Spray drift is real. Concentrations near field edges can spike during and after application, particularly on windy days. This is an area where I think public health could really step up and empower rural communities with buffer zones, rather than placing the onus on individuals. But for now, knowing your local agricultural calendar and keeping windows closed during application are the first steps. Bottom line Dewayne Johnson was exposed to glyphosate at levels most people will never encounter, and a jury decided he deserved compensation. That outcome is not evidence that the oatmeal in your pantry is dangerous. But it is a reminder that the dose, the context, and the person doing the exposing all matter enormously. Glyphosate is a chemical tool with benefits, trade-offs, and genuine open scientific questions. Learning to hold that complexity without collapsing into panic or dismissal is, honestly, one of the most useful and hardest things to do in navigating modern health science. Love, YLE Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) is founded and operated by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, MPH PhD—an epidemiologist, wife, and mom of two little girls. Hannah Totte, MPH, is an epidemiologist and YLE Community Manager. YLE reaches more than 425,000 people in over 132 countries with one goal: “Translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people will be well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. This newsletter is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support the effort, subscribe or upgrade below: Subscribe
Apple to bring paid ads to maps to US, Canada this summer
Apple on Tuesday said it plans to introduce paid ads to its maps service in the U.S. and Canada this summer, marking its entry into a business long dominated by Alphabet's Google.
The Morning After: WWDC 2026 is happening June 8th
The biggest news stories this morning: Wing expands its drone delivery service to the Bay Area, Billionaire OnlyFans owner Leonid Radvinsky has died from cancer at 43, Apple will reportedly start stuffing ads into the Maps app.
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.
Small Business Tech News: Google Maps Gets A Big AI Upgrade
AI takes over Google Maps, TikTok is helping small businesses advertise, AI hacking is better than humans.
Google Maps could soon get a long-overdue upgrade that replaces WhatsApp and Google Messages for location ...
Sharing your location has never felt this simple and fast.
Olivia Walton: States should lead on maternal health crisis
Heartland Forward is rolling out state-level roadmaps.
This Google Maps update could change how you share your location
The new method is simpler and more obvious.
Illinois primary elections
See Illinois election results and maps for the 2026 primaries.
Illinois House District 10 Primary Election Live Results 2026
Illinois House Election Results for the 2026 Primary Election. See Live Illinois House Election results and maps by state, county and district from NBC News.
Linux Finally Catches Up to Windows with a Game-Changing Performance Feature
For years, the Linux kernel’s scheduler has been world‑class at balancing loads, yet it missed a crucial, cache‑aware instinct. In modern multi‑core systems, that gap can turn into measurable latency, especially when threads bounce between cores that don’t share the same cache. A new upstream feature, often called Cache Aware Scheduling, is now set to change that equation. A cache‑savvy scheduler arrives At the heart of any OS, the scheduler decides which thread runs where and for how long. In modern CPUs, small private caches (L1 and L2) sit beside each core, while a larger Last Level Cache (LLC, typically L3) is shared among groups of cores. When a task migrates across LLC boundaries, its warm data may vanish from the cache, forcing slower trips to main memory. Cache Aware Scheduling keeps related tasks close to their shared LLC, reducing destructive migrations. By respecting cache topology, the kernel minimizes cold‑start penalties and preserves locality that many workloads desperately need. The result is less thrashing, fewer memory stalls, and more consistent throughput. "Keep tasks close to their data, and the system will keep performance close to its peak." Why this narrows the Windows gap Windows has long leaned on topology‑aware, cache‑sensitive heuristics, especially since the Windows 10 era. That advantage helped Microsoft handle hybrid designs with P‑cores and E‑cores, plus complex cluster and NUMA layouts. With cache awareness integrated upstream, Linux brings