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We Asked Experts What Healthy Brain Aging Looks Like—And Which Changes to Watch For

Healthy cognitive aging doesn’t mean having a perfect memory. Learn which changes are normal, which may signal decline, and how to support brain health.

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Sep 2 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • health.com
Behind the Eagles' group effort to not let Makai Lemon fall behind

Makai Lemon missed significant time in training camp but the Eagles worked to make sure he didn’t fall too far behind.

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Sep 2 • 7:00 AM EDT • Sports • nbcsportsphiladelphia.com
FIA wrong to lift Russia ban

The FIA was wrong to lift the ban on Russian competitors because nothing has changed since it was imposed, the Ukrainian Minister for Youth and Sport says.

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Sep 2 • 6:25 AM EDT • Sports • bbc.com
'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' review: Acting of the highest caliber

Gregg T. Daniel directs "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" at A Noise Within, part of the theater's continuing exploration of the August Wilson Century Cycle.

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Sep 2 • 6:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • latimes.com
Engineering firm doubling its space in Downtown Cleveland office tower

The firm is adding workers in Cleveland and doubling the size of its space in Downtown's Fifth Third Center.

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Sep 2 • 5:45 AM EDT • Business • crainscleveland.com
The Next Wave of Business Growth Won’t Come From AI Software Alone. It Will Reshape Real-World Operations

The early AI era is over. The established AI “brain” is about to get a “body.”

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Sep 2 • 5:00 AM EDT • Business • inc.com
'I'm counting down the hours until my first training session'

Fulham's deadline day signing Manuel Angel says it will be "a real privilege" to play for his former youth academy coach Alvaro Arbeloa at Craven Cottage. The 22-year-old midfielder has signed a three-year deal, becoming the third player to leave Real Madrid for Fulham this summer. "It is an incredible feeling to have signed for such a legendary club as Fulham, the oldest club in London," Angel said.

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Sep 2 • 4:42 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
European Resilience in Digital Infrastructure: The Changing Nature of State-Business Relations

As the war in Ukraine progressed, Russian strikes increasingly degraded Ukraine’s terrestrial communications infrastructure, steadily deepening Kyiv’s

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Sep 2 • 4:00 AM EDT • Business • warontherocks.com
Women in Science: Dr Sabina Auhunas - TIB-Blog

The blog series “Women in Science” introduces women from the TIB who give insights into their careers and personal experiences in science. Dr Sabina Auhunas studied Pharmacy at Bogomolets National Medical University, and obtained her PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Shupyk National Healthcare University of Ukraine in Kyiv and is now working at TIB (Open Science Lab). In this interview, she talks about diversity, shifting directions and persistence in academia.

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Sep 2 • 3:00 AM EDT • Science • blog.tib.eu
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The science of emotional regulation — and how to do it better

Do you ever feel like your emotions control you instead of you controlling them? Maybe you lash out at someone after a long day at work or indulge to avoid a stressful situation. It’s called emotional dysregulation and don’t worry – we all experience it at some point. Luckily, there’s a better way of dealing with our feelings: building emotional intelligence. That may seem daunting, but Short Wave is here to guide you through everything from understanding the importance of emotions to how we can repair our relationship to them.Interested in learning more about your brain and your feelings? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org. We might cover it in a future episode!Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. It includes perks like bonus episodes, early access, archive access, curated playlists and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.

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Sep 2 • 3:00 AM EDT • Science • npr.org
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Drought Intensifies Across Puerto Rico

Rainfall deficits and high temperatures have created unusually dry conditions and have spurred water shortages on much of the tropical archipelago.

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Sep 2 • 12:01 AM EDT • Science • science.nasa.gov
Tearing down 2 RenCen towers is the only viable option, Bedrock says

Bedrock made its case during a Community Benefits Ordinance meeting Tuesday night in Detroit.

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Sep 1 • 11:10 PM EDT • Business • crainsdetroit.com
Acting labor secretary praises Vegas Chamber workforce hub

A government-funded on-the-job training program is helping some Las Vegas businesses cover the cost of training new employees, an effort Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling highlighted Tue...

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Sep 1 • 9:09 PM EDT • Business • reviewjournal.com
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Bears’ Early Season Injury Concerns Test Ben Johnson’s Demanding Culture

Quarterback Caleb Williams' progress and a versatile roster have Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles and coach Ben Johnson optimistic about defending their NFC North title coming out of training camp.

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Sep 1 • 8:08 PM EDT • Sports • foxsports.com
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Entertainment Lineup Announced for Grass Lake Oktoberfest October 3

Airdate: September 1st, 2026 Tom Izzo Headlines Northwest Staff Opening Day EventSeptember 1, 2026Jackson College Named as MIOSHA Training Site and Expands Corporate ServicesSeptember 1, 20262nd Annual Sickle Cell Walkathon this SaturdaySeptember 1, 2026Entertainment Lineup Announced for Grass Lake Oktoberfest October 3September 1, 2026Pride of Concord Matt Lehman and Kathy LehmanSeptember 1, 2026“Plays in Development”…

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Sep 1 • 3:48 PM EDT • Entertainment • jtv.tv
Walk in Central Park with Bill Ritter in CaringKind, ABC7 brain health campaign

The watershed moment of the campaign will happen on Saturday, Oct. 17, at CaringKind's 38th annual Alzheimer's Walk & Brain Health Day in Central Park.

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Sep 1 • 3:26 PM EDT • Health • abc7ny.com
ALCF Service-Enabled Science Series Explores Experiment-Time Computing and the DIII-D Digital Twin

Sept. 1, 2026 — The latest session in the ALCF’s Service-Enabled Science training series explored how integrated computing resources, automated workflows, and modern data infrastructure are helping accelerate fusion research. The webinar, “Fusing Experiments, Data, and Computing at DIII-D and ALCF,” led by General Atomics’ Mark Kostuk and Brian Sammuli, is now available on the ALCF’s […]

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Sep 1 • 3:19 PM EDT • Science • hpcwire.com
City to consider new Entertainment Zones in Sacramento where public drinking is allowed at events

Following the impact of the Rainbow Festival and Terra Madre Americas events, Sacramento City leaders will consider a new round of proposed Entertainment Zones.

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Sep 1 • 3:09 PM EDT • Entertainment • kcra.com
Health crisis looming as Gaza heads towards rainy season, warns WHO

Water quality in embattled Palestinian enclave already poor; flooding will exacerbate threat to health, says UN agency.

