SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " right " 12,317 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
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.
Corona Santiago hands Corona its first baseball defeat behind Troy Randall
Corona Santiago baseball takes the first game of three-game series over Corona with a 6-2 victory.
How Pixar Got the Science Right in Hoppers
Meet the researcher who informed the writers about beaver behavior and threats to their habitat
Demand for GLP-1 pills and shots surges, and not just for weight loss
Use of blockbuster anti-obesity drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound is growing, with about 1 in 8 adults in the U.S. saying they currently take the medications.
The Monday Outlook: Project Hail Mary and the Science Behind Blockbuster Sci-Fi
Project Hail Mary is the latest sci-fi blockbuster to stretch the bounds of audience imagination and stir the curiosity of real scientists. But the science driving films like Project Hail Mary, Interstellar and The Martian isn’t all fictional: at UChicago, researchers exploring the cosmos and decoding the origins of life are making discoveries that would feel right at home on the big screen. This week's Monday Outlook features scientists from UChicago and Argonne National Laborat
SP40 Restomod Is Built Around The One Ford That Edsel Actually Got Right
Carbon-bodied SP40 brings the style of Edsel Ford’s one-off speedster to a wider audience
The Best Restaurants to Book in Hong Kong Right Now
Highlights include a value restaurant specializing in premium Hanwoo beef and a new yakitori counter atop a skyscraper.
'Sled head': Lawsuits against USA Bobsled/Skeleton allege brain injury
Three personal injury lawsuits have been filed on behalf of elite bobsledders who claim officials intentionally concealed evidence that the sport causes brain injuries.
UCI Health says it will lay off 150 in 'strategic restructuring'
About 1% of the system's workforce is expected to be laid off as the county's only academic health system restructures, citing cuts at the federal level.
Review: Inside the night Jo Koy and Fluffy made comedy history at SoFi Stadium
The veteran comedians created an intimate experience despite the enormous venue, drawing the crowd together through storytelling and humor from start to finish.
Top business leader demands end to stalemate over City Council's pick for zoning chair
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce President Jack Lavin said more than 40 development projects have been stalled by City Council's failure to agree on new permanent chair for the powerful Zoning Committee. He wants Mayor Brandon Johnson to forge a compromise to break the stalemate.
Ben White called up for England: Why Real Madrid's Trent Alexander-Arnold continues to be frozen out
Manager Thomas Tuchel has one of the most skilled right-backs in the world to call upon, but hasn't figured out a way to make him worth it
Smart Glasses Are Getting Shamed Into Covering Their Cameras
The Inmo Go 3 has a camera cover that speaks volumes about smart glasses right now.
No health insurance? Here are other ways to access affordable health care in Alaska
Around 25,000 Alaskans are facing skyrocketing insurance costs in 2026. So we found some other options for accessing affordable care.
Californians may need to mail ballots early as Supreme Court signals support for new election day deadline
California counts mail-in ballots that arrive up to seven days after election day, but that option may be deemed illegal
Microsoft Realizes It’s Epically Screwed Up Windows 11 as Users Rage at Copilot AI Crammed Everywhere
Windows VP Pavan Davuluri effectively admitted outright that the company went too far to shove AI down users' throats at all costs.
Trump attacking Newsom's dyslexia proves president's incompetence
President Trump claims Gov.
Trump whistleblower Alex Vindman: ‘Sitting on the sidelines was not an option’
Democratic Senate hopeful says experience of being key witness in Trump’s first impeachment makes him right choice for Florida
‘President Trump is right’: The White House’s go-to line about Trump’s false claims
President Donald Trump’s White House spokespeople have a favorite two-step reply when reporters ask them to comment on one of Trump’s false claims.
UCLA tries to enjoy rare opportunity for Lauren and Sienna Betts
UCLA works to celebrate Lauren and Sienna Betts as successful sisters and individual playmakers pushing to help the Bruins win.
