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Dal researcher Dr. Rita Orji named Fellow of the International Science Council
Latest international recognition caps a remarkable stretch of honours and recognition for the Dal computer scientist, who has emerged as a global leader in responsible and human-centred AI.
City of Pasadena Adaptive Sports Festival Returns November 7
PASADENA, Calif. – The City of Pasadena Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department (PRCS), in partnership with Triumph Foundation, will host the annual Pasadena Adaptive Sports Festival on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Brookside Park, 360 N. Arroyo Blvd. This free, inclusive event welcomes individuals of all abilities to experience […]
VA awards $114K in grants for adaptive sports programs in Virginia
The Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded $114,455 in grants to two adaptive sports programs in Virginia, including one in Roanoke.
ASTRO 2026 Highlights: The Science and People Behind the Progress
ASTRO 2026 Highlights: The Science and People Behind the Progress / Aadel Chaudhuri, adaptive radiation therapy, AI in healthcare, Amanda Cherpak, American
Is it your personality or a psychological disorder? TikTok has answers.
Maladaptive daydreaming, obsessional jealousy and misophonia are now topics of study as social media trends force psychiatrists to rethink their diagnostic “bible.”
US drivers are finally getting the adaptive headlights Europe has had for years
Rather than switching between high and low beams, ADBs can dim or shut off only the parts of the beam that would reach another driver's eyes while...
Can windows cool buildings without electricity?
Thermochromic smart windows can automatically adjust solar and thermal radiation in response to temperature, offering a passive route to reduce building energy demand and improve indoor comfort. A new review published in Science Bulletin examines why these windows have not yet achieved large-scale application, despite rapid materials progress. The authors identify key challenges in spectral regulation, switching temperature, response speed, durability, scalable fabrication, glazing integration, lifecycle impacts, and building control. They argue that future development should shift from isolated material optimization toward deployment-oriented design and system-integrated adaptive building envelopes.
SuperH™ 5K Run, Walk & Wheel Supports Adaptive Sports Athletes at MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital
/PRNewswire/ -- SuperH™ 5K Run, Walk & Wheel is celebrating its 23rd year raising funds for adaptive sports and fitness programs at MedStar National...
Apple Releases New AirPods Firmware With iOS 27 Features
Apple today released new firmware for the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, AirPods 4, and AirPods Max 2. The firmware is available for all of the above devices, and it will enable support for new iOS 27 features. The firmware has a build number of 9A348. In iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate, Apple is adding a new AirPods interface, a slider for Adaptive mode, and support for custom EQ. AirPods are also compatible with the new Siri AI.
CAA: Soil Health Field Day continues Yampa Valley’s agricultural legacy
The Routt County Conservation District (RCCD) on July 25 hosted the 2026 Soil Health & Adaptive Grazing Field Day in North Routt. Fernando Falomir, a fifth-generation rancher from Chihuahua, Mexico, led the workshop. The event...
AirPods 5 Announced With Improved Noise Cancellation, Audio Quality, and More
Apple today introduced AirPods 5, bringing Active Noise Cancellation to its entry-level wireless earbuds at a starting price of $129. Apple says AirPods 5 remove up to 50% more external noise than AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation. A redesigned acoustic architecture and updated Adaptive EQ also promise richer, more detailed sound, while an improved Transparency mode makes nearby voices and sounds more natural.
VETERANS MOBILITY HEALTH EXPO
Team Adaptive Medical is hosting its **First Annual Veterans Mobility Health Expo** to help veterans, individuals with disabilities, caregivers and families connect with mobility resources, healthcare providers and local support organizations.
WindGroove Introduces AirFi One, a Ceiling-Based Home Entertainment System Combining Hi-Fi Sound, Light, and Airflow
The new premium smart technology brand reimagines the ceiling as an active layer for immersive audio, adaptive lighting, and everyday comfort.
Loves Park celebrates new adaptive baseball season
Loves Park celebrates the first season of adaptive baseball programs at the new Home Base Sports Fields facility.
ACEing Autism through adaptive sports
ACEing Autism helps neurodivergent kids practice physical, mental, and emotional skills
Berkeley’s trailblazing adaptive sports nonprofit BORP turns 50
Long the “only game in town” for physically disabled athletes, it launched the country’s first power soccer program in the ’80s.
