Search headlines

Early eating habits could have lasting effects on dementia risk, study suggests

A study of about 64,000 people found that lower sugar intake during pregnancy and early life was linked to up to 23% lower dementia risk decades later.

Aug 2 • 4:24 PM EDT • Health • foxnews.com

Eight years later, Jadeveon Clowney returns to the Texans

Aug 2 • 4:13 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Lindsay Lohan brings back ‘Parent Trap’ twins nearly 30 years later

Lindsay Lohan seemingly reprised her iconic twins from ‘The Parent Trap’ in a new commercial for a product Annie and Hallie would certainly approve of.

Aug 2 • 3:54 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com

Apple “Prioritizing Sales” Of Current 14-Inch MacBook Pro to Make Way For M6 Refresh Later This Year, MacBook Air Suffering From Severe Shortage

Apple is reportedly pushing sales of the 14-inch MacBook Pro ahead of an M6 refresh later this year while the MacBook Air faces a severe inventory shortage

Aug 2 • 11:31 AM EDT • Technology • wccftech.com

From occupied Crimea to Oxfordshire: the Kremlin links to new £600m UK theme park

Exclusive: Puy du Fou worked with under-sanctions oligarch on plans for Crimea resort longer than disclosed, and later courted Iran and China

Aug 2 • 2:00 AM EDT • Business • theguardian.com

D.O.P.E Cider takes over amphitheater for YO-Nights Business Takeover

A busy weekend in Youngstown continues later into the night with the D.O.P.E. Takeover at Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre.

Aug 1 • 9:28 PM EDT • Business • wkbn.com

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book devs talk about how they benefited from Nintendo Switch 2's hardware power

The developers behind Yoshi and the Mysterious Book have spoken about how they were able to take advantage of Nintendo Switch 2’s power while making the game. As we previously reported, the game actually started out as a Nintendo Switch 1 title. However, later on, it shifted over to the latest console. Senior producer Etsunobu Ebisu, director Masahiro Yamamoto, and...

Aug 1 • 4:30 PM EDT • Technology • nintendoeverything.com

Science Inquiry Comes Alive for Jacket Middle Schoolers

Snails, sidewalks and Double Stuff Oreos... At Partnership Middle School, instructors are finding innovative ways to help students connect the classroom to what they see in the real world every day. By integrating hands-on experiences and scientific investigations into weekly lessons, 6th and 7th grade science teachers push their classes to explore the curriculum standards through the lens of critical thinking, communication with their peers, experimentation, and scientific inquiry. Last week, two different approaches for two different grade levels saw Jacket teachers ignite the same spark for learning. On Tuesday, 6th graders in Lydia Jones' science class took their lessons outside as they explored the school grounds to identify living and non-living things. Despite the warm temperatures, they engaged in discovering unexpected objects on the campus and connecting that to what they learned in class about the criteria for what qualifies a thing as "living". Ms. Jones tasked students with walking the grounds and listing as many living and non-living things they could find in just a few minutes. Students spotted a fire hydrant, construction vehicles, grass, trees, soccer equipment, rocks, sidewalks, and even a snail hidden in the plants. After they finished the exploration, students returned to the regular classroom to discuss their results and whether their objects were classified correctly. On Thursday, 7th graders in Omini Parks' science class participated in their first lab of the semester as they explored and identified the physical properties of a favorite snack -- Oreos. Ms. Parks identified the class objective before the lab activity began by writing the academic standard on the dry erase board in a declarative statement: "I can collect and evaluate qualitative data to describe substances using physical properties." Students watched a video about how Oreo sandwich cookies are made, and then engaged in a question and answer discussion to give observations on the manufacturing process, review various types of physical properties and their scientific terminology, and talk generally about how the lab inquiry would work. The Q&A ended with a predictable question from students... "Will we be able to eat the Oreos?" The hands-on lab exercise required the 7th grade scientists to observe and record the differences between regular Oreos and the Double Stuff variety based on their physical properties. They followed the instructions in their lab brief to chart a comparison between the two types of cookies by observing properties with their magnifying lenses, measuring the height and diameter of both, and weighing the cookies with and without their filling. The activity let students put their lessons about physical properties into practice with real objects while also practicing vocabulary and writing skills to record their observations and using math skills from the last school year like taking measurements and calculating averages. Of course, they ended the lab by charting the taste of the cookies as well! These types of activities allow students to see the science standards they are learning come to life in the real world and engage with the content in new ways. Beyond that, they serve as a foundation for encouraging and growing scientific inquiry. Later in the school year, students will use the scientific method they are learning to complete science projects that require real research and the ability to explain and answer questions about their process and results. At the school-level competitive Science Fair last year, 41 Partnership students earned a place in the 2026 regional Science Fair held at MSU. From there, 14 advanced to the State Science Fair conducted at Northeast Mississippi Community College in April.

Aug 1 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • starkvillesd.com

Microsoft Promises Better Windows 11 Memory Efficiency

Following large-scale dissatisfaction with the overall Windows experience, Microsoft in March 2026 issued a statement explaining that it would be working to deliver "smoother navigation and more reliable performance for everyday tasks." Now, over four months later, Pavan Davaluri, President of...

Jul 31 • 7:22 PM EDT • Technology • techpowerup.com

The Streaming Bubble Keeps Popping

(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) One of my rules is “never bet against PE [private equity]”. This isn’t to say that I agree with their methods or tactics or strategies or financial innovations (aka shenanigans). Just that in the long arc of financial history, they’ve tended to return very good returns to their shareholders. That said, their forays into entertainment have left me...skeptical. I’ve written before about PE’s production company/celebrity production company roll ups, and those haven’t really worked out. Some PE groups tried to “roll up” an industry that isn’t “roll-up-able” for lack of a better term—since the barrier to entry for starting a production company is very low—often paying top dollar for celebrity production companies at the height of streaming valuations. So yeah maybe we can bet against PE when they venture into filmed entertainment. I’ve also noted that studio lots seemed to be a bubble back in 2022. Sure enough… Yikes! That sure sounds like some private equity guys lost some money. The only caveat being that holding a lot of land in Los Angeles is always valuable. But that wasn’t the pitch and likely real estate investment companies overpaid for said land. I mean, Goldman Sachs had to repossess it after all. (Technically, I’m not sure these buyers were traditional private equity, but PE was buying LA studio lots earlier this decade.) All to say: I call out bubbles when I see them, and they often pop. Anywho, my most famous bubble call was the “streaming bubble”, specifically that the major streamers were making too many shows and films. And that it could all come crashing down. Notably, I made this call before the strikes of 2023, but those strikes potentially accelerated the popping. And now it has indeed popped. One of my most popular articles of last year made that exact case. A year later, it’s time to update that analysis. The bottom line is that the streaming contraction continues. Credit where credit is due, Luminate—an analytics company whose data I use weekly in my streaming ratings report—called this out in a recent report I saw highlighted in both Bloomberg and The Hollywood Reporter. But I’m adding my data to their look, including streaming films and kids TV shows. I’ll also provide some other data that all tells the same picture. Let’s dive in! Subscribe The Number of Streaming TV Shows, Films and Specials Is Declining AGAIN in 2026 Let’s get right to the data, starting with my dataset. Specifically, each week I track every “notable” title to come out on streaming. I try to grab every title on every major streamer, meaning if it’s a first run or original or exclusive, I track it. This helps me call out the “dogs not barking” and the misses/flops each week. So that will be our first series of charts, my weekly collection data. Let’s start with the raw TV show, film and special data, by week. Note: As the years have gone by, I have actually added more sources (going from just one source to five sources) to find new titles, meaning that this data collection is, likely, more accurate now than in the past. Which means my team and I are more likely to have undercounted titles in the past rather than today. I like to cut the data several different ways. Here’s that same look, by quarter, to more sharply show the trends: And here’s the data just looking at the first half of each year. That’s the same data, just cut three different ways with three different time periods. Note that films, TV shows, and specials are all down by 25%, 42% and 17%, respectively, from 2022. The good news is that the number of films and specials actually increased year-over-year from 2025 to 2026, but not enough to offset the 25% decline in TV shows. Now, I also look at kids shows, and here they are pulled out on their own: And here’s that by quarter: This really seems to be a notable area of pullback by the streamers. Kids shows are down 80% from 2022. This reflects some formerly Disney+ shows going to cable TV first, but also pullbacks from HBO Max, Prime Video and Netflix. I also categorize the TV shows by English language and non-English language, and that also reveals a lot of where the drop comes from: And here is by the half-year: In this look, the good news is the drop for English language shows seems to have stabilized in the last year. But the bad news is the long term decline from the 2022 peak. Other Data So I wasn’t the only person to notice this decline in the number of shows. I have a few other data sources for this, though most only go through the end of 2025. As I said, Luminate beat me to the punch, so let’s look at their data. We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… What TV loss streaming didn’t make up for... How Netflix has changed their programming slate over time… Ten more images charting the decline of production... What type of films aren’t being made anymore... The good news (for movie theaters)… And more... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support.

