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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.
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A DOWNTOWN CHICO MERCHANT IS EXPRESSING CONCERN OVER THE IMPACT OF STREET CLOSURES FOR EVENTS -- ON THEIR BUSINESS. ACTION NEWS NOW REPORTER BELLA BARBOSA REPORTS FROM DOWNTOWN CHICO { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "VideoObject", "name": "Downtown Road Closure Dilemma", "description": "A DOWNTOWN CHICO MERCHANT IS EXPRESSING CONCERN OVER THE IMPACT OF STREET CLOSURES FOR EVENTS -- ON THEIR BUSINESS. ACTION NEWS NOW REPORTER BELLA BARBOSA REPORTS FROM DOWNTOWN CHICO", "thumbnailUrl": "https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/actionnewsnow.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/47/c47e26d6-03c3-5f35-bf49-37925ab603d7/69bdedc4eb57d.image.jpg", "uploadDate": "2026-03-20T17:45:00-07:00", "contentUrl": "https://cdn.field59.com/KHSL/1774053903-6e1ef36dd09fbebf020833aee86b60da3b3cca3f_fl9-720p.mp4" } CHICO, Calif. - A downtown Chico business owner is voicing concerns about the impact of street closures for events on local shops. Leann Powell, owner of The Peddler’s Closet, expressed concern about events closing down streets downtown and bringing in food trucks and other shops’ products that directly compete with the brick-and-mortar stores in downtown Chico.Powell said an upcoming event held on a Saturday has brought up concerns for her and other business owners downtown, due to it being a busy day for businesses. "We're already struggling, and then to bring in more businesses on top of our businesses and shut our streets down is absolutely devastating," said Powell.Powell noted a decline in business during events like the Thursday Night Market, where street closures allow outside vendors to set up shop. She shared that while organizers for these types of events often offer booths to local businesses, it does not alleviate the burden."I don't really feel like that's a solution because you're bringing in other businesses, you're shutting the streets down. Yes, we can go down and set up a space, but then you've gotta pay somebody to run that space, plus run your own business for the day, and it's really not, it's really not helpful for us," said Powell.Applying for a street closure permit in Chico involves approval from the Public Works Department, the Chief of Police, and the Fire Chief. Permits can be denied only under a handful of circumstances, such as interference with first responders, previously scheduled construction, or existing permits for the same space.Mayor Kasey Reynolds addressed the issue, saying the city council has tasked staff with reviewing the municipal code for street closure permits with the goal of finding ways to minimize negative impacts on local businesses during events.Reynolds mentioned that any recommended changes might require further direction from the city council, depending on the extent of any changes recommended. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1514992'); });
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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.
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Hail Yeah! NASA Researchers Use Volunteer Observations for Hail Estimates
The bigger the hailstone, the more damage it can cause. But scientists find that predicting hailstone size can be challenging. How quickly does hail melt as it falls?
'Probably the softest second booking I can remember seeing'
Who does not love a trip down to London? This felt like a fantastic opportunity for us to close the gap on Crystal Palace and pick up three points that some of the teams around us in the relegation fight failed to get. Fair play to West Ham for taking a point off Manchester City - although, if I am being honest, I would have preferred they did not.
Democrats like Markwayne Mullin but that doesn’t mean they’ll vote for him for DHS secretary
In his early days in Congress, Markwayne Mullin tried pairing his suit jacket and tie with a pair of jeans on the House floor. Then-House Speaker John Boehner reprimanded the young Republican for breaking the dress code.
How Netflix thinks AI can help it fight off rivals
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said that "faster and cheaper" doesn't matter if AI isn't making films "better."
86 days to the World Cup: Why going undefeated doesn't guarantee a knockout-round appearance
Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch update 22.0.0 out now, patch notes
Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch just got a new firmware update with version 22.0.0 and here are the patch notes including Friend List notes.
AI still doesn't work very well, businesses are faking it, and a reckoning is coming
interview: Codestrap founders say we need to dial down the hype and sort through the mess
At 76, I still cycle, train every day, and can do 5 muscle-ups
Ngai Hin Kwok, 76, says he doesn't see a reason to slow down just because he's older.
Storm science: What fuels severe weather
Severe storms threaten North Carolina, as research shows atmospheric conditions fueling tornadoes and thunderstorms are becoming more common across the Southeast.
Using marijuana to ease anxiety or depression? Science shows the evidence isn’t there
Marijuana doesn’t help with anxiety, PTSD, depression or other mental health conditions, according to two large, new studies.
