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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...
12 Life Science Startups Named to SLAS Europe 2026 Innovation Showcase Program
SLAS has named the 12 companies selected to participate in its Innovation AveNEW program at the SLAS Europe 2026 Conference and Exhibition.
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.
Is it ‘Ih-ran’ or ‘E-ron’? Inside the politics of pronunciation
Both President Trump and Vice President Vance pronounce Iran as ‘Ih-RAN,’ not ‘Ih-RON.’ A linguist says that how the country’s name is pronounced may be a political choice.
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.
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...
Robins School of Business ranks as a Top 20 undergraduate business school
Poets&Quants for Undergrads has named the University of Richmond’s business school a top 20 school for the fifth consecutive year.
Cone Health Cardiologist Named 2026 RISE Health Care Hero
Dr. Kardie Tobb wins National Award
Steven Corcelli named William K. Warren Foundation Dean of the College of Science
Steven A. Corcelli, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame, has been appointed the William K. Warren Foundation Dean of the College of Science by University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., effective April 1. Corcelli, who has served as interim science dean since July, was selected through a comprehensive national search launched after his predecessor, Santiago Schnell, was appointed as Dartmouth’s provost.
4 Pitt people were named Pittsburgh Business Times 2026 Women of Influence
The awards recognize the region’s businesswomen, including one Pitt dean and three alumnae, who make impactful change by leading organizations.
March Madness top seeds dominate: Each No. 1 team's path to Sweet 16
Only one perfect 2026 Women's NCAA Tournament bracket remains as of Monday evening following several upsets, but the top seeds have been chalk.
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.
Play the Tiny Takeover drop
Tiny Takeover has officially stormed Minecraft! New versions of baby mobs are causing cuteness overload across biomes and builds. Pack your golden dandelions, craft name tags, and get ready to collect, cuddle, and coo over our new tiny rascals.
Women's NCAA Tournament Round 2 winners, losers: Virginia make history, Iowa fizzles
USA TODAY has followed every upset, buzzer-beater and game from the 2026 Women's NCAA Tournament and rounded up our winners and losers from round two:
NCAA Tournament: Cinderella’s not ‘dead,’ she’s just sporting new threads
Cinderella entered the portal. Now she's built different.
Las Vegas talent agency grows as city’s entertainment market expands
As the city continues to grow, more opportunities are coming up for local models and actors.
Las Vegas talent agency grows as city’s entertainment market expands
As the city continues to grow, more opportunities are coming up for local models and actors.
Las Vegas talent agency grows as city’s entertainment market expands
As the city continues to grow, more opportunities are coming up for local models and actors.
We disagreed on politics. We agreed on wine. That was enough.
At the Virginia Governor’s Cup Gala in Richmond earlier this month, a very dapper gentleman approached me and introduced himself. In his light-colored suit and bowtie, he looked very Southern in a classical sense, the sort of Virginia Gentleman you used to see south of the Rappahannock as recently as my college days. “I’m a longtime reader and fan of your writing, if not your politics,” he said. His comment was the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove, simultaneously conveying praise and disapproval while establishing boundaries. Man, I wish we still discoursed like this instead of shouting bromides and insults to try and “own” our opponents with a funny meme and a furrowed brow. Subscribe “Well, we’ll always have wine to share together,” I said, and thanked him for his kind words. We clinked glasses, exchanged pleasantries about the delicious gold medal-winning wines being poured that evening, and went our separate ways. Our exchange reminded me that more unites us than divides us. Wine brings people together to share a meal and a few hours of joy despite our differences.1 That’s why I refer to the wine community — including readers and consumers — rather than the wine industry. Together, we are so much more than production, distribution and sales statistics. A few minutes later the