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SCOTUS conservatives signal readiness to curb late-arriving mail ballots
Conservative Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical during oral arguments of allowing states to continue counting late-arriving mail-in ballots. A decision is expected in June.
Expanded NICU offers families privacy, innovation
The NICU at Temple Health's new Women and Families Hospital offers twice the space and many more services than its predecessor.
Antarctica could warm 1.4 times faster than the rest of the Southern Hemisphere in the coming decades, study finds
Antarctica could warm much faster than its surroundings over the next few decades due to a phenomenon known as polar amplification that is well established in the Arctic.
iPhone Air Said to Be Roughly Twice as Popular as iPhone 16 Plus
While it certainly has its critics, the iPhone Air appears to have validated Apple's decision to retire the iPhone Plus, if new results from an independent analysis are anything to go by. Crowdsourced Speedtest data published by Ookla suggests the iPhone Air captured 6.8 percent of iPhone 17 generation samples in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of 2025, up from the 2.9 percent share the iPhone 16 Plus managed in the same launch window a year earlier.
Trump Poised to Skip CPAC For First Time in a Decade
President Donald Trump is poised to skip the Conservative Political Action Conference this week, breaking with an annual tradition that has helped define his political rise and shaped the conservative movement.
Caesars Entertainment (CZR) Valuation Check After Recent Share Price Recovery
Caesars Entertainment stock overview Caesars Entertainment (CZR) has been drawing attention after recent share price moves, including a gain over the past month. This has prompted investors to reassess how its current valuation lines up with recent financial results. See our latest analysis for Caesars Entertainment. Recent trading has been choppy, with a 26.05% 1 month share price return contrasting with a 4.87% decline in 1 year total shareholder return. This signals momentum building in...
2nd Car Show Scheduled at Sangertown Square
Racing fans and families can check out high-performance cars and meet local drivers at the Mall Car Show at Sangertown Square.
Firefox 149 Now Available With XDG Portal File Picker, Rust-Based JPEG-XL Decoder
Firefox 149.0 release binaries are now available with a wide assortment of improvements for this month's update to the cross-platform Mozilla web browser solution.
Health in a Handbasket: Chips & Dip
Today we're putting a healthy spin on a snack we all know and love.
Cowboys mock draft tracker: A trade might make sense early
How interested are you in trading back in the first round?
Jack Gibbens reflects on ‘bittersweet’ decision to leave Patriots
Gibbens signed a two-year deal with the Cardinals in free agency.
As President Trump’s Attacks on Science Escalate, Big Oil Moves to Avoid Legal Accountability
This piece was originally published in Climate Home News. The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) recently agreed to hear arguments in Boulder v. Exxon and Suncor a case that could decide whether communities harmed by climate change can hold polluters accountable in state court. Origin
The debate over Trump’s mental health: ‘Malignant narcissist ’ or ‘superhuman president’?
While some warn of the danger of having someone suffering from ‘cognitive decline’ in the White House, his inner circle attributes his outbursts to his iconoclastic personality
Trump orders War Dept to postpone strikes on Iranian energy sites, citing 'productive' talks to end war
President Donald Trump, in an all-caps post early Monday morning, declared progress toward "resolution" of the war on Iran.
There’s little information about a large measles outbreak in Florida, so we went to see it
One of the largest measles outbreaks the US has seen in decades erupted at Ave Maria University in Florida, but very little information was being shared with the public. So CNN went to the small Florida town to learn what’s driving the case count.
How HB2's legacy reshaped N.C. and modern culture fights
It's been a decade since the divisive "bathroom bill" was signed into law.
Rising Health Costs Push Some Middle-Aged Adults To Skip the Doc Until Medicare
Adults ages 50 through 64 faced some of the steepest increases in out-of-pocket costs for Obamacare plans after a set of federal subsidies expired at the end of December. Some say they are putting off care or considering dropping health insurance coverage until Medicare picks up the bill.
Scientists See Converging Evidence of Antarctic Ice Retreat
A sediment core spanning millions of years and new modeling studies point to significant ice retreat under temperatures similar to today.
Kathy Ireland Accuses Business Managers of Looting Her Fortune
The model-turned-entrepreneur and lifelong Santa Barbara resident claims decades-long deception left her virtually broke.
Longhorns secure major upgrade following NCAA decision on eligibility waiver
Improving the offensive line has been a major focus for Texas this offseason, and the Longhorns got a big piece of that puzzle locked in on Wednesday following weeks of eligibility uncertainty.
