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SouthCoast Community’s Choice Awards business spotlight: Anchor Animal Hospital

We're in the final stretch! Ready to recognize your favorite local businesses? Submit your SouthCoast Community’s Choice Awards nominations today.

Mar 24 • 6:03 AM EDT • Business • southcoasttoday.com

Warriors Announce Moses Moody News After Leaving Mavericks Game

Golden State Warriors swingman Moses Moody was stretchered off the court on Tuesday against the Mavericks.

Mar 24 • 12:57 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Oil rises as markets assess supply risks after Iran denies US talks

Oil prices rose in early trade on Tuesday on ​supply fears, as Iran denied it had held talks with the United States to end the war in ‌the Gulf, contradicting President Donald Trump, who said a deal could be reached soon.

Mar 23 • 8:47 PM EDT • Business • reuters.com

The Monday Outlook: Project Hail Mary and the Science Behind Blockbuster Sci-Fi

Project Hail Mary is the latest sci-fi blockbuster to stretch the bounds of audience imagination and stir the curiosity of real scientists. But the science driving films like Project Hail Mary, Interstellar and The Martian isn’t all fictional: at UChicago, researchers exploring the cosmos and decoding the origins of life are making discoveries that would feel right at home on the big screen. This week's Monday Outlook features scientists from UChicago and Argonne National Laborat

Mar 23 • 6:35 PM EDT • Science • newswise.com

Mojang partners with Merlin Entertainments for the world's first Minecraft theme park, Minecraft World

Mojang has partnered with Merlin Entertainments to build the world's first Minecraft theme park in the UK.

Mar 23 • 4:32 PM EDT • Entertainment • gamesindustry.biz

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.

Mar 22 • 2:18 PM EDT • Health • erictopol.substack.com

Top business aviation banker talks debt, profits, JetGate, EBITDAR

Jefferies' Nick Fazioli on why Wall Street loves private jets, non-GAAP financial metrics and why past results don't preclude more investment

Mar 21 • 1:51 PM EDT • Business • privatejetcardcomparisons.com

Short-Term Cuts, Long-Term Costs: Investing in Health Care for All Californians

Providing health care for all Californians improves health, strengthens communities, and prevents higher long-term costs.

Mar 20 • 8:50 PM EDT • Health • calbudgetcenter.org

New controls can stretch, blur and even reverse quantum time flow

In new research published in Physical Review X, scientists have designed quantum control protocols that generate processes more consistent with time flowing backward than forward. The protocols—techniques ...

Mar 20 • 12:40 PM EDT • Technology • phys.org

Overcoming Self-Doubt When Launching Your Own Business

Building a company will always test your confidence. Some days will stretch it; others will rattle it to the core. Self-doubt in those moments is not a sign you’re not cut out to lead. It’s what happens when you’re creating something new, the stakes are real, and you care deeply about the outcome. The founders who lead well over the long run aren’t the ones who never doubt themselves. They are the ones who have learned to work with it.

Mar 20 • 8:15 AM EDT • Business • hbr.org

“Loyal Slaves” and Campfire Entertainment in Frank Vizetelly’s Confederate Camp

Frank Vizetelly’s illustration titled “Night Amusements in the Confederate Camp” appeared in the Illustrated London News on January 10, 1863. It was one among a number of wartime scenes that Vizetelly captured for the newspaper. Subscribe Following the war, the illustration appeared in a number of books, including John O. Casler’s Four Years in the Stonewall Brigade (1893) and Campfires of the Confederacy (1898) by Ben La Bree. The scene depicts a Confederate camp at night with an enslaved man, most likely a camp servant, performing a dance around a fire with the music provided by a soldier playing a banjo. Another enslaved man looks on at the right. Vizetelly likely witnessed the scene—one that would have been common throughout the war. It’s a wonderful example of the way in which Confederates—slaveowners and nonslaveowners alike—experienced the presence of slave labor in the army. Vizetelly was deeply sympathetic to the Confederate cause. His depiction of the enslaved man as more than happy to entertain the very people who were fighting to keep him enslaved was precisely the kind of image designed to reassure a British audience that slavery was benign, and by implication, that Britain need not feel morally troubled about recognizing or supporting the Confederacy. Share Just as importantly, the sight of a dancing slave reassured Confederates themselves that the institution of slavery remained secure even after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. I’ve come across this illustration many times before and I plan on using it in my next book project on the role of enslaved labor in the Confederate army during the Gettysburg Campaign, but this is not the reason I am sharing it with you today. It has to do with where I recently found it, which came as a complete surprise and is incredibly revealing. Let’s take a look.

