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New research sheds light on a common risk factor for colorectal cancer
New research clarifies the risk of colorectal cancer among people with Inflammatory Bowel Disease
UCF is raising money for scholarship fund to honor Jim Clark
UCF plans to give out the Dr. James C. Clark Scholarship to a history enthusiast in honor of the late professor.
Leveraging storytelling in politics
Community college marketing and communications staff play a key role in providing the visuals and storytelling in a college's efforts to educate and influence lawmakers and other stakeholders. That...
Marathon has sold 1.2M copies across Steam, PS5, and Xbox
Alinea Analytics estimates show that Marathon has generated gross revenues of $55M via 1.2M copies sold on Steam, PS5, and Xbox: Looking at the split between Steam, PS5, and Xbox, Steam is clearly the main platform for Marathon, accounting for a little under 70% of the audience (800K copies sold). Meanwhile, PS5 takes about 19% (217K) and Xbox (including console, PC, and cloud) accounts for a bit over 11% or 133K. Marathon is technically a first-party Sony title, so seeing the home console struggle to break 20% of the volume is a notable data point for the ongoing platform-agnostic debate. PlayStation Studios online games will almost certainly continue being multiplatform (despite Sony reportedly pulling back on PC releases). Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe As for Marathon, the consensus among hardcore players who pushed through the awkward onboarding phase – myself included – is that it’s fantastic. The gunplay, aesthetic, and presentation are among the best in the shooter genre. A great game doesn’t always equal an immediate hit, though, as shown by our estimates. Things are looking lukewarm right now. But this might be one of those marathon-not-a-sprint situations. Had to, didn’t I? Why wasn’t Marathon a hit on the same level as Arc Raiders? One topic that came up in a lot of conversations at GDC this year was why Marathon hasn’t hit the same stratosphere as Arc Raiders. On paper, they’re both extraction shooters, and Marathon has the Bungie pedigree – the house that built the gold standard for gunplay in Halo and Destiny. Marathon’s neon-futuristic aesthetic also distinguishes itself from the gritty realism of Tarkov or the post-apocalyptic hope of ARC Raiders. But vibes can only get you so far for first impressions if the onboarding feels like a brick wall. Marathon is a sweaty PvP-focused experience with a first-time user experience and UI that I can only describe as dreadful. Players are dropped into a complex ecosystem where the UI, though visually striking, is functionally uninformative, forcing users to manually hover over nondescript, identical icons just to identify basic gear or weapon mods. This lack of clarity is compounded by punishing mechanics like a severe heat gauge for movement and a scarcity of vital resources, all without a clear tutorial or a low-stakes mode to learn the ropes. Most people – even top streamers and veteran shooter players – have no idea what’s going on in Marathon at first. Arc is on the complete other end of the spectrum. As we covered here and here, Arc Raiders offers a more collaborative, approachable loop where players often work together toward shared goals. And the objectives are instantly clear. To many players, this contrast only emphasised Marathon’s issues, especially during the testing period. Players understand the Arc Raiders loop within 30 minutes, while Marathon acts as a massive filter, chewing up newcomers and spitting them out before they can experience the depth of Bungie’s signature gunplay. What I’m getting at here is that the poor first-time user experience of Marathon’s Server Slam likely stifled launch sales, while the opposite was true for Arc. Let’s look at the pre-launch copies sold for each game during their respective Server Slams (launch-aligned) : Looking at the trajectory: Arc Raiders saw a massive 80% jump in copies sold during its three-day Server Slam (day -13 to -11). Players jumped in, realised the water was fine, and immediately opened their wallets. Marathon, meanwhile, saw a 49% increase in the four days following its Slam (Day -7 to -3). At the time of each game’s respective launch, Arc Raiders had nearly double the Steam footprint of Marathon – and word of mouth only continued to grow. Bungie could have had more time to fix the onboarding process had the beta happened earlier. But Marathon launched three days after the beta finished. These factors limited the launch sales quite a bit, I reckon. Marathon has found a niche audience, though Despite the friction-heavy start, the data suggests that those who survived Marathon’s onboarding are loving life. We’ve been tracking cross-platform DAUs, and while there’s the expected post-launch leakage, many players are sticking with it. After peaking at 478K total DAUs on its first Saturday, Marathon has settled into a respectable rhythm, holding 345K DAUs as of yesterday and averaging 380K DAUs across the weekend. Steam continues to do the heavy lifting here, consistently accounting for the lion’s share of the daily players. Players have been putting in the hours, too: On Steam, Marathon’s average playtime has climbed to 27.8 hours, significantly outpacing the console averages on PS5 (16.5h) and Xbox (17.3h). Even more telling than the averages: 22% of the Steam audience has surged past the 50-hour mark, and nearly 7% have already logged over 100 hours. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe This data suggests that once the Bungie magic clicks, it hooks players deeper than the average extraction shooter. There’s also started to be a shift in the game’s discourse. Marathon launched as one of those games that’s cool to hate. But as Marathon’s 100-hour club grows, we’re seeing conversations around its mechanical merit outweigh the negativity. Several high-profile creators, who were initially vocal critics, have spent the last week coming around on the mechanical depth of the endgame. It’s a subtle but positive signal; the hate train is losing steam, and a new narrative about the game is emerging. Bungie faithfuls unite Another interesting metric in Marathon’s first few weeks is who, exactly, is playing. Bungie leans heavily on its prestige as the “makers of Halo and Destiny,” in its marketing, and that message has clearly hit the mark. On Steam, the gravity (hammer) of Bungie’s previous work is unavoidable. A staggering 78.2% of Marathon players also played Destiny 2. The trend carries across other platforms, with 74.2% of PS5 players and 82.7% of Xbox players also having played Destiny 2. The Halo legacy lives on, it seems. More on that in a bit. While Destiny 2 went free to play, these numbers still represent a high-intent migration of a fanbase that trusts Bungie’s specific brand of kinetic gunplay and cryptic world-building. The Xbox data adds another layer of legacy. About 85.7% of Marathon players on Xbox have played Halo Infinite, while over half of the Steam audience has spent time in Halo Infinite and 36.1% in the Master Chief Collection (a paid collection of the old Bungie-made legacy games). Interestingly, we see a 55.9% overlap with ARC Raiders on Steam. Overlap is even higher there on PlayStation (60.5%) and Xbox (66.5%). And there’s also significant crossover with Helldivers 2 on all platforms, too. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe Bungie has found some of its fans with Marathon, and the challenge now is keeping this engaged in a high-stakes PvP environment when they’ve spent the last decade primarily enjoying the power fantasies of PvE. On that note… Go the full 26 miles? Or cut and run? Time for some could’ve, should’ve, would’ve. These things would have improved Marathon’s performance at launch: A more robust onboarding process, perhaps in the form of a short single-player/PvE campaign. We know Bungie fans love this stuff. A traditional arena-based mode akin to Destiny’s Crucible could have been a bridge for the cautious players who’d have been otherwise deterred by the Server Slam. It’s also a great palate cleanser after getting merked. Introducing a dedicated PvE environment would have similarly diversified the conversation and lowered the barrier for the Bungie faithful who found the pure PvP extraction loop too abrasive. PvE is safer than PvP these days. There’s an argument that a thin PvE mode would have just felt like a budget Destiny, potentially hurting the brand more. But given how dire the FTUE is, I think it would have been a net positive. Any kind of tutorialised loop that demystifies the stakes, really. While there is merit in a studio sticking firmly to a singular creative vision, and going all in on the hardcore extraction loop. Less forgiving is the technical reality is that the user interface and first-time user experience (FTUE) were not at a commercial standard for launch. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe In a landscape where player time is oversaturated and the most contested currency, a flawed FTUE is a critical failure point. But it’s not all doom and gloom, as Marathon has an incredible, unique gameplay loop, suggesting that financial success is still attainable if Bungie can pivot effectively. Bungie and PlayStation now face a difficult strategic crossroads, though – one within a challenging games market. They could: Double down on Marathon with a long-term Rainbow Six Siege- or No Man’s Sky-style recovery plan, which is something I heard Last Stand Media’s Chris Maldonado mention last week. While this could be a sunk-cost fallacy in action, it could eventually yield the audience the game’s mechanical depth deserves. Shift focus toward the inevitable Destiny 3 or another project, mitigating the escalating opportunity cost and cutting their losses, so to speak. Doing both is an expensive proposition, given the high overhead and burn rate of operating out of Bellevue, Washington. With Sony recently demonstrating a lower threshold for underperforming studios and projects, the margin for error has vanished. Whatever happens, the next six months will determine whether Marathon becomes a cornerstone of Sony’s live-service portfolio or a cautionary tale of vision exceeding accessibility. I’m hoping it’s the former, because Marathon rocks. As always, hit subscribe to get updates on Marathon and other relevant games. Subscribe Want to get your hands on our data for yourself – for free? We’re offering a free trial of our platform for games companies. Send us a message here, or reply to this email, and we’ll set you up. The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]
Women-owned shops in Montgomery County bring variety to local business scene
In honor of Women's History Month, the Valley Forge Visitors and Convention Board puts the spotlight on a few of the many women-owned businesses in the county. From a cheese monger in Skippack at the Grand Fromage to Ardmore shop Plant 4 Good and Cyrenity Sips Winery in Hatboro.
