SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " Surge " 2,180 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
‘Explosive’ diarrhea parasite cases surge as health officials seek source
Outbreaks of cyclosporiasis are typically traced back to prepackaged food and fresh produce.
NYC health officials warn of Legionnaires' disease outbreak in Central Park area
New York City health officials report a surge of 23 Legionnaires' disease cases on the Upper East Side. Dr. Stephanie Widmer joins 'Fox & Friends' to detail critical outbreak warning signs and discuss biohacker Bryan Johnson's autoimmune diagnosis.
Big Tech data centers are driving up power bills at America's Rust Belt factories
For years, electricity costs for the Belden Brick Company in Sugarcreek, Ohio, had been relatively stable. Last year, they surged by 90% — largely because of rising power demand from data centers in the region.
Rising beef prices impacting small businesses
Beef prices have surged over the last month due to a cattle shortage
‘Explosive’ diarrhea parasite cases surge as health officials seek source
Outbreaks of cyclosporiasis are typically traced back to prepackaged food and fresh produce.
GTCR Announces Divestiture of Corza Medical's Biosurgery Business Unit to EQT
/PRNewswire/ -- GTCR, a leading private equity firm, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement for Corza Medical, a leading global medical...
Nationals Star Displays Most Insane Power Surge Since Kyle Schwarber
About two weeks ago, I wrote that Luis Garcia Jr. was the missing piece on the team that was going to push the Washington Nationals to the next level. Well, I was right and wrong. I was right because since that point, Garcia has been absolutely raking. Over his last 15 games, the Nats first baseman ...
Evan Phillips returns to Dodgers after Tommy John surgery
Paul Gervase optioned, Jake Eder released, Carlos Durán added to 40-man roster, Chuckie Robinson DFA’d
Here’s what life looks like after spinal fusion surgery
Learn what to expect after spinal fusion surgery, including recovery time, activity restrictions and tips for protecting your spine long-term.
Bill Frist Wants to Take Politics Out of Climate Change
Bill Frist, a surgeon who also served as Senate majority leader, has emerged as an outspoken advocate for environmental health. “A healthier planet means healthier people,” he said.
Henderson expected to have surgery on injured wrist
Jordan Henderson is expected to have surgery on the wrist injury he sustained while celebrating England's win over Mexico on Monday.
England’s Jordan Henderson requires wrist surgery, set to miss rest of World Cup
The Brentford midfielder landed awkwardly as he slipped while climbing over the advertising hoardings after the 3-2 win over Mexico.
Pyro, Patrón and pork: Metro Detroiters stock up for country's 250th
Some area business owners say they've especially seen a surge in customers this year, ahead of the country's 250th birthday.
What’s fueling the far-left surge? ’Democrats themselves hate the party‘
Democratic voters are in a rebellious mood. But will socialism or far-left politics play anywhere but the big cities? In Washington, we’re about to find out.
Local fireworks stand sees business surge amid firework crackdown in parts of the region
As we get closer to the Fourth of July, officials are sending a message about firework laws across the region. But for local fireworks stands, they're still seeing more customers getting ready to celebrate.
Local fireworks stand sees business surge amid firework crackdown in parts of the region
The Fourth of July is just hours away, and for people celebrating across the region, setting off fireworks is a tradition.
Weekly Portland women’s sports look ahead (7/3)
Weekly Portland women’s sports look ahead (7/3). Presented by Rivermark Community Credit Union and Rebound Orthopedics and Neurosurgery.
Weekly Portland women’s sports wrap up (7/3)
Weekly Portland women's sports wrap up (7/3). Presented by Rivermark Community Credit Union and Rebound Orthopedics and Neurosurgery.
Jimmy Butler believes he’ll return better than ever
Jimmy Butler is confident his comeback from ACL surgery will be a successful one. The Warriors star says he expects to return as one of the NBA’s top players while revealing his desire to finish his Hall of Fame-caliber career in Golden State.
Deaths surged 29% in France during week of record heat, health agency says
France experienced a surge in deaths during the hottest week of a record heat wave last month.
Deaths surged 29% in France during week of record heat, health agency says
Deaths surged in France during the hottest week of a record heat wave last month, the country’s public health authority said Friday.
Heat wave in France saw 2,000 more deaths, says public health authority
France experienced a surge in deaths during the hottest week of a record heat wave last month. Public Health France said it recorded at least 2,000 more deaths than the previous week.
Goldman dominates first-half M&A as dealmaking surges in EMEA
Goldman Sachs increased its share of mergers and acquisitions advisory work involving Europe, the Middle East and Africa in the first half of 2026, capturing the biggest slice of the market in the period for nearly a decade, LSEG data showed.
