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Selma Blair promises recent 'health-related' issue was 'nothing scary'
Selma Blair has assured fans that a "health-related" issue that came up recently was "nothing scary". The 54-year-old actress - who suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS) - took to Instagram on Monday (...
Scene
This week’s scene is this assortment of ghouls that were recently spotted on the lawn of a home in Winchester.
Queen Creek chamber names Business Awards winners
The Queen Creek Chamber of Commerce recently honored the winners of its 17th annual Business Awards Dinner. “Each year, we’re reminded just how many people, educators and businesses are …
JBU enrollment hits new record
John Brown University recently said its enrollment has risen to a record 473 new students. The incoming class includes a record 401 freshmen, 60 transfer students, and 12 students returning...
The Fitzroy Grove in Rogers sells for $51.85 million
A 250-unit luxury apartment complex east of Interstate 49 in Rogers sold recently for $51.85 million. The purchase price equals $207,400 per unit. An Arkansas limited liability company, whose manager...
Shawn Levy Inks Overall Deal With Disney’s 20th Television
The producer and director, who recently finished the next 'Star Wars' film for Disney, has been based at Netflix since 2017.
Shawn Levy Signs Overall TV Deal at Disney
The producer and director, who recently finished the next 'Star Wars' film for Disney, has been based at Netflix since 2017.
Slipknot to perform in Hershey next summer; here are the details
Heavy metal band Slipknot recently announced a stadium tour, and Hershey is one of its planned stops in 2027.
What's The Best Automotive YouTube Video You've Seen Recently?
The internet is a big place, with lots of cool content hiding in plain sight. Tell us about the coolest automotive video you've seen lately.
Scientists develop solar tech that turns seawater to clean water
What if turning ocean water into fresh drinking water didn’t require massive amounts of energy or leave behind a trail of toxic environmental waste? Well, researchers at the University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics recently achieved this with a monumental breakthrough. The groundbreaking discovery While traditional desalination plants rely on high-energy heat or heavy pressure […] Read the original article here: Scientists develop solar tech that turns seawater to clean water
How Data Lawsuit Settlement Will Impact CVS Health Stock Investors
CVS Health recently agreed to a US$20.5 million settlement over allegations that its website shared personal and protected health information with ad tech firm Criteo without user consent, resolving a data tracking dispute that had raised privacy and compliance questions. The legal resolution lands at the same time CVS Health is working with improved full year guidance, stronger cash generation and better Aetna medical benefit ratios. Together, these factors sharpen attention on how...
HEALTH AND FITNESS: This is your brain on football
Football season is underway, much to the delight of professional, college and high school fans. Football has also been in the news for another more serious reason – the association with brain injury. Over the years, it has been reported that several former NFL players suffered from brain injury because of concussions sustained over years of playing. Some players have even retired early in their careers to avoid such injury. Recently reported research suggests that this brain damage may start earlier and be the result of cumulative “minor” injuries rather than a single major trauma.
After Taxi Driver Deaths, Union Pushes Mamdani for Health Fund
Several New York City cabbies were recently found dead in their cars. A taxi union is seeking to revive a fund that would provide medical screenings, disability insurance and other benefits.
Clippers Should Have Recently Waived Point Guard on Their Radar
The Clippers need point guards.
Business People: Evereve hires Target exec Alanna Baker to lead digital
RETAIL Evereve, an Edina-based national women’s fashion chain, announced the appointment of Alanna Baker as its first chief digital officer. Baker joins Evereve from Target Corp., where she most recently served as vice president of…
Lewisburg Downtown Partnership celebrates community impact during annual Soiree
The Lewisburg Downtown Partnership recently held its third annual Soiree, where it recognized community volunteers and introduced the new Impact on Market Street Award.
This wireless eGPU claims to deliver RTX 5090-like performance over Wi-Fi
WiCi recently began inviting interested parties to sign up for updates about the WiCi One, which aims to become the first successful wireless external graphics card. The...
Naples industrial building sells for $8 million
Rail Head Industrial Park recently changed hands in Collier County.
Unique health advice shared at Wellness Expo
Community health practices continue to evolve through the years, and the Derby Recreation Commission is focused on addressing that through its annual Wellness Expo. The fourth edition was recently held
Unique health advice shared at Wellness Expo
Community health practices continue to evolve through the years, and the Derby Recreation Commission is focused on addressing that through its annual Wellness Expo. The fourth edition was recently held
4D Wizard Of Oz Success Could Be A Game Changer For Sphere Entertainment Stock
Sphere Entertainment Co. reported that The Wizard of Oz at Sphere in Las Vegas has generated over US$500 million in ticket sales and 4 million tickets since its August 2025 launch, and recently introduced expanded 4D effects including animatronic Winged Monkeys, themed scents, scented apples, pyrotechnic fireworks, and “Glinda Glitter.” The scale of ticket revenue and attendance for The Wizard of Oz at Sphere, combined with continued investment in new 4D effects, suggests that Sphere...
CDC vaccine policy recommendations grind to a halt under Health Secretary Kennedy - WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports
NEW YORK (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new flu vaccine that tested well in older adults. But the federal agencyRead More
Kennedy Center put off planned repairs despite known structural issues, former employees allege
Some former Kennedy Center employees are accusing officials at the performing arts venue of long knowing about structural issues they recently cited as new problems | WBBM Newsradio 780 AM & 105.9 FM
Kennedy Center put off planned repairs despite known structural issues, former employees allege
Some former Kennedy Center employees are accusing officials at the performing arts venue of long knowing about structural issues they recently cited as new problems | WBEN
Kennedy Center put off planned repairs despite known structural issues, former employees allege
Some former Kennedy Center employees are accusing officials at the performing arts venue of long knowing about structural issues they recently cited as new problems. The anonymous whistleblowers...
