SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " Wis " 3,637 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
A new twist on matter? Strange 'Half-Mӧbius' molecule has rare properties chemists have never seen before
Chemists created a strange 'half-Mӧbius' molecule, where electrons twist freely out of place to make a continuously looping surface.
Four Jewish ambulances set on fire in London in what health secretary calls 'sickening' attack
The attack on the Jewish Community Ambulance service in north London is being treated as an "antisemitic hate crime", the Metropolitan Police says.
A DNA test ruled him out. He was convicted of murder anyway.
Forensics has its share of high-profile problems. There’s phony “junk science,” like bogus bite-mark and blood spatter analyses that have sent innocent people to jail. And there’s the steady drumbeat of lab scandals, where analysts make up results. But there’s a subtler and more pervasive problem at work in many cases: lab analysts and lawyers who take perfectly legitimate science and twist it. Globe Opinion is exploring these distortions with a series we’re calling “Twisted Science.” And there may be no better place to start than with the case of Terrel Barros.
Wisconsin edges Ohio St., wins another title at Frozen Four
Claire Enright scored the go-ahead goal in the third period Sunday, Ava McNaughton had 34 saves, and No. 2 seed Wisconsin beat top-seeded Ohio State 3-2 at the Frozen Four to win its second consecutive national championship.
Your Thymus and Your Healthspan
Our thymus gland plays a central role in the development or our immune system, specifically for supporting T cell development (how these cells got their name, maturation and differentiation in the thymus) and discriminating between self and foreign, non-self antigen proteins with production of dendritic cells. As we age, our thymus gland shrinks—the process known as involution—with progressive change from spongy to fatty tissue, with loss of functionality. But this process, with respect to timeline and extent, markedly varies from one person to the next. And to make things even more complicated, our thymus gland anatomy and precise location in the chest also is highly variable. So the famous Frank Netter diagrams from the 1960s (such as at left below) don’t capture the remarkable heterogeneity that a random set of 12 chest CT scans (below at right). What I consider as 2 landmark papers in Nature this week (here and here) used AI to quantify health of the thymus in 2 large cohorts, and then correlate the metric to a broad array of health outcomes. In this edition of Ground Truths, I’m going to cover three questions: (1) How was thymus health determined by AI?; (2) How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? and (3) Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? Subscribe 1. How was thymus health determined by AI? This was accomplished by extensive work developing and validating an AI pipeline for 2 stages, the first for localization and segmentation of the thymus bed, and the second to quantify a digital marker, termed the thymic health score. There’s a lot to this algorithmic development, so I won’t go into all the details, but just provide a rudimentary outline of what was done. The 1st stage used supervised learning with 2 radiologists reviewing 2,461 chest CT scans. That work trained a 3D U-Net model to automatically identify the thymic bed’s 3D cropped region using center of mass coordinates, which reached 99.8% accuracy. The 2nd stage used a foundation model that was pre-trained with SwAV (which stands for Swapping Assignment between multiple Views), a self-supervised model, that generated a high-dimensional thymus representation of 4,096 features. That compares to the radiology reductionist and subjective scoring of 0 to 3 where 0 means the thymus is fully degenerated and fatty, and 3 is considered dense, intact glandular soft tissue. Notably, the self-supervised learning (SSL) performance was superior to supervised (AUC ~0.75 vs 0.55, respectively) reflecting the shallowness of the 0-3 classifier vs SSL’s holistic, self-taught AI. The thymic health score ranged from 0 to 100, with the highest number indexed to fully preserved thymic health. The algorithmic work extended to explainability with both Shapely value distribution, meaning the model was holistic not relying on any “magic” pixel, and occlusion sensitivity, demonstrating the model’s performance was not affected by ribs, sternum, lung tissue, but rather focused on the thymic bed directly. Below are a few saliency maps from the occlusion sensitivity that indicate the thymic bed focus, not affected by neighboring structures, using the jet color scale. Now the AI was ready for processing ~25,000 CT scans, each over 30 MB files, from the 2 large participant cohorts to provide a thymic health score, it did so in less than 14 hours, which is less than 2 seconds per scan! Share 2. How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? The two cohorts were the National Lung Screening Trial, NLST (N=25,031) and the Framingham Heart Study, FHS (N=2,581) each with baseline demographics and long term follow up of >12 years for health outcomes. From the NSLT, you can see below that increased age and body-mass index were correlated to reduced thymic health. And, overall, men had reduced thymic health scores compared with women. There are a lot of graphs in the paper for outcomes, for both the NLST and FHS cohorts. To simplify the major outcomes, below is a composite Figure with striking reduction of all-cause mortality and for the different causes of death. The results were consistent between the 2 cohorts. For example, the cardiovascular mortality hazard ratio average was 0.57 in NLST and 0.38 in FHS (weighted to be 0.53 for the aggregate). The reduction of mortality also extended to digestive diseases and pulmonary disease (data not shown below). Lung cancer incidence was reduced by 36% for high vs low thymic health (Figure below, with a panel -incidence and b panel-mortality, adjusted for age, sex, BMI, smoking status). Notably, there was a smoker’s paradox: lower incidence and improved survival for lung cancer in smokers who had a high thymus health score. Smoking was associated with lower thymic scores whereas alcohol was not. Higher thymic health was linked to higher HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides, lower fasting blood glucose, and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Inflammation biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, were elevated in the people with lower thymic health scores. In their second paper, the same team looked at the relationship between thymic score and outcomes for 3,476 patients receiving cancer immunotherapy. The