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Sep 1 • 2:22 PM EDT • Health • aljazeera.com
North Carolina teen dies from rare brain-eating amoeba found in freshwater: Health officials

State health officials say the teenager died Monday.

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Sep 1 • 1:39 PM EDT • Health • abc7ny.com
North Carolina teen dies from rare brain-eating amoeba found in freshwater: Health officials

State health officials say the teenager died Monday.

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Sep 1 • 1:39 PM EDT • Health • abc7.com
North Carolina teen dies from rare brain-eating amoeba found in freshwater: Health officials

State health officials say the teenager died Monday.

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Sep 1 • 1:39 PM EDT • Health • abc11.com
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Penguins and First National Bank Announce Fourth Annual ‘FNB Small Business Development Camp’ Program for Local Pittsburgh Businesses

The Pittsburgh Penguins and First National Bank, the largest subsidiary of F.N.B. Corporation, will be hosting the fourth annual FNB Small Business Development Camp, designed to assist locally owned small businesses in the Pittsburgh area. Five local businesses will be selected to participate in a six-week training program consisting of

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Sep 1 • 12:55 PM EDT • Business • nhl.com
Off-Road Ford Mustang 'Baja' Shown Off At Dealer Meeting, Again

We first told you about the all-terrain Mustang back in 2023, when it was originally slated to come out sometime in 2026.

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Sep 1 • 12:26 PM EDT • Technology • jalopnik.com
Annual training manuals too slow to train Ukraine soldiers: commander

Training for Ukrainian troops on NATO soil aims to mirror the battlefield, but the commander in charge says bureaucratic manuals can't keep up.

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Sep 1 • 12:18 PM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com
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Chiefs ownership launches development arm to shape entertainment hubs around team’s facilities

The family of Chiefs Chair and CEO Clark Hunt formed Two-Point Development to plan and build entertainment districts around the team’s forthcoming Kansas City, Kansas stadium and its new headquarters and training facility in Olathe.

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Sep 1 • 11:42 AM EDT • Entertainment • sportsbusinessjournal.com
A Brain Implant in Korea Was Just Controlled From The US

Long-distance control.

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Sep 1 • 11:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencealert.com
Eagles’ interior offensive line depth eased a major concern

Drew Kendall, Willie Lampkin and Micah Morris eased one of Howie Roseman’s biggest concerns during Eagles training camp

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Sep 1 • 10:57 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Atlanta Falcons 2027 NFL Draft picks after training camp

The Falcons should have a solid haul next year, assuming their compensatory selections come in.

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Sep 1 • 10:29 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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gamescom 2026’s Steam wishlist winners

