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World Cup qualifying live scores today: Playoff brackets, schedule
The final six spots for the 2026 World Cup will be decided over the next few days, with playoff games being held in Europe and Mexico.
One Roof Sports & Entertainment ready to make NBA Seattle bid after league vote
The wait remains to see if other groups will get involved in the pursuit of an NBA franchise in Seattle, but the only organization to express its intent so far is ready for whatever the next steps call for.
Samsung’s next big update, One UI 8.5, is now in beta on these older Galaxy devices
Samsung has officially expanded its One UI 8.5 beta to a bunch of new Galaxy devices, while also bringing new versions to others.
Jackson Co. Executive to announce "next steps" for Truman Sports Complex ahead of Chiefs departure
Thursday's "significant announcement" deals with the next steps for the county-owned site that currently houses Arrowhead and Kauffman stadiums.
Algonquin Anishinabe Nation and Senators Sports & Entertainment Joint Statement
Through ongoing discussions, both parties have identified a strong alignment in their commitment to creating Ottawa–Gatineau’s next great gathering place
The Best Time to Eat High-Fiber Foods If You Want to Poop Tomorrow, According to Dietitians
Learn the best time to eat fiber to help you poop the next day, plus which foods work fastest and how long fiber takes to improve digestion.
Balen Shah’s political rise in Nepal reflects a broader shift after youth-led protests
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Balendra Shah, a structural engineer who rose to fame as a rap artist before becoming Kathmandu’s mayor, is poised to become Nepal’s next prime minister, after his party swe…
Slow roll! Islam Makhachev not fighting until August
Islam Makhachev won’t be fighting over International Fight Week, according to UFC CEO Dana White. Makhachev’s manager was on TMZ Sports yesterday discussing the No. 1 pound for pound fighter and welterweight champion’s next move. He implied a July fight was ‘a done deal,’ but that’s apparently not the case. White came out on social […]
Apple Testing 200MP iPhone Camera That Could Ship Next Year
Apple is evaluating a 200-megapixel telephoto camera sensor that could potentially ship in an iPhone as soon as next year, according to Digital Chat Station, a leaker on Chinese social media platform Weibo with a decent track record. In a post shared today, the leaker said Apple is actively testing a 200-megapixel 1/1.2" sensor similar to the one rumored for Oppo's upcoming Find X9 Ultra.
Exclusive: Kamala Harris to appear at Democratic events through the South in April
As speculation continues about what Kamala Harris will do next, she has at least the first part of an answer: a swing through four Southern state Democratic Party events in April.
Quantum computers take a step into real materials science
An IBM quantum computer reproduced experimental signatures of real materials, according to a new preprint from IBM and researcher partners.
Liverpool announce ticket price increases for next three seasons
Fenway Sports Group had frozen prices in eight of the last 10 years but Kop seats will now get more expensive for the first time since 2010.
Michael Matt Named as Associate Athletic Director for Business Operations
MEDFORD, MA (March 25, 2026) – Director of Athletics Ryan Pisarri announced that Michael Matt has joined the Tufts University athletics department as the Associate Athletic Director for Business Operations.
Fears net zero is ‘next Brexit’ as oil crisis fuels political climate divide
Rising energy bills give Reform and Tories opening to attack net zero while government hesitant to make case for clean energy
The hunt for the next UNC men's basketball coach begins
Davis' handling of key moments in games and the era of NIL contributed to the change at the University of North Carolina.
RAM Crisis Is Forcing Super-Popular Kids Console To Raise Prices Again
The Nex Playground, which has at times outsold the Xbox and PS5, is getting a $50 price bump next month
Meta and Google liable for social media harm to children’s mental health in landmark US case
Jury awards at least $3mn in damages with Instagram owner to pay the majority
'Tush push' safe for 2026 as submitted NFL rule proposals do not include controversial play
This won't end the debate, but the NFL owners will not discuss the play when they meet next week.
OpenAI shutters Sora: What’s next for artificial intelligence in entertainment?
Today on AirTalk: Open AI closes Sora; US at 250; Parenting in year 0; How is the Iran war affecting prices? Homelessness funds on the table; and Marine…
A Critical Political Season Could Decide if Alaska Is a Failed ‘Petrostate’
A governor who spent two terms cutting services to preserve Alaskans’ oil-funded annual checks is leaving office. Voters must now decide what comes next for the state’s faltering fiscal model.
