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Faculty voice: The creative tension of America’s founding documents
Eric Gonzalez Juenke, an associate professor at MSU's Department of Political Science, reflects on the founding documents of America and what it means 250 years later.
An Unexpected Vocation: Jaibir Nihal Singh’s Journey from Film Student to Business Executive
Though trained as a filmmaker at Pepperdine University’s Seaver College, Jaibir Nihal Singh found a way to leverage his creative skills into a career as a successful innovator. Now, as a member of Forbes 30 under 30, Singh credits his education as the launchpad for his vocation, even if he never saw it coming.
Have the Astros found their 8th inning guy?
Have the Astros already found their setup man before the deadline?
Moncks Corner woman, 35, charged after running business without retail license
A Berkely County woman was charged after South Carolina Department of Revenue officals found that she was with operating a business without a Retail LicenseFrid
Foundation Friday: Building bright futures & mental health through fitness
The Lift US Foundation and InnerCity Weightlifting empower people to strive for better lives through fitness.
Scientists infected a 'vagina on a chip' with gonorrhea — then cured it with a new antibiotic found by AI
To sift through 6 million molecules in pursuit of new gonorrhea treatments, researchers trained AI to select the best drug candidate and then tested it in a "vagina on a chip."
Xprize founder says 'humans behave better when they’re being watched'
Peter Diamandis is the latest tech executive to argue that global surveillance will make the world a better place, following Larry Ellison's comments in 2024.
I started a business that takes teens' phones at parties
Karen Silberman founded The Phone Valet after noticing teens spending entire parties staring at their phones.
Valve's HDMI 2.1 Saga Is "Fully Resolved" with a Final FRL Update to Come For Full 4K 240Hz support
My monitor is ready.
Gambling disorder diagnoses spike after states legalized sports betting
Researchers analyzed millions of electronic health records and found a major difference between states that greenlit sports gambling and those that didn’t.
Gambling disorder diagnoses spike after states legalized sports betting
Researchers analyzed millions of electronic health records and found a major difference between states that greenlit sports gambling and those that didn’t.
Valve Would "Love to Make the Steam Machine More Affordable" - Just Don't Expect It "Any Time Soon"
If memory prices go down - and that's a big if.
How Outward Intelligence founders bootstrapped to seven-figure revenue
Three friends with résumés spanning Google, Palantir, and Harris Poll skipped venture capital and bootstrapped their startup instead.
Cabo Verde Is a Breakout Star of the World Cup. So Is the Family-Owned Business That Designed Its Jerseys
After more than three decades manufacturing apparel, Capelli Sport co-founder and CEO George Altirs found his company’s biggest billboard yet—3,500 miles away from his midtown Manhattan office.
I obsess over PCs for a living. Here are the 28 best Prime Day laptop and computer deals
Prime Day is officially into Day 4, and our computing expert found some great deals on laptops and computers you can get right now.
Health officials: State's first West Nile virus-positive mosquito of the year found in Berkshires
“With warmer weather and summer officially beginning this week, it is the time of year when we typically begin detecting West Nile virus in mosquito populations,” a public health official said.
Priscilla Chan on science, disease prevention and the future of medicine
CNBC's Becky Quick sits down for a conversation with Dr. Priscilla Chan, co-founder of Biohub, at Aspen Ideas: Health.
Making Our Own Luck
We are cross-posting a piece that former NIH official Kris Willis wrote for Macroscience. Kris is now the President and Founder of the Woodley Park Institute, for which I’m a board member. Picking winners or hedging bets? Federal science agencies have long wrestled with the question of how to ensure their billions of dollars of grants and contracts result in maximum benefits for Americans. On the surface, it might seem that a goal-oriented, interventionist style of management would be the best policy: prioritize our most pressing problems and distribute funding accordingly.This top-down strategy creates a unique hazard, though: bad choices can send resources in the wrong direction, resulting in slow progress that impedes the delivery of tangible benefits to citizens. Moreover, if decision makers pursue an applied advance when the underlying scientific principles remain poorly understood, they risk costly failures and a loss of support for the research enterprise at large. Examples include Nixon’s 1971 War on Cancer, undertaken on the premise that a cure could be achieved in less than a decade, the drive to build an operational commercial fusion plant by the mid-1990s, and the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, which failed to produce the effective treatments and prevention strategies promised by 2025. The contrasting laissez-faire approach is to hedge your bets. If the path to an advance is impossible to predict, then the wisest choice might be to distribute funding to as widely as possible. The main risk of this strategy is that spreading funding thinly may limit the resources available to the most promising research, resulting in the same negative outcomes as the interventionist approach: limited support for the most promising topics, slow progress, and delayed returns. In reality, at science agencies like the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, program managers navigate between these two extremes, setting some funds aside to target high-priority areas and using the rest to cover the widest possible range of meritorious proposals. This middle path seems like the most rational way to proceed, but it still requires making choices. How much should be set aside for high priority topics? What should those topics be? How should we define merit? Expert opinion can provide a helpful guide, but leading experts can have remarkably different opinions about what matters and what should be prioritized. Moreover, experts and administrators alike can be risk averse, giving an edge to high-profile, well-established concepts. What’s really needed is a data-driven framework to help guide decision-making, one that doesn’t simply repackage prestige or incumbency. Recognizing breakthroughs years in advance Many breakthroughs fail to attract funding or recognition at the earliest stages of development. Katalin Karikó, for example, spent years struggling to win grants for work on mRNA that would eventually win her and Drew Weissman a Nobel Prize. Similar stories can be told about Jim Allison’s groundbreaking studies leading to the development of cancer immunotherapy, Stan