Business roundup: local business pop-ups and grand openings in Columbia this week
Spirit Halloween and Rematch Arena Action Park recently opened in Columbia, and people can enjoy various pop-ups this week as well.
Long-Time PlayStation Publisher Says "The Discussion May Change" Around Physical Media
Rumors recently appeared about Sony potentially delaying its digital-only future due to pressure from Microsoft's Xbox Helix, although they were promptly shot down by industry insiders and frequent leakers who said that Sony was dead-set on killing its physical media production—despite data...
How Investors May Respond To AMC Entertainment Stock Stronger Theater Attendance
AMC Entertainment Holdings recently approved changes to its certificate of incorporation to declassify the board, shorten director terms to the next annual meeting, and remove limits on board size, while also arranging large new secured debt facilities and a US$71.75 million shelf registration tied to 25,000,000 Class A shares for an ESOP offering. The combination of a simpler, annually elected board, sizeable refinancing of secured borrowings, and equity made available for employee...
The Supreme Court just threw a new monkey wrench at the midterms. Here’s what to know
Election Day is fast approaching, but the Supreme Court is still weighing in on the rules, most recently on Friday when it allowed states to use a Trump administration-backed tool to ferret out noncitizen voting there’s little evidence occurs in a widespread way.
LSU and Texas A&M: Three Keys to Win
LSU and Texas A&M will surely feel the urgency on Saturday in a game that’s practically a must-win for both teams in terms of realistic expectations to make the playoffs. The Aggies’ standing in the college football world took more of a blow recently after a resounding loss at home to Kentucky. LSU’s loss wasn’t …
Lionel Richie Has Big ‘American Idol’ News Amid Recent Health Issues
Lionel Richie has given fans a major update about his future on American Idol. The singer recently faced health problems that forced him to step away from some work. Now, he has confirmed that he plan...
UA provides $1 million in seed funding grants
The I3R Watershed Grants Program recently awarded $1 million to 15 new interdisciplinary research teams at the University of Arkansas. The program is designed to spark new research collaborations, accelerate...
UA provides $1 million in seed funding grants
The I3R Watershed Grants Program recently awarded $1 million to 15 new interdisciplinary research teams at the University of Arkansas. The program is designed to spark new research collaborations, accelerate...
Duke basketball announces start times for important neutral site matchups
Duke basketball recently announced the start times of three important matchups during the 2026-27 season.
Vanderbilt Health, TCAT Nashville celebrate medical assistants participating in new nursing pathway
Vanderbilt Health, in conjunction with The Tennessee College of Applied Technology Nashville, recently celebrated the first medical assistant to licensed practical nurse class.
CDC vaccine policy recommendations grind to a halt under Health Secretary Kennedy
NEW YORK (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new flu vaccine that tested well in older adults. But the federal agency responsible for telling doctors and
Pioneer of China NewCo model sued in US over trade secret misuse, double-dealing
A legal feud unfolding in New York is putting a spotlight on the work of a business development veteran who is credited for pioneering one of biopharma’s hottest dealmaking mechanism: the China “NewCo” model. In a lawsuit originally filed in New York state court and recently moved to federal court, China’s Lepu Medical Technology has alleged that biopharma business development consultant Su Zhang, who was hired to help shop its GLP-1 weight-loss candidates to Western partners, engaged in corporate double-dealing and trade secret leaks. According to the complaint, while acting as Lepu’s primary dealmaking liaison for a group of obesity and metabolic disease drug candidates, Zhang was secretly double-dipping as the acting chief business officer for a direct competitor, BrightGene Pharmaceutical. “She never adequately disclosed the role, never sought Lepu’s consent, and never proposed any safeguard,” Lepu alleged in its complaint, which was filed in July after Zhang’s consulting firm, CoDevCo, sought certain transaction-based success fees from its angry customer through an arbitration process in Singapore. Lepu, the parent company of Lepu Biopharma, has asked Zhang to pay back its $500,000 retainer and disgorge all benefits she received during the alleged breaches of fiduciary duty, plus other damages and relief. The company has also requested the court grant injunctions to protect Lepu’s trade secrets. The ill-fated partnership officially kicked off in December 2024, when Lepu tapped CoDevCo as its “exclusive business development mechanism” to identify collaborators for the company’s drug candidates. According to Lepu’s complaint, Zhang personally negotiated and signed the agreement as managing director for CoDevCo, which used her home address. Before the Lepu deal, Zhang made a name following a short stint as the global head of business development for Hengrui Pharmaceuticals. It was during her tenure that Hengrui signed a landmark deal granting exclusive rights for a portfolio of GLP-1 assets to Hercules, which was at that time newly established by a group of private equity and venture capital firms. In addition to the regular upfront and milestone payments, Hengrui also gained an equity stake in Hercules, which later became Kailera Therapeutics. The Hengrui-Hercules deal opened a new paradigm, where a Chinese biopharma company spins off certain early-stage assets to investors for further development through the creation of a new company abroad. The “NewCo” model quickly came into vogue as it allows Western investors to access high-potential assets originating from China at an early stage while giving the Chinese licensors an opportunity to reap long-term benefits through equity stakes in the new firms. The NewCo model proved its value when Kailera staged a record-breaking $625 million IPO on Nasdaq this April, merely two years into the Hengrui deal. Related Kailera CEO 'knew we were in a good spot' before obesity biotech's record-breaking $625M IPO On her LinkedIn page, Zhang described her work at Hengrui as “[b]uilding team and capability from the ground up,” forming NewCo and major pharma partnerships worth billions of dollars. Lepu clearly wanted that kind of track record to help boost its own cardiometabolic portfolio, which includes a range of assets for obesity, Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease and muscle preservation during weight loss treatment. “Lepu’s pipeline is very valuable, but only if Lepu could secure the right international partner to expand into the overseas market during the available commercial window,” the company argued in its complaint. The Chinese biotech said it had little knowledge of U.S. laws, customs or business practices in the business development field, and therefore “needed to rely entirely” on the expertise of Zhang and her team as the firm’s first engagement of a U.S.