Kansas coach Bill Self non-committal if he'll return next year due to health concerns
Hall of Fame Kansas basketball coach Bill Self said after a crushing loss to St. John's that he hasn't decided if he'll be back next season or retire.
Bill Self says coaching future at Kansas to be determined
Longtime Kansas coach Bill Self said after Sunday's season-ending loss to St. John's that he has not yet made a decision about his coaching future, later adding that any decision will be based solely on his health.
Scientists Open Moon Rocks Locked Away Since 1972 – and Find Something Totally Unexpected
Decades after being sealed away, Apollo-era lunar samples are revealing unexpected chemical signatures that challenge long-standing assumptions about the Moon’s composition.
Kansas coach Bill Self unsure about future after buzzer-beater loss to St. John's: 'I haven't decided'
After a heartbreaking last-second loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Self wasn't ready to discuss his coaching future.
NBA's Final Decision on Luka Doncic Suspension Causes a Stir
Luka Doncic received his 16th technical foul of the season, which warrants an automatic suspension.
Jason Momoa forced to evacuate as devastating storm hits Hawaii
Thousands have been ordered to flee as the archipelago faces its most intense surge of storms in two decades.
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.
Bucket hats and home run chains: Getting decked out for baseball season at Poor Boys Sports
From shirts featuring new players to hats in every color, Poor Boys Sports has all your Orioles merch needs for Opening Day.
This CEO took legal advice from ChatGPT to avoid paying $250 million bonus. It backfired
The court stressed that company executives are expected to exercise independent judgment, not outsource good-faith decisions to an AI.
VoidStealer malware steals Chrome master key via debugger trick
An information stealer called VoidStealer uses a new approach to bypass Chrome's Application-Bound Encryption (ABE) and extract the master key for decrypting sensitive data stored in the browser.
Bucs facing a tough decision with Baker Mayfield in 2026
The Bucs have to get the contract situation with Baker Mayfield solved sooner rather than later.
Intel compares Core Ultra 200S Plus to Ryzen 9600X and 9700X, gaming uplift stays small
Intel Core Ultra 200S Plus is aimed at creators, not gaming Intel has updated its pre-briefing deck ahead of Core Ultra 200S Plus reviews, and one of the
Scientists twisted a mysterious superconductor and got a shocking result
A decades-old superconducting mystery just took a surprising turn. Strontium ruthenate, a material that conducts electricity with zero resistance at low temperatures, has long puzzled scientists with hints of an exotic, complex superconducting state. But by carefully twisting and distorting ultra-thin crystals, researchers found something unexpected: the material barely reacted at all. This challenges years of assumptions and suggests its behavior may be far simpler—or far stranger—than previously thought.
Why mosquitoes always find you and how they decide to attack
Scientists have finally cracked how mosquitoes decide where to fly—and it’s not by following each other. Instead, each insect independently reacts to visual cues and carbon dioxide, zeroing in on humans when both signals align. Dark colors and CO2 together create the strongest attraction, triggering swarming and biting behavior. This insight could reshape how we design traps and prevent mosquito-borne diseases.
In Maine’s marquee Senate primary, Janet Mills reaches out to women by raising Graham Platner’s online past
Janet Mills and her allies are counting on a gender gap to narrow Platner’s wide lead ahead of the June 9 primary to decide who will face incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins. They are betting that the unfiltered style that has brought Platner widespread attention as someone who could help Democrats reach young men will backfire with women.
In the Fight to Defend the Amazon, This Indigenous Community’s Secret Weapon Is Science
In the copper-rich mountains of southeastern Ecuador, Shuar people are combining ancestral knowledge and modern science to protect their forest from a Canadian mining giant.
EA-US Politics Podcast: Mr Trump Goes to War
50-minute analysis of the chaos and destruction of Donald Trump and his inner circle as self-declared "President of Peace" wages war on Iran
David Suzuki at 90: A life in science, and a warning still unheard
With ninety laps around the sun, David Suzuki reflects on a lifetime of science advocacy and environmental work. Despite decades of effort, he warns that humanity may have already crossed a tipping point on climate change.
Europe’s trade with Iran: Which countries do the most business with Tehran?
EU–Iran trade fell to its lowest level in two decades in 2025 due to sanctions. Trade continues on a limited scale, with Germany accounting for the largest share.View on euronews
Former OSU athletes talk mental health at Scioto County Mindset Matters Summit
Big names like former Ohio State Point Guard Scoonie Penn, Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, former Buckeye Bobby Carpenter, taking the stage at the event to talk with our very own Joseph Payton about mental health.