gamescom wrapped up last weekend, and it was bloody fantastic. It really felt like the industry had a spring in its step again. The show itself was BUZZING, with 368K attendees (+3% over last year), maxed-out exhibit space, and Opening Night Live pulling over 78M online views (+7.5%). Let’s have a look at the games at the event that brought in the most new Steam wishlists between August 23 and 30. One quick thing before we start, and stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but wishlists are NOT a barometer for launch sales (they’re bookmarks, not baskets is what we always say over here at Alinea). With that aside, wishlists are a nice gauge of hype, so let’s dive in. Witche(r)s and Warlocks take the top two spots The biggest game of the event (by new wishlists, anyways) wasn’t a game at all. It was an expansion. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s upcoming expansion, Songs of the Past, nabbed 451K Steam wishlists by the end of the weekend. It’s a big example of something we bang on about constantly: proven IP with built-in fandom is the most powerful force in this market. But said IP can also ripple into other external success stories (more on that later!). Anyway, Songs of the Past debuted at Opening Night Live, and it’s the first Witcher 3 expansion in over a decade, landing next year after a full Witcher 3 remaster (free for existing owners!) arrives next month. The Witcher 3 has sold around 66M copies, and I’ll be one of those owners jumping back in to refresh myself on the core game (like there isn’t enough to play!), then play the expansion next year. This is all part of CDPR’s plan. The studio is clearly whetting everyone’s appetite for The Witcher 4 in 2028 via a classic bridge strategy. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Releasing a free 4K remaster next month – followed by a proper expansion in 2027 – keeps IP top-of-mind across a huge gap between content (games-wise, anyway). It kind of echoes Capcom’s evergreen catalogue strategy. And outsourcing co-development to Fool’s Theory (a studio led by trusted Witcher 3 veterans) keeps CDPR’s internal headcount focused on The Witcher 4. #2 by wishlists between Aug 23 and 30 went to another giant IP: Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons, published by Wizards of the Coast and developed by Invoke Studios (a team of ex-Far Cry, Watch Dogs, and Splinter Cell devs). It’s due to launch in 2027, and it looks brilliant so far. It’s a dark-fantasy open world with third-person spell-slinging. It’s a very Witcher-ish aesthetic. As you might expect, 48% of Warlock’s Steam wishlisters have played Baldur’s Gate 3, and 46% have played The Witcher 3. One to watch. For sure! Mash-ups: Anime GTA (!?) and a city-builder for kids (and adults) Ananta took #3 with 302K new wishlists. It’s an open-world game that looks like GTA and Persona had a baby. It was published by NetEase, developed by Naked Rain, and got a trailer at Opening Night Live. I got hands-on at the show, and it wears its influences openly; there’s literal web-slinging (very Spider-Man) and a LOAD of mini-games (Like a Dragon). It’s free-to-play and out in January. For Ananta, Naked Rain is taking the free-to-play, cosmetics-only route. That’s certainly a choice for a single-player open-world game. Without gacha mechanics driving high ARPU, Ananta is betting purely on top-of-funnel reach and long-term retention. This puts pressure on skin appeal when there’s no multiplayer lobby to flex in (although, co-op is reportedly coming later). Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Then there’s Lego Skylines (273K wishlists between Aug 23 and 30), which does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a cosy Lego twist on the city-builder genre, as shallow or as deep as you fancy (five min quick sesh or ten-hour no-lifer session; latter for me). There’s some family-friendly stuff in there like couch co-op, which is only really viable on console. Iceflake Studios, which Paradox acquired back in 2020 is developing this one. So Paradox is probably looking for a family-friendly onramp to its rad Cities: Skylines games. The overlap there is plain, with 33% of Lego Skylines wishlisters having played Cities: Skylines and 16% Skylines II. There’s no doubt plenty of parents here (and uncles, ahem) planning to indoctrinate the next gen of city-builders. I’ll definitely be playing with my youngest nephew. This one could be big and educational. I’m very curious to see more. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Mature IP, new and old, rounds out the list As for the rest of the list of gamescom games by new wishlists between Aug 23 and 30: Heroes of Might & Magic III Remake got 189K new wishlists. It remakes the iconic 1999 turn-based-strategy classic in full 3D and 4K. It follows this year’s Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era (~1.8M copies sold, as per our estimates), and around a quarter of the III Remake wishlisters have played Olden Era, including 7% of them this month. Wardogs – a $40 PvP shooter – added another 146K to an already massive pile (nearly 1.6M total). It’s published by Team17 and made by Bulkhead. It plays somewhere between the tactical squad stuff of … Squad and the all-out-chaos battlefield of … Battlefield. It’s up to 100 players, and it’s out in about 10 days. It’s already pre-sold over 500K copies on Steam ($16.6M), boosted by a pre-order-only beta. It sold another 70K copies during gamescom, too. Afterworld managed 121K new wishlists. It’s a Paradox-made post-apocalyptic grand-strategy game, and it was announced at the show. It’s a departure from Paradox’s usual historical stuff, and the studio’s first new setting in over a decade. The Paradox purists are into it, with over half its wishlisters having played Hearts of Iron IV (19% this month) and 41% Crusader Kings III (17% this month). Metro 2039 got 110K during the show, tunnelling its total past 1.3M. Nearly 40% of wishlisters have played 2020’s Metro Exodus, the previous mainline title in the series. The Metro novels are Russian, dev 4A Games is Ukrainian, and it’s set in Moscow, so it’s unsurprising that – after the US (17.3% of wishlisters) – the next two countries are Russia (12.7%) and Ukraine (10.0%). The Blood of the Dawnwalker drew in (the blood of) 108K new wishlisters, now totalling an impressive 1.7M (at a $70 price point, though). It’s an open-world dark-fantasy action-RPG set in 14th-century Europe (with vampires!), made by some former Witcher devs at Rebel Wolves. Again, it shows. Over half of Blood of the Dawnwalker’s wishlisters have played The Witcher 3, and its #2 market is Poland, home of Rebel Wolves. That’s that hometown-hero effect we keep banging on about again! And Blood of the Dawnwalker plays very well, by the way. While it looks like a Witcher clone on the surface, it actually brings a lot to the table mechanics-wise. I love the whole time-as-a-currency spin on RPG gameplay. It gives the game a different, refreshing pace. Essentially, you start Blood of the Dawnwalker with a pool of 480 action points spread across 30 days and 30 nights. As for how the game performs, we’ll be posting some numbers next week, so hit subscribe below to get that in your inbox when it’s ready. Subscribe The Witcher’s legacy ripples Make no mistake: on a high level, this was The Witcher‘s gamescom. The #1 game by wishlisters was a Witcher 3 DLC. Warlock is clearly Witcher-inspired – as is Blood of the Dawnwalker, which was made by ex-Witcher devs. There was a lot of other cool stuff on the floor that we’ll no doubt be covering in subsequent newsletters, though! As always, wishlists went through the roof for sequels, remakes, DLC, and licensed IP. As always, though, these wishlists will likely convert to about 5% to 10% of launch-day buyers, with the probable exception of The Witcher DLC – the exception that proves the rule. Either way, we’ve got a nice, diverse list here – one that is very Witcher-y, Paradox-y, and – if you’re a fan of great games on Steam – a bloody good list. We even got a bunch of new IP to get excited for. Great gamescom! Even if we are still processing that unfathomable number of mini Kölsch beers! One more thing: GTA 6 broke the internet (again) Move aside, Spider-Man and The Odyssey (I love you both, really). But the decade’s defining entertainment zeitgeist is round the corner. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Rockstar dropped an extended look at GTA 6 last week. It was INSANE, the most impressed I’ve ever been by a showcase like this. You can see the budget seeping through every second of the extended look, and this level of game is unobtainable for any other publisher. Everyone’s going nuts, and rightly so. GTA 6 is out in holiday 2026, and it’ll be the biggest entertainment release ever, full stop. For those without a PS5 or Xbox Series console, a $500-$900 console is a big ask in this economy, but GTA will pull a lot of last-generation-console fence sitters over the current-gen fence either way: The autumn timing puts GTA 6 on (digital) shelves for the holidays, meaning a PS5 or Xbox (let’s be honest, mostly the former) will be on many a Christmas and Hanukkah list. Demand will outweigh the struggling supply, though, and PS5 Pros are already sold out and being sold at a markup via scalpers. Every console that isn’t on a shelf is a sale deferred or lost, and worse, it hands scalpers the margin. GTA has cultural clout that reaches everyone. It’s been a mainstream fixture since 2001’s GTA III and its clout has only grown exponentially since then. There’s a touchpoint for every generation alive. The FOMO-word-of-mouth double punch does the rest. Loading... It’ll reactivate the lockdown cohort, the millions who picked up gaming in 2020-21 and churned. GTA 6 will bring them back. Remember when College Football 25 brought a bunch of US gamers to current-gen consoles? GTA will do that globally. Once they’re back (or upgraded), and all GTA’d out, the fresh current-gen-console folks will check out the rest of the current-gen catalogue they missed. GTA Online, if not free to play, will also lead to a boost for PS+ and Xbox Game Pass, another boost for the ecosystem players. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Even some of the smug PCMR 60FPS crew won’t be able to resist their FOMO and will bite the bullet on a console to play this one early (then double dip). The consoles cost the same as a decent stick of RAM these days anyway lmao… Don’t get me wrong, though. GTA 6 is no silver bullet for the mature console market, but it does prime the current gen for a couple of strong swan-song years. And it’ll also give the consoles more users from which to maximise ARPU. ‘’We are in the latter half of the lifetime cycle of [the PS5],’’ said Sony President and CEO Hiroki Totoki in a Wall Street Journal interview. ‘’That means we do not need to aggressively sell the console today; rather than that, we are focusing on the current revenue from the current user base.’’ The biggest, best premium games always arrive late in a console cycle, so getting more players aboard now, ahead of that content storm (the new current-gen-only Call of Duty included), is a clear win for the platforms. On the Netflix thing, though: let’s all chill out a bit, like. Half my LinkedIn feed was going bonkers treating the reveal debuting on Netflix like it’s the future of entertainment. It wasn’t. It was a six-hour head start, and Netflix left that detail out of the “first-of-its-kind partnership” press release. The extended look hit Netflix at 3pm ET on 27 August, then went up on YouTube and Rockstar’s site for everyone six hours later. And it was all over social immediately, anyways. This reveal was going to reach an untold number of people whether it debuted on Netflix, YouTube, a Times Square screen, or a group chat. The last trailer did nearly half a billion views in a day with no gatekeeper at all. Netflix just stood next to that audience for six hours, borrowing it. It’s was a tidy deal for Netflix, sure. But every outlet on earth was breaking the thing down frame by frame by the evening anyway. Anyway. I’m hype. And we’ll be covering some GTA numbers on the newsletter soon. So hit subscribe below to get that in your inbox when it’s ready! Subscribe 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!]

