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John Turturro on Hollywood, Oscars and getting better with age

Stealing the spotlight in his latest movie, ‘The Only Living Pickpocket in New York.’ the quintessential indie actor reflects on a career spent following his instincts.

Oct 21 • 6:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • latimes.com

From Trauma to Hope: Supporting Mental Health in Ukraine

As the war in Ukraine continues, access to mental health care remains critical for people living with the psychological effects of the conflict, including the healthcare workers serving affected co…

Oct 21 • 6:00 AM EDT • Health • directrelief.org

Student Health Center inaccessible in fall 2026

By Cal Sutton Rider students were not able to receive on-campus medical attention for the beginning of the fall 2026 semester. Concerns grew as the semester proceeded and students were referred to outside resources, which are exceedingly difficult for students without personal transportation to access. Inconsistencies were found in the Student Health Center’s responses to… Continue Reading Student Health Center inaccessible in fall 2026

Oct 21 • 5:05 AM EDT • Health • theridernews.com

White House S&T Strategy Reframes National Security Tech

Brooks Consulting's Chuck Brooks, a GovCon Expert, examines the White House’s 2026 National Security Science & Technology Strategy.

Oct 21 • 4:56 AM EDT • Science • govconwire.com

Replication is necessary even if scientists do everything right

“Committing a Type 1 error does not reflect poorly on the quality of the science done,” writes Mark Louie F. Ramos

Oct 21 • 4:30 AM EDT • Science • statnews.com

Student-led composting business brings sustainability efforts to MSU

Starting a business is not easy. Coming up with a good idea is difficult, and securing funding and resources for it once you have it can be even harder. For Tanner Marlow, one of his startup business struggles came after those two steps. He secured ample space and the resources he needed from the university...

Oct 21 • 1:00 AM EDT • Business • reflector-online.com

Moment of Science: New electric current test measures coffee quality without tasting

Getting a clue about the perfect brew! Here's how new research could make sure your morning pick-me-up is "not your average Joe". ☕

Oct 20 • 8:58 PM EDT • Science • 13abc.com

Powder mailed to Arizona officials reflects surge in political threats

Suspicious letters containing white powder have targeted Arizona lawmakers and the state’s elections chief, as experts warn that threats and intimidation against public officials are rising.

Oct 20 • 8:12 PM EDT • Politics • cronkitenews.azpbs.org

Hospitals: Federal changes will worsen Minnesota healthcare crisis

Minnesota hospitals had a record high of over 2 million emergency department visits in 2024. That year, more than a quarter of hospitals lost money on operations. The Minnesota Hospital Association painted a bleak picture of Minnesota healthcare Tuesday in a new report titled “A Statewide Crisis of Care.” The hospitals are gearing up for […]

Oct 20 • 8:07 PM EDT • Health • minnesotareformer.com

SpaceX’s Musk Lauds Its Soaring Cloud Business and Possible Tesla Merger

SpaceX put on a bit of a show for shareholders today—and I’m not referring to the sizzle reel of rocket and space videos it showed on its earnings call. No, the big attention grabber was the update from CEO Elon Musk on the progress of SpaceX’s contemplated merger with Tesla and just how ...

Oct 20 • 8:01 PM EDT • Business • theinformation.com

Natasha Lyonne sparks controversy with 'prefer Trump' social media post

Natasha Lyonne's recent social media activity has upset some fans, who are accusing her of supporting President Donald Trump.

Oct 20 • 7:35 PM EDT • Entertainment • centraloregondaily.com

AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC) Shares Climbed, What Is Driving Attention Now?

AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC) reported a strong Q2 earnings surprise, with revenue up 14.2% year on year and the stock climbing 48.7% since the report. AMC Entertainment Holdings has leaned into this momentum, with a 30-day share price return of 14.07% and a 90-day move of 36.89%, supported by the recent debt refinancing and the launch of its AMC Movie Trivia Game Show mobile app. The year-to-date share price return of 91.30% contrasts sharply with a 3-year total shareholder return that...

Oct 20 • 7:14 PM EDT • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com

Alyssa Farah Griffin shades Meghan McCain with jab at latter’s iconic Joy Behar fight

‘The View’ cohost Alyssa Farah Griffin and producer Brian Teta shaded Meghan McCain in a reference to the latter’s iconic on-air clash with Joy Behar: ‘May have to ask her on air if she missed me.’

Oct 20 • 5:36 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com

Augusta gets $305K grant for firefighter mental health, cancer screening

The Augusta Fire Department has secured more than $305,000 to expand mental health support and launch advanced cancer screening for its firefighters.

Oct 20 • 5:35 PM EDT • Health • wrdw.com

Hickory Tavern Announces New Daily Specials and Refreshed Entertainment Calendar

With football season in full swing, Hickory Tavern, the modern American tavern and neighborhood gathering spot with 16 locations across North and South Carolina, has introduced new daily food and drin...

Oct 20 • 5:14 PM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com

AFL Releases FY2025 Corporate Responsibility Report

AFL, the Duncan, South Carolina-headquartered manufacturer of fiber optic cable, equipment, accessories, and related services, released its FY2025 Corporate Responsibility Report. As a reflection of AFL’s continued commitment to creating long-term...

Oct 20 • 4:29 PM EDT • Business • greenvillebusinessmag.com

NASA Study Refines Projections for Thwaites Glacier

Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier could contribute more to sea level rise by the end of the century than some previous estimates. In some model simulations, the glacier’s contribution was as much as twice current projections.

Oct 20 • 4:09 PM EDT • Science • science.nasa.gov

Big software firm is moving headquarters from Chicago to downtown New Orleans. Here's why.

"Talented people shouldn’t have to leave Louisiana to build careers at the forefront of that transformation.”

Oct 20 • 3:05 PM EDT • Business • nola.com

If Democrats Win Congress, Could the G.O.P. Refuse to Seat Them?

A changing of the congressional guard in January could leave room for meddling, though most legal scholars doubt it would happen.

Oct 20 • 2:54 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

Robert F Kennedy's granddaughter dies at 42 after years of health struggles

Kyle Kennedy, granddaughter of Bobby and Ethel Kennedy, was a Georgetown University graduate and Teach for America alumna who championed for education reform.

Oct 20 • 2:17 PM EDT • Health • foxnews.com

No, I’m not a Human coming to PS5, Xbox Series, and Switch in 2027

Publisher CRITICAL REFLEX and developer Trioskaz will release No, I’m not a Human, an anxiety horror thriller about paranoia in the End of Times, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Switch, and P…

Oct 20 • 2:02 PM EDT • Technology • gematsu.com

Sundar Pichai: Google’s Frontier Imperative, Compute Scarcity Dilemmas, Future AI Products and Businesses

