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Spring volleyball: Nebraska tops Iowa State in Sioux Falls
Nebraska volleyball handled business in its first spring match against Iowa State on Saturday, April 11, inside the Sanford Pentagon. Before the match, the two teams agreed to play four sets, as the Huskers won all four (25-17, 25-16, 25-16, 26-24).
“AI polls” are fake polls
A few weeks after Donald Trump’s second presidential win, I took the train up from London (where I was living at the time) to Oxford to attend a conference on polls and forecasts of the 2024 election. Most of the attendees were pollsters or academics, but I also watched presentations from Aaru and Electric Twin, two companies that do what is interchangeably called synthetic sampling, silicon sampling, or synthetic audiences. Stripped of startup jargon, that means they use large language models (LLMs) to simulate responses to public opinion polls by having AI agents take on the role of survey respondents. I had already heard of Aaru thanks to some articles with eye-catching headlines like “No people, no problem: AI chatbots predict elections better than humans” in the months leading up to Election Day. The founders were making some big, some might even say far-fetched claims, such as: “within two years, we will simulate the entire globe — from the way crops are grown in Ukraine to how that impacts production of oil in Iraq, trade through the strait of Malacca, and elections for the mayor of Baltimore.” When Semafor asked Aaru’s cofounders — Cameron Fink and Ned Koh — about my boss, they said “we respect all those who came before us.” Nate (as he so often does) shared his thoughts on Twitter: Fink and Koh were relatively good-natured about this back-and-forth when we spoke at Oxford. They even offered to mail me one of the t-shirts featuring Nate’s quote they apparently had made. I never took them up on the offer, which I now somewhat regret. These synthetic sampling companies fell off my radar for a while, but they do still exist. In fact, Aaru recently received a $1 billion valuation. Is what they’re doing anywhere close to the most important frontier in AI development? Not by a longshot, especially when Anthropic just developed a model so adept at exploiting software vulnerabilities that it’s only being released to 40 companies. Still, silicon sampling is increasingly finding its way into public polling. Axios reported in March that “a majority of people trust their own doctors and nurses” based on findings from Aaru — without mentioning that the “people” in that sentence were actually LLMs. Around the same time, the Public Sentiment Institute “boosted” their online sample of 373 real survey respondents with 114 AI agents.1 (Spoiler alert: even the co-founder of Electric Twin doesn’t think that’s a particularly defensible approach.) Polling companies like Qualtrics and Ipsos are also developing synthetic data panels. So, what should we make of these … “polls”? Let’s get one thing out of the way: whatever they are, they’re not polls in the way that term is usually defined. Subscribe You can’t replace polls with AI On one hand, using LLMs to essentially make up fake survey respondents sort of sounds like the dumbest idea ever, one that will at best imperfectly replicate real polls while introducing all sorts of biases. On the other hand, with LLMs improving at a remarkable, perhaps even alarming rate, maybe that means I’m a dinosaur at the ripe old age of 24 because I still want to rely on polls that talk to actual people. I’m not going to argue that synthetic samples are completely useless. In fact, as I’ll return to later, there is evidence that some techniques can replicate topline survey results quickly and cheaply. But the marketing from certain companies can be slightly optimistic. “No traditional poll will exist by the time the next general election occurs,” said Fink in 2024. We’re just 206 days away from the midterms, and based on the fact that I still have to collect a bunch of polls every day, I’d say he should have run that prediction by a sample of AI agents before the interview.2 To see why synthetic samples can’t replace polls, here’s a quick primer on how they work. The simplest version of these models involves taking a LLM (like ChatGPT or Claude), giving it a demographic profile (e.g., a white, college-educated woman who lives in Utah and makes $70k a year), and then asking it to respond to a survey question. You repeat that process a few thousand times using different demographic profiles and end up with a sample of synthetic survey responses. The actual models used by private companies are more sophisticated than this, usually because they incorporate more hypothesized demographic characteristics for each agent and provide them with extra information. Aaru, for example, feeds agents a diet of news and information they’d be likely to consume, while Electric Twin incorporates their customers’ proprietary data about the audience they’re trying to replicate. The way Ben Warner, the co-founder of Electric Twin, explained it to me was “we have a large amount of data on […] for instance, 5,000 people. Can we make an accurate prediction of how they would respond to another question?” Still, it should be obvious why synthetic samples can’t replace polls. Polling is fundamentally a data collection process. We might use surveys to make predictions by feeding them into election forecasts, but the main purpose of a poll isn’t prediction, it’s gathering new data about what people think and how they feel. Silicon sampling, on the other hand, produces no new data. It’s simply a model: you input LLM training data, demographic prompts, and a bunch of other information, and it spits out a prediction for what a poll would say. We love models here, but models aren’t polls. That difference is an important philosophical sticking point for most pollsters I talk to. “I think politics should stay away from [synthetic sampling], because we’re trying to […] represent the voice of the people,” said Natalie Jackson, a vice president at GQR Insights. Democratic pollster John Hagner told me: “I think I’m just incredibly skeptical of this idea. I don’t think it’s research. At that point, you’re asking the machine to tell you what you already believe.” Hagner has seen some presentations of early synthetic sampling experiments, but so far, “if it’s being used in a campaign, people are keeping it incredibly quiet.”3 But Eli, I hear you saying, aren’t polls themselves increasingly