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Sep 1 • 10:27 AM EDT • Technology • alineaanalytics.substack.com
LZ Sees Surprising Result in Search for Dark Matter

Key Takeaways Dark matter is the mysterious substance that accounts for the vast majority of matter in our universe. LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a world-leading dark matter detector and specializes in searching for WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles. A new LZ study found one particle interaction that is difficult to explain with known background processes and could potentially have been caused by a WIMP. LZ continues to run to see if additional data strengthens or weakens the hint of a dark matter interaction. For the better part of a century, people have been trying to understand dark matter. This invisible substance makes up roughly 85% of the mass in the universe but has never been directly detected. Determining exactly what it is remains one of the biggest questions about our world. Now, a new analysis from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment has recorded a single particle interaction that researchers have great difficulty explaining with known background signals from normal matter. The result does not yet meet the statistical threshold required to claim a discovery, but is the most compelling hint of dark matter reported by the experiment to date. LZ is an international collaboration of 250 scientists and engineers from 39 institutions. The detector is managed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and operates nearly one mile below ground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in South Dakota. The experiment uses 10 tonnes of ultrapure liquid xenon to search for dark matter and is optimized to look for WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles. The results were presented in a scientific talk at the 2026 TeV Particle Astrophysics conference in Japan. The paper will be released on the online repository arXiv and submitted to the journal Physical Review Letters. “We’re very intrigued to see this event in the data, in the region where we expect dark matter to show up and the competing backgrounds are very low,” said Rick Gaitskell, a professor at Brown University and the spokesperson for LZ. “With only one event, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We are not claiming to have seen dark matter. But we have seen something interesting that we want to share with the scientific community for their input.” The LZ collaboration studies experimental data in batches. In the new result, researchers analyzed 220 live days of data collected between March 2023 and April 2024. The collaboration had previously searched this dataset for faint signals from the simplest kinds of WIMP interactions. The new analysis searched for a broader range of possible WIMP interactions that could deposit more energy in the detector. LZ is particularly sensitive to such signals while also minimizing false positives. “This was a detailed study in a region we hadn’t explored within this dataset, and we spent months of additional effort to understand all the possible causes of background events,” said Sam Eriksen, a senior research associate at the University of Bristol in the U.K. and lead author of the study. “We understand our detector and the backgrounds so well that even a single outstanding event, like the one we found, is important. We expect dark matter events to be extremely rare, so only a handful could mark the first detection of WIMP dark matter.” If the anomalous event was caused by dark matter, the WIMP that generated it would likely have a mass of at least 200 GeV/c2 (gigaelectronvolts), or more than 200 times the mass of a proton. It would also suggest a specific type of interaction between WIMPs and ordinary matter beyond the simplest model. The LZ results have not reached “5-sigma” significance, the statistical threshold considered a discovery in physics. The new analysis is 2.6 sigma, meaning there is approximately a 0.5% chance that the event could be explained by known backgrounds. With additional data, researchers can test whether the finding continues to grow in significance or fades away. LZ has already accumulated the world’s largest dark matter dataset and will continue to accrue WIMP search data at SURF, substantially improving their search statistics. LZ searches for dark matter by looking for signature flashes of light from energy deposited in the detector. The collaboration leverages multiple methods to prevent or account for particle interactions caused by normal matter. This includes the mile of rock that shields the detector from cosmic rays from space, a water tank and outer detectors that protect the central detector from background neutrons, and a suite of computational tools that disentangle particle interactions and reject dark matter mimics. “Outlier events in the data are not unexpected, but they usually stand out as a background of some kind when you look at them deeper,” said Aaron Manalaysay, a physicist at Berkeley Lab and the chair of LZ’s Institutional Board. “This is the first example in any experiment I’ve worked on of an outlier that appears valid in every way. Of course, we’re still twisting our brains trying to think if there’s a rare background mechanism we could’ve missed, but it’s thrilling to wonder if this could be the first hint of a dark-matter observation.” LZ is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy and Nuclear Physics, and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science user facility. LZ is also supported by the Science & Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom; the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology; the Swiss National Science Foundation; the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics; and the Institute for Basic Science, Korea. Thirty-nine institutions of higher education and advanced research provided support to LZ. The LZ collaboration acknowledges the assistance of the Sanford Underground Research Facility. ### Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to groundbreaking research focused on discovery science and solutions for abundant and reliable energy supplies. The lab’s expertise spans materials, chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental science, mathematics, and computing. Researchers from around the world rely on the lab’s world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 17 Nobel Prizes. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.

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Sep 1 • 10:00 AM EDT • Science • newscenter.lbl.gov
Could humans ever communicate with whales?

Ever since the earliest known recording of whale song was made in 1949, researchers have been captivated by the wails, rumbles, clicks, grunts and squeals of their communication. As technology improves, scientists are decoding the intricate patterns that make different species’ vocalisations distinctive. Madeleine Finlay hears from Emma Bryce, a journalist who has spent months investigating human efforts to understand whale song. She explains how this knowledge could help us better protect whales from human-made harms.Credits:1. Valeria Vergara/Raincoast Conservation Foundation2. Footage courtesy of Raincoast Conservation Foundation - Obtained for research under SARA permit XMMS 4 20263. Video by Amanda Cotton/Project CETI4. Footage courtesy of Valeria Vergara and GREMM. Obtained for research under SARA permits QUE-MM02-2016 and QUE-LEP-001-20185. Project CETI6. Project CETI

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Sep 1 • 9:22 AM EDT • Science • theguardian.com
PRESS RELEASE: NETEC Announces Second Round of NSPS Level 2 STAND Award Recipients to Strengthen Special Pathogen Preparedness Nationwide

National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center

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Sep 1 • 8:50 AM EDT • Health • netec.org
14 Science "Facts" You Were Taught In School That Are Actually False

From the "10% of your brain" thing to that tongue map poster in every classroom, here's everything your science teacher got wrong.

