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Emily Gregory is Donald Trump's new state representative and a new hope for Democrats in Florida
Florida state Rep.-elect Emily Gregory is the latest face of Democrats' optimism after she won a special legislative election in President Donald Trump's home state House district. Florida Democrats...
Amazon all-day delivery test could reshape logistics
As part of the plan, Amazon benchmarked similar services from Walmart, Instacart, DoorDash, and UberEats, internal document shows.
Essentia Health-Duluth Clinic welcomes Mariah O’Connell to practice family medicine
Mariah O’Connell, an advanced practice registered nurse and certified nurse practitioner specializing in family medicine, is thrilled to join the Essentia Health-Duluth Clinic.
Essentia Health-Duluth Clinic welcomes Marijah Harney-Tolo to practice dermatology
Marijah Harney-Tolo, an advanced practice registered nurse and certified nurse practitioner specializing in dermatology, is thrilled to join the Essentia Health-Duluth Clinic.
READY, SET, IMPLEMENT! Lifelines in Crisis: Prioritizing Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health in Humanitarian, Conflict and Climate-affected Settings
This dialogue is part of PMNCH’s Ready, Set, Influence series, bringing together policymakers, humanitarian leaders, donors, and grassroots experts. The webinar will focus on accelerating the implementation of health commitments within humanitarian affairs, specifically focusing on the need for integrated, rights-based health services that remain resilient in the face of conflict, disaster and climate events.
Florida Democrat flips seat in special election in district that includes Trump’s Mar-a-Lago
Democrat Emily Gregory won a Florida special election on Tuesday, flipping a state legislative district that is home to Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach estate that President Donald Trump counts as his residence. The president had endorsed Gregory’s rival, Jon Maples. In a social media post Monday, he urged voters to turn out, saying Maples was backed “by so many of my Palm Beach County friends.” READ MORE: Trump casts Florida ballot by mail as he
Glyphosate: A story of science, risk, and nuance
In the summer of 2014, a California groundskeeper named Dewayne Johnson started noticing patches of raw, weeping skin spreading across his body. He had spent years applying Roundup, Monsanto’s glyphosate-based herbicide, for a school district, sometimes drenched in it when equipment malfunctioned. By 2014, he had a diagnosis: non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In 2018, a jury awarded him $289 million in damages, later reduced on appeal. Tens of thousands of lawsuits followed. The story hasn’t quieted down. It’s all over the internet, swinging between “this will kill you, buy organic” and “relax, you’re fear-mongering.” Some of that recent chatter stems from an Executive Order protecting glyphosate and its production, which set off intense infighting within the MAHA movement. Some of it reflects a deeper truth: Americans genuinely care about harmful chemicals in their environment (see poll below). And the conversation isn’t going anywhere, with a Supreme Court case involving Monsanto set for this April. Glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) is one of the most widely used herbicides in the world. But does glyphosate cause cancer? And how much exposure is actually risky? With so much mistrust in institutions and corporations (and some genuine conflicts of interest), making sense of the actual scientific evidence is genuinely hard. Here is a translation of what the scientific evidence actually says. Does glyphosate cause harm? Glyphosate is an herbicide that kills most plants it contacts rather than targeting specific species. It works by blocking an enzyme pathway (EPSPS) that plants and many microorganisms need to produce essential amino acids. Without those amino acids, the plant can’t grow and dies. Glyphosate was first developed by Monsanto in the 1970s and became ubiquitous after the company introduced “Roundup Ready” crops in the 1990s. In 2024, Bayer removed glyphosate from residential Roundup-branded products due to litigation pressure. But today it is still the most widely used herbicide in the world. Farmers also discovered they could spray it directly on crops like oats, lentils, beans, and peas just before harvest to dry them out faster and make harvesting easier. Because of its widespread use, it’s obviously really important to understand if it’s harmful to humans. The key principle: The dose makes the poison The most important concept in toxicology is that “the dose makes the poison.” Sixteenth-century physician Paracelsus articulated what remains the foundational principle of toxicology: sola dosis facit venenum. Water will kill you if you drink enough of it. Aspirin saves lives at 81 milligrams and causes internal bleeding at higher chronic doses. So, at what dose is glyphosate poisonous? The LD50 in rats (the dose that kills half the test animals) is around 5,600 mg/kg body weight. Table salt is roughly 3,000 mg/kg. By that classic