evening’s awards ceremony began. Applause grew as the 12 winemakers who made the top-scoring wines for the Governor’s Case took the stage, including a loud cheer for Jonathan Wheeler of Trump Winery and his 2018 Blanc de Noir sparkling wine. All the winemakers on stage had reason to be proud, Wheeler perhaps more so. Trump Winery was the only winery to win six gold medals in the competition this year. (Wineries are limited to six entries.) Two of Wheeler’s ciders also won gold medals in a separate competition. When you cover the labels and take the sour taste of politics off your palate, the wines are pretty darn good.2 Then Gov. Abigail Spanberger, newly elected Democrat and Virginia’s first female governor, was introduced to great applause to announce which of the 12 wines had won the Governor’s Cup. She spoke for a few minutes about the importance of wine to Virginia’s economy and tourism and the international acclaim Virginia wine has received. Just two weeks earlier, she gave the Democrats’ response to Trump’s State of the Union speech, but this night wasn’t about politics. That didn’t stop several people in the crowd from speculating on the irony should she have to present the trophy to Trump Winery. In the end, Valley Road Vineyards was displayed on the screen behind Spanberger as the winning winery. Blue Bee Cidery in Richmond took top honors for that category. The crowd cheered a female governor presenting the state’s highest trophy to a female winemaker and then resumed the evening’s festivities, united by their mutual love of wine. A whiff of politics couldn’t dim the cheer of celebration and a community united by its love of wine. In Memoriam: Michel Rolland The global wine community lost a giant March 20, with the passing of Michel Rolland. He was 78. Rolland was the original “flying winemaker,” a globe-trotting consultant who helped Bordeaux regain its mojo in the 1970s and then shaped the rise of Napa Valley cult Cabernet as consultant to Simi, Harlan, Newton, Screaming Eagle, Araujo, Dalle Valle and other wineries. He was instrumental in Argentina’s rise to prominence and even had his own winery, Clos de los Siete, in a partnership with other wine families. Rolland’s career arc paralleled that of Robert Parker, the world’s most influential critic. Parker championed many of the wines Rolland consulted on, helping build his reputation and demand for his services. It also made him a target for Parker’s critics. As W. Blake Gray wrote on Wine-Searcher in his excellent tribute to Rolland: Rolland created the type of wines Parker loved: rich body, plenty of fruit, soft tannins. He sometimes faced the accusation of creating a generic international style of red wine, where the great wines he made in Argentina were indistinguishable from the great wines he made in France. Rolland chafed at that critique, as did many of his fans. He was credited with championing green harvesting and leaf pulling, as well as careful selection of grapes in the winery, practices we nearly universally think of today for high-quality winemaking. “Michel was an incredible innovator who changed how wine was made and how grapes were grown,” Napa Valley winemaker Aaron Pott wrote on Facebook. “His work has transformed the wine trade. He created new ways of looking at wine, tasting wine, evaluating ripeness and quality. … This was not just a man with a ‘style’ that he imposed on vineyards but a man that understood how to make great wine from great sites.” Rolland started his consulting company in 1973 in Libourne, in Bordeaux, with his wife, Dany. Both had graduated the year before from Bordeaux’s Institute d’Oenologie. The couple sold their majority share in the business in 2020, according to Wine Spectator. Over his career, Rolland reportedly worked with more than 100 wineries in 20 countries. He even made it to Virginia, where he consulted for Kluge Estate in the mid-2000s. (Kluge Estate is now Trump Winery.) Reader feedback, please! Last week, I did my first WineLine Live! with Dr. Laura Catena of Catena Zapata winery in Argentina. We enjoyed a fascinating discussion about her efforts to preserve the genetic heritage of old vineyards in Mendoza. I conceived of WineLine Live! for paid subscribers, as a thank you for your financial support. And while only a few people joined live, the video now has more views than I have paid subscribers, so I guess that’s pretty good. Even so, I’m considering opening future installments to anyone on Substack to reach a broader audience. So my questions to you: Should these be public? And what format do you prefer? Live gives a chat feature with the potential for viewers to interact with me and the guest, while a video post would just be that. Another alternative is a podcast, which would just be audio, without video of my chins. Please let me know in the comments. Leave a comment In the Glass A few wines I’ve enjoyed recently: Bonny Doon Vineyard Take Me to Your Liter, Le Cigare Volant, Red Wine of the Earth. 