CCPS students place in 2026 science fair
Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) held the 10th annual History, Industry, Technology and Science Expo, also known as HITS, on March 21 at St. Charles High School.
Charlie’s Beat: A healthy life, well lived
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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.
Apple takes aim at Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 with new hosted business email
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US business activity slows as war-driven costs surge
U.S. business activity slowed in March to its weakest pace in nearly a year as rising costs tied to the Iran conflict weighed on demand, Bloomberg writes. A key S&P Global index dipped but remained in expansion territory, while input prices surged to multimonth highs. Service sector growth softened, hiring declined and companies passed higher […]
Scientists Sequenced the DNA of the ‘Last Neanderthal’—and It Alters Human History
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Talking politics at work may support employee well‑being
Study challenges the conventional wisdom about avoiding talking politics at work, showing that it can sometimes benefit employee well-being.
We’re Suing the Trump Administration for Removing Science, History from Our National Parks
We cannot fully understand our country and climate without publicly accessible and accurate historical and scientific information.
Three Hawks Named to College Sports Communicators Women's Basketball Academic All-District Team
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - On Tuesday, the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District women's basketball teams were announced with three members of the Hartford volleyball team featured.
Notre Dame, NBC Sports panel reflects on 20 years of ‘What Would You Fight For?’ storytelling
On Thursday (March 19), the University of Notre Dame hosted an event celebrating 20 years of storytelling through the “What Would You Fight For?” (WWYFF) campaign. Part of the 2025-26 Notre Dame Forum, the panel discussion brought together leaders from the University and NBC Sports to reflect on the impact and evolution of this storytelling platform.
Registration opens for hands-on ocean science program for teachers this summer
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Women's NCAA Tournament Round 2 winners, losers: Virginia make history, Iowa fizzles
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Nets' struggles continue after blowout loss to Trail Blazers
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Sports Take: 4 things to watch as spring practice approaches
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CuSTEMized: Personalized Storybooks Inspire the Next Generation of Female Scientists
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Corona Santiago hands Corona its first baseball defeat behind Troy Randall
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Trump Claims Victory on Memphis Crime as His Crackdown Draws Protests
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Revolutionary Women: Lady Johnson, Angelica Schuyler and the Politics of Loyalty
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Review: Inside the night Jo Koy and Fluffy made comedy history at SoFi Stadium
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Brian Doherty, 57, Dies; Chronicled Libertarians and Other Outsiders
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From radio to newsreels to Netflix, Yankees chart course through entertainment history
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Formulating a Future: Finding a Calling in Pharmaceutical Science | Oberlin College and Conservatory
Chemistry major Alex Xie ’26 utilizes CELA’s research fellowships and scholarship advising to transition from campus labs to a future in pharmaceutical research.