measure, glyphosate is less acutely toxic than salt. But some people are exposed to a lot of glyphosate through their work. And among the general public, there are many questions about low-dose, cumulative exposure from multiple sources over long periods. Does glyphosate cause health problems? Cancer Correlation maps are striking, with one analysis finding that 60% of counties that spray the most glyphosate have non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma rates above the national average. But correlation alone doesn’t establish cause, which is why animal and human studies matter. In animals: Rat studies are typically what most fear is rooted in, but most people don’t know the study details on the dosage given to rats. A pooled analysis of the 13 most rigorous rat studies found evidence that very high doses, around 55,000 times greater than typical food residue exposure, can cause certain cancers. In humans: One of the strongest studies followed 55,000 herbicide users over 20 years and found no overall increased cancer risk. There was one signal: among those with the highest use, rates of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) appeared elevated. A broader meta-analysis of 18 human studies also found no overall cancer risk, though a separate meta-analysis focused specifically on non-Hodgkin lymphoma found that people with high cumulative glyphosate exposure faced a 41% higher relative risk compared to those with low or no exposure. These human studies are observational studies (randomized controlled trials would be unethical), and meta-analyses are only as reliable as the studies they pool. But the story seems consistent: at very high exposure levels, there may be some cancer risk. But that’s about as far as the science currently takes us. Emerging research: gut and reproductive health Gut: Because glyphosate targets a pathway that exists in some gut bacteria, scientists have questioned whether it could affect the microbiome. In mice, a 2023 University of Iowa study found that glyphosate altered gut bacterial composition and raised markers of intestinal inflammation. A 2024 systematic review found similar patterns: disrupted gut bacteria and problems with the mucus layer that protects the intestinal wall in mice. Whether this translates to humans is an open question. The human gut is highly variable and resistant, and we don't yet have strong studies confirming the same effects in people. Reproductive health: Animal studies have found that glyphosate-based herbicides can interfere with reproductive hormones, including disrupting egg cell development in mice and reducing the number of eggs available in sheep’s ovaries. However, the doses used in these experiments were high, so it’s not yet clear whether the same effects would occur in humans. On the human side, a 2021 pilot study led by Mount Sinai researchers tested urine samples from pregnant women across the U.S. and found glyphosate in 95% of them. The study also found a possible connection between higher glyphosate exposure during pregnancy and a subtle physical difference measured in female newborns. That said, some connections weren’t statistically reliable and this was a small study. The researchers themselves said more and larger studies are needed before drawing firm conclusions. What do regulators say about glyphosate safety? In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans" (Group 2A). The classification is worth taking seriously. But, there’s an important distinction: IARC classifies hazard, meaning the potential to cause harm under some conditions. It does not assess risk, which accounts for actual exposure levels and the real-world probability of harm. The U.S. EPA, the European Food Safety Authority, Health Canada, and regulatory agencies in Australia and Japan have all concluded that glyphosate is “unlikely to be carcinogenic to humans” at realistic exposure levels. They’re asking a different question: given how much of this people actually encounter, what is the probability of harm? Your actual exposure is what determines your actual risk. What does glyphosate mean for your daily life? At the grocery store: Food residues are small. The EPA’s acceptable daily intake is 1.75 mg/kg of body weight per day. To hit that threshold from oatmeal alone, a 150-pound adult would need to eat roughly 50 pounds of oats every day. But this calculation addresses only one pathway (food), and we don’t yet have robust tools to measure people’s actual total exposure. If reducing exposure matters to you, organic certification prohibits synthetic herbicides, and organic oat products generally test at lower or undetectable levels. Either way, a diet rich in whole grains, conventional or organic, is far better for your health than one that omits them out of fear of residues. On the farm: Occupational exposure is orders of magnitude higher than consumer exposure. Farmers and farm workers who mix, load, and apply glyphosate-based herbicides, especially without protective equipment, face meaningfully different risk profiles. Proper PPE isn’t optional. Integrated weed management strategies that rotate chemical modes of action are