Arizona Cardinals GM perhaps gave hint about Michael Wilson's future
We compare what Monti Ossenfort said this offseason about Michael Wilson with what he said about Trey McBride last year.
Donald Trump Is Nothing Like Robert Mueller
The absurdity of a man who avoided Vietnam due to “bone spurs” dancing on the grave of a decorated combat veteran
47th annual Utica University science fair shows area students are smarter than ever
Four dozen science projects from 60 students from eight area schools competed for the top prizes at the Donohue Concourse underneath the Frank Gannett Library. Some of the topics may have changed over the years — there were no baking soda volcanoes — but the students still displayed their projects on decorated posterboard for staff, family and the judges to see. The projects were split between the junior division — 7th and 8th grades — and the senior division — 9th through 12th grades.
Robert Mueller, former special counsel who led Trump-Russia probe, dies
A decorated Marine and longtime law enforcement leader, Mueller served as FBI director before taking on the high-profile investigation in 2017.
County Proposes Eliminating Preschool for All’s Early Childhood Mental Health Team
Unlike other cuts being made across the county in light of a budget shortfall, the decision to disband the team comes as Preschool for All sits on more than $600 million. The county says the proposed change is not driven by available funding.
Farmers and rural community members can access free mental health resources
KGAN CBS 2 and KFXA Fox 28 provide local news, weather forecasts, notices of events and items of interest in the community, sports and entertainment programming for Cedar Rapids and nearby towns and communities in the Corridor and throughout eastern Iowa, including Iowa City, Waterloo, Dubuque, North Liberty, Coralville, Marion, Morengo, Williamsburg, Washington, Tiffin, Tipton, Solon, Mount Vernon, Lisbon, Central City, Urbana, Independence, Manchester, Dyersville, Oelwein, Cedar Falls, Waverly, Evansdale, Guttenberg, West Union, New Hampton, Decorah, Waukon, Maquoketa, Sigourney, Fairfield, Grundy Center, La Porte City, Dysart, Fayette, Elkader, Strawberry Point and Belle Plaine.
Doctors are in: Stuffed animals get health checks at zoo's Teddy Bear Care Fair
Toddlers Eliza and Olivia Altman watched attentively as Toledo Zoo & Aquarium volunteers performed “surgery” on their nearly decapitated stuffed animals ...
Apple TV Is Now Almost 20 Years Old
The Apple TV is now almost two decades old amid rumors of the announcement of a new model. Today marks 19 years Apple launched the original Apple TV. Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the Apple TV at Macworld Expo in January 2007 alongside the original iPhone, but it didn't launch until March. The Apple TV was initially previewed as the "iTV". The device allowed users to wirelessly stream movies, TV shows, music, and photos from their Mac or PC directly to their TV.
For decades, no one listened to him… today his theory about the origin of life is intriguing scientists - Futura-Sciences
When Tibor Gánti passed away at the age of 75 on April 15, 2009, he remained largely unknown. Much of his career unfolded behind the Iron Curtain, which divided Europe for decades and limited the exchange of scientific knowledge. While his theories gained some attention during the communist era, today...
Ancient DNA reveals a farming shift that pushed a society to the brink
A new study reveals that farming in Argentina’s Uspallata Valley was adopted by local hunter-gatherers rather than introduced by outside populations. Centuries later, a stressed group of maize-heavy farmers migrated into the region, facing climate instability, disease, and declining numbers. Despite these pressures, there’s no sign of violence—instead, families stayed connected across generations, using kinship networks to survive. The research shows how cooperation, not conflict, helped communities navigate crisis.
Brain’s protective barrier stays leaky for years after playing contact sports
Damage to the blood-brain barrier is linked to immune changes and cognitive decline
Ole Miss eyes May decision on VaughtHemingway entertainment district partner
Athletics director Keith Carter provided an update and timeline to the Vaught-Hemingway entertainment district project that plans to utilize a public-private partnership.
Congress could be headed for a tipping point, irreversible decline
After nearly two decades covering Capitol Hill, a reflection on how bad things are.
Inside Trump’s most difficult war decision yet: whether to put boots on the ground in Iran
In near-daily briefings with top military officials at the White House, President Donald Trump has reviewed options that include sending American troops into Iran.
Clippers hope trip to Dallas gets them back on track
While trying to overcome their worst stretch since reviving their season starting in late December, the Los Angeles Clippers will visit the Dallas Mavericks on Friday while on a four-game losing streak.
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.
Amazon developing new AI-driven smartphone years after Fire Phone flop: report
Amazon is reportedly developing an AI smartphone codenamed "Transformer" with Alexa integration over a decade after its failed Fire Phone launch.