non-small cell lung cancer progression-free survival was reduced in patients with low thymic health score. A parallel relationship for survival was seen for other types of cancer including melanoma, breast, and kidney with a 44% lower risk among high thymic scores (Figure). A similar pattern was seen with different immune checkpoint inhibitors. The thymus health score outperformed programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1)and tumor mutation burden (TMB) assay of the tumor and was an independent prognostic marker of progression-free survival. In this dataset, a direct connect with thymus score and adaptive immune function was noted with a correlation before cancer treatment for both T-cell diversity and thymus T-cell production (a metric known as T cell receptor excision circles). Thymus Removal Study There is a highly relevant citation about thymus function before moving onto ways to rejuvenate it. In 2023, a very important study of thymus removal during cardiothoracic surgery was published, with 1146 patients undergoing thymus removal vs 1146 matched controls (mean age 55 years). The adverse outcomes for thymus removal were striking, with a 2.9 higher risk of all-cause mortality and doubling of cancer incidence, 1.5 fold increase in cancer mortality, and 1.5-fold increase in autoimmune diseases. The immune function showed marked compromise after thymus removal, as reflected by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (Figure below) Share Ground Truths 3. Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? In recent months we’ve learned a lot about the process of thymus involution and the pathways by which this may be modulated. Thymus involution is primarily due to loss to thymus epithelial cells (TECs) and there are 2 subtypes with different functions: the cortical, responsible for positive selection of T cells, and the medullary, for negative selection. When adipose tissue infiltrates the thymus, thymic adipocytes are pro-inflammatory, knocking out T-cell output. Likewise, systemic inflammation, or “inflammaging,” from smoking, obesity, and chronic stress promote thymic adipocytes. Now, from preclinical studies, we know about key pathways that account for these processes. Historically, back in 2014, FOXN1 was recognized as a single master transcription factor essential for TEC function, with studies in mice with forced FOXN1 upregulation leading to thymus regeneration. That laid the foundation for potential regrowth of quiescent thymus cells. It took awhile to find pathways to accomplish this goal and to even refute its role as the master regulator. The Liver-Thymus Axis Feng Zhang and his team recently showed that injection of an mRNA vaccine to the liver encoding DLL1, IL-7 and FLT3-L in combination, factors known to support thymopoiesis (Figure), successfully enhanced immune function in aged mice. However, the effect was transient. The FGF21 Story Two reports in 2025 addressed the thymus gland’s production of FGF21, a growth factor (fibroblast growth factor 21) and its control of thymus involution. This growth factor is also produced by the liver, but it doesn’t have impact on the thymus in aged rodent models. In contrast, The liver’s hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been shown to reverse senescent TEC structural changes. Growth hormone stimulates production of insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in the liver and the thymus. Two small studies in human participants (TRIIM, for Thymus Regeneration, Immunorestoration, and Insulin Mitigation) of 6 and 50 people, respectively, treated with combined human growth hormone, metformin and DHEA, suggested the potential of slowing epigenetic aging and improving thymus mass and function. But the combination of drugs, small sample, and lack of controls make conclusions murky. Increased thymus FGF21 led to increased CD8 T cells in old mice and extended healthspan and improved physical performance. Building on the previous FOXN1 data, ablation of β-klotho, the obligatory co-receptor for FOXN1, accelerated thymic aging. The benefit to FGF21 was confirmed in a companion paper using an FGF21 knock-in mouse model showing thymus enlargement and increased TECs throughout the lifespan. (schematic Figure below). The accompanying editorial for these 2 papers speculated: “The proposed link between age-associated thymus involution and organismal aging is intriguing, and suggests we might seek to achieve systemic rejuvenation by counteracting thymic involution.” Other Factors Lessons from the Axolotl (Mexican Salamander) In an elegant set of experiments of the axolotl (Figure), known for its complete thymus regeneration after total surgical removal, mediators were identified. Surprisingly FOXN1 was dispensable. But midkine, a growth factor, appeared to be the driver, the initiator of thymus cell growth, survival, and repair. Other components that contributed were Postn+ (periostin-expressing mesenchymal niches) and Ccl19, a chemokine protein from the bloodstream. RANK and RANKL RANK (receptor activator of nuclear factor κB its ligand (RANKL) have been considered key regulators of medullary TECs. In a study of both aged mice and human thymus cell cultures, their key role was confirmed, with multiple benefits of resorting TEC function, recruitment of progenitor cells, and T cell development. Subscribe Summing Up This body of work strongly supports the health of the thymus gland as a critical regulator of human healthspan, not just a correlate or link. The new landmark studies are reinforced by the regenerative biology experimental models that have shown, via an array of mediators, that healthspan of aged mice is at least in part dependent on thymus gland function and its critical role for maintaining adaptive immunity. It sure seems that we’d be better off having an immune reservoir of naive T cells instead of a profile in older adults of exhausted, low quality, memory T cells, with a senescent phenotype. It is striking that we ignored the importance of the thymus gland for many decades. A wake-up call was the results of the thymectomy matched control study reviewed here, with the opposite of high thymic health score improved health outcomes. The convergence of AI and healthspan here is notable. The exceptional and laborious work for developing and validating (no less explaining) the AI to quantify thymus health set the foundation for probing the connect the major health outcomes in two cohorts with extensive follow-up. We’ve never had a way to meaningfully quantify the thymus gland before, so this represents important leverage of supervised, self-supervised, and transformer models. The study wouldn’t have been possible without AI. And it begs the question as to whether there are ways