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Sep 1 • 8:16 AM EDT • Science • uk.style.yahoo.com
Lowe's launches major effort to help close America's skilled trades gap

Lowe's Foundation launched a coalition with Nvidia, General Motors and over 75 partners to train and certify 1 million skilled tradespeople by 2035.

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Sep 1 • 8:00 AM EDT • Business • foxbusiness.com
Should you draft Ashton Jeanty in fantasy? Injury update, outlook for Raiders RB

Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty is dealing with an ankle sprain. Should you still draft him in fantasy football? Here's the latest outlook.

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Sep 1 • 6:06 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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Scientists added sulfuric acid weekly to an Ontario lake for 17 years, lowering pH from 6.8 to 5.2; decades later its lake trout population remains below half its former level

A lake in northwestern Ontario became the setting for a landmark experiment on the effects of acid rain. For 17 years, scientists deliberately added sulfuric acid to Lake 223 every week, gradually changing the water's chemistry to mimic the effects of acid rain that was damaging lakes across North America and Europe.

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Sep 1 • 5:55 AM EDT • Science • timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Rockies robbed on rainy night, fall to Orioles 2-1

Jake McCarthy’s would be walk-off robbed with over-the-fence catch

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Sep 1 • 1:21 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Anthropic tightens training security after Claude agents went rogue

Anthropic tightened its AI security and paused some programs after Claude models accessed three organizations' systems without permission in April.

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Aug 31 • 10:05 PM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com
One of Earth’s driest places was just covered in snow

Rare storms covered huge stretches of Chile’s Atacama Desert in snow and dumped extraordinary amounts of rain on one of the driest regions on Earth. The extreme weather shut down observatories, triggered damaging floods and mudflows, and unfolded against the backdrop of a strengthening El Niño.

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Aug 31 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Steelers Keep Four Quarterbacks

The Pittsburgh Steelers have made one of the more interesting roster decisions of the 2026 NFL season, keeping all four of their quarterbacks on the initial 53-man roster. The Steelers will enter the season with veteran starter Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph, Will Howard and rookie Drew Allar. The decision had been discussed throughout training camp,…

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Aug 31 • 4:37 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Why doctors still can’t predict which migraine drug will work

Migraine prevention drugs are more targeted than ever before, and new guidelines may help doctors predict which will work for each patient.

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Aug 31 • 4:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencenews.org
Paradise Lost From Train to Busan Director Yeon Sang-ho Bought to U.S.

"Paradise Lost" from “Train to Busan” filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho, has been bought by Well Go USA Entertainment ahead of its world premiere at Toronto.

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Aug 31 • 1:58 PM EDT • Entertainment • variety.com
Massive KC entertainment center closes after 13 years. ‘So many memories’

“Celebrations, milestones, rainy-day adventures, and so many moments that we will carry with us long after the lights go out tonight,” the business wrote on social media.

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Aug 31 • 1:27 PM EDT • Entertainment • kansascity.com
AU hosts House Blue-Ribbon Study Committee focusing on healthcare

“There’s a basic principle you have to remember: Where you train is where you’re likely to practice,” says MCG Dean David Hess, MD.

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Aug 31 • 1:00 PM EDT • Health • jagwire.augusta.edu
Iowa sports doctor, coach weigh risk of CTE as fall sports begin

High school football season has officially kicked off, but a recent study on the game’s potential for brain injury has some parents concerned.

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Aug 31 • 12:36 PM EDT • Sports • kcrg.com
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At Venice Film Festival, politics take center stage

With works about Gaza, Ukraine and Elon Musk, political cinema is in the spotlight at the 2026 Venice Film Festival.

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Aug 31 • 10:05 AM EDT • Politics • dw.com
Politics take center stage at Venice Film Festival

With works about Gaza, Ukraine and Elon Musk, political cinema is in the spotlight at the 2026 Venice Film Festival.

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Aug 31 • 10:05 AM EDT • Politics • dw.com
Bessent heads to G20 to rally allies on Iran as tariffs strain ties

The Group of 20 finance ministers is meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, on Monday and Tuesday.

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Aug 31 • 9:54 AM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com
Thousands of Ancient Human Brains Refuse to Rot—and Scientists Finally Know Their Strange Secret

The human brain sometimes avoids decay for millennia while the rest of the body turns to bones.

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Aug 31 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • popularmechanics.com
Scientists challenge a 70-year-old “lizard brain” myth

A long-standing picture of brain evolution as newer, rational layers stacked on top of an ancient “lizard brain” may be deeply misleading. Researchers found that evolution instead appears to balance two competing styles of brain wiring, expanding one while shrinking the other depending on what an animal needs to survive.

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Aug 31 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
3 things to try to improve your brain health

Keeping your mind active can help offer protection for years to come.

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Aug 31 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com
Western training for Ukraine's troops is purposefully close to the war

Norway is leading training for Ukrainian troops in eastern Poland to preserve training time and keep lessons tied to the battlefield.

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Aug 31 • 7:25 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com
Canada's retaliatory tariffs poised to hit Michigan manufacturing

Canada's retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods could constrain about $1.5 billion worth of Michigan exports, according to a Detroit News analysis.

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Aug 31 • 12:01 AM EDT • Business • detroitnews.com
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Data center growth could outpace power generation

Dominion Energy confronts rising power demand from nearly 650 data centers in Virginia, straining the grid and prompting infrastructure investments.

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Aug 30 • 11:58 PM EDT • Business • virginiabusiness.com
Neurologists urge earlier brain health steps ahead of World Alzheimer's Month

September is almost here, which is recognized as World Alzheimer's Month.Neurologists say there are things you can do now to support your brain health.They say

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Aug 30 • 9:28 PM EDT • Health • wsbt.com
Patriots Cut Unlikely Training Camp Interception Leader After Roster Shakeup

John Saunders Jr. led the Patriots with five training camp interceptions, but a late trade helped push the promising safety off New England’s initial roster.

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Aug 30 • 9:27 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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Patients opening up to AI over doctors for health questions

Healthvana’s AI tool is strictly conversational and refrains from providing medical advice, Palmeri said.

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Aug 30 • 7:50 PM EDT • Health • newsnationnow.com
Packers Get Intriguing Josh Sweat Take Amid 49ers Speculation

As the San Francisco 49ers are making final roster decisions on Aug. 30, they could also be exploring the trade market. One area of concern for the Niners heading into the 2026 NFL season is their pass rush.Nick Bosa has dealt with tendinitis during training camp and the preseason. Moreover, Bosa looks to be the […] The post Packers Get Intriguing Josh Sweat Take Amid 49ers Speculation appeared first on HEAVY.