Pruisner’s demonstration that prions can self-replicate without DNA, or Robin Warren and Barry Marshall’s proof that Helicobacter pylori, not stress, causes ulcers. Yet at some point, the scientific community recognizes and responds to transformative breakthroughs like these. How does that change happen? And what if science funders could identify the areas that are on the cusp of a breakthrough? Those questions led my collaborators and me to study how scientists responded to past breakthroughs. Based on patterns in that data, we developed a means of predicting future breakthroughs, using biomedicine as a proof of concept. It’s worth taking a moment to describe how our approach works. Briefly, our prediction process begins by grouping the 18 million or so peer-reviewed papers in PubMed, the authoritative database of biomedical research, into roughly 50,000 unique topics. A small subset of these topics are so widely acclaimed as breakthroughs that they have been recognized with a major prize like a Nobel or a Lasker Award. We theorized that studying the development of these outliers over time, especially before they gained acclaim, was the key to identifying future instances of them. After defining topics, we chose 21 representative breakthroughs and asked what they looked like before they won prestigious prizes. To answer that question, we re-ran our topic-mapping algorithm repeatedly, winding back the clock one year each time, stringing together the years to follow the progress of each field as it grew and advanced. We found that in each case, the years leading up to a discovery followed a pattern: a burst of papers on a new, rapidly evolving topic, many of which quickly became influential. These characteristics—the percent of papers that are new, the percentage of papers that are brought in from other topics, and the influence of each individual paper—can all be measured separately for any given topic. Together, they act as a predictive signal that is detectable an average of five years before a transformative discovery is made, and up to thirty years before the discovery receives a major prize. Scanning the current research landscape for topics that display this signal allows us to predict what work will likely produce a future breakthrough. Each year we analyzed includes four or five signals, a number that appears to have remained constant across a twenty year time frame. In their classic work on the sociology of science, Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar established that the desire to participate in a major discovery is an important motivator for scientists as they consider whether they should take up (or abandon) a research problem. Although further work is needed, the simplest explanation for our results is that this behavior is widespread enough to detect at scale. A foundational advance, or something like it, draws the attention of scientists and causes them to change the direction of their research. They vote with their feet, staking their own reputation and careers by publishing on and citing the new idea. That upswell of interest is the foundation of our breakthrough signal. What kind of research does our model identify as a breakthrough? After building a model based on the patterns in our 21 preselected breakthroughs, we tested it by identifying all early signals of discovery from 1994 through 1997. Of the 18 signals we found in that time period, 17 can be traced forward in time to a breakthrough. Examples include super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (see the image above), the directed evolution of proteins and enzymes (Chemistry Nobel, 2018), and sequencing the human genome (National Medal of Science, 2008). The discovery of the role of leptin signaling in obesity is a particularly interesting case study. Around 1950, scientists noticed the existence of a type of lab mouse that suffered from a unique inherited form of obesity. When given the freedom to choose their own diet, these mice ate more than normal and preferred food that was high in fat. Researchers had few clues as to why the animals overate; early experiments pointed to the existence of a soluble ob factor found circulating in the bloodstream that regulated appetite, but its identity was unknown. In 1994, Jeffrey Friedman and colleagues identified and sequenced the ob gene, noting that the protein it encoded appeared to fit the profile of a circulating factor. A year later, a trio of high-profile publications demonstrated that ob was a hormone that regulated body weight and fat deposition by regulating appetite. One of these was co-authored by Friedman, who christened it leptin from the ancient Greek word for thin. Using our model, the data from 1996 make it clear this advance would become a breakthrough. Scientists had flocked to study the biology of the new hormone, generating the flurry of new papers and citations required to produce a signal. One of these demonstrated that serum leptin concentrations reflected the amount of adipose tissue in the human body, providing clinical validation of the earlier mouse studies. Before the identification of leptin, scientists were unable to point to a specific molecule that controlled appetite and adiposity, so that it was impossible to rule out non-physiological causes of obesity; its characterization fundamentally changed our concept of weight gain. In 2010, Friedman and fellow pioneer Douglas Coleman were awarded a Lasker for the discovery. Our work also identifies breakthroughs in clinical practice and behavioral and social sciences, even though these areas are less likely to draw the attention of major prize committees. One example that falls into this category is the introduction of endovascular aneurysm repair, a minimally invasive surgical procedure for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm, a leading cause of death among Americans over the age of 65. Relative to the previous standard of care, it reduces in-hospital mortality by almost four-fold. In 2017, Timothy Chuter received the American College of Surgeons’ prestigious Jacobsen Innovation award for his multiple refinements to the technique. Another under-recognized breakthrough identified by our model is the development of standardized survey instruments to assess the quality of life for HIV+ patients. The antiretroviral cocktails introduced in the mid-1990s reduced AIDS mortality, but treatment came with serious side effects. The new evaluations showed that patients whose disease progressed had worse physical functioning than Americans with other chronic diseases, while those who were asymptomatic maintained a health-related quality of life on par with the overall US population. This evidence made it possible for patients and activists to argue that even in the absence of a total cure, and in spite of the side effects, alleviation of symptoms was a worthwhile priority for clinicians. My colleagues and I have failed to identify any significant