also worth taking seriously, both for health and for long-term effectiveness. If you live near a farm: Spray drift is real. Concentrations near field edges can spike during and after application, particularly on windy days. This is an area where I think public health could really step up and empower rural communities with buffer zones, rather than placing the onus on individuals. But for now, knowing your local agricultural calendar and keeping windows closed during application are the first steps. Bottom line Dewayne Johnson was exposed to glyphosate at levels most people will never encounter, and a jury decided he deserved compensation. That outcome is not evidence that the oatmeal in your pantry is dangerous. But it is a reminder that the dose, the context, and the person doing the exposing all matter enormously. Glyphosate is a chemical tool with benefits, trade-offs, and genuine open scientific questions. Learning to hold that complexity without collapsing into panic or dismissal is, honestly, one of the most useful and hardest things to do in navigating modern health science. Love, YLE Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) is founded and operated by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, MPH PhD—an epidemiologist, wife, and mom of two little girls. Hannah Totte, MPH, is an epidemiologist and YLE Community Manager. YLE reaches more than 425,000 people in over 132 countries with one goal: “Translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people will be well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. This newsletter is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support the effort, subscribe or upgrade below: Subscribe
How to make emergency rooms safer for people with dementia
In today's Morning Rounds newsletter: A federal vaccine adviser departs ACIP, adults turn to AI chatbots for health info, and radiologists sift through deepfake X-rays.
Health Rounds: Fake X-rays created by AI fool radiologists and even AI itself
Fake X-ray images created by artificial intelligence to resemble true results from human patients can fool not only experienced radiologists but also the AI tools themselves, according to a study that illustrates the potential for manipulation by bad actors.
Entire Apple Watch range slashed up to 57% – including standout lightning deal
Apple Watches past and present get price slashed in the Amazon Spring Sale.
Maine governor candidate Shah releases elder care plan
His multi-part plan proposes to address workforce shortages in long-term care, work with the Legislature to invest nearly $10 million a year in facilities that serve older Mainers and expand in-home services.
USA TODAY Sports Network picks for Iowa State vs Tennessee in Sweet 16
USA TODAY Sports Network picks for Iowa State vs Tennessee in Sweet 16.
VOTE: Did the Pirates make the right call with Konnor Griffin?
Did the Bucs make the right call?
Le Bris 'at his brilliant best' to mastermind derby win
Leading up to Sunday's derby at Newcastle, all the talk centred around which of our injured players might be available and it ended up becoming a bit of a distraction from what was actually important - the players who were definitely fit to play their part. While I'm sure Regis le Bris would have loved a fully fit squad, he is not daft enough to get too distracted by the possibilities of having several of his walking wounded involved at the last minute. It meant that while Newcastle were distracted by European football, we were on the training ground figuring out how we were going to walk away from St James' Park with three points.
Wisconsin passes legislation requiring insurers to cover supplemental breast imaging
Dubbed "Gail's Law" after a breast cancer care advocate, the passage follows years of advocacy from radiologists and patients.
Ballot box upset: Democrats flip Florida legislative seat in Trump’s stomping ground
Trump-endorsed Republican Jon Maples loses to Democrat Emily Gregory in a Florida House District 87 special election in Palm Beach, home to President Donald Trump
KY leader testifies in support of bill to expand Mammoth Cave National Park
Two Kentucky lawmakers on Capitol Hill are pushing to expand the sprawling park through legislation.
Highly and casually active citizen scientists contribute equally valuable data
The word "nemotia" is a neologism, a newly coined term that in this case, describes the sense of overwhelmingness and disconnect accompanying the thought that nothing you do will ever make a difference. ...
Kansas Legislature's negotiators on education bills drop sports ban tied to Christian calendar
Senate and House negotiators removed from a bill a mandate to dramatically expand periods in which schools could schedule sports activities for students.
Nancy Bostock lands support from majority of Pinellas legislative delegation
'Our students and parents deserve leaders at every level of government who will work together to put them first.'
Paranovus sells 14.3M shares at 35 cents to raise $5M
A single institutional investor agreed to buy the shares, with closing set for about March 25. Paranovus says net proceeds will fund working capital.