Jul 31 • 2:43 PM EDT • Entertainment • entertainment.substack.com

Reddit is testing a new way to watch — and listen to — its viral posts

Reddit is developing a new video experience that lets users watch — or simply listen to — its most popular posts, taking inspiration from the viral TikTok videos that pair Reddit stories with gameplay or other footage. CEO Steve Huffman said the feature is already in the works and could begin testing later this year.

Jul 31 • 10:49 AM EDT • Technology • techcrunch.com

What your walking speed may reveal about your brain health

A new study of adults 80 and older found a striking link between walking pace and later cognitive decline — but the takeaway isn’t simply to speed up.

Jul 31 • 7:00 AM EDT • Health • sfchronicle.com

Rare Pokémon game that deletes itself found 20 years later

PokéPark Fishing was only accessible for a while, to a select group of fans in Japan. The 2005 game has since resurfaced, but there's a catc

Jul 30 • 11:52 AM EDT • Technology • polygon.com

The new "science golden age" looks suspiciously like a grift

This edition of PN is made possible by paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ 🚀 Subscribe to PN 🚀 The Trump regime is trying to usher in a “Golden Age in Science” where scientific research is run like a Trump family business, artificial intelligence is all that matters, profit is everything, and expertise is for chumps. Or at least that’s the vision emerging from a new 123-page “Report to the President” from Michael Kratsios, the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In a normal administration, you could probably skip over learning about a science policy document — but this is no normal administration, and this is no normal science policy document. Instead, it’s Trump’s attempt to end the actual golden age of science that was kicked off in 1945 with the publication of '“The Endless Frontier” by Vannevar Bush. [ ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/harmeet-dhillon-portland) [ Harmeet Dhillon demonstrates danger of posting through it ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/harmeet-dhillon-portland) Liz Dye · Jul 29 [ Read full story ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/harmeet-dhillon-portland) Bush, at President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s request, laid out a vision of federal support for science that centered on funding universities to do basic research, saying that as long as those institutions were “vigorous and healthy and their scientists are free to pursue the truth wherever it may lead, there will be a flow of new scientific knowledge to those who can apply it to practical problems in Government, in industry, or elsewhere.” Kratsios’s report is supposed to be the successor to Bush’s, and even apes the format, but this isn’t really a document about science policy. It’s one about ending science research as we know it in favor of shoveling cash at big tech companies. While it might be temping to wave this away as an aspirational policy document, Trump has already begun to shift billions in research funds to AI projects and has taken a hatchet to science funding across the board. He’s teed up the shift Kratsios proposes here, and since neither Congress nor the Supreme Court seem inclined to stop him from doing whatever he wants with taxpayer money, it isn’t doomering or hyperbole to say we are staring down the barrel of a world where the only “science” the government intends to support is for-profit tech and defense advancements. Science for dummies Part of how you can tell this isn’t a document about science is that you are immediately faced with an absolute wall of business-speak of the worst sort. Did you know we must “tightly couple our science and technology enterprises to ensure that groundbreaking ideas invented in the United States are rapidly prototyped, tested, manufactured, and scaled domestically”? You do now! That tone isn’t surprising, because Kratsios has no background in science or research. He has a bachelor’s in political science and spent most of his career working for Peter Thiel at Thiel Capital. After a stint in the first Trump administration as Chief Technology Officer, where he also did not do any science, Kratsios was tasked in 2020 with overseeing the Pentagon’s research budget for a brief time, a position that, as the Wall Street Journal put it, “carries a great deal of power in terms of dictating investment allocations.” He spent the Biden years at Scale AI as “head of strategy,” which you will also note is neither a science nor a research job. But Scale AI has contracts with the Department of Defense and, as the Washington Post wrote in 2023, “has been aggressively pitching itself as the company that will help the US military in its existential battle with China.” And now you have the necessary background for our new golden age, which is going to be a golden age of taking money away from scientists and universities and giving it to companies like Scale AI. A note from Aaron: Working with brilliant contributors like Lisa takes resources. If you aren’t already a paid subscriber, please become one to support our work. 👇 Subscribe In a genuinely galling move, Katsios spends a lot of time slamming universities because of “administrative burdens on researchers” and the “well-documented inefficiencies” in academia, the message being that those damn universities waste the time of amazing researchers with paperwork. Except it’s the administration that is attempting to impose inefficient, unnecessary burdens on those researchers with a proposed Office of Management and Budget rule that would require senior political appointees to approve every science grant and ensure it aligns with Trump’s personal priorities. Researchers would also have to seek prior government approval to attend conferences or publicize their research. And political appointees could terminate any grant at any time if they feel like it. [ ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/omb-rule-science-funding) [ The murder of expertise ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/omb-rule-science-funding) Lisa Needham · Jun 11 [ Read full story ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/omb-rule-science-funding) But when it comes to AI, we’re going to “restore permissionless innovation.” The report proposes to give lucky ducky innovators a pile of cash up front for grants lasting five years or longer, saying “awards should be fully-funded in year one, with all resources earmarked upfront, to minimize administrative burdens and reduce pressure for researchers to generate intermediate results to secure continued funding.” Yeah, wouldn’t want to have to make the Very Special Tech Bros show results or get money parceled out year by year like the plebes at universities. The report also proposes that we should have “fast grants” with “simplified applications requiring just a few pages of writing” because that is definitely how science works, just writing a bit off the dome and getting some cash. [ ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-ai-action-plan-altman-llms) [ Tech elites are turning AI into ChatGPTrump ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-ai-action-plan-altman-llms) Paul Waldman · July 29, 2025 [ Read full story ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-ai-action-plan-altman-llms) Oh, and we should have prizes and challenges, where multiple teams compete. The proposed prizes include incentives like “advance procurement commitments,” which means the federal government agrees to buy whatever is being developed. There’s also “regulatory fast-tracking,” making sure all those great AI thingies don’t have to wait too long to be unleashed on a market. These aren’t incentives to do science. These are incentives to develop things with tax dollars that you can then sell to the government for more tax dollars. In the suggestion that might be the most unhinged, the most very opposite of how both government and research work, our new age will include “golden tickets.” That’s where an individual reviewer in an agency — yes, just one person — can “recommend unconventional proposals that may not pass consensus-driven review panels” because somehow this will “surface valuable ideas too divisive for committees and attract higher quality reviewers by empowering them to exercise independent scientific judgment.” Yes, that’s saying that a random person in an agency should be able to shovel money at some idea even if it can’t pass a review panel, and that the opportunity to do so will attract better employees because apparently all the best minds in science are chomping at the bit to be allowed to unilaterally fund AI research based on their personal vibes. But that isn’t at all how actual science works, and actual scientists aren’t unhappy about review panels. They work collaboratively, not siloed in some secret race to create the next AI chatbot. A 2020 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research examined whether peer review panels succeed in helping agencies predict which research ideas will best advance science. Peer review was better at finding “diamond in the rough” applicants than a single government program official. How about that. Trump always wants a taste It’s painfully clear that what Katsios is trying to do here is turn the whole of government science research and funding into the sort of “move fast and break things” paradigm that is the hallmark of big tech. That method works to line the pockets of tech executives, but it isn’t science. There’s a reason the government funds different kinds of research than private tech companies do. What Katsios either fails to understand or deliberately ignores is that the federal government is the main funder of basic research precisely because it can take a long time for it to bear fruit and is not intended to be profitable as such. “Basic” here does not mean rudimentary or simple, but rather research that is designed to advance scientific knowledge instead of achieving a specific outcome or product. Big tech companies don’t widely fund that sort of research, because it doesn’t make them money. Industry dollars account for only about 20 percent of basic research funding, while the government contributes around 60 percent. Big tech companies and startups do, however, rely on and benefit from that basic research. A 2019 study found that 35 percent of all patents obtained by venture-backed startups from 1976 to 2016 cited federally supported research. Basic research funded by the NIH contributed to every single drug the FDA approved from 2010 to 2016. [ ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-saudi-nuclear-deal) [ The Saudi nuclear farce and governance by whim and meme ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-saudi-nuclear-deal) Noah Berlatsky · Jul 27 [ Read full story ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-saudi-nuclear-deal) Unlike inventing the next ChatGPT, actual science is slow and iterative. Government funding of research that, on its face, would not appear to lead to any big new invention is actually what underpins those big new inventions. If the government hadn’t funded research into desert lizard venom, we wouldn’t know about semaglutide, and we wouldn’t have Ozempic. If research scientists hadn’t studied how bees optimize nectar foraging within a colony, we wouldn’t have the algorithm that assigns internet traffic across computer servers. The report assiduously ignores that a symbiotic, profitable relationship between the federal government, universities, and private companies already exists. Each federal research dollar generates about $1.50 to $3.00 in long-term economic benefits. The $36 billion the government awarded in NIH research funding in fiscal year 2025 generated $94 billion in new economic activity. Trump’s proposed new golden age is intended to strip those billions from universities, resulting in the dismantling of departments and the shuttering of labs. But Katsios has a plan for that: Universities should just become trade schools to churn out no-show STEM degrees! “Require universities and community colleges to embed practical technical training and externships into STEM curricula. Let hands-on experience and industry credentials count toward degrees.” It’s quite the feat to, on the one hand, strip schools of funding for scientific research while simultaneously demanding to control what is taught and, oh, also, colleges need to give degrees to employees at big tech companies just for being employees at big tech companies. The new golden age would also exacerbate the brain drain Trump’s policies have already caused. Nature found that in the first quarter of 2025, US scientists submitted 32 percent more job applications abroad than in 2024. A March 2025 poll by Nature of roughly 1,600 scientists found that over 1,200 said they were considering leaving the country. Europe is investing $565 million to make it a “magnet for researchers” and provide funding for scientists who relocate. The new golden age is also about embedding Trump’s xenophobia into the fabric of American science. The report complains of an “over-reliance on foreign students” that “creates a security challenge our institutions are ill-equipped to address” and that a “reliance on foreign talent sidelines American students.” This is, to put it mildly, nonsense. International students pay far higher tuition and often receive no financial aid. Their tuition dollars are what make it possible for American students to get financial aid. In the 2023-2024 school year alone, international students contributed $43.8 billion to the US economy and supported over 378,000 jobs. Those 1.1 million international students accounted for only six percent of the total number of students in higher education that year, but were such an economic engine that for every three international students, one job was created or supported. It’s impossible not to wonder whether part of Trump’s loathing for universities and their leading role in scientific research is that there is no way for him to corrupt the process and make money off it in the same way he can by giving millions and billions to Silicon Valley types who, in turn, give him millions in cash. There’s no way for his children to invest in universities that the government then gives no-bid contracts to, fattening the family’s bottom line, which is pretty much the Trump sons’ current venture capital practice. Trump and Katsios’s view of science is narrow, cramped, and wrong. We’re not in a crisis, we’re not a failed state. We’ve been a science superpower for decades, and the only thing that threatens that is Donald Trump. Tech bros are already living high off the hog in this administration. They don’t need any more of our tax dollars. Hopefully this new golden age never comes to pass. Thanks for reading Public Notice. This post is public so feel free to share it. Share We’ll be back with more tomorrow. If you appreciate today’s PN, please do your part to keep us free by signing up for a paid subscription. 🚀 Subscribe to PN 🚀 Thanks for reading, and for your support.

