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NIU STEAM Cafe to explore special effects science
The free cafe will begin at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 7 at Fatty’s Pub and Grille, 1312 W. Lincoln Highway, DeKalb. Food and beverages will be available to buy from Fatty’s.
🗣️ Sights and Sounds: 'All that matters is right now'
Go behind the scenes of the Week 4 victory over the Cardinals. Presented by Crestron.
CD&R, McKesson acquiring infusion therapy provider Option Care Health for $5.8B
Option Care Health, a provider of infusion therapy services, is being acquired by private equity firm CD&R and healthcare conglomerate McKesson in a deal valued at $5.8 billion, the companies a | Option Care Health, the country's largest independent provider of at-home and alternate site infusion services, would go private in the deal, which is expected to close in the first half of 2027.
Biological aging offers clues to long-term health after Fontan surgery
Our birthdays tell us how long we have lived, but not necessarily how our bodies are aging. Biological age reflects the condition and function of our cells and tissues, shaped by genetics, lifestyle, ...
Childhood obesity less common under new health-based definition
A new global definition of clinical obesity classifies far fewer children as obese than widely used body mass index (BMI) thresholds, according to a large international study. The findings could lead ...
Corktown pizzeria Grandma Bob’s to expand to West Village
Corktown spot Grandma Bob’s Pizza is expanding to a second location, taking over the West Village space vacated by Marrow.
Every ‘Scream’ opening scene, ranked
Do you like scary movie opening scenes? No franchise does killer starts like ‘Scream,’ and we’re ranking all of the star-studded sequences.
Wildfire smoke affects animals in unique ways. Scientists are trying to understand it
The new field of "smoke ecology" examines how wildfire smoke perturbs wild places and animals — and what might be done to prevent its worst mayhem.
Switching on brain cells: The Nobel-winning science of optogenetics
In optogenetics, scientists control neurons by stimulating them with light—potentially unlocking breakthroughs for conditions such as dementia, depression and blindness.
Vance says Alaska project will proceed after Trump warns Korea
Vice President JD Vance said an Alaska natural gas project with South Korea will move forward even as Seoul said its participation remains conditional on the venture being economically viable.
Political orientation and institutional trust emerge as key factors in local wind energy support
Why does the expansion of wind energy sometimes meet with local resistance, even though renewable energy generally enjoys broad support? RIFS researcher Jörg Radtke used a representative survey of 6,284 ...
The Harvard Crimson (@theharvardcrimson)
24 likes, 0 comments - theharvardcrimson on October 5, 2026: "Caroline B. Kennedy ’80 introduced the Institute of Politics’ 60th anniversary forum Thursday, marking her first known public appearance at the Institute since she resigned from its Senior Advisory Committee more than six years ago. Kennedy — the daughter of President John F. Kennedy ’40, to whom the IOP is dedicated – stepped down as the committee’s honorary chair in 2020 amid concerns over the IOP’s diminished independence, declining programming, and tensions with Harvard Kennedy School leadership. Full story linked in bio. 🖋: Jen L. Phan and Mirei S. Saneyoshi 📷: Grace E. Yoon".
A health app designed for teachers
A new app is designed to help teachers stay healthy in their day-to-day work. The digital tool is the result of a three-year collaborative project between the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and ...
'Love Story' actress Constance Zimmer reveals cancer diagnosis
Constance Zimmer attends FX's 'American Horror Story: 13' celebration event at Hotel Chelsea on Sept. 23, 2026, in New York City. (Cindy Ord/WireImage via Getty Images)
Why I Don’t Think Ride Or Die Should Have Been Cancelled (And What Company Should Save It...)