governed by modeling decisions? Indeed they are: pollsters’ choices on which sampling method to use, how to define their likely voter models, and how to weight their samples can and do lead to dramatic differences in the results they publish. Aaru even referenced these limitations in the methodology statement included with that maternal mortality “poll” — although I’m using the term “methodology statement” loosely here, because it doesn’t really explain how the model works at all. We can ignore the (frankly preposterous) implication that synthetic sampling isn’t subject to a separate set of biases. The important point is that there’s still a meaningful difference between using weighting and other statistical techniques on actual polling data and using a model to predict what a poll would say. The latter is far closer to election forecasts or techniques like MRP — potentially useful models, but not a replacement for polls.4 To be fair, other synthetic sampling companies are perfectly happy with the distinction between polls and models. Warner compared polling and synthetic sampling to different tools in a toolbox. “The mistake I think we make is we think that these new tools should either work in exactly the same way or somehow replace these old tools,” he said. “Rather than thinking of it as, okay, so we’ve always had the hammer, we’ve always had the screwdriver, now we’ve got a saw. But don’t use a saw to try [to] do the job of a hammer.” A quick comment from Nate Eli didn’t ask me for a comment — rather rude of him, don’t you think? But since I’m editing this story, I figured I’d add a few quick thoughts rather than putting words in his mouth. Beyond the frequently misleading marketing, what bothers me about the AI “poll” hype is that as AI tools make statistical inference cheaper and/or better (note that these are not synonyms) that actually increases the comparative value of collecting original data. You might be able to train a model to make a reasonable estimate of what some hard-to-reach poll respondent would say — say, a young Black man who voted for Trump. (Such a person checks a number of boxes for a voter who is usually hard to reach in surveys.) Indeed, this is closely related to what models like the Silver Bulletin forecast already do. They essentially smooth out the kinks in noisy survey data by making inferences based on past voting patterns or national polls or surveys of other states. But you don’t actually know what these voters think unless you’re reaching them directly. If there’s a shift in opinion among this subgroup, you’re not going to detect it. So if I were running a campaign, I’d invest more in going the extra mile to find a representative sample of those voters. And then I’d hire some smart quants — or Claude? — to figure out the implications for campaign strategy based on proprietary data that my competitors didn’t have access to. -Nate Silver Are these models any good? If synthetic surveys are just a new type of model, the next obvious question is whether the models are at least accurate. The answer very much depends on who you ask. On one end of the spectrum, you have the maximalist argument that synthetic sampling is more accurate than actual polls. “It’s an incredibly challenging problem to go to someone and say ‘hey, we’re going to be more accurate at predicting human behavior than you, even when you talk to your customers directly’,” Koh recently told CNBC. In his view, synthetic sampling isn’t a saw to polling’s hammer, it’s “magic.” There’s certainly evidence that synthetic samples can replicate certain survey toplines. But if Aaru does have any examples of their approach outperforming the polls, they’re keeping those to themselves.5 Aaru’s 2024 election model, for example, had Kamala Harris leading in Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin on November 4th. And although they’ve since taken down their forecast page, they gave Harris a 50.5 percent chance of winning the race on November 2nd.6 After the election, Fink told Semafor he was happy enough with those results because they were “within margin of error,” a term that is completely meaningless when applied to a “sample” of AI agents. And of course, Aaru says their models have improved since 2024, so supposedly now they’d be more accurate than the polls? Still, their stronger argument is on cost: “We are significantly faster and cheaper than traditional polling, and still more accurate,” said Fink. The first two claims are undeniably true, but the third brings us to the opposite end of the spectrum. Both Jackson and Hagner are skeptical that these models are reliable for anything beyond replicating common survey toplines. “I just […] don’t think the machines are what we want when we’re looking for nuanced views. My example on this is people in Arizona and Nevada in 2024 who voted for Trump and voted for expanding abortion in their states on ballot initiatives,” said Jackson. Hagner identified another issue. Maybe the synthetic respondents, like sycophantic LLMs, are inhuman in one important way: they’re too nice. “The reports that have come through at the meetings that I’ve been at are that the early experiments on this, they cannot get respondents to be as racist or sexist or, frankly, as negative as human respondents,” he said. Academic research mostly agrees on this point. While there are some papers that show promising results when using LLMs to replicate polling data, most show that LLMs suffer from various quirks like producing too few “don’t know” responses and can seriously overpredict the favorability of politicians like Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. They also seem to struggle with too little variation between demographic subgroups, so the difference in predicted opinion between Democrats and Republicans, for example, is too small. When I asked Warner about these studies, his response to these papers was that just because academics can’t get synthetic sampling to work doesn’t mean that the technique doesn’t work in general. “Actually, the argument is, okay, yours does not [work]. That does not mean […] for this complex set of machinery, which uses a lot of investment, a lot of time, a lot of money, you can’t get it to work.” Cards on the table, I’m somewhat sympathetic to this argument because academics aren’t exactly great at making election forecasts. Usually, the people with skin in the game are the most accurate. Warner’s argument is that the approach Electric Twin takes — which includes, for example, making multiple predictions for each synthetic respondent using different models and prompts and subsequently averaging those to get a final prediction in a sort of ensemble forecast — produces better results than the simpler academic models. Warner shared a comparison between his method and the method from a recent academic paper with me, and Electric Twin was indeed able to get more accurate replication. But even still, he acknowledged that synthetic sampling “is not a crystal ball.” “If you asked me, do I think using other data sources will be more accurate than asking somebody who they will vote for, I would probably say no. But if you asked me ‘would your system be useful for our turnout modeling today?’ I would say yes.” For better or worse, it looks like the method is already getting more popular in the market research world. Most of the clients Aaru touts these days are businesses like EY and McDonald’s. And AI will probably begin to pop up in other parts of the political polling process. Pollsters are already using it to code open-ended survey responses, and some firms, like YouGov, are testing using LLMs to ask survey respondents questions. More worryingly, one danger to actual polls is that AI agents can be used to infiltrate online surveys. Most online polls use various checks to prevent that from happening, but there’s conflicting evidence on how effective those filters are and how prevalent AI agents currently are in online panels. If those agents ever become impossible to detect, it might spell the end of online polling, but the solution isn’t to replace all of your respondents with ChatGPT. Silver Bulletin is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a subscriber. Subscribe 1 That particular poll obviously doesn’t meet Silver Bulletin standards for aggregation. But we exclude all Public Sentiment Institute polls from our averages because we classify them as an amateur polling firm. 2 You could argue that Fink meant the next presidential election, but (a) I’m also confident we’ll still have real polls in 2028 and (b) in that case he should have asked an LLM to define “general election.” 3 Quick caveat: that’s reporting from a Democratic pollster. It’s possible that Republicans are more willing to use AI in political campaigns. 4 Indeed, Silver Bulletin does not include “polls” produced by MRP in our forecasts or averages, and we think it’s extremely misleading when their practitioners describe them in a way that suggests original data had been collected among a large number of states or Congressional districts. 5 A recent report from Aaru and EY did show two examples of a synthetic estimate being closer than a survey to a real-world benchmark — but I’d take those findings with a grain of salt because the report reads more like an ad and didn’t involve any sort of prediction being made ahead of time. 6 For comparison, our odds for Harris on the same day were 48.2 percent.
Tigers' Casey Mize hopes sunny skies signal success vs. Marlins
Casey Mize made his most recent start in brutal weather conditions, and the Detroit Tigers right-hander hopes better weather will lead to better results on Saturday when he pitches the middle game of a three-game home series against the Miami Marlins on Saturday afternoon.
From hooves to scales: Vet Fest showcases animal science at Auburn
Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine (AUVCM) hosted its third annual Vet Fest on April 11 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Located at their campus on Wire Road, this free, family-friendly event invites the entire Auburn community to learn and see what the college of veterinary medicine does. With plenty of educational and hands-on activities, Vet Fest aims to both educate and entertain its guests.
AI for breakup texts? How 'sycophantic' chatbots are messing with our ability to handle difficult social situations.
Overly agreeable AI responses to interpersonal issues could mess with human moral perspectives.
The California governor’s race was already a mess for Dems. Now what?
Democrats have struggled for months over how to handle the governor’s race. Will the Eric Swalwell scandal be a unifying moment?
Three Takeaways from the Rockets' Shocking Loss to The Timberwolves
The Houston Rockets' win streak gets snapped at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves in an unexpected loss at home.
Catawba Science Center celebrates Science Festival Month with 2 interactive events
April is North Carolina Science Festival Month, and Catawba Science Center will mark the occasion with two events focused on hands-on learning and exploration.
Rural Mental Health Hub Offers Tools, Training, and Support
A new program from Rural Minds gives farmers tools to recognize mental health struggles, start conversations, and offer support.
"Girls in Science Day" provides Thomas College students with hands-on experience in the field of science.
5 To Watch: The Masters Edition & The Business of the Tournament
Check Out the 5 to Watch Masters Edition Below: This week with “The Sports Professor” Rick Horrow features a special edition with five things to watch at The Masters at Augusta National. Mr. Horrow goes behind the tournament with Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) Video providing two hours of exclusive live coverage before handing it over […] The post 5 To Watch: The Masters Edition & The Business of the Tournament appeared first on CorpGov.
Democrats turn to strikers to talk politics under GOP majority
With only a handful of their bills getting a chance to be heard in committee, legislative Democrats have turned to striker amendments to generate attention.
Al Roker stops 'Today' interview with 'Laguna Beach' star over wardrobe malfunction: 'Guys, on live television?'
'Laguna Beach' star handled a wardrobe malfunction that occurred on live TV like a pro Friday on 'Today.'
URI’s Biomechanics Day event exposes younger students to high-tech science, promotes STEM fields
KINGSTON, R.I. — April 10, 2026 — High school and middle school students from around the state got a hands-on experience with the high-tech equipment used by the University of Rhode Island College of Health Sciences during URI’s annual celebration of National Biomechanics Day in Mackal Field House on April 8. More than 500 students […]
Diablo II: Resurrected PTR 3.2 Coming Soon
The 3.2 PTR introduces balance changes for the Warlock Class, alongside updates to Terror Zones. Jump into the PTR to experience them firsthand on April 14 at 10:00 a.m. PT.