Jul 30 • 8:12 AM EDT • Science • publicnotice.co

RISE to Feature Terri Carmichael Jackson, Jessica Caggiano on WNBA

During RISE Women’s Sports last fall, WNBPA Executive Director Terri Carmichael Jackson outlined a vision for a transformational future for the WNBA. A future where player compensation, investment and working conditions finally reflected the league’s explosive growth. Nearly a year later, with a landmark new collective bargaining agreement, record-setting media rights and continued expansion reshaping …

Jul 30 • 7:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

I drove Slate's truck. It's more pickup-y than I expected.

Slate will start delivering its roughly $25,000 pickups later this year. After driving it around, I'm a bit more optimistic it'll stick.

Jul 30 • 5:31 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

Sandra Oh reveals 'privilege' she had in leaving 'Grey's Anatomy'

Even 12 years later, "Grey's Anatomy" fans are still not over Dr. Cristina Yang's exit.

Jul 29 • 6:32 PM EDT • Entertainment • centraloregondaily.com

Trump wants the Supreme Court to give him the unilateral power to rewrite election law

Trump threatened to arrest state election officials who distribute mailed ballots. Then, the courts got involved.

Jul 29 • 2:15 PM EDT • Politics • vox.com

American Summer: Steve Guttenberg, Christie Brinkley Film Gets Release

Mia Talerico also stars in Michael W. Gray's coming-of-age feature that hits theaters later this year from Blue Harbor Entertainment.

Jul 29 • 1:00 PM EDT • Entertainment • hollywoodreporter.com

How a 40-year-old father launched a $1.6 billion-a-year meat snacks empire from a bankrupt Wisconsin business

Jack Link turned a bankruptcy into an opportunity to build a beef jerky empire. Four decades later, Link Snacks brings in more than $1 billion in annual sales.

Jul 29 • 12:03 PM EDT • Business • cnbc.com

How a family business went from bankrupt to $1.6 billion a year in sales

Jack Link turned a bankruptcy into an opportunity to build a beef jerky empire. Four decades later, Link Snacks brings in more than $1 billion in annual sales.

Jul 29 • 12:03 PM EDT • Business • cnbc.com

The power plant players unlocking the grid | Investors Lab

History is full of aha moments where an apparent failure was actually the breakthrough people didn't know they needed. Take champagne, discovered when French winemakers kept finding their bottles exploding under pressure. Or sticky notes, developed from a glue that was rejected by leadership at 3M for being too weak, but later redeployed for the purpose we all know and love. Nuclear fusion just experienced another of these serendipitous discoveries. For decades, it wasn't clear how the subatomic particles known as alpha particles would affect the turbulence that drains heat from a reactor's core, preventing the reactor from reaching self-sustaining fusion. Now, new simulations suggest that the particles help. The new research turns what was once viewed as a potential operational hindrance into a critical performance booster. SN's Emily Conover has the info blast.

Jul 29 • 9:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencenews.org

She Wanted to Teach Kids History. Her Idea Became a $700 Million Business

Pleasant Rowland started American Girl with an educational mission, not a toy-industry playbook. Decades later, the company remains one of the most successful toy brands ever created.

Jul 29 • 7:00 AM EDT • Business • inc.com

She Wanted to Teach Kids History. Her Idea Became a $700 Million Business

Pleasant Rowland started American Girl with an educational mission, not a toy-industry playbook. Decades later, the company remains one of the most successful toy brands ever created.

Jul 29 • 7:00 AM EDT • Business • inc.com

A decade later, Ellicott City business owners remember what the flood left behind

Ten years after the 2016 flood ravaged Howard County’s Ellicott City, shop owners on Main Street still remember the tragedy that swept through the town.

Jul 29 • 5:00 AM EDT • Business • baltimoresun.com

The science behind social media's 'Early Bird Dinner': How early dining may impact sleep and weight

The problem with eating later in the evening is often what's on your plate, one doctor says.

Jul 28 • 6:19 PM EDT • Science • abcnews.com

New Apple Upgrade Program Lets You Lease an iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch

Apple is rolling out this 'Buy Now, Pay Later' program in partnership with Klarna.