Data centers under scrutiny by California lawmakers as fears rise about health and energy impacts
Due to health and energy concerns, the California Legislature is considering bills to prohibit data centers from being exempted from the state's stringent environmental law and impose new tariffs on new major energy users that strain power supplies.
'ET's' archive has William Shatner on a whale and a young Taylor Swift
'Entertainment Tonight' is digitizing and preserving its archive of 45 years of interview set visits and red carpet walks, which include gems like George Clooney's first interview.
Leeds 0-0 Brentford
Paul: Leeds played as if they are frightened of losing rather than trying to win. Chris: Good point in the end - they are a good side pushing for a European place and have good players. Hopefully in the final run-in we will see more of Daniel James, Wilfried Gnonto and Noah Okafor, especially in the home games, to create more goals and keep us in the Premier League.
Funding for populist-right ‘media-political complex’ exceeded £170m in five years, research finds
Handful of billionaires gave huge sums in particular to media organisations that boosted rightwing politicians, says Liam Byrne MP
California Politics 360 Full Episode | Sexual abuse allegations against César Chávez
Civil rights leader Dolores Huerta broke her silence, saying she was also sexually abused by Chávez. It led to the birth of two children, a secret she kept for 60 years.
Two veteran relievers clinch jobs on Diamondbacks' Opening Day roster
Right-handers Jonathan Loaisiga and Joe Ross have made the Diamondbacks' roster for Opening Day. Both will pitch in relief.
Alcaraz eyes clay court season after early Miami exit
World number one Carlos Alcaraz remained confident his game is improving despite a third-round exit at the Miami Open, and after a few days to reset he'll be turning his attention to the clay court season.My mind right now is to take some days off, to reset my mind, reset the batteries, be ready and in good shape for the clay season."
Wisconsin edges Ohio St., wins another title at Frozen Four
Claire Enright scored the go-ahead goal in the third period Sunday, Ava McNaughton had 34 saves, and No. 2 seed Wisconsin beat top-seeded Ohio State 3-2 at the Frozen Four to win its second consecutive national championship.
French Local Elections Are Yardstick for Far Right. Initial Results Are Mixed.
France’s municipal elections ended on Sunday evening. Full results were not expected for hours, but the first projections suggested the far right may not have made major gains.
‘Project Hail Mary’ blasts off with $80.5 million, a best for Amazon MGM, and the year
Studio estimates on Sunday say Amazon MGM's “Project Hail Mary” has topped the North American box office charts with $80.5 million in ticket sales — the second biggest ever for a non-franchise film.
Exit polls suggest lead for Merz's SPD in key west German state
Far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) looks set for a record score in western Germany
Slovenia liberals take narrow election lead over conservatives: exit poll
Exits polls suggest Prime Minister Robert Golob has blocked a fourth term for right-winger Janez Janša
The Times' top 25 high school baseball rankings
St. John Bosco and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame remain unbeaten in high school baseball
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.
Rising toll: Are NC sports betting protections enough?
With two years of legalized sports betting in the books, public health advocates, researchers and counselors suggest changes.
Inside a rare lab that's blazing a bold trail as it hunts for new drugs
A scientist from Zambia who loves — LOVES! — chemistry runs a lab in South Africa that is being hailed for "extraordinary" work.
Inside a rare lab that's blazing a bold trail as it hunts for new drugs
A scientist from Zambia who loves — LOVES! — chemistry runs a lab in South Africa that is being hailed for "extraordinary" work.
'Everybody Loses' author discusses the meteoric rise of sports gambling
Two years ago, Americans bet $120 billion on sports, a 27% increase from the previous year. That figure grew to $150 billion in 2024. Journalist Danny Funt investigates what's considered one of the most consequential — and least scrutinized — shifts in modern American sports in his new book, "Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling."
Boys' basketball coach of the year: Mike LeDuc of Damien
The second-winningest coach in California high school history guided Damien to the state Division I championship.
Girls' basketball coach of the year: Alicia Komaki of Sierra Canyon
She came up with a winning formula to defeat Etiwanda and No. 1 Ontario Christian in the Southern Section Open Division championship.