2023, Central Coast, CA. Blend of Grenache, Syrah Cinsaut and Petite Sirah. Delightful wine with expressive red fruit flavors, casual drinking. Doon lovers of a certain age will remember Randall Grahm’s Big House Red; this is more in that style than his original Le Cigare Volant, modeled after Chateauneuf du Pape. The liter bottle makes it an even better value. I see this online at about $15. Great value. Albert Bichot Bourgogne Pinot Noir Origines 2023. 13% - Textbook pinot noir and an excellent, affordable entry (regional) Burgundy. Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Wines of 2025. $24 at Total Wine & More. Loma Larga Pinot Noir 2021 “Coastal Cool Climate Wine”, Valle de Casablanca, Chile. An older sample, showing beautifully. Spicy and fruit forward. I’m seeing widely varied pricing online, from $18-$32. At the lower end, it’s a terrific value. 13.5% Dr. Loosen Riesling Dry 2016, Mosel, Germany. Found this “in the stack.” And it stacked up well, shedding some of its youthful acidity for opulent Riesling character, including a hint of the mineral oil older Riesling often features. A great value, as I’m seeing it as low as $14 online. 12% abv. Red Tail Ridge Blau Franc Blend 2024, Sans Oak, Finger Lakes. 13.4% abv. The name is a neat portmanteau of Blaufrankisch and Cabernet Franc, thus Blau Franc. The blend is 50-50, no oak involved. The Blau dominates on the palate, with the spicy caraway seed (think New York deli rye bread). The Franc adds body. The result is juicy, energetic and joyful. Sokol Blosser Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir 2025, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon. This first rosé of 2025 was a welcome respite to our cold, snowy winter here in the Mid-Atlantic. Oh man, I needed this! Bright and energetic, exuberant even, it perks up the mood and goes down fast. 13%. Certified B Corp. Ingredient and nutrition labeling, and in a modest way that doesn’t occupy a lot of label space. (Since it’s not required, presumably there are no minimum font size requirements.) More wineries should follow this example. Dave McIntyre's WineLine is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Thanks for reading Dave McIntyre's WineLine! This post is public so feel free to share it. Share 1 Some restraint may be required. 2 Especially the bubblies.
Two-sport athlete Deron Russell gears up for state basketball tournament, but knows college football season isn't far away
Did Dana White want Nate Diaz back in UFC?
Former title contender Nate Diaz will return to MMA for a promotion not named UFC.
White House pitches pharma on pricing draft
Plus: Names of the candidates to lead the CDC
Manor Township Democratic committee person kicked off May 19 primary ballot
Kirk Barrett, a candidate for a Manor Township seat on the Lancaster County Democratic Committee, has successfully kicked the incumbent’s name off the ballot for the upcoming May 19 primary.
The Core Entertainment Hires Sarah Pfeiffer As Head Of Marketing & Gabriella Pulley As Chief Of Staff
The Core Entertainment is continuing to scale its company, with the recent news of two new hires added to the leadership team. Sarah Pfeiffer has been named
2026 NCAA Tournament second round schedule: March Madness bracket, game dates, tip times, TV channels
Check out the master schedule for the first and second rounds of the 2026 NCAA Tournament so you can watch all the March Madness
Women's March Madness results so far: Scores from Monday's NCAA Tournament
Three No. 1 seeds are in action today as the Women's NCAA Tournament whittles the field down to the Sweet 16. See who's primed to survive and advance.
Borussia Dortmund names second-division exec as sporting director
Borussia Dortmund has dipped into the German second division to appoint a new sporting director who won praise for making impactful transfers on a budget.
Ewing to announce entertainment for Omaha’s Memorial Park concert
The event is happening on Friday, June 26.
Ewing to announce entertainment for Omaha’s Memorial Park concert
The event is happening on Friday, June 26.
