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Android Central ‘will continue’ despite laying off its staff
Following the layoffs, the site has published new posts.
Restaurant Sazani Oceana closes after 8 months in business at Shaker Square
After eight months in business, an upscale seafood restaurant on Cleveland’s Shaker Square is closing its doors.
Steam Deck 2: Is AMD Gainsborough the chip Valve’s been waiting for?
Reason to be hopeful, reason to be skeptical.
Sanford Black Hills welcomes new women’s health clinician at Haines Ave. Clinic
Sanford Black Hills has expanded its regional healthcare team with the addition of Miranda Pray-Dede, M.D., who is now offering specialized women’s health services at the Sanford Health Haines Ave. Clinic in Rapid City. Dr. Pray-Dede brings more than two decades of dedicated medical experience to patients across the Black Hills region.
Welcome to the new Reform roadshow. Same as the last but more desperate
Nige is not rattled that the UK likes its new PM. Or that Reform is second in the polls. Oh no. Because Nige believes in Nige
Arts and Entertainment Agenda, Oct. 2 to 5
Annual ‘John Denver Celebration’, Sept. 30 to Oct. 4 The annual John Denver Celebration, Sept. 30 to Oct. 4, brings fans from around the world to Aspen and Snowmass. Festivities include big concerts, smaller shows,...
The Iron Wall in Rabat: Why Morocco’s Political Shift Won’t Touch the Abraham Accords
As Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri Takes the Helm as Morocco’s First Female Prime Minister, Israel’s Most Resilient North African Alliance Remains Bulletproof
REP. BOEBERT INTRODUCES VETERANS’ MENTAL HEALTH ACCESS ACT TO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE INPATIENT WAIT TIMES AND ESTABLISH TRANSPARENCY
LONE TREE, CO — Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-04) today introduced the Veterans’ Mental Health Access Act to ensure veterans in crisis can get inpatient mental health treatment for PTSD, depression, and substance abuse within 24 hours, requiring new transparency for inpatient wait times across the VA system.
OhioHealth Earns Top Hazardous Waste Management Recognition
OhioHealth earns Clean Harbors’ Best-in-Class designation for its safe, compliant and consistent hazardous waste management practices across the system.
This AI Scientist Can Design Experiments, Run Them in the Lab and Learn From the Results
The system can propose biological questions, design experiments and send robots to test them.
Science Lab: Joey Porter Jr. trade to Cowboys — the Great, the Good, the Hmm...
Welcome to "The Science Lab", a place where football facts and in-depth analysis always triumph over feelings.
Island Science Day is Saturday at UTMSI
All ages are invited to celebrate 85 years of research and education at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute and 20 years of the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve on Saturday, Oct. 3. Island Science Day will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Patton Center for Marine Science Education, 855 E.
Sony brings AI graphics upscaling to the regular PS5
It will be available today in two games.
A new East-West divide: Current political crisis and state of the union in Germany
East-West divide in Germany will continue to deepen as the political crisis persists and the general mood in the country remains gloomy | Anadolu
Trump's $500 Obamacare 'rebate' checks land in prime political battlegrounds
President Donald Trump's administration is sending $500 payments to nearly 1 million Americans this week, in a move that strategists say could potentially influence races that may determine whether his Republicans maintain control of Congress in the November midterm elections.
Trump's $500 Obamacare 'rebate' checks land in prime political battlegrounds
President Donald Trump's administration is sending $500 payments to nearly 1 million Americans this week, in a move that strategists say could potentially influence races that may determine whether his Republicans maintain control of Congress in the November midterm elections.
Prediction markets are going mainstream. What does that mean for public health and democracy?
Prediction markets are becoming mainstream, bringing gambling risks and a novel source of political information to public life.
Can VR glasses save VR?
These aren’t the glasses the industry promised. They might be even better.
Yes, A Shark Can Hear You Scream. Scientists Just Proved They Can Hear Up To 70 Meters Away
That’s the length of the Bayeux Tapestry if you'd like a topical comparison.
ESPN announces 2026-27 Inside the NBA presented by Eli Lilly regular season schedule
ESPN today announced its 2026-27 regular season schedule for Inside the NBA presented by Eli Lilly. Produced by TNT Sports from its Atlanta studios, the
Hands-On With QSSR: AI-Driven Upscaling for the Standard PS5
Plus: further details from Sony's graphics R&D team.
The Executive Leadership Council Announces 2026 Scholars, Investing $1.5 Million in the Next Generation of Business Leaders
/PRNewswire/ -- The Executive Leadership Council (ELC) today announced its Class of 2026 Scholars, awarding $1.5 million in scholarships to 100 students from...
Joey Porter Jr. Trade Gives Steelers Fresh Start
Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin always said he wanted volunteers and not hostages. It turns out general manager Omar Khan and current head coach Mike McCarthy feel the same way with the Joey Porter Jr. trade news that broke just after 11:30 P.M. Wednesday. The Steelers acquired a 2028 2nd-round pick and a …
How you can help your grandparents age well, says researcher—it could benefit your well-being too
Being an involved grandparent is associated with positive health outcomes like a lower risk of mortality. Here's how it can benefit the entire family tree.
New Fox Business Network FBN Lineup Replacing Maria Bartiromo
FBN will replace Bartiromo's old timeslot with 'Big Money in the Morning,' with new co-hosts for the lunchtime program and Li Claman adding a Friday evening program.
Minnesota Test Scores Nearly Flat as State Weighs Changes to Testing
(KNSI) - Minnesota students' test scores were stable this year, according to the Minnesota Department of Educa...
New MacBook Pro redesign gets exciting launch timing update
Apple is launching new products soon, and according to Mark Gurman, it sounds like the rumored MacBook Pro redesign will be among them.
Entertainment this week: Party in the Sky, A Liar’s Cruise and more
Thursday, October 1 Football Fun at Alibi – 12-9 p.m., Alibi Ale Works – Truckee Public House, 10069 Bridge St. Watch football at Alibi. Come save your spot and get some beer for every NFL...
Business pioneer Steve Krenzer to deliver fall 2026 Orser lecture Oct. 5 at Montana State
Krenzer will speak on Monday, Oct. 5, at 5 p.m. in the Strand Union Building’s Procrastinator Theater.
Accenture finishes year with $85 billion of new business, says CEO Julie Sweet
Accenture CEO Julie Sweet joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss on company earnings, the adoption of AI, and more.
