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Sanofi suspends chronic lung disease phase 2 study, tied to ‘strategic business reasons’

Sanofi halted a phase 2 trial testing a monoclonal antibody, SAR445399, in non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, Fierce Biotech has learned. The trial, which began only back in April, was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to measure the reduction in mucus plug score following treatment with SAR445399 compared with placebo in adults aged 18 to 80 years with NCFB, a chronic lung disease. The trial was officially reported as halted on July 29, the day before Sanofi’s second-quarter earnings call. The decision to pause the trial was made “as part of a company-wide portfolio review for strategic business reasons,” and not due to safety concerns, a Sanofi spokesperson told Fierce. The move to pause the NCFB trial comes during a trying time for Sanofi following a year filled with a series of trial fails. In February, the French pharma ousted CEO Paul Hudson and appointed Merck KGaA leader Belén Garijo, M.D., Ph.D., to steer the ship. Since then, Garijo has been doing a deep dive on correcting the company’s strewn R&D and clinical strategies. On July 24, Sanofi scrapped amlitelimab for atopic dermatitis, despite its lore as being a potential $5 billion blockbuster. During its second-quarter report, the company abandoned two more assets, balinatunfib and itepekimab, following failed trial results in psoriasis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, respectively. SAR445399, only first revealed by Sanofi in 2023, is an anti-interleukin-1 receptor 3 monoclonal antibody developed to block the interleukin 1, 33, and 36 cytokine pathways. These pathways can be important in chronic immune-related dermatologic diseases, such as atopic dermatitis and hidradenitis suppurativa, as well as respiratory conditions, such as NCFB. Related Sanofi’s new CEO ‘looking deeply’ at late-stage pipeline as clinical clearout continues NCFB affects roughly half a million people in the U.S., with a global incidence of greater than one million cases. In August 2025, Insmed received FDA approval for Brinsupri, a DPP1 inhibitor targeting neutrophil activation, for treatment of NCFB in adults and kids ages 12 and older. The British biotech Infex Therapeutics showed promising NCFB phase 2a data using their monoclonal antibody, INFEX702, which acts by disabling Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacteria known to be a major pathogen of NCFB. Sanofi is currently running a separate phase 2 study testing SAR445399 as a potential treatment for the inflammatory skin condition hidradenitis suppurativa.

Aug 5 • 2:50 PM EDT • Business • fiercebiotech.com

Judge criticizes Trump's Justice Department as he says he has no choice but to dismiss Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy case

The move Tuesday closes the book on the Jan. 6 cases that were wiped out with Republican President Donald Trump's sweeping pardons and commutations last year, freeing from prison people convicted of violent of assaults on police and other crimes.

Aug 5 • 1:19 PM EDT • Politics • pbs.org

Google’s AI Is Telling Users That Flock Cameras Are Filled With Valuable Gold and Copper

It's AI-on-AI violence.

Aug 5 • 9:41 AM EDT • Technology • tech.yahoo.com

Chartbook 464 The"China squeeze" - the politics of development counterfactuals.