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai has little patience for doubts about Google’s willingness or capacity to compete at the frontier of AI. His company’s latest Gemini 4 Argon model — long-promised and recently delivered — beats OpenAI and Anthropic’s latest public models on coding, math, science, and knowledge-work benchmarks and has placed Google’s AI back among the world’s best. Amid chatter that Google was fine with good-enough lightweight ‘Flash’ models, Pichai pushed back hard against any suggestion that company is limiting its research ambitions. “We won’t do it any other way,” he told me in a Big Technology Podcast interview recorded this week at Google’s Mountain View headquarters. Pursuing cutting-edge research is costly for Google, requiring compute and chips that otherwise could be sold at a high markup by its cloud business. But Pichai said allocating resources to frontier AI development is “ground zero” for Google. “Our cloud business is at any given moment in time forgoing short-term revenues because we are making compute trade-offs to support frontier AI development,” Pichai told me. In our conversation, we discussed Argon (which Pichai says processed three times as many tokens as Gemini 3 in the 72 hours after launch), AI’s role in developing better models, the AI interface of the future, competition with OpenAI, Google’s partnerships with Anthropic and Apple, data centers in space, and the nature of his optimism. You can read the full conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity, below, or listen to it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice. Alex Kantrowitz: Google is back at the frontier with Gemini 4 Argon, which beats OpenAI’s and Anthropic’s public models on benchmarks spanning coding, math, science, and knowledge work. The conventional wisdom was that Google had given up on the frontier to focus on fast, good-enough models for its products. That was wrong? Sundar Pichai: Very wrong. Look, we are so committed to being at the frontier. It’s in our DNA. We won’t do it any other way. We’ve been thinking about the AI frontier for well over a decade now. The frontier is very dynamic. It’s very competitive. It’s very exciting. I couldn’t be more pleased with how Argon has come together. We took our time with it. We made sure we tested it safely and deployed it carefully. We took a bit longer than our other models, given its capabilities. Across the board, be it for agentic work, knowledge work, coding, creative tasks, Argon is one of the really good frontier models. The first 72 hours since we launched, it’s almost up to 25 trillion tokens used, which is about three times what Gemini 3.0 had in the first 72 hours. And we are capacity constrained as we are serving it. Excited, but there are always areas….. You know, the frontier is very dynamic, and you have to keep evolving the models. There are areas which we can see we need to improve as well. We’ll be at work on all of that as well. Which areas? On any given model, Argon would be across the board better at everything if you just look even two months back. But the space is so evolving. Even on coding, for example, there are pockets where we know we need to do better, and there’s clear feedback. We’ll make it better. The argument for standard models is that they’re already good enough to build great products, with the frontier valuable only for certain tasks. Meta built Muse with good models rather than the best, and Google could put standard models into Maps, Gmail, and Search. Why isn’t that sufficient? It’s definitely not how I have thought about it at all. We are deeply committed to driving the state of the art and actually pushing where this technology can go, all the way from transformers. That’s a journey we’ve been on. You will see us continue to do that. When you’re at the frontier, you get an earlier look into the emerging capabilities, earlier than others, which helps you better prepare for the future. We are fortunate to have a wide set of opportunities across consumer and enterprise. Some of our cloud customers, for sure, want the model at the frontier. The frontier models will be better at developing the next set of models in an era of recursive self-improvement. I would argue it matters there. Internally, we have definitely seen a steep point of inflection by deploying Argon to our developers. It definitely tackles problems which our previous models could not do. Being at the frontier puts you at the innovation frontier and helps you drive that as well. There is room for models of all sizes and capabilities. That’s why we did Flash, Flash-Lite, etc. I agree with you that you can develop very good product experiences with not necessarily the most frontier model, because they tend to be slower and more expensive too. But we care about the Pareto frontier, and we’re committed to doing all of that. You said developing frontier models gives you a look at what’s coming. What do you see on the horizon? What makes this moment so exciting is you build something which you think is a culmination of months of work, and you put it out. You already see clear headroom ahead. We’ve all been working on these agentic, long-horizon capabilities, but clearly the frontier is going to have multiple of these agents working together to do things. That’s an example of an exciting paradigm underway. It’s also clear to me that users, both in consumer and enterprise, will have access to some multi-agent framework for them, working all the time doing things. It feels like a moment of infinite possibilities. Sergey Brin said one of Argon’s core innovations was relying more on the model to help develop the model. Yet incidents involving OpenAI’s bots breaking containment and Google’s bots accessing a site they shouldn’t have suggest these systems still aren’t perfectly aligned. Isn’t there reasonable cause for concern about accelerating toward recursive self-improvement? There are three parts to your question. Let’s first talk about RSI itself. You’re right, Sergey mentioned RSI being a critical contributor as we are developing Argon. But to be very clear, today, in a continuum, we are pretty far from the end state of RSI or something like that. The right way to describe it is you have RSI loops along with AI researchers in various aspects of model development. You almost have agents helping AI researchers in some automated way work together to build these models. It’s good to at least understand where we are today, and it’s super exciting. I expect that continuum to keep making progress as we go into next year. The second question is around safety. Security comes from defense in depth. You’re talking about alignment, obviously. We all are doing a lot of work to make sure the models are as aligned as possible. But it’s an active area of research, and there are clear gaps. That’s not the only thing we rely on. You have the work you do on alignment, but beyond that, we put a lot of effort into real-time monitoring as these models are working. Making sure you have good telemetry into what’s happening so that you can intervene in real time if you see unexpected behaviors. How you do that, the architecture with which you do that, how you make sure it’s all sandboxed and isolated in a way that it can continue doing its job during real-time monitoring — these are all areas of investment. Obviously, when we deploy these models, giving customers, enterprises, control, both with real-time monitoring, but their ability to decide where they deploy, what type of data which models ever have access to, etc. All that work is very, very important, and we are doing a lot of that. As an industry, we need to constantly up our game and take the time to do all this stuff, including dedicating the compute required to make sure you can safely deploy these models. The third part is: Is it all enough? This is why there are a lot of conversations in the industry, and I think it’s reasonable to be worried. The right way to approach something you worry about is early on thinking about what more we can do. As an industry, you’re definitely seeing increased levels of work on alignment, testing for safety, etc., as we deploy these models. The next step would be developing better standards so there are cross-industry standards of how we do these things, including the ability to evaluate using independent evaluators. If you look at areas like financial controls, we have accounting standards, we have independent auditors. Those are all the next natural steps for us as an industry to work toward, and regulation will end up playing a role as we go through all of that as well. Google pursues both language models and world models, while some other AI companies like OpenAI have focused more heavily on LLMs as the path to AGI. Why is world-model research important to you? As humans, you obviously perceive the world around you, and you’re taking all those inputs. Making sure these models are able to understand the laws of physics, simulate the world in high fidelity. All that, I think, are key enabling blocks for intelligence. We are working across all possible applications of this. Take an area like robotics. It’s not an accident: If you look at embodied reasoning benchmarks, Argon is state of the art. That all comes from our experience building world models. Inherently, I would expect there will be architectures which will converge all of this in the future. But for us, we view this as, today, this jagged frontier that is intelligence. We want to be at the frontier of all the possible approaches, and that will help us both drive better research, better insights, and develop a much better AGI model, is how we think about it. Some people argue Google should focus on selling its computing resources rather than using them for AI research. Cloud wants to sell compute at a high markup, while researchers need a very big computer to build the best models. How do you balance those demands? Ground zero for us is making sure we are investing in the compute that’s needed to be at the AI frontier. In 2015, I set the company to be AI-first. AI is that key horizontal ingredient across everything we do, all the way from Search to Cloud to Waymo. That is ground zero for us, making sure both for research and developing the models that we have enough compute needed. Beyond that, we have these independent businesses which each have their own long-range plans. They’re using those long-range plans to project forward, and we plan for compute for all of them. The cloud team, they have a business and they have a projection and they have demand signals. They have committed contracts. With that help, we can plan on a long-term compute trajectory for them. We’re fortunate to have this wide set of opportunities. There’s no company in the world which isn’t making trade-offs at any given moment in time. But the first principles we operate on is making sure we have enough compute to invest in the frontier, and that’s non-negotiable, and everything else works on top. Remember, we are building our own compute, our own data centers. There are long lead times. The compute we have today is a function of decisions I made in 2024. Even if you think back to a year from today, last year the agentic coding takeoff hadn’t happened. Today, obviously, when you sit and look at anything, everyone is short—not just us, other companies—and everyone wishes you had two times what you had planned for. That comes with the territory. At any given moment in time, we are planning for what we would need two to three years out in the future. You’re going to find some decisions you make may look suboptimal two years out, depending on where the state of the art is. I don’t spend too much time thinking about it. The way I think about compute allocation is making sure Google DeepMind, both for research and frontier model development, is cutting edge in terms of compute access. After that, we plan for all our businesses. It’s great we can provide our compute to other people too, like we have done. It allows us to scale that up, get real tests for it in the widest application set possible, test it in the real world, and make sure we are at the cutting edge of technology at every layer of our AI stack as well. Ben Horowitz relayed on a podcast that Andy Jassy had said compute was sold out until 2028. Are you seeing the same thing? If today a customer is coming out and asking us for compute in ’27, that is incredibly difficult to do. Even last year we went out and leased some short-term compute to accommodate some customers and help them out. But yes, we are all dealing with similar timelines. Every major technology shift seems to involve overbuilding, from railroads to fiber. Do you think that’s happening here? It depends on the time frames you’re looking at. This level of build, if I take a long enough time frame, it makes complete sense to me. We are at early stages of the most consequential technology ever, and this is not like fiber. It’s not dark. We are using it. We are capacity constrained on a daily basis. The applications, the underlying technology is improving rapidly. But running a company, the way I work through the moment is you look at your demand signals. You look at your committed revenue opportunities that you’re getting in the form of contracts. You balance that with the underlying technical capability, or internally you balance how we are using it internally, the model trajectories. Based on all that, you take a disciplined approach—a confident, aggressive, but disciplined approach—to plan out compute. But when you talk about the broader economy as a whole, you’re having people operate with various levels of risk. I focus on what I can control as a company and plan through it. If your question is, can there be an overbuild? Yes, because you can have some constrained components. Remember, what matters is a set of everything you need to build out that compute. Memory, electricity, electricians…. Land. Like 2,000 components or more. You could get constrained at some point. There could be things which cause bottlenecks, and then you could have overbuilds. There could be external shocks to the economy. There are macro risks. All that is possible at any given time. But am I confident that the compute we are planning for, we