See the world's 10 longest airline routes, Singapore, Qantas
Demand for ultra-long-haul flights has surged, and many of the cabins are loaded with premium perks. These are the world's farthest routes.
North Carolina lifeguards prepare for holiday surge, with an eye on rip currents
Experts offer safety tips for beachgoers as millions are expected at the North Carolina Coast this weekend.
Marshall Health Network first in West Virginia to offer histotripsy treatment for liver tumors
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall Health Network–Cabell Huntington Hospital (CHH) is the first hospital in West Virginia to treat liver tumors using the Edison® Histotripsy System, giving patients access to an advanced treatment that targets tumors with focused sound waves instead of surgery, chemotherapy or radiation. The Edison Histotripsy System uses image-guided sonic beam therapy to precisely target […]
Nevada imports surge 492% since Great Recession, report finds
National Association of Realtors data shows that Nevada’s import industries, including distribution and logistics, have grown exponentially since the Great Recession.
PwC predicts: Providers, payers, pharma, medtech—all will have new to-do lists after the midterm elections. And that’s regardless of results.
With Election Day only four months away, healthcare is again emerging as a major source of idealistic campaign promises. Many of these are driven by widespread public angst. What sorts of changes can U.S. healthcare stakeholders realistically expect once the results are in?
Athletics slugger Brent Rooker to have season-ending knee surgery
Athletics designated hitter Brent Rooker will undergo surgery to repair a cartilage tear in his left knee and miss the remainder of the season. “This is a big blow,” manager Mark Kotsay said Wednesday before the A's played the Los Angeles Dodgers. A two-time All-Star, Rooker hasn’t played since June 8.
Soaring revenue at Mar-a-Lago shows how Trump’s business interests and politics intersect
As President Donald Trump’s wealth has soared since retaking office, a new financial disclosure shows his two premier Florida resorts have also delivered record-breaking surges in revenue.
Soaring revenue at Mar-a-Lago shows how Trump’s business interests and politics intersect
As President Donald Trump’s wealth has soared since retaking office, a new financial disclosure shows his two premier Florida resorts have also delivered record-breaking surges in revenue.
Sports entertainment veteran homers with interactive gaming sports bar, baseball outing indoors
Serial entrepreneur Lance Windholz — who spiked a career in tech to build community around beach volleyball in Shawnee — is batting again; this time, taking a swing at sports entertainment and the resurgent popularity of baseball.
Canes football remains on a recruiting surge. And basketball team adds a center
UM football, basketball teams keep up momentum in recruiting.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rent crusade might be coming to your city
Rent control movements surge in Massachusetts, California
IU Health's 3D printing studio helps surgeons prepare and educate patients
The health system received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January for the IU Health 3D Print Studio.
AI, Data Centers, and the New Politics of Power Demand
Artificial intelligence (AI) has overturned the long-stable trajectory of U.S. electricity demand. After decades of flat growth, planners and regulators now face a surge driven by hyperscale data
St. Peter’s Health Partners Medical Associates Welcomes Nattamon Thapa
Nattamon Thapa, FNP-BC, has joined St. Peter’s Vascular Associates in Albany. A board-certified family nurse practitioner, Thapa specializes in vascular surgery care.
Insurgent progressives and veteran incumbents compete for Colorado Democrats' votes
Colorado’s Democratic primaries on Tuesday will help answer a question the party has increasingly faced nationally: Are voters gravitating toward a younger, more progressive generation of leaders or sticking with established veterans?
Kathie Lee Gifford admits she 'wanted to die' after misdiagnosis and multiple surgeries for chronic pain
Kathie Lee Gifford reveals she was misdiagnosed for a year and treated for a spinal issue before doctors discovered her hip had deteriorated to "ash."
Vanderbilt Health performs nation’s first breast cancer surgery using intraoperative PET-CT scan technology
The novel imaging technology provides surgical teams with a real-time view of tumor margins in the operating room.
Twin Cities Somali businesses face long, slow recovery after Operation Metro Surge
Customer traffic and spending remain down, and many Somali-owned shops have had to lay off workers and fallen behind on rent.
Anti-migrant politics spark resurgence of racism, say some Britons of colour
After nearly four decades in Britain, Ali Haydor says there are now days when he wishes he could hide his brown skin.
Tejano singer warns of West Nile dangers after mosquito bite leaves him in wheelchair
A single mosquito bite two years ago changed Fernando Silva’s life forever and health officials are now warning that this summer’s record mosquito surge across southeast Texas could put thousands of others at risk.
Brewers End Mini-Drought With 5-3 Win vs. Reds
Late-inning home runs from Milwaukee Brewers' Brice Turang and Joey Ortiz erased a three-run deficit, sparking a resilient offensive surge and dominant relief performance to stifle the Cincinnati Reds' divisional hopes.