-based BD consultant. “Zhang’s dominating influence on the business development strategy is further evidenced by the fact that she personally controlled the business-development communications on behalf of Lepu with potential partners,” Lepu said in its complaint. After entering the deal, Zhang introduced Lepu to her four associates. According to Lepu’s version of events, all of them were allegedly employed at different time points to perform similar jobs at other Chinese companies that Lepu described as its competitors, while having access to Lepu’s confidential information. As such, Lepu described Zhang’s team as “a roster of individuals whose primary professional loyalty, by virtue of their concurrent full-time employment, ran to Lepu’s competitors.” As well as the specific examples set out in the case, a look at Lepu’s deals over the period suggests Zhang may have been involved in at least one transaction. During their partnership, Lepu, through its subsidiary Shanghai Minwei Biotechnology, also out-licensed its GLP-1/GIP/FGF21 agonist MWN105 to a NewCo called Sidera Bio in the fall of 2025. The deal included an upfront and near-term payment of $35 million, up to $1.01 billion in milestones, and a 9.99% stake in the Danish startup. It seems likely that Zhang facilitated the Minwei deal given that Lepu is on record as having used CoDevCo as its “exclusive business development mechanism.” The big shock for Lepu came in the form of a news article on June 25, 2025. The article, reporting on phase 2 data for BrightGene’s GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist BGM0504, identified Zhang as acting chief business officer of the Lepu rival. Blindsided by her association with BrightGene, Lepu confronted Zhang in July 2025. “Lepu was given assurances that there was nothing to be concerned about and told that Zhang would explain the matter to Lepu,” Lepu alleged in its complaint. “Zhang never did.” Lepu claimed that Zhang had the motive and opportunity to steer potential prospective partners toward BrightGene or other competitors. Later, in February 2026, one of Zhang’s associates joined BrightGene as the vice president for global business development, according to the complaint. Around the same time, Lepu sent written demand letters asking Zhang to account for her BrightGene role, identify what confidential data were shared with the rival firm, and provide any conflict-of-interest or firewall policies during the engagement. According to Lepu, neither CoDevCo nor Zhang answered the questions in their responses. Related Novo vs. KBP: How a $1.3B deal turned into a fraud accusation and an international legal fight In a motion to dismiss filed with the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York on Sept. 4, Zhang’s legal team argued that Lepu’s agreement was signed with CoDevCo, and that an employee of the contractor does not owe fiduciary duties to the client. In its complaint, Lepu said: “That CoDevCo was the contracting entity does not insulate Zhang from personal liability for duties she personally undertook and personally breached.” Taking the argument one step further, the defending party argued that the consulting agreement “does not create a fiduciary relationship even between CoDevCo and Lepu; instead, it identifies CoDevCo as an independent contractor retained to market Lepu’s business to potential western partners.” Although CoDevCo was Lepu’s exclusive business-development contractor, there were no terms stipulating that the consulting firm should serve only Lepu, Zhang’s lawyer noted. As to Lepu’s claims that Zhang misappropriated trade secrets, the defendant argued that Lepu authorized the use of the information so Zhang’s team could perform their service per the agreement. In a rebuttal filed on Sept. 11, Lepu’s lawyer set out why they believe the Chinese biotech satisfied New York law’s misappropriation definition by alleging that the defendant used a trade secret “in breach of a duty or through improper means.” As an alternative to dismissing the suit, the defendant suggested the action should be stayed pending outcomes from the arbitration of a separate case in Singapore. While NewCo pioneer Zhang is defending her business arrangements, momentum behind the NewCo trend has continued unabated into 2026. Through August, Chinese biotech assets have spurred 15 NewCo deals this year, according to local trade publication PharmaDJ.
Country music star retiring at 51: ‘I’m getting out while the getting is good’
The singer said his recently released album will be his last.
Eat This, Age Slower: The Diet Habits Science Now Urges You to Try - Futura-Sciences
Can What You Eat Really Slow Down Cellular Aging? For years, scientists have observed that people who eat a balanced diet tend to live longer and healthier lives. But how exactly do the foods we eat affect the aging of our cells? Until recently, the detailed mechanics remained a vast...
VIC Tech appoints Sarah Goforth as chief growth officer
VIC Technology Venture Development, a Fayetteville-based venture development company, recently named Sarah Goforth as chief growth officer and managing director. In this role, she will lead the company’s growth strategy,...
Bentonville nonprofit advances to final round of NASA challenge
Bentonville-based nonprofit research organization Autonomic Resilience Collective recently advanced to the final stage of a NASA challenge to design a food system to sustain people living on Mars. The challenge...