Hochul reiterates legislative proposals on ghost gun crackdown
Those include requiring all 3D printers sold in New York state have technology stopping it from creating anything related to ghost gun parts.
Santa Cruz County business filings: Week of March 24
Businesses operating in Santa Cruz County must register with the county clerk. Lookout Santa Cruz reviews the public filings from local businesses to report on new businesses starting in the area.
Stony Brook Southampton Educators Earn Suffolk County Recognition for Science, Sustainability and Service
Suffolk County Legislator Ann E. Welker recognized educators from Stony Brook Southampton during the March 10 general meeting of the Suffolk County Legislature and the Women of Distinction luncheon, both held in Riverhead, NY. Wendy Pearson, vice president for strategic initiatives at Stony Brook University and executive director for Stony Brook Southampton, received a 2026 Woman
These Creatures Have One Cell and No Brain. Scientists Just Discovered They Can Learn.
In 1897 Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov proved that animals can be trained using associative learning. A new study finds that even single-celled organisms can behave like “Pavlov's dog.”
H-1B Health Care Workforce Bill Introduced
On March 17, Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17) introduced the H–1Bs for Physicians and the Healthcare Workforce Act , bipartisan legislation with Reps. Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27), and Yvette Clarke (NY-09). This legisla...
Registration opens for hands-on ocean science program for teachers this summer
Registration has officially opened for BLOOM Educators, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences' professional development program offering hands-on training for middle and high school teachers.
Cone Health Cardiologist Named 2026 RISE Health Care Hero
Dr. Kardie Tobb wins National Award
ICE officers at airports a ‘test run’ for midterms, Steve Bannon suggests
Former White House strategist says current situation at airports will help ‘really perfect ICE’s involvement in the 2026 midterm elections’
A Veteran Group Jumps In for a Democrat in Iowa Senate Race.
VoteVets is the first super PAC to intervene in the race for Josh Turek, a state legislator who was born with spina bifida after his father was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam.
Florida Democrats hope in special election to flip a state legislative district that includes Mar-a-Lago
Democrats in Florida are hoping to capitalize on the party’s recent special election overperformances and come out on top Tuesday in a special state House election for a Palm Beach district that includes President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
French Business Lobby Doesn’t See Inflation Surging on Iran War
France’s largest business lobby, Medef, doesn’t see inflation surging because of the Iran war, the organization’s chief said on Tuesday.
Mobile sports betting may soon be legal across Wisconsin
Online sports betting could soon be legal in Wisconsin through a new bill passed by the state legislature, which awaits signature by Gov. Tony Evers. The bill passed with bipartisan support in the state Senate Wednesday, with 12 Democrats and nine Republicans voting in favor, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The bill revises the...
Stopping GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic erodes heart health benefits quickly, new study finds
Stopping GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic quickly erodes heart protection, with two years off the medication raising cardiovascular risk by 22%, a new study finds.
Dems hope for long-shot upset in SD 14 Special Election between Josie Tomkow, Brian Nathan
Early voting, voter registration and fundraising data suggests Nathan will come up short, but there could be a silver lining for Democrats.
UCI Health lays off 150 workers as part of restructuring
UCI Health said the cuts were prompted by a changing environment that includes shifts in federal funding, reimbursement pressures and rising operational costs,
Group abandons Michigan minimum wage ballot campaign
A group seeking to reverse changes the state Legislature made last year to Michigan's tipped and minimum wage laws is abandoning its efforts for now.
After patient deaths, Idaho budget committee approves restoring cut Medicaid mental health programs
The Idaho Legislature will consider restoring mental health programs the state cut to comply with the governor’s order for budget cuts.
Oura Ring 5 leak reveals design tweaks and Deep Rose finish
The Oura Ring 5 has surfaced in a leak showing design tweaks and colour options. An FCC registration hints the device may launch in 2026.
AI attack ads are hitting Massachusetts political campaigns
Lawmakers are considering new legislation to regulate the use of AI in political advertising. Have you spotted them?
Q&A with Brain Health Expert Dr. James Galvin
The Miller School neurologist describes a new Brain Health Index that uses machine learning to measure brain health.
Register for 25Live trainings at Health Sciences Center
The Facilities Planning and Scheduling team will provide a 25Live training session from 2-3 p.m. April 8 at the Health Sciences Center, Room 2912.