will have uses for it given enough time? Absolutely, yes. I was in the room when you said AI would be as profound as fire and electricity. If you believe that, shouldn’t you give researchers the biggest possible computer, even at the expense of today’s cloud profits? We’re all doing some form of that. Our cloud business is at any given moment in time forgoing short-term revenues because we are making compute trade-offs to support frontier AI development. What you’re seeing is true already. But you want to be thoughtful. Even our AI researchers have some constraints, which are also good. That’s what inspires creativity. That’s what helps you come up with a more efficient algorithmic breakthrough, maybe to use less memory. What we are committed to is to invest what’s needed to stay at the frontier. OpenAI President Greg Brockman told me a few months ago that the ideal AI product might have no interface at all—just as natural as conversation. What do you think the interface looks like in the age of AI? Computing historically has been humans adapting to computing. With AI, it’ll be the other way around. The technology will adapt seamlessly to how humans live and go about their day-to-day life. You want to be able to speak to that AI when you want to. It has context. It can be persistently running somewhere, give you continuity. You’re not dealing with a lot of complexity. It’s natural. All that makes sense to me. That doesn’t mean it won’t have any interface, however. Nowadays, even on my phone, Gemini voice models are so good. I can just press the microphone button. I can just ramble. That’s why we call it Rambler. I can ramble. It intelligently corrects with my personal context. Even my friends’ names, weird names, it gets it right, even if it first guesses it wrong. It’s amazing. I’m not going in, backspacing, editing once I finish saying it. It’s remarkable how good it’s gotten. But there are going to be moments you will need an interface. You may want to entertain yourself. You may want to watch a video. You may ask your AI to create something, and you want to watch it, consume it. The way I think about it is, you want it to be as seamless and as natural as possible, and that you are not doing the hard work adapting to whatever the interface is. The technology is adapting to how you’re working at any given moment in time. When I asked Sam Altman about competition from Google, he argued that OpenAI was building AI-native products and implied Google was bolting AI onto existing ones. Do you accept that framing, and can a “bolt-on” compete with an AI-native product? First of all, it’s a very dynamic moment. We are all pushing each other. OpenAI has pushed us as a company too. This is not just we are doing something to them. Far from it. Yes, Google went into its own version of a code red too. In the AI moment, all of us have to respond with varying levels of urgency at any given moment in time. We are constantly building new products as well. Gemini was built from the ground up as a product—the Gemini app I’m talking about. Or tomorrow, as all of us are adapting to agents, are you bolting agents onto ChatGPT, or are they building it natively? How would you think about that? You can always put these questions back. I don’t think of it that way. I think of it as you want to build world-class product experiences that are AI-native and they are winning. Some of it is adapting products, some of it is rethinking new experiences. They will all be part of how you approach this moment. How do you expect to make money from these AI interfaces? If an agent recommends a product and I buy it, should it take a cut of the sale, even if that’s disclosed? I’m going to put enterprise aside. Consumers are going to increasingly value this technology. Take software developers today. Developers are willing to pay for these coding models because it really helps make them more productive. Nobody would want to code the way they were coding three years ago, or even the same time last year. When you’re delivering value, there’s value to be had. I’ve never seen examples where consumer products really scale to billions of users, where people are using it intensely, and haven’t had monetization to go along with it. If you’re providing value to people, there is inherent value to be had. The nature of it may change. You’re asking a scenario in which agents are doing stuff for you. At the end of the day, you will have commercial needs. The agents need to fulfill those commercial needs. The providers on the other side are going to see value in that. There’s going to be some mechanism by which it gets fleshed out. That’s what an efficient system does. But what matters is that you’re building those world-class consumer experiences. I promised myself one product feature request: Can you make Gemini-powered search in Gmail as good as searching Gmail through ChatGPT? What’s going on here? One of the exciting things we announced recently is the unified Gemini agent for enterprise, and we’re bringing that to consumers. These are persistent agents which run 24/7 in the cloud. We’re spinning up a micro VM effectively for every query, and from the runtime, the harness, the model—it’s all a headless service. It’ll work everywhere, and it has your context with you. You can address this agent whether you’re in Workspace, in Search, in Gemini. Agents are going to drive this unification from a customer experience, which people are looking for. When you have a broad product portfolio and you’re moving forward fast, there are always areas where you’re moving forward faster than some other areas. That’s valid feedback. But we are putting a lot of time and effort into making sure, as we build out our agentic experience, that unification and that capability works well across all these services. People have asked where Google’s equivalent of Muse or Dots is. Do you anticipate creating a new product to compete with them? Our goal with Gemini is to be a personal, proactive, and powerful assistant. That’s what we are working toward. You saw us describe the early versions of it at Google I/O this year with Spark. Effectively, already, if you open the Gemini app as a Pro or an Ultra user, you see Chat and Task, and they start giving you that agentic experience. With Argon now, that capability is dramatically accelerated. What we announced recently in our enterprise event, we are bringing that to consumers as well. Soon in Gemini, you will be able to ask something, and it’s a continuum. You don’t need to think about whether you’re asking a chat or an agentic task. It’ll just automatically do the right thing, and it can work persistently in the background securely and get things done for you. Already, empirically, when I look at what’s coming into Gemini in our app, last year you would have tagged them and most of them would have been chats. But a steadily growing percentage is already agentic tasks in Gemini. Yes, we are going to bring personal agents to our consumers. It’ll work in the Gemini app. It’ll work in Google Search. It’ll work in Gmail. You can address it, call it, etc. We want to make sure we’re getting it right. It’ll be powered by Argon, and we are very excited to bring it to our users. Google has invested and committed tens of billions of dollars to Anthropic. What do you see in Dario Amodei that makes you want such a deep investment and partnership? Very early on, when we looked at the founding team of Anthropic, it was very clear to us this was a world-class team which was involved in some of the earliest GPT models. We were quickly able to assess that they would be at the frontier. We’ve always tried to identify and partner with companies which would be at the cutting edge of technology. We’ve done that with SpaceX. We’ve done that with Anthropic. That’s what we saw, and we had a chance to partner. Is your partnership with Apple to license Gemini for Siri expanding, contracting, or standing still? For both us and Apple, that partnership was about translating the capabilities of AI into better experiences for users. I thought Apple has done a phenomenal job of incorporating—they customize these models and build it into Siri—and it’s been great to see the reception. We are committed to doing more. You’re going to do more with them? There’s nothing specific to comment, but it’s a partnership. It’s working well. What have you learned so far about the feasibility of data centers in space? It’s a very exciting project. Projects like this remind me—I still recall that moment in the desert for the DARPA Grand Challenge, watching the Stanley car compete in it, which ended up being the basis for Waymo. With all these technologies, you’re at a moment in time where it looks a bit like sci-fi, but 10 to 20 years down the line, it’s actually working in a meaningful way. I feel the same in space. We’ve always believed in betting big on these technologies. Quantum has been a great example of it. We’re probably 10 years into the journey. Waymo, we are almost 20 years into the journey. Space, we are two to three years into the journey. It’s clear to me that it’s an approach which will make a lot of sense in the future. Being in sub-synchronous orbits with 24/7 access to the most abundant form of energy we have access to will make a lot of sense for this exponential increase in compute that we are going to need. Having said that, this is a challenging project. The team has disciplined milestones. It was a super exciting milestone to send the TPUs up to space. Sometime, as we are speaking, we are expecting a “hello world” moment from them. I look forward to seeing that happen, and we’ll continue investing here too. You previously said 25% of the code written within Google was written by AI. What’s the number today? That number in our world today is meaningless in the sense that every part of what we now touch is influenced by AI deeply. What we are tracking with Argon, for example, it’s been a point of inflection. People are using Argon to really go tackle complex projects, including projects which affect millions of lines of code. In the four weeks since we have launched Argon, we have seen a 30% increase in CLs, and more importantly, almost a similar increase—a one-third decrease in rollbacks. People are writing code more productively and better code with it. We are tracking it with newer metrics now. How are you dealing with opposition to data centers? If you can’t build in the U.S. the way you want to, where else do you go? We’re very committed to building our data centers very responsibly. When I look at our largest data centers in some of the communities where we have been the longest, I visit them, I talk to people. There are people who come and tell us their kids have gone to college because of our investments in these communities, and we’ve grown in those communities. To me, this is about doing it right. Engaging with the communities early, doing it transparently. We are committed to making sure we are bringing incremental power, and we cover 100% of the cost of our power needs for these projects. It’s understanding the impact on neighborhoods and making sure you’re working thoroughly to address them. Done rightly, you can continue making progress. But we are constantly taking feedback into account. I do worry not everyone operates the same way. People have been surprised by data centers showing up in their backyard. Those are all important. As an industry, we should continue to do better. But part of the reason, in a 20-year time frame, we are thinking about things like data centers in space is making sure we are able to put these data centers where maybe the trade-offs will be different. What unproven area of AI is Google working hardest to crack? Is it continual learning—getting models to keep updating after release—or something else? There are multiple parallel paths. You saw with Argon we have a million output tokens. With our Gemini models early on, we had a one-million context window on the input side. These are all examples of breakthroughs we are constantly working on. How do you think about synthetic data? How do you think about continual learning? How do you think about more efficient architectures? We do dedicate a meaningful percentage of our compute to these research bets too. It always goes hand in hand, including our world models. Those are all bets we are placing. Sometimes, as part of these bets, there are ideas that emerge which just make their way into the mainline models. Maybe we don’t fully talk about it, but we have multiple steps in these areas. Working in technology requires optimism that building something will improve the world, but those bets can leave real consequences when they fail. I recently returned to a town in El Salvador where enthusiasm for Bitcoin had given way to unfinished construction and something resembling a ghost town. How do you maintain the optimism you spoke about in your Stanford commencement address while accounting for those risks? I genuinely have a deep conviction that improving technology and improving access to technology makes people’s lives better. It’s been my personal experience in my life, out of which comes that deep conviction, optimism. But with that, I’ve always felt humanity’s journey is always about working hard to harness that technology to make it work well for society. The optimism is not an optimism that you just build whatever you want, whenever. You work hard to make sure you’re building technology in the service of humanity, to make the human condition better. That’s got to be the defining goal as we are approaching it. With that framework, I’m very, very optimistic. We are in very early stages of the kind of progress that we are going to see on many areas. We’re all talking about areas like healthcare. A lot of the progress is ahead. The ability to make things in a fundamentally cheaper way on many things where things have been getting expensive for a long, long time, discovering new materials, etc., which really bend the curve—it’s tough to step today and understand the impact of all that, but they’re going to be very profound. I’m very optimistic, but we have to be rightfully concerned about all the ways this technology can go wrong. Sundar, I know you don’t do many of these. Thank you. Thanks, Alex. Appreciate it.