we can maintain our thymus at a high health score. But it’s not so simple to rejuvenate our thymus. There are multiple risks including the induction of autoimmunity, increasing the risk of cancer, and inducing a pro-inflammatory state. For example, factors that increase TEC proliferation could compromise the medulllary negative selection process and leak out auto-reactive (self-attacking) T cells. Thymic cells could be induced to proliferate, but we know, for example, that growth hormone and IGF-1 are associated with an increase risk of cancer. If thymus rejuvenation doesn’t clear out the accumulated senescent cells in older adults, then inflammation within the gland could block the production of TECs. Keeping these risks in mind, we now have identified many ways to keep our thymus healthy as we age that undoubtedly will be tested in clinical trials going forward. Ultimately, the benefit-to-risk tradeoffs will be defined. In the meantime, we have desperately needed an immunome. As I’ve stressed in multiple prior Ground Truths, we have no test in the clinic to assess a patient’s immune status! It was very encouraging for me to get an email from Hugo Aerts, the senior author of the landmark papers in the days after they were published: “I also wanted to say that your Substack on “Why We Need an Immunome” was inspiring for this work. We found it a very compelling perspective and greatly enjoyed reading it.” Just having an assessment of a person’s immune status via a chest CT scan, with millions of these performed per year, might help in guiding the right immunotherapy for cancer (e.g. more intensive, combinations for those with low thymic health scores) and help define people who are increased risk for age-related diseases of cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative. The main theme of Super Agers is that we now have many layers of data (genetics, proteins, biomarkers, organ clocks that can be integrated via multimodal AI) for us to define a person’s specific risk decades before one of these age-related diseases leads to symptoms, enabling prevention. From the new studies this week, we can add thymus health score as yet another way to understand a person’s risk, a window into their adaptive immune system and healthspan. And perhaps someday we will be able to safely rejuvenate the thymus, or maintain its health through one’s life, and use the thymus health score to monitor. NB: I wrote this post (No A.I.) A Quick Poll Loading... ********************************************************************* Thanks to Ground Truths subscribers (now > 200,000) from every US state and 212 countries. Your subscription to these free essays and podcasts makes my work in putting them together worthwhile. Please join! If you found this interesting PLEASE share it! Share Ground Truths Paid subscriptions are voluntary and all proceeds from them go to support Scripps Research. They do allow for posting comments and questions, which I do my best to respond to. Please don’t hesitate to post comments and give me feedback. Let me know topics that you would like to see covered. Leave a comment Many thanks to those who have contributed—they have greatly helped fund our summer internship programs for the past two years. It enabled us to accept and support 47 summer interns in 2025! We aim to accept even more of the several thousand who will apply for summer 2026.
Fitchburg Public Library hosts Wisconsin Film Festival preview
FITCHBURG, Wis. — The 28th Wisconsin Film Festival is coming up in just a few short weeks, and a local library is helping get the word out.
Scientists twisted a mysterious superconductor and got a shocking result
A decades-old superconducting mystery just took a surprising turn. Strontium ruthenate, a material that conducts electricity with zero resistance at low temperatures, has long puzzled scientists with hints of an exotic, complex superconducting state. But by carefully twisting and distorting ultra-thin crystals, researchers found something unexpected: the material barely reacted at all. This challenges years of assumptions and suggests its behavior may be far simpler—or far stranger—than previously thought.
Column: Republicans fearing a midterm rout revive Islamophobia as political strategy
The latest twist on replacement theory is the idea that white Americans are in need of saving from dark-skinned "others."
79 Brilliant Memes That Brought Science And Humor Together
Let’s be honest—complex physics theories and mind-bending math problems can leave most of us staring blankly, wondering what just happened. But one thing most of us can understand is a good meme about them. Somehow, even the most complicated subjects become instantly relatable when they’re turned into a clever joke. And that’s exactly what we’ve got for you today, pandas. We’ve rounded up a bunch of science and math memes that take these “serious” subjects and give them a fun twist. You might no
My postpartum mental health meant I spent five months on a mother and baby unit
Sofii Lewis was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis tendencies and OCD after giving birth.
Speedrunner Discovers Massive Glitch In Pokémon Switch Port
Swiss runner iamClemi accidentally hit the L button while choosing a starter, but something was off
Minecraft World Opening 2027, First Look at $70 Million Project
Theme park lovers who yearn for the mines will have their wish granted in 2027 with the debut of Minecraft World, based on the popular building video game.
Wisconsin's Caroline Harvey wins Kazmaier Award as top player
Wisconsin defender Caroline Harvey voted as the winner of the Patty Kazaier Memorial Award for college women's hockey's top player.
Possible Habitability On Mars Pushed Back Millions Of Years, The Forgotten Apocalypse: Scientists Think Earth's First Mass Extinction Has Been Hidden In Plain Sight, And Much More This Week
All the biggest science news stories of the week.
Small business and entrepreneurship growth a point of focus for Secretary of State’s Office
LEWISBURG, WV (WVNS) – Entrepreneurs and small business owners in the Mountain State have gotten some extra support with the passage of new legislation. West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner me...
March Madness Day 1: Duke survives scare as UNC, Wisconsin, AJ Dybantsa go down on Thursday
Attorney general asks if Kemi Badenoch would object to Jewish public prayer
Exclusive: Richard Hermer, who is Jewish, says Tory leader and shadow minister seem ‘to only have an issue with Muslim events’
What doctors wish patients knew about social media’s health impact
From mere FOMO to anxiety and depression, social media platforms can pose harms and benefits. Three physicians discuss how to balance the positive and negative impacts.
