ObjectiveThis study aimed to use a three-level meta-analysis to examine the effects of exercise interventions on executive function (EF) in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and to explore the relationship between exercise dose and intervention effects through subgroup analyses.MethodsA systematic search was conducted in Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library from database inception to November 17, 2025. All included studies were randomized controlled trials. A three-level random-effects model was applied to integrate multiple dependent effect sizes. Hedges’ g was used to calculate effect sizes, and negative values indicated improvements in EF following exercise interventions. Study quality was assessed using the PEDro scale, and publication bias was evaluated using Egger’s regression and the trim-and-fill method.ResultsSeventeen studies involving 626 participants were included. Exercise interventions produced a moderate and significant improvement in EF (g = –0.34, p < 0.0001) with low heterogeneity (Q = 50.42, p =0.268). Subgroup analyses showed that only intervention duration significantly moderated the effects, with programs lasting ≥10 weeks yielding the greatest benefits.ConclusionExercise interventions significantly improve EF in children and adolescents with ASD, with the largest effect sizes observed in interventions lasting ≥10 weeks. Further large-scale studies are needed to clarify dose–response relationships and inform optimal exercise prescriptions. This meta-analysis was designed and reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020) guidelines. Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD420251236112
Midlands procures ambient voice technology for 70,000 clinicians
NHS England in the Midlands has procured ambient voice technology for 1,239 GP practices and more than 70,000 clinicians across 15 trusts.
Effects of Social Media Narratives on Affective and Behavioral Responses to Menopause Content: Randomized Online Experimental Study
Background: Social media is an increasingly prominent channel for communicating menopause information and experiences, yet the affective and behavioral consequences of different narrative framings remain unclear. Objective: We examined how distress, normalizing, and transformative narratives influenced women’s immediate responses to menopause content online, drawing on established narrative framings of menopause as normality, distress, and transformation. Methods: In an online experiment, UK women aged 40 to 83 years who were perimenopausal or postmenopausal were recruited via Prolific, a widely used online recruitment platform for behavioral and social science research. A total of 737 women were randomly assigned to view 4 anonymized and standardized social media posts from a pool of 12 reflecting 1 of 3 narratives: <i>normal</i> (n=248, 33.6%), <i>distress</i> (n=241, 32.7%), or <i>transformative</i> (n=248, 33.6%). Participants then reported affective reactions, expected behavioral responses, and perceptions of the posts using 5-point ordered response scales. Ordinal logistic regression models tested demographic predictors and condition effects controlling for demographic factors. Results: Participants who viewed distress-framed posts reported greater levels of worry (β=.910; <i>P</i><.001), confusion (β=.818; <i>P</i><.001), and anxiety (β=.817; <i>P</i><.001) and lower levels of reassurance (β=−.970; <i>P</i><.001), optimism (β=−.708; <i>P</i><.001), and empowerment (β=−.540; <i>P</i><.001). Distress framing also increased perceived knowledge of menopause (β=.564; <i>P</i><.001) despite participants feeling more negatively toward the posts. Neither distress nor transformative narratives influenced expected behavioral intentions to like, share, save, comment on, search for, or discuss social media posts compared with normalizing narratives. Postmenopausal status (β=−.630; <i>P</i><.001) and older age (β=−.492; <i>P</i><.001) were independently associated with less worry and anxiety. Participants rated distress (β=−.806; <i>P</i><.001) and transformative posts (β=−.968; <i>P</i><.001) as less representative of health professionals than normalizing posts; transformative posts were also judged to be less representative of newspapers or television (β=−.687; <i>P</i><.001). Conclusions: Narrative framing shaped immediate affect but not intended engagement with menopause content. Because this study assessed short-term responses to controlled, standardized posts, future research should examine whether these effects persist over time and how they operate in more ecologically valid social media environments. As public discussion expands, diverse, balanced narratives may help reduce stigma and temper the disproportionate salience of negative framing. This study advances understanding of how narrative framing shapes responses to health content online.
Londoners can now create Universal Care Plan through NHS App
All patients registered with a London GP practice can now create their Universal Care Plan (UCP) through the NHS App.