There are three types of China shock discourse. Each has a distinct temporal register. China shock 1.0 was a phrase coined by US academics in the 2010s to retrospectively summarize the impact on particular US labour markets, which they identified through painstaking empirical investigation. China shock 2.0 on everyone’s lips in Europe in the mid 2020s is an alarm raised by trans-Atlantic policy thinkers warning of a coming disaster which they project onto Europe’s ailing car industry. The third type of China shock discourse - commonly known as the “China squeeze” launched most recently by Indian economists Shoumitro Chatterjee and Arvind Subramanian in the pages of Foreign Affairs - mobilizes a different, more speculative temporal register: the counterfactual realm of alternate history. The China squeeze argument asks not what has happened, or what is going to happen, but what might have been. Specifically, what options for economic development might have been open to Global South economies like India or the economies of sub-Saharan Africa, had it not been for China’s spectacular industrialization since the late 1990s and the persistent competitiveness of China’s manufacture in low-skilled segments. Chatterjee and Subramanian’s argument is that whilst China has built a powerful position in electrical machinery and other high-skill manufacturing, which is now delivering China Shock 2.0, it also continues to run a trade surplus in low-skill, labour-intensive manufacturing. This surplus is large and has remained largely unchanged in fifteen years. Indeed, in the 2010s, in trade with low-income countries, China’s surplus rapidly increased. On their reading, this squeezes low-income producers in low-skill sectors in which they “should” be able to compete. Source: “China’s Mercantilist Squeeze on Developing Countries” Shoumitro Chatterjee and Arvind Subramanian. Peterson Institute for International Economics 26-7 May 2026 Chatterjee and Subramanian’s wording is telling: (emphasis mine) The canonical trajectory of economic development in the post-World War II period is for countries to transition from agriculture to manufacturing, first in low-skilled manufacturing and then later on to high-skill manufacturing (Herrendorf, Rogerson, and Valentinyi 2013). At the global level, this implies that high-income countries (HICs) that once specialized in low-skilled activities cede manufacturing export space to poorer countries that come along to occupy that space. In 1965, advanced economies accounted for about 60 percent of global value-added exports in four key low-skilled manufacturing sectors, i.e., apparel, leather, textiles, and footwear. Over time this share declined and began to be occupied first by the East Asian tigers and, beginning in the late 1990s, by China. Today China accounts for about 50 percent of the global market. The question is whether China, with its rising prosperity, is continuing to behave like its richer counterparts and ceding export space to poorer followers or to behave unlike them and continuing to occupy space. In terms of the conceptual maneuvers it performs, of the three China shock discourses, the “China squeeze” argument is by far the most ambitious. After all, it bases its critique of China on a counterfactual imagining of the world. Like any counterfactual argument, to construct this alternative reality it must rely on a heuristic model. To make their argument Chatterjee and Subramanian mobilize two key claims. The first reference point is the actual history of rich-country industrialization, what they refer to as the “canonical path”. The idea is that countries transition from agriculture to light industry and low-skilled manufacturing and from there up the value chain. To make this useful as a standard of comparison and a means to construct a normative standard, they adjust sectoral export shares for two factors: 1. the underlying level of economic development of the exporting country, as measured by national income and 2. the degree to which the sector in question is internationalized. The idea being that for a high income country to have a high export share in low-skill sectors is anomalous and even more so if that particular product is highly internationalized and thus suitable for being “conceded” to lower-income competitors. Where should this process end? Here Chatterjee and Subramanian introduce their second benchmark. Their normative idea of a global development path is one in which, in due course, low-skill manufacturing exports are distributed in proportion to a country’s share in the global labour force. They imagine, in other words, a world of proportional, polycentric global development without much national specialization in low-skill manufacturing. A useful benchmark is that, in labor-intensive manufacturing sectors, a country’s share of world exports should be broadly commensurate with its share of the world’s low-skilled labor endowment. … In the Heckscher-Ohlin model, this would be true if value added per worker and export propensities, i.e., fraction of output that is exported, are the same across countries. It is this pleasant liberal vista of orderly global development, progressing towards a general distribution of low-skilled manufacturing against which they judge reality and conclude that the low-income countries are suffering a “China squeeze”. China is not exiting low-skill sectors fast enough Allowing for its gdp level and the degree of globalization, China’s share of low-skill manufacturing exports is far higher than it “should” be. Relative to population, its low-skill share of exports is far too high. That in turn yields the conclusion that huge numbers of jobs - the authors suggest tens of millions - are being hoarded by China. For the four sectors captured in figure 4, this excess in value-added exports is $110 billion in 2022. For all low-skilled sectors overall captured in appendix figure D.1, excess value-added exports amount to $365 billion. The crowding out of LMIC exports by China is therefore substantial. Both these claims have in common that they are strong structuralisms. The first is that development paths ought to resemble each other. The second is that broadly speaking as far as low-skilled manufacturing is concerned, all countries are alike. If the world currently diverges from the distribution of trade implied by these assumptions, if China is not following the advanced economy path and has huge exports, this must be the result of “policy”, which the authors then put in question as illegitimate or unfair. Thus the naturalistic construction of a canonical path leading to a “level” distribution of low-skilled manufacturing reveals itself to be a polemical tool. From the point of view of China shock polemics, this discourse is no doubt welcome. But as an account of economic history, it must surely be regarded as nothing short of bamboozling. Development paths do not follow a regular, natural sequence. As David Fishman put it aptly, “development is not a queue”. They are always and everywhere, through and through political. Development is not so much a process, as a project. Each such project is more or less well adjusted to its context. As Gerschenkron taught uneven and combined development implies differentiation rather than simple imitation on a single parth. It may be true that Europe and the US exited relatively early from low-skill work. But clearly technology has changed. As C&S themselves point out, China no longer enjoys a low wage environment. Do they really believe that such huge differences can be accounted for either by industrial policy, which as they admit does not operate powerfully in low-skill sectors, or by exchange rate manipulation? What is overwhelmingly dominant in explaining the persistence of “low-skill” manufacturing in China are surely the network effects of complex supply chains. Indeed the label of “low-skill” may miss the point. The degree of globalization which Chatterjee and Subramanian decide to conjure away in their model of the development path - to allow for the fact that Europe and American textiles exporters did not enjoy just-in-time logistics in the 1950s - obscures the point that the networks through which Chinese factories supply the world are themselves key parts of the low-skill industrialization project. China isn’t knocking out 1970s style “cheap”. It has redefined the entire product cycle. C&S’s casual reference to “T-shirts” is telling. In today’s “fast fashion”, there is weight on both terms. Fashion and fast. China’s success in delivering on both at unprecedentedly high speed and at unprecedentedly low cost, isn’t a low-skill operation at all. If we see development trajectories not as the serial repetition of the same, but as distinctive, crafted projects that cumulate in complex agglomerations of skill, technology and labor, then this explains why the assumption that low-skilled manufacturing should follow the distribution of population flies in the face of all experience. As countless cases attest, low-wage, low-income developed economies are not by themselves the makings of a competitive production base. As Leon Liao puts it quite fairly: “International trade has never been allocated according to population. A country’s population gives it no natural claim to an equivalent share of global exports." And the remarkable fact is that Subramanian alone and with co-authors has long been making this point, not to pillory China, as is the case of the tendentious _Foreign Affair_s and Peterson pieces, but to highlight the great counterpart to China’s industrial success, namely India’s relative failure. The much-quoted Foreign Affairs piece showed low-skill export shares only for China, not for India. If you put both countries in the picture as Chaterjee and Subramanian have done on other occasions, the picture looks like this. China is far above the line, but India, almost as large in terms of population, is no less anomalous, just in the opposite direction. As far as global populations are concerned, and the imagining of tens of millions of “squeezed” jobs, it is this Sino-Indian pair that account for a huge share of the action. What this graph reveals is not China’s cheating, but India’s “greatest development failure”, at least this is the argument made Arvind Subramanian, this time in co-authorship with Devesh Kapur, in their major book, A Sixth of Humanity. Independent India’s Development Odyssey which appeared with Oxford University Press earlier this year. In this highly critical work on India’s development, China is repeatedly evoked, not to criticize but as a benchmark against which to illuminate what India’s political economy has not delivered i.e. large-scale formal employment for hundreds of millions of citizens. Kapur and Subramanian leave no doubt, if you want to understand why China, not India was the main driver of manufacturing globalization from the 1980s, don’t look to slots opening up in the division of labour thanks to the liberal mindedness of advanced economies, look to the contrasting political economy of the Maoist PRC and India’s post-independence political economy. As Kapur and Subramian note: The great divergence between China and India did not begin in 1978 with the Deng reforms—it was well underway by then. In one of the great ironies of modern history, the conditions created by Maoism turned out to be a great launching pad for industrial globalization. As the comparison of India and China in 1980 makes clear, to imagine manufacturing would be equally distributed when populations are so differently endowed in terms of educational and nutritional is fanciful. Here is the data from Kapur and Subramanian, data which I explored back at the very beginning of Chartbook. As Kapur and Subramanian insist, the striking fact is that even as India’s growth accelerated from the 1980s, structural change has not. Formal employment in India lags woefully behind. Why? As Kapur and Subramanian note, the path-dependent impact of India’s poor early start was devastating. The list of factors they mention is long and weighty: We argue for a new five-fold explanation applicable at different stages of Indian history: in the initial stages, the legacy of two key pre-1980s policies, the neglect of agriculture and the strangling of the domestic private sector, were critical. The failure of broad-based agricultural growth militated against rural industrialization, which would have been devoted to satisfying local needs that would have necessarily been labour intensive. Then, when the boom came after 1980, the thicket of regulation and broader labour protections that were legislated prematurely in a nascent democracy, underpinned by a deep ideological aversion to private capital in general and big capital specifically, became a barrier to attaining the size that would be necessary to compete globally. Similarly, the reforms after 1991, while wide-ranging, did not quite encompass non-tradeable inputs critical to manufacturing, namely, land, logistics infrastructure and power. A combination of low investment (logistics infrastructure), regulation (land) and the continued monopoly supply by state governments (power), combined with residual socialism, kept costs at 75–100 per cent above efficient supply. These factors were compounded on the supply side by the government, which dominated the formal labour market and established exorbitantly high wages at the lower end of the skill spectrum. This made their employment in the labour-intensive sector by the private sector less attractive. Finally, when the services sector and its exports boomed, wages soared even further via a Dutch Disease effect: one successful tradeable sector killed and cannibalized another less-skilled tradable sector, namely, manufacturing. Thus, scarcity-inducing policies of the planning era, precocious democracy and a Gandhian aversion to size; inefficient, monopolistic supply of critical non-tradable inputs; the behemoth of government; and super-successful skill-intensive services successively undermined India’s unskilled labour employment opportunities. The employment failure seems to have been over-determined. … Less quantifiable but no less important are some of the sociological factors that have undermined manufacturing and factory jobs. Take the impact of the success of the IT sector—located in urban areas with better working conditions, such as air-conditioned offices, good schools for children and attractive entertainment options. It became a more attractive place for engineering and management graduates to flock to. … Consider manufacturing and female employment. Indian society makes it difficult for women to work, reflected in India’s unusually low female labour force participation (elaborated in Chapter XIII). Indian society, in particular the routine harassment of women in public spaces, makes it even more difficult for them to travel long distances to take up work.37 Combined with onerous regulations on creating hostels and dormitories for women—which, in turn, prevents multiple shifts of operation—factories need to be located in areas with a large female labour pool. While firms can take apparel plants to female labour or bring them to the plants by building large-scale dormitories, this raises costs. If there was a case for subsidies to encourage labour-intensive manufacturing, housing subsidies to build dormitories for women workers would be a good place to start. All of this meant, that when opportunities did open up, in part thanks to adjustments in China, India was in no position to take advantage. Here is the account of the 2020s from Kapur and Subramanian. It stands in dizzying contrast to the one-sided, “China squeeze” argument delivered in the Peterson and Foreign Affairs pieces: In 2022, for example, India’s share of global exports in clothing (the canonical labour-intensive sector) was 3.1 per cent compared to 32 per cent for China. This is extremely disappointing because China started vacating export space in this sector after the Global Financial Crisis as its wages started rising; it then vacated further space in the aftermath of geopolitical developments that led investors to seek alternative investment locations. Between its peak and today, China lost about 7.5 percentage points of global export share (worth about $43 billion in 2022); over this period, India’s export share remained stagnant at 3 per cent, while that of Vietnam and Bangladesh rose by 3.5 to 4 percentage points. China’s loss did not translate into any gain for India in terms of low-skill exports and employment. Put differently, when the conditions for dynamism and prosperity were established after 1991, and even more tantalizingly when the global export opportunities opened up, it was as if India was a high-wage economy and only skilled labour could benefit from the dynamism. It had converted its physically abundant unskilled workforce into an economically expensive resource, penalizing its use. It is not my mission here to argue for or against Kapur and Subramanian’s interpretation of India’s development trajectory. The point in this context is simply that the “China squeeze” such as it is can only be understood, in relation to the heavy burden of domestic constraints that Kapur and Subramanian so unsparingly enumerate. I am concentrating here on India because it is the great counterpart to China and the unspoken reference point of the “China squeeze” discourse. But the point is more general. Can anyone with a straight face suggest that the main problems afflicting the development of South Africa or Nigeria, the great centers of mass underemployment in sub-saharan Africa, are cheap competition from China driven by Beijing’s industrial policy and an undervalued RMB? Likewise, is the main problem of the American working-class the threat of Chinese competition or the manifest crisis of social reproduction in the United States itself? The point here, as in the discourse around China shock 2.0 in Europe, is to insist that we should not normalize the world and pathologize China, without actually investigating what is going on in America’s industrial wastelands, the German car industry, or India’s lopsided labour market. One-sided pathologization should be understood for what it is, a polemical gesture. Concepts like China shock and China squeeze are, what Reinhart Koselleck, following Carl Schmitt, would have described as “asymmetrische Kampfbegriffe”, or “asymmetrical counter-concepts” or “asymmetrical combat concepts”. If the function of arguments like the “China squeeze” is to alert elites in the rest of the world of the need to rejuvenate and energize their development projects, so be it. But let us see the resulting discourses as the mobilizing interventions that they are. Interestingly, a significant slice of China’s public sphere - the so-called industrial party - have been obsessed for the last twenty years with precisely these questions of counterfactual economic history. Since the mid 2000s, a massive online discourse developed around an alternative history in which Chinese techno-patriots were asked to imagine how they would proceed if they had the possibility of traveling back in time to transport modern technology into the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) thus averting the “great divergence” of the 18th and 19th centuries. It is a fantasy of course, but also a goad. The point was not directed at Westerners. The alternate history is dramatically nationalist, but few n the West had even heard of it until recently. The adherents of the industrial party are not liberal moralists. They don’t project natural ladders of international development and ask why others don’t cede space. They take the Realpolitik of global economic development for granted. Their pointe was directed against fellow Chinese. The rallying cry of the alternative narrative was this: Now that we are beginning to gain steam and push forward on our national development path, now that we are breaking out of the inferior position assigned to us even in the early years following WTO accession, do not lose yourself in humanistic imaginings about better futures. In the spirit of Deng, they called on China to embrace the hard truth of development. Perhaps one might of the Industrial Party as a cultural trend born out of desire for symbolic revenge against those who had inflicted the century of humiliation. In terms of the various temporalities of the “China shock” - retrospective, prospective and counterfactual - one might think of the Industrial Policy discourse as truly speculative, conjuring up the China shock that never was. Or perhaps one might better think of it as imagining a world in which a powerful China was no shock at all, but simply a defining fact of modern history. I love putting out Chartbook. I am particularly pleased that it goes out for free to thousands of subscribers around the world. But, writing this newsletter takes a lot of work. If you are enjoying it and would like to support the project, sign up for one of the subscription options here. It is the equivalent of a fancy cup of coffee per month! Subscribe