More money from undisclosed sources is influencing Massachusetts politics
WBUR's Patrick Madden looked into so-called dark money groups and their growing influence in Massachusetts state politics.
UK Should Ban Crypto Donations to Political Parties, Review Says
The UK should ban crypto donations to political parties until they are effectively regulated because they risk foreign financial interference in British politics, according to a government-commissioned review into the matter.
Danish Foreign Minister Becomes Kingmaker After Trump Standoff
Denmark’s headstrong Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen holds the keys to deciding who becomes the Nordic nation’s next prime minister.
RPI Athletics Celebrates 50 Years of Women's Sports
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute proudly celebrates 50 years of women's varsity athletics—a milestone that reflects decades of progress, achievement, and opportunity for generations of student-athletes. What began as a commitment to expanding access in intercollegiate athletics has grown into a vibrant and competitive tradition that continues to shape the RPI community today.
Patience and Hard Work Paying Off for Karl - Kansas State University Athletics
Cadyn Karl remembers the at-bat so perfectly, as you'd expect from a guy who had never reached such heights before in his three seasons as centerfielder on t...
The System That Decides What Science Gets Published Is Breaking Down
The peer review system that validates scientific research is trapped in a self-defeating cycle. A new mathematical model shows why—and what comes next.
Deloitte: From Subscribers to Superfans: Fan Engagement Shapes the Next Phase of Media and Entertainment Growth
/PRNewswire/ -- Key takeaways Consumer spend remains flat on streaming services: The average subscribing household reports spending $69 per month on streaming...
Thousands could lose their Medicaid in Kansas City, health leaders are calling for action
They fear people will be kicked off coverage next year when a federal law requiring work requirements and more frequent eligibility checks kicks in.
If Trump Is Losing Voters, It’s for One Reason. Democrats Are Setting Themselves Up to Be Next.
The misguided tax rage among 2028 Democratic hopefuls.
Stephen Colbert to write next ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie after leaving late night
Stephen Colbert already has a new job lined up for when he ends his 11-year run as host of “The Late Show” in May – the comedian and well-known J.R.R. Tolkien superfan announced he will co-write and develop a new film in the blockbuster “Lord of the Rings” franchise.
ICE agents have been deployed to airports. Are the polls next?
The high-profile deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to airports has renewed support on the right and fear on the left about the possibility of ICE going to the polls in November.
Woods targets Masters after return to action in TGL
Tiger Woods says he is "trying to play" at next month's Masters after returning to action for the first time in more than a year in the TGL.
Volunteers honor local sports leader Jim Morris during March Madness preparations
Hundreds of volunteers spread out across Indianapolis Tuesday to help prepare the city for next week's NCAA Men's Final Four basketball games.
Wolves, winning without Anthony Edwards, take on Rockets next
Bones Hyland is stepping up at the perfect time for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Steve Kornacki's guide to the next big elections on the calendar: From the Politics Desk
Plus, where talks to end the DHS shutdown stand.
The politics of public health from Obamacare to COVID
The last three presidents — Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Donald Trump — have all had to deal with health care in America. And along the way, they've clashed with how politics works in Washington D.C. This created today’s environment where the understanding of science is scorned, medical disinformation thrives and creating a nation unprepared for the next health crisis.