The Times' 2025-26 All-Star boys' basketball team
A look at the Los Angeles Times' 10-member All-Star boys' basketball team for the 2025-26 season.
The Times' final top 25 high school boys' basketball rankings
Sierra Canyon, the state Open Division champion, finishes No. 1 in The Times' final 2025-26 high school boys' basketball rankings.
Project Hail Mary is packed with hard science
The movie “Project Hail Mary” stars Ryan Gosling as a reluctant astronaut on a mission to save Earth. Here’s the science that the movie gets right.
Southland girls' basketball final rankings for 2025-26 seaosn
A look at the top 20 high school girls' basketball teams in the Southland, led by Open Division state champion Ontario Christian.
Column: Republicans fearing a midterm rout revive Islamophobia as political strategy
The latest twist on replacement theory is the idea that white Americans are in need of saving from dark-skinned "others."
Barricade That Kept Out the Far Right in France Is Crumbling
Franck Leclere made his way through the timber-framed houses of Chalons-en-Champagne and joined a crowd of people in symbolic white shirts to demonstrate against the rise of the far right in France.
Things to do in Cincinnati this week, March 23-29
If you're looking for the best events happening in Cincinnati, you're at the right place. Find your next concert, game, festival or family event.
New to AI? This 'Master Key' prompt is the only one you need to start
This simple prompt teaches you how to use AI the right way — even if you’re starting from scratch
Election in Slovenia Will Test Europe’s Political Mood
The center-left government is being challenged by a right-wing populist accused of launching a smear campaign in the final days of a close race.
France Is Voting for Thousands of New Mayors. Here’s Why It Matters.
The far-right party had first-round successes in several cities, but so did the far left. Sunday’s second round may clarify who has real momentum.
Teaching Health Through Food: Kayla’s Passion for Nutrition
In celebration of National Nutrition Month, Renee Dease met with Special Olympics Michigan staff member, Health Messenger, and athlete, Kayla Cornell, to talk about how she empowers Special Olympics athletes to build healthier habits through practical cooking skills and nutrition education. Check out their conversation below.
High school baseball and softball: Saturday's scores
CIF City Section and Southern Section high school baseball and softball scores for Saturday's games.
High school baseball and softball: Friday's scores
CIF City Section and Southern Section high school baseball and softball scores for Friday's games.
1 Clear Signal to Buy International Business Machines Stock Right Now
IBM has sold off because investors are worried about its software ties, but AI is more likely to help than hurt.
Wagering on women. Sports betting industry looks to unlock a new market
Sports betting marketers are wooing females, pitching their gambling as inclusive, empowering and a way to connect with friends.
When health insurance costs $2,500 per month, families make tough choices
A self-employed couple already had to dip into retirement savings for health costs. Now, they are skipping vacations and canceling streaming to afford health insurance.
Letters to Sports: WBC brings joy back to All-Star-level play
Readers of the Los Angeles Times Sports section give their thoughts and opinions on the World Baseball Classic, Shohei Ohtani and the Lakers.
‘Those days are over’: These business owners say they can’t raise prices even if they wanted to
Looking out his shop window, across the street, just to the right, Paloma Clothing co-owner Mike Roach sees one of Portland, Oregon’s, most expensive gas stations.
At age 41, a Westmoreland mom of 3 is diagnosed with a cancer that's rising in younger populations
When Misty Ament felt sharp pain in her right side last August, the 41-year-old assumed she was dealing with appendicitis. Instead, doctors discovered...
Battling for top-six spot, Sixers face youth-driven Jazz
Earlier this week, Joel Embiid was said to be close to a return from a right oblique strain.
Mira Costa boys' volleyball defeats rival Loyola in thriller
Mira Costa, the top-ranked boys' volleyball team in the nation, defeats No. 2 Loyola in five sets behind Mateo Fuerbringer's 37-kill effort.
Is Britain ready for US-style religious politics?