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) So…I recently came across a Reddit thread, talking about films on streaming, wondering why there are no reliable sources out there for streaming ratings data. Sigh. Honestly, as annoyed as I am that so many still don’t realize that we have streaming ratings, I somewhat get it. Until now, there was such a long delay between when a show or film came to streaming and when we got its viewership data; I understand why people were confused. (But, as you know, this just changed.) Also, even back in the day, how many people knew how well films did on television? Luckily, as a reader, you’re in the know. Okay, on to this week’s issue. I want to take a look at Prime Video cancelling Ride or Die and whether I agree with that decision. Overall, we didn’t have any breakout hits (no TV shows landed over 20 million hours according to Nielsen) but we have a lot of steady performers on the streaming charts. Plus, we’ll look at where $50 million in missing box office dollars went. (Spoiler: straight-to-streaming.) All that, plus new episodes of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Supergirl heads to streaming, a new YA show does well on Netflix, the viewership for the Daily Wire’s $50 million fantasy show, what TV show hit-maker can’t make streaming hits, CD sales, all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of September 7th to September 13th, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Television - Ride or Die Is a Hit…But It Got Cancelled? What The Data “Says” I hate the phrase “here’s what the data says”, even though sometimes I find myself using it. If data just told us everything, we data folks would be out of a job! Data is often messy, complicated and nuanced. When it comes to strategy, many of the best decisions can’t actually use “data”, since it’s vastly too complicated to model. Anyways, I’ve been singing the praises of Prime Video’s Ride Or Die this summer, a show that did very well for them. And yet…it got cancelled. Now, usually when a show gets cancelled, a bunch of websites say “a hit show got cancelled”... Here’s the thing, though: in this case, they’re right! The data “says” that this show was a hit. Specifically, out of 522 first seasons to make a week on the Nielsen charts since 2020, it’s the 75th biggest. On Amazon, Ride or Die is eighth out of 41 first seasons: That’s top 15th percentile all time, almost exactly, which is my definition of a “hit”! I mean, outside of Reacher, Amazon needed a hit this summer! (Admittedly, Off Campus did well for Amazon in the spring, but Ride or Die performed even better.) So what happened? Why did Amazon cancel one of their rare 2026 bright spots? Well, Deadline reported a reason—which I’ll get to—but I’d break it down into three relevant questions: What is a given streamer’s reasoning? Is that reasoning sound? Could the stated reason not be the real reason? According to Deadline, Amazon felt the show “over-indexed” in middle-aged women. (This was based on leaks from within Amazon.) The logic is this: Amazon already reaches this demographic because of unlimited two-day shipping bundled with Prime, so they don’t really need more shows like this. Now, it’s my job to ask if that’s a good reason, and I’ll be honest, in this case, I don’t think it is. Sure, this show may “over-index” in middle-aged women—I’ll just assume that’s the case here—but I think folks often oversell how important over-indexing actually is. When a show is a “hit”, it isn’t a bit bigger than its rivals; it’s usually multiples bigger. For example, Elle only made the charts for two weeks at 8.3 million hours each. So Ride or Die was 80% bigger in its first two weeks, and likely had a much stronger hold, with its terrific 13 million hours in week three. Ride or Die was nearly three times bigger than Sterling Point through three weeks too. And that means that _Elle, Sterling Point a_nd other Amazon YA shows need to not just over-index a little with younger women (assuming that’s who Amazon prefers over middle-aged women), but massively over-index. Otherwise, more people in that demo (and a bunch more besides) likely watched Ride or Die. (I’ll try to explore this concept more in a future article.) And don’t get me started on how Ride or Die did compared to a certain (very, very popular, possibly the world’s most popular) YouTuber’s reality show…which didn’t make the charts after its first week and likely cost much, much more than Ride or Die. All to say, Amazon-MGM Studios/Prime Video can tell reporters that this show didn’t reach the right audience, but that excuse feels weak to me. So this leads to the third question: could other reasons have come into play? Yes! Renewal or cancellation decisions rarely (I’m tempted to say “never”) boil down to one variable. At its simplest, it’s two things: budget versus viewership. But often factors like critical acclaim, ownership and, yes, personal opinion come into play. In this case, Amazon has a new executive running things, and this show isn’t owned by Amazon-MGM Studios (unlike Elle). And yes, it may not have indexed with the right target viewers, too. Likely all of those factors came into play.1 My guess is ownership ended up mattering most. Amazon doesn’t own Ride or Die. It’s actually produced by another major studio. Fortunately/allegedly, this show is being shopped around. I can think of one brand new CEO who should consider it for one of his two major streamers…especially if he wants to rebuild goodwill in Hollywood. His name is on this list of exec producers of Ride or Die… If David Ellison needs some goodwill—and he does—rescue this female-led show tomorrow and grab some good headlines for a day. The data justifies it. Quick Notes on TV We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… How The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives latest season did on Hulu, post-controversy... Whether Supergirl soared on HBO Max... Why the box office is losing money due to the streamers... The viewership for the Daily Wire’s $50 million fantasy show... Updates on The Gentlemen, Lanterns, Outer Banks, King of the Hill and more... What former hit-maker has three streaming flops in a row... Whether The Mandalorian and Grogu popped in week two... All the flops, bombs and misses... And a whole lot more... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. If you want an idea of just how much content you’d get in a full issue, check out this older issue. Coming Soon! Oh man, we’re almost caught up! We just have two more issues, then the streaming Ratings Report will be coming out just two weeks after a TV show premieres! Next issue, I’ll be looking at the first two weeks of the NFL Thursday night games on streaming, a huge new spinoff, Reacher’s Neagly on Prime Video, and the latest edition of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story on Netflix, the return of Slow Horses on Apple and MobLand (quietly one of their biggest shows) on Paramount+, and Dancing with the Stars on both ABC and Disney+. Plus I’ll take a look at animation for adults in 2026. The week after, a ton of movies are coming to streaming: Toy Story 5 on Disney+, Backrooms on HBO Max, Jackass: Best and Last on Paramount+ and The Breadwinner on Netflix, plus a Unabomber film on Netflix and a romcom on Prime Video. Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey have a show on Apple, along with a game show inspired by Willy Wonka that everyone seems to hate. Long term, some crazy (but hopefully crazy like a fox) IP news. FX ordered a new Sons of Anarchy show from Charlie Hunnam, but it’s not about the biker gang. No, it features the show’s cast playing themselves in a new “meta-thriller”. Huh. And a lot of the cast is coming back. Next, Ryan Gosling is producing a Flintstones movie about a “grown-up Bamm-Bamm Rubble”. Also, huh. This one is in “early development” so we’ll see what happens. Both projects are based on IP, but also seem to have crazy takes on the IP, which I like.
Focus on social media engagement—not just screen time—essential to help protect mental health
A focus on how we engage with social media—not just how long we spend on it—is key to analyzing the impact on mental health, a new study warns.
Health services may be missing the link between alcohol problems and eating disorders, study suggests
A review led by Bournemouth University researchers has highlighted the extent to which people seeking help for alcohol problems may also be struggling with a second, hidden problem with food and eating. ...
Lightsaber-like plasma antenna uses laser-ionized air to transmit radio waves
Researchers have demonstrated a technique that uses a laser to produce a plasma beam antenna capable of transmitting radio waves. The article, "Laser-Induced-Plasma-Filament Antenna Transmitting 30 MHz ...
Mental health stigma in Japan may deter care
A UC Riverside–led study of mental health stigma in Japan has found a striking gap between the need for treatment and people's willingness to seek it, with high levels of social distancing toward people ...
iPhone 13 Pro vs. iPhone 18 Pro Buyer's Guide: Is It Worth Upgrading?
Apple released the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max in September 2026, five years after the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. The 2021 models introduced ProMotion displays, macro photography, a 3x Telephoto camera, and substantially longer battery life than their predecessors. They remain capable phones and support iOS 27, but owners now have five generations of upgrades to consider.
Small Businesses Skip the Cross-Border Plumbing Big Companies Can’t Escape
Conventional wisdom says large corporations should dominate cross-border payments. They have global banks, treasury teams, negotiated FX rates,
Dennis Hastert, longtime Republican House speaker who went to prison, dies at age 84
Dennis Hastert, who served as House speaker longer than any other Republican but later was sent to prison in a hush-money case, has died.
Dennis Hastert, longtime Republican House speaker who went to prison, dies at age 84
Dennis Hastert, who served as House speaker longer than any other Republican but later was sent to prison in a hush-money case, has died.
Scientists uncover recurrent patterns within chaotic quantum behavior
Many complex quantum systems rapidly lose the recognizable patterns of their initial states as their components interact. To describe patterns of regular and chaotic motion in specific systems, physicists ...
As Twin Cities suburbs grow more diverse, some old political patterns persist
City councils tend to be whiter than the places they represent. Some politicians and advocacy groups want that to change.
BridgeBio taps Hip Hop Public Health and others up to put a new beat on ATTR-CM awareness
Attruby maker BridgeBio is re-upping its “Don’t Pass on Your Heart Health” campaign with a fresh new beat. | BridgeBio's YouTube awareness push to lead up to World Amyloidosis Day features a conversation with Hip Hop Public Health's Doug E. Fresh and more.
A surgeon shortage creates challenges in rural communities
Over a third of counties in the U.S. reportedly have no general surgeons
Digital media health risks warrant global action to protect young people, experts argue
The way digital technologies are currently built and governed creates real risks to health worldwide, alongside genuine benefits, according to a new three-paper series authored by 13 global experts and ...
FX’s Adults Season 2 Review: Gen Z Comedy is Back
Read our Adults Season 2 review and find out why this show is a must-watch for Gen Z and fans of relatable humor.