Oct 20 • 1:47 PM EDT • Technology • bigtechnology.com

Ubisoft Entertainment: Watch Out For The Convertible

Sell case for Ubisoft (UBSFY): persistent losses, weak title momentum, and debt refinancing risk.

Oct 20 • 12:18 PM EDT • Entertainment • seekingalpha.com

NFL Mexico and CONADE Join Miami Dolphins Academy to Create Year-Round Flag Football and Education Programming Across the Country

The initiative, implemented through the Global Markets Program (GMP), reflects the commitment of the Miami Dolphins and their local partners in Mexico to promoting sports and bringing physical education to communities across the country.

Oct 20 • 10:42 AM EDT • Sports • miamidolphins.com

Op-Ed | Nourishing the World: Expanding Humanity’s Ambition for Food, Health, and the Planet

Nourishing the world is a universal ambition, and its expression must reflect the diversity of people and places.

Oct 20 • 9:56 AM EDT • Health • foodtank.com

Hampton Beach businesses want free trash pickup; residents say it’s time to pay

Should businesses pay for trash collection at Hampton Beach? A packed hearing showed a division between residents and business owners.

Oct 20 • 9:13 AM EDT • Business • seacoastonline.com

Life Science Connect Acquires BrevisRefero to Expand Biopharma Outsourcing Technology Capabilities

Life Science Connect (LSC) has acquired Toronto-based BrevisRefero Corporation, a biopharmaceutical consulting firm and developer of the RFP>Navigator® platform, expanding... Read More

Oct 20 • 8:49 AM EDT • Science • citybiz.co

Garmin launches Edge 1060 bike computer with voice control, alongside new Edge Explore computers and Tacx Nēra smart trainer

New Edge 1060 heads up trio of new computers and trainer refresh from Garmin

Oct 20 • 8:03 AM EDT • Technology • bikeradar.com

Trump’s attacks on California elections endanger democracy, repeating a pattern

Republicans questioned elections before reforms made redistricting nonpartisan. Now they accuse California of letting noncitizens vote.

Oct 20 • 8:00 AM EDT • Politics • calmatters.org

Australian Visitor Grateful to Holy Cross Health for Saving Her Life During Fort Lauderdale Visit - Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report

Nearly 10 months after receiving emergency treatment at Holy Cross Health for a ruptured brain aneurysm, Australian resident Sarah Frost is reflecting on her recovery and the care that helped […]

Oct 20 • 7:27 AM EDT • Health • southfloridahospitalnews.com

How Much Of Cisco Stock's Rise Did The Business Earn?

Cisco Systems (CSCO) supplies businesses and the hyperscalers building AI infrastructure with networking and security products, along with services. The company's stock climbed 92% between late July 2021 and mid-October 2026, before dividends. A rally of that magnitude makes it natural to credit a growing business. So take a guess: how much of that rise came from Cisco selling more.

Oct 20 • 7:02 AM EDT • Business • finance.yahoo.com

A note to readers: Science, accountability and elections

Dear readers, As early voting begins, I wanted to share some news — and why it connects to the decisions we make at the ballot box. I’ve been selected for the inaugural cohort of the South Atlantic Climate Journalism Hub mentorship program, hosted by Covering Climate Now. I’m excited to join this group, learn from scientists and fellow journalists, and expand my science reporting. Science directly ties to governance. Local officials make decisions about where development goes, how infrastructure is maintained, what emergency preparations receive funding, and how communities rebuild after disasters. Understanding the evidence behind those decisions helps us evaluate whether our government is serving us well. Here in western North Carolina, those connections are all around us, in Lake Lure and beyond. Flood maps inform decisions about property and development. Engineering assessments help identify risks at dams and bridges. Rainfall forecasts guide emergency preparations. Geological information helps explain landslide hazards. Water testing gives communities information they need to assess conditions. Meteorologists’ knowledge and public perception of weather events shape public safety. Each involves scientific or technical knowledge. Each also raises questions about public responsibility: What did officials know? How did they use that information? What did they tell the public? What did taxpayers receive for their money? A study can identify a problem. Elected officials still have to decide what to do about it, how to pay for it, and how to explain their choices. Reporting should examine both the evidence and the response. That is where I want to strengthen my work. My reporting on Helene recovery, infrastructure, flooding, public safety, and public spending has repeatedly brought me to questions that require scientific expertise alongside public records. This mentorship may help me better understand the research, ask more precise questions, and explain the answers clearly. I also bring the perspective of someone living with these concerns. I live downstream of Lake Lure Dam, and landslides affected my property during Helene. Those experiences bring urgency to my questions. Careful reporting helps establish the answers. Readers deserve to know what the evidence shows, where uncertainty remains, and whether officials accurately describe the information guiding their decisions. You also deserve scrutiny of proposed solutions: what they cost, what they are expected to accomplish, and what risks remain. Access to that information matters. As a mostly deaf journalist who relies on written communication, I will continue pressing for written public warnings, records, and explanations that people can read and use in real time. As you consider the candidates seeking your vote, consider how they approach evidence, preparedness, and transparency. Do they support local journalism, even when it’s not parroting a press release? Do they explain weather events clearly in plain English and explain their decisions after them? Make supporting records available? Acknowledge uncertainty? Follow through when a report identifies a risk? Those are practical questions about governing. Thank you for supporting Cops & Congress and the work that makes these questions part of the public conversation. I’m grateful to David Dickson and the CC Now team for this opportunity, and I look forward to bringing what I learn back to you. Annie DanceEditor & Publisher, Cops & Congress — Learn more about this newsletter, ethics policy, how you can help shape this work, and support it. Follow on X and Facebook. Send constructive criticism, fan mail, and tips with public documents for future stories: CopsandCongress@gmail.com ICYMI: View the Cops & Congress archive — Annie Dance is the publisher of Cops & Congress, a newsletter that analyzes what happens when crime, courts, disaster, democracy, and small-town policies collide. Views expressed here are covered by the First Amendment. Dance has a Bachelor of Arts from Manhattan University in Communication with a focus in Journalism and Government. She has been a journalist for over 20 years. Share Upgrade now or give a gift subscription