On eve of SD 14 election, Dems still lag in early vote, but data suggests possible victory in defeat
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Apple Reportedly Preparing 'Biggest Set of iPhone Revamps' Ever
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Peace of mind was Mikaela Shiffrin's biggest victory in 2026 Winter Olympics
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'BTS: The Return' review: The world's biggest boy band, without a clear direction
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A Look At PENN Entertainment (PENN) Valuation As Expansion Projects And New Financing Move Ahead
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Ambani's Reliance Jio: businesses and investors of the IPO-bound firm
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Inside the Turmoil at RFK Jr.’s CDC, as Told by Current and Former Employees
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Personnel note: Tampa Electric names Ed Narain as Director of Regional Affairs
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The politics of disability at the Academy Awards
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Historical Wigan cotton mill to reopen as entertainment venue.
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Breaking the Cycle review – meet the charismatic Thai politician striving to change his country’s history
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The Christian Science Monitor Daily for March 23, 2026
Rethink the news: Reducing news to hard lines and side-taking leaves a lot of the story untold. Progress comes from challenging what we hear and considering different views.
Wichita State wins 96-70 against Oklahoma State in NIT
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Auburn secures 91-85 victory over Seattle U in NIT
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Extendend interview: Dr Roham Alvandi on Iran, Britain, and the futures that might have been
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Women's March Madness live updates, scores: LSU makes history in NCAA tournament; Minnesota stuns Ole Miss to advance to Sweet 16
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.
Immigration crackdown impact on local Latino-owned businesses
Latino business owners told WRAL News that fear and uncertainty following a nationwide crackdown in immigration enforcement are keeping some families out of public spaces, leaving small businesses struggling to survive. This story was written by Oriana Torre, a senior graduating journalism student at the University of Florida, participating in the CBC-UNC News Media Multiplatform Fellowship.
Team USA flag football team should consider these 12 NFL stars ... but not Tom Brady
These NFL players should consider making a run at Team USA inclusion in order to earn the first football gold medal in Olympics history.
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
Why mosquitoes always find you and how they decide to attack
Scientists have finally cracked how mosquitoes decide where to fly—and it’s not by following each other. Instead, each insect independently reacts to visual cues and carbon dioxide, zeroing in on humans when both signals align. Dark colors and CO2 together create the strongest attraction, triggering swarming and biting behavior. This insight could reshape how we design traps and prevent mosquito-borne diseases.
“Let’s get ourselves back to Fort Worth, but take care of business at hand,” LSU after loss in Tulsa
LSU Gymnastics’ Sophomore Kailin Chio and Head Coach Jay Clark spoke to the media following a third place finish in the 2026 SEC tournament in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tiger fans came into the BOK Center hopeful for a victory due to having a podium setup, which LSU seems to have thrived on in the past. Which...
Boys' basketball coach of the year: Mike LeDuc of Damien
The second-winningest coach in California high school history guided Damien to the state Division I championship.
'Love Story' is Gen Z's analog dream life
The unplugged lives in "Love Story" feel remarkable to Gen Zers today. They're nostalgic for a time they don't even remember.
What time is Michigan women's basketball's second round game?
Michigan cruised to a blowout victory over Holy Cross in their opening NCAA Women's Tournament matchup. See who they play next.
Paxton Aaronson scores twice to propel Rapids to 4-1 victory over Sporting KC
Paxton Aaronson scored a goal in each half, Wayne Frederick's first career goal was the go-ahead score and the Colorado Rapids rolled to a 4-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night. Aaronson gave Colorado (3-2-0) the lead in the 12th minute, but Shapi Suleymanov scored for the first time this season — in the 44th — to pull Sporting KC (1-3-1) even. The tie lasted until the second minute of stoppage time when Frederick scored unassisted for a 2-1 lead at halftime.
Edgecombe's double-double helps 76ers down Jazz 126-116
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) VJ Edgecombe had 22 points and 13 rebounds and Quentin Grimes scored 26 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 126-116 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.
Digimon Story: Time Stranger large-scale expansion DLC announced
Publisher Bandai Namco and developer Media.Vision have announced a large-scale expansion downloadable content for Digimon Story: Time Stranger. It will launch in 2027.