Aug 5 • 7:18 AM EDT • Politics • adamtooze.substack.com

Silver Bay clinic closure draws concerns over rural health care access

Aspirus Lake View’s Silver Bay Clinic will close Dec. 31. The health care provider announced that future clinic visits, laboratory services and radiology will relocate to the Lake View Two Harbors Clinic. The Minnesota Department of Health held a hearing July 28 to provide a forum for community members to discuss the change in services....

Aug 5 • 6:27 AM EDT • Health • wtip.org

ACR shares resource for helping patients use AI-generated radiology report summaries

The two-page explainer explores AI’s role in the specialty, the purpose of these summaries and now they can guide discussions with caregivers.

Aug 5 • 2:56 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com

Rad Partners’ Georgia affiliate signs in-network agreement with Anthem BCBS

Northside Radiology Associates said the pact will span multiple years and ensure Anthem members continue having uninterrupted, in-network access to diagnostic and interventional care.

Aug 5 • 2:49 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com

PET imaging links psychosis to Alzheimer's-related brain findings

New imaging research suggests that many adults who develop psychosis-related hallucinations or delusions later in life show brain changes associated with AD and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Aug 5 • 12:40 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com

LLMs better than docs at providing clinical context for imaging orders

The inclusion of clinical indication is standard for imaging requisitions, but the information provided is often vague and leaves out useful context that could help radiologists.

Aug 5 • 12:33 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com

AI generates personalized radiopharmaceutical therapy doses in under 23 seconds

The model has the potential to improve upon the one-size-fits-all dosing approach used for most RPT prostate cancer treatments.

Aug 5 • 12:20 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com

Fruit flies and other health violations revealed in Ann Arbor

Washtenaw County health inspectors cited several Ann Arbor restaurants for food safety and cleanliness violations.

Aug 5 • 12:15 AM EDT • Health • detroitnews.com

F&M Brewing Science

Rob Jinks, professor of biology, who teaches the Brewing Science class at Franklin & Marshall College, dispenses a New England Indian Pale Ale into a pitcher inside Fair Trade Cafe

Aug 4 • 7:53 PM EDT • Science • lancasteronline.com

Are automated CT exams on the way? Cardiologist shares concerns about radiation, regulation

Former SCCT president Ed Nicol, MD, knows there has been interest in the potential of automated CT exams. However, he isn't so sure they are possible at this point in time for a number of reasons.