'They’re like my sisters now': Boutique comforts women post-surgery
While hospitals can feel very clinical, there's a shop that offers products for women post-surgery with kind, friendly faces to provide support.
Biden's illegal immigration surge caused higher rent and home prices, Fed study finds
A Federal Reserve working paper finds unauthorized immigration during the Biden administration drove up home prices by 2.2% and rents by 1.4%.
2026 NL Central Power Rankings: Week 14
Brewers, Cubs surge ahead as rest of division struggles
MLB Power Rankings: Are the Phillies ready to make a declaration on the NL East?
The Phillies have surged into the top five at the same time the Braves are struggling
Comcast stock surges as it announces plans to spin off media business
Comcast said it plans to separate its media and technology businesses into two publicly traded companies.
Top salaries at AANS 2024
The Rolling Meadows-based American Association of Neurological Surgeons, founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, represents the specialty of neurological surgery and has more than 9,000 members.
Top salaries at AANS 2024
The Rolling Meadows-based American Association of Neurological Surgeons, founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, represents the specialty of neurological surgery and has more than 9,000 members.
Louisiana Sports Betting May 2026: Parlays Drove 77% of Revenue as the World Cup Looms
Louisiana took $318M in May 2026 sports bets, with parlays driving 77% of revenue. State tax jumped 41% to $9.5M under the new 21.5% rate. A World Cup surge is next.
Millions drop Obamacare health coverage after subsidies expire and costs rise
Health analysts say the drop in enrollment was likely related to the Jan. 1 expiration of federal subsidies, which caused a surge in plan costs that resulted in many people being unable to pay their premiums.
Baker Mayfield Drops Clear Message on Kyler Murray
As Kyler Murray seeks a fresh start in Minnesota, former teammate Baker Mayfield defends the polarizing quarterback, predicting a dominant resurgence fueled by a much-needed change of scenery.
Investment in Israeli health tech startups dove 40% in 2025
Data shows that while the global industry saw a resurgence in private funding, investments in Israeli startups hit a five-year low amid geopolitical uncertainty
2026 F1 Austrian Grand Prix: Live updates and results as Lewis Hamilton leads resurgent Ferrari against Mercedes at the Red Bull Ring
Where Side Hustles Businesses Are Booming: The Top Cities in America Right Now
Miami and other hotspots are seeing a surge in side hustle businesses. Here’s how to choose one that matches your skills and schedule.
Padres outmatched by Dodgers with nine run inning
SAN DIEGO - Just when things started to look like the San Diego Padres found a resurgence after winning four in-a-row against two of the best teams in league, they run into a mack truck-like force called the Los Angeles Dodgers.
PHOTOS | Multitude enjoy aerial entertainment at resurgent Texarkana Airshow
Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Hall, assistant team leader, watches the ground to help the Golden Knights line up with their jump mark at the Texarkana Airshow on Saturday at Texarkana Regional Airport. Throngs of people lined a taxiway at the airport to watch the Army parachute team and other aerial entertainment. It was the first airshow in the city in nearly 30 years. See Monday's edition for extended coverage.
How complex surgeries helped a Texas man avoid foot amputation
A Texas man nearly lost his foot in a lawn mower accident, but Houston doctors saved it through a series of complex surgeries.
Yankees news: Grisham on the comeback trail
CF working back from injury; Goldy’s resurgence; the Boston boys in pinstripes
Seattle World Cup match brings fans, Pride weekend, and global politics together
The World Cup’s stop in Seattle has already delivered packed streets, record-setting business days and a surge of international energy around Lumen Field.
Health system CEO fired without cause in wake of class-action lawsuit over unnecessary surgeries
Reese Jackson, the former president and CEO of Chesapeake Regional Healthcare was unceremoniously dismissed from his role on June 1. Jackson has been named as a defendant in a pending class-action lawsuit filed by 900 women.
Trump warns ‘godless communists’ will turn cities into slums as Dems fail to fight socialist surge
Trump calls Democratic socialist primary winners "godless communists" at Faith & Freedom Coalition, warning of threats to America's founding principles.
Colonial Market owner closes south Minneapolis location due to sharp drop in business following Metro Surge
Colonial Market owner Daniel Hernandez has closed the chain’s south Minneapolis location, which he said never recovered after the store’s employees and customers were targeted during Operation Metro Surge.
Sports books see surge in Missouri World Cup betting
Sports gambling activity is up this month in Missouri with Kansas City hosting six FIFA World Cup matches.
Jackson business owner charged with murder after 21-year-old man shot
A suspected vehicle break-in ended in gunfire in Jackson. Police say the business owner now faces murder charges after the 21-year-old victim died during surgery.