parity to this vital dimension, without sacrificing its trademark flexibility. The Linux approach remains deeply configurable, reflecting the ecosystem’s breadth across servers, desktops, and embedded devices. It layers atop existing NUMA‑balancing and energy‑aware logic, refining placement rather than reinventing the wheel. Crucially, it aligns scheduling with the hardware’s real shape, not just with abstract CPU counts. Real‑world gains and who benefits Early tests on Intel Sapphire Rapids platforms point to gains in the 30–45% range for select workloads. Those wins appear in cache‑sensitive tasks like in‑memory analytics, high‑thread compilation, and microservices with tight working‑sets. Games and latency‑bound engines can also feel steadier frame‑times, especially when threads share hot assets. The benefits extend to AMD’s 3D V‑Cache parts, where keeping threads near enlarged cache slices prevents needless misses. Hybrid x86 designs with performance and efficiency cores further profit when cache and core roles are scheduled in concert. Even handhelds running SteamOS can squeeze more out of limited power, translating cache locality into smoother play. Key advantages include: Lower end‑to‑end latency Fewer expensive misses to RAM Better multi‑socket and NUMA behavior Improved energy efficiency More predictable QoS under mixed loads Stronger scaling on dense servers Caveats, tuning, and rollout No scheduler change is purely free, and trade‑offs still exist. Favoring locality can reduce cross‑cluster balance if limits are set too tight. Likewise, fairness and utilization must remain healthy, especially under heterogeneous, bursty workloads. Linux’s implementation is designed to be measured and tunable, not a blunt instrument. It cooperates with energy‑aware scheduling for mobile efficiency, and with NUMA‑balancers on big iron. Expect architecture‑specific refinements as vendors surface richer topology hints and cache‑sharing maps. Upstream integration has begun, with broad distribution adoption likely over the next cycles. Many users will encounter the change through standard kernel updates in 2025–2026, depending on distro cadence. Server‑class kernels may enable or tune it sooner for targeted fleets where cache locality is money in the bank. How to think about performance impact Cache Aware Scheduling amplifies gains when your workload is both CPU‑bound and cache‑sensitive. Think tight inner loops, hot code paths, and datasets that fit snugly in shared LLC. It’s less dramatic for I/O‑bound services or memory‑hungry tasks that blow past cache capacity. Still, even modest locality improvements often translate into smoother tail‑latency, which is where user experience and SLAs typically break. Developers can further help by pinning related threads, batching work, and aligning data to reduce cross‑cluster chatter. The scheduler’s new awareness works best when applications expose good hints. The bottom line By understanding and honoring cache topology, Linux removes a subtle yet costly bottleneck. The kernel’s smarter placement keeps hot data hot and work near where it belongs. That narrows a long‑standing gap with Windows, while preserving the openness and tunability Linux champions. For gamers, creators, and operators, the payoff is practical: more consistent frames, faster builds, and snappier services. For the ecosystem, it’s another step toward hardware‑savvy scheduling that turns transistor complexity into real‑world speed. And for Linux itself, it’s a timely upgrade that matches today’s silicon with tomorrow’s expectations.
Google Maps Is Getting A Huge Update With Immersive 3D Maps And AI
The new “Immersive Navigation” mode is billed as the most significant update to driving directions in Maps in over a decade.
Google Maps receives major upgrade with 'Ask Maps' AI feature and 3D redesign
Google says this is its biggest Maps update in over a decade.
Gemini Is Now Your Permanent Passenger in Google Maps
Hopefully it doesn't hallucinate directions.
Google Maps Adds Gemini AI-Powered 'Ask Maps' Feature and 3D Immersive Navigation
Google today added Gemini AI to Google Maps, enabling a new Ask Maps feature. Gemini in maps can answer complex, real-world questions that Google says "a map could never answer before".
Google Maps gets its biggest navigation redesign in a decade, plus more AI
Google Maps is about to get more chatty and immersive.
Google Maps Gets Chatty With a New Gemini-Powered Interface
“Ask Maps,” rolling out today to Google Maps on mobile, lets you ask Gemini questions about locations and even to plan trips on your behalf.