Fuelled by new funding and transatlantic links, Christian groups are playing an increasingly prominent role on the UK right
Democrats excluded from USC governor debate urge rivals to boycott
Four Democrats running for California governor who were excluded from an upcoming debate at USC urged their rivals to boycott the event because it excludes every candidate of color.
Striking Down Pentagon Press Limits, Judge Vindicates Independent Journalism
The ruling cut deeper than left-versus-right politics, declaring that the policy imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is unconstitutional.
Scientists turn probiotic bacteria into tumor-hunting cancer killers
Scientists have engineered probiotic bacteria to act as tumor-seeking drug factories. In mice, these bacteria infiltrated tumors and produced a cancer-fighting drug right where it was needed. This targeted approach could make treatments more effective and reduce side effects. More research is needed before it can be tested in people.
Pentagon policy limiting independent press access is unlawful, judge rules
A federal judge on Friday voided various parts of a restrictive press policy rolled out by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last year, ruling that they trampled on the constitutional rights of reporters who seek to cover the US military from within its sprawling headquarters.
'Keep it Kountry': How Kountry Wayne refused to code-switch and became comedy's most authentic voice
The Georgia-born comedian stands out through his authentic Southern voice and unconventional family dynamic as a father of 10, now breaking into film.
LA County CEO announces plan to resign, citing health concerns
Fesia Davenport has been on a monthslong medical leave, during which she’s faced scrutiny over a $2 million settlement she received. She plans to step…
Building Brighter Tomorrows: Advancing Community Health in 2026 and Beyond
The Institute for the Advancement of Community Health, in partnership with the Institute for Child Success, is hosting the 2026 Building Brighter Tomorrows Conference on Thursday, April 16 at Furman […]
March Madness live bracket updates, scores: Kentucky survives Santa Clara in OT with 35 points from Otega Oweh; No. 3 Virginia in danger of upset, trail Wright State at half
Swalwell sees attacks from left and right as California's race for governor heats up
There is finally a breakaway leader in California’s crowded race for governor, at least by one measure: Eric Swalwell is just about everyone’s favorite target.
Radial Entertainment to Distribute Sci-Fi Feature 'Signal One'
Radial Entertainment has acquired exclusive North American distribution rights to the original sci-fi feature Signal One from Motion Pictures Exchange
Pentagon orders 2,500 troops, 3 warships from California to the Middle East
The Pentagon deployed three warships and roughly 2,500 Marines to the Middle East from the California-based USS Boxer amphibious ready group and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
DirecTV completely exits the Sunday Ticket business
Thirty-two years after NFL Sunday Ticket launched exclusively on DirecTV, the satellite provider is officially exiting the Sunday Ticket business.
We're told eyewitness testimoney isn't reliable. But new science says it might be
Psychologist John Wixted says that through the course of a criminal investigation, an eyewitnesses memory can be influenced and altered. But under the right conditions, that testimony can be reliable.
Chaminade softball team become surprise team in Mission League
Eagles upset defending champion Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 7-6 for their seventh consecutive win behind Casey Glantz and Finley Suppan.
He's one reason why aid cuts weren't as dire for the HIV population as predicted
Harerimana Ismail of Uganda is a community health worker who checks on kids with HIV. He lost his salary after the Trump administration's aid cuts but he keeps doing his job.
The Homicide Upending French Politics
A recent killing of a neo-Nazi activist could bring France’s far-right party closer to power than it’s ever been.