Cody Johnson’s country music is only getting bigger. On ‘Banks of the Trinity,’ he’ll take you home
Texas born and bred country star Cody Johnson is seeing a surge in new fans after two decades in the industry.
Lincoln International CEO on why the firm went public — and what’s ahead for dealmaking
Lincoln International makes its public debut as dealmaking is poised for a resurgence, with the firm's client engagement letters up 40%.
New York is already exporting Mamdani-style politics
Some of the institutions behind Tuesday’s progressive surge are already supporting candidates around the country
Democrats’ real plan to control Congress again
New York’s socialist insurgents are getting the headlines. But in swing House districts, the establishment has been getting its way.
It's Xbox's turn (again), as console prices keep going up
Microsoft announced a price hike for the Xbox Series consoles today, the third in little over a year. Effective August 1, the Xbox Series S, which launched in 2020 for $300, will cost $500 in the U.S. The Xbox Series X, which launched in 2020 at $500, will go for $800. This follows a round of PlayStation 5 price increases from Sony this spring, and a slow-motion increase for Nintendo’s Switch 2, which will kick in in the U.S. in September. (Mind you, there were also eight video game industry price hikes in six months of 2025). The chart up top shows the sudden ascent of console prices over the past year, a sudden surge in an already unusual hardware generation. Prices had been flat for years, now “up” is the new “flat.” Game console prices used to go down across the length of a console generation, but not this time around. Microsoft’s explanation for the new price hike today: We hoped another price increase would not be necessary, and we have spent the last several months working with suppliers on options. Unfortunately, console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027. The entire consumer electronics industry is struggling with the current components crisis, but the effects are particularly hard on consoles. Unlike phones, computers, speakers, and other consumer devices, consoles are typically not sold at a profit, but instead for less than they cost to make. This is an issue well beyond game consoles. Apple announced price hikes on its computers and tablets today as well. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Item 2: Brutal Bungie cuts Bungie laid off “most” of its Destiny development team and some developers who worked on Marathon, the newest game from the struggling Sony-owned studio. A WARN notice issued by Sony to Washington State, where Bungie is based, tallied cuts impacting 292 workers, effective next month. That’s strictly for Bungie/Sony jobs in Washington and wouldn’t account for any elsewhere. The video I clipped below shows the redacted list of Bungie cuts filed to Washington State officials. As you’ll see, I had to scroll for a while… In a note emailed to PlayStation workers and published online, PlayStation game studios chief Hermen Hulst offered the following explanation for these latest cuts at Bungie: This is painful news, especially for talented colleagues whose roles have been eliminated. This decision was made only after extensive discussion and careful consideration, and I want to provide some context on how we arrived here. Over the past several months, together with Bungie leadership, we reviewed the studio’s long-term direction, development priorities, resource needs, and role within our broader portfolio strategy. We explored multiple alternatives before concluding that a reduction was necessary to align the studio’s resources with its current priorities and long-term goals. In 2022, Sony bought Bungie for $3.7 billion. The studio’s marquee game, the multiplayer live service shooter Destiny 2 was losing popularity at the time. Its next game Marathon, released earlier this year, has been well-reviewed but had a slow start. Bungie is renowned for making great shooter games, and Destiny fans have mourned the wind-down of Destiny 2. They’ve also expressed bewilderment over reports that Destiny 3 is not, per Bloomberg, immediately in the cards.
Making Our Own Luck
We are cross-posting a piece that former NIH official Kris Willis wrote for Macroscience. Kris is now the President and Founder of the Woodley Park Institute, for which I’m a board member. Picking winners or hedging bets? Federal science agencies have long wrestled with the question of how to ensure their billions of dollars of grants and contracts result in maximum benefits for Americans. On the surface, it might seem that a goal-oriented, interventionist style of management would be the best policy: prioritize our most pressing problems and distribute funding accordingly.This top-down strategy creates a unique hazard, though: bad choices can send resources in the wrong direction, resulting in slow progress that impedes the delivery of tangible benefits to citizens. Moreover, if decision makers pursue an applied advance when the underlying scientific principles remain poorly understood, they risk costly failures and a loss of support for the research enterprise at large. Examples include Nixon’s 1971 War on Cancer, undertaken on the premise that a cure could be achieved in less than a decade, the drive to build an operational commercial fusion plant by the mid-1990s, and the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, which failed to produce the effective treatments and prevention strategies promised by 2025. The contrasting laissez-faire approach is to hedge your bets. If the path to an advance is impossible to predict, then the wisest choice might be to distribute funding to as widely as possible. The main risk of this strategy is that spreading funding thinly may limit the resources available to the most promising research, resulting in the same negative outcomes as the interventionist approach: limited support for the most promising topics, slow progress, and delayed returns. In reality, at science agencies like the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, program managers navigate between these two extremes, setting some funds aside to target high-priority areas and using the rest to cover the widest possible range of meritorious proposals. This middle path seems like the most rational way to proceed, but it still requires making choices. How much should be set aside for high priority topics? What should those topics be? How should we define merit? Expert opinion can provide a helpful guide, but leading experts can have remarkably different opinions