How Washington Funded the Politicization of Science
Over the last half-decade, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on projects designed to influence academic policies, both in the sciences and other disciplines. The aim was to foster a progressive conception of social justice in these fields. In pursuit of this end, the foundation earmarked nearly a million dollars for a project titled “Creating Inclusive Scientific Societies through Policies and Practices,” over a million for a project on “Faculty Online Learning Communities for Gender Equity,” and over $2 million to foster “racial equity focused departmental change.” Through a public records request, I’ve obtained the proposals and progress reports for dozens of NSF grants designed to promote social justice. Although funding for these grants was eventually halted by the Trump administration, the projects illustrate an important facet of recent higher-education policy. Many of the university policies that promised “social transformation” didn’t arise in a vacuum. They were actively encouraged by outside funders—often by the federal government itself. Subscribe Accreditation—the peer-review process which enables universities to receive federal grants and student loans—has recently become a policy battleground, with accreditors wielding significant power over both universities and academic disciplines. In 2020, when Oregon Health and Science University’s medical school issued an extensive diversity action plan—which promised “consequences” for employees who failed to support “DEI, anti-racism and social justice”—it specifically pointed to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the medical-school accrediting body, to justify the overhaul. The NSF actively promoted DEI-focused accreditation policies. The proposal for a $1.2 million program on promoting “community engagement” in STEM, which I obtained through a records request, notes that the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology was exploring changes to its criteria “that would incorporate JEDI [justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion].” The proposal promised to “support broader JEDI efforts in the general criteria for engineering.” Another grant funded a conference designed to “identify and share best practices and strategies to integrate IDEA principles in accreditation criteria”—referring to an acronym that stands for “inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility.” Scholarly societies have become another flashpoint in debates over higher education. Critics argue that many of these societies, which have the power to shape entire disciplines, have become increasingly politicized. Again, through its giving, the NSF played a role in promoting this politicization. In one million-dollar grant that received funding in 2024, a group of psychologists proposed a series of social-justice reforms to the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. The proposal, which I obtained via a records request, asserts that “[r]edistributing resources (such as moving different people into leadership roles) is not enough” and that the society’s “governance structures do not yet reflect its stated values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Its solution: review and rework the society’s criteria for leadership development, academic awards, conferences, and publications. Adjusting review criteria informed by “intersectionality” designed to fight “epistemic exclusion” is an easy way to introduce de facto ideological litmus tests into the peer-review process. For many of the grants I obtained, such litmus tests seem to be the point. “Academic departments are racialized social systems that produce and sustain the byproducts of systemic racism,” a proposal for a $2.7 million project funded in 2024 asserts, promising to develop “departmentally-focused change efforts that cultivate values, assumptions, and behaviors that advance racial equity.” The University of Illinois Urbana Champaign’s million-dollar “I-ADVANCE” project, which effectively created a small DEI bureaucracy on campus, promised to Embed 28 ADVANCE faculty fellows in STEM departments” to amplify its equity goals. Another $1.2 million project promised to create “faculty online learning communities,” made up of scientists at universities around the country, that would eventually build department-level diversity action plans. “Ultimately,” the proposal asserts, perhaps more perceptively than its authors realized, “both organizational change and intersectionality frameworks deal with power.” Indeed, such grants confer a great deal of power to administrators and scholar-activists, who can even use the mere availability of funding as a tool to advance their causes. That history is worth remembering amid today’s debate over federal involvement in higher education: Washington has been shaping university priorities for years, including by financing efforts to instill progressive ideas about race, gender, and equity into academic institutions—and many of the policies those grants encouraged remain embedded within universities long after the federal money has stopped flowing. John D. Sailer is the director of higher education policy and a senior fellow at Manhattan Institute. Share
5 western Pennsylvania hospitals officially join West Virginia University Health System
Five western Pennsylvania hospitals and their affiliated physician practices and outpatient facilities began operating today under the umbrella of the West Virginia University Health System. Butler Memorial Hospital, Clarion Hospital, Frick Hospital, Latrobe Hospital and Westmoreland Hospital officially joined the new health system as of Oct. 1, after previously operating
Rep. Young Kim for Real Clear Politics: California Turns Down Bipartisan Funding for VA
Originally Published in Real Clear Politics on October 1, 2026 Orange County is home to more than 100,000 U.S. veterans. Yet, despite our proud military heritage, it remains the largest county in California without a dedicated veterans cemetery. While neighboring cemeteries in Riverside and San Diego may seem nearby on a map, they actually aren’t.
Cleveland EMS will send social workers not police to some mental health calls
Non-violent mental health 911 calls will get handled differently starting in the middle of 2027 with the Community Response Crisis Bureau handling them.
ESPN & TMRW Sports extend multi-year U.S. media rights deal for TGL Presented by SoFi
Season Begins on Sunday, Dec. 27
NASA’s Webb Provides Crash Course on Planet-Shattering Collisions
In the early history of our solar system, scientists theorize that a Mars-sized object called Theia smashed into the infant Earth, vaporizing massive amounts
Composition of Extreme Debris Disks Across Time
By investigating the compositions of extreme debris disks, scientists inferred that silica-rich disks are produced by high-energy impacts of Mars-sized objects, while silica-poor disks are created by less energetic events from Moon-sized bodies.
Ace Combat 8 developer apologises for Belkan War pre-order backlash, explains why it happened and vows to explore possible solutions
The team behind Ace Combat 8 has issued a statement in response to the controversy surrounding the game's pre-order bonus game, The Belkan War.
‘Uncertain Empire’: Historian considers post-World War I shifts that shaped Jewish futures
Historian Elizabeth E. Imber’s award-winning book, considers the shifting post-World War I political dynamics — including the uncertain fate of British imperialism — that shaped Jewish futures.
Big E Extra: Ice Cube
In this episode, we speak with John Juliano with Mellowship Entertainment about the many musical acts coming to The Big E
OLLY Unveils Mochi Bites, Pairing Science-Backed Innovation with First-of-Its-Kind Format
/PRNewswire/ -- Eleven years ago, OLLY redefined the supplement aisle by bringing gummies into the mainstream. Now, the brand is pushing the category forward...
Walmart is using light-up digital shelf labels to help shoppers and employees find items
Walmart is rolling out a light-up shelf label feature connected to its app to help customers better find the items they're looking for.
Amazon is launching colorful new Kindles — and a case with physical page-turn buttons
You can get them with aluminum cases.
HP’s answer to the MacBook Neo is thinner, lighter, and comes with OLED
8GB of RAM and some familiar colors.
90 Ideas in 90 Minutes: Eileen Wixted
High performing team: You belong In work and in life, you will likely find yourself on a committee or team. And there has been significant study and research on why some teams fail and others perform extremely well. According to Harvard business professor and researcher Amy Edmondson, the answer is psychological safety. Team members who…
Corgi launches sports and entertainment platform Golden
Corgi Insurance has launched a dedicated sports and entertainment platform providing coverage for organisations, events, facilities and businesses that power the sports industry, the insurtech announced on Wednesday.
Students hosting sports equipment drive to be used at Mini Day of Play
The donated gear will first be used at the Mini Day of Play at Jackson’s Mill scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14, allowing the nearly 500 flood-displaced students to participate in games, sports, and various other activities while spending time together.
KU faculty member receives inaugural endowed professorship in applied behavioral science
Isaac Melanson, an assistant professor of applied behavioral science whose research specializes in helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, has been chosen as the inaugural recipient of the Donald M. Baer and Elsie M. Pinkston Endowed Professorship. The three-year term took effect July 1.
On the frontlines of student mental health
As anxiety, depression, and crisis-level needs rise among young people, Penn GSE–trained school counselors are uniquely prepared to provide early intervention, emotional support, and essential care both inside and beyond the classroom.