Aug 4 • 5:39 PM EDT • Business • cardiovascularbusiness.com

The Beauty Of Settled Science

Commenters convinced me I made a subtle mis-step in my framing of Psychology Research Is Mostly Fine. My framing emphasized that social priming studies had failed to replicate, but that many other subfields of psychology hadn’t. This naturally led commenters to point to failed replications in other subfields. Although none of these were as bad as social priming, few or none were entirely problem-free. Instead of emphasizing the difference between social priming and other subfields, I should have emphasized the difference between settled science and novel research. Here are some of my favorite psychology findings: The brain is sculpted by reinforcement learning, and a key driver of this learning is a prediction-error-based algorithm located in the nucleus accumbens and implemented through dopamine. Psychedelic drugs exert their effects through 5-HT2A receptors, pointing to a role for these receptors in some sort of construct like the balance between priors and new evidence. Certain cognitive functions are localized to certain brain areas (for example, impulse control to the frontal lobes; linguistic structure to Broca’s area, linguistic meaning to Wernicke’s area. But injure one of these areas, or render a certain function useless (eg a blind person having no more use for their visual cortex), and these mappings can gradually shift - suggesting that neurons are general-purpose compute whose specialization is a contingent fact about convenience and efficiency rather than a necessity. Most personality traits and general capabilities are about 50% genetic and 50% random, with little role for family environment or childhood history, with a few notable exceptions like partisan preference. Recent research complicates this story, but the further you go from this basic picture, the gnarlier the chains of indirect causation you require. Neurons fire together in “brain waves”, whose exact frequency corresponds with the character of consciousness; These divide neurons into natural subpopulations and linked graphs. The gamma rhythm corresponds surprisingly well to items in conscious awareness. GABA receptors seem to be involved in something like relaxation. By hitting different GABA receptors in different ways, you can modulate the exact type of relaxation you produce. Hitting GABA-A directly is too powerful and can cause dangerous levels of sedation, but allosteric modulation of GABA is an incredibly fruitful strategy that underlies drugs from benzos to barbituates to alcohol. If you know your GABA-A subunits, you can target specific subtypes of relaxation; for example, Ambien hits GABA-A1 and induces sleep. Memory divides somewhat fuzzily into bins of immediate-sensory, short-term, and long-term, with separate retrieval and storage functions, and separate systems for declarative vs. procedural learning. These can be harmed selectively, usually by hippocampal injury, so that some patients can remember their life stories but not form new long-term memories, or learn new skills like bike-riding but not new facts. The exact substrate of memory is unclear but seems to involve new synaptic connections between neurons in at least some way. The ability of modern psychology and psychiatry to treat mental illness is real but limited. SSRIs work for half or slightly fewer than half of patients; antipsychotics work with extreme side effects; benzodiazpines work but produce addiction and tolerance in many (not all) people. Most supplements are stuck in Poor Quality Study Replication Crisis Hell, but melatonin and l-theanine stand out as especially promising. Psychotherapy works with moderate effect size, but (with a few exceptions) seems to be more about the relationship with the provider than the details of the therapy itself. Mental hospitalization can sometimes defuse immediate crises but work less well than mental hospitals would like, with some studies showing overall negative effects. Schizophrenia is mostly genetic, but risk also increases with prenatal infection (especially rubella) and obstetric complications; there is suggestive evidence for roles of social stress and drug use (with psychedelics and marijuana making things worse, and nicotine if anything making things better). Bipolar and schizophrenia are so closely linked on a pathophysiological level that it seems like they might be the same disease; on the clinical level, they do seem to follow two separate courses/prognoses but can sometimes surprise clinicians by eg someone who seemed condemned to permanent schizophrenia unexpectedly recovering. The brain’s native reinforcement learning algorithms cash out in the phenomena of classical and operant conditioning; different reinforcement schedules reinforce at different levels, which can be exploited by bad actors to make especially compelling products (eg slot machines). None of these are immune to doubt. A few are speculative; one or two are genuinely unorthodox. But they’re all a step above one p = 0.049 paper that might not replicate. If they get overturned, they’ll be overturned by the same sort of genuine scientific shift that replaced Ptolemy with Copernicus or Lamarck with Darwin, not some sort of sordid discovery about someone entering random numbers into a spreadsheet. In 2008, Eliezer Yudkowsky wrote about The Beauty Of Settled Science: If you only care about scientific issues that are controversial, you will end up with a head stuffed full of garbage. The media thinks that only the cutting edge of science is worth reporting on. How often do you see headlines like “General Relativity still governing planetary orbits” or “Phlogiston theory remains false”? So, by the time anything is solid science, it is no longer a breaking headline. “Newsworthy” science is often based on the thinnest of evidence and wrong half the time—if it were not on the uttermost fringes of the scientific frontier, it would not be breaking news. Scientific controversies are problems so difficult that even people who’ve spent years mastering the field can still fool themselves. That’s what makes for the heated arguments that attract all the media attention. Worse, if you aren’t in the field and part of the game, controversies aren’t even fun. Don’t be embarrassed to read elementary science textbooks, either. If you want to pretend to be sophisticated, go find a play to sneer at. If you just want to have fun, remember that simplicity is at the core of scientific beauty [...] A steady diet of science news is bad for you: You are what you eat, and if you eat only science reporting on fluid situations, without a solid textbook now and then, your brain will turn to liquid. Psychology isn’t centrally the new paper in Annals Of Recently-Breaking News saying that an n=5 study showing that large portion sizes increase support for terrorism. Psychology is centrally ideas like brain waves, GABA receptors, reinforcement learning, twin studies, and connectionism. People who think differently are worrying too much about BREAKING NEWS!!!, and should stop. The key distinction isn’t “recent research in social psychology” vs. “recent research in cognitive/bio/behavioral psychology”, as my essay last week unfortunately implied. It’s recent research in general vs. the deposit of settled science, battle-tested hypotheses, and carefully-earmarked speculation. And part of the reason social priming in particular was such a disaster was that it defied that heuristic, building itself up over hundreds of studies until it approached or even entered the pantheon of settled science - before collapsing (5-HTTLPR was also sort of like this). This isn’t a claim that settled science is always right - Freud was “settled science” for a long time - just that there’s an intuitive distinction between the level of credence you should have in the existence of power posing vs. the existence of Broca’s Area. (I compounded this error by calling the last post “Psychology Research Is Mostly Fine”, which suggested I was talking about the new research rather than the settled science. I actually meant to distinguish between research-psychology-the-field vs. clinical-psychology-aka-therapy, but this framing unintentionally pushed against the point I wanted to make) Some commenters on the previous article understood this point, but challenged its weight. It’s very cool, they said, to know how many neurons are in which brain lobe, but the main way that Psychology affected their lives was through bad clickbait studies used to buttress dumb policies; some p = 0.049 study says that exposure to microaggressions makes minorities’ brains shrivel into raisins, and now their company has to implement punitive DEI or be sued for hazardous work conditions. I won’t dispute this as an accurate description of how the sausage gets made, but it’s worth examining the trains of thought that connect this observation to a campaign against psychology in general: The dumb woke psychology was wrong and bad, and I don’t have good heuristics for distinguishing dumb woke psychology from other psychology, so I’m going to assume it’s all wrong and bad. The dumb woke psychology was wrong and bad; it seems useful to punish/discredit psychology as a whole to assist my campaign against it, so for propaganda purposes I will try to discredit psychology as a whole. To people in the first camp, my response is: come on, your heuristics aren’t that bad. “Microaggressions makes minorities’ brains shrivel up like raisins” is in the woke category; “the hippocampal theta rhythm seems to be associated with both memory and pathfinding, suggesting an unexpected yet surprisingly compelling relationship between the two” is in the not-woke category, don’t play dumb here. To people in the second camp, my response is: deliberately exaggerated propaganda campaigns are bad and this is a confession, not an excuse. Inability to view science through anything but a political lens was what got us into this problem; doubling down on it is a temporary solution but a recipe for permanent disaster. If you pronounce entire fields of science to be acceptable collateral damage in your campaign against bad political actors, you will alienate not just scientists but patients, clinicians, and general lovers of truth. Instead, you can say the thing you mean - that woke partisans shouldn’t try to occupy and exploit the otherwise-noble science of psychology for their own political gain - and wage the same campaign with a halo rather than a comic-book-villain goatee. From the font of oracular wisdom that is Weird Sun Twitter: [ Vessel Of Spirit@VesselOfSpirit i love you all conditionally but i love the good part of you unconditionally. even if it becomes a very small part 2:11 AM · Jan 22, 2015 1 Reply · 5 Reposts · 29 Likes ](https://x.com/VesselOfSpirit/status/558084551772471298) This is how I feel about psychology1, too, but with a touch more optimism. The good part of psychology is enormous, a hoard of endless treasures. You just have to look past the headlines! 1 To play devil’s advocate - should one always be so magnamious? Astrology? Phrenology? These seem different in that their entire orientation was flawed from the start; they didn’t simply fail to find the correct constellation-personality connections, the whole project of searching for connections between constellations and personality was doomed from the start. More difficult might be asking the same question about education research, which is notoriously bad. I don’t know enough about education research to know if there’s some settled science of correct and enlightening results lurking in the background beyond the day-to-day froth of poorly-conducted and politically-motivated studies. I think if it’s 90% bad, 10% good, it’s correct to call it bad as a compact way of communicating a useful truth; I think psychology is better than that, but admit it’s a tough judgment call.

Aug 4 • 5:33 PM EDT • Science • astralcodexten.com

Resident sues over $57 million Western Hills Sports Mall development

A lawsuit alleges the Cincinnati Planning Commission violated open meeting laws before approving the $57 million Westline Flats project in Westwood.

Aug 4 • 5:15 PM EDT • Business • bizjournals.com

Viola Davis to star in and executive produce new series, 'Ascent'

Viola Davis is returning to TV.The EGOT-winning actress will star in a new Paramount+ thriller series from acclaimed writer John Logan called Ascent. She’ll play a corporate fixer who must use her ski...

Aug 4 • 4:40 PM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com

Telegram says Apple suspension followed content norms violation by one user

Apple said its review found the content had violated guidelines prohibiting child sexual abuse material.

Aug 4 • 3:35 PM EDT • Technology • aljazeera.com

Avoid This 1 Type of Job to Protect Heart Health, Cardiologist Says

In TODAY.com’s Never Have I Ever series, a cardiologist says to keep these suggestions in mind to protect your heart on the job.

Aug 4 • 1:08 PM EDT • Health • today.com

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner's daughter Violet stuns with Baywatch-ready outfit in new pictures

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner's daughter, Violet Affleck, looked stylish in red shorts and a white baby tee during her latest outing

Aug 4 • 10:04 AM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com

Apple briefly yanked Telegram from the App Store over CSAM violations

Telegram’s ban didn’t last very long.

Aug 4 • 8:57 AM EDT • Technology • theverge.com

'He Was Ready to Take on the World': Jamaican Entertainment Community Mourns Ras Ajai After Fatal Shooting

'He Was Ready to Take on the World': Jamaican Entertainment Community Mourns Ras Ajai After Fatal Shooting - DancehallMag. The Jamaican entertainment industry is struggling to come to terms with the violent death of reggae artiste and actor Brian "Ras Ajai" Boucher, whose life. DancehallMag is an independent news outlet that covers all things Dancehall and Reggae music, the artists, and culture.

Aug 4 • 7:36 AM EDT • Entertainment • dancehallmag.com

Orioles news: Still reeling from the Rutschman trade

Yesterday was a busy and traumatic day for the Orioles and their fans

Aug 4 • 7:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Telegram Briefly Removed From Apple’s App Store Over Alleged Child Sexual Abuse Content

Telegram has been mired in other recent controversies including allegations by Russia of aiding terrorism and criticism by Australia over its handling of violent content.

Aug 4 • 1:45 AM EDT • Technology • forbes.com

Former public health director helps launch new healthcare model in Rochester

During "Connections with Evan Dawson" on 8/4/26, Dr. Michael Mendoza explains a new healthcare model available to local seniors. Then, in "Connections Summer Sessions," teens on curbing gun violence.