Economic development veteran Mike Malone notes value of statewide competitiveness
Mike Malone, partner at Shallotte, N.C.-based economic development firm Economic Leadership, said cities, counties, and states compete to retain and attract residents and businesses. The firm recently worked with the...
Reports show MD owed millions by providers, local health agencies
The Office of Inspector General for Health conducted almost 1,400 audits and investigations over the last four years that found more than $42 million in improper or unrecovered payments — they only recently were made public.
Record-Breaking Tech Innovation, Investment, Entry and Business Formation in Recent Years
Critics of the technology sector have asserted as recently as 2020 that digital markets are stagnant, closed to entry, and low on competitive investment and
SFHHA Newsline September 2026 – Healthcare Is Becoming a Consumer Business—Whether Hospitals Like It or Not
I recently read an article in Becker’s Hospital Review that purported to identify the top ten geriatric hospitals based on a report from U.S. News & World Report. Despite having our fair share of geriatric patients here in South Florida, somehow we didn’t make the list. That got me thinking. For generations, healthcare operated under […]
Baptist Health South Florida and Lifepoint Rehabilitation Celebrate Grand Opening of New Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital in South Miami
Baptist Health South Florida and Lifepoint Rehabilitation recently held a celebratory ribbon cutting to officially open the Baptist Health Rehabilitation Hospital in South Miami. The new 62-bed, state-of-the-art building expands regional access to specialized, patient-centered rehabilitation care for individuals recovering from a decline in function due to an injury or illness. The three-story, 100,000 square-foot […]
Is metascience being co-opted?
In July, the White House released a report that argued academia is deeply dysfunctional and in need of radical reform.Science: A New Golden Age sets out a litany of problems many academics will recognise: interminable waits for grants; short-term funding rather than support for longer, more ambitious projects; ballooning administrative requirements; pressure to publish, and many more. “The scientific machine is getting bogged down,” it says. At least on the face of it, Science: A New Golden Age is a triumph for the metascience movement, a loose-knit, global group of academics, philanthropists and think tankers that want far more testing and experimentation in how we fund public research and innovation. The report tells US research funders to set up internal metascience units to do just this. But it has also set alarm bells ringing that metascience is being conveniently deployed to help justify the defunding of US universities, which US vice president JD Vance has openly labelled “the enemy.” “Just because you have an issue with your plumbing in your house doesn't mean you light the entire house on fire and burn it to the ground,” said Colette Delawalla, chief executive of Stand Up for Science, a group campaigning against what it says are attacks on scientists by the Trump administration. No one is arguing that academia doesn’t need reform, but there’s debate over how far and how fast the system should be shaken up. Does public R&D need slow and steady evidence-based adjustment, or radical new experiments?One of the key arguments in Science: A New Golden Age is that there’s not enough funding for what it calls “mid-level” science: engineering-heavy projects that require tens of millions of dollars, involve ten to a hundred people, and last around five years. Such a project might develop a brain-computer interface for people with Alzheimer's disease, for example. As such, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) has already announced $1.5 billion to set up so-called X-Labs, effectively new research organisations to pursue breakthroughs in areas such as quantum sensing and new scientific instruments. Funding divertedBut there’s a catch: this money has squeezed NSF budgets for more traditional, fundamental research grants, Science reported in June, likely meaning less cash for university-based scientists. Science: A New Golden Age also makes various swipes at universities, accusing them of extracting overheads from scientists to fund administrative bloat. “We have become dependent on a narrow set of legacy institutions,” it says. The report doesn’t mention it, but the US government is simultaneously seeking greater powers over federal funding, which would allow political appointees at funding agencies to screen or cancel research grants mid-project. The White House is also seeking to slash the NSF’s budget by more than half in 2027, although similar cuts proposed for 2026 were blocked by Congress. Convenient hookThis has worried some that the metascience agenda could be misused as a kind of smokescreen to further weaken universities. James Wilsdon, executive director of the Research on Research Institute at University College London, said that the report contains lots of “interesting ideas” and agrees that in places, academia is a “pretty broken system.” But the risk is that metascience is being deployed as a “convenient hook” to support cuts and a “political land grab” to transfer grant power from scientists to political appointees in US funding agencies.So far, the metascience agenda hasn’t been seized on by radical right parties in Europe. But Wilsdon worries it will cross the Atlantic, politicising research reform efforts and making them more difficult to carry out. The report is already making some in Europe sceptical of the entire idea. “The system is not without flaws, but the metascience discussion is not likely to improve the system but rather to generate munition to undermine it,” said Claes de Vreese, a professor of AI and society at the University of Amsterdam. Peter Thiel protégéOfficially, Science: A New Golden Age has just one named author: Michael Kratsios, the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and a former chief of staff to Silicon Valley mogul Peter Thiel. He also served as chief financial officer of Thiel’s Clarium Capital Management. Since the 1990s, Thiel has criticised US universities for moving away from teaching what he views as the classic works of western civilisation, and drifting towards “anti-Western zealotry.” And since 2011, he has offered two-year fellowships of $250,000 to young people to skip or drop out of university, and instead start companies or pursue scientific research. “College can be good for learning about what’s been done before, but it can also discourage you from doing something new,” according to the Thiel Fellowships website. In other areas, the Trump administration has promoted academics with a longstanding interest in metascience. For example, the head of the National Institutes of Health, Jay Bhattacharya, in 2020 co-authored a study arguing the funder backs overly conservative proposals, although he