recognition for the physicians and health policy experts who pioneered this advance, although in 2016, researchers called for the World Health Organization to set targets for good health-related quality of life as part of its framework to end the AIDS pandemic. From forecasting to funding How should science funders use our predictions? Any serious discussion of what we should do with this new capability needs to begin with an understanding of its limitations. We can’t (and shouldn’t) invest all of our resources in the small number of topics predicted to produce breakthroughs. Innovative new fields are born from existing ones; they rarely arise de novo. If funders don’t maintain a diverse portfolio, the breakthroughs of tomorrow will have no antecedents. Think of this as eating the seed corn, or killing the goose that lays the golden egg. There are also multiple goals of funding beyond basic scientific discovery, including translating discoveries into clinical practice, developing new technologies, supporting economic development, and training new scientists. The investments needed to accomplish these goals are likely different from those required to support emerging breakthroughs. Finally, we must be aware that we may not capture every instance of a breakthrough. The concept is fuzzy, and not every significant discovery is recognized with a major award. Further, breakthroughs are rare, meaning that our dataset is, by necessity, small. This makes formal estimates of accuracy challenging. Although our overall success rate appears to be high, any one signal may turn out to be a false positive. We found one apparent example: the development of the third generation COX-2 inhibitors, Vioxx and Celebrex, which were much celebrated in the early 2000s as effective but non-addictive pain relievers, meets all the algorithmic criteria of a breakthrough. Five years after it received FDA approval, researchers demonstrated that Vioxx was associated with serious cardiovascular complications, and the manufacturer voluntarily pulled the drug from the market. Celebrex remains available, although like other NSAIDs, it carries an FDA warning for increased cardiovascular risk. Decision makers who were overly focused on the breakthrough potential of this research might have wasted substantial resources nurturing an area that ultimately proved to be a failure—but so would those who relied on expert opinion at the time. That said, the potential benefits of funding the next mRNA vaccine or cancer immunotherapy years earlier than we might have are large. When we can’t assume the outcome of an action, it’s worth conducting an experiment. Can targeted support for areas that are poised to produce a breakthrough increase the return on scientific investment without cannibalizing future advances? With the necessary administrative infrastructure in place, conducting this experiment would be straightforward. First, identify all the breakthrough signals between 2018 and 2023, select half at random, and commit to a decade of investment. For biomedicine, a six year window should yield about 30 topics with the potential to produce a breakthrough. Providing strong support to half of these might be accomplished for $300 million a year. That’s roughly half of the recent annual budget of the NIH Common Fund or around 20% of the fiscal year 2025 budget for ARPA-H. After five years, then again at ten, compare to see which group — the one that was actively managed, or the control — produced more breakthroughs, and on what timescale. Although we used biomedicine as an example, the same experiment could just as well be run for physics, materials science, or any other discipline. Any attempt to undertake such an experiment should keep three points top of mind. First, we can predict the topic of future breakthroughs, but the people and vision for how to move the work forward are still important. In practice, this means success requires active program managers with the expertise to develop the science and the authority to do so, including by recruiting investigators. Second, we would be wise to learn from the failures of past attempts to fund transformative research. High among these are funding modestly repackaged work, confusing the genuinely novel with the merely unfamiliar, and relying too much on incumbent investigators. All of these risks can be mitigated by thoroughly and intelligently integrating high quality data into portfolio management. Finally, we need to have patience. Even with strong funding support, producing a breakthrough takes time. If supporting breakthroughs is the best way to nurture the birth of new fields, we also need to accurately describe and properly manage the other two stages, so that we invest wisely throughout the productive lifetime of ideas and divest once they reach the point of diminishing returns. We would benefit from more study of all of these phases, especially the transition from one to another. More research could answer questions like: When does a breakthrough become an established field? How do the availability of funding, the size and characteristics of the available workforce, and the accumulation of evidence that disagrees with prevailing models affect a field’s decline? Exactly how do old ideas give birth to new ones, and can we speed up the process? The more we understand about the dynamics of scientific progress, the better we can maximize the odds that our curiosity leads to results. I’d call that finding a way to make our own luck.
Prime Day ends soon: We found 125+ deals from Apple, Lego, Sony, Kindle, and more
Kindle e-readers, Apple Watches, and Samsung TVs are all highlights on day three of the Amazon sale.
Participating in heavy-contact youth sports, dropping out of sports linked to acts of violence
Contrary to popular belief, simply playing organized youth sports does not reduce the likelihood of committing violence in one’s lifetime, and in some cases, may increase it, according to a new study.The study, published online recently in the Sociology of Sport Journal, found that while most survey respondents — including those who played y...
UT Health San Antonio identifies the first potential probiotic treatment for lupus
Contact: Steven Lee, (210) 450-3823, lees22@uthscsa.edu Content provided by Claire Kowalick SAN ANTONIO, June 25, 2026 – Scientists at UT Health San Antonio, the academic health center of The University of Texas at San Antonio, found a link between a bacterium in the gut microbiome, or ecosystem, and lupus, which could lead to more effective […]
What Happens When You Throw a Paper Plane From Space? These Physicists Found Out
A simulated A4 paper plane takes a death dive from the ISS for science.
Poppi founder speaks about building a billion-dollar soda business
Allison Ellsworth, the founder of the viral soda brand Poppi, sits down with NBC News' Savannah Sellers to discuss how she turned a personal health issue into a billion-dollar cultural phenomenon.