Saturn Gets 11 New Moons, Bringing Its Total To A Whopping 285 –66 Percent Of All The Solar System's Moons
There's actually a rule which stops these moons from being given proper names. Don't give them the attention.
From The Sports Desk: Cinderella’s rough weekend
Iowa knocked off the defending champions, Florida, in a rare upset over the weekend in the NCAA tournament.
Illinois, the youngest team in Women's NCAA tournament, proving age is just a number
No. 7 seed Illinois faces No. 2 seed Vanderbilt in Nashville in the second round of the Women's NCAA Tournament.
Vanderbilt’s historic gym takes center stage for Women's NCAA Tournament
Opening in 1952, Memorial Gymnasium is the oldest arena in the SEC. It had been 14 years since the Commodores last hosted the NCAA Tournament.
NCAA Tournament: Iowa's stunning upset of No. 1 Florida caps off thrilling weekend of March Madness
Only three of the four top seeds in the men’s bracket will be playing in the Sweet 16.
Scouting Michigan State basketball Sweet 16 matchup with UConn
Get a first glimpse at the NCAA Tournament East region Sweet 16 semifinal matchup between 3-seed Michigan State basketball and 2-seed UConn.
Ohio State vs Notre Dame predictions, picks, odds for NCAA Tournament Second Round
Our March Madness experts pick the winner for No. 3 Ohio State vs No. 6 Notre Dame in the 2026 women's NCAA Tournament on March 23
UConn vs Syracuse predictions, picks, odds for NCAA Tournament Second Round
Our March Madness experts pick the winner for No. 1 UConn vs No. 9 Syracuse in the 2026 women's NCAA Tournament on March 23
Where to watch South Carolina vs. USC in March Madness Second Round: Time, TV Channel
The No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks face the 9 USC Trojans in the Second Round of the women's NCAA Tournament. Here's how to see all the action.
Florida dogs featured in TCPalm articles for National Puppy Day
National Puppy Day is March 23. TCPalm has articles, videos and photo galleries about dogs. Do you have a dog? What's their name?
Personnel note: Tampa Electric names Ed Narain as Director of Regional Affairs
'Tampa Electric has a long history of supporting the growth and success of the communities it serves, and I look forward to helping strengthen those partnerships.'
TCU completes comeback, avoids Washington's NCAA Tournament upset bid
TCU women's basketball’s 62-59 overtime win over Washington in the second round of March Madness wasn’t pretty, but it was resilient.
Winners and losers from first weekend of the NCAA tournament feature John Calipari, Darryn Peterson, Big Ten and blue bloods
NCAA women's tournament takeaways, Day 3: Minnesota drains buzzer-beater as LSU, Texas dominate again
St. Louis Blues Weekly Prospect Report (March 22)
Jiricek has big scoring week; McIsaac announces future plans; Ralph, Michigan State head to NCAA Tournament with Mayich, Clarkson University eliminated; Peterson scored pair, including a SH beauty for Springfield
NCAA tournament takeaways, Day 4: Big Ten's March Madness domination continues with 6 league teams making Sweet 16
NCAA, NIT, WBIT tournaments lead to uptick in business for Wichita bars
Fans of KU, K-State and WSU flocked to sports bars to cheer on their favorite teams.
A DNA test ruled him out. He was convicted of murder anyway.
Forensics has its share of high-profile problems. There’s phony “junk science,” like bogus bite-mark and blood spatter analyses that have sent innocent people to jail. And there’s the steady drumbeat of lab scandals, where analysts make up results. But there’s a subtler and more pervasive problem at work in many cases: lab analysts and lawyers who take perfectly legitimate science and twist it. Globe Opinion is exploring these distortions with a series we’re calling “Twisted Science.” And there may be no better place to start than with the case of Terrel Barros.
Florida basketball stunned by Iowa in March Madness Round 2 upset
Florida basketball was stunned by Iowa, ending its hopes to repeat as national champions in the Men's NCAA Tourrnament.