March Madness scores, winners and losers: North Carolina, Wisconsin collapse, Nebraska makes history
The Cornhuskers celebrated a program first, while the Tar Heels and Badgers are in the news for all the worst reasons
March Madness upsets: Tracking broken NCAA tournament brackets as High Point stuns Wisconsin, VCU knocks off North Carolina in OT
New dispute emerges around Subnautica 2’s early access release
Lawyers for the ousted—and now partially reinstated—leadership team of Unknown Worlds, the studio behind Subnautica 2, are crying foul over news that the game will be released into early access in May. The release announcement earlier this week was made improperly, potentially “damaging the game and sowing additional confusion among the Subnautica community,” the lawyers said in a letter sent on Tuesday to Vice Chancellor Lori Will of Delaware’s Court of Chancery. In their letter, the lawyers also floated the idea of asking Will to find Krafton in contempt of the court’s ruling. The letter was sent just one day after Will’s bombshell ruling that publisher Krafton had breached its contract with Unknown Worlds’ executive team, when it fired them last June. The new issue isn’t necessarily the May early access timeframe, but how the news was announced. The letter and Krafton’s response have not been previously reported. A quick recap of prior events: Subnautica 2 is an unreleased, underwater survival adventure and the most-wishlisted game on Steam. Last year, longtime Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill, along with studio co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, were fired by Krafton. They swiftly sued, saying the publisher had terminated them to avoid paying out up to $250 million in potential performance-based bonuses. The studio leaders had hoped to earn that with an early access release of the game, which Krafton had blocked. The publisher argued in court that Subnautica 2 wasn’t ready, which the ousted execs disputed. On Monday, Will ruled that Krafton had violated its contract, firing the execs to avoid the performance payouts, and that it had to reinstate Gill and give him full authority over any early access release for Subnautica 2. On Tuesday, IGN reported on a new memo issued that day to Unknown Worlds staff by Steve Papoutsis, the executive Krafton had put in charge of Unknown Worlds after the 2025 firings. In the note, Papoutsis said that Subnautica 2 had passed a key development milestone “last week” and that he and Krafton had determined the game “is ready for Early Access release in May.” This news appeared to catch the lawyers for Gill, Cleveland and McGuire by surprise. On Tuesday night, they sent a letter to Will expressing “serious concerns” about whether it would be possible to forge an agreement with Krafton consistent with the judge’s order. Papoutsis’ memo was a problem, they wrote. He didn’t have the authority to declare anything about Subnautica 2’s release. As of 9am ET on Monday, March 16, the effective date of Will’s order, Papoutsis wasn’t CEO of Unknown Worlds. Gill was. And, per Will’s order, only Gill could make Subnautica 2 release decisions. They continued: Krafton self-servingly announced the launch without any regard to its impact on the game, the team, or the community—let alone this Court’s Opinion. Announcing the release of a game is momentous, and it is typically accompanied by significant marketing activity, fanfare, and community coordination. And most importantly, the announcement is carefully designed to maximize excitement for the game. That entire process was supposed to be driven by Mr. Gill. However, in defiance of the Court’s Opinion, Krafton has now taken that away, further damaging the game and sowing additional confusion among the Subnautica community. The lawyers speculated that Krafton had “intentionally leaked” Papoutsis’ memo and then issued an official statement to confirm the leak. Game File is a reader-supported publication. My reporting is only possible through support from readers like you. To support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe On Wednesday, lawyers for Krafton defended their client in their own letter to vice chancellor Will, saying nothing they did violated her order nor showed contempt: Papoutsis’s message was simply celebrating the UW employees’ efforts toward a past event: Krafton’s pre-Opinion determination that Subnautica 2 was ready for Early Access release. There was nothing improper about conveying the results of the milestone review or thanking the development team for their dedication and talent. They added that Gill could still make his own call about Subnautica 2’s release: In his role as CEO, Gill will be able to assess independently his views on the state of Subnautica 2 and the appropriate release schedule; nothing in Papoutsis’s message alters Gill’s authority or discretion. Vice chancellor Will has not responded to the letters and doesn’t necessarily have to. Both parties were previously ordered by Will to confer this week and submit a proposed judgment consistent with her ruling. The letter from Gill’s attorney’s this week doesn’t indicate whether he would or would not support a May release for Subnautica 2. But it could limit his options. And, if Gill’s lawyers are right, the lack of marketing fanfare around the leak of the May date could dull the launch of the game. Any harm to Subnautica 2’s launch is an extra sensitive issue given the context of the legal dispute: millions of dollars of payouts are on the line, tethered to the scale of the game’s initial performance. In her ruling on Monday, Will noted that there was obvious “bad blood” between Gill’s side and Krafton but that the two would need to work together: “They can—and must—act in good faith to navigate their remaining contractual relationship.” Item 2: A new kind of couch co-op game A highlight of GDC each year is the Alt.Ctrl showcase that features games played with extremely experimental controllers. Perusing this year’s offerings last Friday, I found a game controlled with giant scissors, another with big toothbrushes and one that amounted to dumpster diving. My favorite was Pivot, a co-op game about collectively maneuvering a couch. It was developed by students at the University of Utah’s masters of arts and engineering games program. Players lift and tilt the physical couch in order to control the position of a virtual one. That virtual one is moving through an obstacle course on-screen, while being pursued by a giant skull. Developer Nishant Verma told me at GDC that the couch is made of styrofoam (this became more evident as I watched!) and that the name was a riff on an episode of the sitcom Friends. Item 3: In brief… 🚫 Ubisoft is laying off more than 100 workers at its Red Storm studio, as the North Carolina location known for decades for its Tom Clancy games, ceases in-house game development, VGC reports. 👀 On Monday, Nvidia’s revealed its DLSS 5 AI-driven graphics technology that purports to improve game graphics… and it has been roasted about it by the media and the online gaming public for the remainder of the week. The tech changed the faces of characters in footage from Resident Evil Requiem, Hogwarts Legacy and EA Sports FC, drawing accusations of giving carefully art-directed games the generic look of AI “slop.” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had said on Monday that “DLSS 5 is the GPT moment for graphics—blending handcrafted rendering with generative AI to deliver a dramatic leap in visual realism while preserving the control artists need for creative expression.” By mid-week, Huang was telling Tom’s Hardware that the new tech’s critics were “completely wrong” because game-makers could still “fine-tune the generative AI” to suit their game’s aesthetics.
High Point stuns Wisconsin in the first upset of March Madness with thrilling finish
No. 12-seed High Point upset No. 5-seed Wisconsin 83-82 in the first round of the NCAA Men's Tournament at Moda Center on Tuesday in the first big upset of March Madness.
Recreation, entertainment top Foy Ranch wish list
By JUNO OGLE Daily Press Staff Outdoor recreation and entertainment were the top two results from a recent survey seeking input on what the city of Bayard could do with the 675 acres of the Foy Ranch it purchased last year — but finding out exactly what that means to people was the object of a public visioning workshop held Tuesday. “Outdoor recreation is kind of a catch-all, and we’d...