Marathon has sold 1.2M copies across Steam, PS5, and Xbox
Alinea Analytics estimates show that Marathon has generated gross revenues of $55M via 1.2M copies sold on Steam, PS5, and Xbox: Looking at the split between Steam, PS5, and Xbox, Steam is clearly the main platform for Marathon, accounting for a little under 70% of the audience (800K copies sold). Meanwhile, PS5 takes about 19% (217K) and Xbox (including console, PC, and cloud) accounts for a bit over 11% or 133K. Marathon is technically a first-party Sony title, so seeing the home console struggle to break 20% of the volume is a notable data point for the ongoing platform-agnostic debate. PlayStation Studios online games will almost certainly continue being multiplatform (despite Sony reportedly pulling back on PC releases). Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe As for Marathon, the consensus among hardcore players who pushed through the awkward onboarding phase – myself included – is that it’s fantastic. The gunplay, aesthetic, and presentation are among the best in the shooter genre. A great game doesn’t always equal an immediate hit, though, as shown by our estimates. Things are looking lukewarm right now. But this might be one of those marathon-not-a-sprint situations. Had to, didn’t I? Why wasn’t Marathon a hit on the same level as Arc Raiders? One topic that came up in a lot of conversations at GDC this year was why Marathon hasn’t hit the same stratosphere as Arc Raiders. On paper, they’re both extraction shooters, and Marathon has the Bungie pedigree – the house that built the gold standard for gunplay in Halo and Destiny. Marathon’s neon-futuristic aesthetic also distinguishes itself from the gritty realism of Tarkov or the post-apocalyptic hope of ARC Raiders. But vibes can only get you so far for first impressions if the onboarding feels like a brick wall. Marathon is a sweaty PvP-focused experience with a first-time user experience and UI that I can only describe as dreadful. Players are dropped into a complex ecosystem where the UI, though visually striking, is functionally uninformative, forcing users to manually hover over nondescript, identical icons just to identify basic gear or weapon mods. This lack of clarity is compounded by punishing mechanics like a severe heat gauge for movement and a scarcity of vital resources, all without a clear tutorial or a low-stakes mode to learn the ropes. Most people – even top streamers and veteran shooter players – have no idea what’s going on in Marathon at first. Arc is on the complete other end of the spectrum. As we covered here and here, Arc Raiders offers a more collaborative, approachable loop where players often work together toward shared goals. And the objectives are instantly clear. To many players, this contrast only emphasised Marathon’s issues, especially during the testing period. Players understand the Arc Raiders loop within 30 minutes, while Marathon acts as a massive filter, chewing up newcomers and spitting them out before they can experience the depth of Bungie’s signature gunplay. What I’m getting at here is that the poor first-time user experience of Marathon’s Server Slam likely stifled launch sales, while the opposite was true for Arc. Let’s look at the pre-launch copies sold for each game during their respective Server Slams (launch-aligned) : Looking at the trajectory: Arc Raiders saw a massive 80% jump in copies sold during its three-day Server Slam (day -13 to -11). Players jumped in, realised the water was fine, and immediately opened their wallets. Marathon, meanwhile, saw a 49% increase in the four days following its Slam (Day -7 to -3). At the time of each game’s respective launch, Arc Raiders had nearly double the Steam footprint of Marathon – and word of mouth only continued to grow. Bungie could have had more time to fix the onboarding process had the beta happened earlier. But Marathon launched three days after the beta finished. These factors limited the launch sales quite a bit, I reckon. Marathon has found a niche audience, though Despite the friction-heavy start, the data suggests that those who survived Marathon’s onboarding are loving life. We’ve been tracking cross-platform DAUs, and while there’s the expected post-launch leakage, many players are sticking with it. After peaking at 478K total DAUs on its first Saturday, Marathon has settled into a respectable rhythm, holding 345K DAUs as of yesterday and averaging 380K DAUs across the weekend. Steam continues to do the heavy lifting here, consistently accounting for the lion’s share of the daily players. Players have been putting in the hours, too: On Steam, Marathon’s average playtime has climbed to 27.8 hours, significantly outpacing the console averages on PS5 (16.5h) and Xbox (17.3h). Even more telling than the averages: 22% of the Steam audience has surged past the 50-hour mark, and nearly 7% have already logged over 100 hours. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe This data suggests that once the Bungie magic clicks, it hooks players deeper than the average extraction shooter. There’s also started to be a shift in the game’s discourse. Marathon launched as one of those games that’s cool to hate. But as Marathon’s 100-hour club grows, we’re seeing conversations around its mechanical merit outweigh the negativity. Several high-profile creators, who were initially vocal critics, have spent the last week coming around on the mechanical depth of the endgame. It’s a subtle but positive signal; the hate train is losing steam, and a new narrative about the game is emerging. Bungie faithfuls unite Another interesting metric in Marathon’s first few weeks is who, exactly, is playing. Bungie leans heavily on its prestige as the “makers of Halo and Destiny,” in its marketing, and that message has clearly hit the mark. On Steam, the gravity (hammer) of Bungie’s previous work is unavoidable. A staggering 78.2% of Marathon players also played Destiny 2. The trend carries across other platforms, with 74.2% of PS5 players and 82.7% of Xbox players also having played Destiny 2. The Halo legacy lives on, it seems. More on that in a bit. While Destiny 2 went free to play, these numbers still represent a high-intent migration of a fanbase that trusts Bungie’s specific brand of kinetic gunplay and cryptic world-building. The Xbox data adds another layer of legacy. About 85.7% of Marathon players on Xbox have played Halo Infinite, while over half of the Steam audience has spent time in Halo Infinite and 36.1% in the Master Chief Collection (a paid collection of the old Bungie-made legacy games). Interestingly, we see a 55.9% overlap with ARC Raiders on Steam. Overlap is even higher there on PlayStation (60.5%) and Xbox (66.5%). And there’s also significant crossover with Helldivers 2 on all platforms, too. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe Bungie has found some of its fans with Marathon, and the challenge now is keeping this engaged in a high-stakes PvP environment when they’ve spent the last decade primarily enjoying the power fantasies of PvE. On that note… Go the full 26 miles? Or cut and run? Time for some could’ve, should’ve, would’ve. These things would have improved Marathon’s performance at launch: A more robust onboarding process, perhaps in the form of a short single-player/PvE campaign. We know Bungie fans love this stuff. A traditional arena-based mode akin to Destiny’s Crucible could have been a bridge for the cautious players who’d have been otherwise deterred by the Server Slam. It’s also a great palate cleanser after getting merked. Introducing a dedicated PvE environment would have similarly diversified the conversation and lowered the barrier for the Bungie faithful who found the pure PvP extraction loop too abrasive. PvE is safer than PvP these days. There’s an argument that a thin PvE mode would have just felt like a budget Destiny, potentially hurting the brand more. But given how dire the FTUE is, I think it would have been a net positive. Any kind of tutorialised loop that demystifies the stakes, really. While there is merit in a studio sticking firmly to a singular creative vision, and going all in on the hardcore extraction loop. Less forgiving is the technical reality is that the user interface and first-time user experience (FTUE) were not at a commercial standard for launch. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe In a landscape where player time is oversaturated and the most contested currency, a flawed FTUE is a critical failure point. But it’s not all doom and gloom, as Marathon has an incredible, unique gameplay loop, suggesting that financial success is still attainable if Bungie can pivot effectively. Bungie and PlayStation now face a difficult strategic crossroads, though – one within a challenging games market. They could: Double down on Marathon with a long-term Rainbow Six Siege- or No Man’s Sky-style recovery plan, which is something I heard Last Stand Media’s Chris Maldonado mention last week. While this could be a sunk-cost fallacy in action, it could eventually yield the audience the game’s mechanical depth deserves. Shift focus toward the inevitable Destiny 3 or another project, mitigating the escalating opportunity cost and cutting their losses, so to speak. Doing both is an expensive proposition, given the high overhead and burn rate of operating out of Bellevue, Washington. With Sony recently demonstrating a lower threshold for underperforming studios and projects, the margin for error has vanished. Whatever happens, the next six months will determine whether Marathon becomes a cornerstone of Sony’s live-service portfolio or a cautionary tale of vision exceeding accessibility. I’m hoping it’s the former, because Marathon rocks. As always, hit subscribe to get updates on Marathon and other relevant games. Subscribe Want to get your hands on our data for yourself – for free? We’re offering a free trial of our platform for games companies. Send us a message here, or reply to this email, and we’ll set you up. The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]
Stevens Point to host open house about Business 51 reconstruction project
The city of Stevens Point will present the final design for the upcoming Business 51 reconstruction project at an open house next week.
In Oklahoma, Alan Armstrong Will Fill Markwayne Mullin’s Senate Seat
Gov. Kevin Stitt selected Mr. Armstrong, a fellow Republican and an energy executive, to play a caretaker role in the seat until the next election.
Seminoles’ McCray V and Steen Earn Academic All-District Honors as Named by College Sports Communicators
TALLAHASSEE – Florida State basketball standouts Robert McCray V and Alex Steen have been named Academic All-District honorees by the College Sports Communic...
Lawmakers weighed Wyoming Health Department budget cuts. They never came.
by Maggie Mullen, WyoFile After the Wyoming Freedom Caucus told voters last year it aimed to “DOGE” the state’s next two-year budget by
Kaus Earns College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Honors
ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell women's basketball junior Rachel Kaus has been named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District team, the organization announced on Tuesday.
Ayaneo says selling its Windows gaming handheld ‘is no longer sustainable’
The RAM shortage claims another victim.
Who Is The American Small Business Now? Banks May Not Know
Fintech made it easier than ever to start a business. Now data reveals why verifying who actually did is the sector's next unsolved problem.
Brown Named College Sports Communicators Academic All-District
Guard Malea Brown of the Longwood women's basketball team has been named to the 2025-26 Academic All-District® NCAA Division I women's basketball team as selected by the College Sports Communicators, the organization announced Tuesday.