Pharmacotherapy, acupoint stimulation, and psychotherapy for perimenopausal women with anxiety, depression, and panic disorder: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
BackgroundPerimenopausal women frequently experience physiological and psychological symptoms, including anxiety, depression, and panic disorders, mainly due to declining ovarian function and hormonal changes. Current options include pharmacotherapy, acupoint stimulation (AcuStim), and psychotherapy (psych), but their comparative efficacy and safety remain controversial.ObjectiveThis network meta-analysis (NMA) systematically compared pharmacotherapy, AcuStim, and psychotherapy for perimenopausal anxiety, depression, and panic disorder, assessing clinical efficacy, adverse events (AEs), and changes in the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA), Kupperman Index (KI), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and serum hormone levels.MethodsWe searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, and SinoMed from inception to June 14, 2026, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). A Bayesian NMA was performed, and the Surface Under the Cumulative Ranking Curve (SUCRA) was calculated.ResultsThe study included 131 RCTs, encompassing 11457 perimenopausal women diagnosed with emotional disorders. These trials evaluated three distinct treatment strategies. The NMA showed that the highest SUCRA probabilities were observed for drug_psych across HAMD (SUCRA = 92.4%), KI (SUCRA = 97.9%), SDS (SUCRA = 94.5%), PSQI (SUCRA = 98.1%), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) (SUCRA = 96.1%) reduction and estradiol (E2) (SUCRA = 0.1%) elevation; for AcuStim_psych (SUCRA = 93.7%) in HAMA reduction; for psych (SUCRA = 98.9%) in SAS reduction; for drug_AcuStim in clinical efficacy (SUCRA = 9.0%) and luteinizing hormone (LH) reduction (SUCRA = 100%); and for control (SUCRA = 65.5%) in safety outcomes. In pharmacotherapy subgroup analyses, antidepressants (ADs)_Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) ranked highest for HAMD (SUCRA = 87.2%) and safety (SUCRA = 82%), ADs_antipsychotics (AP) (SUCRA = 97.5%) for HAMA, and ADs_hormone replacement therapy (HRT) (SUCRA = 10.2%) for clinical efficacy.ConclusionPharmacological, acupoint stimulation, and psychological interventions each demonstrated therapeutic benefits for perimenopausal women with emotional disorders. Combination therapies generally showed more favorable efficacy across multiple psychological and endocrine outcomes than single-modality interventions, while no single treatment strategy was consistently superior across all outcomes. These findings may provide evidence to support individualized treatment selection according to patients’ clinical characteristics and therapeutic goals.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD420261340530.
NHS AI use cases spotlighted by the WEF for work with FLock.io
FLock.io has been spotlighted by the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s MINDS programme for two NHS trusts using its privacy-preserving AI to tackle major diseases. Both trusts use its federated learning platform to train clinical models while maintaining 100% data sovereignty.
South west London expands NHS pathology drone deliveries
Drone deliveries are set to become a core part of NHS pathology logistics across south west London following a successful pilot.
The Download: OpenAI unveils GPT-Red and heat pumps rise in the US
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.
Meet GPT-Red: an LLM super-hacker OpenAI built to make its models safer
OpenAI has built an LLM super-hacker called GPT-Red that it uses as a sparring partner to help its other models boost their defenses against cyberattacks.
It automates a type of safety evaluation for software systems known as red-teaming, which is typically done by a team of human testers. The aim is to find as many different ways to break or hijack a system as possible.
OpenAI gave MIT Technology Review an exclusive peek into the system. Find out how it could keep the company ahead of human attackers.
—Will Douglas Heaven
Why heat pumps are still so hot in the US
—Casey Crownhart
It feels as if it should be illegal to even think about heating appliances during the height of summer, but we need to talk about heat pumps.
The appliances use electricity for heating, they’re incredibly efficient, and they’re on the rise. In the US, their sales have doubled over the past 15 years, according to a new report. They’re also winning the heating race against fossil fuels, outpacing natural-gas furnaces by 32% during the first quarter of 2026.
These stats are especially striking at this moment, because a key tax credit for heat pumps just ended. So why are heat pumps still so hot? Read the full story for the answer.