Kansas coach Bill Self unsure about future after buzzer-beater loss to St. John's: 'I haven't decided'
After a heartbreaking last-second loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Self wasn't ready to discuss his coaching future.
Alabama vs. Texas Tech odds, time, March Madness predictions: 2026 NCAA Tournament picks from proven model
SportsLine's model has revealed its Texas Tech vs. Alabama picks for the NCAA Tournament 2026 second-round game on Sunday
Students compete in Virginia Science Olympiad State Tournament at UVA
The tournament’s events ranged from knowledge tests to building robots.
Students compete in Virginia Science Olympiad State Tournament at UVA
The tournament’s events ranged from knowledge tests to building robots.
Women's March Madness live updates, scores: LSU makes history in NCAA tournament; Minnesota stuns Ole Miss to advance to Sweet 16
The OG Four-Door Porsche Sports Sedan Wasn't Even Built By Porsche
In 1967, a Texas-based car dealer wanted a four-door Porsche 911 S. Porsche wouldn't make it, so he turned to coachbuilders for help.
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.
Syracuse finalizing Gerry McNamara hire: Siena coach helped lead Orange to 2003 national championship
McNamara just finished guiding Siena to the NCAA Tournament, where it almost upset No. 1 Duke
Southern Living names top small towns, Florida snags 5 spots
St. Augustine named best small town in the Southern United States.
Kentucky vs. Iowa State odds, time, March Madness predictions: 2026 NCAA Tournament picks from proven model
SportsLine's model has revealed its Kentucky vs. Iowa State picks for the NCAA Tournament 2026 second-round game on Sunday
2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Highlights: Round of 32 Continues
The 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament continues with the Round of 32 on Sunday, and we've got you covered with all the highlights!
Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo says César Chávez allegations are "just the tip of the iceberg"
California lawmakers this upcoming week are set to move quickly to rename César Chávez Day to Farmworkers Day ahead of the holiday that takes place every year on March 31.
Oscar-Winning Alumnus Returns to Pasadena’s ArtCenter for Entertainment Design Expo
One week after winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, KPop Demon Hunters co-director Chris Appelhans returns today to ArtCenter College of Design, the Pasadena campus where he studied illustration, for the college’s third annual Entertainment Design Expo. The expo, known as ENTX, opens the Hillside Campus to the public for a full day of gallery exhibitions, game playtesting, animation screenings and interactive experiences featuring work from more than 200 ArtCenter students and alumni. General admission is free with advance registration. Two industry panels — including Appelhans’s talk — require $15 tickets. Appelhans, who graduated from ArtCenter with a bachelor of fine arts in 2002, co-directed KPop Demon Hunters with Maggie Kang. The animated film, produced by Sony Pictures Animation and released on Netflix, became the streaming platform’s most-watched film in history, according to Netflix, and swept awards season with wins at the Golden Globes, the Annie Awards and the Grammys before taking the Oscar on March 15. His talk and audience Q&A is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. in the Ahmanson Auditorium. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. The film’s ArtCenter ties extend beyond its co-director. Art director Angela Sung, cinematographer Gary H. Lee, visual development artist Celine Kim and painter Simon Baek are all ArtCenter graduates who worked on the production, according to the college. The free portions of ENTX include a concept design showcase, a production design gallery, a model gallery, a stop motion studio preview, an alumni gallery and a KPop Demon Hunters fan art gallery. Visitors can also playtest games designed by ArtCenter students. An Animation Shorts Showcase runs from 2 to 3 p.m. and includes “Boy, I’m Scared,” a capstone short by ArtCenter graduate Lindsey Tenaglia that was named a semifinalist for the 2025 Student Academy Awards in the animation category. Also screening
“Let’s get ourselves back to Fort Worth, but take care of business at hand,” LSU after loss in Tulsa
LSU Gymnastics’ Sophomore Kailin Chio and Head Coach Jay Clark spoke to the media following a third place finish in the 2026 SEC tournament in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tiger fans came into the BOK Center hopeful for a victory due to having a podium setup, which LSU seems to have thrived on in the past. Which...