Three Hawks Named to College Sports Communicators Women's Basketball Academic All-District Team
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - On Tuesday, the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District women's basketball teams were announced with three members of the Hartford volleyball team featured.
Pro Padel League raises $15 million as investors bet on sport’s U.S. growth
The Pro Padel League has raised $15 million in new funding as it looks to accelerate its next phase of growth in the U.S.
Parker Named to College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team - University of Massachusetts Athletics
K'Jei Parker of the Massachusetts men's basketball team has been named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team, as announced on Tuesda...
Six Panthers selected to College Sports Communicators Basketball Academic All-District Teams
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- Six members of the UNI men's and women's basketball teams were recognized by College Sports Communicators (CSC) with Academic All-Distr...
Mad Mercs are back: AMG confirms Black Series GT is officially coming
And it’ll be a homologation car for the next-gen GT3 car
Parolin Named to College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team - Boise State University Athletics
Dominic Parolin has been named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team, it was announced on Tuesday.
Josh Shapiro endorses James Malone in key Lancaster County Senate race
Gov. Josh Shapiro has officially endorsed James Malone’s bid for reelection in the Lancaster County state Senate district that both parties say could determine party control next year.
CuSTEMized: Personalized Storybooks Inspire the Next Generation of Female Scientists
Custom books feature girls as STEM heroes, aiming to build their confidence and encourage them to pursue their scientific ambitions through storytelling and pictures.
Markwayne Mullin confirmed to lead a DHS in turmoil
Markwayne Mullin will serve as Donald Trump’s next Department of Homeland Security secretary, elevating the US senator to helm the agency at the center of the president’s controversial immigration enforcement effort and an ongoing shutdown.
Play! Pokémon Competitions Transition to Pokémon Champions on April and May 2026
Find out when you can play your next competitive battles on this new platform.
Louisiana's health secretary wants AI on the phones and the website
Louisiana residents may see changes in calling the state health department or using its website if it turns to artificial intelligence to save money. The department is examining how it can implement AI over the next few years to make residents’ experiences more efficient and reduce spending, Louisiana Department of Health Secretary Bruce Greenstein said […]
Apple sets June date for WWDC 2026, teasing "AI advancements"
Apple will host its next Worldwide Developers Conference the week of June 8. The company is expected to announce major updates to Siri with advanced AI capabilities.
Antarctica could warm 1.4 times faster than the rest of the Southern Hemisphere in the coming decades, study finds
Antarctica could warm much faster than its surroundings over the next few decades due to a phenomenon known as polar amplification that is well established in the Arctic.
Microsoft announces Xbox Partner Preview for this week, with Ryu Ga Gotoku's Stranger Than Heaven finally making a showing
Microsoft has announced its next Xbox Partner Preview showcase will take place later this week, focused on third-party games from the likes of Sega and GSC.
Exit polls suggest Italy's Meloni has narrowly lost justice referendum vote
Exit polls on Monday suggested Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had narrowly lost a referendum on her flagship reform of the judicial system, dealing a potential blow to the ruling coalition ahead of next year's general election.
Xbox Partner Preview: Join Us on Thursday to See What's Next from Our Third-Party Partners
Our next Xbox Partner Preview airs Thursday, March 26 - with a whole load of world premieres, game updates, and much more.
Lenoir-Rhyne Sports Hall of Fame Nominations Due April 1
HICKORY, N.C. - Nominations for the Lenoir-Rhyne Sports Hall of Fame are due by Wednesday, April 1. The 2026 Hall of Fame ceremony will take place on Saturday, September 19, prior to Lenoir-Rhyne's 6:00 p.m. football game vs. Mars Hill.
Sound Advice: A quality soundbar to take your home entertainment system to the next level
Q. You mentioned that the TCL QM9K television sounded so good that an external soundbar was not necessary. I find that most televisions sound awful,...
MTSU Agrees to Long-Term Extension with NIKE and BSN SPORTS - Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
MTSU Athletics announced on Monday that it will continue to partner with the world's leading brand for apparel and footwear after inking a long-term extensio...
As mayoral election looms, D.C.’s business class worries about what’s next
A potential leftward shift in the wake of the pandemic and the Trump administration’s cutting of thousands of federal jobs has sparked unease in the city’s business community.
Sheffield business owners 'don't feel safe' next to illegal waste site
An Attercliffe dumping ground is identified as one of the worst in the country by the government.