DCM Acquires Ascot Elite Entertainment As Part Of Succession Plan
Swiss Film Distribution Merger: DCM Acquires Ascot Elite Entertainment As Part Of Succession Plan
German Health Minister Nina Warken and WHO Hub in Berlin highlight 2025 achievements
Germany’s Federal Minister of Health, Nina Warken, visited the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin today to review progress and launch its 2025 Annual Report. The report highlights advances in using artificial intelligence, data science and pathogen genomics to strengthen global preparedness for future pandemics.In 2025, the WHO Hub in Berlin worked with more than 160 Member States and over 190 partners to help countries and organizations develop new systems and tools to detect and understand new public health threats as quickly as possible, whenever and wherever they occur.BMG to confirm whether they wish to contribute a quote. “Detecting outbreaks early is one of the most effective ways to save lives and prevent epidemics from becoming global crises,” said Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken. “Germany is proud to host and support the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. Its work strengthens our safety at home and helps protect people worldwide.”Artificial intelligence is increasingly transforming the detection of outbreaks. In 2025, the Hub launched an upgraded version of the Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) system, which uses enhanced AI functions to scan global online information in real time and help experts quickly identify unusual health events. The system is now used by 120 countries.To better anticipate health threats, countries need information beyond traditional health data. The Hub supports countries in implementing Collaborative Surveillance, which integrates data on climate, animals, travel, and population movement to provide a more comprehensive and real-time understanding of health threats.The Hub also expanded global access to pathogen genomics, which helps scientists detect new pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria, understand how they spread and how dangerous they may become. Through the International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN), the WHO Hub in Berlin worked with 309 partners in 101 countries to expand access to these technologies.“We are in a new era of global health threats, and we need new tools to face tomorrow’s challenges,” said Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme. “The WHO Hub in Berlin helps countries use data and technology more effectively so they can identify risks earlier and respond faster. No country can address these threats alone. Strong cooperation remains our best defence.”“Berlin offers an ideal environment for our work. We collaborate closely with world-leading institutions such as the Robert Koch Institute and the Charité Center for Global Health,” said Dr Oliver Morgan, Head of the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. “Germany has supported the WHO Hub since its establishment, and we are pleased to welcome Federal Minister Nina Warken to the Hub today. This strong partnership helps us advance innovation in pandemic and epidemic intelligence and better support countries to prepare for future health threats.”The Hub is expanding the use of advanced analytics and mathematical modelling to forecast how outbreaks may develop and to assess which response measures are most effective. Through its Collaboratory, the Hub connects modelers and analysts with governments to ensure their work addresses real public health needs. In 2025, the community grew to 1300 members from 50 countries and 200 institutions. An AI-powered pandemic simulator, currently in the prototyping phase, will help decision-makers compare outbreak scenarios and help identify effective disease control measures.
HSBC mulls job cuts that could impact around 20,000 roles, Bloomberg News reports
HSBC Holdings Plc is weighing a wave of deep job cuts over the coming years that could ultimately impact around 20,000 roles, or about 10% of its total workforce, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Baltimore County schools partners with Ray Lewis for mental health screenings
UW Health resident creates adaptive crayons for children with disabilities
MADISON, Wis. — A physical medicine and rehabilitation resident at UW Health is reimagining crayons by creating adaptive crayons for people with developmental disabilities, stemming from her past experiences.
Baltimore County schools launch mental health program with Ravens' legend Ray Lewis
Ray Lewis joins BCPS for mental health screening program in 15 schools
8 new stores, entertainment venues coming to Woodfield Mall
Lindt Swiss Master Chocolatiers has led a wave of eight new stores and entertainment venues coming to Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg this spring. Lindt is already open on the upper level Grand Court nea...
HMPV is spreading in Wisconsin. What does that mean for you?
Some respiratory viruses, especially RSV, are seeing a late winter to early spring surge in Wisconsin, public health experts say.
I moved my company from Wall Street to Florida—wish I'd done it sooner
Webull's chief of staff and head of strategic partnerships explains the benefits of moving the company's headquarters to a less saturated market.
Swatch Warns Political, Economic Challenges to Continue in 2026
Swatch Group AG is bracing for economic and political upheaval to persist this year, as the Swiss watchmaker hit out at tariffs and trade disruption that have upended the luxury industry.
Wisconsin lawmakers approve measure to allow tribes to offer online sports betting
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — As sports fans wager billions of dollars on the NCAA basketball tournaments, Wisconsin lawmakers are taking a shot at an expanded sports betting plan that could ...
Wisconsin lawmakers take a shot at joining the ranks of states allowing online sports betting
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — As sports fans wager billions of dollars on the NCAA basketball tournaments, Wisconsin lawmakers are taking a shot at an expanded sports betting plan that could bank big bucks for…
Wisconsin Senate passes bills to legalize online sports betting, establish college athlete NIL rules
The Wisconsin Senate on Tuesday passed bills to legalize online sports betting and create rules for college athlete NIL payments.
Wisconsin Senate passes online sports betting bill
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsinites are one step closer to being able to place sports wagers online.
Legislation legalizing online sports betting passes Wisconsin Senate
Online sports betting could soon be legal in Wisconsin under a bipartisan bill on its way to Gov. Tony Evers' desk.
Onetime Democratic critics elevate Joe Kent’s conspiratorial resignation letter
Democrats previously slammed Kent as an untrustworthy extremist in opposing his nomination. Now, amid his anti-Israel accusations, some argue he has a point
Sutter Health to combine with Midwest provider Allina
The Northern California health giant aims to grow its footprint with a proposed deal bringing Allina’s hospitals in Minnesota and Wisconsin under its umbrella.
Celebrating Ten Seasons of Entertainment: Thanks to our Sponsors!
This year, the City of Mentor celebrates the tenth season of entertainment at the Mentor Civic Amphitheater. When the facility opened on July 4, 2017, the city made the commitment of providing performances that members of our community might not otherwise
Holland & Knight Health Dose: March 17, 2026 | Insights
Sen. Ron Johnson (R‑Wis.) launched an investigation into recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) complete response letters for rare disease therapies.