Scouting Future Saints: Washington wide receiver Denzel Boston
Denzel Boston might not be the most popular name among receivers in the draft, but he's among the most talented and he could fit what the Saints need.
Andrej Karpathy says he uses an AI agent to control his pool
Andrej Karpathy said an AI agent named Dobby texts him whenever he gets a Fedex package and helps him control his spa.
Duke vs Baylor predictions, picks, odds for NCAA Tournament Second Round
Our March Madness experts pick the winner for No. 3 Duke vs No. 6 Baylor in the 2026 women's NCAA Tournament on March 22
Where to watch Minnesota vs. Ole Miss in March Madness Second Round: Time, TV Channel
The No. 4 Minnesota Golden Gophers face the 5 Ole Miss Rebels in the Second Round of the women's NCAA Tournament. Here's how to see all the action.
Where to watch Duke vs. Baylor in March Madness Second Round: Time, TV Channel
The No. 3 Duke Blue Devils face the 6 Baylor Bears in the Second Round of the women's NCAA Tournament. Here's how to see all the action.
Where to watch Oklahoma vs. Michigan State in March Madness Second Round: Time, TV Channel
The No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners face the 5 Michigan State Spartans in the Second Round of the women's NCAA Tournament. Here's how to see all the action.
What time is Michigan women's basketball's second round game?
Michigan cruised to a blowout victory over Holy Cross in their opening NCAA Women's Tournament matchup. See who they play next.
A Grip on Sports: In a season when Gonzaga's defense was the driving force behind its success, the Zags couldn't get the one stop they needed
A GRIP ON SPORTS • After all the flotsam and jetsam is swept away, sometimes a college basketball game, an NCAA Tournament game, comes down to making one play. Saturday night in Portland, Texas did. And Gonzaga’s season once again fell short of its ultimate goal.
OPEN THREAD
The Daily Merengue is a place where you can feel free to discuss all things football. Do not be alarmed by the overt RMCF bias. It’s in the name! Shoutout to the mods who do a fantastic job Kung_Fu_Zizou, Juninho, NeRObutBlanco, Felipejack, Ezek Ix and yours truly, Valyrian Steel. Gameday!! Huge clash in the context […]
2025-26 Women's Second Round Odds: Spreads, Lines for all 16 Games
Check out the odds for all 16 games of the women's NCAA Tournament Round of 32.
NCAA tournament takeaways, Day 3: Big Ten reigns supreme, 'Cinderella' Texas and an extra edge for Houston
Nebraska survives near-miracle heave at buzzer to advance past Vanderbilt in thriller, keep dream season alive
Nebraska and Vanderbilt put on a show in one of the best games of the NCAA tournament.
Another Illinois basketball player enters legendary status in NCAA tournament
The Illinois basketball team has had some incredible performances this season, and one player just put up an amazing Round of 32 showing against VCU.
5 incredible observations from the Illinois basketball win over VCU
Illinois basketball continued their trek in the NCAA tournament with a huge win over VCU on Saturday night.
Former OSU athletes talk mental health at Scioto County Mindset Matters Summit
Big names like former Ohio State Point Guard Scoonie Penn, Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, former Buckeye Bobby Carpenter, taking the stage at the event to talk with our very own Joseph Payton about mental health.
No. 11 Texas becomes 6th First Four team to make NCAA tournament's Sweet 16 with upset win over No. 3 Gonzaga
Coaches in elite company clash when Kansas faces St. John's
SAN DIEGO -- Only three active head coaches in Division I college basketball have won multiple national championships. Two of them meet for a berth in the Sweet 16 when Bill Self's No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks face Rick Pitino's No. 5 St. John's Red Storm on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament East Region.
‘They want to colonise us’: Brazil’s Lula warns of foreign interference
The left-wing Brazilian president is critical of US actions throughout Latin America, though he does not name Trump.