Adaptive barrel races, roping practice highlight Monument Health special rodeo
Monument Health partnered with the Central States Fair to host a special adaptive rodeo, giving athletes with disabilities a chance to join modified events.
Linn County clinic shows sports are for all abilities
People were able to see what different adaptive programs could offer
Penn State Health RecFest celebrates inclusive recreation for all ages and abilities
Penn State Health RecFest 2026 brought together hundreds of community members to explore adaptive sports, inclusive recreation and wellness opportunities for all ages and abilities.
Valor Games Midwest bring veterans together for adaptive sports in Chicago
The Valor Games Midwest kicked off in Chicago, bringing veterans together for three days of adaptive sports, competition and camaraderie.
Adaptive Biotech co-founder raises $15M for new startup to rethink how AI trains on science
Harlan Robins (Photo via Harell Data) Harlan Robins spent years as the co-founder and chief scientific officer of Adaptive Biotechnologies, helping build
“Taking the Twinkle Out of Stars” presented by Kona Science Cafe at Hawaiʻi Keiki Museum
Join Staff Astronomer Preethi Krishnamoorthy and Adaptive Optics Scientist Avinash Surendran as they explain how Keck Observatory takes the twinkle out of stars at the Hawaiʻi Keiki Museum’s upcoming Kona […]
Blending Fusion Science, AI to Predict DIII-D Tokamak Behavior
Data scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and partner institutions have developed a deployable machine learning (ML) framework that can adaptively predict changes in a magnetic confinement fusion research machine’s hardware. The innovative method, recently published in the journal Machine Learning with Applications, promises to help make the operation of fusion devices more stable and accelerate humanity’s pursuit of a superabundant
Igniting the desire to live: adaptive sports give war veterans a new purpose
When Artem Peredereiev, 36, woke up after the amputation of both his legs, he could not imagine a future outside the hospital walls. A volunteer who joined the army in 2024, from a small settlement near Pokrovsk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, he was severely wounded on the battlefield and brought to Ivano-Frankivsk for rehabilitation. His physical condition was poor, and emotionally he was depressed. “Everything was new and different. I had no place to return to because my hometown was occupied. I did not understand how to live further,” he recalls. Every year, hundreds of wounded servicemen and women pass through the Centre for
Phoenix developer behind Atari Hotel wants to give downtown 'character and identity'
Zac Cohen's Intersection Development is transforming downtown Phoenix with the Atari Hotel and adaptive reuse projects designed to give the neighborhood unique character.
IRONMAN 70.3 Boise race weekend underway with adaptive sports camp, pro athlete panel
IRONMAN 70.3 has arrived in Boise, and the activities have already begun ahead of Saturday's race.The Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) and IRONMAN partnered
TECfusions, a Rapidly Growing Developer and Operator of AI-Ready Data Centers and Power Infrastructure, Signs Business Combination Agreement with Apex Treasury Corp.
TECfusions is positioned where accelerating AI data center demand meets a scarcity of power-secured capacity. Company ethos centered on the fusion of ‘Technology, Environment, Community’ focuses on delivering AI-ready capacity while advancing environmental redevelopment and local community outcomes. Unique adaptive reuse strategy designed to convert legacy industrial sites into AI-ready, power-enabled data center infrastructure, accelerating deployment in power-constrained markets. The Transacti
The Power of Play: Free adaptive designs enhance sports for disabled Veterans
The Power of Play: Free adaptive designs enhance sports for disabled Veterans
Scientists’ credibility depends on audience and perceived motives
A new study from Virginia Tech found that scientists’ credibility often hinges on their perceived motivations. “Our study finds that perceptions of scientists’ motivation to serve the public good are the strongest predictor of whether Americans trust them, accept their information as credible, and support science-based policies,” said Dara Wald, associate professor in environmental policy and planning.
OUTDOOR ACCESS FOR DISABLED IN VERMONT
Mountain bike enthusiasts have been working for years on an ambitious 485-mile, multi-use trail called The Velomont that will span the length of the state. They're making sure it's friendly for people people with disabilities, particularly cyclists.
