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Radio, TV, newspaper, digital: Women in regional media
Worcester Magazine's annual Women Making History special feature focuses on movers, shapers and thinkers in the region's news and entertainment media.
PhysioNet as a global platform for biomedical research
Nature Health - Twenty-five years after its first public repository was established, the PhysioNet resource for biomedical and clinical data has enabled tens of thousands of research papers....
New proposal would cap Social Security benefits at $100K for wealthy couples
A new proposal from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget would cap Social Security benefits for wealthy couples at $100,000 annually, with a $50,000 limit for single retirees.
Your Poop Schedule Says a Lot About Your Overall Health, Study Reveals
It matters more than you think.
Marathon has sold 1.2M copies across Steam, PS5, and Xbox
Alinea Analytics estimates show that Marathon has generated gross revenues of $55M via 1.2M copies sold on Steam, PS5, and Xbox: Looking at the split between Steam, PS5, and Xbox, Steam is clearly the main platform for Marathon, accounting for a little under 70% of the audience (800K copies sold). Meanwhile, PS5 takes about 19% (217K) and Xbox (including console, PC, and cloud) accounts for a bit over 11% or 133K. Marathon is technically a first-party Sony title, so seeing the home console struggle to break 20% of the volume is a notable data point for the ongoing platform-agnostic debate. PlayStation Studios online games will almost certainly continue being multiplatform (despite Sony reportedly pulling back on PC releases). Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe As for Marathon, the consensus among hardcore players who pushed through the awkward onboarding phase – myself included – is that it’s fantastic. The gunplay, aesthetic, and presentation are among the best in the shooter genre. A great game doesn’t always equal an immediate hit, though, as shown by our estimates. Things are looking lukewarm right now. But this might be one of those marathon-not-a-sprint situations. Had to, didn’t I? Why wasn’t Marathon a hit on the same level as Arc Raiders? One topic that came up in a lot of conversations at GDC this year was why Marathon hasn’t hit the same stratosphere as Arc Raiders. On paper, they’re both extraction shooters, and Marathon has the Bungie pedigree – the house that built the gold standard for gunplay in Halo and Destiny. Marathon’s neon-futuristic aesthetic also distinguishes itself from the gritty realism of Tarkov or the post-apocalyptic hope of ARC Raiders. But vibes can only get you so far for first impressions if the onboarding feels like a brick wall. Marathon is a sweaty PvP-focused experience with a first-time user experience and UI that I can only describe as dreadful. Players are dropped into a complex ecosystem where the UI, though visually striking, is functionally uninformative, forcing users to manually hover over nondescript, identical icons just to identify basic gear or weapon mods. This lack of clarity is compounded by punishing mechanics like a severe heat gauge for movement and a scarcity of vital resources, all without a clear tutorial or a low-stakes mode to learn the ropes. Most people – even top streamers and veteran shooter players – have no idea what’s going on in Marathon at first. Arc is on the complete other end of the spectrum. As we covered here and here, Arc Raiders offers a more collaborative, approachable loop where players often work together toward shared goals. And the objectives are instantly clear. To many players, this contrast only emphasised Marathon’s issues, especially during the testing period. Players understand the Arc Raiders loop within 30 minutes, while Marathon acts as a massive filter, chewing up newcomers and spitting them out before they can experience the depth of Bungie’s signature gunplay. What I’m getting at here is that the poor first-time user experience of Marathon’s Server Slam likely stifled launch sales, while the opposite was true for Arc. Let’s look at the pre-launch copies sold for each game during their respective Server Slams (launch-aligned) : Looking at the trajectory: Arc Raiders saw a massive 80% jump in copies sold during its three-day Server Slam (day -13 to -11). Players jumped in, realised the water was fine, and immediately opened their wallets. Marathon, meanwhile, saw a 49% increase in the four days following its Slam (Day -7 to -3). At the time of each game’s respective launch, Arc Raiders had nearly double the Steam footprint of Marathon – and word of mouth only continued to grow. Bungie could have had more time to fix the onboarding process had the beta happened earlier. But Marathon launched three days after the beta finished. These factors limited the launch sales quite a bit, I reckon. Marathon has found a niche audience, though Despite the friction-heavy start, the data suggests that those who survived Marathon’s onboarding are loving life. We’ve been tracking cross-platform DAUs, and while there’s the expected post-launch leakage, many players are sticking with it. After peaking at 478K total DAUs on its first Saturday, Marathon has settled into a respectable rhythm, holding 345K DAUs as of yesterday and averaging 380K DAUs across the weekend. Steam continues to do the heavy lifting here, consistently accounting for the lion’s share of the daily players. Players have been putting in the hours, too: On Steam, Marathon’s average playtime has climbed to 27.8 hours, significantly outpacing the console averages on PS5 (16.5h) and Xbox (17.3h). Even more telling than the averages: 22% of the Steam audience has surged past the 50-hour mark, and nearly 7% have already logged over 100 hours. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe This data suggests that once the Bungie magic clicks, it hooks players deeper than the average extraction shooter. There’s also started to be a shift in the game’s discourse. Marathon launched as one of those games that’s cool to hate. But as Marathon’s 100-hour club grows, we’re seeing conversations around its mechanical merit outweigh the negativity. Several high-profile creators, who were initially vocal critics, have spent the last week coming around on the mechanical depth of the endgame. It’s a subtle but positive signal; the hate train is losing steam, and a new narrative about the game is emerging. Bungie faithfuls unite Another interesting metric in Marathon’s first few weeks is who, exactly, is playing. Bungie leans heavily on its prestige as the “makers of Halo and Destiny,” in its marketing, and that message has clearly hit the mark. On Steam, the gravity (hammer) of Bungie’s previous work is unavoidable. A staggering 78.2% of Marathon players also played Destiny 2. The trend carries across other platforms, with 74.2% of PS5 players and 82.7% of Xbox players also having played Destiny 2. The Halo legacy lives on, it seems. More on that in a bit. While Destiny 2 went free to play, these numbers still represent a high-intent migration of a fanbase that trusts Bungie’s specific brand of kinetic gunplay and cryptic world-building. The Xbox data adds another layer of legacy. About 85.7% of Marathon players on Xbox have played Halo Infinite, while over half of the Steam audience has spent time in Halo Infinite and 36.1% in the Master Chief Collection (a paid collection of the old Bungie-made legacy games). Interestingly, we see a 55.9% overlap with ARC Raiders on Steam. Overlap is even higher there on PlayStation (60.5%) and Xbox (66.5%). And there’s also significant crossover with Helldivers 2 on all platforms, too. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe Bungie has found some of its fans with Marathon, and the challenge now is keeping this engaged in a high-stakes PvP environment when they’ve spent the last decade primarily enjoying the power fantasies of PvE. On that note… Go the full 26 miles? Or cut and run? Time for some could’ve, should’ve, would’ve. These things would have improved Marathon’s performance at launch: A more robust onboarding process, perhaps in the form of a short single-player/PvE campaign. We know Bungie fans love this stuff. A traditional arena-based mode akin to Destiny’s Crucible could have been a bridge for the cautious players who’d have been otherwise deterred by the Server Slam. It’s also a great palate cleanser after getting merked. Introducing a dedicated PvE environment would have similarly diversified the conversation and lowered the barrier for the Bungie faithful who found the pure PvP extraction loop too abrasive. PvE is safer than PvP these days. There’s an argument that a thin PvE mode would have just felt like a budget Destiny, potentially hurting the brand more. But given how dire the FTUE is, I think it would have been a net positive. Any kind of tutorialised loop that demystifies the stakes, really. While there is merit in a studio sticking firmly to a singular creative vision, and going all in on the hardcore extraction loop. Less forgiving is the technical reality is that the user interface and first-time user experience (FTUE) were not at a commercial standard for launch. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe In a landscape where player time is oversaturated and the most contested currency, a flawed FTUE is a critical failure point. But it’s not all doom and gloom, as Marathon has an incredible, unique gameplay loop, suggesting that financial success is still attainable if Bungie can pivot effectively. Bungie and PlayStation now face a difficult strategic crossroads, though – one within a challenging games market. They could: Double down on Marathon with a long-term Rainbow Six Siege- or No Man’s Sky-style recovery plan, which is something I heard Last Stand Media’s Chris Maldonado mention last week. While this could be a sunk-cost fallacy in action, it could eventually yield the audience the game’s mechanical depth deserves. Shift focus toward the inevitable Destiny 3 or another project, mitigating the escalating opportunity cost and cutting their losses, so to speak. Doing both is an expensive proposition, given the high overhead and burn rate of operating out of Bellevue, Washington. With Sony recently demonstrating a lower threshold for underperforming studios and projects, the margin for error has vanished. Whatever happens, the next six months will determine whether Marathon becomes a cornerstone of Sony’s live-service portfolio or a cautionary tale of vision exceeding accessibility. I’m hoping it’s the former, because Marathon rocks. As always, hit subscribe to get updates on Marathon and other relevant games. Subscribe Want to get your hands on our data for yourself – for free? We’re offering a free trial of our platform for games companies. Send us a message here, or reply to this email, and we’ll set you up. The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]
We disagreed on politics. We agreed on wine. That was enough.