Good science requires much more than evidence
Empiricists believe that scientific theories are true only if they make correct empirical predictions: if we can't verify these predictions, then there is no reason to expect that they tell us anything about reality. However, Professor of Philosophy at King's College David Kyle Johnson argues that this is mistaken. In response to Bas van Fraassen, who has written on this subject for the IAI, he argues that we have many reasons for believing a theory to be true, such as it being parsimonious and having large scope — qualities which have been used throughout the history of science as criteria for judging theories. In 2024, Princeton philosopher Bas van Fraassen wrote a short article for IAI News entitled “Science Does not Describe Reality: The Limits and Benefits of Explanation.” At the time, I was working on two projects (a science book and a Great Course) that, when completed, would (among other things) defend science’s ability to describe reality. I wanted to write a response to van Fraassen, but the projects demanded too much of my attention. But now that those projects are complete, I am in a position to explain the objections to van Fraassen’s thesis. Summarizing van Fraassen’s argumentIn a nutshell, his argument is this: What scientists do is make predictions based on theories and then invite others to test to see whether those predictions are borne out. “If theory T is right, result R should happen in experimental condition C.” Many think that running an experiment that shows that R happens in condition C is proof that theory T is true (and should be believed). But, van Fraassen argues, that R happened in condition C is only a reason to think that R happens in condition C. That’s the only observable, or empirical, result we can actually see, so that is all that we are really justified in believing. (The underlying theory that made that prediction still may or may not be true.) That is why he calls those who accept his position “empiricists.”Before I explain what is wrong with this position, let me explain what it gets right. What van Fraassen Gets RightFirst, a theory correctly predicting the results of an experiment is not, strictly speaking, “proof” that the theory is correct. The basic line of reasoning is this:If the theory T is true, result R should happen. Result R did happen. Thus, theory T is true.In other words:“If T then R. R. Thus, T.”This is a deductively invalid, fallacious mode of reasoning, called “affirming the consequent.” Those premises do not guarantee that the conclusion follows. “If I am in Pennsylvania, then I am in the USA. I am in the USA. Thus, I am in Pennsylvania.” Clearly that argument doesn’t guarantee its conclusion; neither does the above argument.However, science is not a deductive method of reasoning; it is an inductive one. And inductive arguments merely try to raise the probability of their conclusion, not “prove” them for certain. Thus, the fact that an experimental result doesn’t prove a theory is true is irrelevant; it’s not supposed to. That is not what scientific reasoning is about.___If the hypothesis that something exists clearly provides the best explanation for what we can observe, then the belief that it exists is what is rational.___Second, it’s also true that a single experimental result doesn’t provide enough justification to believe that a theory is true. Scientists do not come to a consensus about whether a theory is true by looking at a single experiment; they look at all the evidence to determine where the preponderance of evidence points. The mere fact that I am in the USA raises the probability that I am in Pennsylvania, but not nearly enough to conclude that I am in Pennsylvania. However, if I am also regularly encountering people wearing Eagles and Phillies hats and seeing advertisements for Founding Father tours, I probably am. In the same way, a theory successfully predicting the outcome of one experiment is not enough to conclude that it is true; but if a theory makes a wide variety of predictions that are all vindicated by multiple experiments, performed by many different groups and people, all actively trying to prove the theory false (which is what good scientific experiments are designed to do)—that is a good reason to conclude that the theory is true. In other words, if you repeatedly try to prove something false but can’t, that is a very good indication that it isn’t. The problem of underdeterminationIn reply, those whom van Fraassen calls “empiricists” often point to the “problem of underdetermination.” For any given theory that makes successful predictions about what happens in experimental conditions, there are countless other possible theories that make exactly the same predictions—and since they do, the experimental evidence in question is just as much reason to accept any of those theories as it is to accept our original one. Thus, the argument goes, we have no way of knowing whether our original theory is true, or one of the other “predictively equivalent” theories is true. SUGGESTED VIEWING How Occam's Razor changed the world With Johnjoe McFadden As an example of underdetermination, philosophers often offer this example. The evidence of fossils seems to provide reason to conclude that the universe is quite old; ancient fossils are what the “ancient universe” hypothesis predicts. But it’s also possible that God created an ancient-looking universe 200 years ago, complete with a “fake” fossil record for us to find, to make it look old. The existence of fossils is what that theory predicts too. So, the argument goes, the fossil record can’t be used as evidence that the universe is ancient; the fossil record supports the “200-year-old ancient-looking universe” theory just as much. The problem of underdetermination points out that, for any theory with supporting evidence, we could invent another completely different theory that predicts exactly the same evidence, and thus undermine that evidence’s ability to support the original theory.But this “argument from underdetermination” betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of what scientific reasoning is and how it works. To explain, let me use another rather strange (but very real and commonly discussed) philosophical thought experiment called “The Grue Problem.” The “Grue” ProblemSuppose I want to know what color emeralds are, so I observe a few, see that they all appear green, and form the theory that “all emeralds are green.” I thus predict that the next 100 emeralds I find will also appear to be green. And let’s say that happens, and so I thus conclude that my theory that all emeralds are green is true. Now, one might rightly point out that I don’t know for sure that all emeralds are green—I have not seen them all. Maybe some I haven’t found yet are blue. Fair enough. After all, we used to think that all swans were white, until we found some black ones. But let’s say that I go on a quest and collect every emerald in the universe—and, for the sake of the argument, let’s say I can do this, and can even know that I have every one of them. So, I collect them all, look at them all, and verify that they all appear green. Can’t I now rightly conclude that all emeralds are green?Inspired by the problem of underdetermination, a friend might argue that I cannot.Sure, they all appear green now—but there could be another kind of color called “grue.” Something is grue if it is green up to a certain point in time, but then spontaneously turns blue. And there could be an infinite number of “shades” of grue. Something that is one shade of grue will turn blue at noon today, but something that is another shade of grue will turn blue at noon tomorrow, etc. So yes, the emeralds appear green now; and since they haven’t turned blue yet, they are not some “past” shade of grue. But they might be some “future” shade of grue (e.g., they may turn blue at noon tomorrow). And since all future shades of grue are consistent with “being green up to this point in time,” the evidence you have is completely consistent with the notion that all emeralds are some future shade of grue, rather than green. Indeed, that they would appear green until now is what the “some future shade of grue” hypothesis predicts. So, we have just as much reason to conclude that all emeralds are some shade of grue as we do to conclude that they are green.You’re probably thinking “It’s not equally possible that the emeralds are grue; they are obviously green.” You are right! But explaining why your instinctive reaction to my friend’s argument is correct will help inform why van Fraassen’s “empiricist” is wrong and science actually does describe reality.The main mistake my friend makes is in thinking that the “empirical evidence” (of all the emeralds appearing green) is (or even should be) all I am using to draw the conclusion that all emeralds are green. It is not. I am also considering known facts about how colors typically work; things don’t usually change color, and when they do, they don’t do so suddenly, without cause, and all at once. So, even though the simple evidence of the emeralds all appearing green up to this point is consistent with them being some future shade of grue—that is even what the grue hypothesis “predicts”—it is still exceedingly unlikely that they are. The hypothesis that they are green is much more likely. Understanding science refutes the problem of underdetermination The misunderstanding about science that the “empiricist” pointing to “the problem of underdetermination” makes is similar to the one that my friend made. Science is not just about considering experimental evidence; in fact, it’s not even just about considering empirical evidence. As Ernan McMullin and many other philosophers of science have pointed out, the inference that makes science is “inference to the best explanation” (sometimes called “abduction” or “retroduction” by McMullin). While, depending on the circumstances, scientists use many different kinds of reasoning, science as a whole is, simply put, the process of considering multiple competing explanations and comparing them to certain criteria—explanatory criteria (the kinds of things explanations must be and do, by definition, to be a good explanation)—to see which explanation is the best.And these criteria do not deal only with empirical results. Yes, successful predictions raise the probability of a hypothesis, but it’s also the case that the more new assumptions a theory makes, the less likely it is to be true; every new assumption presents an opportunity for the theory to be false. (The fewer assumptions a theory makes, the simpler or “more parsimonious” it is said to be.) Likewise, the more existing evidence a theory contradicts, the less likely it is, because in order for a theory to be true, every piece of evidence it contradicts has to be somehow faulty. (The fewer established theories a new theory contradicts, the more “conservative” it is said to be.) And, obviously, the more something explains, the better explanation it is. (This is called having “scope.”) If a theory raises unanswerable questions, it’s not expanding our understanding, and thus is not wide-scoping. Scientists consider all these things when deciding which theory to accept, because the theory that adheres best to these explanatory criteria is most likely to be true.