Health records from 68 adults link plant-based grocery support to lower blood pressure and weight
Providing people with nutritious foods can improve the management of chronic metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension. However, most studies of "Food Is Medicine" programs have only ...
Diet analysis links higher pulse intake to lower heart disease and diabetes risk
New research from two William & Mary students has found that the risk of heart attack could be significantly lowered with one simple dietary change: increasing the intake of pulses. But what is a pulse? ...
One giant clam contains a month‑by‑month diary of the Great Barrier Reef's climate 200 years ago
When you swim through the azure waters of the Great Barrier Reef, there is one creature on the seafloor that's almost impossible to miss: the giant clam. Its huge, fluted shell frames a soft mantle shimmering ...
How Enceladus' ocean spray becomes chemically diverse ice grains
Saturn's icy moon Enceladus hides a global ocean beneath its frozen surface. From fractures near its south pole, material from this ocean is ejected into space as a plume of water vapor and ice particles. ...
One last shock twist in the NRL grand final pre-show entertainment debacle
Fans did a double take when they saw this famous face during the tribute to Jai Arrow.
Women are turning to testosterone, but what does the science actually say?
A recent BBC report described women posing as men to obtain testosterone gel, hoping to improve their menopause symptoms because female testosterone products are not easily available to them. But why ...
29 businesses honored at Bowling Green Chamber’s Targeted Business Awards, AKFA named Business of the Year
The Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce celebrated 29 businesses Thursday during its annual Targeted Business Awards, presented by Pinnacle Financial Partners, at the Knicely Conference Center.
New interactive tool tracks private equity investments in health care across U.S.
A new interactive tool launched on Tuesday, Sept. 8, offers policymakers, researchers, journalists and the public a state-by-state look at private equity investments in U.S. health care.
Menopause is a major health milestone, yet health records barely track it—new research
Anyone with ovaries who lives long enough will experience menopause. While menopause is a natural transition in midlife, it can strongly affect a person's quality of life and their current and future ...
Used Ryzen 7 5800X3D Gets Buyer Locked Out of Valorant Due to Previous Owner's Cheating
Buying a used Ryzen 7 5800X3D CPU has apparently locked its new owner out of Valorant. Reddit user After-Cartoonist-196 posted on r/PCBaumeister that they bought the chip through the German classifieds site Kleinanzeigen and have owned it since September 21. The CPU apparently works fine....
Hardee’s Friday Night Blitz Week 6
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1 (3-3)BLACKSBURG 34, (3-3)CAVE SPRING 27 (5-0)WILLIAM BYRD 40, (4-1)RADFORD 35 (5-1)AUBURN 34, (0-6)GILES 14 (4-1)THOMAS JEFFERSON-RICHMOND 14, (4-1)HERITAGE 7 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2 (5-0)ROANOKE CATHOLIC 18, ST. FRANCIS ACADEMY 2 FORK UNION 35, (2-4)NORTH CROSS 33 (5-1)PARRY MCCLUER 43, (0-5)SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE CHRISTIAN 21 (3-2)ALTAVISTA 55, (2-4)DAN RIVER 7 (3-3)APPOMATTOX 49, (2-3)CHATHAM 7 […]
Team selected for NASA program to explore potential lunar cave
NASA has selected a Planetary Science Institute–led proposal to investigate whether a potentially large underground cave extends beyond the opening of a lunar pit. Such a cave may one day provide a safe ...
Apple says it will flag AI requests for Mac data after Meta's Muse draws complaints
Apple said on Friday that it plans to change its Mac operating system to make it more obvious when AI agents ask to access all of the data on Macs.
Scientists discover first type I superconductor that breaks time-reversal symmetry
Superconductors are materials that conduct electricity with no resistance and expel magnetic fields when cooled to ultralow temperatures. And depending on their quantum structure, they can also showcase ...
On complex political issues, most Americans take shortcuts to simplicity
A core assumption in any democracy is that citizens with access to information will make reasoned decisions on political candidates and policy issues. But a new study by UC Berkeley social scientists ...
Mangrove restoration is becoming big business, but benefits don't always reach local people
On Pakistan's Indus delta coast, a 350,000-hectare (865,000-acre) mangrove project is turning a growing forest into something that can be sold to companies thousands of miles away: carbon credits.
Push for girls flag football as varsity sport in Mass. moves forward
The push to make all-girls flag football a varsity sport in Massachusetts is moving forward.
