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Democrats throw cold water on shutdown deal, call for more ICE reforms

Senate Democrats are cautiously optimistic about a potential agreement to fund the Department of Homeland Security. But it's far from a done deal.

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Mar 24 • 5:56 PM EDT • Politics • usatoday.com
NFL rule changes 2026: Competition committees submits five proposals

The NFL's competition committee proposed five rule changes for 2026, including adjustments to onside kicks and a referee contingency.

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Mar 24 • 5:26 PM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
Public health alert issued for this ground beef product. Here's why.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a public health alert for a ground beef product on March 23, due to metal contamination.

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Mar 24 • 5:23 PM EDT • Health • usatoday.com
7 new children’s and young adult books by local authors

The Northwest is home to a vibrant community of children’s and young adult authors. Celebrate early reading with these recommendations.

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Mar 24 • 5:00 PM EDT • Entertainment • yakimaherald.com
TDN Business Hour: The Global Thoroughbred Market

Mark Taylor, Marshall Gramm, Anthony Trimarchi and Case Clay join the TDN Business Hour podcast hosted by Najja Thompson.

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Mar 24 • 2:43 PM EDT • Business • thoroughbreddailynews.com
New poll finds Trump's net favorability at record low in Wisconsin

The first Marquette University Law School poll conducted after the U.S. attacks on Iran found 61% oppose the war, with divides among Republicans.

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Mar 24 • 2:27 PM EDT • Politics • jsonline.com
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Congress Passes Small Business Research Reauthorization

If it becomes law, the compromise bill would end a nearly six-month lapse in solicitations and annual funding.

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Mar 24 • 1:55 PM EDT • Business • aip.org
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Mouse study shows repeated cloning causes grave genetic mutations

1,206 cloned laboratory mice were generated by the scientists from a single female donor mouse from 2005 to 2025 in research conducted in Japan.

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Mar 24 • 12:22 PM EDT • Science • detroitnews.com
Crowded Democratic race for California governor could open door for Republicans

The candidates will clash on Tuesday at a debate.

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Mar 24 • 7:39 AM EDT • Politics • detroitnews.com
Peninsula Community Health plans to add 2 Bremerton dental clinics

Peninsula Community Health Services, with state funding coming from back-to-back budgets, will open to two new dental clinics along Kitsap Way.

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Mar 24 • 7:03 AM EDT • Health • kitsapsun.com
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Iowa lawmakers OK conscience bill letting health workers deny services

Health care providers and institutions may decline services that violate their conscience under a bill headed to Gov. Kim Reynolds' desk.

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Mar 24 • 6:34 AM EDT • Health • desmoinesregister.com
Timeline: A Milwaukee father's fight for his son's mental health treatment

Pete Christiansen spent eight months trying to get Milwaukee authorities to commit his son for mental health treatment, also known as Chapter 51.

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Mar 24 • 6:07 AM EDT • Health • jsonline.com
March Madness top seeds dominate: Each No. 1 team's path to Sweet 16

Only one perfect 2026 Women's NCAA Tournament bracket remains as of Monday evening following several upsets, but the top seeds have been chalk.

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Mar 24 • 6:06 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
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Fayetteville Community’s Choice Awards business spotlight: Woods Plumbing

We're in the final stretch! Ready to recognize your favorite local businesses? Submit your Fayetteville Community’s Choice Awards nominations today.

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Mar 24 • 6:03 AM EDT • Business • fayobserver.com
SouthCoast Community’s Choice Awards business spotlight: Anchor Animal Hospital

We're in the final stretch! Ready to recognize your favorite local businesses? Submit your SouthCoast Community’s Choice Awards nominations today.

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Mar 24 • 6:03 AM EDT • Business • southcoasttoday.com
Women's NCAA Tournament Round 2 winners, losers: Virginia make history, Iowa fizzles

USA TODAY has followed every upset, buzzer-beater and game from the 2026 Women's NCAA Tournament and rounded up our winners and losers from round two:

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Mar 24 • 5:12 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
John Fogerty, Cyndi Lauper, more join forces to say 'Thank You, NYPD'

The 'Thank You, NYPD' concert will feature John Fogerty, Cyndi Lauper and Fat Joe, comedians Chris Distefano and Sam Morril, and more.