Trump Shares Gruesome Video of Deadly Attack on Social Media
The president shared footage of a woman being bludgeoned to death at a Florida gas station to rail against Democrats’ handling of immigration.
NASA took this camera gear to space aboard Artemis 2, and you can own it, too!
Artemis 2 is the first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years, but the cameras onboard are surprisingly down-to-earth. Here's how to get your hands on the gear that has brought us so many stunning shots of space.
Idaho National Laboratory nuclear science trailer delivers hands-on nuclear science experience to Wyoming
The Idaho National Laboratory is bringing its nuclear science trailer on a two-day tour through Wyoming, kicking off in Laramie on Monday, April 13.
Dodgers notes: Alex Vesia, Andy Pages, stadium name change
Last season the Dodgers were able to complete their quest of two straight titles without the help of their best left-handed relief option in the World Series. Alex Vesia was away from the Dodgers during last year’s Fall Classic as he and his wife were grieving the sudden loss of their newborn daughter, Sterling, and […]
Science fiction becomes reality at USF's Engineering Expo
At the University of South Florida’s Engineering Expo, visitors can control a robotic catapult using nothing but their thoughts. It's one of dozens of hands-on exhibits drawing thousands of students and families to campus.
LeBron James powers shorthanded Lakers to important win over Warriors
With Warriors star Stephen Curry not playing because of injury, LeBron James leads the Lakers to a 119-103 win to stop the team's three-game losing streak.
North Dakotans can learn about resources to grow healthy habits on April 18 at Gateway to Health event | Health and Human Services North Dakota
Individuals and families are invited to the fourth annual Gateway to Health community event, which includes activities for all ages on Saturday, April 18, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. at North Dakota’s Gateway to Science in Bismarck. Participants will enjoy free access to the science center during their registered two-hour time slot, along with access to interactive booths and exhibits promoting health and wellbeing through hands-on activities, games and prizes.
The dark money group fighting NYC’s new health insurance plan
Hands Off NY Care has raked in at least $1.4 million in contributions as it sues the city over the new insurance plan.
Early Punch-Out prototype surfaces, ROM shared online
Nintendo fans can now get their hands on a new and special Punch-Out prototype that just surfaced.
EPA sets ‘no surprises’ science policy, reassigns researchers
Staff expressed frustration with how the transfers are being handled and perceive them as yet another measure to traumatize the workforce.
Comedians Roast Trump’s Delusional Belief That He’s Healthy
David Spade, Dana Carvey, and Tim Dillon questioned Trump’s energy despite his “purple legs and purple hands.”
The Lift adds PS5 and Xbox Series versions, delayed to 2027
First-person, narrative-driven, supernatural handyman simulator The Lift for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam in 2027, publisher tinyBuild and developer Fantastic Signals announced. The…
Dyson just released its 1st handheld fan in time for the summer heat
The first portable fan from premium brand Dyson costs less than $100.
Dyson's First-Ever Handheld Fan Is Here in Time for Summer Heat Waves
The 55-mph HushJet Mini Cool can help you beat the heat, even when you're on the move.
Popular Scottsdale sports grill, Chandler sushi spot cited by health inspectors
Four East Valley restaurants, including a popular sports grill, and a West Valley taco spot were among places cited by health inspectors in this week's Dirty Dining report.
iPod revival: Secondhand sales surge for Apple's digital musical player
The iPod is undergoing a revival, with secondhand sales surging. Young people in particular are drawn to its retro look and the focused music experience it offers, free from smartphone distractions.
Anthony Davis vents about leaving the Lakers during podcast appearance
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A Look At AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC) Valuation After Record Easter Weekend Box Office Momentum
AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC) is back in focus after reporting record Easter weekend results, with more than 6 million guests and strong food, beverage, and merchandise revenue tied to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. See our latest analysis for AMC Entertainment Holdings. The record Easter weekend has arrived alongside a sharp short term rebound, with a 7 day share price return of 30.1% and 1 month share price return of 18.6%. However, this sits against a 1 year total shareholder return...
Dyson just announced its first-ever handheld fan, with a motor that spins up to 65,000 RPM
Dyson just revealed a handheld and portable fan called the HushJet Mini Cool. It launches in May.
Repeat party-line vote for House bill aimed at ‘preserving girls sports’ in Minnesota
The Minnesota House GOP was handed defeat number two this week for a bill that it said will preserve girls sports in the state.
Poke makes AI agents as easy as sending a text
Poke brings AI agents to everyday users via text message by handling tasks and automations without complex setup, apps, or technical know-how.
Science without a script | CWRU Newsroom | Case Western Reserve University
In a handful of biology labs at Case Western Reserve University, undergraduate students move between benches, comparing results, adjusting experiments...
Monkey business: Small fleet keeps getting violations for handling lab animals
JKL Secure Freight's been getting in trouble with the USDA -- and an animal-rights groups -- over its handling of monkeys for science experiments. A look at the fleet's roadside-inspection history doesn't inspire much confidence either.
Samsung restocking Galaxy Z TriFold on April 10 in US stores and online
Samsung will restock the Galaxy Z TriFold, presumably for the final time, on April 10 in the US both online...