At the Virginia Governor’s Cup Gala in Richmond earlier this month, a very dapper gentleman approached me and introduced himself. In his light-colored suit and bowtie, he looked very Southern in a classical sense, the sort of Virginia Gentleman you used to see south of the Rappahannock as recently as my college days. “I’m a longtime reader and fan of your writing, if not your politics,” he said. His comment was the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove, simultaneously conveying praise and disapproval while establishing boundaries. Man, I wish we still discoursed like this instead of shouting bromides and insults to try and “own” our opponents with a funny meme and a furrowed brow. Subscribe “Well, we’ll always have wine to share together,” I said, and thanked him for his kind words. We clinked glasses, exchanged pleasantries about the delicious gold medal-winning wines being poured that evening, and went our separate ways. Our exchange reminded me that more unites us than divides us. Wine brings people together to share a meal and a few hours of joy despite our differences.1 That’s why I refer to the wine community — including readers and consumers — rather than the wine industry. Together, we are so much more than production, distribution and sales statistics. A few minutes later the evening’s awards ceremony began. Applause grew as the 12 winemakers who made the top-scoring wines for the Governor’s Case took the stage, including a loud cheer for Jonathan Wheeler of Trump Winery and his 2018 Blanc de Noir sparkling wine. All the winemakers on stage had reason to be proud, Wheeler perhaps more so. Trump Winery was the only winery to win six gold medals in the competition this year. (Wineries are limited to six entries.) Two of Wheeler’s ciders also won gold medals in a separate competition. When you cover the labels and take the sour taste of politics off your palate, the wines are pretty darn good.2 Then Gov. Abigail Spanberger, newly elected Democrat and Virginia’s first female governor, was introduced to great applause to announce which of the 12 wines had won the Governor’s Cup. She spoke for a few minutes about the importance of wine to Virginia’s economy and tourism and the international acclaim Virginia wine has received. Just two weeks earlier, she gave the Democrats’ response to Trump’s State of the Union speech, but this night wasn’t about politics. That didn’t stop several people in the crowd from speculating on the irony should she have to present the trophy to Trump Winery. In the end, Valley Road Vineyards was displayed on the screen behind Spanberger as the winning winery. Blue Bee Cidery in Richmond took top honors for that category. The crowd cheered a female governor presenting the state’s highest trophy to a female winemaker and then resumed the evening’s festivities, united by their mutual love of wine. A whiff of politics couldn’t dim the cheer of celebration and a community united by its love of wine. In Memoriam: Michel Rolland The global wine community lost a giant March 20, with the passing of Michel Rolland. He was 78. Rolland was the original “flying winemaker,” a globe-trotting consultant who helped Bordeaux regain its mojo in the 1970s and then shaped the rise of Napa Valley cult Cabernet as consultant to Simi, Harlan, Newton, Screaming Eagle, Araujo, Dalle Valle and other wineries. He was instrumental in Argentina’s rise to prominence and even had his own winery, Clos de los Siete, in a partnership with other wine families. Rolland’s career arc paralleled that of Robert Parker, the world’s most influential critic. Parker championed many of the wines Rolland consulted on, helping build his reputation and demand for his services. It also made him a target for Parker’s critics. As W. Blake Gray wrote on Wine-Searcher in his excellent tribute to Rolland: Rolland created the type of wines Parker loved: rich body, plenty of fruit, soft tannins. He sometimes faced the accusation of creating a generic international style of red wine, where the great wines he made in Argentina were indistinguishable from the great wines he made in France. Rolland chafed at that critique, as did many of his fans. He was credited with championing green harvesting and leaf pulling, as well as careful selection of grapes in the winery, practices we nearly universally think of today for high-quality winemaking. “Michel was an incredible innovator who changed how wine was made and how grapes were grown,” Napa Valley winemaker Aaron Pott wrote on Facebook. “His work has transformed the wine trade. He created new ways of looking at wine, tasting wine, evaluating ripeness and quality. … This was not just a man with a ‘style’ that he imposed on vineyards but a man that understood how to make great wine from great sites.” Rolland started his consulting company in 1973 in Libourne, in Bordeaux, with his wife, Dany. Both had graduated the year before from Bordeaux’s Institute d’Oenologie. The couple sold their majority share in the business in 2020, according to Wine Spectator. Over his career, Rolland reportedly worked with more than 100 wineries in 20 countries. He even made it to Virginia, where he consulted for Kluge Estate in the mid-2000s. (Kluge Estate is now Trump Winery.) Reader feedback, please! Last week, I did my first WineLine Live! with Dr. Laura Catena of Catena Zapata winery in Argentina. We enjoyed a fascinating discussion about her efforts to preserve the genetic heritage of old vineyards in Mendoza. I conceived of WineLine Live! for paid subscribers, as a thank you for your financial support. And while only a few people joined live, the video now has more views than I have paid subscribers, so I guess that’s pretty good. Even so, I’m considering opening future installments to anyone on Substack to reach a broader audience. So my questions to you: Should these be public? And what format do you prefer? Live gives a chat feature with the potential for viewers to interact with me and the guest, while a video post would just be that. Another alternative is a podcast, which would just be audio, without video of my chins. Please let me know in the comments. Leave a comment In the Glass A few wines I’ve enjoyed recently: Bonny Doon Vineyard Take Me to Your Liter, Le Cigare Volant, Red Wine of the Earth. 2023, Central Coast, CA. Blend of Grenache, Syrah Cinsaut and Petite Sirah. Delightful wine with expressive red fruit flavors, casual drinking. Doon lovers of a certain age will remember Randall Grahm’s Big House Red; this is more in that style than his original Le Cigare Volant, modeled after Chateauneuf du Pape. The liter bottle makes it an even better value. I see this online at about $15. Great value. Albert Bichot Bourgogne Pinot Noir Origines 2023. 13% - Textbook pinot noir and an excellent, affordable entry (regional) Burgundy. Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Wines of 2025. $24 at Total Wine & More. Loma Larga Pinot Noir 2021 “Coastal Cool Climate Wine”, Valle de Casablanca, Chile. An older sample, showing beautifully. Spicy and fruit forward. I’m seeing widely varied pricing online, from $18-$32. At the lower end, it’s a terrific value. 13.5% Dr. Loosen Riesling Dry 2016, Mosel, Germany. Found this “in the stack.” And it stacked up well, shedding some of its youthful acidity for opulent Riesling character, including a hint of the mineral oil older Riesling often features. A great value, as I’m seeing it as low as $14 online. 12% abv. Red Tail Ridge Blau Franc Blend 2024, Sans Oak, Finger Lakes. 13.4% abv. The name is a neat portmanteau of Blaufrankisch and Cabernet Franc, thus Blau Franc. The blend is 50-50, no oak involved. The Blau dominates on the palate, with the spicy caraway seed (think New York deli rye bread). The Franc adds body. The result is juicy, energetic and joyful. Sokol Blosser Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir 2025, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon. This first rosé of 2025 was a welcome respite to our cold, snowy winter here in the Mid-Atlantic. Oh man, I needed this! Bright and energetic, exuberant even, it perks up the mood and goes down fast. 13%. Certified B Corp. Ingredient and nutrition labeling, and in a modest way that doesn’t occupy a lot of label space. (Since it’s not required, presumably there are no minimum font size requirements.) More wineries should follow this example. Dave McIntyre's WineLine is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Thanks for reading Dave McIntyre's WineLine! This post is public so feel free to share it. Share 1 Some restraint may be required. 2 Especially the bubblies.