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Mar 24 • 5:04 AM EDT • Entertainment • app.com
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Just get a new Samsung phone? Turn off these 6 features immediately

Samsung phones are great — but they're even better after you disable some of the default features and settings.

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Mar 24 • 5:00 AM EDT • Technology • androidauthority.com
Grading hires from 2026 men's college basketball coaching carousel

Here are grades for each of the hires made by schools from men's college basketball's five major conferences.

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Mar 24 • 4:57 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
Android Auto is breaking for Pixel and Samsung users, and no one knows why

Users are reporting connection issues associated with a recent update and an Android 16 security feature.

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Mar 23 • 11:36 PM EDT • Technology • androidauthority.com
Markwayne Mullin confirmed to lead Department of Homeland Security

The Oklahoma Republican faced a glide path to confirmation with the help of two Democratic senators.

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Mar 23 • 8:26 PM EDT • Politics • usatoday.com
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Cypress business owner charged with felony water pollution, authorities say

Detectives said the Cypress company, which power washes dump-truck engines, was dumping contaminated wastewater into a drainage ditch that eventually leads all the way to the Gulf.

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Mar 23 • 7:47 PM EDT • Business • abc13.com
Can pesticide exposure before pregnancy affect babies’ health?

A study co-authored by UCLA researchers suggests certain chemical compounds correlated with lower newborn health scores.

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Mar 23 • 7:33 PM EDT • Health • newsroom.ucla.edu
Detroit Tigers' Opening Day be on cable TV? Here's what we know

The Detroit Tigers haven't been able to give details on their broadcast service, Detroit SportsNet, and its status on cable TV packages.

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Mar 23 • 6:59 PM EDT • Sports • freep.com
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Why are the Virginia Cavaliers sports teams also called the Wahoos?

The term “Wahoos” or “Hoos” are almost exclusively used by Virginia students when referring to their athletes and fans.

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Mar 23 • 6:51 PM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
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Marco Rubio's evolution. Hardliner becomes Trump’s top Cuba negotiator

From hardliner to dealmaker, Marco Rubio evolves on Cuba, taking charge of Trump’s talks with Havana.

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Mar 23 • 6:00 PM EDT • Politics • usatoday.com
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.

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Mar 23 • 5:52 PM EDT • Politics • detroitnews.com
Rahm Emanuel says federal workers shouldn't bet on politics

Former Obama chief of staff and possible 2028 presidential candidate Rahm Emanuel is calling for a federal employee ban on prediction markets betting.

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Mar 23 • 5:48 PM EDT • Politics • usatoday.com
Federal judge sides with Wisconsin in transgender health care suit

A U.S. judge ruled in favor of Wisconsin and 20 other states challenging a Trump administration declaration that tried to limit care for trans youth.

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Mar 23 • 3:23 PM EDT • Health • jsonline.com
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Bachelorette suitor from canceled season drove car in Madison Cawthorn crash

A 'Bachelorette' suitor from Taylor Frankie Paul's now-scrapped season was the driver in the 2014 car crash that paralyzed former Republican congressman Madison Cawthorn.

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Mar 23 • 2:08 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com
Women's March Madness results so far: Scores from Monday's NCAA Tournament

Three No. 1 seeds are in action today as the Women's NCAA Tournament whittles the field down to the Sweet 16. See who's primed to survive and advance.

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Mar 23 • 2:01 PM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
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Supreme Court leans toward Trump-backed push to limit mail-in ballots

The Supreme Court's conservative majority seemed skeptical of late- arriving ballots. The case could lead to stricter rules in this year's midterm elections.

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Mar 23 • 1:35 PM EDT • Politics • usatoday.com
DanDan restaurant in Milwaukee's Third Ward is temporarily closed

According to a sign posted on the door of the popular Third Ward American-Chinese restaurant, DanDan has been closed since March 20.

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Mar 23 • 10:24 AM EDT • Health • jsonline.com
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What’s the new 'Background Security' on the iPhone? What we know.