Jul 28 • 9:53 AM EDT • Technology • pcmag.com

Health financing under pressure as civil society calls for urgent action

Ahead of the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly, the WHO Civil Society Commission and partners highlighted the need for sustainable domestic health financing, stronger accountability, health equity, and meaningful civil society and youth engagement to advance universal health coverage amid global funding challenges.

Jul 28 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • who.int

Civil society pushes for action on health financing

WHO Civil Society Commission dialogue highlighted the need to turn health financing commitments into action through stronger accountability, efficient resource use, increased investment in primary health care, and greater civil society and youth engagement to advance equity and universal health coverage ahead of the 79th World Health Assembly.

Jul 28 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • who.int

The Bear’s Den, July 28, 2026

The Chicago Bears players should all be in camp by the end of today, watch for presser news from Ben & Ryan later

Jul 28 • 6:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

McConnell remains in rehab and says he’ll miss key Kentucky political event

McConnell was hospitalized on June 14 and revealed weeks later it was from a fall.

Jul 27 • 3:17 PM EDT • Politics • pressdemocrat.com

Pokémon’s E3 1998 Reveal Is Wild To Watch Nearly 30 Years Later

The series was already a hit in Japan, but Nintendo still had to convince Americans

Jul 27 • 12:00 PM EDT • Technology • kotaku.com

Should We Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent?

More light at the day’s end comes at a price: much later winter sunrises across much of the U.S. Scientists have documented consequences for public health and the economy.

Jul 27 • 10:22 AM EDT • Science • nytimes.com

Should We Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent?

More light at the day’s end comes at a price: much later winter sunrises across much of the U.S. Scientists have documented consequences for public health and the economy.

Jul 27 • 10:22 AM EDT • Health • nytimes.com

A24's 'Onslaught' trailer is chilling stuff

The "28 Years Later" trailer called...

Jul 27 • 9:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • mashable.com

He Sold His HVAC Business and Trucks in One Year. Two Years Later, Medicare Billed Him Like a Millionaire.

An HVAC contractor sold his business, paid his taxes, and booked a trip to Portugal. Two years later, Medicare sent him a premium notice sized for someone still running a seven-figure operation, and the clock to fight it was already running.

Jul 27 • 7:02 AM EDT • Business • finance.yahoo.com

'Apple Upgrade' Program Launching on Tuesday

In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that a new "Apple Upgrade" program is set to launch in the U.S. on Tuesday, July 28. Apple will stop accepting iPhone Upgrade Program sign-ups on the same day, but he said customers who are already enrolled will be able to remain in the program "for the time being". Apple is partnering with buy-now, pay-later company Klarna on the program, he said.

Jul 26 • 11:20 AM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

How Joe Torre's lineage and decades of “what ifs” led Phillies to Don Mattingly

One swing in the 1995 ALDS set off a chain of baseball decisions that, three decades later, put Don Mattingly in the Phillies’ dugout.

Jul 26 • 7:00 AM EDT • Sports • nbcsportsphiladelphia.com

550 years later, scientists claim to have solved what killed Botticelli’s muse

Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli painted Simonetta Vespucci as Venus rising from the waves. Now, scientists think they’ve solved how she died

Jul 26 • 6:00 AM EDT • Science • scientificamerican.com

Apple's First Water-Resistant iPad to Launch Later This Year

Apple's next iPad mini will apparently be the first iPad with a water-resistant design, and the tablet is now expected to arrive by October. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported last year that Apple is working on an updated casing that offers protection comparable to the iPhone, making the iPad mini safe for casual use in wet environments like a bathroom or a pool area.

Jul 25 • 9:00 PM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

MLB Umpires Target Yankees José Caballero

On July 31, 2025 Jose Caballero held the unique distinction of players playing the opponent they were traded to when he turned a double play for the Tampa Bay Rays and conducted his postgame interview for the New York Yankees. Nearly a year later, Caballero holds the distinction of being the player ...

Jul 25 • 9:33 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Scientists put the “recycling is a distraction” claim to the test

Recycling, greener diets, and other personal climate choices do not seem to distract people from supporting major environmental reforms. A four-year study of nearly 2,800 Australians found that these habits neither increased nor reduced later political engagement.

Jul 25 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

Tortorella Crushed By Vegas’ Decision To Move On

John Tortorella led Vegas to the Final, only to be cut days later. The veteran coach demands a new job now.

Jul 25 • 1:11 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

'MacBook Ultra' Coming Soon With These 12 New Features

Apple's first high-end MacBook redesign in five years is expected to arrive in the near future, bringing a run of firsts to the Mac. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the laptop to arrive between late 2026 and early 2027, with the later window now looking more likely owing to the global memory chip shortage. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects mass production to begin by late 2026.

Jul 24 • 9:00 PM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

New Macs are coming soon, here’s everything we know

Apple has multiple new Macs launching later this year, including the first touchscreen MacBook and a new iMac. Here's everything we know

Jul 24 • 9:19 AM EDT • Technology • 9to5mac.com

Clint Reilly, influential California political consultant, dies at 79

Reilly ran successful campaigns for California's most recognizable politicians, including Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer and Nancy Pelosi. He later turned his attention to real estate and local media

Jul 22 • 12:16 PM EDT • Politics • latimes.com

As Massachusetts codifies science of reading, experts expect results to take a few years

The state’s law takes effect in 2027-28, but one former state education chief doesn’t expect meaningful performance data until three years later.

Jul 22 • 10:00 AM EDT • Science • k12dive.com

Kayla Jordan reflects on gratitude for Maynard Children’s Hospital 14 years later

An unprecedented illness that started with stomach pain and spiraled into stay at Maynard Children's Hospital for Kayla Jordan.

Jul 22 • 9:55 AM EDT • Health • ecuhealth.org

Samsung Galaxy Glasses revealed at Unpacked

The highly anticipated glasses are expected to arrive later this year.

Jul 22 • 9:27 AM EDT • Technology • mashable.com

EA Sports FC 27 Kylian Mbappé cover reveal: Everything to know

Four years later, Mbappé is back on the cover — this time as the face of 'EA Sports FC 27'.

Jul 22 • 9:13 AM EDT • Sports • mashable.com

Shark’s Cove businesses fight to stay as city plans first responder hub

Once the land acquisition is complete later this summer, the city plans to issue eight businesses a 90-day notice to vacate.

Jul 22 • 4:22 AM EDT • Business • hawaiinewsnow.com

Harrisburg business owners raise concerns after 15-minute parking spaces removed

A Downtown Harrisburg business owner is seeking answers after 15-minute parking spaces that she says were approved outside her business were later removed.

Jul 21 • 7:59 PM EDT • Business • wgal.com

'Star Trek: The Next Generation' cast: See what became of the Enterprise crew nearly 40 years later

'Star Trek: The Next Generation' ushered in a golden age for the beloved franchise. See Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, and more nearly 40 years after the premiere.

Jul 21 • 7:00 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com

Light made a flip phone. It's colorful and it's cheap.

Light co-founder Kaiwei Tang helped create the Motorola Razr, and he's as surprised as anyone that over twenty years later, the flip phone is relevant again.

Jul 21 • 11:00 AM EDT • Technology • techcrunch.com

College football’s best QBs for 2026, plus poll results

The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Don’t spy on anyone today. Coming up: 🏈 CFB QB tiers 📺 Clark out at ESPN 🗳️ Your poll results As one football leaves us, the next one settles in right on time. The World Cup is in the past now. American football is nigh. It’s time to switch our focus. At least until later in this newsletter. We’ve entered one of my favorite parts of the college football preseason: when predictions feel a little more weighty, just...