Oscar-winning actress ordered to stay away from 12-year-old son
Halle Berry was ordered to stay away from ex Olivier Martinez and their 12-year-old son after Martinez made a disputed abuse allegation.
3.2K views · 30 reactions | New research measures the loudest birds...
New research measures the loudest birds known to science, with three South American species topping the chart. https://wapo.st/3TA5iab
Maryland Democrats should reject gerrymandering and set a national precedent
Marylanders have a chance in November to turn the tide against one of the worst tactics in American politics.
Domestic violence research highlights overlooked links between head injuries and mental health
Domestic violence can leave a lasting injury that cannot always be seen: damage to the brain. Strangulation or choking and blows to the skull—some of the most common forms of this abuse—can cause physical ...
Most health institutions failed to address acetaminophen-autism misinformation on Instagram, audit finds
Most public health institutions failed to respond promptly to misinformation on social media that falsely claimed acetaminophen use during pregnancy is linked to autism, according to research presented ...
HHS awards nearly $250M in addiction treatment, overdose prevention grants
The U.S. | Projects supported include those to strengthen mental health support in schools, expand trauma treatment for families and children and more.
Microbiome testing company Tiny Health clinches $33M to scale research, enterprise partnerships
Tiny Health, a microbiome testing company, has clinched $33 million in an oversubscribed series B round. | Alongside the funding news, Tiny announced the launch of a $5 million Microbiome Research Program to enable researchers, clinicians and scientific partners to investigate important intervention strategies in microbiome health.
World Business Chicago ghosts City Council hearing, putting funding in crosshairs
The move left aldermen threatening to withhold city funding from the public-private group.
World Business Chicago ghosts City Council hearing, putting funding in crosshairs
The move left aldermen threatening to withhold city funding from the public-private group.
How sex chromosomes influence lifelong health beyond determining biological sex
A new review published in Science brings together growing evidence that the X and Y chromosomes do more than determine biological sex. They also shape how cells function, age and respond to disease.
Higher daily step counts linked to fewer mental health problems in early adolescence
Every extra walk to school, casual soccer game in the park or trip to the store could be doing more for teenage mental health than first thought, according to new research tracking thousands of adolescents ...
‘Momentous’ groundbreaking sets stage for new health, community center in Fairfax City
Fairfax City officials and some of their Fairfax County colleagues gathered Wednesday (Sept. 30) to kick off an expected three years of construction of the future Willard-Sherwood Health & Community Center. Built on the Blenheim Blvd site long occupied by the Joseph Willard Health Center, the new 100,000-square-foot facility will serve both city and county
How Washington Funded the Politicization of Science
Over the last half-decade, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on projects designed to influence academic policies, both in the sciences and other disciplines. The aim was to foster a progressive conception of social justice in these fields. In pursuit of this end, the foundation earmarked nearly a million dollars for a project titled “Creating Inclusive Scientific Societies through Policies and Practices,” over a million for a project on “Faculty Online Learning Communities for Gender Equity,” and over $2 million to foster “racial equity focused departmental change.” Through a public records request, I’ve obtained the proposals and progress reports for dozens of NSF grants designed to promote social justice. Although funding for these grants was eventually halted by the Trump administration, the projects illustrate an important facet of recent higher-education policy. Many of the university policies that promised “social transformation” didn’t arise in a vacuum. They were actively encouraged by outside funders—often by the federal government itself. Subscribe Accreditation—the peer-review process which enables universities to receive federal grants and student loans—has recently become a policy battleground, with accreditors wielding significant power over both universities and academic disciplines. In 2020, when Oregon Health and Science University’s medical school issued an extensive diversity action plan—which promised “consequences” for employees who failed to support “DEI, anti-racism and social justice”—it specifically pointed to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the medical-school accrediting body, to justify the overhaul. The NSF actively promoted DEI-focused accreditation policies. The proposal for a $1.2 million program on promoting “community engagement” in STEM, which I obtained through a records request, notes that the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology was exploring changes to its criteria “that would incorporate JEDI [justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion].” The proposal promised to “support broader JEDI efforts in the general criteria for engineering.” Another grant funded a conference designed to “identify and share best practices and strategies to integrate IDEA principles in accreditation criteria”—referring to an acronym that stands for “inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility.” Scholarly societies have become another flashpoint in debates over higher education. Critics argue that many of these societies, which have the power to shape entire disciplines, have become increasingly politicized. Again, through its giving, the NSF played a role in promoting this politicization. In one million-dollar grant that received funding in 2024, a group of psychologists proposed a series of social-justice reforms to the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. The proposal, which I obtained via a records request, asserts that “[r]edistributing resources (such as moving different people into leadership roles) is not enough” and that the society’s “governance structures do not yet reflect its stated values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Its solution: review and rework the society’s criteria for leadership development, academic awards, conferences, and publications. Adjusting review criteria informed by “intersectionality” designed to fight “epistemic exclusion” is an easy way to introduce de facto ideological litmus tests into the peer-review process. For many of the grants I obtained, such litmus tests seem to be the point. “Academic departments are racialized social systems that produce and sustain the byproducts of systemic racism,” a proposal for a $2.7 million project funded in 2024 asserts, promising to develop “departmentally-focused change efforts that cultivate values, assumptions, and behaviors that advance racial equity.” The University of Illinois Urbana Champaign’s million-dollar “I-ADVANCE” project, which effectively created a small DEI bureaucracy on campus, promised to Embed 28 ADVANCE faculty fellows in STEM departments” to amplify its equity goals. Another $1.2 million project promised to create “faculty online learning communities,” made up of scientists at universities around the country, that would eventually build department-level diversity action plans. “Ultimately,” the proposal asserts, perhaps more perceptively than its authors realized, “both organizational change and intersectionality frameworks deal with power.” Indeed, such grants confer a great deal of power to administrators and scholar-activists, who can even use the mere availability of funding as a tool to advance their causes. That history is worth remembering amid today’s debate over federal involvement in higher education: Washington has been shaping university priorities for years, including by financing efforts to instill progressive ideas about race, gender, and equity into academic institutions—and many of the policies those grants encouraged remain embedded within universities long after the federal money has stopped flowing. John D. Sailer is the director of higher education policy and a senior fellow at Manhattan Institute. Share
Citizen science project recruits volunteers to search for undiscovered black holes
Cosmic detectives are being called on for an interstellar mission to hunt down thousands of invisible black holes lurking in our own backyard. Space scientists from the University of Southampton need ...
New research highlights how health care structures shape women's experiences of being heard
New research suggests that whether women feel heard in health care may depend not only on how doctors communicate, but also on the setting in which they receive care.
Science or strategy? Researchers call for transparency over the Anthropocene rejection
Since its introduction in 2000, the concept of the Anthropocene—the idea that human activities are the major driver of Earth systems—has become highly influential throughout society, including in culture, ...
UK fears grow over AI giant Palantir's health service deal
The U.K. government is facing mounting pressure to end a £330 million contract between the National Health Service and AI giant Palantir, as doctors, lawmakers and campaigners warn of ethical risks.
Pittsburgh-Virginia Tech Preview
Pittsburgh(4-0, 1-0 ACC) at Virginia Tech(4-0, 1-0 ACC)Friday 7 pmLane Stadium/Worsham FieldBlacksburg, Virginia
Liberty-Delaware Preview
Liberty(3-1 overall, 0-0 CUSA) at Delaware(2-2 overall, 0-0 CUSA)Friday 7 pmDelaware StadiumNewark, Delaware
Virginia-Florida State Preview
Virginia(3-1 overall, 1-0 ACC) at Florida State(2-2 overall, 0-1 ACC)Saturday – 3:30 pmDoak Campbell Stadium/Bobby Bowden FieldTallahassee, Florida
Hasan Piker’s politics risks setting Arab and Muslim Americans back
The self-described socialist is aggravating the Arab-American struggle for political relevance
Mercer-VMI Preview
Mercer(3-2 overall, 0-1 SOCON) at VMI(0-5 overall, 0-1 SOCON)Saturday – 1:30 p.m.Foster Stadium/Alumni Memorial FieldLexington, Virginia
Scientists develop 'floating scarecrow' to protect threatened seabirds
New research has shown that a "floating scarecrow" developed by U.K.-based scientists and a repurposed bird-scaring kite can help save threatened seabirds from getting caught in fishing nets.