Apple's new Background Security Improvements operate between software updates, providing "lightweight security releases."

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Mar 23 • 9:11 AM EDT • Technology • usatoday.com
Exclusive: Prenuvo expands full-body MRI protocol. What's new?

Prenuvo is launching a new bloodwork component to complement its full-body MRIs. Here's what to know.

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Mar 23 • 9:00 AM EDT • Health • usatoday.com
Republicans fear this Democrat in Georgia Senate race: ‘This guy’s no slouch’

The Cook Political Report rates the general election as a toss-up.

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Mar 23 • 8:58 AM EDT • Politics • detroitnews.com
Trump visits Memphis to tout crime-fighting efforts as Iran war lingers

His talk on crime and immigration marks a return to an issue that he hopes will resonate with voters.

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Mar 23 • 7:56 AM EDT • Politics • detroitnews.com
Here are nearly 100 local high school spring sports stars to watch

Spring sports are rich with talented athletes. From baseball to track and soccer to swimming, here are nearly 100 Fort Collins-area stars to watch.

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Mar 23 • 7:15 AM EDT • Sports • coloradoan.com
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Illinois, the youngest team in Women's NCAA tournament, proving age is just a number

No. 7 seed Illinois faces No. 2 seed Vanderbilt in Nashville in the second round of the Women's NCAA Tournament.

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Mar 23 • 7:03 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
Peace of mind was Mikaela Shiffrin's biggest victory in 2026 Winter Olympics

Olympic legends Mikaela Shiffrin and Simone Biles are fierce advocates for athletes prioritizing their mental health.

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Mar 23 • 7:03 AM EDT • Health • usatoday.com
Mailer in Germantown school election has one big problem

An outside political group urges Germantown School District voters to re-elect a candidate who isn't on the ballot.

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Mar 23 • 6:05 AM EDT • Politics • jsonline.com
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Vanderbilt’s historic gym takes center stage for Women's NCAA Tournament

Opening in 1952, Memorial Gymnasium is the oldest arena in the SEC. It had been 14 years since the Commodores last hosted the NCAA Tournament.

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Mar 23 • 6:05 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
2026 NFL mock draft: Surprises in top 10 of latest first-round projection

The 2026 NFL Draft is just a month away, and our latest mock draft features a few surprises materializing in the top 10 picks.

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Mar 23 • 6:05 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
Microsoft Plans Better Windows 11 RAM Management and a Smoother User Experience

Microsoft recently announced a plethora of changes coming to Windows 11 to reshape the operating system into a completely stable and enjoyable experience. Today we learn that Microsoft plans a major background usage overhaul with future updates, focusing on RAM usage and overall memory management, s...

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Mar 23 • 5:49 AM EDT • Technology • techpowerup.com
Scouting Michigan State basketball Sweet 16 matchup with UConn

Get a first glimpse at the NCAA Tournament East region Sweet 16 semifinal matchup between 3-seed Michigan State basketball and 2-seed UConn.

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Mar 23 • 5:09 AM EDT • Sports • freep.com
Ohio State vs Notre Dame predictions, picks, odds for NCAA Tournament Second Round

Our March Madness experts pick the winner for No. 3 Ohio State vs No. 6 Notre Dame in the 2026 women's NCAA Tournament on March 23

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Mar 23 • 5:08 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
UConn vs Syracuse predictions, picks, odds for NCAA Tournament Second Round

Our March Madness experts pick the winner for No. 1 UConn vs No. 9 Syracuse in the 2026 women's NCAA Tournament on March 23

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Mar 23 • 5:08 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
Where to watch South Carolina vs. USC in March Madness Second Round: Time, TV Channel

The No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks face the 9 USC Trojans in the Second Round of the women's NCAA Tournament. Here's how to see all the action.

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Mar 23 • 5:08 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
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Science should guide Florida’s pesticide conversations

The science on glyphosate exposure is extensive, and the levels reported in bread testing fall well below thresholds associated with harm.

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Mar 23 • 5:04 AM EDT • Science • tallahassee.com
Florida dogs featured in TCPalm articles for National Puppy Day

National Puppy Day is March 23. TCPalm has articles, videos and photo galleries about dogs. Do you have a dog? What's their name?