about what matters and what should be prioritized. Moreover, experts and administrators alike can be risk averse, giving an edge to high-profile, well-established concepts. What’s really needed is a data-driven framework to help guide decision-making, one that doesn’t simply repackage prestige or incumbency. Recognizing breakthroughs years in advance Many breakthroughs fail to attract funding or recognition at the earliest stages of development. Katalin Karikó, for example, spent years struggling to win grants for work on mRNA that would eventually win her and Drew Weissman a Nobel Prize. Similar stories can be told about Jim Allison’s groundbreaking studies leading to the development of cancer immunotherapy, Stan Pruisner’s demonstration that prions can self-replicate without DNA, or Robin Warren and Barry Marshall’s proof that Helicobacter pylori, not stress, causes ulcers. Yet at some point, the scientific community recognizes and responds to transformative breakthroughs like these. How does that change happen? And what if science funders could identify the areas that are on the cusp of a breakthrough? Those questions led my collaborators and me to study how scientists responded to past breakthroughs. Based on patterns in that data, we developed a means of predicting future breakthroughs, using biomedicine as a proof of concept. It’s worth taking a moment to describe how our approach works. Briefly, our prediction process begins by grouping the 18 million or so peer-reviewed papers in PubMed, the authoritative database of biomedical research, into roughly 50,000 unique topics. A small subset of these topics are so widely acclaimed as breakthroughs that they have been recognized with a major prize like a Nobel or a Lasker Award. We theorized that studying the development of these outliers over time, especially before they gained acclaim, was the key to identifying future instances of them. After defining topics, we chose 21 representative breakthroughs and asked what they looked like before they won prestigious prizes. To answer that question, we re-ran our topic-mapping algorithm repeatedly, winding back the clock one year each time, stringing together the years to follow the progress of each field as it grew and advanced. We found that in each case, the years leading up to a discovery followed a pattern: a burst of papers on a new, rapidly evolving topic, many of which quickly became influential. These characteristics—the percent of papers that are new, the percentage of papers that are brought in from other topics, and the influence of each individual paper—can all be measured separately for any given topic. Together, they act as a predictive signal that is detectable an average of five years before a transformative discovery is made, and up to thirty years before the discovery receives a major prize. Scanning the current research landscape for topics that display this signal allows us to predict what work will likely produce a future breakthrough. Each year we analyzed includes four or five signals, a number that appears to have remained constant across a twenty year time frame. In their classic work on the sociology of science, Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar established that the desire to participate in a major discovery is an important motivator for scientists as they consider whether they should take up (or abandon) a research problem. Although further work is needed, the simplest explanation for our results is that this behavior is widespread enough to detect at scale. A foundational advance, or something like it, draws the attention of scientists and causes them to change the direction of their research. They vote with their feet, staking their own reputation and careers by publishing on and citing the new idea. That upswell of interest is the foundation of our breakthrough signal. What kind of research does our model identify as a breakthrough? After building a model based on the patterns in our 21 preselected breakthroughs, we tested it by identifying all early signals of discovery from 1994 through 1997. Of the 18 signals we found in that time period, 17 can be traced forward in time to a breakthrough. Examples include super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (see the image above), the directed evolution of proteins and enzymes (Chemistry Nobel, 2018), and sequencing the human genome (National Medal of Science, 2008). The discovery of the role of leptin signaling in obesity is a particularly interesting case study. Around 1950, scientists noticed the existence of a type of lab mouse that suffered from a unique inherited form of obesity. When given the freedom to choose their own diet, these mice ate more than normal and preferred food that was high in fat. Researchers had few clues as to why the animals overate; early experiments pointed to the existence of a soluble ob factor found circulating in the bloodstream that regulated appetite, but its identity was unknown. In 1994, Jeffrey Friedman and colleagues identified and sequenced the ob gene, noting that the protein it encoded appeared to fit the profile of a circulating factor. A year later, a trio of high-profile publications demonstrated that ob was a hormone that regulated body weight and fat deposition by regulating appetite. One of these was co-authored by Friedman, who christened it leptin from the ancient Greek word for thin. Using our model, the data from 1996 make it clear this advance would become a breakthrough. Scientists had flocked to study the biology of the new hormone, generating the flurry of new papers and citations required to produce a signal. One of these demonstrated that serum leptin concentrations reflected the amount of adipose tissue in the human body, providing clinical validation of the earlier mouse studies. Before the identification of leptin, scientists were unable to point to a specific molecule that controlled appetite and adiposity, so that it was impossible to rule out non-physiological causes of obesity; its characterization fundamentally changed our concept of weight gain. In 2010, Friedman and fellow pioneer Douglas Coleman were awarded a Lasker for the discovery. Our work also identifies breakthroughs in clinical practice and behavioral and social sciences, even though these areas are less likely to draw the attention of major prize committees. One example that falls into this category is the introduction of endovascular aneurysm repair, a minimally invasive surgical procedure for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm, a leading cause of death among