Oct 20 • 6:56 AM EDT • Science • anniedance.substack.com

Pfizer makes ‘business decision’ to end phase 2 trial of autoimmune drug as program’s future uncertain

Pfizer has called time on a phase 2 trial of its CXCR5 antibody in an autoimmune blood disorder, with the company tight-lipped on whether this marks the end of the road for the asset. The Big Pharma had been evaluating the therapy, dubbed PF-06835375, in a phase 2 study of 61 patients with primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) that kicked off in 2022, according to the federal trials register. However, Pfizer confirmed to Fierce on Monday that this study had been terminated “due to a business decision.” “The decision to terminate the trial was not based on any safety concerns,” a spokesperson pointed out. At time of publication, PF-06835375 remained listed on Pfizer’s website for both ITP and lupus. A phase 1 study in lupus wrapped up in 2022, according to the trials database. ITP is an autoimmune disorder characterized by a low platelet count. Novartis was at one point evaluating its B-cell-depleting antibody ianalumab—recently approved as Fabhalta to treat immunoglobulin A nephropathy—as a potential treatment ITP. But the therapy struggled to demonstrate a benefit in the clinic for this indication. When contacted by Fierce, Pfizer wouldn’t confirm whether all work on PF-06835375 has been halted, and whether the company has any other plans to explore C-X-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CXCR5) as a mechanism. CXCR5 is found in blood cancers such as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma chemokine receptor. However, there is little expression in normal tissue, which has led some drug developers to explore its potential. Vincerx Pharma had at one point been planning to take an anti-CXCR5 ADC into the clinic to treat B-cell malignancies, but that ambition was scrapped due to cash constraints. Where Big Pharma is placing its bets is one of the hot topics being discussed at Fierce Biotech's high-impact event in London next month. Find out more information and register by clicking on the banner below: [ ](https://qtxasset.com/quartz/qcloud5/media/image/where_big_pharma_is_placing_its_bets.png?VersionId=B8JrRbJ.pFUSK1pJgjeWHLGm_18RdLAy)

Oct 20 • 3:59 AM EDT • Business • fiercebiotech.com

College students more likely to vote this election; Ohio State political leaders and experts reflect on why that is

With midterm elections less than a month away, college students are more likely than ever to head to the polls and cast their votes, new data suggests. As many as 66 percent of college students will vote in the 2026 midterms, according to an August survey conducted by the Center for Information and Research on […]

Oct 20 • 2:16 AM EDT • Politics • thelantern.com

GLP-1 Drugs and Mental Health: Effects on Depression and Anxiety

GLP-1 receptor agonists affect pathways involved in mood, appetite, and reward, prompting research into their potential benefits for depression, substance use disorders, and binge eating. Psychiatric treatment benefits remain unproven, while conflicting observational findings and reassuring trial evidence require careful interpretation.

Oct 20 • 12:20 AM EDT • Health • news-medical.net

Roanoke leaders say empty storefronts won’t stay empty long as new businesses move in

Locked doors and empty seats. Roanoke City leaders acknowledge rising costs have been a burden on business owners.

Oct 19 • 9:29 PM EDT • Business • wdbj7.com

First Alert Forward: Cherokee Street’s push to fill empty storefronts

Business owners on Cherokee Street are working to build on the neighborhood’s comeback by helping the next generation of entrepreneurs get started.

Oct 19 • 8:52 PM EDT • Business • firstalert4.com

Trump’s Push for Deals With Russia Powers His Frustration With Ukraine

The series of recent steps by the president that seem to favor Vladimir Putin reflect his intensifying desire to normalize the relationship with Moscow even if it means further undercutting Ukraine.

Oct 19 • 8:33 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

Daily news: The latest No Kings rallies in Utah focused on early voting

In other news, a northern Utah bird refuge overhauled its water infrastructure. And, Utah's postal inspector intercepted a suspicious envelope meant for Lt. Gov. Henderson's office.

Oct 19 • 8:16 PM EDT • Politics • upr.org

“Cellar Door” ending explained: What’s really behind the cellar door?

Laurence Fishburne makes a married couple an offer they should’ve refused in the 2024 horror thriller.

Oct 19 • 7:43 PM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com

Humboldt County leaders warn HR 1 cuts could hit health care, education by 2027

Concerns are growing in Humboldt County about how HR 1, a sweeping federal law passed in July and sometimes referred to as the “big beautiful bill,” could affec

Oct 19 • 7:20 PM EDT • Health • krcrtv.com

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited Stock 12‑Month Price Target Cut to $6.14, Implies 48% Upside

Explore more price target data and ratings for Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited on the Forecasts tab, and track all previous and future analyst recommendations for Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited in the dedicated News Flow.Select reference data provided by FactSet. Copyright © 2026 FactS…

Oct 19 • 6:20 PM EDT • Entertainment • tradingview.com

President Trump talks data centers and staying in politics with Tricia Macke

President addresses property tax concerns and reflects on staying in politics during interview with Tricia Macke.

Oct 19 • 5:47 PM EDT • Politics • fox19.com

How a controversial lift on 'Dancing With the Stars' and a reference to Will Smith's Oscars slap led to pro dancer Val Chmerkovskiy's suspension

The controversy began when judge Carrie Ann Inaba told Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson that their routine included a move that is not allowed in traditional samba.

Oct 19 • 3:25 PM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com

Student Success Keeps STC Professor Emeritus' Legacy Alive

As he reflects on a teaching career that spanned more than two decades at South Texas College, Professor Emeritus Gilberto Reyes said some of the most meaningful moments came when students discovered they could succeed in careers they once believed were out of reach.

Oct 19 • 11:52 AM EDT • Business • texasborderbusiness.com

This Week: Politics 101, 20th Street Bikeway, Muni Trivia

Here is a list of events this week. Monday/Tonight! SF Politics 101 with Joel Engardio. Learn how local politics shaped San Francisco. Monday/tonight, October 19, 5:30-6:45 p.m. SPUR Urban Center, 654 Mission Street, S.F. Wednesday 20th Street Protected Bikeway Ribbon Cutting. The Oakland Department of Transportation, city officials, Bike East Bay and other community partners will celebrate the completion of the 19th Street BART to Lake Merritt Urban Greenway. Wednesday, October 21, 1:30 p.m. 400 Thomas L Berkley Way, Oakland. Thursday 2026 Silver SPUR Awards. This SPUR event brings together elected officials and business, civic, and philanthropic leaders to celebrate four individuals and their contributions. Thursday, October 22, 4-7:30 p.m. Blue Shield of California Theater at YBCA, 700 Howard Street, S.F. Get tickets here. Friday Woman and Non-Binary Morning Ride. Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition for a socially distanced bike ride for women and nonbinary cyclists. Friday, October 23, 7:15-8:45 a.m. McLaren Lodge, 501 Stanyan Street, S.F. Friday Muni Trivia Night. Bring your friends or come solo and make some new ones. Friday, October 23, 7:30 p.m. Standard Deviant Brewing, Pier 70, suite 195, 1070 Maryland Street, S.F. RSVP here. Saturday Fifth Annual Firefighter Family Ride. Join SFFD, SF Safe Routes to School, and the SF Bicycle Coalition for a fun, low-stress bike ride through one of the city’s most beautiful routes. Saturday, October 24, 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Panhandle Park Blacktop (Fell & Ashbury) to JFK Promenade (Whale’s Tail). Sunday Canvas for No on Prop G. Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition to canvas for No on ‘G’ to save Sunset Dunes Park. Sunday, October 25, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Marina Blvd & Laguna Street, S.F. Got an event we should know about? Drop us a line.