achieved wider prominence as a critic of pandemic lockdowns. Careless talk costs fundingEven before the Trump administration embraced the metascience agenda, some metascientists privately wondered whether they should be careful not to overstate dysfunctions in academia, in case this gets used as ammunition against universities. But others think being cautious with criticism is pointless. After all, last year, the Trump administration sought to cut funding from US universities on an entirely different premise: supposed antisemitism on campus. “I don't think these governments need a technical metascientific excuse to attack the universities, they will want to do so anyway,” said Will Stone, a researcher at Science Works, a new think tank advocating for a “metascience revolution” in the UK. “I think researchers should report what they find, even when the findings may be used to advance policies they disagree with,” echoed Russell Funk, a researcher at the University of Minnesota, who in 2023 co-authored a highly influential paper that argued scientific papers were becoming less disruptive over time. No justificationThat said, Funk thinks that metascientific research certainly doesn’t justify a weakening of universities. Instead, scientists need “time, resources and stability to pursue unfamiliar ideas,” he said. “Taking away those conditions works against the very goal the reforms are supposed to achieve.”The Institute for Progress, a Washington DC-based innovation policy think tank that has championed X-Labs and metascience units, also says that reforms should complement, not supplant, universities. “Unpredictable, unreliable, and reduced federal funding to researchers is destabilising to the very foundations of research and development and is bad,” said Jenn Gustetic, the institute’s director of metascience and R&D policy.Evolution or revolution?This points to a much bigger divide in the metascience community: how far and how fast should public R&D be shaken up? Does it need evolution or revolution? For example, Science: A New Golden Age says the science system relies too heavily on traditional “workhorse” project grants, the type that pay out around $250,000 a year to fund “hypothesis-driven science by small teams on tractable questions.” However, in criticising project grants, the report “decisively picks one side of a debate that is far from settled,” David Hilmer Rex, a metascientist based in Denmark, has written. In June, Pierre Azoulay, a metascientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, defended project grants, saying that the alternative of X-Labs “merits scepticism.”A-B testingOne challenge in metascience is that it’s easier to generate evidence for some types of change than others. Most straightforwardly, research funders can run A-B tests on different ways of awarding money. For example, Germany’s Volkswagen Foundation recently trialled distributed peer review, where applicants rate each other’s proposals, and measured its results against traditional review panels. Distributed peer review made quicker decisions, although awarded money to largely different ideas. However, much of the focus of the metascience movement has been on founding fast-moving and free-acting new research organisations and funders, in contrast to the alleged stodginess of mainstream academia or public innovation grants. A culture of speed and freedom are the animating principles behind Germany’s Sprind or the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria).Related articlesViewpoint: it's time to experiment with how Europe funds science European researchers sound the alarm that Trump rule changes will hit cooperationHowever, while it’s possible to closely study previously successful bodies, such as the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), for historical clues to their secret sauce, it’s impossible to guarantee in advance that the likes of Sprind or Aria will actually work as hoped. But advocates of new organisations say this inherent uncertainly shouldn’t stop us trying. “If we wait for definitive proof that something will work before we try it, I don't know where your proof is coming from,” said Stone. Trade-offsUp until now, experiments in metascience haven’t generally come with hard trade-offs over money. In the US, new ideas such as focused research organisations have often been funded by billionaire philanthropists. In Europe, new innovation agencies such as Sprind and Aria, or the Netherland’s new National Agency for Disruptive Innovation, haven’t needed explicit cuts elsewhere in the research system. But with the $1.5 billion establishment of X-Labs by the NSF, the trade-offs are becoming clearer. Some metascientists privately wonder whether a smaller pilot would have been more appropriate, given that the idea is untested. The Institute for Progress counters that the $1.5 billion X-Labs budget is spread out over a decade, so will account for less than 2% of the NSF’s annual budget. “It’s important to remember that [Darpa] was once an institutional experiment as well. Now it’s one of the most cited innovative funding models in the world,” said Gustetic.As for Europe?The US isn’t the only country placing metascience at the heart of its research strategy. Science: A New Golden Age looks admiringly at the UK, which in 2024 set up a Metascience Unit to scrutinise how it funds research. In Brussels, it’s more of a mixed picture. In 2018, the EU set up the European Innovation Council to funnel grants and equity to start-ups, although it’s sometimes criticised for awarding money too slowly. Recently, the council has started experimenting with challenges, where teams of inventors compete to overcome a technological challenge. The European Commission also wants to experiment with partially randomising grant winners, to cut down on bureaucracy. However, the Commission’s own advisers have said the EU’s own research schemes are too conventional. They want the Commission to establish a new dedicated unit to scrutinise and experiment with funding. But there’s no sign of a such unit emerging in Brussels’ plans for the next Horizon Europe programme, which from 2028 is set to distribute more than €160 billion over seven years. Sam Bogerd, director of breakthrough innovation at the Brussels-based Arq Foundation, an AI-focused think tank that also looks at metascience, says that Europe might have the opposite problem to the US: universities and basic research funding are still reasonably well supported, but there’s not enough experimentation. “We're not taking a close enough look at where this money can achieve the most, and I am worried that the good ideas around metascience will be tainted politically by their association with the Trump administration,” he said. He’s still lobbying for the Commission to set up an experimental unit. But in the meantime, the Arq Foundation plans to do its own research, and is currently hiring two metascience researchers to run the rule over how Brussels spends research funding.
Will AI change who gets ahead?