LeBron James breaks record for most NBA games played
LeBron James broke the NBA record for most regular-season games played on Saturday, taking the court for his 1,612th when the Los Angeles Lakers tipped off against the Orlando Magic.James, playing his unprecedented 23rd season, already holds a host of NBA records, including points scored, field goals made and field goals attempted and the longest streak of regular-season games with at least 10 points scored -- 1,297 -- in history.
Dustin Baker’s 2026 Vikings Mock Draft 3.0 Has Arrived
The Vikings shook operations up just a bit during free agency, notably adding quarterback Kyler Murray and CB3 James Pierre, […]
Fourth suspected measles case reported in Washtenaw County
Measles has not yet been confirmed with laboratory testing, according to a health department press release.
Aspen hosts an eve of storytelling with famed sports photographer
Led by the lens, acclaimed American sports photographer Jean Fruth will share tales from her work covering Major League Baseball and beyond.
'Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man' writer says Tommy's ending was always the plan
Steven Knight has always known how Tommy Shelby's story would end, and with 'Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man,' he's finally shared it with audiences.
Vanderbilt's Mikayla Blakes is a scoring machine. What to know about her in March Madness
Mikayla Blakes is the fastest player in Vanderbilt history to reach 1,000 career points, hitting the milestone in 42 games.
The US Senate could soon set a historic first: Three Black women serving at the same time
In the days after winning the Democratic nomination for Senate, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton spoke to the two women with whom she could make history next year.
People inside Microsoft are fighting to drop Windows 11's mandatory Microsoft Account requirements during setup
Microsoft's big sweeping set of improvements coming soon to Windows 11 don't address its controversial Microsoft account requirements, but that might soon change.
Woman, from Large Filipino Family That Loves Food, Thought Health Issues Were Caused by Her Diet. They Weren't (Exclusive)
A woman thought her health issues were caused by her diet, growing up in 'a big Filipino American family, where food is often the center of all gatherings.' However, Jamie Nangpi Harris' ailments were tied to Crohn's disease, a chronic, autoimmune-driven inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that affects the digestive tract, she tells PEOPLE exclusively.
'Not a done deal': Democrats start to sweat over Virginia's redistricting referendum
The unique nature of the April special election and the state's recent redistricting history have presented challenges for Democrats, even as they hold a financial edge in the race.
Nebraska lands the commitment of 3-star athlete Kaden Howard
The feel-good momentum surrounding the Nebraska athletic department continues to build following the men’s basketball team’s first-round NCAA Tournament victory—and it’s now carrying over onto the recruiting trail. The Cornhuskers have secured a commitment from 3-star athlete Kaden Howard, a 5-foot-10, 160-pound playmaker out of Miami, Florida. Howard picked Nebraska over Louisville, West Virginia and […]
Kaiser Health Care unions ratify new contracts
LOS ANGELES, Cali. (KESQ) — After months of negations, including multiple strikes, UNAC/UHCP health care professionals have voted to ratify new contracts with Kaiser Permanente. During this negotiation period, union members walked off the job in January in what became the longest open-ended strike by nurses and health care professionals in U.S. history, lasting nearly
The St. Charles-Newman winner broke things open in the 5th inning for a run-rule victory
The St. Charles-Newman baseball winner scored seven runs in the fifth inning.
Alabama's Tyler Fay pitches no-hitter against Florida
Tyler Fay pitched Alabama's first nine-inning, complete-game no-hitter in 84 years, striking out 13 in a 6-0 victory over Florida on Friday night.
Entrepreneurs pitch business ideas to investors during Utah filming of 'Meet the Drapers'
A group of entrepreneurs took turns giving pitches in front of venture capitalists and an audience during a live recording of
The biggest medieval march in English history never actually happened
A famous detail in the Battle of Hastings is based on a major misunderstanding.
Braden Smith sets NCAA all-time assists record, breaks Bobby Hurley's mark
Purdue's Braden Smith is the new king of assists in college basketball history, breaking Bobby Hurley's record of 1,076 career dimes.