Aug 4 • 12:00 AM EDT • Health • wxxinews.org

The best hospitals in the United States for heart care

U.S. News & World Report has released its latest ranking of the top U.S. hospitals for cardiology, heart surgery and vascular surgery. There are similarities—and some key differences—between this year's list and last year's list.

Aug 4 • 12:00 AM EDT • Business • cardiovascularbusiness.com

Apple Briefly Takes Telegram Off App Store Over Abusive Content

Apple Inc. briefly removed the Telegram messaging app from its App Store after finding content on the platform that violated a ban on child sexual abuse material.

Aug 3 • 11:27 PM EDT • Technology • bloomberg.com

Jackie the eagle faces health complications as anemia worsens despite transfusion

KMPH Fox 26 is the Central Valley's news leader, covering Fresno, California and the surrounding area, including Clovis, Madera, Hanford, Visalia, Biola, Kerman, Tranquillity, San Joaquin, Reedley, Coalinga, Avenal, Lemoore, Tulare, Selma, Caruthers, Tollhouse, Three Rivers, Porterville, and Merced.

Aug 3 • 6:41 PM EDT • Health • kmph.com

Judge greenlights multi-billion-dollar class action over Apple Photos’ face recognition

Apple will face a class-action lawsuit alleging it violated Illinois’ BIPA, in a case that could cost the company more than $30 billion.

Aug 3 • 6:24 PM EDT • Technology • 9to5mac.com

Diamondbacks trade for outfielder Lars Nootbaar from Cardinals

New Diamondbacks outfielder Lars Nootbaar is 28 years old, a left-handed hitter and will enter free agency after the 2027 season.

Aug 3 • 5:55 PM EDT • Sports • arizonasports.com

House Ethics Panel Finds Rep. Chuck Edwards Likely Violated Sexual Harassment Rules

The Ethics Committee called for the censure of Representative Chuck Edwards, Republican of North Carolina, who showered two female staffers with lavish gifts and affection.

Aug 3 • 4:58 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

Red Sox Land Adley Rutschman in Stunning Al East Blockbuster

The Red Sox just acquired catcher Adley Rutschman from the Baltimore Orioles, per Jeff Passan. The 28-year-old switch-hitting catcher was the first overall draft pick of the 2019 draft. Multiple outlets confirmed the rare AL East Blockbuster with multiple prospects traded in return for Rutschman. The Orioles will receive C Carlos Narváez. Other names include MLB’s No. […] The post Red Sox Land Adley Rutschman in Stunning Al East Blockbuster appeared first on The Lead.

Aug 3 • 4:35 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Ethics panel finds GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards violated House sexual harassment rules and recommends censure

The bipartisan House Ethics Committee said Monday it has found “substantial evidence” that GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards repeatedly made unwanted advances toward two of his female staffers and is recommending that the full House vote to punish him on the floor.

Aug 3 • 4:13 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Rep. Edwards’ behavior with staffers violated House code of conduct, panel finds

The House Ethics Committee released a report Monday in its investigation into the western North Carolina lawmaker's treatment of two female staffers.

Aug 3 • 3:52 PM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com

Exclusive: Former OpenAI exec Fidji Simo discusses her battle with POTS and her startup’s plans to cure it with AI and 3,500 vials of blood (so far)

Simo is a cofounder of ChronicleBio, which aims to cure complex chronic diseases by analyzing biological data with the latest AI models.

Aug 3 • 3:23 PM EDT • Health • fortune.com

Orioles' Anthony Eyanson: On move to Baltimore

Orioles' Anthony Eyanson: On move to Baltimore

Aug 3 • 3:11 PM EDT • Sports • cbssports.com

Red Sox acquire catcher Adley Rutschman from the Orioles: Reports

Aug 3 • 2:45 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

GOP lawmaker's gifts, 'effusive affection' toward young staffers detailed in explosive ethics report

The House Ethics Committee recommends censure after an ethics probe found Chuck Edwards violated the code of conduct with two young female staffers.

Aug 3 • 2:32 PM EDT • Politics • foxnews.com

Orioles' Alex Hoppe: Baltimore-bound in four-player deal

Orioles' Alex Hoppe: Baltimore-bound in four-player deal

Aug 3 • 12:42 PM EDT • Sports • cbssports.com

Mariners snag Taylor Ward in Orioles trade

The Mariners have made its mark before Monday's trade deadline by acquiring the Orioles outfielder in Taylor Ward.

Aug 3 • 12:38 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Why Flowood Half Shell, Madison Penn's failed July MS health inspections

Five Jackson area restaurants failed health inspections in July due to sanitation issues and other violations.

Aug 3 • 10:58 AM EDT • Health • clarionledger.com

The computer science major is dying so that the AI literacy minor can be born: ‘we have to democratize it’

Computer science enrollment is falling even as psych, music and biology majors rush into AI minors — colleges are racing to keep up with employer demand.

Aug 3 • 8:39 AM EDT • Science • fortune.com

RSNA launches new knee MRI AI challenge

The society said this is its first AI challenge that will use medical images, along with radiology reports, to train models.

Aug 3 • 7:13 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com

Decoding the gut microbiome's symphony in health and disease

The trillions of microorganisms living in our intestine influence our health, from digestion and metabolism to immunity. Yet scientists still struggle to understand how these microbes shape these important physiological functions because gut microbiomes are extraordinarily complex, redundant, and dynamic. New technologies are therefore essential for advancing microbiome research. Researchers at the University of Vienna have now reported effective strategies for simultaneously measuring thousands

Aug 3 • 6:00 AM EDT • Health • newswise.com

Riders on the storm: Phillies 8, Orioles 0

Get in, get the W, get out

Aug 2 • 11:04 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Marvel's Wolverine ESRB Rating Promises 'a Handful of Sequences' Featuring 'Exposed Buttocks'

Marvel's Wolverine will have gore, intense violence, strong language, and at least a few scenes featuring "a character's exposed buttocks," according to its Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating.

Aug 2 • 9:54 PM EDT • Technology • ign.com

Expert analyses public health impact of wildfires and heatwaves

With wildfires and a heatwave currently raging through Europe, Dr Kim van Daalen, Environmental Epidemiologist in the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge and Research Associate at Homerton College, gives her analysis of the impacts on public health.

Aug 2 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • healthcare-in-europe.com

Phillies vs Orioles Highlights ⚾️ MLB on FOX

Watch the best highlights between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Baltimore Orioles.

Aug 2 • 6:55 PM EDT • Sports • foxsports.com

What we learned as Phillies beat rain, Orioles on heels of trade deadline

The Phillies beat the rain and Orioles in Baltimore, with Bryan De La Cruz, Zack Wheeler and Justin Crawford offering encouraging signs.

Aug 2 • 6:40 PM EDT • Sports • nbcsportsphiladelphia.com

Let’s do science: Share your wild turkey sightings

MAINE—All good wildlife management starts with science, and all good science starts with data. That’s where you come in. Maine’s Wild Turkey August Production Survey invites community scientists to play a direct role in monitoring our state’s wild turkey population. Whether you enjoy watching wildlife from your window, spend time hiking, hunting, or exploring the outdoors, or just need an excuse to get outside, you can help. Each summer, Maine’s wild turkey hens are busy raising the next generation of birds. By reporting your sightings and observations, you’ll help our biologists monitor annual reproduction rates, track population trends, and make informed management decisions that support healthy, sustainable turkey populations for generations to come. The information collected helps ensure there are abundant opportunities for both wildlife watchers and hunters to enjoy Maine’s wild turkeys. It’s easy to participate! Whenever you see wild turkeys anywhere in Maine during August, simply report: Date and location of your observation Number of adult females (hens) Number of adult males (gobblers) Number of poults (young turkeys) Estimated poult size relative to the adult hens Every observation counts, even if you don’t see poults. Together, these reports provide a clearer picture of turkey productivity across the state and are an important part of Maine’s wildlife management. Ready to help? Report your turkey sightings online using the Wild Turkey August Production Survey. Submit an Observation Subscribe Share Leave a comment

Aug 2 • 4:11 PM EDT • Science • barharborstory.substack.com

Inspections find violations at area restaurants

Review June 2026 food service inspection reports from the New York State Department of Health for restaurants, schools and other food establishments in Oneida, Herkimer and Madison counties.