Mar 20 • 6:43 AM EDT • Entertainment • kevinmlevin.substack.com

Markiplier to Microdramas: The Ankler x NAB Show’s Future of Entertainment

Share Subscribe Vegas, baby! The Ankler is heading back to NAB Show for a second year in a row — and doubling down on conversations with the smartest people in the industry. From April 18–22, we’re partnering again with the industry’s biggest media and tech gathering to break down the Business of Media and Entertainment as it’s actually evolving: faster, riskier and increasingly driven by new formats, new audiences and new power players. This curated series will bring together top creators, executives and innovators to tackle the forces reshaping the industry — from the AI disruption of Hollywood’s creative ecosystem to the rise of the creator economy, shifting audience behavior and the changing economics of production. We’ll be rolling out more programming in the coming weeks — including top speakers from leading AI studios, prediction markets and beyond — so keep an eye on the Business of Media and Entertainment hub. But first up, we’re announcing two panels about what’s actually working in Hollywood: The Scary-Smart Business of Horror A good scare has become one of the entertainment economy’s most reliable engines. With disciplined budgets, built-in fandoms and global box office upside, horror consistently outperforms. From theatrical releases to streaming-first originals and creator-driven IP, the genre is artistically flexible and financially durable — and one of the last truly communal experiences for Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences. Join YouTube creator Mark Fischbach, aka Markiplier, whose independent feature Iron Lung earned more than $50 million at the global box office, Atomic Monster president Michael Clear and screenwriter Akela Cooper (M3GAN, Malignant) for a conversation moderated by Like & Subscribe’s Natalie Jarvey about why horror travels so effectively across platforms and borders, how studios and independents are building sustainable genre pipelines and why the next wave of breakout franchises may emerge from unexpected sources. Inside the Microdrama Boom Short-form serialized storytelling is having a major moment. Microdramas, social-native series and creator-led narratives are capturing massive audiences with low-cost, rapid production cycles and direct-to-fan distribution. What was once dismissed as niche or experimental is now attracting major platform investment. Moderated by Jarvey, this panel of microdrama creators and executives — including one of the format’s top stars and producers, Kasey Esser, and Dhar Mann Studios’ head of vertical content, Erin McFarlane — examines how format innovation, fandom dynamics and algorithmic discovery are reshaping the economics of scripted storytelling and what traditional studios can learn from these agile models. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Lynne@theankler.com Share

Mar 19 • 6:34 PM EDT • Entertainment • theankler.com

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.

Mar 19 • 5:28 PM EDT • Technology • gamefile.news

What to watch this week in New Orleans theater: ‘Gatsby,’ ‘Streetcar,’ ‘Little Shop,’ more

Step into the Jazz Age with a lavish musical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic tale at the Saenger Theatre. Don't miss the chance to witness Jay Gatsby's larger-than-life story come alive on stage!

Mar 19 • 11:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • nola.com

Jonathan Mann Health & Human Rights Memorial Lecture

The Dornsife School of Public Health’s Jonathan Mann Health & Human Rights Memorial Lecture speaks to the importance of health and human rights and honors the legacy of our School's founder, Dr. Mann.

Mar 18 • 3:10 PM EDT • Health • apha.org

CATACLYSM Is Now Live!

The CATACLYSM expansion is erupting into Hearthstone, and nothing will ever be the same.

Mar 17 • 12:55 PM EDT • Technology • hearthstone.blizzard.com

Here's Where Apple is Hosting More 50th Anniversary Events Following New York

After hosting a surprise Alicia Keys concert at its Grand Central store in New York last week, Apple is turning to Asia for more 50th-anniversary celebrations. So far, it has been discovered that there will be events held in China and South Korea. Apple's retail store at Taikoo Li in Chengdu, China is temporarily closed this Wednesday, March 18, according to the store's page.

Mar 17 • 11:40 AM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

2026 women's March Madness sleeper teams: No. 11 Fairfield can bust your bracket

March Madness wouldn't be complete without a Cinderella story. Which program can etch their name in the history books with an improbable run?

Mar 17 • 6:05 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com

Play-off dream back on for Stoke?

Final Score's Sam Fletcher reflects on an important win for Stoke City and how it could reignite their promotion ambitions.