Samsung reverses big S Pen change for Galaxy S27 Ultra after bold experiment fails
Samsung has backed away from one of its more ambitious S Pen experiments for next year’s Galaxy S27 Ultra, choosing to stick with its long-standing digitizer-based input system after testing a radically thinner alternative. According to ETNews, Samsung had been exploring a new pen technology that could eliminate the digitizer layer inside the display. The […]
Kansas coach Bill Self non-committal if he'll return next year due to health concerns
Hall of Fame Kansas basketball coach Bill Self said after a crushing loss to St. John's that he hasn't decided if he'll be back next season or retire.
9/11 survivors’ health care secured for next 15 years
The World Trade Center Health Program secures funding for 15 more years, ensuring healthcare access for 9/11 survivors and victims' families.
Your Thymus and Your Healthspan
Our thymus gland plays a central role in the development or our immune system, specifically for supporting T cell development (how these cells got their name, maturation and differentiation in the thymus) and discriminating between self and foreign, non-self antigen proteins with production of dendritic cells. As we age, our thymus gland shrinks—the process known as involution—with progressive change from spongy to fatty tissue, with loss of functionality. But this process, with respect to timeline and extent, markedly varies from one person to the next. And to make things even more complicated, our thymus gland anatomy and precise location in the chest also is highly variable. So the famous Frank Netter diagrams from the 1960s (such as at left below) don’t capture the remarkable heterogeneity that a random set of 12 chest CT scans (below at right). What I consider as 2 landmark papers in Nature this week (here and here) used AI to quantify health of the thymus in 2 large cohorts, and then correlate the metric to a broad array of health outcomes. In this edition of Ground Truths, I’m going to cover three questions: (1) How was thymus health determined by AI?; (2) How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? and (3) Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? Subscribe 1. How was thymus health determined by AI? This was accomplished by extensive work developing and validating an AI pipeline for 2 stages, the first for localization and segmentation of the thymus bed, and the second to quantify a digital marker, termed the thymic health score. There’s a lot to this algorithmic development, so I won’t go into all the details, but just provide a rudimentary outline of what was done. The 1st stage used supervised learning with 2 radiologists reviewing 2,461 chest CT scans. That work trained a 3D U-Net model to automatically identify the thymic bed’s 3D cropped region using center of mass coordinates, which reached 99.8% accuracy. The 2nd stage used a foundation model that was pre-trained with SwAV (which stands for Swapping Assignment between multiple Views), a self-supervised model, that generated a high-dimensional thymus representation of 4,096 features. That compares to the radiology reductionist and subjective scoring of 0 to 3 where 0 means the thymus is fully degenerated and fatty, and 3 is considered dense, intact glandular soft tissue. Notably, the self-supervised learning (SSL) performance was superior to supervised (AUC ~0.75 vs 0.55, respectively) reflecting the shallowness of the 0-3 classifier vs SSL’s holistic, self-taught AI. The thymic health score ranged from 0 to 100, with the highest number indexed to fully preserved thymic health. The algorithmic work extended to explainability with both Shapely value distribution, meaning the model was holistic not relying on any “magic” pixel, and occlusion sensitivity, demonstrating the model’s performance was not affected by ribs, sternum, lung tissue, but rather focused on the thymic bed directly. Below are a few saliency maps from the occlusion sensitivity that indicate the thymic bed focus, not affected by neighboring structures, using the jet color scale. Now the AI was ready for processing ~25,000 CT scans, each over 30 MB files, from the 2 large participant cohorts to provide a thymic health score, it did so in less than 14 hours, which is less than 2 seconds per scan! Share 2. How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? The two cohorts were the National Lung Screening Trial, NLST (N=25,031) and the Framingham Heart Study, FHS (N=2,581) each with baseline demographics and long term follow up of >12 years for health outcomes. From the NSLT, you can see below that increased age and body-mass index were correlated to reduced thymic health. And, overall, men had reduced thymic health scores compared with women. There are a lot of graphs in the paper for outcomes, for both the NLST and FHS cohorts. To simplify the major outcomes, below is a composite Figure with striking reduction of all-cause mortality and for the different causes of death. The results were consistent between the 2 cohorts. For example, the cardiovascular mortality hazard ratio average was 0.57 in NLST and 0.38 in FHS (weighted to be 0.53 for the aggregate). The reduction of mortality also extended to digestive diseases and pulmonary disease (data not shown below). Lung cancer incidence was reduced by 36% for high vs low thymic health (Figure below, with a panel -incidence and b panel-mortality, adjusted for age, sex, BMI, smoking