Legal experts say the speed and decisiveness of the Department of Justice’s proposed antitrust settlement with OhioHealth should put other hospitals on notice.
The DOJ and Ohio attorney general’s proposed settlement announced Wednesday would require nonprofit OhioHealth to quit using certain contracting practices that the agencies say prevented health insurers from selling cheaper policies. The deal, which comes just four months after the agencies sued the Columbus-based system, will likely push other health systems to examine their own contracting practices.
“I would expect lawyers will get pretty busy looking at contracts with payers,” said Katie Keith, the director of Georgetown University’s Center for Health Policy and the Law.
The Federal Trade Commission and four state attorneys general have sued the main professional organization for gender-affirming care clinicians, alleging it made false claims to sell medical services to kids.
The lawsuit against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), filed Wednesday in a federal court in Texas, is part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to end gender-affirming care for minors.
The path to becoming a scientist is long and twisting, making it difficult to assess whether programs intended to help those careers along are successful.
But on Wednesday, the results of one such study are being published after 20 years of research. The paper in the journal Science Advances found that two diversity-oriented programs supported by the National Institutes of Health doubled the odds that an undergraduate student would earn a Ph.D.
NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione plans to assert a psychiatric defense at his state murder trial, claiming he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance when he gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a judge said Wednesday. It wouldn’t absolve him of the Dec. 4, 2024, killing, but could free him from prison sooner.
If a jury accepts that defense, the panel would convict Mangione of manslaughter and he would face up to 25 years in prison. Alternatively, the jury could reject the extreme emotional disturbance defense and convict him of murder, which carries a potential life sentence. That defense isn’t available in his federal case.
A vibrating capsule that assesses how nerve signals from the stomach are registered by the brain could help identify patients with anorexia at risk of relapse, a clinical trial suggests.
The findings, in JAMA Psychiatry, offers an insight into how the eating disorder affects the nervous system as well as a way to personalize and assess the success of treatment.
The results suggest that disruptions in gastrointestinal (GI) interoception—involving the detection, transmission, and processing of signals in the digestive tract—can increase the risk of anorexia returning, even if weight has normalized.
Gastric signals could therefore act as scalable biomarkers to identify who is at increased risk of relapse and track whether treatment is improving gut-brain signaling.
“People with anorexia nervosa do not simply ignore signals from the body,” explained researcher Sahib Khalsa, PhD, at the University of California, Los Angeles.
“Rather, their nervous system may process gut sensations differently, making those signals harder to detect, trust and learn from. Over time, that may contribute to the persistence of symptoms even after weight is restored.”
Khalsa and co-workers asked 62 girls and women with anorexia nervosa whose weight had been restored to healthy levels to swallow the vibrating capsule in their crossover trial.
The capsule could be remotely controlled by the researchers to produce mechanosensory stimulation of different intensities in the stomach.
Participants were asked to press a button upon sensing a vibration, with 54 patients followed up at six months after discharge from hospital and their results compared with 57 healthy control individuals.
Computational modeling was used to estimate how strongly participants anticipated feeling sensations in their stomachs, how heavily their brains depended on body signals, and how quickly they adjusted their expectations as to the presence or absence of signals.
The researchers found that participants with anorexia had abnormal GI interoception across behavioral and computational domains compared with healthy participants, despite having intact neural and physiological responses.
Participants with anorexia were less able to detect subtle stomach sensations and were more likely than others to believe there were no sensations when the pill was vibrating. They were also less likely to update those expectations when gastric signals occurred.
Patients who were more likely to ignore the stomach signals were also at increased likelihood of relapsing to the eating disorder.
“One of the most striking findings was that these differences persisted even after weight restoration,” said Khalsa.
“Recovery from anorexia nervosa isn’t just about restoring body weight. The underlying brain–body communication problems may remain and could contribute to relapse.”