___the mere fact that a theory’s predictive success is why it “sticks around” or “becomes accepted” in the scientific community is not a reason to be skeptical about its truth.___The reason the grue hypothesis is no good is because it invents an entirely new kind of color—not just a new shade, but an entirely different category of color (a different way colors work)—and thus is not parsimonious. It raises unanswerable questions about how and why emeralds would just spontaneously change from green to blue (and thus does not have wide scope). And it contradicts what is already well established about how color works (and thus is unconservative).The theories that the problem of underdetermination points to do the same thing. Yes, the theory that God created an “ancient-looking universe” (complete with an ancient-looking fossil record) two hundred years ago is also consistent with the empirical evidence (of a fossil record) that presently exists; but that theory is monumentally unparsimonious (it requires many extra assumptions about infinite entities) and not wide-scoping (it raises unanswerable questions about why God would do such a thing). So, I can rationally conclude that it is false.Indeed, the history of science includes many examples of theories that were rejected because they lacked parsimony and/or scope, even before their falsity (and the truth of their competing theory) was confirmed by observation. As I point out in my book, geocentrism was rejected by the scientific community because it lacked parsimony, almost 200 years before the observation of parallax confirmed that the Earth moves around the sun. And the continuum theory of matter was completely rejected by 1860, because it couldn’t explain chemical reactions or organize matter into a periodic table, even though the experiments that eventually confirmed atomic theory weren’t even proposed until the 1870s. Solving the best of a bad lot problemIn response, the “empiricists” are likely to object, this time pointing to the “best of a bad lot” problem. “We have no reason to conclude that an explanation that has been shown to be better than others is true because we have no guarantee that the true theory was among those that we were considering.” If you have a “lot” (a collection) of poor explanations, even the best one is not true.The responses to this problem, however, are numerous. Peter Lipton argues that the set of hypotheses that scientists consider are not just randomly selected and thus unlikely to contain a theory that is true; they use existing knowledge to home in on what is most likely to be true. A doctor trying to explain abdominal pain is not going to bother wondering whether demons are causing it; they are going to stick with things like appendicitis and kidney stones, because they are most likely. Further, despite its name, inference to the best explanation is not just the process of comparing hypotheses and accepting the best one; we also want one that is a good explanation in its own right. If it’s not, we are going to keep looking until we find an explanation that is. And while that process does not guarantee that we will come across the exact truth, it’s very likely that the theory that emerges as the best will be at least approximately true, and thus we will be justified in believing it. And lastly, as I point out in my book, although many theories not based in scientific evidence (like geocentrism and continuum theory) have been completely overturned, science almost always progresses by the refinement of scientifically established theories—not their replacement. (Although our sun is not the center of the universe, heliocentrism was our first step in understanding the Earth’s true place in the universe.) So even if a theory we accept today may not be completely right, accepting it is a step on the journey toward the complete truth. The example of atomic theoryNow, it’s worth pointing out that most empiricists are not skeptical of all scientific theories; they are only skeptical of the ones that hypothesize the existence of “unobservables.” It’s not like they think that round Earth, heliocentrism, and germ theory are just useful (but untrue) “instruments” for making predictions about how to most efficiently navigate the seas, predict planetary motion, and treat diseases. They admit that the Earth actually is round, that the planets revolve around the sun, and that germs exist and cause disease. These facts and entities can be observed; the theories that suggest they exist are true. It’s only when theories start hypothesizing the existence of unobservables—like electrons, or quantum fields—that can’t be observed directly, that we should start doubting the theories’ truth. And to be fair to van Fraassen, in this published work, he doesn’t really say that we should doubt the truth of such theories. Only that scientific reasoning does not rationally force us to accept them as true. Skepticism, or agnosticism, he argues, is warranted. SUGGESTED READING Science is based in metaphor By Andrew Reynolds But the history of atomic theory throws a monkey wrench into that argument. Atoms used to be unobservable; again, scientists first accepted the theory that they exist because it had such grandiose explanatory power. But then atoms were seen with electron microscopes. They thus moved into the category of the observable. But this didn’t substantially change anything about what scientists were justified in believing; it certainly didn’t change any “atomic skeptics’” minds. It just confirmed what everyone already knew! If the hypothesis that something exists clearly provides the best explanation for what we can observe, then the belief that it exists is what is rational. The fact that the thing itself is not technically observable does not make doubting its existence rational.What’s more, the atoms were seen with an electron microscope. But electrons are themselves unobservable. How can an electron microscope reveal an atom if electrons are not real? This leads us to what is famously known as Hilary Putnam’s “miracle argument.” It’s (not) a miraclePhilosopher Hilary Putnam’s miracle argument is somewhat famous. Basically, he argued that a scientific theory being able to repeatedly make successful predictions—even about unobservables—without being at least approximately true would require a “miracle.” In other words, it would be such an improbable occurrence that it could not rationally be believed—the better explanation for why scientific theories about unobservables make the right predictions is because the unobservable entities and structures they hypothesize exist.Van Fraassen has addressed this argument. Indeed, in his original article, where he references Alison Gopnik’s point about orgasms not being “necessary for procreation” even though the desire for orgasm “drives the creation of progeny,” he is pointing to his own argument about how organisms are not naturally selected by evolution to get true beliefs; to the extent that belief-forming processes are selected for, the ones that are selected are the ones that are useful for survival—not the ones that produce true beliefs. In the same way, van Fraassen argues, scientific theories are accepted, not because they are true, but because they aren’t falsified; they make successful predictions; that’s what makes them “stick around.” So, the fact that they make successful predictions (and thus became accepted) is not a reason to think they are true.This argument is similar to C. S. Lewis’s “argument from reason,” which he used to argue against evolution: “The truth of evolution undercuts our ability to know that it is true.” Lewis’ argument famously failed; Elizabeth Anscombe, by Lewis’s own admission, demolished Lewis in a debate on the topic, and I have explained elsewhere why modified versions of the argument fail as well. In short, it’s because it fails to recognize that a belief-forming process can make an organism more likely to survive because it reliably produces true beliefs. It is therefore not the case that beliefs generated by naturally selected belief-forming processes are automatically false or unjustified.In the same way, the reason a theory “sticks around” could be because it’s not falsified, because it “makes correct predictions.” But the reason it makes correct predictions is most likely because it is true. (In pointing this out, I am echoing the arguments of Musgrave, Lipton, Psillos, and Kitcher, who refuted van Fraassen’s argument and analogy long before his 2024 article.) It would be a huge coincidence that it could do so without being true. And that is the point of Putnam’s miracle argument. Thus, contrary to van Fraassen’s suggestion, the mere fact that a theory’s predictive success is why it “sticks around” or “becomes accepted” in the scientific community is not a reason to be skeptical about its truth. ConclusionLet me close by saying something about the fact that empiricists don’t doubt the truth of all scientific theories, just the ones that hypothesize unobservables. In today’s society, this theory is dangerous to espouse publicly. The nuance between being skeptical about all of science, and just the highly technical theories about unobservables, is guaranteed to be lost to the average reader. And there is so much unjustified skepticism and doubt about the findings of science and experts that a headline like “Science Does Not Describe Reality” could easily fuel the anti-science movement, worsen climate change denial and cause the next pandemic.This is why I believe it was important to still respond to van Fraassen’s article, a full two years after he wrote it. Not only, as I have argued, does it represent a philosophically inaccurate view of how scientific reasoning works and what scientific reasoning can do, but it is a dangerous view to boot. It should thus be rejected.
Apple Stores Receive 'Do Not Open' Boxes Ahead of Smart Home Products Launch
Apple Stores around the world are preparing to install new product presentations starting on Thursday, October 8. Apple retail stores received confidential boxes earlier this week featuring "Do Not Open Until October 8" stickers on them. They are believed to contain new visual merchandise, which enables workers to update labels, graphics, and product layouts in stores around the release of new products.
AI is operating inside the healthcare billing system. Patients may already be paying the price
As AI codes billing inside hospitals, insurers say costs are being added to a bloated health care system. Blue Cross Blue Shield put the tab near $1 billion.