Google Maps is getting an AI 'Ask Maps' feature and upgraded 'immersive' navigation
The tech giant says the "Immersive Navigation" launch is the biggest update to Maps in over a decade.
Google Maps brings a 3D map to your driving directions
Maps is now the latest Google service to receive a Gemini makeover, with a redesign of the driving experience headlining the update.
‘Immersive Navigation’ is the biggest Google Maps driving update in a decade
Google Maps is giving its driving experience the “biggest update in over a decade” with Immersive Navigation that redesigns visuals...
One hidden impact of redistricting? A more polarized Congress.
New maps are forcing incumbents into early retirement or ideologically driven primaries, creating a more partisan House.
Building climate-ready healthcare facilities across Indonesia
The World Health Organization (WHO), working with the Ministry of Health and partners, developed the Climate-Resilient and Environmentally Sustainable Health Care Facilities assessment tools. These were adapted from WHO's global framework and integrated into the SIKELIM platform, a digital system that maps disaster-affected facilities in real time. The tools help facilities assess vulnerabilities across systems including workforce capacity, water and sanitation WASH and waste, energy, infrastructure and technology.
Arkansas primary elections
See Arkansas election results and maps for the 2026 primaries.
North Carolina House District 7 Primary Election Live Results 2026
North Carolina House Election Results for the 2026 Primary Election. See Live North Carolina House Election results and maps by state, county and district from NBC News.
North Carolina House District 3 Primary Election Live Results 2026
North Carolina House Election Results for the 2026 Primary Election. See Live North Carolina House Election results and maps by state, county and district from NBC News.
Arkansas House District 3 Primary Election Live Results 2026
Arkansas House Election Results for the 2026 Primary Election. See Live Arkansas House Election results and maps by state, county and district from NBC News.
What Tuesday’s big midterm contests will reveal about Trump and Democrats
New congressional maps will debut in Texas and North Carolina as Republicans try to defend their majorities and Democrats hope they can flip both chambers.
Flight radar shows airspace empty over Iran after US, Israel strikes
Maps show empty airspace over Iran as global airlines canceled flights following US, Israel strikes on Iran.
This week in HS Sports: A day of hope, celebration for Alaina and John Peacock
Alaina will escort her husband John out of a rehabilitation center today, 102 days after he suffered a near-fatal brain injury.
Virginia judge temporarily blocks Democrats from work on congressional redistricting bid
A Virginia court on Thursday temporarily blocked Democrats from preparing for an April voter referendum to redraw the state’s congressional maps, handing the party another setback in its efforts to pick up four more U.S. House seats in the national redistricting battle.
Google Maps ‘limited view’ now hides reviews, images for signed-out users
Google Maps is more than just a navigation app, as it contains a treasure trove of data about locations across...
An Architect of Virginia’s Redistricting Will Run for a New Seat Himself
Dan Helmer, a Democratic state lawmaker, played a key role in putting redrawn congressional maps before state voters.
Android Auto 16.3 update lands with traces of video apps, light theme
Google has started rolling out Android Auto 16.3 through the beta track and while there are no major changes, there...
Jeffries goes all in on redrawing maps favoring Democrats — with House control on the line
As Hakeem Jeffries sits in the minority of a GOP-controlled Washington, he is still haunted by a Republican gerrymandering gambit that he believes cost him the speaker’s gavel — and cost his party control of the House.
Google Maps reportedly prepping car icon and color picker for Android Auto
The new Google Maps custom car icons have been available for a year, and more recently, the existence of custom...
Android Auto will finally get this beloved Google Maps feature
It hopefully opens the door to even more options, too
Virginia Democrats quickly send proposed redistricting map to Spanberger
Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly sent proposed congressional maps that favor their party to Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) Tuesday as part of a budget package.