Jul 21 • 6:25 AM EDT • Sports • nytimes.com

Nintendo says it has no legal duty to pass its U.S. tariff refunds on to consumers

Nintendo is asking a court to dismiss a proposed class action suit that was filed this past spring by gamers who say the Mario maker is breaking the law if it doesn’t pass on its U.S. tariff refunds to consumers. Those consumers “received exactly what they bargained and paid for” when buying price-hiked Nintendo goods last year, the company said in a filing on Monday in the case of Hoffert et al v. Nintendo. “Plaintiffs are not entitled to a rebate simply because of intervening legal developments related to tariffs.” Nintendo increased the price of Switch 2 controllers and the original Switch last year, following the imposition of globe-spanning U.S. tariffs (tariffs described by Nintendo’s lawyers on Monday as “sweeping” and “constantly changing”). This past February, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the tariffs were illegal. A month later, Nintendo sued the U.S. government to get a refund. And in April, gamers filed the class action claim against Nintendo in Washington, saying it would be illegally double-dipping if it made money from tariff-hiked sales and then from a refund. The gamers sought relief for anyone in the U.S. who bought price-hiked Nintendo items between February 2025 and February 2026. “The common thread among Plaintiffs’ claims is that it is somehow ‘unfair; that Nintendo has not retroactively adjusted its prices for completed sales in response to the outcome of the tariff litigation,” the company’s lawyers wrote in today’s motion to dismiss. “But that is now how commercial transactions work.

Jul 21 • 12:07 AM EDT • Technology • gamefile.news

Linklaters partners handed record £2.5mn payday as Asia business booms

‘Magic circle’ law firm cites Hong Kong listings work and growth in US as it reports bumper payouts for top ranks

Jul 21 • 12:00 AM EDT • Business • ft.com

The New Mercedes-Maybach GLS Debuts With More Power, Better Style

The 2027 Mercedes-Maybach GLS 680 now makes 603 horsepower. It goes on sale later this year.

Jul 20 • 11:00 PM EDT • Technology • motor1.com

Proposed changes to Protect College Sports Act would allow conference expansion -- with a catch

As negotiations on the college sports bill intensify ahead of a possible floor vote on the Senate floor later this month, sources tell CBS Sports that Power Four leagues would still have a pathway to expand

Jul 20 • 4:15 PM EDT • Sports • cbssports.com

5 breakout candidates for the Patriots in 2026

Here are five breakout candidates to keep an eye on when the Patriots start training camp later this week.

Jul 20 • 10:25 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

ICYMI: See a teaser for Ariana Grande's new video

At the end of her concert Saturday night in Brooklyn, New York, Ariana Grande premiered the trailer for the video for "petal," the title track of her new album. She later shared the teaser on Instagra...