This article is from The Spark, our weekly climate tech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Elon Musk discreetly bought a $1 billion gas turbine firm to power Grok
He acquired fossil fuel company APR Energy in May. (Electrek)
+ The most likely application will be powering AI data centers. (Engadget)
+ The deal was revealed through an FTC filing. (Gizmodo)
+ What will power AI’s growth? (MIT Technology Review)
2 A hack shows the Suno AI music generator scraped YouTube, Deezer
It scraped decades’ worth of music to train its models. (404 Media)
+ The hacked is a unique look into the black boxes powering GenAI. (CNET)
+ AI is coming for music, too. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Thinking Machines has launched an open-weight AI model
Inkling offers a US alternative to China’s open-source models. (Reuters $)
+ It’s the first AI model built by Thinking Machines. (WSJ $)
+ The startup was founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati. (Axios)
4 Europe is narrowing its ambitions for tech independence
Manufacturing and research show promise, but funding is a problem. (NYT $)
+ Earnings are strong, but an AI gap persists. (Reuters $)
+ India is also scrambling for AI independence. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Earth is absorbing energy at a rate that’s alarming climate scientists
The planet is taking in more heat than models predicted. (Economist $)
+ The legal case for climate justice is growing. (MIT Technology Review)
6 The AI backlash has tech executives fearing for their lives
Violent threats against AI firms are spilling into the real world. (WSJ $)
+ An anti-AI movement is growing globally. (MIT Technology Review)
7 A Moroccan intelligence insider exposed widespread Pegasus use
Including to target journalists, activists, and foreign politicians. (Guardian)
8 AI is powering citizen-led disaster relief from afar for Venezuela
It’s helping to locate missing people and coordinate relief. (Rest of World)
9 Thermodynamic computers could turn noise into useful calculations
They may offer a cooler, more efficient way to process information. (Quanta)
10 An engineer has explained every ’90s computer in Jurassic Park
Fans have debated the technology in the film for decades. (Ars Technica)
Quote of the day
“We hit pause because the communities powering AI should share in its success. Maybe that’s a novel concept in Washington.”
—New York Gov. Kathy Hochul responds on X to President Donald Trump’s criticism of her state’s new data center moratorium.
One More Thing
Will we ever trust robots?
Robotics firm Prosper is developing a humanoid called Alfie to perform tasks in homes, hospitals, and hotels. The company’s founder, Shariq Hashme, has identified trustworthiness as the top design priority—and first hurdle to clear before humanoids can live up to their hype.
Hashme believes one essential tactic to get people to put their trust in Alfie is to build a detailed character from the ground up—something humanlike but not too human. But the robot’s reliance on remote human operators raises broader questions about privacy, labour, and whether society will truly accept humanoids in our private spaces.
Read the full story on the humanoid trust dilemma.
—James O’Donnell
We can still have nice things
A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line.)
+ Meet the man behind the world’s most beautiful books.
+ 3D printing has revived Roman Britain’s most popular board game.
+ “Lucha Libro” is an imaginative idea to boost literacy: staging live wrestling matches in US libraries.
+ Over 100 years after the death of legendary explorer Ernest Shackleton, the wreck of his final ship has been photographed for the first time.
Autolomous and Cellular Origins Expand Cell Therapy Manufacturing Process
Officials at Autolomous and Cellular Origins say the companies have carried out the end-to-end integration of their respective platforms to bring full automation and digitization to the entire cell therapy manufacturing process. This new scalable approach creates a connected manufacturing environment that gives developers greater standardization, traceability, and control across the entire manufacturing process, according to the companies’ spokespersons.
Cellular Origins’ Constellation® automated platform was created to enable cell therapy manufacturing, integrating mobile robotics, existing bioprocessing technologies, and sterile fluid transfer into a coordinated operation. Its flexible, modular architecture allows developers and manufacturers to scale manufacturing capacity as demand grows while maintaining standardized processes, avoiding therapy redevelopment and reducing scale-up risk, notes Edwin Stone, CEO of Cellular Origins.
Autolomous’ digital autoloMATE® platform was designed to allow real-time data exchange and integration across existing software and AI systems, as well as devices and robotic platforms across the entire manufacturing process and supply chain, while safeguarding intellectual property. The modular architecture allows each deployment to be configured to customer needs.
The combined solution overcomes fragmentation, limited visibility, and the absence of standardized, interoperable data flows without replacing existing processes, enabling manufacturers to scale to commercially viable levels, maintains Alexander Seyf, CEO of Autolomous. First integrations have already been achieved at the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult Digital and Automation Testbeds, as part of an Innovate UK-funded project.
“Scientific ambition has never been the bottleneck in bringing innovative cell therapy to patients, but the delivery infrastructure has brought many challenges,” continues Seyf. “Together with Cellular Origins, we enable fast and efficient scaling from research through to patient administration, ensuring standardization, automation and digitization across the entire process.”
“Scaling cell therapy manufacturing is not just a question of employing automation. It requires a manufacturing system that can evolve with demand,” adds Stone. “Our collaboration with Autolomous, and joint work with the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, clearly demonstrates how robotic platforms and digital infrastructure can operate as one.”
The post Autolomous and Cellular Origins Expand Cell Therapy Manufacturing Process appeared first on GEN – Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.
Accelerator programme to help innovators enter NHS primary care
Digital health innovators are being offered a specialist accelerator programme designed to help them engage with NHS primary care.