status). Notably, there was a smoker’s paradox: lower incidence and improved survival for lung cancer in smokers who had a high thymus health score. Smoking was associated with lower thymic scores whereas alcohol was not. Higher thymic health was linked to higher HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides, lower fasting blood glucose, and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Inflammation biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, were elevated in the people with lower thymic health scores. In their second paper, the same team looked at the relationship between thymic score and outcomes for 3,476 patients receiving cancer immunotherapy. The non-small cell lung cancer progression-free survival was reduced in patients with low thymic health score. A parallel relationship for survival was seen for other types of cancer including melanoma, breast, and kidney with a 44% lower risk among high thymic scores (Figure). A similar pattern was seen with different immune checkpoint inhibitors. The thymus health score outperformed programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1)and tumor mutation burden (TMB) assay of the tumor and was an independent prognostic marker of progression-free survival. In this dataset, a direct connect with thymus score and adaptive immune function was noted with a correlation before cancer treatment for both T-cell diversity and thymus T-cell production (a metric known as T cell receptor excision circles). Thymus Removal Study There is a highly relevant citation about thymus function before moving onto ways to rejuvenate it. In 2023, a very important study of thymus removal during cardiothoracic surgery was published, with 1146 patients undergoing thymus removal vs 1146 matched controls (mean age 55 years). The adverse outcomes for thymus removal were striking, with a 2.9 higher risk of all-cause mortality and doubling of cancer incidence, 1.5 fold increase in cancer mortality, and 1.5-fold increase in autoimmune diseases. The immune function showed marked compromise after thymus removal, as reflected by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (Figure below) Share Ground Truths 3. Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? In recent months we’ve learned a lot about the process of thymus involution and the pathways by which this may be modulated. Thymus involution is primarily due to loss to thymus epithelial cells (TECs) and there are 2 subtypes with different functions: the cortical, responsible for positive selection of T cells, and the medullary, for negative selection. When adipose tissue infiltrates the thymus, thymic adipocytes are pro-inflammatory, knocking out T-cell output. Likewise, systemic inflammation, or “inflammaging,” from smoking, obesity, and chronic stress promote thymic adipocytes. Now, from preclinical studies, we know about key pathways that account for these processes. Historically, back in 2014, FOXN1 was recognized as a single master transcription factor essential for TEC function, with studies in mice with forced FOXN1 upregulation leading to thymus regeneration. That laid the foundation for potential regrowth of quiescent thymus cells. It took awhile to find pathways to accomplish this goal and to even refute its role as the master regulator. The Liver-Thymus Axis Feng Zhang and his team recently showed that injection of an mRNA vaccine to the liver encoding DLL1, IL-7 and FLT3-L in combination, factors known to support thymopoiesis (Figure), successfully enhanced immune function in aged mice. However, the effect was transient. The FGF21 Story Two reports in 2025 addressed the thymus gland’s production of FGF21, a growth factor (fibroblast growth factor 21) and its control of thymus involution. This growth factor is also produced by the liver, but it doesn’t have impact on the thymus in aged rodent models. In contrast, The liver’s hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been shown to reverse senescent TEC structural changes. Growth hormone stimulates production of insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in the liver and the thymus. Two small studies in human participants (TRIIM, for Thymus Regeneration, Immunorestoration, and Insulin Mitigation) of 6 and 50 people, respectively, treated with combined human growth hormone, metformin and DHEA, suggested the potential of slowing epigenetic aging and improving thymus mass and function. But the combination of drugs, small sample, and lack of controls make conclusions murky. Increased thymus FGF21 led to increased CD8 T cells in old mice and extended healthspan and improved physical performance. Building on the previous FOXN1 data, ablation of β-klotho, the obligatory co-receptor for FOXN1, accelerated thymic aging. The benefit to FGF21 was confirmed in a companion paper using an FGF21 knock-in mouse model showing thymus enlargement and increased TECs throughout the lifespan. (schematic Figure below). The accompanying editorial for these 2 papers speculated: “The proposed link between age-associated thymus involution and organismal aging is intriguing, and suggests we might seek to achieve systemic rejuvenation by counteracting thymic involution.” Other Factors Lessons from the Axolotl (Mexican Salamander) In an elegant set of experiments of the axolotl (Figure), known for its complete thymus regeneration after total surgical removal, mediators were identified. Surprisingly FOXN1 was