Amazon developing new AI-driven smartphone years after Fire Phone flop: report
Amazon is reportedly developing an AI smartphone codenamed "Transformer" with Alexa integration over a decade after its failed Fire Phone launch.
Downtown Chico business owner voices concerns over street closures for events
A DOWNTOWN CHICO MERCHANT IS EXPRESSING CONCERN OVER THE IMPACT OF STREET CLOSURES FOR EVENTS -- ON THEIR BUSINESS. ACTION NEWS NOW REPORTER BELLA BARBOSA REPORTS FROM DOWNTOWN CHICO { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "VideoObject", "name": "Downtown Road Closure Dilemma", "description": "A DOWNTOWN CHICO MERCHANT IS EXPRESSING CONCERN OVER THE IMPACT OF STREET CLOSURES FOR EVENTS -- ON THEIR BUSINESS. ACTION NEWS NOW REPORTER BELLA BARBOSA REPORTS FROM DOWNTOWN CHICO", "thumbnailUrl": "https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/actionnewsnow.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/47/c47e26d6-03c3-5f35-bf49-37925ab603d7/69bdedc4eb57d.image.jpg", "uploadDate": "2026-03-20T17:45:00-07:00", "contentUrl": "https://cdn.field59.com/KHSL/1774053903-6e1ef36dd09fbebf020833aee86b60da3b3cca3f_fl9-720p.mp4" } CHICO, Calif. - A downtown Chico business owner is voicing concerns about the impact of street closures for events on local shops. Leann Powell, owner of The Peddler’s Closet, expressed concern about events closing down streets downtown and bringing in food trucks and other shops’ products that directly compete with the brick-and-mortar stores in downtown Chico.Powell said an upcoming event held on a Saturday has brought up concerns for her and other business owners downtown, due to it being a busy day for businesses. "We're already struggling, and then to bring in more businesses on top of our businesses and shut our streets down is absolutely devastating," said Powell.Powell noted a decline in business during events like the Thursday Night Market, where street closures allow outside vendors to set up shop. She shared that while organizers for these types of events often offer booths to local businesses, it does not alleviate the burden."I don't really feel like that's a solution because you're bringing in other businesses, you're shutting the streets down. Yes, we can go down and set up a space, but then you've gotta pay somebody to run that space, plus run your own business for the day, and it's really not, it's really not helpful for us," said Powell.Applying for a street closure permit in Chico involves approval from the Public Works Department, the Chief of Police, and the Fire Chief. Permits can be denied only under a handful of circumstances, such as interference with first responders, previously scheduled construction, or existing permits for the same space.Mayor Kasey Reynolds addressed the issue, saying the city council has tasked staff with reviewing the municipal code for street closure permits with the goal of finding ways to minimize negative impacts on local businesses during events.Reynolds mentioned that any recommended changes might require further direction from the city council, depending on the extent of any changes recommended. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1514992'); });
New AI tool predicts cancer spread with surprising accuracy
Researchers have discovered that cancer spread isn’t random—it follows a kind of biological “program.” By studying colon tumor cells, they identified gene patterns that signal whether a cancer is likely to metastasize. Their AI model, MangroveGS, can predict this risk with about 80% accuracy and even works across multiple cancer types. This could transform how doctors decide who needs aggressive treatment and who doesn’t.
Trump weighing several options for U.S. troops inside Iran
Discussions about possible ground troops have focused on missions aimed at escalating the war in attempt to end it, sources say, but no decisions have been made.
Political Science study reveals how Americans decide who counts as a
The term “person of color” has grown increasingly common in American public life. A new Berkeley Political Science paper, “Who Counts as a ‘Person of Color’? The Roles of Ancestry, Phenotype,
The State That Decided to Topple a Political Giant
Phil Berger has been the most powerful person in North Carolina for 15 years. That wasn’t enough to save him from voters’ anger at incumbents and legalized gambling.
Why Tencent Music Entertainment Plunged Almost 30% This Week
The Chinese music streaming leader posted decelerating subscription revenue and said it would no longer disclose certain metrics going forward.
Judge rules US government overreached with transgender health care declaration
A federal judge has ruled that the government overreached when it declared certain types of gender-affirming care unsafe for young people.
Making the Most of America’s Mega-Decade of Sports
Considering the diplomatic opportunities and risks of hosting the world’s biggest sporting events.
Federal judge in Oregon rules US government overreached with transgender health care declaration
The judge’s ruling Thursday in Oregon is part of multistate lawsuit filed against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and its inspector general.