Why women’s AI fluency could become an increasingly important factor in leadership, visibility and career opportunity Editor’s note: This Leading Fearlessly column first appeared in the Fearless e-newsletter on Sept. 14. I was recently catching up with a former colleague who told me she was avoiding “getting on the AI bandwagon.” Her comment puzzled me.…
Digital Foundry: Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave is 720p docked, 540p handheld and 30fps, but uses DLSS
The tech-focussed team at Digital Foundry has been busy examining the recently released Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave on the Nintendo Switch 2. The strategic RPG runs at 720p when played in docked mode…
Broward Health Names Kristina Fueyo Vice President of Growth and Physician Strategies
Broward Health is pleased to announce the appointment of Kristina Fueyo, as vice president of growth and physician strategies. Most recently, Fueyo served as assistant vice president of growth strategy and network optimization for HCA East Florida where she led initiatives to strengthen physician alignment, improve patient access and support service line growth across a […]
Pokémon TCG: 30th Anniversary Celebration Booster Bundles Are up for Preorder at Amazon, and Way Under Market Price Compared to TCGplayer
Amazon has recently restocked its allocation of Pokémon TCG's 30th Celebration Booster Bundles, which are currently available for just $45. That's considerably under current market rates, which sit around $122.64 at TCGplayer.
This US carrier doesn't want to let you use one phone number on two iPhones
It's an interesting strategy, holding off on supporting a new feature like this. iPhone Handoff is a new feature in the recently released iOS 27 which lets...
Aiming at number 9: CASPAR targets fluorine in new science run
The Compact Accelerator System for Performing Astrophysical Research (CASPAR) recreates conditions inside stars to study how elements are made. The experiment recently restarted with a new target—the ...
Speck hired as chief marketing officer at Hyper Energy Bar
Hyper Energy Bar has named Rebecca Speck chief marketing officer as the drive-thru beverage company expands across the Midwest. Speck will lead the company’s brand and marketing strategy. She most recently served as vice president of strategy and insights at Scooter’s Coffee, where her work included brand growth, menu and product strategy and customer insights.…
Partners awarded business of the year
by John Dowd Partners in Home Care was recently named the Bitterroot Chamber of Commerce’s 2026 Business of the Year, an honor leaders with the organization say recognizes nearly four […]
G&F brings science learning to life for Eastside second-graders
Second-grade students at Eastside Elementary recently traded their classroom for a hands-on science experience with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department as part of a new partnership designed to connect
Remembering La Salle football captain Jaymar Mundy with photos
Here are photos to remember former football captain and 2021 La Salle graduate Jaymar Mundy, who recently died.
“9-1-1’”s Peter Krause reacts to fan theory that Bobby Nash could still be alive
Krause recently stepped into a new role on NBC’s “Line of Fire,” following the shocking death of his beloved firefighter character.
Iowa Hospital Association creates cybersecurity leadership role
Brice Jager has joined the Iowa Hospital Association as vice president of cybersecurity, a newly created position focused on strengthening cybersecurity programs and support for Iowa hospitals and healthcare organizations. Jager will lead the association’s operational and technical cybersecurity program, including security operations, governance and risk management. He most recently served as information security officer…
CVS Health Launches National "Wear Your HeART" Bandage Art Contest
Four winning designs will be featured on limited-edition CVS brand bandages for sale in 2027Originally published on Company NewsroomWOONSOCKET, RI / ACCESS Newswire / September 23, 2026 / ® (NYSE:CVS) recently announced the launch of its nationwide "Wear Your HeART" Bandage Art Contest, inviting people across the United States to submit original artwork inspired by the importance of protecting personal, family and community health.The contest offers artists, students, families and community grou
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Is 50 the new 60?
Subscribe TL;DR: Younger generations are showing signs of worse health compared to earlier-born cohorts at the same age This backward “drift” is showing up both in mortality risk and chronic disease Worsening trends in obesity and diabetes are the most consistent signals Taking the long view, we’ve made astonishing gains in health and life expectancy in the last century. Global average life expectancy has more than doubled from 32 years in 1900 to 73 years in 2024. (But don’t forget, there were still old people when life expectancy was 32). As people lived longer, they also generally lived healthier along the way. It turns out that avoiding things that can kill you early, like malnutrition and lots of childhood infections, also keeps you healthier later in life. In a classic 2004 paper, Finch and Crimmins proposed that cohorts of children who benefited from fewer early life infections had less lifetime exposure to inflammation and cardiovascular disease later in life, accelerating mortality improvements at older ages. Poor nutrition in the womb has also been linked to a higher risk of later chronic disease. The upshot is that improvements in childhood health can pay dividends many decades later. The combination of better living conditions (nutrition, sanitation) and medical advances (antibiotics, vaccines, blood pressure meds, etc) meant that people’s healthy lifespan generally expanded, even as they lived longer. Aging researchers call this best-case scenario “compression of morbidity”—meaning we delay the onset of disease and disability even faster than the years of life we are adding. During my 20+ year research career, we could generally bank on the idea that younger generations would not only live longer but also keep getting healthier along the way. “60 is the new 50” as they say… Enter “Generational Health Drift” Sadly, this expectation of steady progress may be changing. You’ve probably heard that US life expectancy gains have slowed to a crawl in the past couple of decades. Mortality improvements are also slowing (though less dramatically) in many other high-income countries (you can read more about that in a review paper I wrote here). Mortality is a very blunt health measure, but it is often a good barometer for the broader population health trends happening underneath. And we are now seeing that younger generations may be in worse health at similar ages compared to earlier born cohorts. My collaborator Prof. George