dispensable. But midkine, a growth factor, appeared to be the driver, the initiator of thymus cell growth, survival, and repair. Other components that contributed were Postn+ (periostin-expressing mesenchymal niches) and Ccl19, a chemokine protein from the bloodstream. RANK and RANKL RANK (receptor activator of nuclear factor κB its ligand (RANKL) have been considered key regulators of medullary TECs. In a study of both aged mice and human thymus cell cultures, their key role was confirmed, with multiple benefits of resorting TEC function, recruitment of progenitor cells, and T cell development. Subscribe Summing Up This body of work strongly supports the health of the thymus gland as a critical regulator of human healthspan, not just a correlate or link. The new landmark studies are reinforced by the regenerative biology experimental models that have shown, via an array of mediators, that healthspan of aged mice is at least in part dependent on thymus gland function and its critical role for maintaining adaptive immunity. It sure seems that we’d be better off having an immune reservoir of naive T cells instead of a profile in older adults of exhausted, low quality, memory T cells, with a senescent phenotype. It is striking that we ignored the importance of the thymus gland for many decades. A wake-up call was the results of the thymectomy matched control study reviewed here, with the opposite of high thymic health score improved health outcomes. The convergence of AI and healthspan here is notable. The exceptional and laborious work for developing and validating (no less explaining) the AI to quantify thymus health set the foundation for probing the connect the major health outcomes in two cohorts with extensive follow-up. We’ve never had a way to meaningfully quantify the thymus gland before, so this represents important leverage of supervised, self-supervised, and transformer models. The study wouldn’t have been possible without AI. And it begs the question as to whether there are ways we can maintain our thymus at a high health score. But it’s not so simple to rejuvenate our thymus. There are multiple risks including the induction of autoimmunity, increasing the risk of cancer, and inducing a pro-inflammatory state. For example, factors that increase TEC proliferation could compromise the medulllary negative selection process and leak out auto-reactive (self-attacking) T cells. Thymic cells could be induced to proliferate, but we know, for example, that growth hormone and IGF-1 are associated with an increase risk of cancer. If thymus rejuvenation doesn’t clear out the accumulated senescent cells in older adults, then inflammation within the gland could block the production of TECs. Keeping these risks in mind, we now have identified many ways to keep our thymus healthy as we age that undoubtedly will be tested in clinical trials going forward. Ultimately, the benefit-to-risk tradeoffs will be defined. In the meantime, we have desperately needed an immunome. As I’ve stressed in multiple prior Ground Truths, we have no test in the clinic to assess a patient’s immune status! It was very encouraging for me to get an email from Hugo Aerts, the senior author of the landmark papers in the days after they were published: “I also wanted to say that your Substack on “Why We Need an Immunome” was inspiring for this work. We found it a very compelling perspective and greatly enjoyed reading it.” Just having an assessment of a person’s immune status via a chest CT scan, with millions of these performed per year, might help in guiding the right immunotherapy for cancer (e.g. more intensive, combinations for those with low thymic health scores) and help define people who are increased risk for age-related diseases of cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative. The main theme of Super Agers is that we now have many layers of data (genetics, proteins, biomarkers, organ clocks that can be integrated via multimodal AI) for us to define a person’s specific risk decades before one of these age-related diseases leads to symptoms, enabling prevention. From the new studies this week, we can add thymus health score as yet another way to understand a person’s risk, a window into their adaptive immune system and healthspan. And perhaps someday we will be able to safely rejuvenate the thymus, or maintain its health through one’s life, and use the thymus health score to monitor. NB: I wrote this post (No A.I.) A Quick Poll Loading... ********************************************************************* Thanks to Ground Truths subscribers (now > 200,000) from every US state and 212 countries. Your subscription to these free essays and podcasts makes my work in putting them together worthwhile. Please join! If you found this interesting PLEASE share it! Share Ground Truths Paid subscriptions are voluntary and all proceeds from them go to support Scripps Research. They do allow for posting comments and questions, which I do my best to respond to. Please don’t hesitate to post comments and give me feedback. Let me know topics that you would like to see covered. Leave a comment Many thanks to those who have contributed—they have greatly helped fund our summer internship programs for the past two years. It enabled us to accept and support 47 summer interns in 2025! We aim to accept even more of the several thousand who will apply for summer 2026.
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