‘It does not make any sense to me,’ Gov. Moore on Democratic resistance to redrawing Maryland’s Congressional maps
Volcano Watch: New ‘Is Tephra Falling?’ citizen science tool launched in Hawaiʻi
Like the “Did You Feel It?” earthquake reporting tool helps make maps of areas affected by shaking, the new tool helps scientists map areas affected by tephra fallout; observations will be used to assess the character and size of the eruption plumes from Kīlauea volcano on the Big Island, along with the dispersal pattern of tephra fall.
Virginia Democrats Propose New Congressional Maps Ahead of Midterms
As they appeal a ruling blocking their redistricting efforts, the state’s Democrats proposed redrawing districts in a way that would strongly favor them.
Lawsuit challenges DeSantis' authority to call special session for redistricting
A lawsuit claims Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis lacks the authority to call a special session to redraw congressional maps mid-decade
Supreme Court, with no dissents, rejects GOP challenge to California's new election map
With newly drawn maps, California may elect five more Democrats to Congress while Texas elects five more Republicans.
Supreme Court Clears Way for California Voting Map
The state’s Republican Party had asked the justices to step in and block the new congressional maps, which give an advantage to Democrats, before the midterms.
Nioh 3 review: "Brutal samurai and ninja clashes across wide maps avoid retreading Elden Ring – this Soulslike is all demon killer, no filler"
Nioh 3 demands care, planning, and patience – and gives immense satisfaction in the form of a brutal but engrossing adventure in return
iOS 26.2.1 Problems Reported by iPhone Users After the Update
iOS 26.2.1 update brings bug fixes and AirTag 2 support, but some iPhone users report crashes, Face ID issues, and Maps problems.
Scientists use AI to crack the code of nature’s most complex patterns 1,000x faster
Order doesn’t always form perfectly—and those imperfections can be surprisingly powerful. In materials like liquid crystals, tiny “defects” emerge when symmetry breaks, shaping everything from cosmic structures to everyday technologies. Now, researchers have developed an AI-powered method that can predict how these defects will form and evolve in milliseconds instead of hours. By learning directly from data, the system accurately maps molecular alignments and complex defect behavior, even in situations where defects merge or split.
Komoot's Apple Watch App Gets Offline Maps & Routing: Hand-on!
Everything you need to know about using your Apple Watch for offline maps and navigation/routing with Komoot, and how it really works!
California Politics 360 Full Episode | Supreme Court considers Prop. 50 maps
The Republican Party filed an emergency application, asking the Supreme Court to block the maps.
TV maps and announcers for NFL Divisional playoff games
NFL Divisional Playoffs: TV guide and announcers for all four games
Goodbye to drinking water: “Day Zero” will arrive sooner than you thought, and science already knows when and where it will happen
Day Zero is closer than it looks. A new study maps when and where drinking water shortages could hit first.
Federal appeals court upholds California's Prop 50 redistricting maps
A panel of three judges in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to dismiss claims by Republicans that the maps favored Latino voters.
Congressional redistricting effort in N.H. effectively dead, as sympathetic GOP lawmaker cites lack of ‘political will’
A key Republican state lawmaker in New Hampshire came out against a mid-decade redistricting proposal Wednesday, all but guaranteeing an end to the push to redraw the state’s congressional maps ahead of the 2026 election.
The Battle Over House Maps Spills Into 2026, Where an X-Factor Awaits
As the race to gerrymander House districts narrows to a few states, Democrats are trying to go on offense. But a Supreme Court ruling could give Republicans a major edge.
