LOS ANGELES, July 1 (Xinhua) — A new study led by scientists at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has found that two common forms of hormone therapy may alter breast cancer risk in women under the age of 55.
According to the study, women who received unopposed estrogen hormone therapy (E-HT) had a lower risk of developing breast cancer compared to those who did not use hormone therapy. In contrast, women treated with combined estrogen plus progestin hormone therapy (EP-HT) were found to have a higher risk of developing the disease.
The findings, published Monday in The Lancet Oncology, are based on an extensive analysis of data from over 459,000 women under the age of 55 across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
“Our study provides greater understanding of the risks associated with different types of hormone therapy, which we hope will help patients and their doctors develop more informed treatment plans,” said lead author Katie O’Brien, a researcher at NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).
The study found that E-HT use was associated with a 14 percent reduction in breast cancer incidence compared to non-users. The protective effect was more pronounced among women who began E-HT at a younger age or used it for a longer duration.
Conversely, women using EP-HT experienced a 10 percent higher risk of breast cancer, which increased to 18 percent among those who used the therapy for more than two years.
The cumulative risk of breast cancer before age 55 was estimated at 3.6 percent for E-HT users, 4.5 percent for EP-HT users, and 4.1 percent for women who never used hormone therapy, according to the study.
The researchers also noted that the elevated risk associated with EP-HT was particularly significant among women who had not undergone hysterectomy or oophorectomy, emphasizing the importance of considering surgical history when evaluating hormone therapy options.
“These findings underscore the need for personalized medical advice when considering hormone therapy,” said NIEHS scientist and senior author Dale Sandler. ■
Small ponds formed by melting ice may have sheltered early multicellular lifeforms during a time when the planet’s surface was almost entirely frozen.
Scientists have been studying microbial life in Antarctic meltwater ponds to gain a deeper understanding of how these early organisms survived this period in Earth’s history.
Hundreds of millions of years ago, long before the first plants and animals evolved, the planet was almost entirely covered in ice.
During this period known as Snowball Earth, temperatures across the planet repeatedly plummeted to well below freezing. But the cellular life that had already evolved managed to endure.
New research suggests that our ancient microscopic ancestors may have survived this icy period by sheltering in pools of water that formed on top of the relatively shallow ice sheets near the Earth’s equator.
To test these theories, scientists have been exploring meltwater ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf in Antarctica. They believe that the conditions here are likely similar to those that occurred in the equatorial regions during the Snowball Earth event.
Dr Anne Jungblut, a microbial researcher at the Natural History Museum, was involved in this latest research.
“We analysed samples from a variety of these ponds and found that they can support diverse communities of microorganisms,” says Anne.
“Each pond had clear traces of eukaryotic life, which are complex organisms whose cellular ancestors eventually gave rise to the huge diversity of life, including animals and plants, that we see today.”
“We can see from fossils that eukaryotes were around before and after Snowball Earth, so we know they made it through this period of intense freezing, and meltwater ponds might be how they did it!”
The study, which has been published in Nature Communications, was led by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with co-authors from Cardiff University and University of Waikato in New Zealand.
How did life survive during Snowball Earth?
Snowball Earth is often used to refer to two consecutive glaciation events that took place between 635 and 720 million years ago, during a time known as the Cryogenian Period.
During these events the global average temperature plummeted to below -50°C, but conditions at the equator may have been somewhat more variable.
The slightly warmer temperatures around the middle of the Earth melted the top layers of ice to form meltwater ponds that hovered around 0°C. This stable, warmer temperature could have served as a habitable refuge for some forms of complex life.
The diverse communities of microorganisms that lived in these ponds would have created their own ecosystems that allowed life to survive. It is these communities that Anne and her colleagues have been studying in Antarctica.
“In Antarctic meltwater ponds, the bottom is often covered with microbial mats,” says Anne. “These mats contain colonies of microorganisms, including bacteria and eukaryotes such as amoeba, fungi and ciliates.”