Another look at carrots and eyesight; how to get more fiber; why mosquitoes bite some people and not others; plus other stories with Vanderbilt Health sources
AARP reporter Stacey Colino interviewed Milam Brantley, MD, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, in 2020 for a story about whether eating carrots can improve vision. Sacramento Bee reporter Samantha Agate has now used Brantley’s comments in an AI-curated story created by content specialists on the same topic that has been picked up by MSN and others. Prevention magazine interviewed Heidi Silver, RD, PhD, Founding Director of the Vanderbilt Diet, Body Composition, and Human Metabolism Core, for a story about the importance of fiber and how people can get more of it in their diet. William Schaffner, MD, Professor of Preventive Medicine, was quoted by several news outlets about public health issues, including: Women’s Health (tick bites and alpha-gal syndrome); The Washington Post (tetanus); and Healthline (why mosquitoes prefer to bite some people and leave others alone). A visit to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt by some Banana Ball baseball players was covered by The Tennessean and WZTV Fox 17 News, and The Tennessean’s story was also picked up by Yahoo! Sports. Clarksville Now published a story written by the Montgomery County Economic Development Team, whointerviewed Bradley Stancombe, MD, professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Vanderbilt Neonatology, about the new energy of Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital and how the facility is recruiting physicians. Healio Allergy/Asthma group editorial director Richard Gawel interviewed Mark Rolfsen, MD, Clinical Fellow in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, for a story about his presentation at the American Thoracic Society meeting on metal health outcomes following ICU discharge. Nashville Scene reporter Hannah Herner interviewed James Crowe, MD, Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Antibody Therapeutics, for a story about his efforts to prepare for the next pandemic by isolating antibodies that can neutralize dangerous viruses. Medscape reporter Kathleen Doheny interviewed Neesha Choma, Associate Chief of Staff of Vanderbilt University Hospital, for a story about how hospitals can reduce readmissions.
A new vision for quantum computing takes a big step forward, with new grant
A $4 million National Science Foundation grant will propel the next phase of a Yale-led project to build a quantum computer with an innovative new design.
Scientists Analyzed the Bones of ‘Skeleton Lake.’ What They Found Made No Sense.
Roopkund Lake sits in a frozen pocket of the Himalayas where hundreds of people died across a millennium. So why did researchers find bones from the island of Crete there?
Ohio State–led team secures NSF award to advance to next phase of the National Quantum Virtual Laboratory program
The Ohio State University is strengthening its growing prominence in quantum science, technology, and education with a $4 million, two‑year Phase II design award from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to advance a national effort focused on next‑generation quantum sensing.The funding is helping to bring together top researchers and ...
David P. O'Brien
About five years ago, David P. O'Brien had a comfortable position at Marsh & McLennan Cos., where he held the top post at the financial giant's Louisville, Ky., office. Despite the lofty rank, Mr. O'Brien found himself longing to be at a smaller company that had to work a little harder to land business. That desire led him away from Kentucky five years ago and to Cleveland, where he serves as executive vice president at business insurance agency Oswald Cos. "I left Marsh before it was en vogue," he said, referring to layoffs and defections at Marsh over the course of this year that followed accusations of bid rigging at the big firm. Above all, Mr. O'Brien, 38, wanted to work at a company that relied on its inventiveness, rather than its name, for business. He said he has found that at Oswald. "It causes you to be more creative, to be more resourceful," Mr. O'Brien said. For instance, an Oswald client seeking to do business internationally might be directed to the network of offices abroad run by competitors such as Marsh and Aon Risk Services Inc. "We're going to use whatever access into the market that makes the most sense for our clients," he said. Of course, using such a strategy can be dangerous for Oswald if its client decides to further a business relationship with one of the firms Oswald recommended. "That's the obvious question and why it's nontraditional," he said. "I think if we're good, and if we're bringing value to the client, then there's no risk. I'm not threatened by it." Imaginative business solutions of that type made his career move to Oswald from Marsh worthwhile. "It's very much a challenge," he said. "It helps you keep your edge. I'm all for the competition." John Jacunski, currently vice president and corporate controller at York, Pa., paper company PH Gladfelter Co., met Mr. O'Brien four years ago when Mr. Jacunski was at WCI Steel Inc. in Warren. So impressed was he with Mr. O'Brien's work for WCI that Mr. Jacunski has retained the Oswald executive at PH Gladfelter. "He's a young guy for the position he has, but he's done a great job for us," Mr. Jacunski said. Among his roles at Oswald, Mr. O'Brien leads the firm's client retention efforts and also serves as director of its property and casualty group. "You don't have the same human resources," he said of the job jump to Oswald. "You don't have, obviously, the safety net a big company has." But sometimes, it can be difficult to ascertain individual contributions when working at a big company. "I wanted to be able to see the end results of my work and my efforts," Mr. O'Brien said.
CVS Health Foundation invests $1 million in Rhode Island nonprofits tackling community health needs
/PRNewswire/ -- The CVS Health Foundation is investing $1 million in grants through its Hometown Fund to 20 organizations that are making a difference for...
FDA-approved drug may finally help immunotherapy defeat rare liver cancer
Researchers found that a rare liver cancer evades immunotherapy by luring immune T cells away from the tumor and trapping them in nearby fibrous tissue. An FDA-approved drug called AMD3100 freed those T cells to attack the cancer, significantly improving the effectiveness of immunotherapy in tumor samples.