Federal judge rules RFK Jr. overreached in restricting trans healthcare to minors
Click in for more news from The Hill{beacon}View Online Health Care Health Care The Big Story Federal judge rules RFK Jr. overreached in restricting trans healthcare to minors U…
Mark Robinson admits ‘I lied’ about CNN story
Former North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson admitted he lied about a bombshell CNN KFile investigation during the final months of his 2024 gubernatorial campaign, uncovering his extensive history of posting inflammatory and racist comments on a pornography website.
Bangor Mall furniture store sold to out-of-state business
Bangor Mall furniture store sold to out-of-state company. Owner Kathy Harvey retires from furniture business, and the store offers 50% off to clear inventory.
Seattle’s biotech scene is world-class — Life Science Washington is teaching it how to brag
Despite world-class AI-biotech research, a Nobel Prize-winning protein design lab and proximity to global AI expertise, Washington's life sciences sector is still learning to tell its story.
Shop Women-Owned Businesses: Atiques, Busayo Apparel, More
In celebration of Women’s History Month, TODAY’s Sheinelle Jones and guest co-host Justin Sylvester check out four women-owned businesses in New York City including Djablo Filipino hot sauce, KIKICHIC jewelry and more.
Agnes Pockels’ pioneering work was unfairly dismissed by tropes about women’s domestic roles
Agnes Pockels achievements in surface science have long been overshadowed by a popular and likely untrue story that she became interested in the subject while doing the dishes
[VIDEO] Lucy Wang Featured in Business Interview TV Series
Watch a new Business Insurance interview with Lucy Wang, discussing how California's historic insurance regulatory reform has impacted the state's insurance market and rates in response to increasing wildfire exposure.
Letai: “From this point forward, it really is much more like business as usual at the NCI.”
NCI Director Anthony Letai appeared before the National Cancer Advisory Board Committee March 17 to maneuver through thorny topics while reiterating his message of reassurance: Stability. Stability. Stability. NCI is sturdy and will weather the storms. “The mission hasn’t changed at the National Cancer Institute,” Letai said in his remarks to the committee. “The resources […]
The real science (and the fun fiction) behind Project Hail Mary
The author of the novel Project Hail Mary breaks down aliens, anxiety and the process of bringing his story to the screen
'White with Fear' traces history of race-based fear in politics
Steve Bannon, Hillary Clinton, and more weigh in on the tactic of using race-based fear to get votes.
How New Mexico Became an Obamacare Success Story
Affordable Care Act enrollment has dropped across the United States since the enhanced federal subsidies expired. But New Mexico has record numbers of people signing up.
A Grip on Sports: The Zags survive a first-round rock fight in Portland, one that also caused contusions for those watching from home
A GRIP ON SPORTS • There was one thing I was certain of when I began writing this column almost 15 years ago. The day Chuck Norris died, I would share my story of the lone interaction I had with the “Walker, Texas Ranger” star. It has everything. High school football. A rickety press box. Family. Sports writing. But, alas, it may have to wait. Today is just not the day.
Panthers, Flames fight to extend flickering postseason hopes
The Florida Panthers continued their mastery over the Edmonton Oilers with a decisive 4-0 road victory on Thursday in a Stanley Cup Final rematch.
Attorney general asks if Kemi Badenoch would object to Jewish public prayer
Exclusive: Richard Hermer, who is Jewish, says Tory leader and shadow minister seem ‘to only have an issue with Muslim events’
They moved to South Korea for his job; 2 years later, he was laid off
Bart Schaneman and his family had a full life in Colorado — a two-story house, cars, and jobs. In his 40s, they decided to move to South Korea.
March Madness scores, winners and losers: North Carolina, Wisconsin collapse, Nebraska makes history
The Cornhuskers celebrated a program first, while the Tar Heels and Badgers are in the news for all the worst reasons
No. 11 VCU storms back from 19 down to stun No. 6 North Carolina with largest 1st-round comeback in NCAA tournament history
Terrence Hill Jr. powered the comeback with 34 points including 23 after halftime while shooting 7 of 10 from 3.