Microbial mats form from the build-up of multiple layers of bacteria, such as cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria evolved before the Snowball Earth event, so these mats may have been present in the meltwater ponds during this time.
“These mats are super exciting to study because they are entire ecosystems of microscopic life,” explains Anne. “They are almost like forests where the cyanobacteria are the trees that provide shelter and resources for other microorganisms. Some eukaryotes graze on the bacteria, while others are predatory. We can see so many interactions going on that can tell us a lot about how life interacted during early Earth.”
How can this help with the search for life on other planets?
The study of microorganisms in extreme environments not only provides insight into early Earth but can aid in the search for life on other icy worlds in the solar system.
This is because the way in which the scientists detect the presence of life in Antarctic ponds. Rather than looking for the microorganisms themselves, they can search for biosignatures. These biosignatures include molecules like DNA and lipids. The latter are a group of organic compounds that make up the cell walls and are useful for energy storage in living organisms.
One type of these lipids that occurs in all eukaryotes are called Sterols. The research team were able to use these to detect the presence of complex eukaryotic life in these ponds.
By using the same method of detecting and interpreting biosignatures, scientists think this could help in the search for life on other objects in the solar system.
“The more we understand about these biosignatures, the more we can learn about how they differ between organisms and how they might be affected by their environment,” says Anne. “This work can help us understand the signatures to look for during the search for life elsewhere in the solar system.”
For instance, Saturn’s moon Enceladus is a small world with liquid water beneath an icy crust that scientists believe could potentially support life.
Enceladus also has geyser-like jets that spew water vapour and ice particles into space. Future missions could include an orbiter that will pass through these geysers and capture liquid which could then be analysed for biosignatures of life.
You can learn more about the search for life on the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn in our latest exhibition, Space: Could Life Exist Beyond Earth?
Firm announces 33% increase in common stock dividend
NEW YORK, NY, July 1, 2025 — On Friday, June 27, the Federal Reserve released the results of its 2025 Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (“CCAR”) stress test process. Goldman Sachs expects the firm’s Stress Capital Buffer (“SCB”) requirement will be 3.4%, resulting in a Standardized Common Equity Tier 1 (“CET1”) ratio requirement of 10.9%, effective October 1.
The Federal Reserve will provide the firm’s final SCB requirement by August 31. These results and effective date may be subject to further changes pending the finalization of the Federal Reserve’s outstanding proposal on SCB averaging.
In addition, the Federal Reserve disclosed that the firm’s current SCB, from the CCAR 2024 test, has been reduced by 10 basis points to 6.1%. This results in a current CET1 ratio requirement of 13.6%, effective immediately.
The firm’s capital plan includes a 33% increase in the common stock dividend from $3.00 to $4.00 per share beginning July 1, 2025, subject to approval by the firm’s Board of Directors at the customary third quarter meeting. This increase is a continuation of the firm’s plan to pay shareholders a sustainable and growing dividend.
“Today’s announcement is a reflection of the work we have done over the years to reduce our capital intensity,” said Chairman and CEO David Solomon. “The Federal Reserve has expressed its intention to institute a more transparent and fair approach to these tests, as it looks to uphold the safety and soundness of our financial system. A more balanced approach to the tests would allow Goldman Sachs to continue to serve our clients’ needs, invest in our world-class businesses, and support economic growth. We look forward to continued progress.”
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Goldman Sachs is a leading global financial institution that delivers a broad range of financial services to a large and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but instead represent only the firm’s beliefs regarding future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside the firm’s control. It is possible that the firm’s final Stress Capital Buffer and capital actions (including dividends) may differ, possibly materially, from those described in this press release. For a discussion of some of the risks and important factors that could affect the firm’s future results and financial condition, as well as its actual Stress Capital Buffer and capital actions, see “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of the firm’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024.
Stent placement does not appear to reduce the risk of recurrent strokes compared with medical therapy in patients with narrowing of arteries in the brain, according to a study published July 1 in Radiology.