Subnautica 2's First Big Update Finally Lets You Fight The Fish
Adaptive Measures, releasing July 8, will also add a sprint, better docking, and more Biomod slots
iOS 27 beta 3 makes it easier to adjust AirPods Adaptive mode intensity
A new Listening Mode setting lets users more easily adjust how much ambient noise their AirPods allow through in Adaptive mode.
‘This is a safe place.' Angel City Games celebrates adaptive sports
The three-day event at El Camino College is bringing together people of all ages and skill levels. Lolita Lopez reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Friday, June 26, 2026.
Adaptive plots splitting Pfizer-partnered drug discovery unit from diagnostics business
Adaptive Biotechnologies is planning to separate its drug discovery and diagnostics businesses,
2027 Mercedes-AMG GLE63 S And GLS63 Get A New Mild-Hybrid V8 With 603 HP And A Flat-Plane Crank
The two SUVs also get styling tweaks and bigger grilles, adaptive suspension with active roll stabilization, and an exhaust that should be more characterful.
Gauntlet 5K raises funds for Connecticut’s largest adaptive sports program
Hundreds of athletes are competing in the 12th annual Gauntlet 5K on Wednesday morning.
Endeavor Games bring adaptive sports competition across Oklahoma
The Endeavor Games kick off Thursday, featuring more than 250 athletes competing in 12 adaptive sports events, including three new additions, across multiple Oklahoma venues.
Achieving new heights: Walter Reed promotes adaptive sports as good medicine
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center's Military Advanced Training Center (MATC) uses adaptive sports to promote community reintegration for service members recovering from traumatic injuries.
This New Game Wants To Change Cover Shooters Forever
Crossfire's adaptive cover system is amazing and could be a real game changer for the genre
New Microsoft tool lets devs spin up AI behavior tests using text descriptions
Microsoft on Tuesday took the wraps off Adaptive Spec-driven Scoring for Evaluation and Regression Testing, an open-source framework for spinning up AI evaluations.
Everybody Plays Adaptive Sports Field Day showcases sports opportunities for all
Lester Bennett II of Munhall feels like he was baptized as an adult while water skiing in the Allegheny River. “When I fell in that water and kept...
Chicago elementary school students get lesson in compassion through adaptive sports
Chicago elementary school students get lesson in compassion through adaptive sports
Building Toward the Games: Army Team Sports Competitors Train in San Antonio Ahead of 2026 Warrior Games
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Chelsey Scott, left, participates in wheelchair basketball training during Army Team Sports Camp in San Antonio, May 2026. The camp helps Team Army competitors strengthen teamwork, resilience and adaptive sports skills ahead of the 2026 Warrior Games. (U.S. Army photo by Corey Wallace)
Adaptive sports athletes test new courts at U.S. Soccer training center in metro Atlanta
XBOX Celebrates Global Accessibility Awareness Day with Improved Adaptive Thumbstick Toppers and More
Today, in recognition of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, we're sharing an update to the Adaptive Thumbstick Toppers available today through XBOX Design Lab.
Veterans of every generation find their stride in adaptive sports
Veterans of all ages find healing through adaptive sports at the Winter Sports Clinic, proving that movement, community, and resilience transcend injury.
PHOTOS: Long Beach Adaptive Sports Fair
The second local Long Beach Adaptive Sports Fair took place at Long Beach City College on May 16th. The event featured a variety of adaptive sports including basketball, boccia, baseball and dance. PLAYMAKERS of Long Beach, Angel City Sports and Triumph Foundation teamed up to host the fair in a mov
Marine Corps Veteran embraces first Winter Sports Clinic
Sixteen years ago, a car accident left USMC Veteran Joe Gibson paralyzed. Through adaptive sports at the Winter Sports Clinic, he is pushing past barriers.
Field day with sports made accessible for people with physical disabilities hosted at WMU
Activities like sit volleyball and adaptive golf took over Western Michigan University's (WMU) recreation center on Saturday.
Chico State Professor Expanded Adaptive Sports and Recreation Therapy Programs
For 35 years at Chico State, Laura McLachlin advocated for people of all ages and abilities to push past perceived limitations and achieve more than they thought possible.