GameStop declares Nintendo Wii U as a retro console, trade-in bonus offer announced
GameStop issues statement that Nintendo Wii U, PS3, and Xbox 360 are retro consoles and announces a special trade-in bonus offer.
What does Israel want from the Iran war? Is it different from what the US wants?
The US and Israel attacked Iran together at the same time. But as the war drags into its third week, it is becoming clear the two countries have some differences in how they see the war proceeding.
Square Enix games for Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch now on sale, including Final Fantasy 7 Remake
A new Square Enix sale for Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch has started up at retailers, including Final Fantasy 7 Remake and more.
Trump suggests he may delay China trip due to Iran war, but Bessent says it's not to pressure on Strait of Hormuz
Bessent downplays rising oil prices and says the Treasury Department doesn't plan to intervene.
NCAA Tournament 2026 bracket: Top-rated simulation predicts surprising upsets, March Madness picks, sleepers
When does the March Madness 2026 schedule start, and when are 2026 NCAA Tournament brackets due? The 2026 March Madness bracket begins on Thursday, March 19
Soap operas, reimagined
The fastest-growing entertainment format in America does not live on Netflix or network television. It lives on your phone
Looks like Samsung doesn’t want to sell the Galaxy Z TriFold anymore
Samsung is reportedly going to stop selling the Galaxy Z TriFold, at least in its home market of South Korea.
If Trump has already won the Iran war, why does he need foreign ships to help him end it?
A week ago, President Donald Trump told Britain not to bother sending ships to the Middle East because he’d already won the Iran war.
Driving habits of teens and young adults
Nearly all parents think their teen or young adult child’s driving ability is as good or better than other teens and young adults. 1 in 3 parents worry their teen or young adult driver will cause an accident. 1 in 4 parents have taken steps to address their teen or young adult child’s driving behavior. Witnessing risky driving behavior does not affect parents’ rating of their teen or young adult child’s driving ability.
Notes: USA in WBC final, Dodger Stadium has new sponsor
In a World Baseball Classic, which by the way does not use the automatic ball-strike challenge system that is now in use in Major League Baseball, Team USA beat The Dominican Republic 2-1 in a thrilling semifinal matchup on Sunday night at loanDepot Park in Miami. The game featured 23 total strikeouts, 15 by Dominican […]
Scientists discover what really happens during sourdough fermentation
New research shows that sourdough fermentation does more than make bread rise—it transforms wheat fibers in unexpected ways. Scientists found that enzymes already present in wheat, activated by the sourdough’s acidic environment, break down key fibres called arabinoxylans. This process may influence the bread’s texture, digestibility, and flavor. Some microbes even create buttery or subtly sweet notes that give sourdough its distinctive taste.
Here's what the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra's Privacy Display does to its battery life
Benchmarks and tests to see what's going on under the surface
Arkansas teens asking for real health ed - Talk Business & Politics
No one said having important health conversations with teenagers was going to be easy, but does it have to be so hard? It doesn’t, and Teen Health Arkansas (THAR) launched...
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.
Why some people get motion sickness—and others don’t
When your eyes, ears, and brain don’t agree, it can mean bad news for your stomach.
Living amid bombings in Iran: How fear impacts mental health
Bombs, government oppression, and fear are wearing down Iranians. How does trauma build up? And what can help people living with constant stress?
Opinion | Trump Wins When Oscar Winners Stay Silent
Right now it does matter a lot whether actors can find the right words.
Switch 2 getting Nintendo-licensed Mario Kart World racing wheel, pre-orders open
HORI has announced plans for a new Switch 2 racing wheel stylized after Mario Kart World, which has been officially licensed by Nintendo. Based on retailer listings, it’s slated for March 23, 2026. While Mario Kart World is advertised here, it’ll work with other racing games, including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Additionally, based on the product description, it’s compatible with...
Titans add impact defender in latest CBS Sports post-free agency mock
The Tennessee Titans have added multiple free agents on defense, but that doesn't stop one analyst from giving them another impact defender in the draft.
Cuba's announcement of 51 prisoners released doesn't exactly mean political prisoners, South Florida expert says
Schefter: The Bears are broke (and what does that mean)
Adam Schefter says the Bears are broke. What does that mean? And will it limit what Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson can do to the roster?
How Bengals signing Jonathan Allen changes NFL draft plan
The Bengals spent big on Jonathan Allen in NFL free agency. What does it mean for the draft?
What is a TIF and what does it mean for Norman’s Rock Creek Entertainment District?
Following the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s dismissal of a petition for a public vote, the city of Norman is moving forward with tax increment financing, or TIF, districts to help fund
Parallels Desktop creators say MacBook Neo does indeed have enough muscle to run Windows apps
The company’s virtualization software is functional on Apple’s cheapest laptop.