How should European scientists respond to the US AI kill switch?
Earlier in June, Europe’s worst fears of technological dependence were confirmed when the White House ordered the AI firm Anthropic to stop non-US citizens using its leading models. This kill-switch moment crystalised anxieties in Brussels that the continent, lagging the US on the creation of leading-edge AI models, is now a technological of vassal of Washington. The shock has specific implications for European scientists and universities. Some governments are now worried that with AI being integrated into labs, Donald Trump now has his finger hovering over an off switch for European science. “Having restrictions on this tool, it can have an impact on our own research,” said France’s research minister, Philippe Baptiste, at the VivaTech conference in Paris on June 18.Baptiste, himself a former academic, said that colleagues in mathematics had recently warned him they were now cut off from leading-edge US models, risking their work. “This model is not available anymore now because of the US restriction, and for the first time this had an impact on mathematics,” a field where large language models (LLMs) are making a significant contribution, said Baptiste. So, should European scientists avoid relying on US models in the future? Or would this be a self-harming overreaction? And how is AI being used in science, anyway? What happened?On June 12, it emerged that Washington, citing cybersecurity concerns, had ordered Anthropic to stop non-US citizens using two models: Claude Mythos 5, and Claude Fable 5, a version of Mythos but with guardrails to prevent abuse. Anthropic said Washington’s concerns were overblown. But forced to follow the order, yet with no way to check who was using the models, the company suddenly shut down access for everyone, US citizens included. There’s still no agreement on how to restore broad access. But last week, Bloomberg reported that select US companies, and the US government, still had access to Mythos despite the ban, but the EU’s cybersecurity agency Enisa had been shut out. Class division of researchersIn the longer term, access outside the US should be restored, said Marcel Salathé, co-director of the AI centre at the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL), because a permanent restriction would be financially ruinous to US AI firms. “Even Trump will eventually budge to economic pressure,” he said.However, US AI firms might end up operating rather like banks, doing due diligence on users of their leading-edge AI models, he went on.European scientists are unlikely to fall foul of such checks, he said. But having a Chinese postgraduate in their lab, or doing a type of research the US disapproved of, could potentially result in access being denied. “It will create a sort of class division of researchers,” he said. More than frontier modelsHowever, successfully deploying AI in science is about far more than just having access to leading LLMs such as Mythos.Instead, many science-specific tools, most famously Alphafold, which predicts protein folding structures, require “far less” computing power to train than frontier models, well within the capabilities of European supercomputers, according to a recent analysis by the Arq Foundation, a Brussel-based AI think tank. Instead, tools such as Alphafold are possible because certain fields, like protein folding, weather prediction or astronomy, have large, clean, standardised datasets that can be used to train predictive models. Rather than compute, “data is the central constraint for AI for science,” the report says. For example, a less powerful physics model trained on CERN’s data “will be more valuable than the best model without certain data,” said Bengüsu Özcan, author of the report. European advantage?Europe could therefore steal a march by using its scientific data and infrastructure to create models US digital giants cannot. “They might actually match or go even beyond what these big [US] companies are doing,” said Özcan.Indeed, some European start-ups hope to create automated testing labs to create the kind of standardised data that could speed up the discovery of new materials. Materials scientists say there’s currently too little data to train models. AI scientistsHowever, even if the bottleneck for AI in science is often data, rather than compute, being at the mercy of the US for LLM access could still become a problem for European scientists. A new class of “AI scientists” based on leading LLMs is also emerging, Özcan’s report says.Unlike domain-specific tools like Alphafold, these try to automate day-to-day scientific work, by providing an overarching tool that coordinates specific models to synthesise existing literature, generate hypotheses or run analysis of data. The problem for Europe, however, is that these tools are sometimes based on US leading models. Google Deepmind’s AI Co-Scientist, for example, is built on Google’s Gemini LLM. Systematic failureThese scientific automation tools are still in their early stages, and still exhibit “systematic failures on scientific tasks,” Özcan’s report says. One of the problems is that the messy, day-to-day process of scientific discovery is largely not documented, meaning LLMs don’t have a good source of data to learn how scientists actually work. Meanwhile, some tasks, such as literature synthesis, don’t typically require access to leading edge models.However, the performance of AI scientific assistants could improve as companies such as Google pour resources into developing them. Rely on US“Unfortunately, for scientific assistants, there is not much we can do right now except rely on US frontier AI,” said Antoine Bosselut, a natural language processing expert based at EPFL. Chinese-built open models, which can run on local computers, lessening the risk of a shutdown, are touted as one alternative to US dependence. There’s also Mistral, once seen as Europe’s main AI hope, but the Paris-based company has seen its recent models fall behind in performance. But the Chinese alternatives are generally not as capable as US frontier AI models, said Bosselut, unless paired with fiddly, custom tools that allows them to act as independent agents. “Most scientists do not have the time,” he said. Don’t jump ship yetAlthough the kill switch moment is seen a warning shot for European scientists, it doesn’t mean labs should abandon US AI tools immediately. “I do not think the right response is simply to abandon US-based models and systems under the banner of sovereignty or independence,” said Mattias Björnmalm, secretary general of the Cesaer university association. “That would be an overreaction.”Related articlesEuropean sovereignty in AI requires ‘ugly trade-offs,’ say experts Robotic lab start-up makes case for €500M EU-funded materials testing facilityAI in science: is it useful? Instead, European researchers need to ask themselves whether they’re becoming dependent on technology that could be turned off in Washington, said Özcan. “They might not see this today, but they should really start asking this question,” she said. European researchers need a plan B, said Salathé. “I would recommend to every researcher, very proactively explore alternatives.”Own toolsIn addition, Björnmalm and others want European research institutions to develop their own scientific AI tools.Instead of signing AI deals with US digital giants, European universities should be using this money to create their own models, which may end up being superior for research, said Sabine Leonelli, an expert on the use of AI in science at the Technical University of Munich. “Universities in Europe seem to be happy to sign commercial contracts with US companies on the assumption [their AI tools] are better,” she said. But US frontier LLMs are typically opaque, and have been developed without independent scientific input, she said. “This is not good enough for science.”Last year, Swiss researchers released Apertus, an LLM designed to be completely transparent, from its development methods to its training data. The idea is that this makes scientific tools built on top of the model far more reproducible than with closed, commercial alternatives.“Europe needs more of this: serious capacity-building that gives researchers, universities and companies credible options,” said Björnmalm.