Donna Deegan committee nears $1.5M cash on hand after $203K quarter
She is expected to pursue a second term.
Poulsbo’s Away With Words offers gifts for body and mind
Poulsbo's Away With Words is easier to get to than one might think and offers a unique blend of books and handmade bath and body products.
Fender Elie review: Handsome speaker/amp hybrids with excellent clarity
The first two speakers from Fender Audio are almost amazing, but not quite.
Looks like Sony is Testing a New PlayStation 5 Dashboard Design, and Fans Hope Full Themes Are Next
A new PlayStation 5 update is testing a fresh design for the console's dashboard, fans say.
Trump’s Personnel Agency Is Asking for Federal Workers’ Medical Records
The administration is asking insurers that cover federal employees and retirees to hand over details about their medical visits, their pharmacy claims, and more.
Braves, Angels throw punches as Atlanta wins 7-2
In what was an otherwise routine and mostly quiet game on Tuesday night between the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels, a big time brawl broke out between Braves starter Reynaldo Lopez and former World Series hero Jorge Soler. Let’s set the stage. Earlier in the game, Lopez hit Soler in the hand with a […]
Milwaukee Bucks short handed tonight vs. Brooklyn Nets
The Milwaukee Bucks are in the home stretch of the 2025-26 season as they are in Brooklyn to take on the Nets on April 7.
It's Becoming Almost Impossible To Get A Mac Studio Or Mac Mini In 2026
Having trouble getting your hands on a Mac Studio or Mac mini in 2026? You're not alone, as both popular products are on long-term backorder.
Western Michigan's business college gets largest gift in its history
The $17 million from the Stan Lucas Trust will fund innovative ways for students to receive hands-on experience in the business world.
Keith Gross reports more than $5M cash on hand, mostly from his own pocket
'The establishment doesn’t own me.'
NC lawmakers focus on rural health care struggles
State leaders are launching a new $200 million program that will put dollars in local hands.
The Boundless Deep: Young Tennyson, Science, and the Crisis of Belief by Richard Holmes
Pantheon Review by Walter Cummins The image of Alfred Tennyson I’ve carried for decades goes back to the childhood card game of Authors that depicts him with a stately continence sharpened by a jutting black beard. He’s formidable, his aura superior. Holmes opens his biography of the youthful Tennyson by describing the similar formality of the imposing Tennyson statue at Trinty College Cambridge, sharing the honor with other Trinity greats, including Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, and Thomas Babington Macaulay. Holmes doesn’t want to chip away at that statue but rather reveal its inner youthful core of the man—tall, handsome, and talented but unformed, emerging from a disturbed family of addicted or insane male siblings and four unusual sisters struggling under a violent alcoholic clergyman father. Alfred was certainly statuesque, but would he end up a block of unformed stone like his equally promising brothers? He was youngest of three equally regarded Tennyson brothers at Cambridge, all bright, handsome, and talented, in fact Alfred regarded by some as less promising than his elders who also wrote poetry. Yet Alfred wrote one of his major poems, “The Kraken,” at twenty, revealing both his talent, his interest in geological forces, and the haunting creature that embodied his anxieties. While Holmes focuses on Tennyson of the 1830s and 1840s, he can’t tell his story without exploring his involvement with the Victorian intellectual upheaval. Tennyson was fascinated by new scientific perspectives, following the latest findings as soon as books and articles were published. He was especially taken with Charles Lyell’s deep studies of geology and the discovery of fossils and a timeline of the planet’s development that did much to question fundamental religious assumptions. The impact of these discoveries is reflected in Tennyson’s poetry and led to the crisis in belief he shared with so many contemporaries. He was especially taken by the cycles of destruction and renewal that informed the struggles he confronted in In Memoriam, Maud, and Idylls of the King. Tennyson was only one of the eventual major figures at Cambridge at the same time, young men just beginning to realize their potential. Charles Darwin was at Christ College, although there is no evidence that he and Tennyson even met as students or later in life. Yet evolution became significant in Tennyson’s thinking and the issues of his poetry. One of Tennyson’s best and most important Cambridge friends was Edward FitzGerald, who became the translator of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám and in their on and off relationship served as Tennyson’s harshest critic. FitzGerald was also a friend of the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray, the two of them partying in Paris as undergraduates. That connection led to a friendship between Thackeray and Tennyson. Others who came to play significant roles in Tennyson’s life were Thomas Carlyle, the Brownings, and the Pre-Raphaelites. Tennyson’s deepest friend at college was Arthur Hallam, who at twenty wrote a glowing review of Tennyson’s first poetry collection, travelled on European adventures with him, and fell in love with his sister Emily. Hallam was also regarded as one more very promising Cambridge student. His sudden death at twenty-two in Vienna from a stroke while travelling with his father devastated many friends, but perhaps Tennyson most of all. He did not write immediate poems of grief but took years to compile those collected in In Memoriam A.H.H., published in 1850, almost twenty years after Hallam’s death For all of Tennyson’s early poetic successes and successes, Holmes reveals him as an often troubled young man suffering periods of depression, fearing planetary upheaval, concerned about supporting himself, disappointed in romances, and worried that he would inherit the family’s mental illness tendencies. Yet despite his seeming withdrawals, he was always writing poetry that he kept private and would not let go, constantly revising. 1850 became a transformative year for Tennyson. He finally consented to publishing In Memoriam with a last-minute prologue that acknowledged God and perhaps convinced the religious Emily Sellwood to marry him after years of pursuit.. He opened up to Emily, revealing his struggles with fears of depression and “weird seizures.” The devastating event of that time was the stillborn death of his unnamed first son. It shook him, but Emily’s faith brought them closer and convinced him to believe in an afterlife. Two later sons survived. With the death of William Wordworth in April of 1950, Tennyson was named poet laureate at age forty-one, reluctantly accepting. It’s as if Tennyson’s life split in half in that year. He lived another forty years, now a recognized success, with the prestige of being an official poet writing patriotic verse, wealthy and revered, no longer the insecure young man seeking an outlet for his immense talent. He earned a place in the Authors deck, now dignified and in 1884 elevated to the peerage as Arthur, Lord Tennyson. Richard Holmes is the author of twenty previous books on the Romantics and Victorians, several of which received awards. The Boundless Deep was shortlisted for the 2025 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. He captures the complex vicissitudes of Tennyson’s youth, illustrated by frequent excerpts from the poetry, placing that life in the full context of the shattering discoveries that led to an upheaval of thought in the Victorian age.