Legislating at the speed of artificial intelligence
By Sean Camacho Consumers in Colorado and across the country are demanding artificial intelligence companies be more transparent about how their systems work: how they’re built, how they learn, how they change over time. What we’ve learned as advocates for AI regulation is the process of building AI — iterative, adaptive and never fully finished […]
Ottobock and Angel City Sports Expand Partnership at Angel City Games, Advancing Adaptive Sport on the Road to LA28
/PRNewswire/ -- Ottobock, a global leader in prosthetics and orthotics, is proud to continue its longstanding partnership with Angel City Sports at the 2026...
STRIDE Adaptive Sports expands iCan Bike program to Adirondacks
STRIDE Adaptive Sports will hold a summer learn-to-bike program in Tupper Lake as part of its iCan Bike initiative.
Dualsense on PC: This $16 Raspberry Pi Adds Wireless Adaptive Triggers and Haptic Feedback To The PS5 Controller
The full-fat experience.
Veterans of every generation find their stride in adaptive sports
At the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, there’s no single profile of a participant. Veterans arrive from different branches, eras, and life experiences. Some are just beginning to navigate a new reality after injury. Others have spent decades adapting. But on the slopes, those differences fade, replaced by a shared pursuit of movement, independence, and community.
Army Veteran finds new purpose through VA Adaptive Sports
Army Veteran Katie Verderber finds new purpose through adaptive sports, rising from injury to become a Paralympic wheelchair curler for Team USA.
Visit Fort Wayne Continues Wins in Adaptive Sports Categories
Visit Fort Wayne is excited to announced that we were honored with the Emerging Sports Destination Award for Accessibility at the 2026 Compete Sports For All Petey Awards in Las Vegas.
Grand Rounds April 10, 2026: Impact of Behavioral Science-Based Electronic Health Record Tools on Deprescribing for Older Adults (Julie Lauffenburger, PharmD, PhD)
Speaker Julie Lauffenburger, PharmD, PhD Associate Professor of Medicine Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School Keywords Adaptive trial design; Behavioral science; Deprescribing; electronic health record; EHR; Inappropriate […]
Grand Rounds April 10, 2026: Impact of Behavioral Science-Based Electronic Health Record Tools on Deprescribing for Older Adults (Julie Lauffenburger, PharmD, PhD)
Speaker Julie Lauffenburger, PharmD, PhD Associate Professor of Medicine Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School Keywords Adaptive trial design; Behavioral science; Deprescribing; electronic health record; EHR; Inappropriate […]
Samsung to fix Adaptive Clock glitch in One UI 8.5 update
Adaptive Clock has a glitch on One UI 8.5 devices, and Samsung is working on a fix. The problem has been acknowledged by a community moderator, who promised the addressal with the next Beta software update. It’s already a big day for Samsung users, thanks to One UI 8.5 rollouts. Whether it’s new Beta releases […]
Adaptive sports program visits Southern Arizona P.E. classes, wheelchairs in tow
When her class moved outside for P.E., special education teacher Tiffani Jaseph saw the excitement. After coaches and players from Adaptive Sports In Schools, or ASIS, unloaded dozens of wheelchairs at Copper View Elementary in the Sahuarita School District, they told students about racing the chairs and playing wheelchair basketball. Jaseph saw the difference in […]
Aqara W200 launches with Apple’s Adaptive Temperature support
The Aqara W200 brings Matter 1.4, built-in mmWave, and Apple Adaptive Temperature. Here is a closer look at what it means for Apple Home.
Zhou earns CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation
Through the early-career grant, Peipei Zhou will advance the scalable, verifiable co-design of heterogeneous reconfigurable computing systems, enabling domain experts to efficiently build next-generation customized AI and data-intensive applications, such as autonomous physical systems, adaptive intelligent agents, and advanced healthcare technologies.
Starfield PS5 Pro Specs Revealed: PSSR Supported, DualSense’s Adaptive Triggers Available
Bethesda has revealed the PS5 specs for Starfield. The DualSense's Adaptive Triggers are supported, and so is PSSR on PS5 Pro.
Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Max 2
Just ahead of the launch of the AirPods Max 2, Apple has released new firmware for the headphones. The updated firmware is version number 8E251. The AirPods Max 2 include the H2 chip, an upgrade over the H1. The H2 brings several new features like Live Translation, Adaptive Audio, Loud Sound Reduction, Voice Isolation, and more. The new firmware likely optimizes some of these new features. Customers who buy the AirPods Max 2 can follow Apple's steps to get the new firmware.
iOS 26.4 is Here: 12 Settings to Change for Better Battery and Privacy
Master the new iOS 26.4 update with these 12 essential setting changes. From optimizing Liquid Glass UI to enabling Adaptive Power Mode.
Arts and Entertainment Agenda: March 27-April 3
Limitless Mountain Challenge, March 28 Challenge Aspen’s “Limitless Mountain Challenge” runs 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 28 at Snowmass Mountain. The all-abilities ski and snowboard event supports adaptive recreation, with a downhill ski and...
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.
Adaptive Sports & Recreation Expo taking place in Winston-Salem
The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the JDL Fast Track on Empire Drive in Winston-Salem.
Accenture Collaborates with Microsoft to Bring Agentic Security and Business Resilience to the Front Lines of Cyber Defense
NEW YORK, March 19, 2026--Accenture today announced new assets and capabilities for its Adaptive Managed Extended Detection and Response (MxDR).
UW Health resident creates adaptive crayons for children with disabilities
MADISON, Wis. — A physical medicine and rehabilitation resident at UW Health is reimagining crayons by creating adaptive crayons for people with developmental disabilities, stemming from her past experiences.
Ski For Life: Oregon adaptive sports program opens slopes to students with disabilities
An Oregon Adaptive Sports program allows young people with disabilities to participate in outdoors sports by providing them with adaptive equipment.
Apple Announces AirPods Max 2
Apple today unveiled AirPods Max 2, with key upgrades including the H2 chip, increased active noise cancellation, improved sound quality, and features such as Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Voice Isolation, and Live Translation. AirPods Max 2 have the same overall design as the original AirPods Max, with most of the new features coming from the upgrade to the H2 chip.
Women Veterans Appreciation Event fosters community through adaptive sports
The New England Healing Sports Association hosts an empowering winter sports event for women veterans, fostering connection and healing through adaptive skiing.
Nordic Semiconductor introduces precise, adaptive battery health-monitoring to enable smarter, longer-lasting IoT devices
Nordic Semiconductor, a global leader in low-power wireless connectivity solutions, today announces Nordic Fuel Gauge v2.0, a major upgrade of its highly accurate software-based fuel gauge solution for the award-winning nPM1300, and nPM1304 Power Management ICS, at Embedded World 2026. The release adds sophisticated State-of-Health estimation, adaptive battery modeling, and long-term fleet analytics capabilities, extending advanced battery management to a wide range of power-constrained IoT prod
Introducing Hims & Hers Benefits, Unlocking Health & Wellness Discounts for Subscribers
The program debuts with Prenuvo and Eight Sleep, providing discounts on advanced diagnostics and sleep technology Hims Hers Health, Inc. (NYSE: HIMS), the leading health and wellness platform, today announced Hims Hers Benefits, a new way for subscribers to access the best innovations in whole body health. This new initiative provides active subscribers access to discounts from health partners, all in one place, including whole body MRI scans from Prenuvo and adaptive bed systems from Eight Sleep. This is just the beginning of a larger benefits program that will make comprehensive, holistic care more accessible and affordable for subscribers. “True health doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It’s the result of the data you gather, the insights you can access, and the daily choices you make,” said Dheerja Kaur, Chief Product Officer at Hims Hers. “By leveraging our scale, we’re bringing health and wellness innovations like Prenuvo’s whole body MRI scans and Eight Sleep’s
How Taiwan Is Reclaiming Its Wine Identity—Through Climate-Adaptive Science and Terroir-Driven Fermentation
Samsung Unveils All New Galaxy Buds4 Series With Ultimate Sound
Samsung audio innovation delivers original sound as intended and intelligent adaptive controls for every environment
'Chess on ice': Clinic in Ferndale lets those try curling in an adaptive way
An adaptive clinic was held at the Detroit Curling Club to give those with some limitations a chance to try the unique sport.