Looking at the Ugly Side of the Paramount-Skydance Merger...And How I’d Fix It
A Message from Our Sponsor Certified Fresh with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, FX’s Adults is an ensemble comedy series about a group of twenty-somethings in New York leaning on each other to navigate love, work, friendship and family. Don’t sleep on “The Sitcom of the Moment” - Awards Buzz All Episodes now streaming on Hulu on Disney+. Watch The Teaser Trailer... (Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industr(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Before we dive in, I wanted to congratulate Broadcast Now for being the first to report that Netflix’s How to Get to Heaven from Belfast has been cancelled. (I saw this in a write-up by Kasey Moore of Whats-On-Netflix.) More importantly, I wanted to note that, as of yesterday, none of the other trades had reported the news yet. I have half a guess that eventually one of them will report this. Anyways, it’s time to take a break from my deluge of streaming ratings reports to continue my analysis of the Paramount Skydance Warner Bros. Discovery (PSWbD) saga. As I noted last week, a lot of times when folks use the (sometimes cliched) “the good, the bad and the ugly” framing for an article, “the ugly” section is just more bad. Or very, very bad. In this case, yeah, I do think it’s ugly. In more than one way. Unfortunately, we’re only going to have time to tackle one of those ways today: the ugly pile of debt to finance this deal. (In a future article, I may cover the entire process for how it went down, which was very, very ugly.) Last issue, I explained why I liked this deal in a vacuum. Unfortunately, “vacuums” don’t exist outside of space. Let’s dive in. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - The Ugliness of the Paramount/Warner Bros. Merger More than one person sent me a note speculating that the big problem with Paramount Skydance buying Warner Bros. Discovery is the “Warner Bros.” portion of the deal. In fact, that’s a take I read a lot about Warner Bros., ever since they caught Netflix’s, and then Paramount-Skydance’s, eye. In short, multiple companies (Time, AOL, AT&T, Discovery) have bought and then regretted buying Warner Bros. Since it’s nearing Halloween, you could almost say it’s like the folks think WB is cursed! It’s a haunted studio—like the town of Derry in movie studio form—and whoever takes possession of it will fall into misery! Yet...I just don’t like that story, because it doesn’t explain the “why” behind why those deals fell through. Especially when Warner Bros. has continued to succeed as a TV and film studio in the intervening two decades. Lord of the Rings? Harry Potter? Game of Thrones? Everything HBO? Considering it never fully owned a broadcast TV channel, this media company has done pretty well. So what went wrong? Well, in recent years, companies bought Warner Bros. instead of the other, smarter option. Explaining POCD (And Applying It to Mergers & Acquisitions) As I explained last issue, one of my favorite frameworks is the POCD tool for evaluating venture capital investments: People Opportunity Context Deal The bar to invest as a VC is high. (Or I might say “was” since cheap interest rates made life easier last decade.) You review a thousand prospectuses, get pitched by a hundred, and invest in the ten best, with the hopes that one of those ten would pay for the rest. That means every element of a deal needed to pay off: you needed the right people running the companies, who could capitalize on the right opportunity, in the context of an industry that was ripe for disruption. If you could then not overpay, you could make some money in a smart deal. The analogy isn’t perfect here, but close enough. For a merger or acquisition to work, you need the combined company (which is the opportunity) to make more than the price you need to pay (which is the deal). Note: the people and context still matter, but with M&A, it’s a little more straightforward: does the opportunity exceed the cost? And usually with Warner Bros., it hasn’t. If you want to find out the single biggest mistake made by the Warner Bros. suitors over the last few years (and my simple fix) become a paid subscriber. I’ll also touch on who I think Paramount-Skydance could (shockingly) consider buying next, TBD, and more. Sign up here.
Scientists in 1960 predicted Friday 13 November 2026 will be 'Doomsday.' Should you be worried?
In 1960, Science, one of the world's leading science journals, published an article with an unambiguous title: Doomsday: Friday, 13 November, A.D. 2026. It predicted that on this future date—just over ...
Call for the WHO to declare the climate crisis a public health emergency of international concern
Researchers from Wits Planetary Health Research (Wits PHR), University of the Witwatersrand, and international partner institutions are calling on the World Health Organization (WHO) and its member states ...
Jan Ravnik reacts to not being nominated for Sexiest ‘DWTS’ Pro: ‘Guys, are we blind?’
Jan Ravnik reacted to not being nominated for the Sexiest ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Pro poll, which was announced during week 3.
Drones, satellites and AI help scientists watch over Antarctica's smallest lifeforms
Monitoring Antarctica's tiny, scattered ecosystems is a challenge that has long plagued researchers. But a new study led by the University of Wollongong (UOW) offers a new approach to tracking life in ...
Heart health guidance shifts focus from individual nutrients to overall diet quality
A healthy, balanced dietary pattern, rather than one focused on individual nutrients or foods, is key to maintaining heart health, according to a scientific statement issued by the American College of ...