Americans over the age of 65. Relative to the previous standard of care, it reduces in-hospital mortality by almost four-fold. In 2017, Timothy Chuter received the American College of Surgeons’ prestigious Jacobsen Innovation award for his multiple refinements to the technique. Another under-recognized breakthrough identified by our model is the development of standardized survey instruments to assess the quality of life for HIV+ patients. The antiretroviral cocktails introduced in the mid-1990s reduced AIDS mortality, but treatment came with serious side effects. The new evaluations showed that patients whose disease progressed had worse physical functioning than Americans with other chronic diseases, while those who were asymptomatic maintained a health-related quality of life on par with the overall US population. This evidence made it possible for patients and activists to argue that even in the absence of a total cure, and in spite of the side effects, alleviation of symptoms was a worthwhile priority for clinicians. My colleagues and I have failed to identify any significant recognition for the physicians and health policy experts who pioneered this advance, although in 2016, researchers called for the World Health Organization to set targets for good health-related quality of life as part of its framework to end the AIDS pandemic. From forecasting to funding How should science funders use our predictions? Any serious discussion of what we should do with this new capability needs to begin with an understanding of its limitations. We can’t (and shouldn’t) invest all of our resources in the small number of topics predicted to produce breakthroughs. Innovative new fields are born from existing ones; they rarely arise de novo. If funders don’t maintain a diverse portfolio, the breakthroughs of tomorrow will have no antecedents. Think of this as eating the seed corn, or killing the goose that lays the golden egg. There are also multiple goals of funding beyond basic scientific discovery, including translating discoveries into clinical practice, developing new technologies, supporting economic development, and training new scientists. The investments needed to accomplish these goals are likely different from those required to support emerging breakthroughs. Finally, we must be aware that we may not capture every instance of a breakthrough. The concept is fuzzy, and not every significant discovery is recognized with a major award. Further, breakthroughs are rare, meaning that our dataset is, by necessity, small. This makes formal estimates of accuracy challenging. Although our overall success rate appears to be high, any one signal may turn out to be a false positive. We found one apparent example: the development of the third generation COX-2 inhibitors, Vioxx and Celebrex, which were much celebrated in the early 2000s as effective but non-addictive pain relievers, meets all the algorithmic criteria of a breakthrough. Five years after it received FDA approval, researchers demonstrated that Vioxx was associated with serious cardiovascular complications, and the manufacturer voluntarily pulled the drug from the market. Celebrex remains available, although like other NSAIDs, it carries an FDA warning for increased cardiovascular risk. Decision makers who were overly focused on the breakthrough potential of this research might have wasted substantial resources nurturing an area that ultimately proved to be a failure—but so would those who relied on expert opinion at the time. That said, the potential benefits of funding the next mRNA vaccine or cancer immunotherapy years earlier than we might have are large. When we can’t assume the outcome of an action, it’s worth conducting an experiment. Can targeted support for areas that are poised to produce a breakthrough increase the return on scientific investment without cannibalizing future advances? With the necessary administrative infrastructure in place, conducting this experiment would be straightforward. First, identify all the breakthrough signals between 2018 and 2023, select half at random, and commit to a decade of investment. For biomedicine, a six year window should yield about 30 topics with the potential to produce a breakthrough. Providing strong support to half of these might be accomplished for $300 million a year. That’s roughly half of the recent annual budget of the NIH Common Fund or around 20% of the fiscal year 2025 budget for ARPA-H. After five years, then again at ten, compare to see which group — the one that was actively managed, or the control — produced more breakthroughs, and on what timescale. Although we used biomedicine as an example, the same experiment could just as well be run for physics, materials science, or any other discipline. Any attempt to undertake such an experiment should keep three points top of mind. First, we can predict the topic of future breakthroughs, but the people and vision for how to move the work forward are still important. In practice, this means success requires active program managers with the expertise to develop the science and the authority to do so, including by recruiting investigators. Second, we would be wise to learn from the failures of past attempts to fund transformative research. High among these are funding modestly repackaged work, confusing the genuinely novel with the merely unfamiliar, and relying too much on incumbent investigators. All of these risks can be mitigated by thoroughly and intelligently integrating high quality data into portfolio management. Finally, we need to have patience. Even with strong funding support, producing a breakthrough takes time. If supporting breakthroughs is the best way to nurture the birth of new fields, we also need to accurately describe and properly manage the other two stages, so that we invest wisely throughout the productive lifetime of ideas and divest once they reach the point of diminishing returns. We would benefit from more study of all of these phases, especially the transition from one to another. More research could answer questions like: When does a breakthrough become an established field? How do the availability of funding, the size and characteristics of the available workforce, and the accumulation of evidence that disagrees with prevailing models affect a field’s decline? Exactly how do old ideas give birth to new ones, and can we speed up the process? The more we understand about the dynamics of scientific progress, the better we can maximize the odds that our curiosity leads to results. I’d call that finding a way to make our own luck.