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Aug 30 • 6:25 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Packers place Micah Parsons on injured reserve to start regular season while recovering from ACL tear

Parsons started training camp on the PUP list after tearing his ACL in December, and has been aiming for an October return.

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Aug 30 • 4:18 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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Over 4,400 human brains found intact in skeletons: scientists finally know why - Futura-Sciences

For decades, archaeologists have puzzled over a strange phenomenon: skeletons stripped bare by time, with only one soft and unlikely survivor remaining, the brain. Now, a team of researchers says it has finally uncovered the chemistry behind this mystery. It appears that the answer does not come from a rare...

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Aug 30 • 2:00 PM EDT • Science • futura-sciences.com
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Atletico Stand Firm as Julian Alvarez Exit Push Fuels Rumours

Julian Alvarez missed Atletico Madrid training earlier this week, triggering speculation that the Argentina international had informed the club he was suffering from depression. His agent, Fernando Hi...

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Aug 30 • 12:00 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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Business Briefcase: Community Day to feature pierogies, train rides, music

MAHANOY CITY — A highlight of the annual Mahanoy City Community Day celebration set for Sept. 12 will be a pierogie-eating contest beginning at noon. Community Day, sponsored by the Mahanoy Area Chamber of Commerce, will seek to discover w…

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Aug 30 • 11:00 AM EDT • Business • republicanherald.com
HEPA air purifiers may boost brain function after just one month

Adults aged 40 and older performed about 12% faster on a test of executive function after using a HEPA air purifier at home for one month. The findings suggest that cleaner indoor air could offer a simple way to help protect the brain from the effects of traffic-related pollution.

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Aug 30 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
When big business goes too far, government matters

Two corporate settlements show how regulators can protect children, preserve competition and restrain profit-driven abuses.

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Aug 30 • 7:00 AM EDT • Business • sfexaminer.com
I couldn't land a job, so I started AI training. I earn $100 an hour.

Mo Zohourian couldn't land a full-time job so he answered a LinkedIn and became an AI trainer. He worked up to $100 an hour and made it his career.

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Aug 30 • 4:11 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com
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Jaishawn Barham won the Dallas Cowboys training camp

Who do you think was the overall winner of camp and the preseason?

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Aug 29 • 4:30 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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Zooplankton tied to Maine lobster larva health declines as Gulf waters warm

A creature the size of a grain of rice could be the reason for recent declines in Maine's lobster harvest.

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Aug 29 • 4:28 PM EDT • Health • wgme.com
Royals at Guardians, August 29 live discussion

Danny Drips’ training wheels have come off

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Aug 29 • 3:40 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Sony says Claude trained on pirated lyrics, seeks $150K a song

In a new lawsuit, Sony Music and Warner Chappell say Anthropic used "thousands upon thousands" of songs to train Claude, including "Eye of the Tiger."

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Aug 29 • 3:05 PM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com
Turkiye summons Ukraine ambassador over Black Sea attacks

Two Turkish-operated vessels have been struck this week as a result of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

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Aug 29 • 1:41 PM EDT • Politics • aljazeera.com
Retirees are pouring into this coastal getaway – and it's feeling the strain

Sussex County, Delaware, saw 40,000 new residents since 2020, with retirees drawn by low property taxes and no sales tax straining healthcare and schools.

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Aug 29 • 12:57 PM EDT • Business • foxbusiness.com
New York Mets reinstate slugger Juan Soto from the 10-day injured list

New York Mets slugger Juan Soto was reinstated from the 10-day injured list on Saturday ahead of the team's game against the Houston Astros. The five-time All-Star landed on the injured list last month for the second time this season after imaging revealed a grade 2 strain.

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Aug 29 • 12:30 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
'The sky's the limit' for Packers in 2026, Bullard says | FOX 11 One on One

FOX 11 Sports Director Ryan Wing sits down with Green Bay Packers safety Javon Bullard for a special training camp edition of FOX 11 One on One.

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Aug 29 • 11:00 AM EDT • Sports • fox11online.com
Ukraine MANPADS sergeant: gear to find targets harder to get than missiles

Ukraine uses MANPADS to down Russian drones, jets, and aircraft, but to be effective, teams need batteries and ways to find targets.

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Aug 29 • 7:30 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com
Human Mini Brains Kept Alive For 5 Years, Listen To The Sounds Of An Ancient Jurassic Forest, And Much More This Week

All the biggest science news stories of the week.

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Aug 29 • 5:30 AM EDT • Science • iflscience.com
Elversberg: The tiny town looking to defy odds in Bundesliga

Elversberg has no train station and a population of just 13,000, but its football team have enjoyed a meteoric rise from the regional German leagues to the Bundesliga.

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Aug 29 • 2:55 AM EDT • Sports • bbc.com
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National parks under strain from Trump's construction projects and political pressure
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Aug 28 • 6:35 PM EDT • Politics • pbs.org
Texas judge could soon allow hemp businesses to sell THC products again

Texas smoke shops could soon be allowed to sell currently-banned THC products if a Travis County judge grants a temporary restraining order.

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Aug 28 • 6:31 PM EDT • Business • fox4news.com
Cowboys All-Pro’s Quiet Training Camp After Injury Explained

The Dallas Cowboys are wrapping up camp and preseason, and while several players announced themselves all summer one has not: DaRon Bland. The post Cowboys All-Pro’s Quiet Training Camp After Injury Explained appeared first on HEAVY.

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Aug 28 • 4:08 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Purdue expands degree offerings that target Indianapolis’ workforce needs

Purdue marks the start of its third year in Indianapolis with new programs in construction management, athletic training, and hospitality — aligning academics with the city’s booming job market.

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Aug 28 • 3:48 PM EDT • Science • purdue.edu
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Road construction on Shelby Street puts pinch on small businesses

The $14 million Fountain Square Area Drainage Improvements Project has closed parts of Shelby Street since January.

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Aug 28 • 2:00 PM EDT • Business • ibj.com
Novant Health, Hornets unveil progress on new Uptown practice facility

Channel 9’s Miana Massey got a first look of the facility on Friday, where crews are building the spaces that will become practice courts, training and recovery areas for the Hornets.

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Aug 28 • 1:19 PM EDT • Health • wsoctv.com
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Dems: Trump's Nassau visit crossed the line on using public resources for politics

At issue is Trump's Aug. 14 trip to the Nassau County David Mack Center for Training and Intelligence.