The north pole of Mars is less dusty than scientists thought
Although Mars may have once resembled Earth, the rocky red planet now appears far from hospitable. Still, certain details—such as ice-bound water—pique researchers' curiosity. As on Earth, ice on Mars ...
Amazon Debuts Faster Fire TV Stick 4K With Sleeker Remote
Amazon.com Inc. announced a faster, slimmer Fire TV Stick 4K streaming device alongside a revamped remote control and upgrades to Alexa+ for the living room.
Borderless Gaming adds DLSS 5 Neural Rendering without modifying game files
Borderless Gaming can now apply DLSS 5 Neural Rendering without replacing game DLLs or modifying game files. The quantized BGFX effect can run on GPUs including the RTX 3090.
Who decides what time it is? The politics behind contested clocks
Despite contentious local debates about time zones and seasonal shifts, University of Queensland research shows there is no official global time zone system.
Apple Smart Home Hub to Feature iMac G4-Style Design and More
Apple's long-rumored smart home hub will have an iMac G4-style design and a host of unique features, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. The smart home hub is said to feature a square 6-inch display, with variants that can be placed on a countertop or mounted on a wall. It features a single FaceTime camera on the front, with microphones and speakers in its connected base.
U.S. ends health aid to Zimbabwe after ‘America First’ deal is spurned
The African nation refused to make an agreement with the Trump administration, which has sought to slash foreign assistance and impose new terms on recipients.
Insects are essential to vertebrate life—as food, shelter and medicine
While insects provide an essential food source for many vertebrate species, they're more than just a protein-laden snack. Chimpanzees use them to sterilize wounds, and herons use them as fishing bait. ...
Light-driven nickel catalyst forms chemical bonds using less metal
Pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and agrochemicals are produced industrially using a wide range of chemical reactions. These processes need to become more efficient, less expensive, and more sustainable.
Scientists call for protection and restoration of Africa's seagrass meadows
A team of African researchers has published the first comprehensive review of seagrass restoration activities across Africa's coastline.
Research shows poor mental health among politicians may impair decision-making
When political leaders disclose mental health challenges—as an increasing number of high-profile leaders have done in recent years—the public debate usually focuses on politicians' personal resilience ...
Research shows poor mental health among politicians may impair decision-making
When political leaders disclose mental health challenges—as an increasing number of high-profile leaders have done in recent years—the public debate usually focuses on politicians' personal resilience ...
Plant lovers wanted: Study highlights demand for citizen science
Over the last several years, invasive plant and insect species have found their way into more and more social media feeds. From the tree of heaven to Bradford pear trees and the ubiquitous spotted lanternfly, ...
This cat is new to science. What does it take to identify a species?
There's a new cat in town, but this one won't curl up on your hamper, knead your sweaters or squeeze in front of your screen during a Zoom meeting.
Cities keep shelling out taxpayer money for sports stadiums, yet the economics almost never makes sense
Communities almost never see a boost in job or income growth after taxpayers subsidize a new sports facility.
$10 for a gallon of gas has red Alaska thinking about a Democratic senator
Mary Peltola hopes to unseat Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in a race all about prices, federal aid and Donald Trump.
Study across 40 countries: Political activism linked to representation
Not happy with the election result? Don't worry. Election Day is not the only opportunity to influence politics.
Beyond 'normal' and 'abnormal': Health checkup values show nonlinear links to future health care costs
As populations age and health care expenditures continue to rise worldwide, there is growing interest in understanding how routinely collected health data may help characterize future health care needs ...
Party leaders widening Washington's political chasm
Most of the polarization currently roiling Congress comes from political parties rather than individual politicians, a study co-authored by University of Miami Business School associate professor Chad ...
Assembly pathway reveals how bacteria build protein coils that extend in acid
The assembly pathway behind refractile-body proteins may have finally been resolved, researchers from Science Tokyo report. Using genetic engineering and several techniques for analyzing protein structure, ...
The WPI Conversation: Why global health still needs external funding
Arnhold Institute of Global Health Director Rachel Vreeman on the continued need for global health funding in the wake of wide cuts
‘You’ll be entertained’: NRL boss Peter V’landys teases grand final entertainment
Just days after the game was left with no pre-kick off entertainment, a mystery performer has been locked in.
Scientists find lunar 'magnetic fossil' in Chang'e-6 samples
The moon no longer has a global magnetic field, but lunar rocks and soils still contain records of ancient magnetism. Studying the magnetic minerals in these samples can help scientists understand how ...