How Pauline Hanson’s One Nation is changing politics: Full Story newsroom edition
Guardian Australia’s Josephine Tovey speaks with Mike Ticher and Sarah Martin about why the electorate is flocking to Pauline Hanson, One Nation and the rightwing political movement, and what major parties can do to win voters back
HHS investigating states for ‘coercing’ health care entities to provide abortions
Click in for more news from The Hill{beacon} Health Care Health Care The Big Story HHS investigating states for ‘coercing’ healthcare entities to provide abortions The Department of H…
Markiplier to Microdramas: The Ankler x NAB Show’s Future of Entertainment
Share Subscribe Vegas, baby! The Ankler is heading back to NAB Show for a second year in a row — and doubling down on conversations with the smartest people in the industry. From April 18–22, we’re partnering again with the industry’s biggest media and tech gathering to break down the Business of Media and Entertainment as it’s actually evolving: faster, riskier and increasingly driven by new formats, new audiences and new power players. This curated series will bring together top creators, executives and innovators to tackle the forces reshaping the industry — from the AI disruption of Hollywood’s creative ecosystem to the rise of the creator economy, shifting audience behavior and the changing economics of production. We’ll be rolling out more programming in the coming weeks — including top speakers from leading AI studios, prediction markets and beyond — so keep an eye on the Business of Media and Entertainment hub. But first up, we’re announcing two panels about what’s actually working in Hollywood: The Scary-Smart Business of Horror A good scare has become one of the entertainment economy’s most reliable engines. With disciplined budgets, built-in fandoms and global box office upside, horror consistently outperforms. From theatrical releases to streaming-first originals and creator-driven IP, the genre is artistically flexible and financially durable — and one of the last truly communal experiences for Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences. Join YouTube creator Mark Fischbach, aka Markiplier, whose independent feature Iron Lung earned more than $50 million at the global box office, Atomic Monster president Michael Clear and screenwriter Akela Cooper (M3GAN, Malignant) for a conversation moderated by Like & Subscribe’s Natalie Jarvey about why horror travels so effectively across platforms and borders, how studios and independents are building sustainable genre pipelines and why the next wave of breakout franchises may emerge from unexpected sources. Inside the Microdrama Boom Short-form serialized storytelling is having a major moment. Microdramas, social-native series and creator-led narratives are capturing massive audiences with low-cost, rapid production cycles and direct-to-fan distribution. What was once dismissed as niche or experimental is now attracting major platform investment. Moderated by Jarvey, this panel of microdrama creators and executives — including one of the format’s top stars and producers, Kasey Esser, and Dhar Mann Studios’ head of vertical content, Erin McFarlane — examines how format innovation, fandom dynamics and algorithmic discovery are reshaping the economics of scripted storytelling and what traditional studios can learn from these agile models. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Lynne@theankler.com Share
Google gives Android users a way to install unverified apps if they prove they really, really want to
: Chocolate Factory describes concession as an attempt to balance openess with safety
Mozilla’s VPN is free, limited, and not really a VPN
Mozilla has a long history of launching and abandoning products and calling things "privacy" that aren't quite that.
Illinois: Penn Entertainment's Hollywood Casino Aurora scheduled to open June 24
Penn Entertainment announced on Thursday that Hollywood Casino Aurora will open to the public on June 24, pending customary regulatory approvals. This will be the second new Penn property to... Read more »
What to watch this week in New Orleans theater: ‘Gatsby,’ ‘Streetcar,’ ‘Little Shop,’ more
Step into the Jazz Age with a lavish musical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic tale at the Saenger Theatre. Don't miss the chance to witness Jay Gatsby's larger-than-life story come alive on stage!
PENN Entertainment Sets June 24 as Grand Opening Date for New Hollywood Casino Aurora in Illinois
WYOMISSING, Penn. & AURORA, Ill., March 19, 2026--PENN Entertainment, Inc. ("PENN" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: PENN) announced today that it expects to open the new land-based Hollywood Casino Aurora to the public on Wednesday, June 24, pending customary regulatory approvals. This will be the second all-new PENN property to open in the Chicagoland region following the grand opening of the land-based Hollywood Casino Joliet in August 2025.
Scientists Are Using Tiny Pockets of Gas to Reveal the History of the Earth
A new study focuses on krypton gas in the hopes of understanding how ancient coastlines and landscapes change in Earth’s past.