Galaxy S26 Ultra display causing eye strain and headache; Samsung is apparently investigating
Are Galaxy S26 Ultra eye strain and headache reports real or just noise? Privacy Display is the headline feature of the new Ultra phone; it’s a great invention, but hit with a slew of complaints that almost every Samsung flagship does. The new Privacy Display is supposed to be the hero feature on the S26 […]
Trump details his shoe philosophy: ‘I have fun with it’
President Donald Trump disputed a recent report that he has bought members of his Cabinet dress shoes but then offered detailed thinking on why he has replaced top officials’ footwear, saying he doesn’t want his Cabinet sporting sneakers.
Kirby Air Riders almost brought back the old City Trial map, Sakurai explains why it didn't happen
Director Masahiro Sakurai reveals that the original City Trial map was considered for Kirby Air Riders and talks about why it didn't work.
Breaking Down Meg Ryan’s Health Issues: Why Does She Limp?
The actress will be making high-profile appearance to honor Rob Reiner at the Oscars.
Gemini Is Now Your Permanent Passenger in Google Maps
Hopefully it doesn't hallucinate directions.
Famitsu sales (3/2/26 - 3/8/26) - first week sales revealed for Pokemon Pokopia
The latest Japanese hardware sales from Famitsu are as follows: Switch 2 – 127,508 Switch OLED – 10,245 PS5 Digital Edition – 9,569 Switch Lite – 7,136 Switch – 6,389 PS5 Pro – 3,803 PS5 – 3,447 Xbox Series X – 235 Xbox Series X Digital Edition – 159 Xbox Series S – 92 PS4 – 29 For comparison’s sake,...
Argonne receives DOE funding to advance AI for science
Argonne receives funding from DOE’s Genesis Mission to conduct transformative AI research that will push the boundaries of energy, biology, materials science and more.
Trump Cares a Little Too Much About Shoes
Doesn’t he have more important things to think about?
Trump doesn't recognize the debt we owe veterans
At a time when our forces are in harm's way, the people who care for them at home through Veterans Affairs are being stretched thinner and thinner.
Woman tests how Home Depot workers treat her in a “hot girl” outfit vs dressed “like a boy”
Does pretty privilege apply at the hardware store?
Opinion | Trump’s Way of Doing Business With the World May Cost All of Us
Either the budget changes, or America’s relationship with the rest of the world does.
The world just smashed the emergency glass on oil prices. Now it’s up to Trump for a long-term fix
Dozens of countries have done the unprecedented, releasing an historic amount of crude from emergency reserves to prevent high oil prices from crippling the economy. If that doesn’t work, there’s only one serious option left: ending the war and opening the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump’s War Lacks a Marketing Plan
Why does a president who loves selling not want to pitch this conflict?
Kansas needs a sports authority for Chiefs stadium. Will Olathe and Wyandotte County get a vote?
A sports authority means the new Chiefs stadium will be publicly owned. But even though it will be located in Kansas City, Kansas, the state does not require anyone on the board to live in the area — prompting pushback from local mayors.
‘Boom Boom’ US propaganda vs. the emerging Iran war reality
The US government doesn’t simply want Americans to support the war it launched with Israel on Iran; it wants to pump people up.
How well does the new MacBook Neo handle gaming? Andrew Tsai tested 10 games to find out
From AAA games to Windows to Switch emulated games, Andrew Tsai set out to find whether the MacBook Neo can actually run games well.
Packers Free Agency: Contract Details for Jonathan Ford
Jonathan Ford is coming back in 2026, but his contract doesn’t promise him a roster spot.
Kathie Lee Gifford Says She Doesn’t Judge Anyone — But Has A Note About LGBTQ
"They've really got to stop with that," the retired morning TV personality said.
Valve responds to NY Attorney General lawsuit: "We have serious concerns with the alterations the NYAG claims are necessary to make to our games"
Valve has responded to New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit against the firm, stating it does not believe t…
Initial thoughts on Colts’ first free-agent moves
First wave of free-agency done, and the Colts have moved as many of us expected, which is rather surprising. It usually does not transpire like this, I was especially surprised by the Pittman and Franklin moves because I did not expect them to happen, but here are my hot opinions on what Ballard and Steichen […]
I Tested the Galaxy S26 Ultra and It's Pretty Amazing, But Here's What Falls Short
The Galaxy S26 Ultra shines with incredible cameras, smart AI features, and a refined design, making it an exceptional phone for creatives, even if it doesn't offer the longest battery life or perfect viewing angles.