The Democrats who bet wrong on ICE
A 2025 vote is haunting Jon Ossoff and other Democrats.
I went to America’s largest gathering of astrologers. It was a battle over how to read the stars
Now a $15bn industry, astrology is more mainstream in the US than ever. But its practitioners are still debating: who gets to have authority on the celestial bodies?
Gen Z isn’t choosing a political party. They’re choosing issues.
Young women stand out for their progressive views, but few in the generation are embracing the two-party system.
Paducah Chamber to host Judge Executive forum; Baptist Health blood drive continues
The Paducah Chamber will host its Judge Executive Forum Thursday. The forum will be available to view on WPSD at Midday, or via stream. And Baptist Health will enter day
Executive Edge: MSG Sports to split Knicks and Rangers businesses into two publicly traded companies
MSG Sports is splitting Knicks and Rangers into two publicly traded companies.
U.S. Figure Skating’s Annie White Honored by Sports Business Journal
Annie White, chief commercial officer at U.S. Figure Skating, was recognized on Wednesday night in New York City as an honoree of the 16th annual Sport's Business Journal's Game Changers Class of 2026.
The independents who want to take over the Senate
Republicans are worried about them. Democrats are cheering them on. But what do they really want?
Global Health & WASH: October 2026 Funding Opportunities (26 new opportunities)
41 opportunities on the Global Health & WASH page this cycle, 26 of them new. The health money on this page is mostly research money, and much of it is aimed at people early in their careers. Funder after funder, from the TANGO2 Research Foundation’s Research Pathways grants to the South African Medical Research Council’s Early Investigators Programme to the National Ataxia Foundation and Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, is funding early-career investigators and the institutions that host them, with a clear tilt toward researchers based in or from the Global South, from AMBSO in Uganda to Kenya’s CONNECT-VAX network to Ersilia’s AI Incubator for African drug discovery. The money is organized by disease as much as by need: narrow foundations, the Parkinson’s Foundation, NTAP for neurofibromatosis, the RUNX1 Research Program for an inherited blood disorder, each run their own grant, so the question for an applicant is less which health problem you work on than which foundation owns your disease. The largest European cheques go to consortia only, with the European Innovation Council putting up to EUR €4 million behind a single healthy-ageing project and UNITE up to EUR €1 million behind each cross-border digital health team. Water sits apart, almost entirely in applied utility research: the Water Research Foundation’s cluster of USD $250,000 to $500,000 projects, each built around a utility problem from sewer laterals to reuse treatment. And the biggest single pot is public: HRSA is renewing community health center service areas with awards of up to USD $10 million each. This post is for paid subscribers. This helps support the time and effort it takes to curate and organize these opportunities. Subscribe To keep this accessible to everyone who needs it, we’re happy to offer pay what you can rates. You can find more details here. Open Opportunities 2027 Building the Field of Health Advocacy Grant, Georgia Health Initiative. *New!* *Closing soon!* Georgia Health Initiative, a nonprofit private foundation focused on health equity, is opening its 2027 Building the Field of Health Advocacy Grant to strengthen the organizations that push for healthier systems across the state. The Initiative treats advocacy as infrastructure, backing one-year projects that range from urgent responses to shifting federal policy to longer arc campaigns on housing, behavioral health, care access, and food security. It wants coalitions that elevate community voice, apply an equity lens, and arrive ready to deploy concrete strategies, and it deliberately seeks variety in issues, communities, and organizational size. The optional webinar and required lobbying training signal a funder investing in a durable field, not one grant cycle. The strongest fits are Georgia nonprofits and public agencies ready to turn advocacy readiness into systems change. Geographies: United States. Who can apply: Tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public charities, state or local government agencies, or coalitions/collaboratives using a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor, that work in Georgia on behalf of Georgians and align with the mission, vision, and values of Georgia Health Initiative. Only one application per organization, though an organization may be listed as a partner or subcontractor on multiple applications. Funding amount: Organizations can apply for up to USD $80,000 per project; the Initiative anticipates investing a total of USD $1.36 million. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Governance, Policy & Advocacy · SDG3; SDG10. Deadline: October 2, 2026. Learn more and apply here. TDD Research Pathways Grant, TANGO2 Research Foundation. *New!* *Closing soon!* The TANGO2 Research Foundation, working with a founding gift from Tango2UK, is opening its TDD Research Pathways Grant to fund early-career investigators anywhere in the world who study TANGO2 Deficiency Disorder. The foundation is using this money to seed pilot work and to build a research community around a rare disorder that few labs currently study. It wants to back emerging scientists, clinicians, and trainees who will stay with this field, not one-off projects, which is why it requires a committed mentor and real institutional support and asks each applicant for a plan for future contributions. The design rewards promise and persistence over track record. The strongest fits are students, residents, postdoctoral fellows, and new investigators ready to commit to TANGO2 research. Geographies: Global. Who can apply: Early-career investigators worldwide, including undergraduate, graduate, and medical trainees, postdoctoral fellows, residents, and clinical or research fellows. Early-career investigators must hold a PhD, MD, or equivalent doctoral degree and be within 10 years of that degree or within 5 years of initiating rare disease research, engaged in postdoctoral research at an academic institution, teaching hospital, or nonprofit research institute. Currently enrolled trainees and transitional PhD candidates beginning a postdoctoral appointment at a nonprofit institution by July 1, 2026 are also eligible. All applicants must identify a qualified mentor with relevant TDD or rare disease research experience and demonstrate institutional support. Funding amount: Up to USD $15,000. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Innovation, Science & Technology. Deadline: October 2, 2026. Learn more and apply here. Call for Expression of Interest (EOI): AMBSO Impact Research Initiative, Africa Medical and Behavioral Sciences Organization (AMBSO). *Closing soon!* The Africa Medical and Behavioral Sciences Organization is inviting expressions of interest for its Impact Research Initiative, which funds early-stage pilot studies and proof of concept work on priority health challenges. AMBSO is a Ugandan research organization backing bold ideas that can grow into larger studies, and its tracks span antimicrobial resistance, epidemic preparedness, artificial intelligence for diagnostics, HIV prevention, climate and health, cancer, maternal and child health, and non-communicable diseases. The small award size and direct-cost-only rule point to a funder that wants evidence rather than overhead, and that favors projects able to attract follow-on money or use AMBSO’s own research infrastructure. Eligibility runs worldwide, welcoming researchers and institutions inside and outside Africa. The strongest fits are researchers with a feasible pilot that generates policy-ready evidence. Geographies: Global. Who can apply: Open worldwide to researchers, academic institutions, and research organizations whose work aligns with generating high-impact health evidence. Independent researchers are eligible if affiliated with an academic or research institution. Doctoral students are encouraged to apply as part of a research team led by a faculty Principal Investigator. Community-based organizations and other eligible entities may apply. Projects may be implemented inside or outside Uganda. Funding amount: Up to USD $10,000 per project, with no minimum funding threshold. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: SDG3. Deadline: October 2, 2026. Learn more and apply here. Entrepreneurs for Resilience 2027 (E4R27), Swiss Re Foundation. *Closing soon!