Aug 2 • 8:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • romesentinel.com

Don’t pretend jokes can’t lead to political violence

The taboo around political violence is fraying — but restricting speech is not the answer

Aug 2 • 12:00 AM EDT • Politics • ft.com

Phillies vs Orioles Highlights ⚾️ MLB on FOX

Watch the best highlights between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Baltimore Orioles.

Aug 1 • 10:30 PM EDT • Sports • foxsports.com

Saturday night Orioles game thread, vs. Phillies, 7:05 ET

After last night’s thrilling win, the Orioles face a monumental task in solving lefty Christopher Sánchez.

Aug 1 • 6:35 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Panama: Haemophilus influenzae meningitis case reported in Veraguas Health Region

The Veraguas Health Region, located in the central-western region of Panama, confirmed a case of meningitis caused by the Haemophilus influenzae bacteria in a 12-year-old student from La Primavera School, diagnosed on July 29. The patient remains hospitalized, is receiving appropriate treatment, and is in stable clinical condition. The regional health director of Veraguas, Xavier A. Torres Domínguez, reported that, once the diagnosis was confirmed, the Ministry of Health (Minsa), in coordination with the Social Security Fund (CSS), immediately activated the epidemiological investigation and health response protocols established for this type of event. Canada: Haemophilus influenzae type B outbreak in Calgary As part of the actions implemented, the Epidemiology teams carried out the identification and monitoring of the patient’s close contacts, applying the corresponding preventive measures to reduce the risk of transmission and safeguard the health of the educational community. Health authorities explained that meningitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae is a bacterial disease that requires timely medical attention. In that regard, they urged the population to immediately seek medical attention if they experience symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiff neck, vomiting, drowsiness, or altered mental status. They also reiterated that vaccination is the main preventive measure against this disease, and therefore called on parents and guardians to verify that their children’s immunization schedules are complete, in accordance with the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI). Outbreak News Today is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

Aug 1 • 6:29 PM EDT • Health • outbreaknewstoday.substack.com

In deal for reliable arm Dean Kremer, Twins, Orioles both get what they need: MLB Trade Grades

Dean Kremer has had an awful season, but a long track record says he should bounce back to being reliably average.

Aug 1 • 9:18 AM EDT • Sports • nytimes.com

Chile declares health alert for hantavirus

The Chile Ministry of Health issued a Health Alert for hantavirus and other diseases, such as some arboviruses and avian influenza. This is the first time this measure has been taken and it will be in effect until July 31, 2027 and it extends from the Atacama region to the Magallanes region. “Hantavirus causes a disease that is endemic to Chile, transmitted by the long-tailed pygmy rice rat that lives in rural and semi-rural areas throughout almost the entire country. As a ministry, we are constantly monitoring its behavior and are very concerned and actively working because this year the virus's lethality has increased, and for this reason, we decided to declare this alert. As of last week, there were 46 confirmed cases and 18 deaths, representing a 39% lethality rate,” reported the Undersecretary of Public Health, Dr. Alejandra Pizarro. Cases have occurred in the regions of Valparaíso, Metropolitan, O'Higgins, Maule, Ñuble, Biobío, La Araucanía, Los Ríos, Los Lagos, and Aysén. By comparison, in 2025, there were 44 infections and eight deaths (18% case fatality rate). The health alert, which is preventative and prepared, will allow for the granting of extraordinary powers in the event of serious health emergencies to strengthen surveillance, ensure timely resource management, hire specialized personnel, implement health control measures, and expedite the acquisition of supplies through direct procurement. The alert does not imply that there is an ongoing epidemic or that the healthcare system is overwhelmed. Subscribe to Outbreak News TV on YouTube “Hantavirus is not exclusively a summer virus, as the long-tailed pygmy rice rat is present year-round. Therefore, we urge everyone to take extreme precautions: avoid touching rodents, ventilate homes before entering if they have been closed, clean unused spaces with water and bleach, and keep garbage covered and food stored away. Furthermore, it is crucial to be aware of the symptoms: fever, intense muscle pain, and difficulty breathing. If someone experiences these symptoms and has been in rural or semi-rural areas where the long-tailed pygmy rice rat may have been present, they should immediately go to a health center and inform the medical staff so that a hantavirus diagnosis can be considered promptly,” the official added. Since December 2025, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has maintained an epidemiological alert due to the rise in hantavirus cases throughout the Southern Cone, and that the Ministry of Health had an epidemiological alert in place since November of last year. Chile eliminates leprosy As mentioned above, the Health Alert decree also covers diseases transmitted by the Aedes aegypti, Aedes vexans, and Anopheles pseudopunctipennis mosquitoes, such as dengue and Zika, which, according to the alert, “have a high epidemic potential, which could generate high demand and overload for health facilities.” For these diseases, the alert is in effect from Arica to Los Ríos. The authority stressed that it is essential to prevent mosquitoes from breeding in stagnant water and to monitor any suspected cases of people arriving from abroad infected with any of these diseases, in order to prevent any of these vectors from biting a sick person and starting to spread the disease. In the case of avian influenza, the alert was extended to the entire country, because unlike other years, the disease has been concentrated in wild and farm birds, not in poultry farms, increasing the risk of exposure for people. Outbreak News Today is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

Aug 1 • 7:41 AM EDT • Health • outbreaknewstoday.substack.com

Johns Hopkins health researcher released after airport ICE detention

The arrest of Fatima Ameaka came as the Trump administration has begun targeting alleged visa violations by foreign passengers as a way to increase deportations.

Aug 1 • 6:00 AM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com

BREAKING: Twins acquire Dean Kremer from Orioles

The Twins picked up a solid, veteran hurler from the Orioles as they’re active early deadline activity continues.

Jul 31 • 11:39 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Alphabet rolls back AI image generation in Google Earth over policy violations

Alphabet's Google said on Friday it was rolling back an AI image-generation feature it had introduced in Google ​Earth just a day ago, after users shared ‌images that appeared to violate the company's policies.

Jul 31 • 7:28 PM EDT • Technology • reuters.com

Bradbury Science Museum Brings Hands-On Activities To Rural Students Through Annual Summer Science On Wheels Program

A student from San Juan Elementary School dissects owl pellets as part of the anatomy and physiology unit. Courtesy/LANL Students at James H. Rodriguez Elementary School work on plastic straw rocket launchers. Courtesy/LANL LANL News: In June, the Bradbury Science Museum’s education team hit the road as part of the annual Summer Science on Wheels […]

Jul 31 • 3:13 PM EDT • Science • ladailypost.com

44 days after demotion, Andrew Painter set to take mound for Phillies

Andrew Painter is set to return Friday against the Orioles after a Triple-A reset and continued struggles from the Phillies’ No. 5 spot.

Jul 31 • 10:52 AM EDT • Sports • nbcsportsphiladelphia.com

Caleb Lomu embracing physicality early in rookie training camp

The first-round draft pick aims to be “a violent player.”

Jul 31 • 7:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Siemens Healthineers’ head of Americas steps down, GE CFO switch, new ASTRO prez, plus more leadership moves

In other news, Vanderbilt has appointed a radiologist to a key leadership position, the University of Rochester has picked a director of diagnostic imaging, and Pueblo Radiology Associates hired 7 new docs.

Jul 31 • 3:10 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com

FDA clears RadNet’s breast ultrasound AI solution

The product works by automating lesion detection, characterization and reporting, helping streamline workflows for both radiologists and sonographers.

Jul 31 • 2:40 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com

A cautionary tale for radiologists reporting on rib fractures

The fatal case report highlights the risk of delayed aortic rupture following posterior rib fractures—something radiologists and other providers need to be aware of, experts warn.

Jul 31 • 2:06 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com

Qureight raises $20M to expand AI-powered imaging research platform

The company specializes in providing end-to-end imaging and enterprise services for clinical trials that focus on diseases of the lung and heart.

Jul 31 • 1:58 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com

AHA heart failure registry making a major impact after 20 years

The registry has collected more than 1.6 million patient records from more than 800 hospitals. "We can do even better," one cardiologist said. "We have to treat heart failure with everything we've got."

Jul 30 • 4:50 PM EDT • Business • cardiovascularbusiness.com

Medtronic leads $37M investment in CoreMap’s AFib mapping tech

The company's flagship technology was invented by Peter Spector, MD, a practicing electrophysiologist. It uses advanced electrodes to visualize details of AFib typically missed by other mapping systems.