Could the history of Mars be set in stone? Meteorite discovery may offer clues to Red Planet's past
Garnet found in a 4.4-billion-year-old meteorite gives potential insight into the history, development and geological processes of Mars.
Hims' obesity drug business may get boost as employers drop coverage
Telehealth provider Hims and Hers Health may get a boost next year from employers dropping coverage of weight-loss drugs like Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Zepbound and Foundayo to rein in costs, investors and analysts say.
Prime Day is here: We found 100+ deals from Apple, Lego, Sony, and more
Kindle e-readers, Apple Watches, and portable power stations are all highlights as we wrap day two of the Amazon sale.
CVS Health Foundation invests $1 million in Hartford nonprofits tackling community health needs
Local organizations receive Hometown Fund support to expand access to health care, food, housing and essential services
New polls show Americans’ complicated feelings about the country, 250 years on
More than three-quarters of Americans think the country’s founders would be disappointed with the US today, according to a Gallup poll released this week – one of several new surveys spotlighting the public’s complicated feelings about the nation’s legacy as it approaches its 250th anniversary.
Louisville doctor, nurse and nonprofit founder charged in federal health care fraud crackdown
Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Kentucky announced charges in four separate cases involving alleged schemes to defraud Medicare and Medicaid, misuse medical credentials and controlled substances, and submit
NASA’s TESS Mission Reveals the “Puffiest” Planets Ever Found
NASA has revealed two new “super-puff” planets, giant worlds so light that their density is comparable to cotton candy. Scientists calculate that these Jupiter-sized planets are the “puffiest” worlds ever found.
89 Middle Tennessee nonprofits awarded $2.1M in grants by HCA Healthcare Foundation
A $2.1 million round of grants is headed to dozens of nonprofit organizations across Middle Tennessee.
“Absolutely huge” 400-year-old black coral stuns scientists in New Zealand
A giant black coral estimated to be 300–400 years old has been discovered deep in Fiordland, New Zealand, astonishing researchers with its enormous size—about 4 meters tall and 4.5 meters wide. Scientists say it may be one of the largest black corals ever recorded in New Zealand waters and an important stronghold for the slow-growing species.
New study reveals gaps in how mental health is measured in European Region
A new WHO/Europe study found wide variation in how research measures mental health in the WHO European Region, underlining the urgent need for standard monitoring.
South Korea arrests Shincheonji church leader for meddling in politics, media report
A South Korean court ordered the arrest of Lee Man-hee, the founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, over allegations he orchestrated an illegal scheme for followers to join a political party, news reports said.
Student From Des Plaines Wins National Science Foundation Award
Elmhurst University biochemistry major Hannah Cardenas, of Des Plaines, recently received a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF REU) award to participate in a 10-week summer research internship at the University of Texas at Dallas.
The biotech founder asking why good science gets stuck
As an undergraduate, Alinta Furnell led student societies, pitched startup ideas and built biotechnology ventures. Now, the UNSW alumna is investigating one of innovation’s biggest challenges – why so many scientific breakthroughs never make it beyond the lab.
Family mourns man found dead in south Bexar County business as BCSO searches for shooter
Bexar County sheriff’s investigators say they have little information on a murder case that has left a big hole in the hearts of one family.
What Does Success Look Like in 2026 for Dolphins?
After moving on from veterans such as Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill, the upcoming season is about developing the Dolphins' roster, resetting the culture, and gaining salary cap flexibility for the future. The goal for any NFL team is not just to succeed in the immediate future but to establish a solid foundation for long-term success. After releasing Tagovailoa, Willis became the Dolphins' most significant free agent acquisition after he signed a three-year, $67.5 million contract with $45 million guaranteed.
Milwaukee County judge weighs in on rising mental health felony cases
Investigative reporting found that mental competency evaluations in felony cases have roughly doubled since 2013, straining resources for the state criminal justice system.
Houston Methodist receives $110M donation, largest in health system’s history
The donation, made by The Brockman Medical Research Foundation, is the largest in the hospital system's history.
A Mars rover found organic carbon just sitting on a rock
The organic molecules could come from life or from ordinary chemistry — only samples returned to Earth can settle it.
Exclusive | Gen Zer revives forgotten NYC businesses from a found old-school Rolodex — and New Yorkers are obsessed
CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER TO OPEN THE SAMUEL OSCHIN AIR AND SPACE CENTER ON NOVEMBER 13, 2026
/PRNewswire/ -- The California Science Center announced today that the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, the permanent home of Space Shuttle Endeavour, will...