The 13 Best St. Patrick's Day Movies to Watch
Get into the St. Patrick's Day spirit with streamworthy movies. From 2022's 'The Banshees of Inisherin' to 2024's 'Irish Wish,' here's the best films to watch in honor of the holiday on March 17.
Legalized online sports betting faces pushback before key vote
Opponents of a bipartisan bill to legalize online sports betting in Wisconsin continue to push back as the proposal is set for a vote in the Senate.
Trump said he spoke to a former president about bombing Iran. Four denials suggest otherwise.
Trump said twice Monday that he spoke to one of his predecessors about the Iran war and that the former president said he wished he had taken the action Trump did.
Gen Z Loves This Old-School Way of Shopping — But With a Twist: ‘Lines Out the Door’
Successful brands are meeting their young consumers where they want to be.
Anbernic’s Next Handheld Might Flip the Script With a Rotating Screen
Anbernic may be preparing a rotating-screen handheld that mixes smartphone nostalgia with a bold new design and a fresh twist on Android gaming.
Partisanship and science
I recently participated in a symposium of the Denver-based Institute for Science & Policy, during which I had a “fireside chat” with Tony Mills of the American Enterprise Institute. Mills has written extensively on the politicization of science, and the two of us had a very enjoyable hour-long conversation on the topic. You can watch it below. The main questions we dealt with are why there is such a vast partisan gap in trust of science, and to what extent this is a unique moment. Mills helpfully brings a good deal of data to the discussion, as he did in this useful piece at Issues in Science & Technology. Tusk depends on reader support. To support this work, please become a paid subscriber. Subscribe Note this graph, drawing on a range of survey data to demonstrate partisan attitudes toward science since 1970s. As it demonstrates, there’s been a very sharp partisan divergence in confidence in science during the Trump Era, starting prior to the Covid pandemic. At least in part, we can attribute this to a rise in populist anti-science rhetoric embraced by Trump, his appointees, and those in his media orbit. But as the graph also shows, the partisan divide has existed in the past, and it’s not always in the same direction. The largest divergence in party views toward science prior to 2016 was in the 1970s, when liberals equated scientific achievement with the military-industrial complex and thus trusted it less. That era of scientific mistrust is often overlooked. Indeed, as Mills notes, the Moon landings (1969-72), which today are considered one of the last great moments of national unity, were experienced nothing like that at the time. There was sharp debate back then over whether the Apollo missions were worth the vast expenditures when the country had so much else to deal with. It’s outside the dataset, and we don’t have the partisanship lens for it, but the 1950s was another deeply anti-science decade, with critics of intellectuals and college professors alleging their ties to communism and their lack of commitment to basic American moral beliefs. This was the subject of Richard Hofstadter’s 1962 book Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, in which he quotes religious leaders like Franklin Graham: [In place of the Bible] we substituted reason, rationalism, mind culture, science worship, the working power of government, Freudianism, naturalism, humanism, behaviorism, positivism, materialism, and idealism. [This is the work of] so-called intellectuals. Thousands of these “intellectuals” have publicly stated that morality is relative—that there is no norm or absolute standard.… This fervor was heavily whipped up by Sen. Joe McCarthy (R-Wisconsin), although it’s clear that not all his fellow Republicans were on board with his red-baiting. What ended that era? The simple answer is the 1957 launch of Sputnik. Americans became afraid that they were losing to Soviet scientists, and suddenly university researchers and government projects were awash with funding. In our conversation, I asked Mills about the possibility of us having a Sputnik moment again that would rally the American public in favor of science today. Mills argued that the COVID-19 pandemic was essentially a Sputnik moment — a terrifying threat to all Americans that required scientific advances to address. But thanks in part to political polarization and the populist and conspiratorial leanings of Donald Trump, we got the opposite of a unifying moment. Many Americans turned against science, despite science actually stepping up in that moment. As we discussed in the chat, it’s not clear what scientists could or should be doing in this moment to increase faith in their work. As Mills notes, one of the chief complaints against scientists and professors is that they’ve become too political; scholars becoming even more political might not help them achieve their goals. This (mainly Republican-driven) anti-science era will end, of course, but it’s not clear what event will bring that about. Share
A strange twist in the universe’s oldest light may be bigger than we thought
Scientists studying a mysterious effect called cosmic birefringence—a subtle twist in the polarization of the universe’s oldest light—have developed a new way to reduce uncertainty in how it’s measured. This faint rotation in the cosmic microwave background could point to entirely new physics, including hidden particles such as axions and clues about dark matter or dark energy.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra has a major display flaw that cheap Android phones solved years ago
Forget the Galaxy S26 Ultra's Privacy Display — I wish Samsung would finally care about PWM dimming and eye comfort features.
Syngenta to build $120mn agricultural science centre in UK
Investment by Swiss-based group contrasts with pharma companies withdrawing funding from British research facilities
Wisconsin will lose to High Point, CBS Sports’ Clark Kellogg predicts
Should Wisconsin basketball be on upset alert in March Madness? CBS Sports’ Clark Kellogg says Badgers will lose in the first round.
Eagles' Dallas Goedert signing comes with A.J. Brown trade update
The Philadelphia Eagles made a wise roster move on Sunday.
‘Still/Here’ returns to Wisconsin Union Theater after three decades
The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company will bring a new generation of dancers with video clips that accompanied the piece on the same stage in 1994.
Resident Evil Requiem’s scariest moment actually comes from Leon’s campaign
In a surprise twist, Resident Evil Requiem's scariest moment doesn't come from the defenselessness of Grace; it actually happens while playing as Leon.
How much Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, other gig workers made per hour in 2025
Taskrabbit, Walmart's Spark, and Uber were among the gig-work services with the highest hourly rates in 2025, new data from Gridwise found.