The researchers conclude that their results support the use of ingestible mechanosensory probes and computer modeling as scalable tools to monitor treatment response and guide relapse prevention in eating disorders.
As the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) celebrates 30 years of visionary philanthropy, leaders from across sectors and around the world will gather at SNF Nostos 2026 (June 21–28) at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) in Athens, Greece. There, they will explore bold ideas and practical solutions for building a better future. The Child Mind Institute is honored to participate in this milestone anniversary celebration, grateful for SNF’s longstanding partnership and commitment to advancing child and adolescent mental health globally.
Throughout the SNF Nostos 2026 week, the Child Mind Institute and the SNF Global Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health will contribute to conversations examining how youth mental health intersects with some of today’s most pressing challenges, including education, technology, equity, and workforce development. These discussions will bring together diverse perspectives united by a shared belief that meaningful progress requires collaboration across disciplines, sectors, and borders.
During the panel, “SNF’s Global Health Initiative (GHI): Focus on Mental Health”, SNF co-president Andreas Dracopoulos will join founding president and medical director of the Child Mind Institute, Harold S. Koplewicz, MD, senior vice president of Global Programs Giovanni Abrahão Salum, MD, PhD, and other international experts to explore how sustainable support for mental health can strengthen communities and improve outcomes for children and young people worldwide. The discussion will highlight approaches that are locally led, evidence-based, and designed to meet the unique needs of diverse communities.
In addition, the SNF Global Center and its Global Youth Advisory Council (GYAC) will come together, in-person, for the first time to lead two conversations focused on advancing collaborative and community-driven approaches to mental health:
Strengthening Mental Health Systems through Cross-Country Partnerships: Case Studies from Greece, South Africa, Brazil, and Mozambique
Youth Voices Driving Digital Innovation in Mental Health Interventions
These conversations aim to highlight how countries and communities are building stronger systems of support through local leadership, meaningful youth participation, and innovative approaches to care.
Members of the SNF Global Center at the Child Mind Institute’s Global Youth Advisory Council (GYAC)
Building on the momentum of the SNF Global Center’s inaugural Global Summit on Youth Mental Health in 2025 and the ongoing work of the GYAC, SNF Nostos 2026 will also spotlight the critical role young people play in shaping the future of mental health. Across the week, youth leaders will share perspectives on how lived experience, community engagement, and innovation can help create more responsive and effective systems of support.
Additionally, a landmark Evidence-to-Policy Review examining what it means to navigate adolescence in an increasingly digital world will be presented. Commissioned by the Prime Minister of Greece and developed through the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Initiative (CAMHI) in Greece, the youth-led report brings together the latest evidence, youth perspectives, and a roadmap for how governments, institutions, and communities can better support young people in Greece and beyond. Having started in Greece, CAMHI has since expanded into additional core hubs in South Africa and Brazil, as well as partnerships across multiple low- and middle-income countries. We look forward to seeing the positive impacts this expansion will make on youth mental health globally.
Finally, as a special part of the celebration, the Child Mind Institute is proud to share a video reflecting on our transformative partnership with SNF, and the exceptional changes made possible through the SNF Global Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Over the past six years, we have worked together to expand access to care, strengthen mental health systems, support local leaders, and elevate youth voices across communities around the world.
“What we share with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, is that we both believe that every child, everywhere, deserves mental health.”
Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz
SNF Nostos 2026 is a celebration of what becomes possible when people unite around a shared purpose. With humanity at the core, SNF Nostos 2026 will serve as a reminder that sustained progress begins with people — especially youth, families, communities, and the leaders committed to supporting them. Together, we can build a world where every child counts.
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.
Hacking the atmosphere: geoengineering gets a reality check
Solar geoengineering, the controversial idea that we could deliberately intervene in the climate system to counteract global warming, is moving beyond computer simulations and into the practical engineering challenges required to make it real.