Ploubidis at University College London coined this worsening health in more recently born cohorts “generational health drift.” “Generational health drift” is bad news on multiple fronts. Most obviously, we don’t want our health progress to go backward. But the timing is also bad, since our populations are aging. In demographic terms, “population aging” means that the proportion of the population at older ages (i.e >65 years) is increasing. Fun demography fact: Current population aging is not due to the recent declines in the birth rates making the news, but declines in fertility decades ago, after the “baby boom.” As baby boomers reach older ages, the smaller cohorts behind them mean the percentage of older adults will increase. For example, the share of the population age 65 and older in the US increased from 12.4% in 2004 to 18.0% in 2024. This story of population aging was written long ago. Many worry that population aging will put pressure on health care and pension systems. But if people reach older ages in better health than in years past, those fiscal pressures would be less dire than projected. Healthy older people can also continue to contribute to society in many valuable ways, including paid work, caregiving, community service….even high political office 🤷. On the flip side, if younger generations reach retirement age in worse health and with more disabling conditions, this could magnify the societal challenge of population aging. Evidence for worsening generational health A recent paper that I LOVED in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Dr. Leah Abrams and colleagues examined which birth cohorts (aka generations) were behind worsening US mortality. Behold the Lexis diagram (cue swooning demographers). Calendar time is on the x-axis, age on the y-axis. Birth cohorts can be followed over time as they age on the diagonal lines moving up and to the right. This figure plots the year-on-year % change in all-cause mortality at a given age. Green shading indicates mortality improvements over time, white is stagnation, and gray shading indicates worsening mortality. Following the diagonal line for those born in 1950, you can see a noticeable shift from green to gray that follows this cohort for most of their lives. This gray shading shows generally worsening mortality for the 1950 to 1959 birth cohorts compared to their predecessors across all ages. Concerningly for my GenX and elder millennial peeps, there was also a deterioration in mortality for birth cohorts born in the 1970s and 1980s, visible as dark gray areas at ages 30 to 45 during the 2010s. While some of these mortality changes reflect specific shocks such as the opioid epidemic, most deaths still occur from major causes of death such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. For cancer, the gray in the top left corner of the figure below reflects the legacies of smoking for older cohorts, followed by a period of green with improvements in cancer mortality as smoking rates declined. But the white/gray shading in the bottom right corner highlights a stagnation and reversal of the cancer trends, with cohorts born around 1970 to 1985 experiencing worsening cancer mortality. This deterioration was most noticeable for colon cancer mortality, possibly linked to obesity or dietary factors. Not just dying more, but less healthy along the way. A recent paper by Dr. Laura Gimeno of University College London (of which I am a co-author), found evidence that more recently born cohorts in Great Britain have stagnating or worsening health. A stylized picture of what“generational health drift” might look like: The review paper found: Rates of childhood overweight and obesity were highest among Gen Z. Rates of diabetes in the 40s almost doubled from 3.1% among the Baby Boomers to 5.9% in Generation X. Gen Z reported higher rates of poor mental health in adolescence compared to earlier-born groups. These UK results are consistent with studies showing worsening health across generations in the US as well. A 2021 US study found that more recently born cohorts had worse biological markers (like blood pressure and blood sugar) than earlier generations at the same age. A separate 2022 study of Americans aged 50 and over found that more recently born generations had a higher number of chronic diseases, with younger age of disease onset. A 2024 Lancet paper found that in the US, women born in 1945 had 33% obesity prevalence at age 50, rising to 48.2% for women born in 1970 turning 50. So what’s going on, and can we turn it around? We don’t have a definitive answer for what’s causing the deteriorating health of younger cohorts, but circumstantial evidence points to worsening trends in obesity and diabetes in both the US and UK. Remember that cohort trends reflect lagged effects of early environments, and younger generations have faced both earlier onset and more severe obesity across their lifetimes. Despite these very concerning trends, the future is not set in stone. We’ve reversed poor generational health trends before: drops in smoking are a major reason cancer and heart disease deaths fell so dramatically in recent decades. GLP-1 drugs may finally turn the tide against rising rates of obesity and diabetes, though it is still early days. But things could also get worse…for example from a return to higher levels of childhood infectious diseases that can have a lasting impact on health. See for example: [ ](https://jenndowd.substack.com/p/dont-you-forget-about-measles-the) [ Don’t You Forget About Me(asles): The Virus That Erases Immune Memory ](https://jenndowd.substack.com/p/dont-you-forget-about-measles-the) Jenn Dowd, PhD · March 24, 2025 [ Read full story ](https://jenndowd.substack.com/p/dont-you-forget-about-measles-the) Even as an optimist, emerging data on the “generational health drift” has my full attention. For most of my research career, we took it for granted that each generation would be healthier than the last. But if present trends continue, **50 could be the new 60….**and Gen Z celebrities will soon look older than Paul Rudd :). Stay well, Jenn Share the Health! If you found this post useful, please share it with a friend. Share