3 Democratic pastors in Iowa are running for Congress, a snapshot of a national trend
More Democrats are openly running on faith, as progressive clergy and other religious candidates push back on the idea that Christianity belongs to the right
“Loyal Slaves” and Campfire Entertainment in Frank Vizetelly’s Confederate Camp
Frank Vizetelly’s illustration titled “Night Amusements in the Confederate Camp” appeared in the Illustrated London News on January 10, 1863. It was one among a number of wartime scenes that Vizetelly captured for the newspaper. Subscribe Following the war, the illustration appeared in a number of books, including John O. Casler’s Four Years in the Stonewall Brigade (1893) and Campfires of the Confederacy (1898) by Ben La Bree. The scene depicts a Confederate camp at night with an enslaved man, most likely a camp servant, performing a dance around a fire with the music provided by a soldier playing a banjo. Another enslaved man looks on at the right. Vizetelly likely witnessed the scene—one that would have been common throughout the war. It’s a wonderful example of the way in which Confederates—slaveowners and nonslaveowners alike—experienced the presence of slave labor in the army. Vizetelly was deeply sympathetic to the Confederate cause. His depiction of the enslaved man as more than happy to entertain the very people who were fighting to keep him enslaved was precisely the kind of image designed to reassure a British audience that slavery was benign, and by implication, that Britain need not feel morally troubled about recognizing or supporting the Confederacy. Share Just as importantly, the sight of a dancing slave reassured Confederates themselves that the institution of slavery remained secure even after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. I’ve come across this illustration many times before and I plan on using it in my next book project on the role of enslaved labor in the Confederate army during the Gettysburg Campaign, but this is not the reason I am sharing it with you today. It has to do with where I recently found it, which came as a complete surprise and is incredibly revealing. Let’s take a look.
Contributor: A Democratic takeover of the Senate is now imaginable
For the first time, prediction markets are indicating Republicans will lose both chambers in November.
Allegheny County health board considers fracking impacts
There are 225 active wells located on 30 well pads in Allegheny County, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection analyzed by the non-profit Fractracker Alliance.
How did these flowers evolve to survive a megadrought?
A multi-year megadrought in the Western U.S. has claimed untold populations of wild plants. Amid the conditions, some have survived. Scientists have produced a stunningly complete picture about how populations of one particular flower – the scarlet monkeyflower – made it through. In a new study published in the journal Science, a team of scientists spent decades studying and sampling select populations of scarlet monkeyflowers in California and Oregon. Through genetic sequencing, the team discovered that the populations that did best went through genetic changes in a short time period. This is known as rapid evolution. The team found that three of the populations that recovered the BEST adapted their stomata to open less, so they could conserve more water. Stomata act like a plant’s pores, managing gas exchange and water loss. This allowed the scarlet monkeyflowers to hunker down in the drought and survive. Interested in more stories about rapid evolution? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.This episode was produced by Jeffrey Pierre, Rachel Carlson and Hannah Chinn. It was edited by Christopher Intagliata and Rebecca Ramirez. Aru Nair checked the facts. The audio engineers were Becky Brown and Robert Rodriguez.
WNBA CBA expected to raise pay for other women's sports leagues
While salary increases were a win, observers suggest revenue sharing in the new WNBA collective bargaining agreement will be transformative.
Trump is dismantling democracy at 'unprecedented' speed, global report finds
Three major new studies on democracy and freedom all find the U.S. is slipping further away from democracy. Leaders of two of those studies say President Trump's goal is to rule as an autocrat.