Superconductors, an opportunity for science and society
Superconductive technologies have long been central to particle physics, but they have also repeatedly moved beyond the laboratory, most notably with the emergence of magnetic resonance imaging scanners (MRI), demonstrating how breakthroughs in fundamental research can benefit society. Today, as global energy, climate and healthcare pressures grow, the conversation is shifting from “What can science give to society?” to “How can science and industry jointly develop technologies that benefit society while advancing research?” The event “Catalysing Impact – Superconductivity for Global Challenges” held at CERN in December was aimed precisely at answering this question. The workshop brought together leading researchers, industry representatives, investors and policymakers to explore how collaboration on superconducting technologies can advance particle physics while addressing some of the world’s most pressing societal challenges. The event sought to bridge fundamental research with real-world deployment and to accelerate collaborative pathways. Across keynotes, panels and round tables, participants examined both the current technological landscape and the opportunities ahead. Introducing the discussions, Frédérick Bordry, Chief Technology Officer of the Gauss Fusion company and former CERN Director for Accelerator and Technology, noted that “Superconductivity has become the silent engine of discovery science.” While the research community needs more capable and more resilient superconductors for the next generation of experiments, they also have significant potential for societal applications. Beyond their role in collider magnets, high-temperature superconductors (HTS) now promise lossless power transmission, compact fusion magnets, efficient renewable systems and new capabilities in healthcare, transport, computing and quantum technologies - all aligned with SDG-17’s emphasis on partnership-driven innovation. Participants also stressed that major hurdles remain. Global competition is accelerating, and Europe must act quickly to secure technological and economic leadership. Doing so will require coordinated investment and supportive policies, including stronger risk capital investment and mechanisms to bridge the gap between laboratory innovation and industrial deployment. The summit set in motion several concrete follow-up priorities, including aligning R&D roadmaps with societal goals and the UN Sustainable Development Goals; making it easier for public–private consortia to build demonstrators that serve both industry and research needs; and advancing investment pathways that better connect research institutions, governments and the private sector. A series of interviews of key participants is available here: Frédérick Bordry & Milena Roveda Mike Lamont Francesca Ferrazza Peter Schroth Ziad Melhem Pietro Corsaro
Health AI Atlas: State Laws & Compliance | Ropes & Gray LLP
Explore interactive maps tracking state AI laws that regulate development and deployment by providers, payers, and health tech. See what applies to your organization.
First maps of the sun's outer boundary may help predict solar storms
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has mapped the shifting boundary between the sun and the rest of the solar system.
Another Democrat — this one the son of Somali immigrants — is running for Utah’s new left-leaning congressional seat
Liban Mohamed joined a crowded field of candidates vying for a Democratic-leaning district in Utah's new congressional maps. Mohamed, who is the son of Somali immigrants, is young, Black and Muslim, and says he can bring new voices to the political process.
From Charlie Kirk to redistricting fights, a look at the biggest political stories of 2025
From the assassination of Charlie Kirk to fights over congressional maps, here are the biggest stories that shaped Utah politics in 2025.
Hall of Fame Resort and Entertainment Company starts new year as private company
The company completed a merger on Jan. 1 and is now owned by HOFV Holdings.
NFL Week 18 maps: Tennessee Titans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
NFL television maps are out. If you're in the blue area of the map, you'll see the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars on you local FOX station.
How to share your estimated arrival time on iPhone and Android
ETA sharing on Apple Maps and Google Maps keeps contacts updated automatically while you drive safely. Learn step-by-step instructions for iPhone and Android.
Aren't Oregon's farmers, ranchers and stewards 'Oregon business'?
Both Gov. Kotek's Oregon Prosperity Roadmap and the Oregon Business Plan have elicited fanfare and criticism. As the director of an organization whose members’ livelihoods are tied to businesses inside and outside our urban growth boundaries, I am concerned that these roadmaps emphasize industrial and tech development, calling to pave over our farms, forests, and watersheds.
Year in review: Trump, gerrymandering & redistricting : The NPR Politics Podcast
As we approach 2026, the NPR Politics Podcast is taking a look back at the year that was in different political areas. Today, we explore how President Trump pushed Republican-led states to redraw congressional maps with the hope of getting more Republican members of the House of Representatives, and how that led to an escalation of partisan gerrymandering throughout the country.This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, and voting correspondents Miles Parks & Ashley Lopez.This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.