Hulu's 'Handmaid's Tale' spinoff 'The Testaments' is about girlhood in Gilead
a e teens children-s-entertainment television media-and-entertainment-industry u-s-news general-news entertainment | KCBS All News 106.9FM and 740AM
Hulu's 'Handmaid's Tale' spinoff 'The Testaments' is about girlhood in Gilead
a e teens children-s-entertainment television media-and-entertainment-industry u-s-news general-news entertainment | WBBM Newsradio 780 AM & 105.9 FM
College Football Playoff contenders' most irreplaceable players among non-QBs in 2026
Quarterbacks are often the most valuable players, but a handful of stars at other positions are truly irreplaceable
Orioles-Cardinals Trade Brings Relief To An Injured O's Bullpen
The Baltimore Orioles added bullpen depth on Tuesday by acquiring left-hander Nick Raquet from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for infielder/outfielder Brayden Smith. According to the Orioles X account, Raquet has not yet reported to the team; Raquet was designated for assignment by the Cardinals on Sunday. On Monday, the Orioles placed left-hander Dietrich Enns on the 15-day injured list with a left foot infection and called up right-hander Brandon Young to start Monday against the Chicago White Sox.
State’s first Health Learning Lab opens at Waianae High School
The lab provides students with hands-on clinical skills training in a modern setting and supports certificate programs designed to lead directly to entry-level healthcare jobs.
Clippers host Mavericks, eye No. 8 seed in West
With a key play-in tournament seeding matchup set for later in the week, the Los Angeles Clippers are intent to focus on the task at hand when they play host to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday at Inglewood, Calif.
STAT 4000 introduces students across Auburn to data science foundations
STAT 4000: Introduction to Data Science gives students across Auburn a hands-on foundation in data analysis, AI literacy and statistical reasoning. Taught by instructors in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, the course equips students to work confidently and critically with data in a wide range of fields.
Reduced medical residencies if governor approves cuts to public health budget
The 2026 Idaho Legislature is adjourned sine die, but the fate of some bills are still unclear. Among those still awaiting decision include a Health and Welfare
Is Elisabeth Moss in ‘The Testaments’?
'The Handmaid's Tale' spinoff is all about June and Luke's daughter, Hannah.
Kids will spring into science with April’s Parents’ Night Out at DHDC
From 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Friday, April 10, the Don Harrington Discovery Center is offering a chance for children ages 4-11 years old to crack into hands-on experiments while caregivers enjoy an evening to themselves.
Play Store now lets you search Android app reviews, ditches ‘this device model’ filter
Google is rolling out some updates in the Play Store, with reviews now featuring a handy option to search, but...
Trump’s Easter Egg Roll Appearance Raises Fresh Health Questions
He’s alive—and his hand is more purple than ever.
AMC Entertainment Delivers Best Ever Global Revenue for a 5-Day Easter Weekend, Led by THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, Strong Merchandise Sales, and Other Solid Performances
AMC Entertainment announced that it delivered a record-setting performance over the 5-day Easter holiday weekend, achieving the highest combined global admissions and food & beverage revenue for the holiday frame in AMC’s 106-year history. From Wednesday, April 1 through Sunday, April 5, more than 6.0 million guests attended AMC locations in the U.S. or Odeon […]
Gene Editing Institute Receives $500K Federal Grant to Expand CRISPR Learning Lab
ChristianaCare’s Gene Editing Institute has received a $500,000 federal grant secured by Delaware’s congressional delegation to expand its Learning Lab, a hands-on program that introduces high school and college students to gene editing. The Learning Lab is powered by CRISPR in a Box™, a teaching toolkit developed by Institute scientists that lets students try gene […]
Clemson business students land elite finance programs, build path to Wall Street
Through Clemson’s emphasis on mentorship, hands-on learning and professional development, Ava Hester and Morgan Harvey have earned spots in prestigious programs like Girls Who Invest and the Wharton School’s Fundamentals of Corporate Finance and Valuation program.