NIH grant terminations affected women scientists more than men, study finds
A new paper shows that women, particularly those early in their careers, have been disproportionately affected by NIH grant terminations
The MacBook Neo proves Apple is leaving a door wide open for Google’s ‘Aluminium OS’
Apple recently did something that, on paper, seems to make no sense. They launched the MacBook Neo; a $599 laptop powered by the A18 Pro chip that, in a previous life, powered the iPhone 16 series....
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.
Letters: Newspapers hold a position in our democracy, unlike any other business
I read with interest Duke Truby's viewpoint about a newspaper print medium being a "business" in the strictest sense. As such, that business should cater to its customers and clients.
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.
Today’s Papers – Italy’s World Cup mission, Napoli’s comeback
La Gazzetta dello SportBeware Inter, Conte returnsNapoli go -6. Cagliari beaten 1-0. Chivu to the attack tomorrow in FlorenceMilan-Toro, Leao is outSan Siro. Allegri for the comeback with Fullkrug and...
Political Science study reveals how Americans decide who counts as a
The term “person of color” has grown increasingly common in American public life. A new Berkeley Political Science paper, “Who Counts as a ‘Person of Color’? The Roles of Ancestry, Phenotype,
A clarinetist, a high school student, and some climate deniers write a science paper
With the help of AI, misinformation purveyors are up to new tricks.
“Loyal Slaves” and Campfire Entertainment in Frank Vizetelly’s Confederate Camp
Frank Vizetelly’s illustration titled “Night Amusements in the Confederate Camp” appeared in the Illustrated London News on January 10, 1863. It was one among a number of wartime scenes that Vizetelly captured for the newspaper. Subscribe Following the war, the illustration appeared in a number of books, including John O. Casler’s Four Years in the Stonewall Brigade (1893) and Campfires of the Confederacy (1898) by Ben La Bree. The scene depicts a Confederate camp at night with an enslaved man, most likely a camp servant, performing a dance around a fire with the music provided by a soldier playing a banjo. Another enslaved man looks on at the right. Vizetelly likely witnessed the scene—one that would have been common throughout the war. It’s a wonderful example of the way in which Confederates—slaveowners and nonslaveowners alike—experienced the presence of slave labor in the army. Vizetelly was deeply sympathetic to the Confederate cause. His depiction of the enslaved man as more than happy to entertain the very people who were fighting to keep him enslaved was precisely the kind of image designed to reassure a British audience that slavery was benign, and by implication, that Britain need not feel morally troubled about recognizing or supporting the Confederacy. Share Just as importantly, the sight of a dancing slave reassured Confederates themselves that the institution of slavery remained secure even after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. I’ve come across this illustration many times before and I plan on using it in my next book project on the role of enslaved labor in the Confederate army during the Gettysburg Campaign, but this is not the reason I am sharing it with you today. It has to do with where I recently found it, which came as a complete surprise and is incredibly revealing. Let’s take a look.
10 tried-and-true methods to stay off your phone, according to our readers
We asked our audience to share the creative ways they limit their own phone use. They range from the practical (keep your phone in another room) to the creative (pair your phone with a fun paperback).
A clarinetist, a high school student, and four climate deniers write a science paper, with a little help from AI…
Papers like this are like kindling for anyone 'just asking questions' about climate change, or 'doing their own research,' stoking the flames of climate denial.
Arizona charges Kalshi, alleging illegal gambling with election bets
Kalshi calls Arizona’s case ‘paper-thin’ and says the platform should not be overseen by ‘inconsistent state laws’
NCAA bracket 2026: Printable March Madness bracket for men's NCAA Tournament
Ready to make your March Madness bracket? Put ink to paper and fill in your predictions with a printable template.
Social Sciences in the News: Political Science Professor David
Political Science Professor David Broockman's paper Should Moving to the Middle Win Candidates Votes? It Depends Where Voters Are was cited in an op-ed in The New York Times titled "The Democratic
Black Twitter's Most Hilarious Tweets This Week
"Im helping my grandma do some paperwork and she talmbout is she a Veteran."