Data centers under scrutiny by California lawmakers as fears rise about health and energy impacts
Due to health and energy concerns, the California Legislature is considering bills to prohibit data centers from being exempted from the state's stringent environmental law and impose new tariffs on new major energy users that strain power supplies.
Exclusive | Lawmakers to Introduce Bipartisan Bill Banning Sports Bets on Prediction Markets
A bipartisan pair of U.S. senators are introducing legislation to prohibit CFTC-regulated entities from listing contracts related to sporting events.
How Obama’s Strategist Discouraged Biden From Running in 2016
In a new set of oral histories, David Plouffe, President Barack Obama’s political adviser, described how he urged Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. not to challenge Hillary Clinton for the nomination.
Commentary: Keep Kentucky judges judging and leave politics to politicians
A provision in House Bill 534 would invite judicial candidates to disclose their political party affiliation and their current and past voter registration, including “communicating political values or viewpoints consistent with his or her party affiliation.”
Lessons from Binghamton led alumni award winner to public health
Clare Biging ’16 is an epidemiologist and public health advocate at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Man Born with ‘Butterfly Syndrome’ Is Fighting for Change for ‘the Worst Disease You’ve Never Heard of’ (Exclusive)
Ohio resident Shane DiGiovanna, who has the rare disorder epidermolysis bullosa (EB), is advocating for legislation to help cover costly medical bandages for patients with the disease, which is also known as ‘butterfly syndrome.’
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.
Crimson Desert admits it used generative AI for "early-stage iteration" and apologises AI images were not replaced before release
Crimson Desert developer Pearl Abyss has responded to claims its latest game used AI to generate images, admitting "2D …
Oscar-Winning Alumnus Returns to Pasadena’s ArtCenter for Entertainment Design Expo
One week after winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, KPop Demon Hunters co-director Chris Appelhans returns today to ArtCenter College of Design, the Pasadena campus where he studied illustration, for the college’s third annual Entertainment Design Expo. The expo, known as ENTX, opens the Hillside Campus to the public for a full day of gallery exhibitions, game playtesting, animation screenings and interactive experiences featuring work from more than 200 ArtCenter students and alumni. General admission is free with advance registration. Two industry panels — including Appelhans’s talk — require $15 tickets. Appelhans, who graduated from ArtCenter with a bachelor of fine arts in 2002, co-directed KPop Demon Hunters with Maggie Kang. The animated film, produced by Sony Pictures Animation and released on Netflix, became the streaming platform’s most-watched film in history, according to Netflix, and swept awards season with wins at the Golden Globes, the Annie Awards and the Grammys before taking the Oscar on March 15. His talk and audience Q&A is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. in the Ahmanson Auditorium. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. The film’s ArtCenter ties extend beyond its co-director. Art director Angela Sung, cinematographer Gary H. Lee, visual development artist Celine Kim and painter Simon Baek are all ArtCenter graduates who worked on the production, according to the college. The free portions of ENTX include a concept design showcase, a production design gallery, a model gallery, a stop motion studio preview, an alumni gallery and a KPop Demon Hunters fan art gallery. Visitors can also playtest games designed by ArtCenter students. An Animation Shorts Showcase runs from 2 to 3 p.m. and includes “Boy, I’m Scared,” a capstone short by ArtCenter graduate Lindsey Tenaglia that was named a semifinalist for the 2025 Student Academy Awards in the animation category. Also screening
Golden Knights intent on igniting sluggish offense vs. Stars
With 12 games left in the regular season, it's fair to say that things are trending in the wrong direction for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Burcum: UCare collapsed. The Legislature needs to ask why.
"How did UCare, one of Minnesota’s largest health insurers, go from posting record earnings for 2022 to collapsing in 2025?" columnist Jill Burcum writes.
Politics: Iowa Senate majority leader outlines plans for coming weeks
Second funnel week concluded in the Iowa Legislature, meaning that lawmakers’ focus can return to funding, appropriations and other types of specific bills that don’t respond to the Legislature’s self-imposed
Bridging medical realities in the study of technology and health
Anthropologist and MIT Associate Professor Amy Moran-Thomas studies medical technologies and how they fail to reach some communities. “What anthropology has to offer the world, and other knowledge systems, is the insights of people that might be missing from many accounts,” she says.