Wisconsin sets official visits with two class of 2027 lineman
A pair of lineman have set visits with the Wisconsin Badgers. Both are Class of 2027 recruits, though neither are in-state targets.
Chinese GP: Kimi Antonelli claims maiden F1 win from George Russell as Lewis Hamilton gets first Ferrari podium in Shanghai
Scientists tested vitamin D for COVID and found an unexpected long COVID clue
A major clinical trial has delivered an unexpected twist in the search for ways to fight COVID-19 and its lingering effects. Researchers at Mass General Brigham found that taking high doses of vitamin D3 did not make COVID-19 infections less severe or reduce hospital visits. However, the study uncovered a subtle but intriguing signal suggesting that people who consistently took vitamin D supplements might be slightly less likely to develop long COVID symptoms weeks after infection.
Pewamo-Westphalia outlasts Lewis Lovejoy eruption for D-3 MHSAA state title
Pewamo-Westphalia beat Arts and Technology Academy of Pontiac, 61-57, in the Division 3 boys basketball state championship on Saturday, March 14.
Believe in Belvedere Community Fair provides mental health resources
Bel-Ridge Baptist Church’s Believe in Belvedere Community Fair provided mental health resources to those who may not be able to get access to them otherwise.
These WI Rapids businesses & churches closed March 15 due to snowstorm
Here's a list of businesses and churches in the Wisconsin Rapids area that have announced closures for March 15 because of the forecasted snowstorm.
The world’s oldest wild bird has a new grandchick
Biologists have been tracking Wisdom, the roughly 75-year-old Laysan albatross, since the 1950s.
2026 Big Ten Tournament bracket, scores, schedule as semifinal matchups set in Chicago
Find the latest on the 2026 Big Ten Tournament, including the bracket, scores, schedule and more
Linux Finally Catches Up to Windows with a Game-Changing Performance Feature
For years, the Linux kernel’s scheduler has been world‑class at balancing loads, yet it missed a crucial, cache‑aware instinct. In modern multi‑core systems, that gap can turn into measurable latency, especially when threads bounce between cores that don’t share the same cache. A new upstream feature, often called Cache Aware Scheduling, is now set to change that equation. A cache‑savvy scheduler arrives At the heart of any OS, the scheduler decides which thread runs where and for how long. In modern CPUs, small private caches (L1 and L2) sit beside each core, while a larger Last Level Cache (LLC, typically L3) is shared among groups of cores. When a task migrates across LLC boundaries, its warm data may vanish from the cache, forcing slower trips to main memory. Cache Aware Scheduling keeps related tasks close to their shared LLC, reducing destructive migrations. By respecting cache topology, the kernel minimizes cold‑start penalties and preserves locality that many workloads desperately need. The result is less thrashing, fewer memory stalls, and more consistent throughput. "Keep tasks close to their data, and the system will keep performance close to its peak." Why this narrows the Windows gap Windows has long leaned on topology‑aware, cache‑sensitive heuristics, especially since the Windows 10 era. That advantage helped Microsoft handle hybrid designs with P‑cores and E‑cores, plus complex cluster and NUMA layouts. With cache awareness integrated upstream, Linux brings parity to this vital dimension, without sacrificing its trademark flexibility. The Linux approach remains deeply configurable, reflecting the ecosystem’s breadth across servers, desktops, and embedded devices. It layers atop existing NUMA‑balancing and energy‑aware logic, refining placement rather than reinventing the wheel. Crucially, it aligns scheduling with the hardware’s real shape, not just with abstract CPU counts. Real‑world gains and who benefits Early tests on Intel Sapphire Rapids platforms point to gains in the 30–45% range for select workloads. Those wins appear in cache‑sensitive tasks like in‑memory analytics, high‑thread compilation, and microservices with tight working‑sets. Games and latency‑bound engines can also feel steadier frame‑times, especially when threads share hot assets. The benefits extend to AMD’s 3D V‑Cache parts, where keeping threads near enlarged cache slices prevents needless misses. Hybrid x86 designs with performance and efficiency cores further profit when cache and core roles are scheduled in concert. Even handhelds running SteamOS can squeeze more out of limited power, translating cache locality into smoother play. Key advantages include: Lower end‑to‑end latency Fewer expensive misses to RAM Better multi‑socket and NUMA behavior Improved energy efficiency More predictable QoS under mixed loads Stronger scaling on dense servers Caveats, tuning, and rollout No scheduler change is purely free, and trade‑offs still exist. Favoring locality can reduce cross‑cluster balance if limits are set too tight. Likewise, fairness and utilization must remain healthy, especially under heterogeneous, bursty workloads. Linux’s implementation is designed to be measured and tunable, not a blunt instrument. It cooperates with energy‑aware scheduling for mobile efficiency, and with NUMA‑balancers on big iron. Expect architecture‑specific refinements as vendors surface richer topology hints and cache‑sharing maps. Upstream integration has begun, with broad distribution adoption likely over the next cycles. Many users will encounter the change through standard kernel updates in 2025–2026, depending on distro cadence. Server‑class kernels may enable or tune it sooner for targeted fleets where cache locality is money in the bank. How to think about performance impact Cache Aware Scheduling amplifies gains when your workload is both CPU‑bound and cache‑sensitive. Think tight inner loops, hot code paths, and datasets that fit snugly in shared LLC. It’s less dramatic for I/O‑bound services or memory‑hungry tasks that blow past cache capacity. Still, even modest locality improvements often translate into smoother tail‑latency, which is where user experience and SLAs typically break. Developers can further help by pinning related threads, batching work, and aligning data to reduce cross‑cluster chatter. The scheduler’s new awareness works best when applications expose good hints. The bottom line By understanding and honoring cache topology, Linux removes a subtle yet costly bottleneck. The kernel’s smarter placement keeps hot data hot and work near where it belongs. That narrows a long‑standing gap with Windows, while preserving the openness and tunability Linux champions. For gamers, creators, and operators, the payoff is practical: more consistent frames, faster builds, and snappier services. For the ecosystem, it’s another step toward hardware‑savvy scheduling that turns transistor complexity into real‑world speed. And for Linux itself, it’s a timely upgrade that matches today’s silicon with tomorrow’s expectations.