* Swiss Re Foundation is opening the tenth edition of Entrepreneurs for Resilience, which backs healthcare social enterprises expanding affordable, quality primary care for low-income communities across low- and middle-income countries. The Foundation is using catalytic, blended funding plus multi-year advisory to take risk out of scaling, helping proven models reach more people sustainably rather than stay stuck at pilot size. It looks to back brick-and-click enterprises that pair physical care with digital tools and build affordability through savings, payments, or microinsurance, ideally integrated with public health systems. Requiring earned revenue, real customer scale, and gender-inclusive teams signals that this is growth capital for commercially serious ventures, not seed money. The strongest fits are established, revenue-generating healthcare enterprises ready to scale access for underserved populations. Geographies: Global. Who can apply: For-profit and hybrid healthcare social enterprises serving low-income and underserved populations in low- and middle-income countries, using combined physical and digital (brick-and-click) healthcare delivery models. Applicants must demonstrate measurable social impact, generate at least 50% of income through earned revenue, have been established no later than December 2023, already serve at least 50,000 people with potential to scale, and have at least 30% low-income customers. Preference for gender-inclusive enterprises with at least one female founder or at least 30% women in management. Funding amount: Pilot funding of up to USD $45,000 for the 6-8 shortlisted social enterprises; up to USD $1 million in blended funding (up to USD $600,000 unconditional plus up to USD $400,000 conditional) shared among 3-4 finalists over a two-year implementation period; total programme funding approximately USD $1.3 million. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Innovation, Science & Technology · SDG3; SDG5. Deadline: October 4, 2026. Learn more and apply here. Horizon HealthTech 2026, IIITD Innovation & Incubation Center. *Closing soon!* IIITD Innovation and Incubation Center is opening Horizon HealthTech 2026, a nine-month MedTech incubation cohort run under the aegis of BIRAC EDGE for founders building medical devices, diagnostics, surgical and interventional tools, or remote monitoring. The center is backing teams that already hold a validated proof of concept and want to reach a tested prototype, pairing each founder with a named expert and clinical validation through a hospital partner. What they seek to back is Indian health technology that can survive real clinical scrutiny and regulatory review, not slideware. The structure, with lab access, CDSCO guidance, IP support, and investor connects, signals a program built to make startups ready for follow-on capital. The strongest fits are early-stage MedTech teams with defensible IP and a working path from bench to bedside. Geographies: India. Who can apply: Early-stage teams/startups with a validated idea/proof of concept (TRL 3 onwards) working on medical devices, diagnostics, surgical/interventional technologies, or remote monitoring, holding IP or with potential to generate IP. Funding amount: No cash award amount is stated on the official program page. Benefits are in-kind: prototyping lab and equipment access, clinical/hospital validation (Max Healthcare), expert mentorship, CDSCO regulatory guidance, IP filing support, workspace, cloud credits and tools, and investor connects. Run under the aegis of BIRAC EDGE and builds a path to follow-on Government/VC/Angel funding. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Innovation, Science & Technology · SDG3; SDG9. Deadline: October 5, 2026. Learn more and apply here. OpenAI AI and Teen Development Research Grant Program, OpenAI. *New!* *Closing soon!* OpenAI is opening its AI and Teen Development Research Grant Program to fund independent studies of how generative AI shapes the lives of young people ages 13 to 17. OpenAI wants a stronger evidence base on how teens actually use these tools and what that use does to their social and emotional development, so that product teams, policymakers, and regulators can act on findings rather than assumptions. It seeks work on emotion regulation, relationships, belonging, and the safeguards that keep teens safer, welcoming interdisciplinary teams and any methodology. That it will fund research whose conclusions may not favor AI providers, and prioritizes studies touching ChatGPT, signals a genuine appetite for credible outside scrutiny. The strongest fits are research groups grounded in adolescent development, well-being, and AI safety. Geographies: Global. Who can apply: Researchers aged 18 or older who are affiliated with a research institution or organization, and/or have significant experience relevant to child or adolescent development, well-being, human-computer interaction, AI impacts, or a closely related field. Multiple institutions may collaborate. OpenAI is seeking to fund research rather than for-profit initiatives and will not prioritize for-profit organizations. Funding amount: Individual research grants up to USD $1 million, totaling up to USD $5 million; maximum 10% of each grant for overhead or indirect costs. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Social Inclusion & Community Wellbeing; Innovation, Science & Technology. Deadline: October 6, 2026. Learn more and apply here.
Huawei made a whole camera to attach to its latest phone
This 24-240mm zoom lens has its own sensor too.
Hometown’s Best: Nominate your favorite place to watch sports in 2026
What’s your favorite place to watch sports in Southwest Virginia?
TENNESSEE LADY VOLS SOCCER: Trip to Auburn is next
The No. 13 Tennessee soccer team is set for its fourth road match of the 2026 season on Thursday night as the Lady Vols head to Auburn, Alabama, to take on the Auburn Tigers. Kickoff from Auburn Soccer Complex is set for 7 p.m. ET.
Trump officials abandon effort to investigate election threats, experts warn
Credible threats appear to have been overlooked as administration focuses on unverified claims of voter fraud
Rafael Leão given Portugal's number 7 shirt after Ronaldo exit
It's been a dramatic few days for Portuguese football with Cristiano Ronaldo's exit from the national team. However, there is a new number 7: Rafael Leão.The revised squad list for Portugal ahead of ...
U.S. House candidate Jim Kingston hosts business roundtable with Kemp
Governor Brian Kemp appeared alongside the Republican hopeful for Coastal Georgia's U.S. House seat Wednesday, attending a roundtable of local business leaders to discuss issues impacting them.
Wales vs Norway – Predicted lineup and team news
Wales are set to take on Norway in their third UEFA Nations League group-stage clash this Thursday at Cardiff City Stadium, hoping to get back on the winning trail after a difficult start to their cam...
Boots owner ‘closing in on sale to Canada’s Weston family for $9bn’
Deal would mark return of Canadian family to UK after it sold Selfridges department store for £4bn in 2022
Is it your personality or a psychological disorder? TikTok has answers.
Maladaptive daydreaming, obsessional jealousy and misophonia are now topics of study as social media trends force psychiatrists to rethink their diagnostic “bible.”
Entertainment
Playhouse at McConnellstown has launched its “Raise the Roof” Capital Campaign to raise $30,000 for repairs to the theater’s roof and gutter system. Donations of any amount are being accepted
Laughter Shocktober brings dangerously unrehearsed comedy to Nevada City Oct. 8
Laughter Shock, Nevada County’s notoriously unpredictable improv troupe, returns to the Nevada Theatre for one night of unscripted comedy with Laughter Shocktober, Thursday, October 8 at 7:30 p.m.
These birds can match the earsplitting decibels of a chainsaw
New research measures the loudest birds known to science, with three South American species topping the chart
Community Bridges built ECM to prevent health crises. Now the state funding is shifting and we have to close the program
California created enhanced care management to help Medi-Cal patients with complex health and social needs before they reach the emergency room. Community Bridges spent three years building a community-based program that now serves more than 200 people. But, Community Bridges CEO Ray Cancino writes, a shift toward encounter-based reimbursement is making the relationship-building, outreach and coordination that prevention requires increasingly difficult to sustain and Community Bridges will now be forced to close the program. Cancino wonders here the new payment model will actually save money — or simply move the costs downstream.
September Monthly Review: Health MCP Guy?