Fact-checking Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on the effects of the SAVE America Act
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the SAVE America Act would require in-person voter registration, “something only 5% of Americans do today." The act would require that, but the rate of in-person registrations is higher than Schumer said.
The light and darkness of the Kristaps Porziņģis Experience hits the Warriors
The light and darkness of the Kristaps Porziņģis Experience has hit the Golden State Warriors after the big man exited Friday's game with back spasms.
Orange County restaurants shut down by health inspectors (March 12-19)
There were 11 restaurants and food establishments ordered closed by Orange County inspectors from March 12 to March 19.
Crimson Desert Dev to Patch PS5 RPG's 'Uncomfortable' Controls
Apologises for launch day issues
MAGA says the SAVE America Act is crucial. A new poll shows Americans don’t agree
To hear some prominent MAGA voices tell it, the marathon Senate debate over the “SAVE America Act” is an existential one for the Republican Party. But the urgency to pass the legislation is not felt by Americans more widely.
'That's why there's 9 billion of us and not 9 billion of some other primate': Why our ability to adapt is humanity's 'superpower'
Live Science spoke with Herman Pontzer, an evolutionary anthropologist and author of the book "Adaptable," about the science of human diversity.
Community's Choice Awards spotlight: Affiliated Dermatologists
Milwaukee Top Choice Community’s Choice Awards nominations are almost done. Don’t ghost your favorite local businesses.
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...
Readers Write: The size of the Legislature, Markwayne Mullin, voter ID, science fiction
Expand the Minnesota House by one? Think bigger.
Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved limiting money in politics. Then politicians had their say.
Oregon’s Democratic-controlled Legislature approved a bill that supporters described as containing little more than technical fixes to what they’d written two years ago.
How writing fiction made me a better business strategist
Writing fiction sharpened my strategic thinking in ways no workshop could — here's how I use a novelist's mindset to solve complex business problems.
We're told eyewitness testimoney isn't reliable. But new science says it might be
Psychologist John Wixted says that through the course of a criminal investigation, an eyewitnesses memory can be influenced and altered. But under the right conditions, that testimony can be reliable.
Regularly Playing This 1 Online Game May Reduce Dementia Risk by 25%
In TODAY.com's Expert Tip of The Day, a neurologist explains how playing games that build cognitive speed can protect against dementia for decades.
The politics behind the SAVE Act
Commentary: Voting should not depend on navigating bureaucracy, locating old documents, or overcoming financial and logistical barriers.
Will mobile sports betting ever become legal in Mississippi?
Another legislative session is set to close without legal mobile sports betting for Mississippi. See why a Jackson senator blocked bills this year.
1,800-year-old nails discovered in 3 burials in Roman necropolis, possibly to 'protect' both the living and the dead
Archaeologists excavating in Rome's Ostiense necropolis found three skeletons with iron nails on their chests, hinting at a ritual to prevent restless spirits.
Get an Lp(a) test — and 3 other things you must do now for heart health
I’m a cardiologist. Here are the most important new guidelines that younger people need to know about when it comes to their heart health.
Sam Wilson to officially kick off Clearwater City Council campaign
The host committee includes a slate of local GOP leaders, from City Council members and County Commissioners to members of the Legislature.
Interventional radiology breakthrough in portal vein thrombosis treatment
A UCLA Health interventional radiologist has successfully performed the first pediatric percutaneous spleno-renal shunt procedure to treat severe portal hypertension in a 6-year-old patient. This minimally invasive procedure aims to relieve complications associated with portal vein thrombosis, showing promising long-term outcomes.
Let's keep Kentucky judges judging and leave politics to politicians
A proposal in the legislature would undermine the nonpartisan judiciary that Kentuckians believe is necessary to maintain the fairness of their courts.
Politics of Indigenous peoples in the West
Indigenous communities increasingly influence energy, security and electoral dynamics across the Americas.