Jul 20 • 10:09 AM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com

Shaky political "science": breakdown of the peer review process

[This article is the latest in our “Shaky Political Science” series. In our 38 page report, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting,” released in December 2025, we examined over 40 studies focused on ranked choice voting (RCV). Many of these studies suffered from puzzling research methodologies, poorly constructed surveys, unrealistic simulated elections, cherry picked data and faulty analyses that often were contradicted by results from real-world elections (a link to our full paper is here). Here are links to the first four articles in our series: the first one summarizing the overall results of our report; the second one analyzed a study co-authored by University of Minnesota academic Larry Jacobs, which was one of the most error-prone of all the research we reviewed in our report; a third article showing an admirable example of two political scientists holding two other political scientists accountable for their flawed, sloppy research; and a fourth article that analyzed seven studies sponsored by New America’s political reform program that deployed flawed methodology based on “simulated” elections instead of real-world elections, which when combined with some basic misunderstandings of RCV, produced odd and misleading results]. In this fifth article in our “Shaky Political Science” series, we examine two flawed studies on the impact of RCV on voter turnout authored by San Francisco State University professor Jason McDaniel. McDaniel’s research in these two papers stands out for its puzzling methodology, inadequate and cherry-picked data, and faulty analyses that not only misunderstands ranked choice voting but reflects a basic misunderstanding of politics in general. The first of the McDaniel studies actually passed through a peer review process and then was subsequently published by the Journal of Urban Affairs, despite its obvious errors. It is perplexing that a jury of peer political scientists did not catch the errors and send it back to McDaniel for a rewrite or outright rejection. This calls into question the credibility of the peer review process itself. The peer review process is supposed to represent the intellectual pinnacle of the profession – a way for academics to certify the quality of each other’s work, and to act as a check against sloppy research. In the case of the McDaniel study, the peer review process failed. Yet his flawed study has been cited dozens of times by other political scientists in their own flawed works — an unvirtuous circle of academic research. Here is the first Jason McDaniel study that we analyzed: “Writing the Rules to Rank the Candidates: Examining the Impact of Instant-Runoff Voting on Racial Group Turnout in San Francisco Mayoral Elections,” by Jason McDaniel, 2016, Journal of Urban Affairs. This study covered San Francisco’s use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in mayoral elections, purporting to show that RCV reduces voter turnout overall, increases voter errors, and has a negative impact on “marginal populations,” i.e. racial minorities, mainly as the result of the alleged complexity of RCV asking voters to rank candidates and having to be familiar with multiple candidates and related dynamics. McDaniel reached these conclusions by examining five San Francisco mayoral elections taking place in odd years (i.e. where there are no federal or state races on the ballot) from 1995 to 2011, comparing three earlier non-RCV races (in 1995, 1999 and 2003) with the later two RCV races (in 2007 and 2011). Only two RCV races were studied, and as McDaniel acknowledged, only the contest in 2011 was “competitive” (that contest in 2007 was the first mayoral election using RCV, and incumbent mayor Gavin Newsom won easily in the first round of counting, earning 74% of first choices and far ahead of the second place candidate who had just 6.3% of first choices). Yet even the allegedly competitive contest in 2011was won by an incumbent with a landslide margin of nearly 20 points. No other elections were studied by McDaniel, even though San Francisco elects 17 other offices besides mayor with RCV, including the 11 seats on the Board of Supervisors (the name for the city council) in even years, and six other citywide offices in odd years. Previous academic research has found that competitive elections can stimulate greater voter involvement and higher turnout. For unexplained reasons, this study ignored at least 34 other RCV races between the years 2004 to 2011, many of which were very competitive and had high voter turnout. Instead, McDaniel’s analysis based its conclusions on data from only a single, marginally-competitive mayor’s race using RCV. These 2007 and 2011 mayoral elections were the only two RCV elections that McDaniel used as the sole basis for his small data set to determine the impact of RCV on voter turnout. Despite having no meaningful data to inform his study, McDaniel nonetheless concluded that RCV lowered turnout when compared to the previous three mayoral non-RCV elections using two-round runoffs. Then, using the same inadequate database of San Francisco elections, McDaniel also found that “Instant-runoff voting is associated with a significant decline in Black voter turnout and White voter turnout…On average, Black voter turnout decreases by 18 points and White voter turnout decreases by 16 points …” But how could he credibly arrive at that conclusion when his study was based on voter turnout in two RCV contests that were not even remotely competitive? Beyond that, McDaniel tacitly admits that the key determining factor driving Black voter turnout was not RCV vs non-RCV elections, but the presence of a viable Black candidate. McDaniel wrote, “Black voter turnout was about 17 percentage points higher for the two elections that featured an African American candidate compared to the three elections that did not” — but one of those three elections did not use RCV. The same dynamic was present for White voter turnout, in which higher turnout was not correlated with RCV vs non-RCV elections, but the presence of a viable White candidate. Beyond that, McDaniel’s voter turnout results, whether correlated with the race of the candidates or RCV vs non-RCV elections, showed no clear patterns. In his Figure 1, he shows low Asian voter turnout in the non-RCV elections in 1999 and 2003 when there was no viable Asian candidate running, but in the 2007 mayoral election using RCV, there is still no viable Asian candidate, yet Asian turnout increases dramatically. For Latinos, voter turnout is virtually the same in 1999 (no viable Latino candidate, non-RCV elections), 2003 (leading Latino candidate, non-RCV elections), 2007 (no viable Latino candidate, RCV elections) and 2011 (leading Latino candidate, RCV elections). Meanwhile White voter turnout increased dramatically from a low in the 2007 mayoral election, in which the leading candidate was a white incumbent, to the 2011 election in which there were no leading white candidates that finished any higher than sixth place with 5.6% of the vote. Clearly other factors were determining voter turnout than either the race of the candidates or RCV vs non-RCV elections. Despite these inconsistent findings, McDaniel boldly marches forth to render conclusions about the impact of RCV on different groups of racial voters, even though his conclusions are not remotely supported by his data. This looks like the worst kind of “data cherry picking” to cover up a puzzling conclusion based on a poor data set involving only two RCV elections, neither of which were remotely competitive. McDaniel’s cherry picking didn’t stop there. In calculating voter turnout for the three non-RCV mayoral elections in 1995, 1999 and 2003, he failed to mention that in each of these years there was a two-round runoff election, with a first round election in November in which no candidate garnered a winning majority of the vote, followed by the decisive runoff in December. So there were two non-RCV elections in each election year. But McDaniel only decided to include one of the two elections in his data set, apparently the December runoff in each year (which had higher turnout in two out of the three mayor’s races, and lower turnout in the third). So he ignored the November 1995 election, the November 1999 election when turnout was only 45 percent, and the November 2003 election when turnout was only 45.7 percent. This is flawed methodology based on blatant cherry picking, since McDaniel simply omitted three elections worth of data that did not fit within his frame. His study should never have made it through a peer review process, and it is an embarrassment to political science that not only was it approved for publication, but it has been uncritically cited by dozens of other political scientists. Share A “study” without wider context or credible data Lacking a data set that included even a single competitive RCV mayoral race, McDaniel declared that RCV lowered voter turnout in 2011, when turnout was 42.5 percent. But he also ignored -- or did not realize -- that voter turnout in mayoral elections during 2011 had sharply declined in all big cities, including far more steeply in nearby Los Angeles and other cities. In fact, San Francisco’s election in 2011 had the second highest turnout of any mayoral election in the nation’s 22 largest cities from 2008-2011. Was 2011 just a particularly low turnout year all across the country, perhaps because the country was still reeling from the aftermath of the housing market collapse in 2008-2010? McDaniel ignored this factor and did not search for alternative explanations beyond his flawed thesis. Furthermore, while McDaniel suggested that RCV leads to more “overvotes” – which is an invalidated ballot in which a voter, in either a non-RCV or RCV race, makes a mistake and selects two candidates for a single choice – he failed to address that in the June 2012 US Senate primary contest, which used the typical “one-choice” plurality method and did not use RCV, there was more than five times as many overvotes in San Francisco and Oakland than in the RCV mayoral elections in those cities. Additionally, turnout had been significantly higher and more representative in RCV elections for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors races -- that McDaniel didn’t even bother to study -- as compared to previous “delayed two-round runoffs” for those offices, often higher by as much as 40% in the RCV races. Perhaps the most surprising irony was that an earlier study co-authored by McDaniel (Overvoting and the Equality of Voice under Instant-Runoff Voting in San Francisco by Francis Neely and Jason McDaniel, 2015, California Journal of Politics and Policy) found that overvotes are often more common in lower-income precincts, but that the pattern of overvoting is similar in both RCV and non-RCV contests. Wrote Neely and McDaniel: “[Overvote] errors appear to be a function of complexity in general and not IRV per se…. the pattern of overvoting is similar in both IRV and non-IRV contests…Even among votes cast in a top-of-the-ticket race like U.S. Senate, overvoting occurs in an uneven fashion” (IRV, or ‘instant runoff voting,’ is another name for ranked choice voting in single-winner contests). So McDaniel not only contradicted his own conclusion in his earlier study with Neely, but the earlier study had been an important corrective for one of the most frequently made mistakes made by anti-RCV political scientists – a continual failure to provide crucial context by pairing a comparative analysis of real world RCV elections with an analysis of real world plurality or other electoral methods. Unfortunately McDaniel’s earlier study does not get cited much by other researchers, and McDaniel did not even cite it in his own flawed study analyzed above. Incredibly, McDaniel cherrypicked McDaniel, even as his flawed study has been cited dozens of times. Despite being a textbook example of poor political “science,” featuring both inadequate as well as cherrypicked data, the shelf life of McDaniel’s study has been extended endlessly by other political scientists and media outlets who have cited it uncritically. Equally troubling, the Journal of Urban Affairs put this paper through its peer review process and published it despite its numerous flaws. McDaniel gets it wrong, Part II Not content with producing one shoddy, confused paper, McDaniel produced another one a few years later, here is the link: Electoral Rules and Voter Turnout in Mayoral Elections: An Analysis of Ranked-Choice Voting by Jason McDaniel. San Francisco State Univ. (McDaniel, 2019). In this paper, McDaniel extended his previous flawed research focused on San Francisco, about voter turnout and voter impact, to multiple RCV cities through the 2018 elections. In his data set he included San Francisco, Minneapolis, St Paul, Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro and Santa Fe. He then compared their turnout in mayoral elections to non-RCV cities, and to mayoral elections in those cities held before first RCV usage, and concluded “a significant decrease in voter turnout of approximately 3–5 percentage points in RCV cities after the implementation of RCV.” But he replicated many of the same mistakes as his first study presented above. While in this study McDaniel attempted to distinguish between various factors, such as odd year vs. even year elections, competitive races vs. noncompetitive, contests with open seats and other factors, the analysis is superficial and inadequate. He attempts to incorporate so many often-conflicting variables that his conclusions are once again unsupported by the actual data, and ultimately unconvincing (this second study never underwent a peer review process). For example, McDaniel declared that for RCV cities “in elections that are more competitive than average (margin of victory less than 20%), there is no significant RCV effect on voter turnout.” Yet McDaniel is a professor in a city, San Francisco, in which the 2018 special election using RCV to fill a mayoral vacancy was exceedingly close, decided by a margin of only one percentage point, and resulted in the second highest turnout in San Francisco history for a mayoral election. Illustrating the complexity involved in assessing the critical factors in turnout, that special election was held on the same election day as federal and state offices, which tends to boost turnout. Yet more voters participated in that RCV mayoral election than voted on the same day in the non-RCV primary for governor in which former San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom was running. Even more puzzling, in this study McDaniel inaccurately cited his own previous study from 2015 with Neely. McDaniel wrote, “Neely and McDaniel (2015) examine individual ballot image files within a natural experiment, and find higher rates of ballot errors in RCV elections compared to non-RCV elections” (emphasis added). However, we quoted from that 2015 study several paragraphs above, and in actual fact Neely and McDaniel actually concluded the opposite -- that the pattern of overvoting – which is the most common form of ballot error – is similar in both RCV and non-RCV contests. McDaniel also ignored the fact that in Bay Area RCV elections held in even years – at the same time as federal and state elections, when turnout is highest -- the “undervote” (that is, the dropoff in ballots cast for governor or mayor) has declined, which contradicts his thesis that the act of ranking ballots in RCV elections is too complex and presents a barrier for certain demographics of voters. To his credit, McDaniel actually acknowledged another contradiction in his own paper, which found a negative RCV turnout effect in some odd-year elections but not others, admitting that “may present a challenge to the theory that increased complexity [from RCV] will have a marginal negative effect on voter turnout.” But he tried to wallpaper over that contradiction by blaming it on an unlikely source -- bad election administration. McDaniels wrote, “This would suggest that the negative impact of RCV on voter participation may be alleviated by high quality election administration,” without presenting any data or even anecdotes to support such an unfounded theory. While competent election administration of any election, whether RCV or non-RCV, is crucially important, there is no credible research that supports the far-fetched notion that the quality of election administration has much of an impact on voter turnout in US elections, whether using RCV or otherwise. Upgrade to a $5 subscription The unvirtuous circle of academic research It is puzzling how McDaniel’s first study could have survived the peer review process for the Journal of Urban Affairs. The mistakes in McDaniel’s first study above should have been obvious to anyone with a basic understanding of ranked choice voting as well as elections in general, and elections in San Francisco specifically. It undermines faith in the credibility of the peer review process to think that a jury of peer political scientists did not catch the egregious errors and reject McDaniel’s sloppy research and paper. And it remains a black mark on political science that this thoroughly discredited study has been cited dozens of times by other researchers. Indeed, in our research paper it became apparent that many political scientists cite each other’s flawed research to pad their list of citations and to legitimize their own flawed research, creating an unvirtuous circle of political science. More broadly, McDaniel’s voter turnout studies, like other studies evaluating RCV’s impact on turnout, lacked a recognition that no credible opinion or research can claim that RCV increases voter turnout merely because so many voters are excited to vote for their favorite candidates instead of “lesser evil” candidates without worrying about spoilers. Instead, with respect to turnout, the advantage of RCV has always been that, in most places where it has been used, it has eliminated a pre-November primary or post-November runoff, which usually saw about half the turnout of the November general election. This is especially true during even years when there are state and federal elections on the ballot which substantially drive turnout more than local contests. Any study that does not adequately account for this non-November primary/runoff vs November general election dynamic, or odd year vs even year election factors, is simply not credible. Both of McDaniel’s studies largely failed on those grounds. Steven Hill and Paul Haughey Share Upgrade to a $5 subscription Thanks for reading DemocracySOS…your digital portal for the pro-democracy movement. Subscribe for only $5 per month to receive full benefits and to support our work. Subscribe

Jul 20 • 9:29 AM EDT • Science • democracysos.substack.com

Russian anti-war politician ends run for parliament, citing legal setbacks

Boris Nadezhdin, a Russian anti-war politician who had hoped to stand in parliamentary elections later this ​year, has announced he is ending his role ‌in opposition politics for now, blaming what he said were politically-motivated legal setbacks.