Miami’s Community Newspapers hosts Small Business Expo
Miami’s Community Newspapers, with the Miami-Dade Strategic Procurement Department, hosted a Small Business Expo in its South Miami offices on Tuesday, Feb. 17, attended by local government and...
AI Chatbots Are Making People All Think the Same, Study Says
A new paper argues that humans are losing varied ways of thinking due to the use of chatbots, and that's concerning.
St. Luke's is latest health network to adopt paperless billing
St. Luke's University Health Network (SLUHN) is switching to paperless billing later this month.
How a print paper from Brooklyn is trying to reach the Wall Street crowd
"People know this is a place they can turn to that they can give us that gossip," says New York Review of Finance cofounder Paige Oamek.
Mandelson documents to be released after PMQs
Hundreds of papers relating to his appointment as ambassador to the US to be put into public domain today
New book finds light in ‘Darkness’ of eco-terror, ski-town politics and 90s newspaper intrigue
“We Bring you an Hour of Darkness” by Michael Bourne is a fun, fast-paced thriller for fans of the mystery genre, especially readers who enjoy ski-town tales of enviro-terror, corporate corruption, shady land deals and...
Brooklyn-based Variety journalist, Daniel D’Addario, makes entertainment of entertainment
Daniel D’Addario, Brooklyn-based Variety journalist, draws on Hollywood experience in his novel “The Talent,” now out in paperback.
Studio Display XDR White Paper Reveals New Color System and Future Calibration Feature
Apple's newly published Studio Display XDR Technology Overview white paper reveals two notable display technologies: a forthcoming Full Calibration feature and a new color measurement model called Apple CMF 2026. According to the document, a future macOS update will introduce Full Calibration, a feature that allows users to recalibrate key display characteristics using professional measurement equipment.
New AI Agent Could Transform How Scientists Study Weather and Climate
Computer scientists and weather scientists have taken the first steps toward creating an AI agent capable of analyzing and answering questions in natural language, such as English, about data from AI-driven weather and climate forecasting models.
Exotic prime numbers could be hiding inside black holes
A new paper makes the strange case for prime numbers at the heart of physics.
MacBook Neo Wallpapers Now Available for All Macs in macOS Tahoe 26.4 Beta
The colorful new wallpapers that Apple introduced with the MacBook Neo are available for all Macs in the fourth beta of macOS Tahoe 26.4 that came out for developers today. Featuring bubble-style lines with colorful gradients, the wallpapers come in Mac Purple, Mac Blue, Mac Pink, and Mac Yellow. The design and the colors spell out the word "Mac".
ESPN Scoops Up Multiple Ex-Washington Post Sports Reporters
Multiple outlets have hired former Post reporters since the newspaper shuttered its sports section in early February.
Apollo to close acquisition of Atletico Madrid stake this week, says Expansion
U.S. fund Apollo's sports investment arm Apollo Sports Capital will close the acquisition of 55% of Spanish football club Atletico Madrid on March 12, Spanish newspaper Expansion said on Monday citing sources.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra shows camera improvements compared to S25 Ultra, can't catch up to Apple iPhone 17 Pro
On paper, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has only received a few camera upgrades. An initial comparison by DxOMark now shows that Samsung was able to drastically improve the image quality in certain scenarios, but the camera system of the Galaxy S26 Ultra is not completely free of problems.
Health Department releases food inspection reports for week of Feb. 22
Find out how your favorite restaurant, convenience store and other food establishments in Jefferson County are performing on Health Department inspections.
Fighting to Protect the Entertainment Industry
For decades California has been the undisputed global epicenter of film and television production. Over the past several years, the volume of film and television production shooting in California has
Scientists warn fake research is spreading faster than real science
A sweeping new study from Northwestern University reveals that scientific fraud is no longer just the work of a few rogue researchers—it has evolved into a global, organized enterprise. By analyzing massive datasets of publications, retractions, and editorial records, researchers uncovered networks involving “paper mills,” brokers, and compromised journals that systematically produce and sell fake research, authorship slots, and citations.
Scientists are trying to solve the mystery of whether global warming is speeding up. A new study says it has the answer
Is the world getting hotter, faster? It’s a big question which has been puzzling and dividing scientists for years. A new paper says it has the answer, and it’s not good news.
This molecule puts a new twist on the Möbius strip
A molecule made of carbon and chlorine is half as twisty as the paper loops common in math classes.
One school says college sports is 'running out of time.' What a bunch of alarmists
Louisville sounds alarm, spells out NCAA sports doomsday in a panicky paper. Oh, please. Your big spending says otherwise.
AI is prepared to commit science fraud, research finds
ArXiv, a repository for pre-peer-reviewed papers, has been “overwhelmed” with submissions since the rise of LLMs.
🗞️ Headlines: White disaster dominates the front pages
On both sides of the Air Bridge: today, there’s nothing else people are talking about. Last night’s defeat of Real Madrid against Getafe is the front-page story in Spain’s major sports newspaper...
TCL is upgrading its easy-on-the-eyes glare-free NXTPAPER display tech with AMOLED
TCL is preparing for a major leap forward on future phone and tablet displays.
TCL's New Screen Blends Nxtpaper Tech With AMOLED, and It Looks Fantastic
TCL showed off a new screen concept at Mobile World Congress that brings its Nxtpaper technology to AMOLED for the first time. It also announced a new tablet, available with or without Nxtpaper.