Mar 16 • 5:09 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Assessing Petco Health and Wellness Company (WOOF) Valuation After Sharp Recent Share Price Gains

Recent returns put Petco’s stock performance under the spotlight Petco Health and Wellness Company (WOOF) has drawn fresh attention after a 12.1% move over the past day and a 52.1% gain in the past week, sharpening interest in its recent trading pattern. See our latest analysis for Petco Health and Wellness Company. That sharp 12.1% 1 day share price return and 52.1% 7 day share price return come after a period where long term total shareholder returns, including dividends, have been far...

Mar 16 • 2:08 AM EDT • Health • finance.yahoo.com

Women in Politics: A Persistent Glass Ceiling

Women are presidents or heads of government in only 28 of the world’s 195 countries, and 101 states have never had a female leader.

Mar 15 • 6:05 PM EDT • Politics • unric.org

The Saga Of This Cheap Bentley Flying Spur Shows Off Just How Tough Volkswagen's W12 Can Be

It withstood years of overheating, enough to stretch head bolts and damage a coolant tank, and is still running as smoothly as it did two decades ago.

Mar 15 • 3:25 PM EDT • Technology • jalopnik.com

Virtual Health Equity Summit

The Health Access and Strategic Innovation (HASI) department welcomes you to join us for the virtual Health Equity Summit. The event is open to everyone and registration is free.

Mar 13 • 12:12 PM EDT • Health • apha.org

By the numbers: What war with Iran means for Louisiana's ports

As the joint U.S.-Israeli war on Iran stretches into its third week, Louisiana maritime leaders are keenly monitoring disruptions to the global supply chain, and energy markets in particular.

Mar 13 • 5:00 AM EDT • Business • nola.com

How The HCA Healthcare (HCA) Narrative Is Shifting Around AI, Medicaid Support And Valuation

HCA Healthcare’s modeled fair value has been nudged higher from about US$541.52 to about US$543.05, signaling only a very modest adjustment to the price target range. Behind that small move, recent analyst commentary has focused on potential earnings support from Georgia’s Medicaid SDP approval and ongoing AI and efficiency efforts, while also flagging reimbursement and legislative risks that could limit how far targets stretch. As you read on, you will see how these moving pieces shape the...

Mar 12 • 10:12 PM EDT • Health • finance.yahoo.com

Bracketology: Race for NCAA Tournament's top seeds enters final stretch before Selection Sunday

Duke, Arizona and UConn begin conference tournament play with the NCAA Tournament's No. 1 seeds still at stake. Here's how the bracket's top line could unfold before Selection Sunday.

Mar 12 • 10:37 AM EDT • Sports • cbssports.com

Students connect kids to STEM in annual Festival of Science and Engine

SDSU co-sponsored the annual event at Petco Park, a day of fun and immersive education.

Mar 12 • 5:45 AM EDT • Science • sdsu.edu

Jill Biden's new memoir will offer her perspective on the decision to end Biden's 2024 reelection bid

A political spouse for nearly 50 years, Jill Biden said she has never publicly discussed her feelings about the three-week stretch when her husband ended his political career, instead saving her thoughts for the pages of her soon-to-be-released memoir.

Mar 11 • 1:48 PM EDT • Politics • pbs.org

How Much of Science Is Fake?

For decades, scientists were above reproach. Not any more. Joe Nocera investigates the murky world of fraudulent research, and the sleuths exposing dishonest science.

Mar 10 • 1:54 PM EDT • Science • thefp.com

Pens Points: A tough road trip begins

Here are your Pens Points for this Tuesday morning… The Pittsburgh Penguins begin a difficult stretch of games on Tuesday, with a five-game road trip against several likely playoff teams, including the Carolina Hurricanes, Vegas Golden Knights, and Utah Mammoth. Pittsburgh recently earned some important points despite Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin’s absences. Is it […]

Mar 10 • 6:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Get Your Small Business Jobs Done With VistaPrint

Elevate your brand presence with these cost-effective print and promotional products, without stretching your budget.

Mar 9 • 3:06 PM EDT • Business • cnet.com

Challenging your brain helps keep it healthy. Here’s how to do it

Doctors often advise exercising your brain to stay sharp but stretching your brain might be the better description.

Mar 9 • 7:04 AM EDT • Health • seattletimes.com

Local organizations using partnerships to protect health, environment

Simple but targeted actions can make a big difference in protecting people from environmental health harms.