Oct 19 • 11:38 AM EDT • Politics • sf.streetsblog.org

Giannoulias opens big lead in Chicago mayoral poll as Johnson loses support

The secretary of state leads in first- and second-choice preferences, while just a quarter of Brandon Johnson's 2023 voters say they'd support him again.

Oct 19 • 11:14 AM EDT • Business • chicagobusiness.com

More than 2 dozen charged in California sweep targeting noncitizen voters

The arrests also reflect a further escalation in a simmering voter roll fight

Oct 19 • 10:53 AM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com

Paul Harris elected to National Academy of Medicine

Paul Harris, PhD, Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Vanderbilt Health, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM).

Oct 19 • 10:00 AM EDT • Health • news.vumc.org

Column: CEQA needs reform, but not like this

When does positive reform become negative regression?

Oct 19 • 9:00 AM EDT • Politics • latimes.com

Veteran quarterback reportedly refused to sign with Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles have been scrambling at quarterback ever since Jalen Hurts landed on injured reserve with a blood clot, and Sunday’s 25-14 loss to the Carolina Panthers only added to the urgency. However, there is one longtime NFL quarterback who seemingly has no interest in offering his asstance. Veteran quarterback Andy Dalton was released…

Oct 19 • 8:35 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Lord Abbett Unveils New Brand Reflecting a Firm Built with Intention

JERSEY CITY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 19, 2026--

Oct 19 • 8:06 AM EDT • Business • rutlandherald.com

Affordability, immigration and a referendum on Trump: Listeners weigh in on the U.S. Senate race in Texas

Houston Public Media conducted a survey of what issues listeners considered the most significant in helping decide their votes between Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.

Oct 19 • 7:00 AM EDT • Politics • houstonpublicmedia.org

Mobile health clinic in Southwest Michigan impacts local community

A mobile health clinic in Southwest Michigan is celebrating a milestone after seeing 1,000 patients in less than a year.The team says that number reflects a gro

Oct 19 • 6:19 AM EDT • Health • wsbt.com

North Carolina's Carter Faith believes in country music

LOS ANGELES — Carter Faith has read the articles about Gen Z turning away from humanity's oldest vices, and she's here to say those articles don't speak for her. "Yeah,

Oct 19 • 6:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • reflector.com

America’s next big healthcare reform might already be underway

Colorado found a way to make health care cheaper. Other states are paying attention.

Oct 19 • 6:00 AM EDT • Health • vox.com

Commentary: What do we need after Nov. 3? Political imagination.

If we're going to have governments that respond to our problems, we have to abandon the idea that the only answers are in the free market.

Oct 19 • 5:59 AM EDT • Politics • alabamareflector.com

Opinion: Ohio manufacturing needs permitting reform

Momentum on reform is building in Congress, with Ohio’s U.S. senators helping advance the conversation.

Oct 19 • 5:45 AM EDT • Business • crainscleveland.com

🎥 Pitch completely flooded! Referee still considers kicking off

This has to be satire. Or so you might think when you watch the following clip from Spain’s fourth division. A match there was called off last weekend due to severe flooding in the region. But that ...

Oct 19 • 3:19 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Business Beat: Navigant CU promotes Lori Jordan to Sr. VP, Chief People and Philanthropy Officer

NAVIGANT CREDIT UNION PROMOTES JORDAN TO SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF PEOPLE & PHILANTHROPY OFFICER SMITHFIELD, R.I. (October 13, 2026) – Today, Navigant Credit Union announced the promotion of Lori Jordan to Senior Vice President, Chief People & Philanthropy Officer. The newly created executive leadership role reflects Navigant’s continued investment in its people, culture, and philanthropic…

Oct 19 • 1:30 AM EDT • Business • rinewstoday.com

Most Seoul National University admits who decline enrollment are science and engineering students

Experts say the decision not to attend the prestigious university can be linked to a continued preference for medical school.

Oct 19 • 1:27 AM EDT • Science • koreajoongangdaily.com

'All INdiana Politics': Secretary of State candidates face off on voting reform and business portals

INDIANAPOLIS — The race for Indiana Secretary of State is taking center stage as four candidates vie to lead the office responsible for state elections and business licensing. The contest features former congressional aide Max Engling running as the Republican nominee, lawyer and former Marine Corps infantry officer Beau Bayh carrying the Democratic banner, small […]

Oct 19 • 12:05 AM EDT • Politics • wrtv.com

‘All INdiana Politics': Secretary of State candidates face off on voting reform and business portals

INDIANAPOLIS - The race for Indiana Secretary of State is taking center stage as four candidates vie to lead the office responsible for state elections and business licensing. The contest features for...

Oct 19 • 12:05 AM EDT • Politics • yahoo.com

Financial struggles at Camden medical center reflect closure risks for Arkansas’ rural hospitals

It has been a difficult year for Ouachita County Medical Center. In January, the Camden hospital became the latest in the state to close its labor and delivery unit. In March, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In August, the hospital furloughed dozens of employees as it struggled under the budget constraints of bankruptcy.

Oct 18 • 10:45 PM EDT • Health • arkansasonline.com

Scientists Discover Metals That Refuse To Crack at an Astonishing -424°F

Two experimental alloys resisted cracking at −424°F by forming new crystal defects, offering a possible route to tougher metals for extreme cold. Most metals become stronger as they cool, but some also become more vulnerable to breaking. Iron, tungsten, and chromium belong to a class called body-centered cubic metals, whose atomic arrangement can make them

Oct 18 • 8:51 PM EDT • Science • scitechdaily.com

The Waltham Public Library this week: Spooky Science

Curated by Amber Harvey, reference librarian Drop in for some super fun, super cool and super spooky hands-on STEM activities. Recommended for ages 5 and