Jul 20 • 6:38 AM EDT • Politics • reuters.com

Russian anti-war politician ends run for parliament, citing legal setbacks

July 20 (Reuters) - Boris Nadezhdin, a Russian anti-war politician who had hoped to stand in parliamentary elections later this year, has ​announced he is ending his role ‌in opposition politics for now, blaming what he said were politically-motivated ...

Jul 20 • 6:38 AM EDT • Politics • kfgo.com

The Race For Lieutenant Governor: A Coveted Political Stepping Stone

While the job itself doesn’t amount to much, it helped elevate four politicians who later became governors, and two others who eventually became U.S. senators.

Jul 20 • 6:01 AM EDT • Politics • civilbeat.org

I went back to work to afford my husband's caregiving costs

Brenda Eicher-Beard quit working once her husband had a stroke, but had to go back a few years later to afford private caregiving of about $5,000.

Jul 20 • 5:00 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

Stephen Colbert breaks social media silence after end of 'Late Show'

Stephen Colbert has been laying low since he bid farewell to "The Late Show" in May. But two months later, he has returned to Instagram to share a sweet message

Jul 19 • 9:45 PM EDT • Entertainment • centraloregondaily.com

2.6 million lost health insurance after ACA subsidies expired. That has real consequences

Consequences of lost coverage often appear later in doctors’ offices, emergency rooms and family budgets.

Jul 19 • 6:00 AM EDT • Health • salon.com

Par for the course: Trump forging ahead with DC golf course makeover without input from oversight agencies

Whenever President Donald Trump gets an idea for a major project or renovation in Washington, DC, a pattern has emerged: move forward and ask questions later.

Jul 18 • 7:35 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Private equity-backed chain Big Brand says it is acquiring Belle Tire

The deal for the Southfield-based Belle Tire is expected to close later this quarter.

Jul 17 • 6:24 PM EDT • Business • freep.com

Boston Celtics - Giannis Antetokounmpo trade scuttlebutt still surfacing weeks later

Details of the Celtics trying to get the Greek Freak to Boston on the cheap are continuing to emerge.

Jul 17 • 2:38 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Scientists create interactive screens that can appear on demand

Imagine reaching for a record or glancing at a map and seeing a display bloom from a small box, offering interactive guidance—and then vanishing moments later. A new device, inspired by science fiction ...

Jul 17 • 11:00 AM EDT • Science • techxplore.com

Insurers Hedge on Trump-Backed Pledge To Improve Denials Process

Last year, the Trump administration announced a voluntary commitment by dozens of insurers to improve a process called prior authorization, which often requires patients or their doctors to seek approval before proceeding with treatment. Less than one year later, some insurers chose not to sign the pledge’s update.

Jul 17 • 5:00 AM EDT • Health • kffhealthnews.org

Andy Burnham to become Labour leader and will promise to 'fix things politics has neglected'

The Makerfield MP is due to speak later when he is appointed at a special party conference in central London. He will then become prime minister on Monday.

Jul 17 • 2:52 AM EDT • Politics • bbc.com

Arvest to open first Texas location

Fayetteville-chartered Arvest Bank will open a loan production office in Frisco, Texas, later this year. It will be Arvest’s first Texas location. The new office will be in a new...

Jul 16 • 1:46 PM EDT • Business • talkbusiness.net

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: Best friends’ home interiors store starts new chapter with a move

Opening Clover last November fulfilled a longtime dream for best friends Kyle Donovan and Julie Pitt. Less than a year later, the Marblehead entrepreneurs are beginning a new chapter — relocating their home interiors store to a larger, more visible storefront at 9 Pleasant St. The Marblehead natives spent two years planning the business before

Jul 16 • 12:16 PM EDT • Business • marbleheadcurrent.org

Winner of Chen Institute and Science Prize Uses AI to Rebuild Speech from Brain Signals | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Sergey Stavisky's prize-winning research gave voice to a man living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Jul 16 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • aaas.org

49ers’ Christian McCaffrey Reacts to Former Teammate’s NFL Retirement

The NFL world received somewhat unexpected news on Wednesday just weeks before training camps begin.Carolina Panthers backup quarterback and seven-year veteran Will Grier, a former West Virginia star, announced his retirement from football at age 31.The Panthers selected Grier in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He later spent time with the Dallas […] The post 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey Reacts to Former Teammate’s NFL Retirement appeared first on HEAVY.

Jul 16 • 2:05 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Trump says Iran released American woman held since 2024 in 'gesture of goodwill'

President Donald Trump said Iran released an American woman who he said had been wrongfully detained since December 2024. The woman was later identified as Dena Karari.