For all the time I spend talking about APIs and data exchange, this newsletter has had embarrassingly little interoperability of its own. It’s old-school SaaS, baby - UI or bust. Not all of that is my fault! Substack, for all its popularity, is (as mentioned before) really frustrating as my system of record. The primary user it optimizes towards is the reader, whose attention feeds the app, the Notes feed, and the recommendation network that Substack is actually selling. Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe They’re falling into the same trap that Medium once sprinted into, albeit at a much more glacial speed. Younger generations may not remember (or never knew) it, but Medium once lured publications like The Ringer and Signal v. Noise onto its platform, only to lose them as it rebuilt itself around a paywall and an algorithmic feed. Substack’s original pitch circa 2020 was the antidote (you own your list), but every new feed feature chips away at it. I get it: writers are generic supply in the eyes of the Substack product team. Generic supply follows demand, so the consistent pressure on the PMs is to generate demand, which leads to every product cycle going toward discovery (Notes, recommendations, the app, live video). The end result lackluster author tools (laggy and broken analytics are truly crippling) all despite the premium price point. The archive is where it crosses from authorial gripes to actual reader impact, though. Across Substack and LinkedIn, I’ve published 1,218 posts and nearly 900,000 words since 2018. Substack’s native search can see only the 464 posts that live on Substack, and even there it’s woefully inadequate at surfacing relevant content (even for the guy who wrote it)! Readers have the same problem, writ large. Ask the Archive Fixing search (for both my readers and my own use) turned out to be extremely non-trivial, unfortunately: There’s no public API for readers to access content RSS exists for new content notification, but it only carries the 20 most recent posts and cuts paid ones off at the preview The only Substack MCP is an admin tool for analytics The export exists for authors, but it’s painfully awkward and slow. So I built something to work around that: the Health API Guy MCP. It’s a private MCP server holding the full text of everything I’ve written across Substack and LinkedIn. Add it to Claude or ChatGPT as a connector and you can ask things like: It pairs keyword search (for acronyms and case names, of which we have many) with semantic search. Every post is also labeled by topic, form, and court case, so you can pull a lawsuit’s (or multiple cases’) entire docket across Substack and LinkedIn in one query: Hail, Healthapiguyhydra This is also a bit of me eating my own cooking. I’ve spent the year arguing that headless healthcare is arriving and that developers want primitives over abstractions. Last week in Hail, Benihydra, I watched Salesforce plug its platform into Claude and bet that the records underneath outlive whatever interface sits on top: Salesforce must believe that the Hydra’s immortal head is the records, permissions, and business logic (in that they will survive whatever happens to the interface). It felt a bit hypocritical to keep my own archive behind a Substack search bar. The archive is the body. Substack is one head, and now whatever tool you might use is another. Will the EHRs follow my lead? Probably not imminently, but one can hope! Why Founding Members Only The MCP is available to Founding Member subscribers. A few reasons: It costs money and time to run. Hosting, the database, Clerk usage and AI compute for search and labeling are significant operational costs (that increase with usage). Substack gives me no way to automate access. There’s no API to check whether someone is a paid subscriber, so every user is manual operations for now. It’s a beta. We’ll need to improve things and parts will break. I’d rather they break for a small group of dedicated readers who will tell me about it. The Founding tier deserved a real benefit. Until now it was mostly a generous tip. Now it comes with something. If you’re already a Founding Member, reply to this email with the address you’d like provisioned. If you’re not and want in, upgrade here. Larger teams (such as companies) can get access too: group subscriptions at the Founding tier come with the group discount. The admin for the subscription can reply with the list of addresses to provision. Get 20% off a group subscription Pricing Founding membership is now a flat $200 a year, replacing the old suggested $150 that readers could adjust. Existing Founding Members will have access grandfathered in at their previous rate. Month in Review Articles Published Make Networks Dumb Again (Sep 11): AI is making old analog networks cheaper to use and flooding them with machine traffic in the process. A plea for agent-native rails with the intelligence at the endpoints, and for Washington to drag them to ubiquity. Interoperability, Unbuttoned (Sep 29): Interoperability is a series of workflows in a trenchcoat, and this post finally takes the trenchcoat off. A color-coded map shows which provider workflows went digital, which are fragmented, and which still run on fax. Video Content Antitrust’s System of Record Problem (Sep 3): The FTC’s investigation into Epic prompted a ninety-minute webinar, now posted with chapters and a smoothed transcript. We get into why market definition, missing B2B share data, and the SSNIP test leave antitrust poorly suited to systems of record, plus why information blocking may be doing more than any pending lawsuit. The Information Exchange: Cerner Milking Edition (Sep 18): This was so fucking fun. Ryan Tucker, Ryan Brickner, Brad Thorson, and I try an Around the Horn format, complete with points, penalties, and a mute button. We debate whether Oracle Health is dead, who would actually buy Cerner (IBM enters the chat), p(Doom), and why the front desk still hands you a clipboard. Regulatory Ask Not What Your Network Can Do (Sep 23): CDC’s RFI on public health data intermediaries lists use cases already served, unevenly, by eCR, lab reporting, IZ Gateway, and syndromic surveillance. The real opportunity sits in one question about AI: a network that can handle the next emergency without another interface project. Court cases Particle v. Epic: The Naughty Schoolteacher (Sep 4): After a summer-long vigil, the answer on Epic’s early summary judgment bid is two paragraphs and a remedial assignment. Particle advances to the next grade, and market definition gets another year of discovery. The Epic Discovery Files (Sep 8): Texas’s motions to compel arrive with a 251-page appendix of requests, objections, and meet-and-confer letters with Cravath. Inside: Epic using generative AI for document review, denied interoperability requests in scope, and Noerr-Pennington raised against lobbying discovery. Epic v. Health Gorilla: “Working as Designed” (Sep 9): Epic wants nothing to do with the data breach MDL, and explaining why puts fresh discovery on the public docket. The spiciest allegation: Health Gorilla told GuardDog to scrub its law firm business from its website instead of cutting off access. Veeva v. Epic: Legal Bypass Surgery (Sep 15): Veeva asks the Wisconsin Supreme Court to skip the Court of Appeals, while law professors and three policy groups line up as amici. Meanwhile, Epic’s lawyers apologize for another round of citation errors, including a quote that never existed. Texas v. Epic: Behind the Black Bars (Sep 17): The court portal served up Epic’s unredacted filings, revealing a $5 million document review budget and the AI workflow behind it. Also inside: the 200-plus company names Texas wants searched, and one very expensive Zoom invitation. OpenEvidence v. Doximity: Consequences Will Follow (Sep 25): OpenEvidence tells the court it will not comply with a discovery order, and its own lawyers at Quinn Emanuel say they won’t defend the choice. Add years of Slack reported unrecoverable, and Rule 37 sanctions come into view. Health Tech Keeps Choosing Violence (Sep 28): Doximity moves to end OpenEvidence’s case, Epic asks Texas to show its work, and a sleepy Audacious Inquiry patent fight sprouts antitrust and information blocking counterclaims. The main event is a long-sealed Cognizant v. Infosys ruling that hints where system of record antitrust claims can survive. EHRs One Verb for Oracle Health (Sep 14): Oracle’s earnings call quantifies every data center to the decimal point, while Oracle Health gets a single verb: “accelerate.” Panning the few healthcare mentions turns up an agentic care management system, a research-to-care ledger play, and the question of whether healthcare gets Larry’s patience. Epic’s Forretress Under Siege (Sep 30): Judy Faulkner tells a panel Epic paused hundreds of projects to harden its software and calls it a “shame,” while a spokesperson insists the roadmap hasn’t changed. Project Glasswing, a Pokémon-branded QAN sprint, and a trove of Jodel grievances reconcile the two Epics and preview the Jevons paradox coming for all software. Industry Analysis Scanning for a Network (Sep 1): Scan.com raises $220M to build the imaging network labs never got, speedrunning Zocdoc’s consumer-to-B2B pivot. Its wedge to network