Oct 18 • 8:10 PM EDT • Science • walthamtimes.org

Streaming’s Biggest Show Returns…and a Buzzy Genre Struggles

(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) Obviously, the big news of the week (if not month) is Netflix letting go of executive Bela Bajaria, their chief content officer. I’m going to cover this in my next “Most Important Story of the Week”, but I also have a data angle that I might publish before then. (Too much news this month, am I right?) But first, I have a bonus Streaming Ratings Report issue for you. Today’s article is a bit of a grab bag of topics I’ve wanted to write about, but couldn’t squeeze into the (already very long) Streaming Ratings Report issues. The NFL drives huge viewership numbers, so I’ve got a look at that. A whole bunch of TV shows returned to the traditional broadcast channels, and I have thoughts. And I have a quick look at adult animated shows, since a couple flopped earlier this month. Plus, the Emmys aired earlier this month, and we got some fun data bout how popular those nominated shows are and why I’m not optimistic about the show’s future. That’s a lot, so let’s dive right in. Subscribe Sports - Football Remains the King of Streaming Over the last two Streaming Ratings Reports, I sorta ignored the biggest “show” each week. (I was tempted to say “piece of content” but I know that word bugs folks.) In my database, I call these “specials”, and they sure are special. I speak of the king of American TV: football!!! Streaming football is back and, unlike some other sports, it routinely dominates all viewership. Probably the best way to show this is to update one of my favorite graphics, the “40 Million Hour Club”1 since football games have joined that club each week they’ve premiered: (Yep, that’s the data through 28-Sep, the first four weeks of the season. As a reminder, I take the average minute audience provided by Nielsen, factor out a percentage of linear TV viewers in home markets, and multiply the run time by the three-hour runtime.) Again, the numbers are huge. Let’s start with Netflix. They grabbed the rights to the bonus opening week NFL Kickoff game (which was on YouTube last year) and it put up 18.5 million viewers on average. That nets out to 47.4 million hours of estimated streaming hours. That’s good! Though, notably, it’s well below Christmas Day games from previous years. Compared to other streamers/broadcasters, that’s a bit of a mixed result. On one hand, Netflix’s 18.5 million average is about what YouTube claimed last year, though Nielsen used a bespoke methodology at that time, so I trust this viewership figure more. So that’s good. (The game also shifted from a Friday to a Thursday and that could have helped the viewership as well.) And Netflix continues to best Prime Video in total viewership—as you’ll see next—though Netflix has had much higher-profile (opening week and Christmas Day) games. NBC/Peacock’s opening game the night before averaged 25.1 million average viewers, which is just much bigger than Netflix (or Prime Video). That’s the big caveat to all streaming viewership records: even in success, they can’t compete with traditional linear TV. Previously, I called this my “hierarchy of viewership”, and the data keeps supporting that thesis. The downside for NBC is that this game’s viewership was down compared to previous years, though it may be a counting issue. Here’s a great chart from Sports Media Watch: Indeed, looking at all the opening week games across all windows, Netflix still lags the other primetime windows, but does well compared to the afternoon games: I saw a few folks make the case that streamers still lag traditional broadcasters in reach, and I’d add they really lag compared to “broadcast plus streaming” options like NBC/Peacock, ESPN/Disney+ and CBS/Paramount+. The best data I saw for this came from Samba TV, who charted reach through the 2025 season, and, wow. (Samba TV’s numbers are historically lower than Nielsen’s, so don’t compare their household figures to Nielsen’s hours, but use them as a proxy for the relative reach of the streamers.) The good news is Prime Video is NOT having a down year. Their opening Thursday Night Football game reached 18.6 million viewers (about what Netflix got), but that’s a high for Prime Video on Thursdays and the biggest Thursday night game since 2015. The TNF games the weeks of 21-Sep and 28-Sep continued this streak, getting 43.1 (16.8 million average viewers) and 42.5 total hours (16.6 million average viewers), which were both up from last year. Still, that continues the (typical) season slide: (For those new-to-streaming-football-numbers folks, the viewership declines for Thursday Night Football as the year goes along.) Overall, it appears as if Prime Video is now part of the “football habit”, be it for customers at home or out at places like bars and restaurants. And its viewership is slowly catching up to broadcast. One last chart shows this. Last season, Nielsen started adding out-of-home viewership to the charts, so I try not to do season-to-season comparisons as I did for the first few years. And while Nielsen added Big Data viewing this year, I’m going to compare the last two seasons. Here’s that chart, which shows the season-over-season gains: When it comes to streaming football, we have to keep a few seemingly contradictory thoughts in our head… First, streaming doesn’t come close to matching broadcast’s reach and, thus, viewership. Second, even with that gap, football is still the biggest “thing” on streaming. It’s very, very popular. Third, while some methodology changes have likely helped Prime Video’s numbers, their viewership does appear to be growing. Lastly, yeah, the NFL started the season off poorly, with week one dragging down the numbers in year-over-year comparisons. However—and again, methodology changes may have helped this—the viewership grew compared to previous seasons over the next couple of weeks. So football is still king. On streaming and off. Television - Adult Animation Continues to NOT Make the Streaming Charts In the last two reports, two adult-animated shows whiffed: Netflix’s animated comedy, Dang! Paramount+’s Sega-video-game-inspired fantasy/comedy, Golden Axe. Neither made the charts, but that’s usually the case for animated shows. I mean, here’s literally every animated show that’s made the Nielsen Original charts since the start of 2025: And one of those shows is G_abby’s Dollhouse_! A kids show! The problem with charts like this is that they don’t give you a sense of how many shows miss the charts. Netflix had at least eleven animated flops, including comedies like Big Mouth (a show everyone assumed was popular in the pre-Streaming Ratings Era), Long Story Short, Haunted Hotel, Mating Season, Strip Law, and Alley Cats, and action shows like Blood of Zeus, Castlevania: Nocturne, Devil May Cry, Splinter Cell: Deathwatch, and Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. Prime Video had at least six animated misses, two in the same universe (Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss), three more comedies (#1 Happy Family USA, The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy and Kevin) and an action show (The Mighty Nein). Disney+ had MCU and Star Wars animated misses (Eyes of Wakanda, Marvel Zombies, Star Wars: Visions, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, and Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld) but I can’t tell how many of those shows were geared towards adults. HBO Max had Harley Quinn and Hulu had Solar Opposites. None of these shows made the charts! That’s a lot of misses! If I remade the chart with all those misses, here’s how it would look: Listen, I know the counter arguments. First, it’s cheaper to produce animated shows than live action. Fair enough, but with viewership this low, even that cheaper price point starts to not matter. Second, just look at the acquired charts. Hit animated comedies can generate viewership for years! Shows like The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, and Bob’s Burgers do really, really well. Fair enough, but streaming has failed to recreate the dynamic that Fox has mastered so well. That’s a problem for streaming still. Television - Emmys! The annual Emmys broadcast was a few weeks ago, and I’ve got data on how the nominees performed on streaming, plus hot takes on this year’s viewership (and the big news about the broadcast’s, er, streamcast’s future). We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… The top Emmy-nominated shows… ...why I’m worried about the future of the Emmys telecast... ...the pros of broadcast television ...and the cons... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Coming Soon! Next week, we’ve got a double issue (since the weeks of 21-Sep and 28-Sep were so light), but then I’ll be all caught up after a deluge of streaming ratings data from Nielsen in September. In the meantime, I’m going to try to take a look at Netflix’s stats to explain why Bela Bajaria is out. But even light weeks give me plenty to talk about. The Great British Baking Show returns to Netflix and Apple TV has a buzzy new star-studded comedy. And Netflix has a controversial-but-appears-to-be-popular new game show. Plus big films like Toy Story 5, Backrooms and The Breadwinner head to streaming. And is East of Eden a hit? After that, The Kardashians return to Hulu, Prime Video has a reboot of Carrie, and Netflix has a horror show, Below. Disclosure Day heads to Peacock, The Housemaid heads to HBO Max_,_ a new Ben Affleck film, Animals, lands on Netflix, and Apple TV has a new John Cena action film based on, checks notes, Hasbro’s Matchbox toys. Okay. Longterm, some interesting TV production news. HBO Max ordered How to Survive Without Me, starring Kaley Cuoco, Joshua Jackson, Ray Romano and Rita Wilson, for fifteen episodes! I love that some streamers (or, at least, HBO Max) are finally ordering TV shows with more than eight episodes. In less wise production news, Landman does not appear to be coming back this year, since it just started production. Frankly, I don’t love this (get your shows out on time) but Landman is so popular, I doubt it matters.

Oct 18 • 3:59 PM EDT • Entertainment • entertainment.substack.com

Scientists' preferences may hold back animal science discoveries, per a study

We may be missing out on some important discoveries because the scientists are studying the animals they find appealing, rather than exploring the full

Oct 18 • 3:24 PM EDT • Science • inceptivemind.com

Michael Carbonaro reflects on path to becoming a professional magician

The longtime magician will visit the Payne & Mencias Palladium on Oct. 23.

Oct 18 • 3:10 PM EDT • Entertainment • nuvo.net

‘All INdiana Politics': Secretary of State candidates face off on voting reform and business portals

INDIANAPOLIS - The race for Indiana Secretary of State is taking center stage as four candidates vie to lead the office responsible for state elections and business licensing. The contest features for...