Gemini will let you keep working in other apps as it processes your request
You should soon be able to resume using an app after activating Gemini, without having to start over with Gemini from scratch.
Explore NASA’s most detailed map of the night sky yet
'We essentially have 102 new maps of the entire sky.'
New on Java Realms: Celebrate Java Realms Day, C’mon!
The latest batch of featured maps is here! Grab your Realms-nog, kick-back, and enjoy the December 2025 edition of New on Java Realms!
Arc Raiders is getting festive tomorrow, as new environmental effects liven up outdoor maps
A new map condition is coming to Arc Raiders tomorrow, plus a new community event and departure window for expeditions.
Google Maps in Gemini just got way smarter at finding your next favorite spot
Google has upgraded Gemini’s local search by putting Google Maps front and center, serving visual maps, cards, and review highlights.
Waze may be finally catching up to Google Maps with this highly-requested feature
Waze has reportedly started testing support for traffic lights, a feature users have been wanting for many years.
California Politics 360 Full Episode | Prop 50 court hearing, California Men's Service Challenge
California leaders and Republicans will try to make their case in court as to whether the state should keep its new congressional maps.
2025: The Year in Graphics, Data, Maps, and Visual Stories
Here’s how Bloomberg News used charts, maps and other visuals to tell 2025’s most important stories.
Trump administration live updates: U.S. Senate to vote on dueling health care bills; Indiana Senate to consider new maps
The Senate is expected to vote on a GOP health care proposal that aims to put money in health savings accounts, alongside a Democratic bill to extend expiring ACA tax credits.
Google Maps Quietly Added This Long-Overdue Feature for Drivers
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you. Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once you start driving again. Saving your parking spot in Maps isn't a new ability in itself.
MoMA PS1 Will Be Free for Everyone, Not Just New Yorkers
Free admission begins in January, thanks to a donation. Officials expect visitation to climb as the Queens-based museum celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Indiana House sets up a showdown between Trump and Republican state senators over redistricting
The Indiana House approved new congressional maps designed to hand Republicans all nine of the state’s US House seats on Friday, setting the stage for a showdown next week in the state Senate.
Mandela Barnes signals support for redrawing Wisconsin congressional maps
Democratic candidate for governor Mandela Barnes is signaling support for redrawing congressional boundaries in Wisconsin.
OPENING ARGUMENTS: Republicans tout politics, critics say racial gerrymandering
By Colleen Steffen TheStatehouseFile.com December 2, 2025 Over and over, critics of Indiana House Republicans’ proposed new congressional map were met with the same phrase from Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, at Tuesday’s hours-long hearing of the House Elections and Apportionment Committee. “We have drawn these maps to create a Republican political advantage.” Smaltz authored House Bill
Gemini is getting a ChatGPT-flavored tweak and new Maps features
Experimenting with the latest Google app beta, we managed to get a look at some new Gemini features, including handy Google Maps integration.
Indiana maps drawn 'purely for political performance' of GOP, bill author says
The author of Indiana's new congressional redistricting bill acknowledged the maps are "politically gerrymandered" but defended them against accusations of illegal racial gerrymandering.
Map unveiled as Indiana House gets down to redistricting business
Millions of Hoosiers would have different representation in the U.S. House under a proposed redrawing of Indiana’s congressional maps that aims to produce a 9-0 GOP delegation.
At least 9 Indiana Republicans were targeted in swatting attacks amid redistricting pressure from Trump
The threats came after Trump publicly called on state lawmakers to pass new congressional maps that would benefit Republicans.
What to expect from AMD, NVIDIA and Intel at CES 2026
CES 2026: What we know and what we expect CES 2026 runs from January 6 to 9 in Las Vegas and is once again the main global show for consumer tech hardware, unlike developer or pro-focused events such as COMPUTEX, GTC, GDC, or Hot Chips, which often center on infrastructure, servers, and roadmaps rather than […]