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Mar 23 • 5:03 AM EDT • Entertainment • tcpalm.com
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Palm Beach County high school sports weekly schedule for March 23-28

High school sports are back in full swing in Palm Beach County. See the full schedule for baseball, softball, lacrosse and more.

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Mar 23 • 5:01 AM EDT • Sports • palmbeachpost.com
Brevard County high school sports weekly schedule, Week of March 23-29

Brevard County high school sports schedule for the week of March 23-29, 2026.

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Mar 23 • 5:01 AM EDT • Sports • floridatoday.com
Banijay Series Mania Slate: ‘A Woman of Substance,’  ‘Peaky Blinders’

Other highlights take in Jack Thorne’s ‘Falling,’ Richard Gadd’s ‘Half Man,’ ‘Wallander’ and Series Mania titles ‘Anatomy of a Moment’ and ‘Etty.’

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Mar 23 • 4:07 AM EDT • Entertainment • variety.com
Best selling author Marie Benedict to talk at the United Theatre

WESTERLY — Marie Benedict, the Pittsburgh-based author known for using real — mostly forgotten — women as inspiration for her bestselling works of historical fiction, was on the phone Tuesday

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Mar 23 • 3:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • thewesterlysun.com
Obesity report sets out vision for healthy future in Peterborough

A new obesity charter for Peterborough says authorities should look beyond individual behaviour.

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Mar 23 • 2:06 AM EDT • Health • bbc.com
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TCU completes comeback, avoids Washington's NCAA Tournament upset bid

TCU women's basketball’s 62-59 overtime win over Washington in the second round of March Madness wasn’t pretty, but it was resilient.

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Mar 23 • 2:04 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
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These Michigan U.S. Senate candidates took money from ICE contractors

Anti-ICE messaging is expected to be featured prominently in Michigan's hotly contested U.S. Senate Democratic primary.

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Mar 22 • 11:01 PM EDT • Politics • detroitnews.com
UTA College of Business to connect students, professionals with networking, elevator pitch event

Students, business professionals and recruiters will mingle from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the UTA Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology Development.

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Mar 22 • 11:00 PM EDT • Business • theshorthorn.com
Kansas coach Bill Self non-committal if he'll return next year due to health concerns

Hall of Fame Kansas basketball coach Bill Self said after a crushing loss to St. John's that he hasn't decided if he'll be back next season or retire.

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Mar 22 • 10:10 PM EDT • Health • usatoday.com
Florida basketball stunned by Iowa in March Madness Round 2 upset

Florida basketball was stunned by Iowa, ending its hopes to repeat as national champions in the Men's NCAA Tourrnament.

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Mar 22 • 9:34 PM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
Joe Kent says he wants Donald Trump to hear MAGA opposition to Iran war

It’s a concerted effort, Kent said, to rally members of the president’s Make America Great Again movement and ensure he hears dissenting voices.

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Mar 22 • 8:52 PM EDT • Politics • detroitnews.com
Bill Self weighs Kansas coaching future amid health concerns
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Mar 22 • 8:42 PM EDT • Health • usatoday.com
Business closed after new Ohio law banning intoxicating hemp products went into effect

Senate Bill 56 grants law enforcement the authority to remove intoxicating THC products from unlicensed retail locations,

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Mar 22 • 5:56 PM EDT • Business • whio.com
Arizona vs Utah State live updates: Prediction, how to watch March Madness Round 2 game

Folks were gushing about Jerrod Calhoun and Utah State's offense in Round 1. Arizona is a whole different obstacle. Follow March Madness Round 2 game.

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Mar 22 • 4:05 PM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
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CBS analyst picked against Purdue basketball. Here's what he thinks of Sweet 16 vs Texas

Boilermakers fans were critical of Seth Davis for his pick proven wrong after Purdue beat Miami. Here's what he thinks of the Sweet 16 game vs Texas.

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Mar 22 • 3:15 PM EDT • Sports • indystar.com
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Florida vs Iowa live updates: Prediction, how to watch March Madness Round 2 game

Defending national champion Florida didn't need a warm-up to get going in their NCAA title defense. Will Iowa provide any resistance in March Madness?