How Pauline Hanson’s One Nation is changing politics: Full Story newsroom edition
Guardian Australia’s Josephine Tovey speaks with Mike Ticher and Sarah Martin about why the electorate is flocking to Pauline Hanson, One Nation and the rightwing political movement, and what major parties can do to win voters back
New dispute emerges around Subnautica 2’s early access release
Lawyers for the ousted—and now partially reinstated—leadership team of Unknown Worlds, the studio behind Subnautica 2, are crying foul over news that the game will be released into early access in May. The release announcement earlier this week was made improperly, potentially “damaging the game and sowing additional confusion among the Subnautica community,” the lawyers said in a letter sent on Tuesday to Vice Chancellor Lori Will of Delaware’s Court of Chancery. In their letter, the lawyers also floated the idea of asking Will to find Krafton in contempt of the court’s ruling. The letter was sent just one day after Will’s bombshell ruling that publisher Krafton had breached its contract with Unknown Worlds’ executive team, when it fired them last June. The new issue isn’t necessarily the May early access timeframe, but how the news was announced. The letter and Krafton’s response have not been previously reported. A quick recap of prior events: Subnautica 2 is an unreleased, underwater survival adventure and the most-wishlisted game on Steam. Last year, longtime Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill, along with studio co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, were fired by Krafton. They swiftly sued, saying the publisher had terminated them to avoid paying out up to $250 million in potential performance-based bonuses. The studio leaders had hoped to earn that with an early access release of the game, which Krafton had blocked. The publisher argued in court that Subnautica 2 wasn’t ready, which the ousted execs disputed. On Monday, Will ruled that Krafton had violated its contract, firing the execs to avoid the performance payouts, and that it had to reinstate Gill and give him full authority over any early access release for Subnautica 2. On Tuesday, IGN reported on a new memo issued that day to Unknown Worlds staff by Steve Papoutsis, the executive Krafton had put in charge of Unknown Worlds after the 2025 firings. In the note, Papoutsis said that Subnautica 2 had passed a key development milestone “last week” and that he and Krafton had determined the game “is ready for Early Access release in May.” This news appeared to catch the lawyers for Gill, Cleveland and McGuire by surprise. On Tuesday night, they sent a letter to Will expressing “serious concerns” about whether it would be possible to forge an agreement with Krafton consistent with the judge’s order. Papoutsis’ memo was a problem, they wrote. He didn’t have the authority to declare anything about Subnautica 2’s release. As of 9am ET on Monday, March 16, the effective date of Will’s order, Papoutsis wasn’t CEO of Unknown Worlds. Gill was. And, per Will’s order, only Gill could make Subnautica 2 release decisions. They continued: Krafton self-servingly announced the launch without any regard to its impact on the game, the team, or the community—let alone this Court’s Opinion. Announcing the release of a game is momentous, and it is typically accompanied by significant marketing activity, fanfare, and community coordination. And most importantly, the announcement is carefully designed to maximize excitement for the game. That entire process was supposed to be driven by Mr. Gill. However, in defiance of the Court’s Opinion, Krafton has now taken that away, further damaging the game and sowing additional confusion among the Subnautica community. The lawyers speculated that Krafton had “intentionally leaked” Papoutsis’ memo and then issued an official statement to confirm the leak. Game File is a reader-supported publication. My reporting is only possible through support from readers like you. To support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe On Wednesday, lawyers for Krafton defended their client in their own letter to vice chancellor Will, saying nothing they did violated her order nor showed contempt: Papoutsis’s message was simply celebrating the UW employees’ efforts toward a past event: Krafton’s pre-Opinion determination that Subnautica 2 was ready for Early Access release. There was nothing improper about conveying the results of the milestone review or thanking the development team for their dedication and talent. They added that Gill could still make his own call about Subnautica 2’s release: In his role as CEO, Gill will be able to assess independently his views on the state of Subnautica 2 and the appropriate release schedule; nothing in Papoutsis’s message alters Gill’s authority or discretion. Vice chancellor Will has not responded to the letters and doesn’t necessarily have to. Both parties were previously ordered by Will to confer this week and submit a proposed judgment consistent with her ruling. The letter from Gill’s attorney’s this week doesn’t indicate whether he would or would not support a May release for Subnautica 2. But it could limit his options. And, if Gill’s lawyers are right, the lack of marketing fanfare around the leak of the May date could dull the launch of the game. Any harm to Subnautica 2’s launch is an extra sensitive issue given the context of the legal dispute: millions of dollars of payouts are on the