Mar 8 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • apha.org

Ryan Gosling breaks and can't stop laughing over surprise joke changes in hilarious 'SNL' sketch

Ryan Gosling broke and dissolved into giggles cold-reading several surprise jokes — including one poking fun at his 'Barbie' role — in a hilarious 'SNL' sketch about passing notes in class.

Mar 8 • 12:18 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com

Key 2020 election denier is still working to prove it was stolen — now from inside the White House

Kurt Olsen was a key player in some of President Donald Trump’s most far-fetched 2020 election reversal schemes. Now he’s back on familiar ground — in Trump’s ear and focused on Fulton County.

Mar 8 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

People fill Petco Park for San Diego Festival of Science & Engineering

Mar 7 • 11:49 PM EST • Science • cbs8.com

Desert Double at Phoenix: Lead Keeps Changing Down the Stretch; Palou Wrecks

The INDYCAR circuit hits Phoenix Raceway with the Good Ranchers 250 on Saturday. Here are live updates from the desert showdown!

Mar 7 • 4:49 PM EST • Sports • foxsports.com

Miami (Ohio), at 31-0, is a perfect college basketball team causing an insufferable debate

A wretched discourse from college football has crossed into basketball: Is a non-power team deserving of a shot on the sport's main stage?

Mar 7 • 11:24 AM EST • Sports • nytimes.com

Become the Butcher in Season of Slaughter

Become the Butcher and turn your enemies into Fresh Meat in Season of Slaughter, and play as the Paladin for free up to Level 25.

Mar 5 • 2:56 PM EST • Technology • news.blizzard.com

What’s the Best Month for Sports?

Our definitive ranking of the best months to be a sports fan, from the highs of April (NBA playoffs! The Masters!) to the lows of August (baseball’s snooziest stretch).

Mar 5 • 12:55 PM EST • Sports • gq.com

Capcom delivered a marketing masterclass with Resident Evil Requiem

Mar 5 • 9:30 AM EST • Technology • thegamebusiness.com

Man accused of plotting Trump assassination claims Iran forced him to

A Pakistani businessman accused of plotting to assassinate President Donald Trump testified that he was coerced by Iran and feared for his family's safety.

Mar 5 • 8:44 AM EST • Politics • foxnews.com

NBA power rankings: Is a new contender emerging out West?

The Minnesota Timberwolves have won six of their last seven games, and Anthony Edwards is excelling as both a scorer and a passer during this stretch.

Mar 2 • 3:40 PM EST • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

UX Roundup: AI is the Computer | Disrupting Filmed Entertainment | UX Trends | GOMS | Nano Banana 2

Summary: The AI is the computer | AI is disrupting the filmed entertainment industry | UX trends for 2026 | AI can use the GOMS UI analysis method | New image model: Nano Banana 2 | New music model: Lyria 3

Mar 2 • 7:21 AM EST • Entertainment • jakobnielsenphd.substack.com

Evidence aligned reading instruction can right Michigan's low literacy ranking

In her State of the State Address, Gov. Gretch Whitmer led with education as a key initiative for 2026 and beyond.

Mar 2 • 5:07 AM EST • Science • hollandsentinel.com

Scoria Cones on Earth and Mars

The hill-shaped features are a sign of explosive volcanic activity—a rarity on the Red Planet.

Mar 2 • 12:01 AM EST • Science • science.nasa.gov

2026 QB Prospect Receives Comp to Steelers WR DK Metcalf

One of the quarterbacks in the 2026 NFL Draft has been compared to Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf. This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: 2026 QB Prospect Receives Comp to Steelers WR DK Metcalf

Mar 1 • 9:30 AM EST • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Massive asteroid impact 6.3 million years ago left giant glass field in Brazil

For the first time ever, scientists have uncovered a vast field of tektites in Brazil — mysterious glassy fragments forged when a powerful extraterrestrial object slammed into Earth about 6.3 million years ago. Named “geraisites” after Minas Gerais, where they were first found, these dark, aerodynamic droplets of natural glass stretch across more than 900 kilometers and may mark one of South America’s most significant ancient impact events.