Chinese GP Sprint: George Russell wins for Mercedes after thrilling battle with Lewis Hamilton in Shanghai
Nyne, founded by a father-son duo, gives AI agents the human context they’re missing
The data infrastructure startup raised $5.3 million in seed funding led by Wischoff Ventures and South Park Commons
Without NIL bill, Wisconsin AD Chris McIntosh says ‘everything is on the table’
Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh said 'everything is on the table' and did not rule out cutting sports.
Researchers develop AI tool to predict patients at risk of intimate partner violence
NIH-funded, automated clinical decision support could facilitate timely interventions for at-risk patients years before they might otherwise seek help.
Big Ten basketball tournament scores, results: Wisconsin, Ohio State, Purdue, UCLA advance
Satwik-Chirag in Swiss Open quarters, India vs Italy in FIH WCQ, IFL continues: Indian Sports LIVE March 13
Here are all the updates from Indian sports on March 13, 2026.
Big Ten basketball tournament live updates, scores, results: Wisconsin, Ohio State, Purdue advance
Blight: Survival Remerges After 1.5 Million Steam Wishlists and a Viral Trailer With a New Look at Gameplay
Blight: Survival has reemerged with a new gameplay trailer — and its developers are promising big news in 2026 after a whopping 1.5 million Steam wishlists.
These swing voters don’t like or understand the reason for the war in Iran
NPR reporters observed focus groups of 12 swing voters from Michigan. We discuss their thoughts on the war in Iran and what they wish President Trump would focus on.This episode: voting correspondent Miles Parks, political correspondent Ashley Lopez, and senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson.This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.
Sen. Welch: Trump administration promises on gas prices are ‘wishful thinking’ amid war with Iran
Ferrari using innovative ‘flip-flop’ wing at Chinese Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari are trying something different at the Chinese Grand Prix
Satwik-Chirag in Swiss Open second round: Indian Sports LIVE, March 12
Here are all the updates from Indian sports on March 12, 2026.
Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses Sue Texas Comptroller over Contracting Program’s Conversion + Cancellation
Takeaways
‘The Floor’: Season 5 Premiere Date & ‘Game-Changing Twist’ Revealed
Find out what's new when the Rob Lowe-hosted show returns.
NH's Harvey among top-3 finalists for Patty Kazmaier award
New Hampshire native and University of Wisconsin defenseman Caroline Harvey was announced on Wednesday as a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award.
Wisconsin football extends offer to recently decommitted Louisville QB
The Wisconsin Badgers wasted no time extending an offer to recently decommitted Louisville four-star quarterback Jack Sorgi.
NFL world reacts to Bears signing DL Kentavius Street
The Chicago Bears are adding defensive line depth with the signing of Kentavius Street.
Burnham Says His Bond Market Remarks Were ‘Twisted for Political Reasons’
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester and potential leadership challenger to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said his comments last year that Britain was “in hock” to the bond markets had been “twisted for political reasons,” and blamed successive Westminster governments for failing to boost growth.
Rates for most vaccines in children and teens are declining, Wisconsin health officials say
Health officials are urging families to check on their children's immunization records before traveling for spring break.
How many women hold elected office in Wisconsin? Here are the stats
In 2025, women held 27% of elected offices, a new state report finds. Wisconsin has made strides in the judicial branch and state Legislature.
Round Up: The Reviews Are In For Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection
Here's what the critics had to say
Wisconsin businesses to be impacted by hemp ruling
Governor Tony Evers sent a letter to Congress a week and a half ago warning that the new federal hemp law will hurt Wisconsin’s economy.
Iran War Overshadows Midterms as Democrats Focus on Economy
Democrats are focused on the economy, while Republicans wish they were focused on the economy.
1,200 fewer Wisconsin 2-year-olds were up-to-date on vaccines in 2025
New data from Wisconsin Department of Health Services show that in 2025, about 67% of children received a series of seven vaccines recommended by the 24-month mark.
Finger in the Wind Politics and the Israel Scapegoat
The shift in Newsom’s rhetoric tells us far more about the political winds swirling inside the Democratic Party than it does about Israel.
How Taiwan Is Reclaiming Its Wine Identity—Through Climate-Adaptive Science and Terroir-Driven Fermentation
Trump said he ended a war in Africa. U.S. sanctions say otherwise.
The administration says Rwandan-backed militants violated a Trump-brokered peace accord within days.
While people feel the foundations of their lives are shaking, this deep political crisis will continue
The partisan debate since the Gorton and Denton byelection risks blinding us to the truth. People are rejecting wholesale the way our politics has developed, says Labour MP Clive Lewis
San Antonio archbishop: Profit, politics play roles in inhumane migrant treatment
"These detention centers … cannot have empty beds, because otherwise they don't make money," said Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller. "It's business, business, business, business, business."
Dane County businesses struggle under Trump tariff burden
MIDDLETON, Wis. — Small businesses across Dane County are grappling with mounting financial pressure from federal tariffs, with many saying they lack the resources to challenge the policies in court
Lonza hands off capsule business to investment firm Lone Star in $3B deal
Lonza is at long last shedding its capsules and health ingredients (CHI) business in a private equity sale that could see proceeds of 3 billion Swiss francs ($4 billion) or more. | Under the deal with Lone Star Funds, Lonza maintains a 40% stake in its capsules and health ingredients business while receiving 1.7 billion Swiss francs ($2.2 billion) upfront.
Finding Strength in Community: Heather’s Mental Health Journey
In light of new research from Special Olympics Health published in JAMA Network Open, Renee Dease, a longstanding member of the Special Olympics movement, sat down with Special Olympics Wisconsin athlete and Health Messenger, Heather Holland, to talk about mental health, stigma, and the power of community.