Mario’s box office boom reveals a bigger trend in themed entertainment
Super Mario Galaxy movie drives a record Easter weekend as theaters see strong attendance, merchandise sales, and ties to theme parks.
Is Cade Cunningham playing today? Pistons vs Magic prediction, injuries
The Detroit Pistons will be shorthanded against the Orlando Magic on Monday, but the good news is they've already clinched the 1-seed.
Galaxy Z Fold ‘Wide’ will be easier to handle as One UI 9 leaks spout
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold “Wide” has been touched on in previous leaks, though recent One UI 9 screenshots add some...
Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Wide Fold has already won customers over
Samsung's new Galaxy Z Wide Fold isn't even out yet and people are clamoring to get their hands on it.
Health in a Handbasket: Family Friendly Meals
After work and school, there's nothing better than a meal that's both delicious and nutritious.
AMC Entertainment Delivers Best Ever Global Revenue Mark for a 5-Day Easter Weekend, Led by THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, Strong Merchandise Sales, and Solid Performances by Other Titles
AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC), the largest theatrical exhibitor in the United States and in the world, today announced that it delivered a record-setting per...
AMC Entertainment Delivers Best Ever Global Revenue Mark for a 5-Day Easter Weekend, Led by THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, Strong Merchandise Sales, and Solid Performances by Other Titles
LEAWOOD, Kan., April 06, 2026--AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC), the largest theatrical exhibitor in the United States and in the world, today announced that it delivered a record-setting performance over the 5-day Easter holiday weekend, achieving the highest combined global admissions and food & beverage revenue for the holiday frame in AMC’s 106-year history.
Over 1,000 Super Mario Maker 2 levels have been deleted, and a cheater may be behind it all
Someone's got too much time on their hands
Senior Spotlight 2026: For this aspiring physician, computer science is ‘empowering’ asset
Rice senior Pankti Mehta is channeling her drive to improve how people access and experience health care by combining computer science with hands-on clinical insight.
‘A special place’: Cafe, entertainment venue changes hands as founder moves on
The new owners will assume full control of operations later this month as they look forward to building on the vision of The Lucky Wolf's founders.
Embark on a science adventure at UW-Madison’s Science Expeditions
The community is invited to try hands-on activities at six Exploration Station hubs, tour research spaces, view Science Spectacular Shows, and attend lectures.
UConn coach Dan Hurley is the most complicated man in American sports
He’s the guy who plugs lemongrass and eucalyptus oil infusers into his office walls, right next to the gladiator mask he keeps on hand.
AMC Entertainment Delivers Best Ever Global Revenue Mark for a 5-Day Easter Weekend, Led by THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, Strong Merchandise Sales, and Solid Performances by Other Titles
Led by a media-reported global box office debut of $372 million for THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, AMC Entertainment posted its largest combined…...
Guttermouth Announce (Another) “Final” Australian Tour
"Grab a ticket if you’re game for one more round. Or don’t. Mark’s feet are up, cold one in hand, zero fucks left." The post Guttermouth Announce (Another) “Final” Australian Tour appeared first on Mu...
On plant health and embracing new plant-breeding techniques in South Africa
The major challenge currently confronting South Africa’s agriculture is the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. For many farmers across the country, the most urgent tasks are both securing sufficient vaccines and rolling them out quickly in the coming months, particularly as the beef and dairy industries continue to suffer big losses. There is also pressure on sheep, goats, and other livestock to prevent the disease from spreading. As efforts to get the country through this monumental challenge continue, I believe it is important to sharpen our focus on the broader task at hand: strengthening biosecurity. This covers both animal and plant health. In recent years, we haven’t focused much on plant health, except a few times, such as when we had a goss’s wilt scare in the maize industry, a few cases of citrus black spot, or cases of sclerotinia in sunflower seeds. But the fact that South Africa managed to control the outbreaks of these particular diseases when they occurred a few years ago was due to organized agricultural and government scientific capabilities, and, most importantly, the availability of crop protection or agrochemicals necessary to address some of them. Therefore, as the animal health division in the Department of Agriculture focuses on the pressing challenge of the day, the foot-and-mouth disease, there is an opportunity for the plant health division to assess if they have all the requirements to tackle any outbreak that may occur on fruits, vegetables or crops in future. The challenge with crop diseases is that they can spread quickly and cause much more rapid damage in the field than we typically see with livestock. Therefore, speed is everything in ensuring the appropriate controls are available. I raise this as an important area, particularly given the drastic climate variation we observe across the country. The production conditions in some areas have changed noticeably over time, which may introduce new risks. The other essential part is ensuring that South Africa has access to the best crop protection technology available in the market. Many technology developers worldwide have operations in South Africa. Therefore, the Department of Agriculture, along with the Agricultural Research Council, must continuously interact with technology developers to assess the various crop protection technologies they are releasing globally and determine their suitability and need in South Africa. This will require a proactive approach from the government, unlike the current approach, in which technology developers typically approach regulators with new technologies. The government, recognising the food security risks, must take a proactive approach to ensure that South African farmers have access to the latest crop protection technologies, thereby safeguarding the country’s food security. Beyond crop protection, we must never forget that South Africa’s agriculture is key to ensuring that the country is the most food-secure country at the national level in sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa is also the only African country in the top-40 global agricultural exporters, having more than doubled since 1994 on the back of the adoption of high-yielding seed cultivars. South Africa has been the only African country to adopt a bold approach to embracing science and adopting genetically engineered seeds for grains and oilseeds in the early 2000s. Since then, we have seen crop yields improve noticeably, contributing to the gains we mentioned above. But ensuring that South Africa improves further is not a given. The key lies in South African regulators’ attitudes towards new technologies. We have to maintain a progressive approach and not give in to the politics of non-food and non-scientific voices that shout on the sidelines. Food security is national security, and the government must ensure we progress, leaning on science. Therefore, the registration of high-yielding new genomic techniques is required. South Africa cannot afford to fall behind the EU, the USA, South America, and many of its competitors in global agriculture. The Department of Agriculture’s crop science division must adopt a progress-and-science-embracing approach for the good of the country. Thanks for reading AgriView! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Subscribe Share
Women's Final Four winners and losers include UCLA seniors and Geno Auriemma
UCLA is an obvious winner after capturing its first title. Geno Auriemma, on the other hand, is a sore loser.