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Aug 28 • 11:42 AM EDT • Politics • newsday.com
Accessible tech helps small businesses overcome costs, labor gaps, and entry barriers

Accessible technology helps small businesses lower startup costs, simplify training, address labor gaps, and expand into new technical services.

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Aug 28 • 11:28 AM EDT • Business • qz.com
The World’s Most Intelligent Octopuses Have A Molecular Quirk That Could Help Explain How Their Brains Increase 100-Fold In Their Lifetimes

Yours, on the other hand, will only quadruple.

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Aug 28 • 11:20 AM EDT • Science • iflscience.com
U.S. Soccer nears takeover of U.S. Youth Soccer. This is what it means for the sport’s future

U.S. Soccer makes a move that may reform America's youth soccer landscape

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Aug 28 • 11:04 AM EDT • Sports • nytimes.com
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North Carolina teen critically ill from rare brain-eating amoeba found in freshwater, officials say

A North Carolina teenager is critically ill from a rare brain-eating amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, that's found in warm freshwater, state health officials said.

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Aug 28 • 10:52 AM EDT • Health • abcnews.com
Ford hires power industry exec as president for new energy storage business

Dave Carroll, former CEO of ENGIE North America, will succeed Ford Motor Co. veteran Lisa Drake, who is retiring.

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Aug 28 • 10:25 AM EDT • Business • crainsdetroit.com
Navy Medicine Advances Operational Health IT for Distributed Maritime Operations

CHESAPEAKE, Va. —Navy Medicine leaders, Fleet representatives, and operational health IT experts convened to accelerate the fielding of medical information capabilities designed to support patient movement, medical logistics and force readiness across distributed maritime operations, August 24-28. Hosted by The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) in Chesapeake, Virginia, the five-day Operational Health Information Technology Fielding Summit served to build upon work that began in 2024 and 2025, to refine Joint Operational Medicine Information Systems (JOMIS) software delivery, implementation, and training.

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Aug 28 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • dvidshub.net
NYC CLC/NYCOSH 2026 Safety & Health Series: WTC 25th Anniversary: Man-Made Disasters | New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO

Tuesday, September 8, 11AM-1PM via Zoom: As part of the NYC CLC/NYCOSH 2026 Safety & Health Series, join us for a special training commemorating the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001. The session will cover the World Trade Center Health Program, WTC-related research and findings related to survivors, and lessons from other man-made disasters, including Chernobyl and Deepwater Horizon.

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Aug 28 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • nycclc.org
Pre-camp 2026 Penguins’ roster prediction

Now that the summer Top 25 Under 25 series has wrapped up today, and with it (almost) the month of August, let’s turn attention to next season. Players on the Penguins are trickling into town and starting to workout in Pittsburgh to prepare for NHL training camp that will begin in mid-ish September. Opening night […]

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Aug 28 • 8:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
A thought on all 90 Eagles leaving 2026 training camp

As final cuts near, here’s a thought or two about all 90 players on the Eagles’ roster leaving training camp.

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Aug 28 • 7:00 AM EDT • Sports • nbcsportsphiladelphia.com
Exports, Alliances, and Ukraine: The Politics Behind France's Arms Sales

Paris – France won €21.2 billion ($24.7 billion) of export orders for weapons in 2025, helped by India’s contract for 26 Rafale fighter jets and related armaments, the annual report of the armed forces ministry to parliament said. That 2025 value fell slightly from foreign arms orders of €21.6 billion in the previous year. “With €21.2 […]

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Aug 28 • 5:22 AM EDT • Politics • sldinfo.com
Hamilton handed stern warning over handling of Ferrari frustration

Former Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher believes Lewis Hamilton should have handled his radio frustration at Zandvoort differently, arguing that a driver of his age, experience and standing within the sport should have shown greater restraint. Alongside Lando Norris’ victory, one of the main talking points to emerge from the Dutch Grand Prix was Lewis Hamilton’s frustration with Ferrari.

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Aug 28 • 2:01 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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Why Michigan is a top state for new business survival

"I think it's hard to say whether it's indicative of long-term success," said Alex Rainville, who teaches at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

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Aug 28 • 12:02 AM EDT • Business • detroitnews.com
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Common vaccine linked to 24% lower dementia risk in older adults

A Brown University study found Shingrix reduced dementia risk by 24% over four years, building on prior research linking the shingles vaccine to brain health.

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Aug 27 • 10:21 PM EDT • Health • foxnews.com
Judge blocks Trump’s Postal Service regulation on mail-in ballots

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order that prevents the Postal Service from inserting itself into the election process while litigation continues.

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Aug 27 • 9:56 PM EDT • Politics • nbcnews.com
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Game Night on the Riverway draws crowds with tabletop games, food and entertainment

Rochester’s Gamenight on the Riverway finally happened after two postponements for bad air and rain, turning the Genesee Riverway into a lively hub of tabletop games, food vendors, and entertainment. Next: Sept. 17.

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Aug 27 • 9:50 PM EDT • Entertainment • 13wham.com
The Literacy Crisis Reaches Dog-Bear Science