Launch your sci-fi binge with these top streaming deals I found during Prime Day
Are you trying to avoid the temptation of Prime Day? From Project Hail Mary to Superman, we've got the best summer streaming deals to see you through.
The most controversial fossil site in human evolution just got even more puzzling
Scientists studied the remains of a mysterious human relative called Homo naledi found deep in a South African cave and determined they were all female.
Creators are rethinking the exit
Founders like Clea Shearer, Hoda Kotb and Mel Robbins are prioritizing control.
Why healthcare CIOs must fix their foundations before scaling AI
Healthcare leaders are focused on generative AI innovation, but the organizations most likely to succeed may be those investing first in architecture, governance and interoperability.
Survey finds 3 in 10 adults using social media, AI for health information and advice
Results from a KFF poll published June 17 found that 31% of adults use social media at least monthly to seek health information and advice, similar to 29% who said they use artificial intelligence for the same purposes.
Optimum Business, Woodbridge Metro Chamber of Commerce announce small business program
Optimum Business and the Woodbridge Metro Chamber of Commerce announced the founding of the “Lifting up Small Businesses in Woodbridge, New Jersey.”
NSF selects five additional teams in National Quantum Virtual Laboratory design competition
The U.S. National Science Foundation has selected five new teams to design experimental quantum technologies, from networks that can ferry fragile quantum information across long distances to sensors…
NSF selects five additional teams in National Quantum Virtual Laboratory design competition
The U.S. National Science Foundation has selected five new teams to design experimental quantum technologies, from networks that can ferry fragile quantum information across long distances to sensors…
Hollister’s First-Ever Target Collection Reveals a 3-Step Growth Strategy Any Business Can Copy
Hollister's first home collection is a move from closet share to lifestyle share, and a growth playbook any founder can borrow.
How the world views Keir Starmer’s resignation
With the prospect of seven prime ministers in the last 10 years, No. 10 Downing Street is seen as a revolving door and Britain as having ‘profound’ problems
Scientists just found the hidden 'lid' keeping Yellowstone's supervolcano from erupting - Futura-Sciences
Few places fuel doomsday headlines like Yellowstone. America’s most famous national park sits atop a supervolcano, and the question of when it might blow has haunted the public for decades. So when scientists finally got a clear look at the top of its magma system in 2025, the discovery was...
The universe may be hiding conscious minds stranger than we can imagine
What if consciousness isn’t limited to brains like ours? Philosophers Eric Schwitzgebel and Jeremy Pober argue that consciousness could arise in many different forms of life, even in beings built from radically different materials than those found on Earth. Drawing on the vastness of the universe and the likely existence of countless alien civilizations, they suggest it would be surprisingly Earth-centric to assume that only Earth-like biology can support conscious experience.
Scientists discover hidden “footprints of death” that may help viruses spread
Scientists have uncovered a surprising new twist in what happens when cells die. As dying cells break apart, they leave behind tiny “footprints of death” packed with newly discovered particles that help guide the immune system to clean up the remains. But researchers found that influenza viruses can exploit this process, hiding inside these microscopic packages and potentially using them to spread to nearby cells.
How wearable tech aims to innovate women's health care
Clair Health co-founder and CTO (Chief Technology Officer) Abhinav Agarwal comes on Asking for a Trend to explain how the company is using AI models in its hormone monitoring device and how new doctors, specifically OBGYNs, can use it to learn more.
Ari Emanuel's Mari is in Talks to Acquire ATG Entertainment
Ari Emanuel's events company Mari, founded in 2025, is in talks to acquire ATG Entertainment. Mari is looking to acquire the West End and Broadway venue owner and ticketing company for £4.5B ($6B).
Ryan Serhant’s Advice for Building a Business That Lasts
Ahead of his appearance at NAR NXT, the SERHANT. founder and CEO shares lessons on discipline, branding and playing the long game in real estate.
Ari Emanuel's Mari In Talks To Buy Theater Giant ATG Entertainment
Mari, the events company founded last year by Ari Emanuel, is in advanced talks to acquire West End and Broadway theater giant ATG Entertainment.
I’ve tracked Prime Day for 11 years. These 17 laptop and computer deals are actually worth it
Prime Day is officially here, and our computing expert found some great deals on laptops and computers you can get right now.
Chinese scientists love Blackpink’s Jennie so much they named a fish after her
At less than 9mm, Jennie’s bumblebee goby is the smallest of its genus and the first to be found in China.
Daughter of Oscar-winning director found dead with husband in car
Judith Sheldon, daughter of Oscar-winning 'Ben-Hur' director William Wyler, was found dead with her husband Wylie Sheldon in their car along the side of Interstate 5 near Redding, Calif., on June 15.
Early humans were bringing fire into caves 1.8 million years ago
A new study suggests early humans were using fire in South Africa’s Wonderwerk Cave as far back as 1.79 million years ago. Researchers found burned bones deep inside the cave, where natural wildfires could not have reached, indicating that fire was likely carried in and maintained by human ancestors. The discovery pushes back the timeline for fire use and reveals surprisingly sophisticated behavior long before humans could create fire on demand.