Mar 1 • 7:00 AM EST • Science • sciencedaily.com

US Senate candidates in Texas make final pitches to voters ahead of Tuesday's primary

A heated U.S. Senate race in Texas is entering its final stretch before voters decide Tuesday who will be their party’s nominee in November

Mar 1 • 12:02 AM EST • Politics • washingtonpost.com

Gunflint Trail lodges see boost in winter business after latest snowfall

A stretch of snowfall in recent weeks has put winter in Cook County and the northeast region back on familiar footing. The recent snowfall, totaling over two feet in some areas, has brought a resurgence of winter visitors eager to enjoy outdoor activities. “People are really happy,” said Ruth Wagner, owner of Golden Eagle Lodge....

Feb 28 • 1:01 PM EST • Business • wtip.org

Oregon, Northwestern each peaking down the stretch

Saturday's game between Oregon and Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., might not look to be an especially significant game given that neither team is particularly close to the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Feb 27 • 5:51 PM EST • Sports • cbssports.com

Our Editors' Choice-Winning Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Are Now 35% Off

Bose is one of the standout players in the headphones space, and now you can get their best headphones for $150 less in today's Amazon deal.

Feb 27 • 4:52 PM EST • Technology • pcmag.com

Inside Iowa Politics: What’s the reason behind new way to handle budget standoff

Iowa Republican legislators are discussing a change when a budget standoff stretches into a new budget year.

Feb 27 • 4:44 PM EST • Politics • ktiv.com

Inside Iowa Politics: What’s the reason behind new way to handle budget standoff

Iowa Republican legislators are discussing a change when a budget standoff stretches into a new budget year.

Feb 27 • 4:44 PM EST • Politics • kyoutv.com

Old Apollo rocks reveal new clues about the moon's ancient magnetic field

Their study challenges the longtime belief that the moon's magnetic field remained strong for long stretches of time.

Feb 27 • 10:56 AM EST • Science • pbs.org

Measles and echo chambers, fresh science, and more

Behind the Curtain (Feb 27)

Feb 27 • 8:31 AM EST • Science • yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com

Alameda County looks for $10M to stave off health care layoffs and program closures

Alameda Health System workers and union leaders said their units are already stretched too thin and criticized administrators.

Feb 26 • 7:23 PM EST • Health • oaklandside.org

Apple Teases 'A Big Week Ahead' With Announcements Starting Monday

Apple CEO Tim Cook today teased "a big week ahead," with announcements starting Monday. His post included an #AppleLaunch hashtag with a colorful Apple logo, along with a short video that ultimately shows an Apple logo on the lid of a Mac. Apple is reportedly planning a three-day stretch of product announcements from Monday, March 2 through Wednesday, March 4, with up to five new products expected to be unveiled, including a lower-cost MacBook, an iPhone 17e, and more.

Feb 26 • 9:06 AM EST • Technology • macrumors.com

Olympic star Jack Hughes earns huge ovation during NHL return

The 2026 Winter Olympics might be over, but Jack Hughes is still living his best life as he prepares for the final stretch of the NHL season. The New Jersey Devils standout returned to his NHL team Wednesday after visiting…

Feb 25 • 8:47 PM EST • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Kayhi students dive into all things oceanic in this marine science club

The Sabertooth Smolts, the Junior Varsity team, wrote their research paper about the ooligan, a little fish that used to be found in abundance in Ketchikan before the fishery crashed 20 years ago.

Feb 25 • 8:22 PM EST • Science • krbd.org

Mac Jones mock trades: Vikings, Dolphins among four landing spots for 49ers QB

A look at some trade packages San Francisco may be able to fetch for Mac Jones.

Feb 25 • 1:23 PM EST • Sports • cbssports.com

What Taking Short Stretch Breaks During the Day May Do for Your Blood Sugar and Joint Health

Stretching throughout the day could support blood sugar regulation and joint health. Here's what to know.

Feb 25 • 7:00 AM EST • Health • health.com

Whitmer's State of the State: Goals met, visions unachieved

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer outlined a broad array of policy goals in her State of the State speeches over the years. How many materialized?

Feb 25 • 6:01 AM EST • Politics • freep.com

Buried by Snow—and by Shaky Science

It feels like snowstorms are becoming more intense, but science tells us that we don’t really know, writes Roger Pielke Jr.

Feb 24 • 10:48 PM EST • Science • thefp.com

No. 17 Alabama rides offense into rematch vs. Mississippi State

Alabama seemingly has found its stride and looks to stretch its season-long winning streak to seven when it faces Mississippi State on Wednesday night in Southeastern Conference play at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Feb 24 • 1:35 PM EST • Sports • cbssports.com

San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering brings industry leaders to Petco Park

Exhibitors include Ballet Folklorico Moncayo, Children’s Museum of Discovery and the U.S. Navy, plus major pharmaceutical companies like Bristol Myers Squibb and Genentech among others.