Myles Garrett's Rise Could Fuel T.J. Watt's Next Steelers Surge
For years, T.J. Watt and Myles Garrett have been linked in one of the NFL's defining player rivalries. Now, with Garrett pulling ahead in recent seasons and Patrick Graham arriving in Pittsburgh, Watt has fresh reasons to respond. For much of their careers, Watt's production far outpaced Garrett's. That changed in 2023 when the Cleveland Browns hired Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator and Garrett elevated his game to another level.
Axios House: Sports must prove it can scale as live events surge
Sports is now the single biggest driver of live viewing, and everyone is scrambling to own a piece of it
LMC: Blue Star Shopping Center sees 40 percent surge in visits as redevelopment draws new restaurants, entertainment
Patrons are flocking to the new-look Blue Star Shopping Center in Watchung, fueling a surge in foot traffic that’s poised to continue with a growing slate of dining and experiential tenants.
Mookie Betts continues resurgent streak with 300th career homer in Dodgers win
Micron and Qualcomm forecasts ignite $400 billion AI chip stock rally
Shares of chipmakers surged late on Wednesday, adding over $400 billion in market value after strong forecasts from Micron Technology and Qualcomm breathed fresh life into Wall Street's recently waning AI stock rally.
Mamdani's sweep in New York a 'political earthquake' among Democrats
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani scored a massive political victory on Tuesday when his trio of insurgent congressional candidates toppled two incumbents and the establishment favorite in an open seat, results some described as "a political earthquake" for Democrats.
After New York’s Primary Elections, Democrats Face Five Big Questions
The anti-establishment left surged. How shaken are party leaders?
Tongue Cancer Survivor Reunites with ICU Doctor Who Helped Save Her Life
After a life-threatening complication from tongue cancer surgery led to septic shock and organ failure, high school teacher Jennifer Quick spent nearly a month in the ICU at Atrium Health.
Muni Long underwent double lung transplant in life-saving surgery
R&B hitmaker Muni Long is finally opening up about the life-threatening medical issue that forced her to cancel concerts last year.
As Ebola cases surge above 1,000, experts say outbreak could be worst ever
Insufficient contact-tracing and the refusal of many residents to avoid contact with the bodies of loved ones killed by the Ebola virus are accelerating the epidemic.
Political earthquake: 5 key takeaways from New York’s Democratic primaries
A trio of progressive insurgents backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani claimed victories in House primaries. Here’s what to know.
The ‘tech neck’ time bomb: why 43 million young Americans could cripple U.S. health care within a generation
A spine surgeon warns that smartphone addiction is quietly deforming the spines of Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
The new power broker: How Zohran Mamdani muscled NYC’s Democratic establishment
New York politics and the Democratic Party have a new power broker after Zohran Mamdani’s picks swept three US House primaries. Hakeem Jeffries, the Brooklyn-based House Democratic leader, is losing two incumbent members and facing an ascendant band of agitators. And the people long in charge in Democratic politics, including the ones who for decades thought of themselves as the insurgents, aren’t happy about it.