Forum on harnessing Artificial Intelligence for health equity
Register to this forumOver the past decade, artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly evolved in complexity, performance, and utility. Its integration across a wide range of industrial sectors has accelerated, with healthcare emerging as one of the most transformative sectors. In this sector, AI has enabled high-impact applications – from enhancing the speed and accuracy of disease diagnosis and supporting clinical decision-making, to strengthening public health initiatives such as disease surveillance and workforce optimization. Moreover, AI holds immense potential to empower individuals, enabling them to take greater control of their personal health and well-being. Yet the central question remains: Who benefits, who is at risk, and do these innovations close or widen health inequities? While the potential of AI-enabled applications is substantial, many countries have approached their adoption with caution. This hesitancy stems from concerns about risks and benefits, including model bias, data breaches, privacy violations, and the erosion of professional skills due to over-reliance on AI. Additional barriers include inadequate data infrastructure and a lack of robust evidence on the most effective forms and interfaces of AI to enhance service delivery and system performance. Moreover, the rapid rise of Generative AI has introduced a heightened urgency for the development of comprehensive governance and ethical frameworks. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Health Practice Team and Digital Sector, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Western Pacific, are convening the Forum on Harnessing AI for Health Equity on 25–26 March at ADB Headquarters. Senior health officials from 16 developing member countries (DMCs), alongside leading researchers, innovators, and policymakers from across Asia and the Pacific, will engage in discussions on how AI can be governed, financed, and scaled to deliver healthier lives for all. The forum is funded through the High-Level Technology Fund with support from the Government of Japan. Objectives The two-day forum aims to:Identify high-impact, evidence-based health AI use cases suitable for resource-constrained settings and map out a pipeline for potential supportIntroduce and validate the WHO's policy guidance on minimum necessary ecosystem for countries and institutions to self-assess readiness for AI adoptionObtain initial commitment from participating stakeholders to join a pilot regional initiative focused on data/model sharing for a priority health challengeEndorse a prioritized set of actionable policy recommendations focusing on governance, regulation, and sustainable financing necessary to scale high-impact health AI use cases in resource-constrained settings Target participants The forum will convene participants from 16 ADB DMCs including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and Viet Nam. In addition, health system leaders and practitioners, private sector technologists, academic experts, representatives from civil society organizations, development partners, and philanthropic institutions engaged in AI for Health from Australia, the People’s Republic of China, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the Republic of Korea will also be invited. SessionsDay 1 (25 March)Session 1: AI Use Cases for the Care Continuum: Improving Access and QualitySession 2: Adopting a risk-based approach for AI use case prioritizationSession 3: Establishing the Minimum Ecosystem for Implementation Risk ManagementSession 4: Future-Ready Health Workforce: Building Competency for Human-AI CollaborationDay 2 (26 March)Session 5: The Political Economy of AI in Health: Understanding Stakeholder Interests and their Impact on EquitySession 6: AI and Health Financing: Supporting Fair Coverage and ProtectionSession 7: AI Regulation and Oversight: Pathways for Different RealitiesSession 8: The Way Forward – Building Alliances and Regional Partnership How to registerThe forum will be held in a hybrid format. In-person attendance is by invitation only, while livestreaming of the forum will be available to the public. To register, please complete this form on or before 24 March 2026.Event organizers / partnersAsian Development Bank (ADB)WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific High-Level Technology Fund (HLTF)ContactAkihito WatabeHealth Specialist, SD3-HSDawatabe@adb.org Jae Kyoun KimHealth Specialist, SD3-HSDjkkim@adb.org
Fetterman's a no as Senate Republicans debate new voting restrictions
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Fetterman broke with his party and voted to fund the federal government, and to oppose legislation limiting President...
GOP governors, AGs back Trump SAVE Act push, warn system gives ‘undue influence’ to states with illegal aliens
Republican governors and attorneys general back citizenship verification through the SAVE America Act for federal elections, arguing gaps in voter registration create unfair influence.
Business owner says 'we don’t have money' as NYC officials propose minimum wage hike: report
New York City business owners warn $30 minimum wage proposal could force job cuts and restaurant closures as Mayor Zohran Mamdani signals support for the legislation.
At CT Business Day, Lamont, Ritter say ‘Connecticut Option’ for health insurance will wait another year
Gov. Ned Lamont and House Speaker Mat Ritter (D-Hartford) joined other state elected officials in speaking to hundreds of business people Wednesday during Connecticut Business Day.