What cost foreign prestige? China says no to some Western science journal fees
Chinese researchers will no longer be reimbursed for paper publication charges in Nature Communications, among others.
Tennessee women who carry on the legacy of changemakers before them
In Aug.1920, Tennessee newspapers declared “the political democracy of America” was “complete.” But Tennessee women are still fighting for change.
Science history: Stephen Hawking writes a tiny paper — and turns our understanding of black holes inside out
In 1974, physicist Stephen Hawking described the potential for tiny, primordial black holes that existed at the dawn of time to explode — and reshaped what we knew about these cosmic behemoths.
Science history: Stephen Hawking writes a tiny paper — and turns our understanding of black holes inside out
In 1974, physicist Stephen Hawking described the potential for tiny, primordial black holes that existed at the dawn of time to explode — and reshaped what we knew about these cosmic behemoths.
Eckerd College marine science students and their professor publish research paper despite interruptions
News | Eckerd College
Mamdani pitches Trump on housing investments by with mocking up newspaper with his name in the headline
It’s a tactic designed to appeal to Trump, who is keenly aware of his media coverage and, aside from being an avid viewer of cable news, is known to voraciously consume coverage in the local New York City publications.
Mamdani pitches Trump on housing with mock newspaper in latest White House visit
President Donald Trump has met with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at the White House to talk about big federal housing investments
Political storm in Wyoming as far-right activist caught handing checks to lawmakers
Photograph shows conservative activist handing slip to Darin McCann and Marlene Brady holding a similar paper
Kayhi students dive into all things oceanic in this marine science club
The Sabertooth Smolts, the Junior Varsity team, wrote their research paper about the ooligan, a little fish that used to be found in abundance in Ketchikan before the fishery crashed 20 years ago.
Buss: When 'health education' expands to sex, lines blur
The real issue isn’t whether Michigan has separated sex education from general health ed on paper — it has.
Spears Business assistant professor Dinkel wins research awards for legal ethics papers
Dr. Christopher Dinkel, an assistant professor of legal studies in OSU’s Spears School of Business Department of Management, recently won regional and international awards for his legal ethics research. His findings have significant implications for both attorneys and business scholars.
Science knows of 21,000 bee species. There are likely thousands more
A new paper provides the first statistically derived estimate of bee species richness around the world. But this is about more than bees.
The Hidden Health Risks of Plastic-Packaged Ready Meals
Greenpeace International's analysis of 24 research papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals found that the plastics we use to package our food are exposing us to health risks – and none more so than heated ready meals and takeaways.
Fenton golf, games and grub entertainment biz to open Feb. 26
WOW! Entertainment, an “eatertainment” venue, will open in Fenton later this month.
New 'scimitar-crested' Spinosaurus species discovered in the central Sahara
A paper published in Science describes the discovery of Spinosaurus mirabilis, a new spinosaurid species found in Niger. A 20-person team led by Paul Sereno, Ph.D., Professor of Organismal Biology and ...
Daniel Miller
Daniel Miller is a reporter at POLITICO covering the intersection of entertainment, media, sports, technology and politics.Part of POLITICO’s California team since 2026, he examines how Hollywood and Southern California function as engines of political power. Daniel also covers the rainmakers, dealmakers and cultural figures who shape policy debates, elections and public life far beyond the state’s borders.Daniel previously spent 13 years at the Los Angeles Times, most recently as an enterprise reporter in the newspaper’s Metro department, where he worked on investigations and features. He wrote about allegations of sexual misconduct at L.A.’s Magic Castle, chronicled the cratering ventures of a celebrity vegan chef and detailed themystery of a missing million-dollar pocket watch once owned by J.P. Morgan. In 2019, he wrote, reported and hosted "Larger Than Life," an award-winning podcast about the life of an enigmatic L.A. street racer.He previously covered the business of entertainment for The Times, examining the fraught political ties between the Walt Disney Co. and the city of Anaheim, probing the world of second-tier talent agents operating on Hollywood’s fringes and uncovering allegations involving several #MeToo figures.Daniel was named Journalist of the Year at the 2015 National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards and, a year later, received the L.A. Press Club’s Entertainment Journalist of the Year award. He was also a finalist for the 2016 Loeb Awards for "Selling Stardom," a series on unscrupulous Hollywood operators. His narrative reporting has been honored by organizations including the Society for Features Journalism, the National Association of Black Journalists and the Motor Press Guild.Daniel began his career reporting in Southern California, writing for the Ventura County Star, the Los Angeles Business Journal and the Hollywood Reporter. He attended Beverly Hills High School and UCLA. He lives in Los Angeles.