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But there’s a line between healthy scepticism and outright dismissal - and I’d argue that the latter lets the rich and powerful off far too easily. For instance, actress Jennifer Lawrence, once outspoken about her political views, last year told The Times she no longer believes celebrities have a role to play: “Celebrities do not make a difference whatsoever on who people vote for. So then what am I doing? I’m just sharing my opinion on something that’s going to add fuel to a fire that’s ripping the country apart.” While it’s a narrative she might find comfort in, it simply is not true. Grassroots movements often garner worldwide attention when celebrities and other high-profile spokespeople bring a mainstream platform to their causes. And this frustrates me. We have had three years of a live-streamed genocide. Macklemore himself has been calling for a Free Palestine long before he booked the Sheeran concert. Yet it’s the high-profile fallout of the last week that finally seems to have made saying “Free Palestine” socially acceptable in the mainstream. It feels like the collective mood has shifted, where calling out censorship is now the obvious response - not just the business of ‘radical’ activists. To recap, Sheeran’s decision followed an ultimatum from billionaire Robert Kraft, owner of Gillette Stadium, one of the venues Sheeran was scheduled to perform at: either drop Macklemore as your opener after only two of the eight scheduled shows, or you do not play at any stadiums. Sheeran’s disappointing decision to stand on the side of billionaire-led censorship has ultimately seen a surge in support for Free Palestine. It began when all his openers and his backing band pulled out of Sheeran’s tour, in solidarity with Macklemore and with the Palestinian cause. It was met with an uproar of support from those who had never or barely touched politics before: influencers lip-syncing to Macklemore’s music, singers like Jack Antonoff singing “Free Palestine,” and publications and podcasts standing with Macklemore. And finally, we saw material support: Macklemore donated $1 million in profits from his two nights opening for Sheeran’s tour to several Palestinian aid groups and called for Sheeran and Kraft to match it, which they have since promised to do. We’ve also seen children’s entertainer Ms Rachel follow suit with a $1 million donation to Palestinian aid, and publication PopBase has donated $10,000. Anera, a humanitarian aid group working in Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan, said donations since Macklemore’s announcement were more than triple this month’s daily average. The group’s Instagram page has also gained 8,000 followers. Macklemore far from the first celebrity to speak and participate in politics in the Western World. In 1924, singer Al Jolson supported Republican candidate Warren G. Harding for president, and decades later, celebrities such as Harry Belafonte, Lena Horne, and Aretha Franklin voiced their public support for the Civil Rights movement. More recently, in the lead-up to the 2024 US election, ‘The Daily Show with Trevor Noah partnered with the organisation Power the Polls to recruit poll workers to address shortages- a problem disproportionately affecting voters of colour. The campaign saw 170,000 new sign-ups - 35,000 of which came directly through the TV show’s link - resulting in the recruitment of 713,000 total poll workers that year, an almost three-fold increase on the organisation’s goal. Alongside recruiting workers, celebrities in the US (where voting in elections is not compulsory) have made a huge difference by calling for people to register to vote. Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris in 2024 saw over 400,000 visitors on the voter registration site within 24 hours of her Instagram post. In 2023, Swift had urged her fans to register, resulting in 35,000 new voter registrations. Similarly, Ariana Grande promoted voter registration in 2019 by setting up booths at concerts on the American leg of her tour, resulting in over 33,000 voters registering. And the same thing is happening closer to home. This year, musician Jack River successfully called for government action to ensure creatives in Australia do not have their work scraped by generative AI companies. Celebrity as the mediator between the punter and the politician Celebrity activism isn’t just a feel-good news story - research tells us it actually makes a difference. By directing attention to issues affecting the average person, like voting inaccessibility or a lack of action on a genocide, researchers Alfred Archer and Amanda Cawston state that “celebrities can play a useful bridging role between political elites and the people they represent”. Alternatively, in a world where talking about politics is “not cool,” or where people lack exposure or knowledge to engage with politics, celebrities can act as an educational resource or an entry point into the political world - when they speak up about an issue, their audience gets exposed to it. Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields festival is a perfect example. Rodrigo partnered with twelve organisations focused on women’s issues, such as reproductive rights. These organisations had stalls at the festival for people to meet them and were also featured heavily on social media, giving their issues global attention and raising $20 million for the organisations. We have also seen celebrities at award shows such as the Emmys wearing F*CK ICE pins, referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s treatment and detainment of people - generally people of colour. When celebrities speak up about political issues in public forums, they put the issue at the forefront of mainstream media, rally their supporters, and make it clear that, however much they disagree, the government cannot simply ignore it. Our over-reliance on celebrities versus our politicians As much as I love seeing my favourite celebrity use their platform for a good cause, there is an important question to ask: not whether celebrity activism is good or bad, but whether we should have to rely on celebrities. And the answer would, in an ideal world, be no. In an ideal world, or merely a just world, action on Palestine would’ve happened decades ago, climate change would be taken seriously, and most importantly, people would understand their democratic rights. However, that is not our reality. Only around 28 per cent of Australian Year 10 students reach proficiency in civics and citizenship. In the US, almost two-thirds of people under 30 say high school civics education didn’t prepare them to understand voting deadlines, how to research candidates, or how to vote by mail. When civics education is weak, our trust in these institutions and our understanding of change-making processes also decline. This is where celebrity steps in and becomes our main source of reliance. As Mary R. Connelly notes in _The Tartan, “_Celebrities will always be involved in campaigns in one form or another, but their presence is not what causes people to vote blindly. The lack of political engagement and literacy is what allows celebrities to wield their influence on the political sphere so impactfully.” About the author Varsha Yajman is the Digital Content Producer at Cheek Media. She is a youth advocate and lawyer with a background in climate litigation and is passionate about looking at the intersection between race, climate justice, and mental health. Thanks for reading Cheek Media Co. ! This post is public so feel free to share it. Share
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