Oracle Backend for Microservices and AI: The Business Value of a Microservices Backend Platform
Discover how Oracle Backend for Microservices and AI (OBaaS) 2.1.0 provides a shared backend foundation for microservices and AI-enabled applications, helping teams standardize gateways, observability, messaging, configuration, workflow coordination, and Oracle AI Database integration.
People on GLP-1 medications are exercising less
A new study found that people using weight-loss drugs are doing less exercise, despite feeling healthier. Here's how muscle mass and bone density are affected.
Alo Yoga Primed for IPO After Sale of Its T-Shirt Business
The sale of Bella+Canvas, which has not closed yet, would give founders Danny Harris and Marco DeGeorge more flexibility and options for the Lululemon challenger.
Mediterranean-inspired diet with added methionine extends healthy lifespan in mice
A plant- and fish-based, low-protein diet paired with small amounts of an amino acid commonly found in eggs, meat and dairy increased healthy lifespan and decreased frailty and fat mass in mice, according ...
Foley Entertainment Group Announces VGK Founder Bill Foley’s Bid to Bring NBA Franchise to Las Vegas
Foley Entertainment Group Announces VGK Founder Bill Foley’s Bid to Bring NBA Franchise to Las Vegas...
Preview: Star Wars: Galactic Racer's physics-based destructive tech and high-speed DNA shows promise
Now this is podracing!
Pivot Fellow Natasha Blitvic Brings Math to Marine Microbiology
Pivot Fellow Natasha Blitvic Brings Math to Marine Microbiology on Simons Foundation
Vanderbilt Health lands three of 35 Susan G. Komen research grants
Komen is the largest nonprofit funder of breast cancer research outside of the U.S. government, having invested more than $1.1 billion in research since its founding.
It Ain’t Just Sports: CPR, tennis & a second chance with Adrian Murray
In this episode: We sit down with Adrian Murray, co-founder of T.R.I.N.I.T.Y Tennis, to talk about purpose, perseverance, and using tennis to promote heart health and life-saving skills.
CDC’s chief blocked a covid vaccine study. Now it’s in a top medical journal.
The study found that the vaccine reduced the risk of emergency department visits and hospitalizations among healthy adults by about half last winter.
I found the 6 top Amazon Prime Day portable charger deals to keep your phone charged
Our tech writer always packs a portable charger, and since he knows the best from the duds, he decided to find the top ways to save on staying charged on the go.
Even ‘safe’ air pollution levels may affect heart health
An imaging study found early signs of coronary artery disease in people in Canada breathing air that regulators consider clean.
Hackensack Meridian to upgrade pediatric behavioral health tech
Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation has received nearly $150,000 from the Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation to support new technology at Hackensack Meridian K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital in Neptune, N.J. The funding will support the installation of five interactive media walls in the Pediatric Emergency Department’s Behavioral Health Unit, according to a June 22 […]
Polymarket allegedly faked trades. Chances are slim Trump admin investigates, says sports-betting attorney
A recent Wall Street Journal investigation found that the prediction market hired influencers to stage fake trades as part of its marketing campaign to attract U.S. users.
I'm a billionaire founder and father of 5. I parent them differently.
Zynga founder Mark Pincus says giving children agency, responsibility, and room for eccentricity matters more than achievement.
My Journey as a Jury Member: Celebrating Knowledge, Culture, and Science Across Wikimedia Projects
Serving as a jury member within our movement is a profound responsibility, but it is also one of the most rewarding ways to experience the global community. Over the last two years, I, Fuseini Mugi…
Watch the first-ever video of a newfound spider’s spring-loaded death trap
Scientists discovered that the Australian “ballista spider” uses a silk cone trap to catapult prey into its web, a feat of spider engineering never before observed.
Superhuman acquires GPTZero to enhance AI authenticity tools
Superhuman is acquiring GPTZero, the AI detection startup founded by 26-year-old Princeton grad Edward Tian.
Pisgah Health Foundation opens 2026 grant cycle with $250K for 3 counties
Nonprofit organizations working to improve health and well-being across three Western North Carolina counties will soon be able to apply for new funding.
Emory Healthcare Named Founding Partner and Official Healthcare Provider of the Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center
Emory Healthcare becomes a Founding Partner of the Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center, bringing nationally recognized research, innovation, and sports medicine to the new home for soccer in America.
Chicago’s Bike Lanes Don’t Hurt Businesses, City Report Finds
As protected bike lanes face opposition in some neighborhoods, city-backed case studies found lanes in a half-dozen corridors have not contributed to a negative impact on economic activity.
The Cigna Group Foundation Invests $3 Million to Strengthen Youth Mental Health Through Nonprofits Across 10 States
22 nonprofits will expand access to youth mental health care and strengthen support for families and caregivers States: Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey,...
3 best Prime Day air purifier deals on models we've tested
Don't buy a crappy air purifier just because it's a good price on Prime Day. I found the best deals on top-tested models from Coway, Shark, and Levoit.
9 of the best technology conspiracy theories
From covert government surveillance to wireless signals transmitting viruses, tech-centric conspiracy theories have been propagating wildly in recent years. Most of them are completely unfounded — but not all.
Tetanus cases are rising. How to prevent getting this potentially fatal disease
Recent CDC reports found dozens of tetanus deaths since 2011 and four cases in children in 2024. CNN’s Dr. Leana Wen explains how people can protect themselves.
Why prediction markets’ election picks are useful, even when they seem wrong
A Post analysis found that primary candidates ended up winning about as often as bettors thought they would.