density may be the most American one available: personal injury litigation. The Front Desk Wants the Damn Whole Building (Sep 16): Hello Patient buys Converse Health, pushing its AI front desk into referrals, chart work, and prior auth. The copilot categories keep blurring, and your distribution partner is still your final boss. Cross-industry Comparisons A Different Patchwork Quilt (Sep 10): Healthcare loves to envy open banking, but the US version has no mandate, a toll booth at Chase, and data quality problems of its own. The grass isn’t greener; it’s another American patchwork quilt, and perhaps a worse one. Hail, Benihydra (Sep 21): Salesforce brings its platform into Claude, Slack, and its own agent, inviting the interfaces that might replace it. Cut off one head and more grow back, so long as the records underneath stay put. Living on A Trade Secret Prayer (Sep 22): Six credit unions are suing Fiserv, the Epic of core banking, by claiming their own member records as trade secrets. Banking has no Cures Act, so its lawyers reach for legal alchemy that healthcare has already tried. Other News None this month External Media Nabla Accelerate NYC: I kicked off fall conference season at Nabla’s Accelerate event in New York, where Delphine Groll opened by asking the room to picture the company it wants to become and the one it doesn’t. I liked her framework of bureaucracy, fear, and ego as the blockers. I also love vendor conferences/events in general - different vibe than industry biggies. Healthcare 101 with Nikhil Krishnan: I briefly guest lectured Out-Of-Pocket’s Healthcare 101 class. Appreciated Nikhil’s takeaways cover whether AI doctors can query HIEs, why healthcare’s data-liberation rules beat most industries’, and the hi-res graphic is in the comments. HCN: Epic Probed by the FTC: I joined the HCN guys to talk through the FTC’s investigation into Epic. Cedric’s new hairdo was an unexpected plot twist. The episode also covers MFN drug pricing, healthcare M&A and Eli Lilly’s acquisition streak. Fall Conferences: At eHealth Exchange’s Annual Meeting in Austin on Oct 27, I’ll moderate a panel on the tensions between AI, HIEs, and timely patient access with Jean Ross (Primary Record), Therasa Bell (Kno2), Byron Crowe (Doctronic), and Michael Marchant (Freenome). Here’s the rest of my schedule if you want to meet up: CommonWell (Redwood Shores, CA): Oct 13-14 Will be participating in a fun Jeopardy event Open@Epic (Madison, WI): Oct 20-23 Will be enjoying Verona, Willy Street, and other local adventures eHealth Exchange and Sequoia Project (Austin, TX): Oct 27-29 Yeehaw HLTH (Vegas): Nov 15-18 Groundhog Day, Venetian Edition RSNA (Chicago): Nov 30-Dec 2 See me at “Governing AI in Breast Imaging: What Health Systems Are Actually Doing” Digital Health Counsel 2026 AI Summit (Seattle): December 2-3 Will likely be speaking to a bunch of lawyers about information blocking Posts I Liked ChatGPT’s Epic integration: game changer or nothing burger?: Joshua Liu, MD offers five thoughts on OpenAI’s Epic launch, starting from the point that it rides the same open APIs available to anyone. He argues read-only access leaves ordering to Art and the ambient startups, and asks why HCA is piloting it alongside Commure. He’s sorta a must-follow at this point - consistently excellent, thought-provoking takes. Epic, Lilly, and the Discovery pass: Seth Chaney reads Epic’s first major Discovery deal (with Eli Lilly), as well as its revised developer terms on commercial displays, as the pipe finally opening between EHRs and pharma. Life sciences and health continue to collide. Scott Rossignol on EHR payer platforms and ePA fees: Scott argues the top ambulatory EHR vendors are turning the prior auth mandate into a per-member-per-year toll on payers, for an API whose operating cost has nothing to do with covered lives. His fix is two lines of regulatory text: put the CRD/DTR/PAS certification criteria in the Base EHR definition, and bring payer-facing ePA connectivity under § 170.404’s cost-based fee rules. It’s a good solution. Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
‘Politics can be brutal’: Sarah Hanson-Young speaks out about divisions within Greens
Greens sources say the relationship between new leader David Shoebridge and runner-up Mehreen Faruqi is seriously strained
Discover the latest must-read health stories
Top stories: World leaders discuss preparations for next pandemic; WHO calls for stronger ethics oversight of AI in health; Pennsylvania measles outbreak grows.
In 2021, Australian scientists sprayed wheat scent across farm plots to confuse hungry mice; the treatment reduced seed loss by up to 74% in a field experiment without poisoning the rodents
Australian scientists have tested a non-toxic way to protect wheat seeds from hungry mice by making it harder for the rodents to locate them. In an experiment carried out in 2021, instead of poisoning the mice or using bait, the researchers sprayed diluted wheat germ oil across farm plots to camouflage the smell of wheat seeds.
Fellowship-Trained Neuro-Oncologist Nishika Karbhari, MD, Joins Baptist Health Herbert Wertheim Cancer Institute
Fellowship-trained neuro-oncologist Nishika Karbhari, M.D., has joined Baptist Health Herbert Wertheim Cancer Institute. Prior to joining Baptist Health, Dr. Karbhari completed a neuro-oncology fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She previously completed an internal medicine internship and neurology residency at Dartmouth Health in Lebanon, NH, serving as academic chief resident during her final year. […]
Advances in Oncology Treatment Are Changing the Way Cancer Is Detected and Treated at Broward Health
Dr. Sajive Aleyas performing the first case with the Ion Endoluminal System. Cancer care is evolving as researchers and physicians gain a deeper understanding of how cancer develops, progresses and responds to treatment. Advances in molecular testing, imaging, minimally invasive procedures and targeted therapies are giving physicians more information to guide decisions and patients access […]
Junney Baeza Dager, MD, Joins Baptist Health Miami Neuroscience Institute as a Nonsurgical Spine Care Physician
Junney Baeza Dager, M.D., has joined Baptist Health Miami Neuroscience Institute at Baptist Health Brain & Spine Care as a nonsurgical spine care physician. Dr. Baeza Dager earned her medical degree from the University of Cartagena School of Medicine in Colombia. After completing a transitional-year internship at St. Vincent of Paul University Hospital in Medellin, […]
Kriti Ahuja, MD, Joins Baptist Health Wertheim Cancer Institute as a Breast Medical Oncologist
Baptist Health Wertheim Cancer Institute is pleased to welcome Kriti Ahuja, M.D., a board-certified medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer. Dr. Ahuja earned her medical degree from Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi, India. She completed an internal medicine residency at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County in Chicago before pursuing a […]
History a factor in Nebraska softball’s next games against Omaha
Nebraska softball has won its first two games of their season against Kansas and is set to play against UNO for the first time since April. The Huskers face Omaha on Sunday, Oct. 4, at Bowlin Stadium.
Boyle Heights community calls for more public health testing post-Lineage Fire
The Boyle Heights community gathered to discuss health concerns following the aftermath of the Lineage Fire. Keenan Willard reports for the NBC4 News at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026.
GFCB to invite John Taft for business lecture series
The Gordon Ford College of Business will welcome a vice chairman for financial services firm Baird to the Experiencing Business Speaker Series. John Taft will share career insights on Thursday at 3:45 p.m. in Chandler Hall’s Houchens Industries Auditorium, Room 1001. Taft’s 40 years of experience in the finance industry include serving as CEO for...
North Huskies advance to sectional semifinals
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) – The North Huskies girls flag football team is moving on to the semifinals after beating Reitz 14-6. The Huskies will take on Castle at the Reitz Bowl, 10 a.m. Saturday kickoff.
Meeks Madness returns to UE
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) – UE basketball’s annual Meeks Madness event is back on campus Saturday, October 3rd at 6 p.m.
Ad Council Launches New Maternal Mental Health Campaign As 3 In 4 Conditions Go Untreated
/PRNewswire/ -- Today, The Secret to Motherhood, a maternal mental health effort from the Ad Council's "Love, Your Mind" campaign, supported by the Arthur M....
Viewpoint: Kennedy’s ‘bad science’: MAGA embrace bolsters HHS secretary’s influence and popularity
Pennsylvania has recorded four measles deaths this year — the state’s first in 35 years — yet the federal government’s official measles death count still
Hasan Piker’s politics risks setting Arab and Muslim Americans back
The self-described socialist is aggravating the Arab-American struggle for political relevance
An Agricultural “Island” in the Saskatchewan River Delta
Surrounded by wetlands, Manitoba's northernmost farmland near The Pas turns from green to brown over the 2026 growing season.