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Mar 22 • 2:23 PM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
'Disgusting.' Democratic senator slams Trump's reaction to Mueller's death

Sen. Chris Murphy called President Donald Trump's response to the death of Robert Mueller "disgusting."

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Mar 22 • 2:20 PM EDT • Politics • usatoday.com
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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Mar 22 • 2:18 PM EDT • Health • erictopol.substack.com
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Mar 22 • 1:42 PM EDT • Health • delawareonline.com
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US, Iran threaten more energy strikes as gas prices surge. What to know

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Mar 22 • 12:45 PM EDT • Politics • usatoday.com
Messi expected to play, NYCFC vs. Inter Miami live updates

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Mar 22 • 11:45 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
Team USA flag football team should consider these 12 NFL stars ... but not Tom Brady

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Mar 22 • 11:18 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
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The Cincinnati's Favorite Beer 2026 winner is ... (drumroll please)

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Mar 22 • 10:58 AM EDT • Entertainment • cincinnati.com
‘Project Hail Mary’ Author Andy Weir Bases His Blockbusters in Science

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Mar 22 • 10:00 AM EDT • Science • rollingstone.com
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Mar 22 • 9:44 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
'Everybody Loses' author discusses the meteoric rise of sports gambling

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Mar 22 • 9:00 AM EDT • Sports • wfae.org
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Mar 22 • 7:00 AM EDT • Health • usatoday.com
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Mar 22 • 6:20 AM EDT • Business • pjstar.com
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Mar 22 • 6:03 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
Get ready to vote in the next Detroit Community Choice Awards

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Mar 22 • 6:02 AM EDT • Business • freep.com
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See what students from New Hampstead High wore for their 2026 prom

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Mar 22 • 5:29 AM EDT • Entertainment • savannahnow.com
Duke vs Baylor predictions, picks, odds for NCAA Tournament Second Round

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Mar 22 • 5:08 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
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Where to watch Minnesota vs. Ole Miss in March Madness Second Round: Time, TV Channel

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Mar 22 • 5:06 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
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Where to watch Duke vs. Baylor in March Madness Second Round: Time, TV Channel

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Mar 22 • 5:06 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
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Where to watch Oklahoma vs. Michigan State in March Madness Second Round: Time, TV Channel

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Mar 22 • 5:06 AM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
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'Completely lawless': Why this congresswoman wants Pam Bondi impeached

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Mar 22 • 5:05 AM EDT • Politics • usatoday.com
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Central Mass. by the Numbers, Sunday, March 22

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Mar 22 • 5:03 AM EDT • Business • telegram.com
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Mar 22 • 5:02 AM EDT • Health • usatoday.com
Prior authorization can delay needed health care. A new 'Gold Card' targets that bottleneck.

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Mar 22 • 4:00 AM EDT • Health • post-gazette.com
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Things to do in Cincinnati this week, March 23-29

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Mar 22 • 12:15 AM EDT • Entertainment • cincinnati.com
Clemson's Mia Moore and USC's Kara Dunn renew rivalry in overtime thriller

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Mar 21 • 8:31 PM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
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Goodrich polishes off perfect season with MHSAA girls basketball title

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Mar 21 • 8:24 PM EDT • Sports • freep.com
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Mar 21 • 7:27 PM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
Senate rejects Trump-backed measure to ban trans athletes in female sports

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Mar 21 • 6:50 PM EDT • Sports • detroitnews.com
Barber reflects on shooting outside of his business

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Mar 21 • 6:10 PM EDT • Business • wkbn.com
Illinois vs VCU live updates: March Madness Round 2 game highlights, how to watch

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Mar 21 • 6:08 PM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
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Fantasy baseball updated Reliever rankings for 2026

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'American people long for civility,' former VP Pence tells University of Tennessee students

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Mar 21 • 4:58 PM EDT • Politics • knoxnews.com
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Mar 21 • 4:15 PM EDT • Sports • usatoday.com
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Mar 21 • 4:00 PM EDT • Sports • freep.com
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