Four takeaways from Nebraska men’s basketball’s NCAA Tournament win over Vanderbilt
OKLAHOMA CITY – Braden Frager. Learn the name.
Politics Unplugged (Full Episode) March 22, 2026
This week on Politics Unplugged, Progressive activist Kai Newkirk explains why he is running to unseat Democratic incumbent Greg Stanton in the congressional race in CD4. Then, consultants Marcus Dell’Artino and Matt Grodsky discuss the fallout from the Cesar Chavez allegations and the political importance of high gas prices.
Stephen Curry nears return for Warriors, but will miss at least 2 more games as regular season winds down
Stephen Curry will have 10 games to play at most before the start of the play-in tournament.
Top 5 states with the highest number of safest hospitals, according to new report
Healthgrades named 438 hospitals across 40 states for its 2026 Patient Safety Excellence Award, with Texas and Florida among the top-performing states.
March Madness scores: Live updates, schedule for today's NCAA Round 2
Keep up with today's Men's NCAA Tournament second round with scores, highlights, game times and how to watch March Madness Round 2.
2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Highlights: Men's Round of 32, More
March Madness continues Saturday, and we've got you covered with all the must-see moments from start to finish!
Ranking 5 most likely March Madness upsets in NCAA Tournament second round
The second round of 2026 NCAA Tournament is underway. Here's a look at the five most likely March Madness upset predictions in the Round of 32.
Hubert Davis' future at North Carolina in serious doubt as pressure mounts after historic collapse
Sources tell CBS Sports that Hubert Davis' future at North Carolina is in serious doubt after a historic NCAA Tournament collapse, with boosters losing faith and questioning their willingness to fund the program.
March Madness live: Who will advance to Sweet 16? Today's schedule, TV listings
Keep up the men's NCAA Tournament on March 21, including game times, TV channels and live updates.
NCAA tournament live bracket updates, scores: Follow men's March Madness Saturday games with Michigan, Duke back in action
What to know about Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio State's star in March Madness
Ohio State's Jaloni Cambridge makes her presence known in the paint and with pull-up jumpers. Here's what to know about her in the NCAA Tournament.
Duke vs. TCU odds, March Madness predictions: 2026 NCAA Tournament picks from proven model
SportsLine's model has revealed its Duke vs. TCU picks for the NCAA Tournament 2026 second-round game on Saturday
March Madness games today: Ranking the 16-game Women's NCAA Tournament schedule for Saturday
Syracuse vs. Iowa State and Princeton vs. Oklahoma State leads the best Women's NCAA Tournament games to watch on Saturday.
Nebraska, hungry for school's first Sweet 16, ready for Vanderbilt
After winning the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament game on Thursday, Nebraska wants more.
Trips to the Sweet 16 are on the line in the NCAA tournament on Saturday. Here are 4 things you need to know
The chaos of the opening round of the men’s NCAA tournament is behind us and spots in the Sweet 16 are on the line on Saturday.
Where to watch UConn vs. UTSA in March Madness First Round: Time, TV Channel
The No. 1 UConn Huskies face the 16 UTSA Roadrunners in the First Round of the women's NCAA Tournament. Here's how to see all the action.
West Virginia vs Miami (OH) predictions, picks, odds for NCAA Tournament First Round
Our March Madness experts pick the winner for No. 4 West Virginia vs No. 13 Miami (OH) in the 2026 women's NCAA Tournament on
Your 2026 NCAA Basketball Tournament Viewing Guide: March 21, 2026
Bummed about only one men’s tournament game at a time for 6 hours today? THAT’S WHAT THE WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT IS FOR!
Nebraska lands the commitment of 3-star athlete Kaden Howard
The feel-good momentum surrounding the Nebraska athletic department continues to build following the men’s basketball team’s first-round NCAA Tournament victory—and it’s now carrying over onto the recruiting trail. The Cornhuskers have secured a commitment from 3-star athlete Kaden Howard, a 5-foot-10, 160-pound playmaker out of Miami, Florida. Howard picked Nebraska over Louisville, West Virginia and […]