At CT Business Day, Lamont, Ritter say ‘Connecticut Option’ for health insurance will wait another year
Gov. Ned Lamont and House Speaker Mat Ritter (D-Hartford) joined other state elected officials in speaking to hundreds of business people Wednesday during Connecticut Business Day.
Amazon Is Taking Business From USPS. That’s Good for FedEx and UPS, but Not in the Way You Think.
If Amazon doesn’t renew its last-mile delivery relationship with the USPS there will be more packages for other logistics providers to deliver.
The Farm Bill, in its current state, is a public health failure
Sadly, those involved in shaping the current legislation seem to be more interested in protecting special interests than advancing the bill’s primary objectives.
'The Adding Machine' review: Elmer Rice's play gets a sluggish revival
Elmer Rice's "The Adding Machine," an expressionist classic on automation and worker insecurity, speaks directly to an age in which livelihoods are threatened by AI innovation.
Health Subcommittee Scrutinizes Patient Affordability, Competition, and Access Across the U.S. Provider Landscape
The Committee on Energy and Commerce is the oldest standing legislative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and is vested with the broadest jurisdiction of any congressional authorizing committee.
Chairman Griffith Delivers Opening Statement at Subcommittee on Health Third Hearing in Series to Improve Health Care Affordability for All Americans
The Committee on Energy and Commerce is the oldest standing legislative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and is vested with the broadest jurisdiction of any congressional authorizing committee.
Chairman Griffith Delivers Opening Statement at Subcommittee on Health Third Hearing in Series to Improve Health Care Affordability for All Americans
The Committee on Energy and Commerce is the oldest standing legislative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and is vested with the broadest jurisdiction of any congressional authorizing committee.
Kansas House passes sports authority bill over opposition with one major change
Despite strong support for the sports authority bill from leadership of both parties, some lawmakers were highly critical of the legislation.
Proposed Ohio-Israel partnership draws business group support, activist criticism
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Ohio Senate is considering legislation that would create a formal partnership between the state and Israel aimed at expanding trade, investment and research collaboration. ...
A dietitian and doctor review RFK Jr's new food pyramid
The new food pyramid was released earlier this year. It emphasizes protein, full-fat dairy and what Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. calls “healthy fats.” These guidelines influence the standards for school lunches, food labeling and programs like SNAP. Today on the show, Short Wave co-host Emily Kwong chats with registered dietitian nutritionist Shana Spence, and Dr. Sarah Kim, a diabetes specialist, about the new guidelines. Plus, NPR’s Reflect America fellow Kadin Mills unpacks how the new food pyramid could change school lunch trays. Check out more of Kadin’s coverage about the changes in dietary guidelines.Interested in more health science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
Colorado lawmakers want to rein in sports betting
The legislation acknowledges an increase in problem gambling since the state legalized it in May 2020.
Senate kicks off debate on voting requirements bill
The controversial centerpiece of the legislation would require proof of citizenship to register to vote.
'We wind up having to walk away': Lawmakers try to address high cost of housing
Senators overwhelmingly passed a bill that aims to bring housing costs, but some House members are raising concerns about the legislation.
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.
Pappas Statement on Passage of Legislation to Fund Critical Small Business R&D Programs
Today, Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) helped pass the bipartisan Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act to reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program for five years. The SBIR and STTR programs provide competitive awards to American small businesses to conduct research and development projects that have the potential for commercialization.
Bipartisan Science of Reading Bill Passes House Committee
The legislation would prevent states from allowing what one member called ‘discredited approaches.’
Kentucky Senate advances bill to bolster film and entertainment incentives
Kentucky's film and entertainment incentive program could be getting some changes this legislative session. Kentucky's Senate passed a bill Tuesday that builds on a measure from 2025 that created the...
Small Business Day Brings the Concerns of New York’s Main Street Business Owners to the Capitol
NFIB small business owners from across the state gather in Albany to meet with legislators.
Senate kicks off marathon debate over Trump’s voter ID bill
The Senate has kicked off extended debate on the “SAVE America Act” — one of President Donald Trump’s top legislative priorities.