Wheelchair rugby tournament puts Colorado on the map for adaptive sports
Google is finally fixing one of Pixel’s biggest connectivity headaches in Android 16
Android 16 QPR3 gives Pixel users clearer control over Adaptive Connectivity with two new toggles in the settings.
Android 16 QPR3: Pixel adds Adaptive Connectivity auto-switch, battery settings
With Android 16 QPR3, Google is introducing more granular Adaptive Connectivity settings on Pixel phones...
IN PHOTOS: Adaptive winter sports for veterans
Armed services veterans spent a week conquering challenges at Mount Sunapee.
Adaptive Sports Program Empowers Individuals With Disability
The Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana has become home to an adaptive sports program that has emboldened young athletes with disability.
‘Adaptive Normalcy’ as the Trump Show Arrives at Davos
The president’s address at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland has trading partners and business executives on edge.
‘United with GRIT’ to bring adaptive sports to Minot high schools
Prairie Grit is launching a series called United with GRIT where they will pair high school athletics with adaptive sports. The series will kick off at the Minot United hockey game on January 29.
MAPLES (Multiple Adaptive PLay Experiences in Sports) Opening Celebration!
Join MAPLES every saturday for fun adaptive sports where you can play, learn, and compete in activities like wheelchair basketball.
Adaptive Sports Ohio receives grant to provide new opportunities for students with disabilities
Beyond silicon: These shape-shifting molecules could be the future of AI hardware
Scientists have developed molecular devices that can switch roles, behaving as memory, logic, or learning elements within the same structure. The breakthrough comes from precise chemical design that lets electrons and ions reorganize dynamically. Unlike conventional electronics, these devices do not just imitate intelligence but physically encode it. This approach could reshape how future AI hardware is built.
Red wine and your health: Facts and myths
Do the nutrients in red wine offer health benefits that outweigh alcohol’s health risks? A dietitian shares what to know.
Bridgestone Americas awards grants to support adaptive sports programming at schools across the country
Bridgestone Americas has awarded eight grants to support adaptive sports programming at 62 public schools nationwide, including those here in Middle Tennessee.
HEROES, HEART & HOPE GALA RAISES OVER $2.4 MILLION TO EXPAND ACCESS TO ADAPTIVE SPORTS, GRANTS AND INCLUSIVE PROGRAMS IN THE NORTHEAST
Evening at Casa Cipriani Celebrates Athletes with Physical Disabilities and Raises Critical Funds for Access to Sport HEROES, HEART & HOPE GALA RAISES OVER $2.4 MILLION TO EXPAND ACCESS TO ADAPTIVE SPORTS, GRANTS AND INCLUSIVE PROGRAMS IN THE NORTHEAST Evening at Casa Cipriani Celebrates Athletes with Physical Disabilities and Raises Critical Funds for Access to Sport Cost and access remain two of the biggest barriers to sport for people with physical disabilities Because of nights like this, mo
Flutter Entertainment India Partners with Aditya Mehta Foundation to Strengthen India’s Para-Sports Ecosystem
With an investment of INR 60 lakh, Flutter Entertainment India (FEI) in conjunction with Flutter Global’s “Do More” initiative will enable enhanced training facilities, upgraded adaptive equipment, and customized devices that will directly support up to 15 para-athletes in achieving high-performance excellence.
M5 iPad Pro Could Hint at New Studio Display Feature
The updated specs of the M5 iPad Pro may point toward a major new feature for Apple's next-generation Studio Display expected in early 2026. Apple's latest iPad Pro debuted last month and contains one display-related change that stands out. it can now drive external monitors at up to 120Hz with Adaptive Sync.
Bose QC Ultra Gen 2 Is WAY Better Than You (Probably) Think
Join Resolve as he breaks down why the Bose QC Ultra Gen 2 is more advanced than most of the competition in the over-ear ANC wireless headphone space, highlighting its adaptive processes and improved sound quality that allows for enough customization to make QC Ultra Gen 2 sense for almost every consumer.