The finding is from a prospective trial in China in patients with intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS) and supports similar findings from earlier trials, noted lead author Bonaventure Ip, MD, of The Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong, and colleagues.
“The results of our study support the current recommendations of medical therapy over stenting for secondary stroke prevention in patients with symptomatic ICAS,” the group wrote.
ICAS is caused by the build-up of plaque in the arteries due to atherosclerosis and is a major cause of ischemic stroke with a risk of recurrence. Endovascular revascularization therapy (stenting) has been hypothesized as a treatment, yet previous trials have shown little benefit of the procedure over medical therapy, the authors noted.
However, previous trials included patients with concurrent branch atheromatous disease adjacent to the stent target, with these patients being at higher risk of complications during the procedure, they added. In this study, to further evaluate the use of stenting in ICAS, the researchers first excluded patients with branch atheromatous disease using three-dimensional rotational angiography.
The study included 150 participants (mean age, 61 years old, 45 women) with transient ischemic attack or ischemic stroke attributed to severe ICAS who were randomized into stenting (n = 74) and medical therapy (n = 76) groups. The primary end point was a composite of transient ischemic stroke, ischemic stroke, intracranial hemorrhage, and death within 30 days or any ischemic stroke from 30 days to one year.
According to the results, stenting did not result in a reduction in ischemic stroke cumulative incidence compared with medical therapy with antiplatelet drugs at one year (stenting versus medical therapy: 12 of 74 [16%] vs. 18 of 76 [24%], p = 0.26). Stenting also did not reduce the cumulative incidence of ischemic stroke compared with medical therapy over a 10-year follow-up period, the researchers reported.
“Intracranial stenting did not result in a reduction in the cumulative incidence of stroke or death at 30 days or stroke from 30 days to one year,” the group wrote.
To date, despite considerable efforts to introduce endovascular revascularization therapy for severe ICAS, no randomized control trial has shown its benefits over intensive medical therapy, the authors noted. Ultimately, further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to substantiate the findings, the researchers concluded.
In an accompanying editorial, Joan Wojak, MD, of Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans, noted that primary stent placement has become a focus due to its historical success compared with angioplasty alone in patients with coronary artery disease. The long struggle to develop effective endovascular therapy (thrombectomy, for instance) in patients with coronary artery disease ultimately resulted in disruptive evolution and the widespread acceptance of the therapy, she wrote.
“Establishing a role for endovascular therapy in the treatment of symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis has proved to be even more elusive,” Wojak concluded.
It’s hard to think of any celebrity who has done more to advance the concept of aging gracefully than Pamela Anderson. The actress, who turns 58 today, has recently taken to going makeup-free on the red carpet, telling Glamour: “Anti-aging is a lie. We’re getting older no matter what. Things change, and if you can find a sense of humor in it, it’s better. It’s good to have a sense of self and to be able to be your own best friend.”
Anderson’s road to self-acceptance as a Hollywood star has been a long and winding one—arguably beginning with her appearance as a Playboy cover girl, which quickly led to her breakthrough role as C.J. Parker on Baywatch. Anderson also had a long and notable reality-TV era; enjoyed a stint on Broadway; and released a memoir, a cookbook, and a moving documentary—all before wowing audiences as middle-aged Las Vegas showgirl Shelly in Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl last year. (I’m still so mad that movie was shut out of the Oscars race, but that’s a rant for another day!)
These days, Anderson seems closer than ever to writing her own ticket, which makes this the perfect opportunity to look back at just how far she’s come. In honor of her 58th birthday, here are 17 vintage photos of Anderson over the years:
Astronomers taken on the role of cosmic archeologists, using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to excavate over 100 disk galaxies from up to 11 billion years ago. Just like artifacts excavated here on Earth tell the story of the human race, these galaxies could tell the story of our galaxy, the Milky Way.