DAV announces new partnership with Solace Health supporting veterans’ care
ERLANGER, Ky. – DAV (Disabled American Veterans) is proud to announce a new partnership with Solace Health as its first new partner in 2026. The partnership is supported by a donation from Solace Health to advance DAV’s mission of empowering veterans to lead high-quality lives. The collaboration brings together two organizations focused on helping veterans receive timely, coordinated, high-quality care, regardless of where they receive it. While many veterans receive care through the VA, which offers an integrated and coordinated whole-health model, others receive some or all of their care through private health systems using Medicare or other insurance benefits. These veterans often need help to understand health insurance rules, manage their treatment, and navigate between multiple health care systems. “Disabled veterans often have complex health challenges, and DAV’s advocacy work strives to minimize barriers to timely, high-quality care, primarily within VA., but increasingly between VA and private providers,” said DAV CEO and National Adjutant Barry Jesinoski. “Our partnership with Solace Health can offer support for veterans who are eligible for VA care and Medicare, particularly those who split their care between the VA and private health systems. Veterans who don’t use VA at all can also benefit from the care coordination services that Solace Health provides, usually with little or no out-of-pocket cost to them.” Solace Health provides professional health care advocacy services, connecting patients with experienced advocates who help schedule appointments, explain benefits, coordinate care among providers, and manage administrative burdens with private health care systems, thereby allowing veterans and their families to focus on health and recovery. “For many veterans, the fight doesn’t end when service does,” said Jeremy Gurewitz, CEO and co-founder of Solace Health. “Veterans living with serious medical conditions often encounter a private health care system outside of the VA that is fragmented and difficult to navigate. Through this partnership with DAV, Solace Health advocates can help cut through red tape, improve care coordination, and simplify scheduling of medical appointments. We’re proud to support DAV in helping veterans to successfully navigate health care systems so that veterans, particularly disabled veterans, receive the care they have earned.” DAV provides a lifetime of support for veterans of all generations, their families, caregivers, and survivors. Each year, DAV’s no-cost programs and services help more than 1 million veterans access the benefits and health care they have earned, connect with meaningful employment, and ensure their voices are heard on Capitol Hill. About DAV DAV is dedicated to ensuring our promise is kept to America’s veterans. DAV does this by helping veterans and their families access the full range of benefits available to them, fighting for the interests of America’s injured heroes on Capitol Hill, providing employment resources to veterans and their families, offering programs and services to empower them, and educating the public about the great sacrifices and needs of veterans transitioning back to civilian life. A nonprofit organization with nearly 1 million members, DAV was founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932. About Solace Health Veterans face complex health challenges, and the path to care is far harder than it should be. They deal with fragmented services and providers, each with unique requirements and paperwork. Solace Health advocates—healthcare experts with 16 years’ experience on average—help veterans navigate this landscape when they need it most. Advocates schedule appointments, explain benefits and keep doctors aligned. They take the lead on calls and documentation, and their no-homework ethos eases burdens on veterans and their families. Solace Health is covered by Medicare and Medicare Advantage, and most veterans pay little or nothing out of pocket. We’re honored to support DAV members.
Today’s Papers: An historic Juve blunder, Galagoal, Bastoni apology
La Gazzetta dello SportNot like that An historic gaffe in the Champions LeagueBremer ko, Cabal sent off, Galatasaray win 5-2. It will be very tough to qualify for the round of 16 in Turin on the 25th...
Berkshire returns to the newspaper business, takes bigger bite of Domino’s Pizza
Berkshire’s fresh bet on the publisher of the New York Times marks a return to newspapers for the conglomerate after exiting the business six years ago.
iOS 26.4 redesigns Wallpaper Gallery
Apple just released the first iOS 26.4 beta, and it seems to feature a number of under-the-hood improvements. One change...
Scientists discover "time crystals" that defy Newton’s third law
“Our system is remarkable because it’s incredibly simple,” said paper author and physicist David Grier of New York University.
Sprinting science that rewrites the rulebook
A new international research paper is challenging long-held beliefs about what makes the world's fastest sprinters so quick, offering fresh insights that could transform how Australia develops its next ...
Student Life - The independent newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis
The independent newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis
Pols & Politics: Congressman Richard Neal gets a primary challenger
A public school teacher is filing papers to unseat longtime Congressman Richard Neal in the September primary election as Congressman Jim McGovern files legislation to end the decades long trade em…
Joe Heller: Cartoonist on news - Pam Bondi, Epstein, Olympic politics, Valentine's Day
Joe Heller was the editorial cartoonist for the Green Bay Press-Gazette in Green Bay, Wis., from 1985 until being laid off in July 2013. He still draws several cartoons a week and distributes them through his own syndicate. Through Heller Syndication, his cartoons regularly appear in more than 400 newspapers, making him the most successful...
‘Memorials are for the living’: Donatelli family business brings solace to death
Behind a collection of gravestones, Fred “Corky” Donatelli III arranges papers at his desk. His hands are big and rough, dusted with dirt...
Some Florida voters foresee voter access changes if SAVE America Act becomes law
The act would require voters to bring photo ID and proof of citizenship, such as passports, an original birth certificate or naturalization papers.
Danbury OKs ‘ugly on paper’ zone change to benefit local business
"To be very frank, the petition looks ugly on paper, because we just got finished getting rid of these things,” said Theodore Haddad.
A Tragedy of Early COVID Has Finally Been Explained
Dangerous blood clotting associated with certain vaccines had a genetic cause, according to a new paper.
NASA's Viking Mission May Have Found Alien Life In 1976 And Accidentally Killed It
A new paper suggests that BARSOOM may have been alive on the planet, and was killed in the Viking experiments.