Roku May Help Fox Avoid Aggregeddon
(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Scrolling through links over the last week, I stumbled across this fun headline: Wow. Formula 1 (the sport, not the docu-series) is the perfect “dog not barking”. As a reminder, each week in my Streaming Ratings Report, I call out the shows that miss every viewership chart. I dub them “dogs not barking”—like the Sherlock Holmes mystery—because without any data, we forget they even exist. This is in contrast to something like, say, a film flop—cough The Mandalorian and Grogu cough—where even underperforming at the box office is widely discussed here, there and everywhere. In the US, Formula 1 is now in “no public viewership data, so not discussed” territory. After moving to Apple TV from its former home of ESPN, basically no one talks about it. Apple did publish an initial, unsourced, unsubstantiated, (dare I say unserious) datecdote claiming more folks are watching Formula 1 on Apple than ESPN, but we haven’t gotten any updates since. This stands in contrast to when the sport streamed on ESPN, and ESPN PR provided weekly viewership figures. Formula 1 was, at best, a niche sport in America—averaging 1.3 million viewers in the Big Data Plus era—but now it’s basically anonymous. (And yeah, after moving to Apple, I very, very, very much doubt its ratings increased.) Unfortunately, that story isn’t quite big enough to warrant a section in today’s “Most Important Story of the Week” column, but I wanted to call it out, because otherwise, no one else will! Certainly, no one will write articles about the silence/ratings decline, unlike when they wrote breathless articles connecting the rise in viewership to Netflix’s Drive to Survive, including Reuters just last month. (This is a topic I’ve tried to provide a moderate/nuanced/non-hyped take since 2022.) Anyway, on to this week’s issue. I was a bit worried I didn’t have a juicy topic, then the Murdochs went out and did their Murdoch thing: buying Roku. So that’s the story of the week, and it happens to touch on quite a few themes of the streaming wars and the disruption therein. I’ll cover that, plus why more consolidation in Hollywood media looks likely, more good news on the Hollywood labor front, whether we’ll see an uptick in production in Los Angeles, some Broadway and theme park news, cellphone prices going up in the third world (and possibly everywhere), and more. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - Another Big Media & Entertainment Merger The story of the week is clearly Fox is buying Roku for $22 billion. I read a lot of good strategy takes on why Fox bought this streaming TV device maker—and I’ll have mine below—but what fascinates me more is how this deal connects to quite a few themes of the streaming wars, linking to everything from the pace of M&A to “aggregeddon” to Netflix’s recent M&A actions/inactions to the shift to advertising from pure play streaming and more. The only topic I can’t really connect it to is my old theory, “never bet against Rupert Murdoch” because he isn’t the one who did this deal; his son Lachlan inked it. (Do I think he provided advice, even at his 95 years of age? Sure.) That plus I have one additional piece of strategy for all entertainment players, inspired by this deal. So let’s dive into all those topics, starting with why I like this deal. Roku is a Great M&A Buy
US Business Activity Picks Up on Manufacturing Strength
US business activity expanded at the fastest pace in five months, bolstered by a surge in demand for manufactured goods.
Taking Wing: Jake Bloss
Today’s subject is in kind of an unusual spot as regards his prospect status. Bloss actually debuted two years ago, and as he turns 25 today (Happy Birthday, Jake) he’s on the fringes of what’s typically considered prospect eligibility. He’s also coming back from Tommy John surgery, which has eaten up the last 14 months […]
Philadelphia bars see surge in business as FIFA fans flock indoors for rain-soaked match
Heavy rain delayed part of the evening match and forced organizers to cancel the Fan Fest at Lemon Hill, sending fans searching for alternate places to watch the game.
Health Brief: FDA signals reset in drug reviews
Plus: The data behind China’s biotech surge
The Best Prime Day Deals on Tech Basics, From Batteries to Power Strips
You can save big on essentials with the best early Prime Day sales on utility tech. It's a good time to score discounts on routers, surge protectors, and batteries.
UM Health - Sparrow officials break ground on new $60 million facility
The project expands UM Health-Sparrow Lansing's presence along Michigan Avenue while also furthering along the end of the St. Lawrence campus.
Red Sox Make Trevor Story Announcement
A month after undergoing surgery for a sports hernia, Trevor Story is making progress towards his return to the Red Sox.
Destiny 2’s Skyrocketing Numbers Are More Than Just A Finale Surge
Destiny 2 has put up its best numbers in over two years, and it's clear it's more than players just logging in for one last goodbye.
This emerging treatment is helping people avoid knee replacement surgery
A minimally invasive treatment called GAE is helping people with chronic knee pain get back to gardening, cycling, and other activities without undergoing knee replacement surgery. Early studies suggest the procedure can provide years of relief by reducing inflammation inside the joint.
Ham: Kings Likely to Retain Achiuwa Next Season
After a career-best season on a minimum deal, the versatile forward eyes a lucrative return to Sacramento following high praise from coaches and a dominant late-season scoring surge.
Zeiss Medical Technology Collaborates With Envision Health Technologies to Advance Glaucoma Care Using VR-Based Testing
JENA, Germany—Zeiss Medical Technology, a leader in medical optics and digital healthcare solutions, has announced a strategic collaboration with Envision Health Technologies, a digital eye health company founded by glaucoma surgeon Lama A. Al-Aswad, MD, MPH, CEO, to help advance glaucoma care through gamified virtual reality (VR) technology. The companies said this collaboration aims to firmly strengthen scientific and clinical credibility in VR-based visual function testing, supported by Zeiss’ long history of innovation in perimetry, and will bring together clinical expertise and software innovation to help advance clinically relevant, patient-centered technologies for modern glaucoma care.