Jul 30 • 3:29 PM EDT • Business • cardiovascularbusiness.com

Harvard Business School announces 2026-2027 Blavatnik Fellows

Harvard Business School (HBS) has named its 2026-27 Blavatnik Fellows. The fellowship offers HBS alumni and Harvard-affiliated postdoctoral researchers the opportunity to advance new life science technology ventures and develop their leadership talents during a 12-month fellowship year. To date, Blavatnik Fellows have founded 50 biomedical companies developing innovations including gene writing technologies, engineered cell therapies, oral biologic drug delivery platforms, AI-enabled digital health solutions, and therapeutics for cancer, neurological, and metabolic diseases. Collectively, Fellows have raised more than $800 million in private and public capital to advance their ventures.

Jul 30 • 12:55 PM EDT • Business • news.harvard.edu

Safety a top priority as more heart procedures move to outpatient settings

The push to move certain procedures to ambulatory surgical centers is one of the biggest business trends in electrophysiology. Medical societies are watching this space closely to ensure high quality remains the goal.

Jul 30 • 12:41 PM EDT • Business • cardiovascularbusiness.com

‘To play God’: Cuba’s healthcare system collapses under US pressure

As the Trump administration tightens US sanctions, Cuba's healthcare sector struggles with fuel and supply shortages.

Jul 30 • 12:34 PM EDT • Health • aljazeera.com

Ice Age humans preferred hunting female woolly mammoths

Scientists also found a mammoth that was neither biologically female or male.

Jul 30 • 11:00 AM EDT • Science • popsci.com

Coffee and heart health: What experts say about its potential benefits, risks

Orlando Health cardiologist Dr. Sandip Patel discusses the American Heart Association's findings on coffee and heart health, along with updated cholesterol guidelines.

Jul 30 • 9:34 AM EDT • Health • wesh.com

Scientists found evolution repeating itself in the Galápagos Islands

More than 150 years after Darwin’s finches helped reshape biology, Galápagos plants are exposing another evolutionary surprise. Giant daisies repeatedly developed similar heat-tolerant leaf shapes, but each lineage used a different combination of genes. Researchers also found major genetic differences among isolated populations, suggesting new species may be forming right now.

Jul 30 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

After Hobbes vs Rousseau: Politics must move beyond human nature

Since the great debate between Hobbes and Rousseau, our political theory has been organised around a single question: is human nature essentially good or essentially corrupt? Graham Harman, the philosopher behind object-oriented ontology, argues that this is simply the wrong question to be asking. The real forces governing our collective fate - climate change, artificial intelligence, geography, and pandemics - are non-human; therefore, questions about human nature are not the central ones. Instead, Harman proposes a politics reorganised around our relationship to non-human objects and environments, in which quasi-government institutions incentivise and deter actions with the aim of extending the survival of the human race. “It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” This has become one of the most popular phrases among twenty-first-century intellectuals. Often misattributed to Fredric Jameson, it has been warmly embraced by such influential authors as Slavoj Žižek and the tragically departed Mark Fisher, and has fueled the notion that the major problem with the political Left is that it simply needs to become more speculative and creative. Naturally, this is never a bad idea in any human pursuit. But what if the political distinction between Left, Right, and Center itself results from a failure of imagination? SUGGESTED READING Hobbes vs Rousseau: are we inherently evil? By Robin Douglass This particular division has been with us only since the summer of 1789. During the simmering prelude to the French Revolution, it referred originally to the physical position in the National Assembly of radical figures on one side and loyal monarchists on the other. These positions are linked with two entirely different camps of modern political theory. On the Left we find a series of authors ranging from the moderate (Locke) to the supercharged (Rousseau) to the truly radical (Marx), all of them contending that exploitation of the many by the few justifies revolutionary overthrow of the existing order. On the Right they are countered by the likes of Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Schmitt, a group of thinkers convinced that corrupt human nature can be tamed only by force. In the words of the Nazi supporter Schmitt: “One could test all theories of nature and state and political ideas according to their anthropology and classify these as to whether they consciously or unconsciously presuppose [humans] to be by nature evil or by nature good.” This is the division we continue to face today, even in the daily retail politics of Western democracies.___Our species has regularly proven itself capable of both the noblest gestures and the most scathing cruelties, making it hard to define us as essentially either emancipatory or brutal in our aims.___The most refreshing feature of David Graeber and David Wengrow’s 2021 book The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity was their awareness that the forced choice between Rousseau and Hobbes (as they put it) is no longer sufficient. Our species has regularly proven itself capable of both the noblest gestures and the most scathing cruelties, making it hard to define us as essentially either emancipatory or brutal in our aims. Far from being stationed “beyond good and evil,” we seem to be fully entangled with both. We are not naturally good or evil, Graeber and Wengrow contend, but naturally experimental and imaginative. They rest their case on the archaeological record, which seems to bear witness to numerous episodes of seasonally shifting governments and festivals, which vacillate in the same society (even in the same year) between the egalitarian and the dictatorial. Such praise of political experiment makes a good fit with the generally anarchist position defended by these authors. Yet it is also what I find most disappointing in their position. Although they are right that the forced choice between Hobbes and Rousseau falls short of what our new situation requires, the authors simply replace it with praise for the human being as a political tinkerer and performer. In other words, they give us just another theory of human nature, one that would not have been out of place in the sixteenth or seventeenth century. What other options might we have?___The time is ripe for a retheorization of politics on the basis of something other than human nature… We are not just alienated and limited by objects, but also empowered and unleashed by them___One fresh approach would be to treat politics within a broader framework than human nature, given that the polis does not exist in a vacuum filled exclusively with people. When Bruno Latour went to observe the baboons of Kenya with the San Diego anthropologist Shirley Strum, they jointly concluded that these primates were more socially interdependent than our own species. Each baboon is so reliant on the dynamics of the group that they find themselves locked into constant surveillance of their potentially dangerous peers. The group structure turns out to be inherently volatile. Humans, by contrast, are able to stabilize their societies to a large degree through the mediation of inanimate objects. Although one’s position in society may seem to fluctuate over time, considerable stability is produced through such items as apartment keys, wedding rings, and identification cards, all of them serving to secure us a place distinct from that of our fellows. The Italian philosopher Maurizio Ferraris has written at length about the crucial role of documents in establishing social relations, making him a hero among notaries in his country. Proper names and license plates cement our position amidst other humans, as do symbolic achievements such as graduation from a top university or distinguished wartime service with its various medals and ribbons. None of this is found among baboons, despite their closeness to us on the evolutionary tree: after all, we did share a common ancestor just 25 to 30 million years ago. SUGGESTED VIEWING The goodness paradox With Richard Wrangham The time is ripe for a retheorization of politics on the basis of something other than human nature, whether understood in the manner of the Left or of the Right. We are not just alienated and limited by objects, but also empowered and unleashed by them. But initially, it is true, we face non-human things primarily in the form of constraints. It would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to form a human civilization underwater, deep underground, atop Mount Everest, or in outer space. Human dependence on the non-social background takes on subtler form in discussions of political geography, especially unloved on the more idealistic Left. Consider the luckless position of Poland during World War II, sandwiched between Hitler on one side and Stalin on the other. By contrast, note the good fortune of the United States in not having a military peer positioned on any land border. Anglo-American geopolitics, since the writings of the American naval commander Alfred Thayer Mahan and the British geographer Sir Halford Mackinder, has been wedded to the notion that one or more liberal offshore naval powers should prevent any authoritarian “heartland” regime from gaining effective control of Eurasia. That remains the case whether the opponent is the impatient Napoleon, the swashbuckling German Kaiser, the villainous Hitler, the murderous Stalin, or the industrial juggernaut Chinese. In their current Foreign Affairs article “Heartland vs. Rimland,” Michael Beckley and Hal Brands analyze the current and coming state of the world on the basis of these same rather durable principles. In recent years a similar outlook has been embraced, in inverted form, by the Putin-loving Russian philosopher Aleksandr Dugin, an icon of the Rightist intellectual underworld. For Dugin, the Anglo-Saxons are an evil force bent on destroying the spiritually superior people of the land: much like Athens in its failed war with Sparta, or Carthage in its eventual collapse against Rome. But the shared notion on both sides is that any strategy that fails to take geography into account is likely to end up as a defeated form of excessive optimism.___When dealing with environmental degradation, then, we are doing business with forces that promise dire effects on our species as a whole.___More striking for us today than geography is the non-human object called climate, which threatens rimland and heartland equally. Even if we contend that humans are one hundred percent responsible for triggering the climate crisis, it remains non-human in the sense of being an independent force beyond our effective control. In a major work published just before his death in 2002, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory, the American paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould noted the tendency of evolutionary theorists to focus too closely on the fate of individuals in view of their successful or failed adaptation to circumstances. With climate change, however, we confront a force that goes well beyond the scope of any individual life. Whereas Richard Dawkins extended evolutionary questions downward from individuals to the sub-individual gene, Gould pushed it upward, speaking of entire species or clades as impacted by environmental change. The asteroid that struck the Yucatán 66 million years ago is only the most famous example of this sort. In the wake of that catastrophe, large animals needing abundant supplies of food were at a fatal disadvantage by contrast with the smaller birds and mammals of the planet. When dealing with environmental degradation, then, we are doing business with forces that promise dire effects on our species as a whole. The effect is to shift our attention away from individual beings towards the survival of the group.In the United States in particular, the COVID-19 pandemic sparked considerable backlash among those who asserted a nearly absolute degree of individual freedom. In California I encountered those who demanded that their businesses be allowed to reopen, that it was enough to cover their mouths but not their noses, or that they should have the right to enter any public area despite refusing vaccination. Yet public health is probably the clearest argument against libertarianism, which often merely asserts the autonomy of individuals against any claims of the commons. In normal times the individual is worth defending; under conditions that threaten the survival of part or all of our species, compulsion may be our only resort, as with perfectly reasonable blackouts and rations in wartime. To rebuild human society under the constraints of climate change will be one of the great challenges of the century to come, as will our improvised grappling with artificial intelligence. Such phenomena pose existential risks for humanity, and leave far less room for tolerance of individual brattiness. Cases are mounting of devastating wildfires caused by arson. Recently it was reported that there is even a website where one can bet on the location of coming wildfires, raising the specter of deliberate blazes set to collect on wagers. The death penalty has steadily lost support in a world where many stress the infinite value of human life. But if we focus instead on entire ecosystems, those who purposely burn the forests may begin to look worse than serial murderers.___The politics of the future may be splintered by disagreement over such topics as how to manage our environing background and how to permit or restrict the entry of new objects into the political sphere.___So far I have spoken of force, authority, and punishment: measures sure to have greater appeal to those who identify with what we know as the Right. But other implications of the post-anthropocentric world are likely to have different backers. If non-human objects are seen as structuring political space, it stands to reason that they can no longer be introduced solely by the pace of technical breakthrough. Fields ranging from cybernetics to energy will demand increased politicization once they are reconceived not just as products of individual human investment, but as renovations of collective political geography. This need not involve world government, with its inherent risk of tyranny, but may involve quasi-governmental enforcers of prestige along the lines of a less corrupt FIFA or International Olympic Committee, punishing deviant states not with violence but with less tangible incentives.Politics will never lose its historic links with conflict and faction. But rather than factions aligned by differing theories of human nature, the politics of the future may be splintered by disagreement over such topics as how to manage our environing background and how to permit or restrict the entry of new objects into the political sphere. This will prove just as incommensurable with the modern Left/Right spectrum as a globe is with a two-dimensional map.