New stamp honors Yellowstone’s iconic bison
Photographer Tom Murphy has documented the park's wildlife for decades. Now, one of his photos will be on a Forever Stamp.
Claimants drop lawsuit against Gerry Adams over IRA bombings
Three people were suing ex-Sinn Féin leader for liability over IRA bombings in UK which left them injured
Valve releases SteamOS 3.8 preview with Steam Machine support and wider handheld compatibility
Valve SteamOS 3.8 preview is here Valve has released SteamOS 3.8.0 Preview, codenamed "Second Clutch," for the Steam Deck Preview channel. The update adds
Regularly Playing This 1 Online Game May Reduce Dementia Risk by 25%
In TODAY.com's Expert Tip of The Day, a neurologist explains how playing games that build cognitive speed can protect against dementia for decades.
Kathy Ireland alleges decades-long fraud in lawsuit against business partners
Mogul claims betrayal cost her family more than $100 million.
Phillies News: Dylan Moore, J.T. Realmuto, New Concessions
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Exclusive: Amazon plans smartphone comeback more than a decade after Fire Phone flop
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Panthers, Flames fight to extend flickering postseason hopes
The Florida Panthers continued their mastery over the Edmonton Oilers with a decisive 4-0 road victory on Thursday in a Stanley Cup Final rematch.
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.
Who Should Be England’s Number 10 at the World Cup?
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Judge rules US government overreached with transgender health care declaration
Judge Mustafa Kasubhai’s ruling was centered on Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. not going through the proper administrative procedures when issuing the declaration in December.
Judge rules US government overreached with transgender health care declaration
A federal judge has ruled that the government overreached when it declared certain types of gender-affirming care unsafe for young people
Judge rules the government overreached with transgender health care declaration
A federal judge has ruled that the government overreached when it declared certain types of gender-affirming care unsafe for young people.
Judge Rules US Government Overreached With Transgender Health Care Declaration
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge said the government overreached by issuing a declaration that called treatments like puberty blockers and surgeries unsafe and ineffective for young people experiencing gender dysphoria, according to a ruling Thursday in Oregon. Judge Mustafa Kasubhai's ruling ...
They moved to South Korea for his job; 2 years later, he was laid off
Bart Schaneman and his family had a full life in Colorado — a two-story house, cars, and jobs. In his 40s, they decided to move to South Korea.
Steelers await Aaron Rodgers decision as NFL draft nears
Ben Roethlisberger weighs in as uncertainty surrounds Pittsburgh’s QB plan, with new weapons adding pressure for clarity before the 2026 NFL Draft.
Political influence ‘a serious problem’ for FDA under Trump, former commissioner says
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Healthcare employee health plan bridges the gap between data and action
Integrating UpToDate evidence-based clinical decision support helps health plan optimize costs and member-centered care.
NCAA softens targeting punishment: Committee nixes automatic suspensions for players
After more than a decade of complaints from coaches, the NCAA is eliminating the automatic carryover suspension for first-time offenders
Virginia Tech adds commitment from EDGE Alexander Taylor
Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances Academy edge rusher Alexander Taylor committed to Virginia Tech on Thursday. The three-star prospect announced the decision on X. Taylor is the second commit in the Hokies’ 2027 recruiting class, joining three-star edge rusher Andrew Rogers.
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.
Michigan declares 1st measles outbreak as cases spread 'like wildfire'
All three measles cases reported in March in Michigan are linked to a person in Washtenaw County who likely contracted it on a trip to Florida.
Trump faces his most difficult Iran war decision: Will he deploy U.S. troops to seize uranium?
The president has been circumspect about how far he's willing to go to follow through on his pledge to destroy Iran's weapons program once and for all, including seizing or destroying the near-bomb-grade nuclear material that Iran possesses.
Douglas County Health Department clears Holiday Inn to reopen water park
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Curis Provides Fourth Quarter 2025 Business Update
Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS), a biotechnology company focused on the development of emavusertib (CA-4948), an orally available, small molecule IRAK4 and FLT3 inhibitor, today reported its business update and financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2025.
Hochul wants new state commission to study AI effect on N.Y. economy
As of December, the state’s unemployment rate stood at 4.6%, according to state labor department statistics.
Steam Spring Sale 2026 Recommendations For Steam Deck - Part 1
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Analyst: Foldable iPhone Likely to Ship in December, iPhone 18 Plus is Possible Next Year
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LeBron James now 'not at all' interested in bid for NBA expansion team ownership
'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.
Tariffs and Mitigating Actions: Focus on the Business Law Section Report with Participation of the International Section and Real Property Law Section - New York State Bar Association
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