Feb 23 • 3:02 PM EST • Science • fox5sandiego.com

A hidden force beneath the Atlantic ripped open a 500 kilometer canyon

Far beneath the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,000 kilometers off Portugal’s coast, lies a colossal underwater canyon system that dwarfs even the Grand Canyon. Known as the King’s Trough Complex, this 500-kilometer stretch of trenches and deep basins formed not from rushing water, but from dramatic tectonic forces that once tore the seafloor apart.

Feb 23 • 7:00 AM EST • Science • sciencedaily.com

Business Monday ETC: Feb. 23, 2026

Business Monday ETC

Feb 23 • 6:00 AM EST • Business • masslive.com

BBC and host apologize after racial slur shouted during BAFTA awards by guest with Tourette's

BAFTA and the BBC have apologized after a person with Tourette syndrome shouted a racial slur during the British Academy Film Awards.

Feb 23 • 5:30 AM EST • Entertainment • wsls.com

Apple Reportedly Plans to Unveil at Least Five New Products Next Week

In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple will have a three-day stretch of product announcements from Monday, March 2 through Wednesday, March 4. In total, he expects Apple to introduce "at least five products". A week ago, Apple invited selected journalists and content creators to an "Apple Experience" in New York, London, and Shanghai on Wednesday, March 4 at 9 a.m. Eastern Time.

Feb 22 • 12:48 PM EST • Technology • macrumors.com

Trump climate health rollback likely to hit poor, minority areas hardest, experts say

In a stretch of Louisiana with about 170 fossil fuel and petrochemical plants, premature death is a fact of life for people living nearby. The air is so polluted and the cancer rates so high it is…

Feb 20 • 2:05 AM EST • Health • wtop.com

Reign of the Warlock

These are the Patch notes for the 3.1.1 Client Patch for the Reign of the Warlock, our known issues can be found here.

Feb 19 • 5:45 PM EST • Technology • news.blizzard.com

Healthy Returns: FDA chief Marty Makary on compounded GLP-1s, vaccines and China

Makary helms the FDA in the midst of a contentious stretch for the agency, defined by massive staff and budget cuts and sweeping changes to vaccine policy.

Feb 19 • 2:52 PM EST • Health • cnbc.com

Who is NBA tanking good for? Lakers, 76ers among playoff hopefuls with easiest matchups down the stretch

Playoff contenders will be happy to see tanking teams on the schedule in March and April

Feb 19 • 2:38 PM EST • Sports • cbssports.com

Android security gets aggressive as Google bans thousands of developers and millions of sketchy apps

Google is using AI to block millions of harmful apps, crush scam tactics, and strengthen Play Protect, making Android safer.

Feb 19 • 12:00 PM EST • Technology • androidauthority.com

Sophie Turner and Kit Harington Gagged After Kissing Each Other on Screen While Making Their New Horror Movie

Sophie Turner and Kit Harington can be seen, in a behind-the-scenes clip from their new movie, jokingly retching after sharing an onscreen kiss. 'The Dreadful' stars the two British actors, who formerly played siblings on 'Game of Thrones,' as lovers.

Feb 18 • 9:59 PM EST • Entertainment • people.com

AI platforms can be abused for stealthy malware communication

AI assistants like Grok and Microsoft Copilot with web browsing and URL-fetching capabilities can be abused to intermediate command-and-control (C2) activity.

Feb 18 • 3:18 PM EST • Technology • bleepingcomputer.com

Stone, parchment or laser-etched glass? Scientists find new way to preserve data

Hard disks and magnetic tape have a limited lifespan, but storage developed by Microsoft could last for millennia

Feb 18 • 11:00 AM EST • Science • theguardian.com

NASA Captures an Extremely Rare Atmospheric Phenomenon Above the Pacific - Futura-Sciences

However, these aren’t actually rainbows but a phenomenon known as “glory.” It’s an optical event often spotted from airplanes, caused by the refraction of sunlight on the water droplets that make up the clouds. In reality, there is a single glory, stretching about 480 kilometers, consisting of two multicolored edges....

Feb 18 • 6:30 AM EST • Science • futura-sciences.com