line, tethered to the scale of the game’s initial performance. In her ruling on Monday, Will noted that there was obvious “bad blood” between Gill’s side and Krafton but that the two would need to work together: “They can—and must—act in good faith to navigate their remaining contractual relationship.” Item 2: A new kind of couch co-op game A highlight of GDC each year is the Alt.Ctrl showcase that features games played with extremely experimental controllers. Perusing this year’s offerings last Friday, I found a game controlled with giant scissors, another with big toothbrushes and one that amounted to dumpster diving. My favorite was Pivot, a co-op game about collectively maneuvering a couch. It was developed by students at the University of Utah’s masters of arts and engineering games program. Players lift and tilt the physical couch in order to control the position of a virtual one. That virtual one is moving through an obstacle course on-screen, while being pursued by a giant skull. Developer Nishant Verma told me at GDC that the couch is made of styrofoam (this became more evident as I watched!) and that the name was a riff on an episode of the sitcom Friends. Item 3: In brief… 🚫 Ubisoft is laying off more than 100 workers at its Red Storm studio, as the North Carolina location known for decades for its Tom Clancy games, ceases in-house game development, VGC reports. 👀 On Monday, Nvidia’s revealed its DLSS 5 AI-driven graphics technology that purports to improve game graphics… and it has been roasted about it by the media and the online gaming public for the remainder of the week. The tech changed the faces of characters in footage from Resident Evil Requiem, Hogwarts Legacy and EA Sports FC, drawing accusations of giving carefully art-directed games the generic look of AI “slop.” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had said on Monday that “DLSS 5 is the GPT moment for graphics—blending handcrafted rendering with generative AI to deliver a dramatic leap in visual realism while preserving the control artists need for creative expression.” By mid-week, Huang was telling Tom’s Hardware that the new tech’s critics were “completely wrong” because game-makers could still “fine-tune the generative AI” to suit their game’s aesthetics.
What ‘Project Hail Mary’ gets right –– and wrong –– about astrophysics
A Northeastern University astrophysicist breaks down whether Ryan Gosling’s new sci-fi movie holds up under the microscope.
Humans and animals have the same preference in mating calls, citizen science experiment finds
The bright colors of butterfly wings, the sweet aromas of flowers, and the euphonious melodies of songbirds all evolved as signals that help individuals propagate, yet humans also find these very same ...
'In Good Health': Why Is Colorectal Cancer Affecting Generations Differently?
Cases of colorectal cancer in young people have risen nearly 60 percent since the early 2000s. That’s according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and the National Cancer Institute. And a new study out this month by the American Cancer Society found that colorectal cancer is now the deadliest kind for those younger than 50.But this rise isn’t being felt across all generations in the same way. People born around 1990 are four times more likely to develop rectal cancer than those born around 1950. And for those 65 and older, colorectal cancer rates have actually decreased.So, what’s going on? And what can you do to protect yourself and your gut health? For those answers and more, we turn to a panel of experts.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
Matthew Berry’s Love/Hate from 2026 NFL free agency
Matthew Berry breaks down his Love/Hate players after a bevy of moves in free agency, headlined by new-look offenses in Minnesota, Miami, and Kansas City.
Group sues over buffer zone law for Detroit health care facilities
Abortion opponents claim city's 2024 law violates their right to free speech.
Blue Jays Receive Unfortunate Health Update On Right-Hander Trey Yesavage
Yesavage won't be available at the start of the 2026 season.
Ballot measure to curtail dark money in San Diego politics gets initial vote
His District 9 office will now work with the city attorney's office to draft language for the ballot proposal, which must then be approved again by the Rules Committee and then the full City Council before being placed on the November 2026 ballot.
Tina Turner’s name, image, likeness and most music rights acquired by Swedish entertainment company
Inspectors say aging and understaffed military kennels are endangering working dogs' health
The Department of Defense Inspector General blames four canine deaths on outdated and unsanitary military kennels at ten bases.
What a Recent Court Win Reveals About the Trump Administration’s Unlawful Attacks on Climate Science
This article was originally published by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The second Trump administration is taking its hostility to climate science to new levels. In addition to its rhetoric dismissing climate change as a con or scam, recently released government documents show how the adm
Afternoon Update: Why is the NIH abandoning science? (opinion)
Plus, a conversation with the Harvard historian Annette Gordon-Reed.
HHS’ Office for Civil Rights Investigates Thirteen States Under Federal Conscience Law
HHS today announced investigations of thirteen states under a federal health care conscience law—the Weldon Amendment.