Jul 30 • 8:00 AM EDT • Politics • iai.tv

CT radiation doses have decreased substantially over the last decade

Dose reductions relative over the last decade were greatest for chest exams with contrast (31%) and without (27%), experts detail in RSNA's Radiology.

Jul 30 • 1:18 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com

The 10 largest imaging center operators in the US

RadNet tops the list with approximately 383 outposts at the time of the analysis, followed by the US Oncology Network (141), a chain of independent cancer docs backed by McKesson.

Jul 30 • 1:09 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com

‘Extremely violating’: Tinder pauses AI photo enhancement feature

"It was extremely violating," Rubin said. "Those are not my teeth. That's not what my mouth looks like."

Jul 30 • 1:08 AM EDT • Technology • tech.yahoo.com

Orioles Pitching Prospect Caden Hunter Dominates in Double-A Debut

Baltimore Orioles left-handed pitching prospect Caden Hunter has quickly ascended through the organization's farm system.

Jul 29 • 11:15 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Reincarnation: What Science Says and Doesn’t (or Can’t) Say

Inside a University of Virginia lab, scientists have spent nearly six decades gathering unsettling evidence: children who recall violent deaths, bear matching birthmarks, and know facts they never could have learned. A grieving skeptic investigates whether reincarnation might just be real.

Jul 29 • 8:05 PM EDT • Science • skeptic.com

Enzyme ratio could help cardiologists track risk of stroke, AFib after TAVR

The De Ritis ratio could be a new way to anticipate when TAVR patients may face certain short-term risks after treatment.

Jul 29 • 4:50 PM EDT • Business • cardiovascularbusiness.com

Hims misled consumers and violated their privacy, FTC alleges in a lawsuit

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued telehealth company Hims & Hers alleging business practices that agency says mislead consumers.

Jul 29 • 2:45 PM EDT • Business • statnews.com

California’s hostage crisis shows political violence is at a breaking point

Ideological violence in the United States continues to evolve in ways that make ordinary Americans increasingly vulnerable.

Jul 29 • 9:30 AM EDT • Politics • thehill.com

Scientists Just Watched the Deep Ocean Floor Tear Itself Apart in Real Time

A new deep-sea probe witnessed the silent, violent magma flows that heal our planet’s scars.

Jul 29 • 9:00 AM EDT • Science • popularmechanics.com

Recursion to Report Second Quarter 2026 Business Updates and Financial Results on August 5th

Company to host public Earnings call on August 5th at 8:00 am ET / 6:00 am MT / 1:00 pm BSTSalt Lake City, UT, July 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Salt Lake City, UT, July 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – Recursion (Nasdaq: RXRX), a leading clinical stage TechBio company decoding biology to radically improve lives, announced today it will provide business updates and report its second quarter 2026 financial results on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, before the open of the financial markets. Recursion will h

Jul 29 • 8:30 AM EDT • Business • finance.yahoo.com

The 15 Worst Foods for Your Heart Health, According to Cardiologists and Dietitians

Experts say you should avoid them as much as possible.

Jul 29 • 8:23 AM EDT • Health • prevention.com

Kaiser used an algorithm — not clinicians — to triage mental health patients, a union alleges

A therapists' union alleges Kaiser's e-visit tool screens mental health patients and issues care recommendations without real-time clinician review, which the union says violates state law.

Jul 29 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • calmatters.org

The week in politics (July 29, 2026)

On Wednesday's show: We discuss the latest developments in politics in our weekly roundup. And we reflect on the role the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee had on Houston and the city’s desegregation more than 50 years ago.

Jul 29 • 7:00 AM EDT • Politics • houstonpublicmedia.org

Radiology fires back at report claiming providers ‘gaming’ No Surprises Act

According to the Wall Street Journal, providers scored $15B in payments last year through IDR, triple the figure for 2024, with CMS “actively working to clean it up."

Jul 29 • 3:33 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com

Philips’ receives financial boost from $212M tariff refund

The Amsterdam-based manufacturer also highlighted the benefits of “disciplined cost management” and “productivity initiatives” that helped deliver over $150 million in savings for Q2.

Jul 29 • 3:11 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com

A tiny molecular basket unlocks a powerful new kind of chemistry

Rice University chemists have found a new way to make neodymium, a rare-earth metal, interact with oxygen. Using a specially designed molecular structure described as a “basket,” the team positioned the atoms so they could form a bond once thought unlikely. The breakthrough produced highly reactive compounds that could eventually give chemists alternatives to iron-based molecules used in biological reactions and chemical manufacturing.

Jul 28 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

Apple Health Coverage Ends for Some Washington Residents on September 30 – Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault

Beginning October 1, 2026, some Washington residents will lose Apple Health (Medicaid) coverage because of changes in the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1). People who may lose…

Jul 28 • 6:03 PM EDT • Health • wscadv.org

Illinois cardiology practice sued over data breach

A class action lawsuit seeks damages for patients after a practice employee fell victim to an email phishing attack.

Jul 28 • 4:23 PM EDT • Business • cardiovascularbusiness.com

'Not alike any we've ever seen before': Three of the 12 galaxies in this cosmic string are missing a crucial component of the universe

Astronomers have discovered a third galaxy without dark matter in a strange string of a dozen dwarf galaxies. A violent collision is likely to blame.

Jul 28 • 4:04 PM EDT • Science • livescience.com