UF Dance Marathon raises over $1.1 million for UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital
Behind the lights and energy of the University of Florida’s Dance Marathon, stories like that of Amelia Early and her daughter, Dani-Lynn, took center stage.
Shorthanded Cavs beat even more shorthanded Pacers, 117-108
A gender reveal, nine missing players and two losses from guaranteeing the best lottery odds; what to know about Pacers loss to Cavs
Connecticut bars getting business boost from UConn basketball tournament runs
The UConn men’s basketball team run to the national championship is also bringing a lot of customers to local bars across Connecticut for watch parties. “We had the audio running and everything and as soon as the final buzzer hit, everyone was going crazy. We had a nice little UConn chant going at the end,” Yash Ramchandani, whose family owns…
Move Over Anbernic, the GAMEMT E5 ModX Might Be The Weirdest Handheld of the Year
The GAMEMT E5 ModX may be one of the strangest handhelds we’ve seen in a while, blending controller, vertical, and horizontal gaming in one device.
Elementary Science Olympiad exposes Alabama students to high-level science competition
Nearly 250 elementary students gathered at Auburn University for the Elementary Science Olympiad, a day of hands-on competition and discovery. Through fast-paced challenges and collaborative problem-solving, students experienced what it means to think and work like scientists.
UCLA beats South Carolina for 1st NCAA women's basketball title
Gabriela Jaquez and UCLA handily defeated South Carolina for its first women's basketball national championship under the governance of NCAA.
Wes Lee New Album ft. Mick Jenkins: Growth & Fatherhood
Inside the mindset and message behind the music | News-Talk 1380 WAOK
GMB Management Software for Multi Location Business
GBPPromote GBPPromote Indore, Madhya Pradesh, April 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GBPPromote, a fast-growing Google Business Profile (GBP) management software, is gaining strong traction among agencies, franchises, enterprises, and individual businesses looking for a simpler and more scalable way to manage their local presence on Google. Adopted widely by franchises, agencies, and enterprise teams for multi-location GMB management, the platform is built to handle the kind of operational work that
Inside the sprawling world of MAGA merchandise
The massive industry has helped President Trump collect millions.
Mookie Betts lands on IL with oblique strain, but the Dodgers are already set up to handle the loss
Betts was hitting just .171/.281/.429 through eight games this season
See a 360-degree view of the American Revolution at this new French Quarter exhibit
The HistoPads are back at the Historic New Orleans Collection — hand-held tablets that act as a portal to 360-degree views of the sites and events depicted in “American Revolution:
Lakers reveal injury report for Sunday's game versus Mavericks
How short-handed with the Lakers be when they visit the Mavericks on Sunday?
Your Odin 3 Might Not Actually Use the Snapdragon 8 Elite, but There’s More to the Story
The Odin 3’s chip story just got messier, as AYN replaces Snapdragon 8 Elite branding with Dragonwing Q8 across its official landing page.
'My head feels clearer': How citizen science can improve people's health
The two of us can often be found in a patch of scrubby bushland, phone in hand, slowly scanning for plants. Or crouched behind a tree trunk with binoculars, pausing mid-breath to find the source of a ...
I watched The Godfather again at 64 and cried — not because the movie changed, but because I finally understood that the films we watched in our twenties weren’t just entertainment, they were instruction manuals for masculinity, family, and honor that shaped every major decision I ever made
Last week, I found myself alone in my living room, remote in hand, scrolling through streaming options when The Godfather appeared on screen. It had been years since I’d watched it. Decades, really. Something made me click play, and three hours later, I was sitting there with tears streaming down my face. Not because Sonny […]
Samsung Messages Is Officially Dead, Here's How to Switch
Samsung is officially handing messaging over to Google, and this is one of the clearest signs that One UI is more integrated with Google apps.
Nationals have hands full with menacing Dodgers lineup
After putting together their best offensive performance of the new season in the series opener, the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers will look to take the weekend set against the Washington Nationals on Saturday.