Scientists See Growing Risk of 'Hothouse Earth' as Warming Gains Pace
Warming is accelerating, threatening a cascade of tipping points that destabilize the climate. In a new paper, scientists say the risk of "hothouse Earth" is greater than once believed.
Why Jeff Bezos gutted the Washington Post
Hundreds of jobs have gone at the newspaper that broke the Watergate scandal. Was profit or politics behind the decision? Jeremy Barr reports
Sports leagues race to capture Gen Z and Gen Alpha with AI, influencers and Italian brainrot
CHICAGO (AP) — Trevor McOmber and his 14-year-old son, Tye, share a love for the Chicago Blackhawks. When Trevor was his son's age, he watched the Blackhawks on TV, caught highlights on ESPN and read about the team in the newspaper.
Capital One Seizes Control of Discovery Behavioral Health After Defaulting on Debt
Capital One has taken over Webster Equity Partners’ portfolio company, Discovery Behavioral Health. Court documents show that Capital One and its
An Olympian Made One Small Comment About the State of the Country, and MAGA Lost Its Mind
The president and his sycophants really do have paper-thin skin.
Jon Kudelka, much-loved Australian political cartoonist, dies aged 53
Award-winning Tasmanian artist’s work was published by The Australian, The Saturday Paper and The Hobart Mercury
Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos gives first statement after layoffs
Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos has put out his first statement since the paper's cuts. He said "data tells us what is valuable and where to focus."
Washington Post union calls for Jeff Bezos to sell the paper
In a statement released Saturday following the ouster of Washington Post CEO Will Lewis, the Post's union called for Jeff Bezos to sell the paper.
Washington Post CEO out days after sweeping layoffs
Will Lewis, the CEO of The Washington Post, announced his departure from the beleaguered paper on Saturday afternoon.
After Almost a Century, Readers Close Mass Market Paperbacks
E-books and pricier formats push cheap pocket novels toward extinction
Saying Goodbye to the Mass Market Paperback
The mass market paperback, light in the hand and on the wallet, once filled airport bookstores and supermarket media aisles. You may never buy a new one again.
Nationals praise Washington Post sports reporters
The Washington Nationals gave a shoutout to Washington Post reporters, a day after the newspaper announced plans to shut down its sports department as part of company-wide cuts. “Journalists from T…
House Republicans sound alarm over CCP-linked fake research threatening US taxpayer-funded science
House Republicans warn Chinese "paper mills" may be flooding U.S. science with fake research, potentially compromising taxpayer-funded programs and grants.
This paper-thin chip turns invisible light into a steerable beam
Researchers have built a paper-thin chip that converts infrared light into visible light and directs it precisely, all without mechanical motion. The design overcomes a long-standing efficiency-versus-control problem in light-shaping materials. This opens the door to tiny, highly efficient light sources integrated directly onto chips.
‘Deep and profound sadness’: Washington Post sports reporter shares emotions after mass layoffs at the paper
Jesse Dougherty was among those who lost their job Wednesday as part of the mass layoffs that gutted the staff of the D.C.-area’s hometown newspaper The Washington Post. He shared the emotions upon hearing the news with WTOP’s Nick Iannnelli.
It’s Time to Pay Our Last Respects to The Washington Post
Democracy, the Post says, dies in darkness. Nowadays, newspapers are murdered in broad daylight.
The Murder of The Washington Post
Today’s layoffs are the latest attempt to kill what makes the paper special.
MIT's new brain tool could finally explain consciousness
Scientists still don’t know how the brain turns physical activity into thoughts, feelings, and awareness—but a powerful new tool may help crack the mystery. Researchers at MIT are exploring transcranial focused ultrasound, a noninvasive technology that can precisely stimulate deep regions of the brain that were previously off-limits. In a new “roadmap” paper, they explain how this method could finally let scientists test cause-and-effect in consciousness research, not just observe correlations.
OVC Celebrates National Girls and Women in Sports Day
February 4th marks the 40th Annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day™ (NGWSD).
'Win within Edinburgh's grasp but for poor kicking'
Edinburgh have played four games in the past two seasons that have been officiated by Andrea Piardi and have lost all of them. On paper, we should have had a chance against Leinster but by now we all know that the paper lies. A few decisions felt like they went against Edinburgh, least of all the chalked-off try on the 25 minute mark.
Baladins Is An Adorable Tabletop-Inspired Co-Op RPG With A Papercraft Aesthetic
Coming to Switch later this month
ICYMI: Paper Mario-Styled RPG 'Escape From Ever After' Has Launched On Switch
And it's riding high on Metacritic
‘Ending the HIV Epidemic’ Health Fair set for Feb. 11
The Office of Community Advocacy and the Florida Department of Health (DOH) in Miami-Dade County will join various community providers to co-host the annual “Ending the HIV Epidemic” Health Fair....
Scientists discover hidden geometry that bends electrons like gravity
Researchers have discovered a hidden quantum geometry inside materials that subtly steers electrons, echoing how gravity warps light in space. Once thought to exist only on paper, this effect has now been observed experimentally in a popular quantum material. The finding reveals a new way to understand and control how materials conduct electricity and interact with light. It could help power future ultra-fast electronics and quantum technologies.
Health Department releases food inspection reports for week of Jan. 18
Find out how your favorite restaurant, convenience store and other food establishments in Jefferson County are performing on Health Department inspections.