Jul 15 • 8:30 PM EDT • Politics • foxnews.com

ZeniMax Online Studios leadership to exit as part of Xbox cuts

There are major changes happening atop Maryland-based ZeniMax Online Studios, developer of the Elder Scrolls Online, Game File has learned. Joe Burba, a 14-year veteran of the studio who was appointed to run it last July, is departing, along with ESO executive producer Susan Kath, studio game director Rich Lambert and production director Ala Diaz. Their roles were listed among hundreds of others cut last week from the Maryland offices of ZeniMax, in a WARN letter sent to the state by ZeniMax and obtained today by Game File. Tonight, BUrbam Kath, Lambert and Diaz notified Zenimax Online Studios workers of plans to “transition” to a new leadership team consisting of promoted ZOS veterans. That transition will occur “over the next few months,” they told workers, according to a copy of the notice reviewed by Game File. “We will remain in place during the transition period to help ensure a smooth handoff.” Last week, Microsoft laid off of 1,600 workers across its vast gaming teams in locations around the U.S. and abroad. Just who has been impacted and how hard various studios have been hit has been emerging day by day. Game File reported last week that Microsoft/ZeniMax notified officials in Maryland that 379 gaming jobs were being cut across the state. They tallied cuts in two locations: one for ZeniMax Media Inc. (covering Elder Scrolls/Starfield/Fallout-maker Bethesda Game Studios and central Bethesda game publishing) and one for ZeniMax Online Studios (Elder Scrolls Online). More than 200 jobs were cut at the latter. Last week’s totals did not reveal job titles, nor did Microsoft announce any leadership changes in the ZeniMax group. That has now happened. Earlier today, Game File obtained from Maryland officials a breakdown of the 379 impacted roles, which, extraordinarily, included “studio head.” Microsoft later confirmed to Game File which studio head that referred to: ZeniMax Online Studios’. Microsoft has since has notified studio employees and internally announced new leadership. ZOS will now be run by Josh Henderson, previously head of business operations at the studio, and Nick Giacomini, who was promoted to game director for ESO last August. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my journalism, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Last week’s news of 200+ cuts at ZeniMax Online Studios generated public sympathy for those workers and questions about the long-term viability of the Elder Scrolls Online. ESO is a massively multiplayer online game that inherently persists on the strength of new content being developed for it. Earlier today, fans and workers in Maryland protested the cuts at the ZeniMax teams in a rally organized by the Communication Workers of America, the union that represents many of the impacted employees. Regarding concerns around the game, a community manager stated on Saturday: “The plan is still to deliver great content, and we will hopefully have an update soon.” In their note to the studio today, the outgoing leaders of ZeniMax Online Studios predicted “growth” for the game: We have tremendous confidence in Josh and Nick, the future of this studio, and the continued growth of ESO. With exciting experiences still ahead for our players as we wrap up work for Update 51 and beyond, we believe that your passion, creativity, and commitment to each other and the community will continue serving as the heartbeat of ESO. The list of jobs cut in the ZeniMax WARN notice in Maryland includes several very senior roles, including: Studio Head Studio Operations Director Studio Game Director Studio Audio Director Studio Art Manager Vice President and Controller VP, Global Sales & Business Development While some of those job descriptions match the exiting ZOS leadership team, Game File couldn’t verify if all were from that studio. The full list of cut roles shared by Maryland officials also covers workers at Bethesda Game Studios and its central publishing office. The following is an excerpt: The list of 379 eliminated ZeniMax jobs in Maryland also includes: four animators three bilingual CS (community service) leads for Chinese, Italian, and Japanese a creative director for the Elder Scrolls Online Player Life Cycle two food service workers seven producers more than 60 senior QA testers. and many others The WARN notice states that almost all of the 379 workers were notified of their layoff on July 6. In fine print, it states: “Approximately 9 employees were notified of the elimination of their position prior to July 6, 2026.” A 2021 mega-merger scaled back Microsoft announced in 2020 that it intended to buy ZeniMax and its network of game studios in 2020, and closed the $7.5 billion deal in March 2021. The purchase, which preceded Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, added several award-winning studios to Microsoft’s portfolio, including Bethesda (Elder Scrolls, Fallout), Arkane (Dishonored), and id Software (Doom). The studios’ output since then included a 2024 Game of the Year contented from MachineGames in the form of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle along with Starfield from Bethesda and the poorly-received Redfall from Arkane Austin. In recent years, a Microsoft repeatedly in cutback mode closed ZeniMax’s Tango Gameworks (which was reconstituted by Krafton) and closed Arkane Austin. The Xbox cuts last week have hit the ZeniMax group hard, with 158 jobs eliminated in Texas, many of them at id, and 379 from the ZeniMax teams in Maryland. Xbox also said last week that it would be entering a consultation process around Arkane Lyon, a process expected to end in a sale, shutdown or other form of divestment. The Lyon team has been working on a game tied to Marvel’s Blade vampire-hunting super-hero.

Jul 15 • 7:42 PM EDT • Technology • gamefile.news

90-year-old Boise business acquired by Minnesota firm

A Minnesota company has acquired a 90-year-old Boise business. Loffler Companies of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, purchased Fisher’s Technologies of Garden City, the companies announced. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Fisher’s Office Equipment first opened in Downtown Boise with an office on 9th St., later moving to the Union Block building on Idaho […]

Jul 15 • 5:25 PM EDT • Business • boisedev.com

Ventriloquist and comedian Jeff Dunham will perform at Hershey Theatre on Nov. 18

Popular ventriloquist and comedian Jeff Dunham will return to Hershey later this year with a show at Hershey Theatre, Hershey Entertainment announced Wednesday. "With headline-generating performances...

Jul 15 • 2:03 PM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com

Trump’s pick for attorney-general faces Senate hearing later today

Trump’s nominee – his former personal defense lawyer – will face what is expected to be a contentious Senate nomination hearing

Jul 15 • 6:09 AM EDT • Politics • theguardian.com

Independent Testing Shows Which Business Security Products Actually Hold Up When It Matters

When Iranian-linked hackers breached medical device maker Stryker in March 2026, they did not need a sophisticated zero-day exploit to cause chaos. Once inside, they triggered simultaneous factory resets on more than 200,000 corporate devices across 79 countries, grinding order processing, production and shipping to a halt for days. Two months later, Foxconn confirmed that the Nitrogen ransomware group had stolen an alleged 8 terabytes of data from its North American factories, including project

Jul 15 • 4:00 AM EDT • Business • finance.yahoo.com

Independent Testing Shows Which Business Security Products Actually Hold Up When It Matters

When Iranian-linked hackers breached medical device maker Stryker in March 2026, they did not need a sophisticated zero-day exploit to cause chaos. Once inside, they triggered simultaneous factory resets on more than 200,000 corporate devices across 79 countries, grinding order processing, production and shipping to a halt for days. Two months later, Foxconn confirmed that the Nitrogen ransomware group had stolen an alleged 8 terabytes of data from its North American factories, including project

Jul 15 • 4:00 AM EDT • Business • finance.yahoo.com

Sweden's Neko Health raises $700 million ahead of US launch

Stockholm-based Neko Health, a technology firm focused on the prevention and ​early detection of disease, said on ‌Wednesday it has raised $700 million in a Series C funding round ahead of the launch ​of its first U.S. clinic ​later this year.

Jul 15 • 12:04 AM EDT • Health • reuters.com

Disgraced stem cell researcher stripped of South Korea's top science award

SEOUL - South Korea's highest science and technology award presented in 2004 to former Seoul National University professor Hwang Woo-suk whose stem cell research was later found to have been fabricated was revoked this week, 22 years after it was conferred, the interior ministry said Wednesday.

Jul 15 • 12:00 AM EDT • Science • english.kyodonews.net

Daniel Ek’s Neko Health Raises $700 Million From Billionaires, Celebs

Neko Health, Daniel Ek’s startup developing body-scanning technology, has raised $700 million from venture capitalists, billionaires and celebrities to open new facilities, including one in New York later this year.

Jul 15 • 12:00 AM EDT • Health • bloomberg.com

Shane Ryan defends Rory McIlroy ‘legacy’ question after internet blowback

The final of golf’s four major championships begins later this week at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England, and players are fulfilling their pre-tournament media obligations. As one would expect before an Open Championship, golf fans were hanging on every word six-time major winner Rory McIlroy gave to the press. But it was one…

Jul 14 • 9:00 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Chattanooga officials hope to launch business grant program in blighted corridors

Chattanooga officials are hoping to launch a grant program for local businesses outside the downtown core later this year.

Jul 14 • 9:00 PM EDT • Business • timesfreepress.com

‘Mental health crisis’ at Burnsville home leads to large fire, 1 death

Authorities in Burnsville say a call about someone experiencing a mental health crisis led to a fire in a home where a man was later found dead.

Jul 14 • 3:12 PM EDT • Health • fox9.com

Sharks' Macklin Celebrini to be on EA Sports' 'NHL 27' cover

At age 20, Macklin Celebrini will be the youngest ever cover athlete for EA Sports' NHL series when it's released later this year.

Jul 14 • 11:27 AM EDT • Sports • abc30.com

Sharks' Macklin Celebrini to be on EA Sports' 'NHL 27' cover

At age 20, Macklin Celebrini will be the youngest ever cover athlete for EA Sports' NHL series when it's released later this year.

Jul 14 • 11:27 AM EDT • Sports • abc7news.com

Sharks' Macklin Celebrini to be on EA Sports' 'NHL 27' cover

At age 20, Macklin Celebrini will be the youngest ever cover athlete for EA Sports' NHL series when it's released later this year.

Jul 14 • 11:15 AM EDT • Sports • espn.com

Upcoming OLED iPad Mini Allegedly Uses 60Hz 8.4-Inch Display Panel

Apple is allegedly using a 60Hz 8.4-inch display panel in the upcoming OLED iPad mini, which is expected to be released later this year. The information comes courtesy of a hit-and-miss tipster running the account "yeux1122" on the Korean Naver blog. The leaker claims to have been told by a source in Apple's supply chain that the unreleased iPad mini is equipped with a low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) backplane hybrid OLED panel clocked at 60Hz.

Jul 14 • 8:36 AM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

Pound marches higher as investors focus on UK politics

The pound rose against the dollar on Tuesday as investors took profits after the U.S. currency's recent climb to more than one-year highs ahead of ​key U.S. inflation data later in the day, while holding steady ‌against the euro.

Jul 14 • 7:01 AM EDT • Politics • reuters.com