Researchers are now working on aircraft, materials, and other systems for solar geoengineering. But as they delve into these details, they’re finding that even early deployment would require significant new infrastructure, time, and investment.
MIT Technology Review Narrated: inside interoception, the hidden sense of how you feel inside
Scientists have a word for how we sense ourselves from the inside: interoception. Today, thanks to a 2021 Nobel Prize and new tools that can map internal signaling across the body, research into interoception is taking off.
This is our latest story to be turned into an MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we publish each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 SpaceX is now valued higher than Amazon Its market value hit $2.659 trillion yesterday. (Axios) + A post-IPO stock surge also briefly pushed it above Microsoft’s. (Quartz) + It’s now the world’s fifth most valuable company. (Guardian) + SpaceX is acquiring AI coding startup Cursor for $60 billion. (CNBC)
2 G7 leaders want access to top US AI models They’re pushing to escape restrictions on the likes of Fable 5. (Reuters $) + The Mythos shutdown has sparked a global scramble for sovereign AI. (Fortune) + The world is looking to ditch US AI models. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Trump’s AI export strategy has run into Trump’s export controls His administration risks undermining its own AI plans. (Axios) + It now effectively has a licensing regime for frontier AI. (Fortune) + Here’s how a top Chinese AI model overcame US sanctions. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Huawei’s big comeback has exposed the limits of US chip controls It’s overcome restrictions on advanced chipmaking gear. (Financial Times $) + The AI boom has ignited Asia’s chip companies. (NYT $)
5 AI fears are pushing Silicon Valley toward gene-editing startups They want smarter babies to counter superintelligent AI. (Mother Jones) + The pursuit of perfect babies is an ethical mess.(MIT Technology Review)
6 A brain implant has enabled a speechless ALS patient to work full-time The system translates his brain activity into speech. (The Register) + He’s become the first “power user” of a BCI. (MIT Technology Review)
7 A leak has revealed details of Peter Thiel’s secret society Its program ranges from cult-building to prepping for World War III. (Wired $)
8 ChatGPT’s market share has slipped below 50% for the first time Thanks to the rise of Gemini and Claude. (TechCrunch)
9 A quantum state that lasts forever may finally be within our grasp Experiments suggest that quantum “eternity” is possible. (New Scientist $)
10 Commodore has made a digital detox phone that isn’t dumb The Callback combines gadget nostalgia with modern needs. (The Verge)
Quote of the day
“The Entity List is like whack-a-mole and you’ve got to keep whacking the moles.”
—Philip Luck, who studies global supply chains at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, tells Reuters that a lack of new blacklistings is likely leading American innovations to adversaries who could use them against the US.
One More Thing
COURTESY OF DEEPMIND
This is the reason Demis Hassabis started DeepMind
Watching DeepMind’s AI master the ancient board game Go, Demis Hassabis realized that his company was ready to take on one of the most important and complicated puzzles in biology: predicting the structure of proteins.
The result was AlphaFold2, an AI that could predict the shape of proteins down to the nearest atom. “It’s the most complex thing we’ve ever done,” Hassabis told MIT Technology Review.
Taking on scientific problems is the culmination of what Hassabis set out to achieve, and it’s what he wants to be known for. “This is the reason I started DeepMind,” he says. “In fact, it’s why I’ve worked my whole career in AI.”
A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line.)
+ This mesmerising footage of wind rolling through grass looks like CGI. + The glorious early days of internet discovery have been revived by the return of StumbleUpon. + A German subway entrance has been delightfully designed as an old tram car crashing into the pavement. + The Last Museum lets you search across 5.8 million museum artworks spanning from 3000 BC to the present day.
Mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MD) is a pivotal hub for cortical functions, characterized by significant heterogeneity in its anatomical connectivity, cytoarchitecture, and function, constituting a complex nucleus composed of multiple functionally specialized subregions. We elaborates on the heterogeneous anatomical connectivity of MD and its crucial role in supporting higher cognitive functions such as working memory, cognitive control, and emotional integration. It then focuses on the multifaceted role of MD within epileptic pathological networks. Substantial evidence indicates that MD in patients with epilepsy exhibits structural atrophy and abnormalities in functional connectivity, with its activity being recruited early during seizures and likely involved in seizure propagation and generalization. However, the therapeutic efficacy of neuromodulation targeting MD, such as deep brain stimulation (DBS), remains contentious, highlighting the current insufficient understanding of its distinct functional subregions and specific pathway mechanisms. Finally, the review discusses the challenges and future directions in translating MD into an effective therapeutic target. It emphasizes that future research must endeavor to elucidate its causal mechanisms within epileptic networks at the subregional level, account for the heterogeneity of seizure onset frequencies, and develop precise intervention strategies targeting specific epileptogenic pathways, thereby advancing novel therapies focused on thalamocortical circuits toward clinical application.
IntroductionAlthough vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an established therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy, its mechanisms of action remain unresolved, resulting in variable clinical efficacy. Given the strong anatomical and functional coupling between vagal afferents and the locus coeruleus–noradrenergic system, this study investigated whether VNS directly impacts an electrophysiological marker of this system, the P3b event-related potential, and how such modulation relates to therapeutic outcomes.MethodsFifteen adults who had undergone long-term VNS implantation performed an auditory oddball task with the device disabled (OFF) and enabled (ON), with ON separated into electrical pulse-train (ON HIGH) and inter-burst break (ON LOW) phases to investigate the direct impact of electrical stimulation on the P3b.ResultsLinear mixed-effects modelling revealed a significant interaction between VNS condition and clinical response: responders showed reduced P3b amplitude (p = 0.023) and prolonged latency during ON (p = 0.007), whereas non-responders exhibited increased amplitude (p = 0.009) and trending shortened latency (p = 0.078). These VNS-induced changes correlated monotonically with a continuous clinical response score (r_amplitude = −0.62, r_latency = 0.48). In addition, a simple classification approach based on a composite amplitude-to-latency index was included to illustrate the potential of P3b modulation as a biomarker for distinguishing responders from non-responders, showing an overall accuracy of 86.7%. No pulse-locked modulation was observed between ON HIGH and ON LOW.DiscussionThese findings demonstrate that VNS elicits group-specific acute effects on cognitive–electrophysiological markers and support P3b modulation as a promising biomarker for predicting therapeutic efficacy.
ObjectivesTo develop and validate a prediction model that integrates radiomics-habitat and deep learning (DL) features derived from vessel wall MRI (VWI) for evaluating unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) instability.MethodsFirst, from January 2022 to January 2024, 519 consecutive patients with suspected UIAs were screened. After applying exclusion criteria, 293 patients with 312 UIAs were ultimately enrolled. 197 UIAs were stable (from 188 patients) and 115 UIAs were unstable (from 105 patients). Second, aneurysm regions were segmented, and K-means clustering was used to partition them into three habitat subregions. Third, a Transformer-based fusion model for assessing UIA instability was developed to integrate radiomics-habitat features, DL features, and clinical variables. Model performance was evaluated using AUC, calibration curves, and clinical gain metrics, including Net Reclassification Index (NRI) and Integrated Discrimination Improvement (IDI). Last, SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) was applied to enhance model interpretability.ResultsThe Transformer-based fusion model assessing UIA instability exhibited superior performance (validation AUC = 0.844) compared with the optimal radiomics-habitat model (AUC = 0.721) and the top-performing DL model (DenseNet169, AUC = 0.816). The model demonstrated superior clinical utility, with an NRI of 0.282 and an IDI of 0.558 compared to the Radiomics-Habitat model. Decision curve analysis showed a high net clinical benefit across a range of threshold probabilities.ConclusionThe Transformer-based fusion model provides an exploratory risk-assessment model and has the potential to assist in clinical decision-making.