“New analysis of more than 300 bear encounters suggests our canine companions often increase odds of conflict and rarely serve as early warning systems many recreationists assume,” reads a subhead in Mountain Journal. The thing is, that study reaches no such conclusion. But you have to read beyond the abstract to understand that. Mountain Journal is not alone. Let’s look at a brief list of takeaways published elsewhere just to establish that none of them seem to know how to read science. Wes Siler’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Here’s CBC: “A new peer-reviewed study, The Canine Conundrum: Is a Dog a Help or Hindrance in Bear Country?, dug into conflicts similar to what the video depicts, by analyzing 326 reported human-bear conflicts from 1901 to 2023 involving dogs.” “The study found 54 per cent of conflicts were started by dogs. In the encounters researchers included in the study, five people and 56 dogs were killed, and 170 people were injured.” “Lana Ciarniello, an independent researcher who co-authored the study, said researchers found when a person goes hiking with at least one other person, the odds of a negative bear encounter decrease by 50 per cent.” “However, when a dog is involved, the chances of a negative bear encounter increase because ‘a dog really adds a chaotic factor into the mix of recreation,’ said Ciarniello.” Again, the study finds no data supporting that conclusion. “Hiking with your pet dog may make you feel safer in bear country—but a hiker’s recent encounter and a new study prove that the numbers don’t add up,” writes Backpacker, which is now part of Outside. The numbers don’t add up to support this take. There’s plenty more examples, but all are equally dumb, so I’ll stop there. How did so many people get this so wrong? Three reasons: 1) the study is published behind a paywall, with only the abstract freely available. 2) the methodology sets out to create work relevant to a hyper-specific audience, not the public. And 3) the dataset studied is almost absurdly limited and doesn’t bear (get it?!) comparison to wider information. Let’s work through all three. The Problem is Money I understand the irony, since I’m writing about this on a subscription-model newsletter, but information wants to be free. The study is published by The Wildlife Society and costs $16 to access. Reprinting it is specifically prohibited by the terms of use, so I can only share snippets and my conclusions with you here. Having worked as a journalist for 24 years, I can report with some authority that journalists are both lazy and cheap. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that much of the material you’re seeing written about this study is drawn from the freely-available abstract (above) only, and not a deep dive into its methodology or data. And that’s a problem, because abstracts are where researchers are able to break from their numbers and editorialize their opinions about conclusions. So what’s getting reported isn’t based on numbers, it’s based on an opinion designed for a specific audience, not the general public. Hell yeah ladies, kick that bear’s ass. The Methodology is Designed to Support a Predetermined Conclusion One of the biggest issues with the science that everyone likes to cite about bear spray’s efficacy is that no one understands that study was designed for a specific audience, looking for a specific answer. And since that audience is not the public, and our safety was not the question being asked, its conclusion is rendered irrelevant to our needs. Yes, I’m talking about Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska, which was created by Tom Smith and Stephen Herrero, two of the same scientists who put together this dog-bear conflict analysis. In the spray study, the purpose was to present relevant agencies with the information they needed to issue their field workers with bear spray. As such, incidents where people were unable to access the spray or similarly failed to get it deployed in time were excluded from the results, and only incidents they deemed successful were included. Could a ranger roll down their vehicle’s window and scare a bear away from a dumpster by spraying it? Turns out the answer was yes, and that was good enough for the purposes of that study. The sample size of actual bear attacks—the thing you and I would want bear spray to provide a solution to, was too small to draw conclusions from, and didn’t indicate success in that role. Is a Dog a Help or Hindrance in Bear Country? has similar limitations. “Insights provided here are intended to help wildlife managers create effective guidelines regarding the presence of domestic dogs in bear habitat,” is explained clearly by the study’s text. To conduct the study, Smith and Herrero went looking for publicly available reports of dog-bear conflicts: “All incidents included in our analysis involved at least one bear, one dog, and one person who was at immediate risk of injury (e.g., not in a protective structure such as a cabin or vehicle), injured, or killed,” explains the report’s methodology. Why is that a problem? “We recognize that data used in this study are biased in that people generally only report adverse interactions with bears, not benign ones. Consequently, we assume that for the most part, people and their dogs pass through bear country without incident.” As was the problem with the bear spray study, people are drawing conclusions here from a study that was never intended to be relevant to the general public. The Smith-Herrero database famously excludes Alaska’s Defense of Life and Property records, which are elsewhere considered the largest and most authoritative source on human-bear conflict. The Dataset is Absurdly Limited A 2009 study conducted by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife estimates that each year there are at least 43,000 documented complaints of human-bear conflict across North America. Is a Dog a Help or Hindrance in Bear Country? Examined those reports for years ranging from 1901 to 2023, and only managed to find 326 such incidents that met the criteria explained above. Let’s do some quick math, poorly. 43,000 incidents x 122 years = 5,246,000 total incidents of documented human-bear conflict. Smith and Herrero were only able to find 326 incidents that met their criteria for dog+human+bear+risk or occurrence of injury. That means there’s a 0.006 percent chance that the study’s conclusion—that dogs make bear encounters more dangerous—even gets a chance of occurring. And remember, that’s only in documented conflicts. There’s no way to know how many people across North America run into a bear in any given year without any conflict, but it’s probably safe to assume that the total number is well in excess of 43,000. And, dig deeper into the study and you can find further restrictions that skew its conclusions even more. “While the people involved in these incidents did not report the level of training their dogs had received, it is our assumption that most were untrained companion dogs as opposed to well-trained bear dogs, such as Karelians and livestock guardian breeds that have proven to be significant aids in bear country,” the study’s methodology explains. And that’s a problem, because an ongoing study here in Montana is finding that the simple presence of a Kangal like our youngest dog Teddy can reduce visits to private property from grizzly bears by 87.8 percent. In addition to being a badass, Teddy is also a companion animal. And in my admittedly limited sample size of the three dogs currently present in our living room, she’s no more effective than her mutt brothers. Plenty of people own a dog capable of deterring bears, even if they didn’t set out to own a bear dog. The real purpose of this study appears to be a recommendation that leashes are mandated and recreationists pursue training in their deterrent of choice. But that doesn’t make for sensational headlines. Are There Any Real Takeaways Here? Let’s throw some numbers around, just to try and get our hands around what the larger picture might look like for bears and dogs here. The American Veterinary Medical Association estimates that 42.6 percent of American households own a dog. The Canadian Animal Health Institute says roughly 35 percent of households in Canuckistan own a dog. In an attempt to create the worst possible result for dogs, let’s run with that 35 percent number. And given that outdoorsy and rural people are more likely to both own a dog, and have bear encounters, let’s just make a giant assumption and apply that number to those 43,000 conflicts documented annually. If 35 percent of 43,000 human-bear encounters involve a dog, then we can assume that at least 15,050 dog-bear conflicts are occurring annually in North America. 15,050 x 122 = 1,836,100. Smith and Herrero were only able to find 326 incidents that met their human, dog, chance or occurrence of injury criteria across 122 years. And only 170 documented human injuries. So, with all the obvious caveats about these numbers in no way describing reality beyond narrow study parameters, what they actually found is that your risk of injury if your dog tangles with a bear is only 0.009 percent. I’ll take those odds next time I’m hiking my dogs in bear country. Top photo: “Superintendent Horace Albright, eating pancakes with bears, at Lake Lodge, Yellowstone National Park.” NPS. A journalist with more than two decades of experience working around the world, Wes Siler is here to cut through the outrage and disinformation to bring you the factual, insightful, actionable reporting you need to understand what’s going on. Upgrading to a paid subscription supports this reporting, and buys personal access to Wes, who will help you save money on gear, plan outdoor adventures, and prepare for real life, and who promises he’s less salty in real life than he sometimes comes across as on the Internet. Wes Siler’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

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Aug 27 • 6:47 PM EDT • Science • wessiler.substack.com