One of the biggest mysteries cancer researchers are trying to solve is why colorectal cancer rates are soaring among young adults. Now the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men and women under age 50, colorectal cancer has become an alarming outlier among a general decrease in cancer mortality in recent decades. But a paper published last month in Nature Medicine that examined the risk of early-onset cancer has provided a new clue, triggering a lively discourse in the science community—and beyond. A team of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis set out to examine whether…
Author: Staff Writer
State fairs are famous for iconic foods like funnel cakes, corn dogs, and just about anything that can be deep-fried. But when it comes to over-the-top edible offerings, few events have a reputation quite like the Minnesota State Fair. Dubbed the “Great Minnesota Get-Together,” the nation’s largest state fair has long been a destination for creative culinary concoctions. This year, organizers are adding 36 new official foods and nine new vendors, bringing the fair’s already massive lineup to roughly 1,600 menu items. But while many new offerings fit right into traditional state fair flavors—like the When Pigs Fly dish, a…
The amount of AI-generated content you scroll through might be far greater than you think, according to a new study by the AI detection platform Pangram. Pangram asked users of its Chrome extension to opt in to sharing their browsing results with the platform. From those results, Pangram used its AI detection model—which has a 0.01% false positive rate, according to the company—to scan nearly 1 million posts that users scrolled through across the internet over the course of two months. Pangram only scanned posts that users came across—meaning that AI slop is not just contained to spam sites but…
In 2024, hundreds of nurses gathered outside a Kaiser Permanente hospital in San Francisco, carrying signs that read: “Trust nurses, not AI.” As the nurses union started contract negotiations last year, the nonprofit health system’s adoption of artificial intelligence tools was one of the issues workers raised while picketing—and earlier this year, tens of thousands of Kaiser nurses went on strike alongside mental health professionals, largely to protest AI. This has become a central issue for healthcare workers in California, and a report from Cal Matters this week reveals why they have pushed back on how they’re being asked to…
Over the past four years, I’ve interviewed thousands of candidates and extended offers to about 40 people. I’m 27 years old and to this day, I have never been on the other side of the job interview. Instead, I’ve started two companies and successfully raised venture capital for both. Learning how to hire has been the biggest unlock for us. How to think about hiring 2026 feels like the year of layoffs. Coinbase, Meta, Snap, Oracle have collectively laid off tens of thousands of people. Many point to efficiency gains from artificial intelligence as the reason for less personnel. As…
Below, Elizabeth Svoboda shares five key insights from her new book, The Art of Pacing: A Guide to Balancing Short-Term Demands With Long-Term Thriving. Svoboda is an award-winning science writer and contributor to Scientific American, Psychology Today, and The Boston Globe. What’s the big idea? Thriving over the long term depends on learning how to pace yourself. This means managing your energy deliberately rather than swinging between overwork and withdrawal. Listen to the audio version of this Book Bite—read by Svoboda herself—in the Next Big Idea app, or buy the book. 1. Pacing is a learnable skill that’s integral to thriving. The concept of smart…
If you’re like most people, you’re using artificial intelligence in a variety of ways, and you may be relying on its help as a partner in this tough job market. You’re probably even asking AI for career advice. But is this a good idea? The answer is decidedly mixed. For some aspects of career guidance, AI can be helpful. But there are some very big caution flags to be aware of. You are wise to lean in, learn, and use AI. It is sweeping our work and lives, so understanding it and incorporating it for certain tasks is a great…
Consider the following scenario. Suzy is 63, recently retired, and trying to decide when to start receiving Social Security and how to manage her retirement savings to minimize the tax hit. She opens an AI chatbot, types in the details, and gets a calm, well-organized and confident answer: Claim now, convert this much, here is the reasoning. The chatbot sounds authoritative and even shows its work. So Suzy follows its guidance and never calls a financial planner. Maybe the advice was fine. But maybe it quietly ignored the fact that Suzy’s spouse is younger and in poor health, which can…
Apple’s incoming CEO John Ternus steps into the chief executive role in less than two months. He’s got some massive Tim Cook-sized shoes to fill. The outgoing CEO is leaving with Apple stock (Nasdaq: AAPL) currently near an all-time high of over $300 per share and a massive market cap of more than $4.5 trillion, largely driven by its stellar hardware products that are irresistible to consumers. Apple’s once-lauded software, however, has struggled in recent years. Ternus will need to make Apple competitive again on this front—an area where the company is increasingly lagging behind competitors. This weak spot is…
The house I currently live in was built on the outskirts of Milwaukee in 1941–which means it does not have central air-conditioning. In the ten years we’ve lived here, the lack of A/C has only bothered us for about two weeks every August. We can power through those hot, sticky days with window air conditioners in each of the three bedrooms, and before we know it, we’re back to complaining about the snow. But like many other parts of the world, our little corner of Wisconsin got unexpectedly toasty in late June and early July. Installing the window A/C units…