Oct 18 • 12:05 PM EDT • Politics • yahoo.com

Live Nation Entertainment (LYV) Could Be 16% Undervalued As It Resets Its Debt Clock

Live Nation Entertainment (LYV) has just priced a sizeable dual currency bond offering that reshapes its debt calendar. Fresh 2032 USD and euro notes are earmarked to redeem 2027 secured bonds and support broader financing needs. Against this refinancing backdrop, Live Nation Entertainment’s share price has moved to $170.51, with a 30-day share price return of 2.03% and a year-to-date share price gain of 17.34%. The 3-year total shareholder return of 113.27% points to longer term momentum...

Oct 18 • 11:41 AM EDT • Entertainment • simplywall.st

“Something out of Science Fiction” – Astronomers Discover a Star That Glows a Bizarre Shade of Green

A star’s color usually reflects its temperature, but white dwarfs can break that pattern, with models revealing unexpected shades of green, pink, and purple. A star that has drawn in rocky debris from its planetary system would appear chartreuse green to the human eye, according to new calculations by University of Warwick astronomers. As far

Oct 18 • 11:08 AM EDT • Science • scitechdaily.com

Carrefour CEO says 50 stores and 20 supermarkets ransacked in France

Riots swept across France on Saturday after initially peaceful demonstrations turned violent.

Oct 18 • 10:55 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

San Francisco techie takes down zombie video game that let players kill homeless people: 'It showed poor judgment'

The creator said that he refunded all advertisers and made a donation to a drug treatment and recovery service equivalent to the revenue generated by the game.

Oct 18 • 10:15 AM EDT • Technology • hindustantimes.com

Flashpoint | North Carolina lawmaker pushes for political spending reform

Oct 18 • 8:03 AM EDT • Politics • wcnc.com

Many Women Are Still Struggling to Fill Estrogen Patch Prescriptions. What to Do If You Can’t Get Yours

As demand for menopause treatment increases, estrogen patches are hard to find at pharmacies. Here’s what to do if you can’t refill your prescription.

Oct 18 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • today.com

David Rafferty (opinion): Bigotry reflects a broader political pattern

'56% of Republicans defend Christian nationalism and ... Republican media and leaders regularly spout targeted, bigoted statements,' David Raffery writes.

Oct 18 • 7:55 AM EDT • Politics • ctinsider.com

Leukemia That Refuses to Choose: The Science of Mixed Phenotype Acute Leukemia

A new review in Cancer Cell International synthesizes contemporary classification, clonal biology, and precision therapy for mixed phenotype acute leukemia, arguing that management must track the founding clone across phenotypic states rather than rely on static lineage labels.

Oct 18 • 7:05 AM EDT • Science • bioengineer.org

Olympic canoeist at center of Reflecting Pool scandal becomes a Trump foil

David Hearn, cleared of allegations that he intentionally damaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, is now fighting to save a public golf course

Oct 18 • 6:30 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Show us your clutter, and we’ll tell you which generation you come from

Experts say that the type of stuff you have at home — figurines, encyclopedias, old electronics, water bottles — reflects the culture of your formative years.

Oct 18 • 5:00 AM EDT • Technology • washingtonpost.com

Oxford residents to vote on cannabis business cap Nov. 3

A number of Oxford residents are fed up with the perception that Main Street/Route 26 has become a cannabis corridor not reflective of the community's values.

Oct 18 • 4:00 AM EDT • Business • sunjournal.com

'Dancing with the Stars' pro Val Chmerkovskiy pulled after Carrie Ann Inaba remark

"Dancing with the Stars" pro Val Chmerkovskiy will miss next week's episode after a controversial social media remark about Carrie Ann Inaba that seemed to reference Will Smith's Oscars slap.

Oct 17 • 5:10 PM EDT • Entertainment • centraloregondaily.com

Reform politician says smart glasses helping him make speeches in Wales' parliament

Jason O'Connell sparked debate when he started wearing the glasses, which have an autocue feature.

Oct 17 • 4:58 PM EDT • Politics • yahoo.com

Business in Edmonds' Westgate Village 'heavily damaged' by early Saturday morning fire

South County firefighters extinguished a fire that heavily damaged an Edmonds business Saturday morning and stopped the fire from spreading to other businesses. Around 5:45 a.m., firefighters responded after a […]

Oct 17 • 4:33 PM EDT • Business • myedmondsnews.com

Val Booted Next DWTS Episode, Jenna Dewan Dance With Alan

“The well-being of everyone who works on 'Dancing With the Stars' is non-negotiable. Val’s social media post was inappropriate and does not reflect the values or standards expected of anyone connected with the show. As a result, he will not participate in next week’s show," BBC Studios said in a statement.

Oct 17 • 3:30 PM EDT • Entertainment • hollywoodreporter.com

Seattle hazmat crews respond to CO2 leak at Ballard business

Seattle firefighters are working to secure a carbon dioxide leak after an alarm activated in a commercial building in Ballard Saturday morning.The Seattle Fire

Oct 17 • 2:32 PM EDT • Business • komonews.com

Fire damages Gyro Makers and nearby nail salon in Edmonds’ Westgate Village

A fire damaged a restaurant and an adjacent business Saturday morning in Edmonds’ Westgate neighborhood, South County Fire said.Firefighters responded at about

Oct 17 • 2:27 PM EDT • Business • komonews.com

Swinney's emotional explanation for his commitment to independence

BBC Scotland's political editor Glenn Campbell reflects on John Swinney's SNP conference speech.

Oct 17 • 2:11 PM EDT • Politics • yahoo.com

Swinney's emotional explanation for his commitment to independence

BBC Scotland's political editor Glenn Campbell reflects on John Swinney's SNP conference speech.

Oct 17 • 2:11 PM EDT • Politics • bbc.com

Criminal Justice Reform Isn’t Dead, Despite GOP Attack Ads

A familiar tough-on-crime election strategy is making a comeback, even as Republican and Democratic lawmakers keep passing reforms across the country.

Oct 17 • 12:00 PM EDT • Politics • themarshallproject.org

Susan Collins Says Rival’s ‘Oh, Shut Up’ Comment Reflects How He Treats Women

Ms. Collins, a Republican running in a crucial race, called the debate remark by her opponent, Troy Jackson, “very telling.” Mr. Jackson has defended his comment, and his campaign said Ms. Collins had run a campaign based on personal attacks.

Oct 17 • 10:43 AM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com

Major One UI update expected in 2027

Samsung introduced a major improvement to its smartphone and tablet experience with the launch of One UI in 2018, and the company has continued to refine it eve

Oct 17 • 8:53 AM EDT • Technology • sammobile.com

Ex-Reform politician likens party's response to criticism to an abuser

Sarah Cooper-Lesadd, who defected to Plaid Cymru, says she is "not surprised" by new allegations.

Oct 17 • 8:27 AM EDT • Politics • bbc.com

Reagan’s Immigration Policy ‘A Mess’ Says Schroeder

by Rachael Wright Forty-five years ago this week, Democratic U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder, representing the 1st Congressional District and serving on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugee and International Law, said the Reagan administration’s immigration policies were “a mess” and that she felt the administration manipulated refugee policy for foreign policy reasons. “States are left to bear […]

Oct 17 • 7:00 AM EDT • Politics • coloradopolitics.com

Microsoft updates Windows 11 Xbox mode with easier access to desktop and power controls

Microsoft is making it easier to return to Windows from Xbox mode. The latest Insider builds introduce a refreshed Gaming Task View with desktop and power shortcuts.

Oct 17 • 6:47 AM EDT • Technology • videocardz.com

Several Petah Tikva synagogues refuse to host Smotrich, cite objections to politics during services

Some congregants argued that withdrawing the invitation after it had already been extended and publicly announced would be inappropriate, particularly since the synagogue had hosted other speakers.

Oct 17 • 5:58 AM EDT • Politics • jpost.com

Walmart says higher fuel costs will offset tariff refund benefit

Walmart previously said it wanted to plow tariff refunds into lowering prices, but now the company says higher fuel costs will erase that benefit.

Oct 17 • 5:53 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

Opinion: Do social media bans protect teens' mental health? Research suggests bans aren’t the answer.

Opinion by Ari Lightman: I research digital media and marketing and measure the impact of new technologies, and I’m skeptical about whether prohibiting access to social media platforms will actually improve young people’s mental health.

Oct 17 • 4:33 AM EDT • Health • kansasreflector.com