The aim of this investigation was to discover why galaxies like the Milky Way are constructed of thick disks of stars with embedded thin stellar disks. Each of these disks feature its own distinct stellar population with its own movement.
The team behind this research wanted to know how and why this “dual-disk” structure forms, turning to observations of 111 disk galaxies that are oriented “edge-on” from our perspective here on Earth. This represented the first time astronomers had studied thick- and thin-disk structures of galaxies that existed during the infant stages of the cosmos, as early as 2.8 billion years after the Big Bang.
“This unique measurement of the thickness of the disks at high redshift, or at times in the early universe, is a benchmark for theoretical study that was only possible with the JWST,” team leader Takafumi Tsukui of the Australian National University said in a statement. “Usually, the older, thick disk stars are faint, and the young, thin disk stars outshine the entire galaxy.
“But with the JWST’s resolution and unique ability to see through dust and highlight faint old stars, we can identify the two-disk structure of galaxies and measure their thickness separately.”
Telling the history of the Milky Way
The first step for the team was to separate the 111 galaxies in the sample into two categories: dual-disked and single-disked.
What this seemed to reveal was that galaxies grow their thick stellar disk first, with the thin disk forming at a later point.
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The team thinks the timing of these disk formation processes hinges on the mass of the galaxy in question. High-mass, single-disk galaxies transformed into dual-disk structures by forming an embedded thin disk around 8 billion years ago in our approximately 14-billion-year-old universe. Lower-mass galaxies only seemed to undergo this transformation when they were around 4 billion years old.
“This is the first time it has been possible to resolve thin stellar disks at higher redshift. What’s really novel is uncovering when thin stellar disks start to emerge,” Emily Wisnioski, study team member and a researcher at the Australian National University, said in the statement. “To see thin stellar disks already in place 8 billion years ago, or even earlier, was surprising.”
Some of the edge-on thin disk and thick disk galaxies studied by the JWST. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Takafumi Tsukui (ANU))
The team then set about determining what caused the transitions for these different types of galaxies. To do this, the researchers went beyond their sample of 111 galaxies to investigate how gas flowed around these subjects.
They used gas-motion data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) — a collection of 66 antennas in northern Chile that work together as a single telescope — and other ground-based observatories.
This showed that turbulent gas in the early universe triggers bouts of intense star formation in galaxies, birthing these galaxies’ thick stellar disks. As these thick-disk stars form, the gas is stabilized, becoming less turbulent and thinning out. That leads to the formation of the embedded thin stellar disk.
This process, the team says, takes a different amount of time in high-mass galaxies and low-mass galaxies because the former convert gas to stars more efficiently than the latter. That means gas is depleted more rapidly in high-mass galaxies, getting them to the point at which their thin stellar disks can form more quickly.
An illustration of our home galaxy, the Milky Way. (Image credit: Shutterstock)
This links to our own galaxy as well. The timing of these transitions matched the period at which the Milky Way is theorized to have grown its own thin disk of stars.
All in all, the team’s research demonstrates the ability of the JWST to peer back in time and find galaxies that match the evolution of our own galaxy, allowing these galaxies to act as proxies that tell the story of the Milky Way.
The next step for this research will involve the team adding more data to see if the relationships they observed still stand.
“There is still much more we would like to explore,” Tsukui said. “We want to add the type of information people usually get for nearby galaxies, like stellar motion, age and metallicity [the abundance of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium].
“By doing so, we can bridge the insights from galaxies near and far, and refine our understanding of disk formation.”
The team’s results appear in the July edition of the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Tech entrepreneur and investor Vinod Khosla‘s prediction of AI automating 80% of high-value jobs by 2030 coincides with a reckoning for Fortune 500 companies.
Khosla shared his predictions for the future in a wide-ranging interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast. As a venture capitalist and early investor in companies like Square and Instacart, Khosla offered advice for business leaders on navigating unprecedented changes ahead. Companies like Sears and Toys ‘R’ Us collapsed under digital pressure, but Khosla warns the 2030s will see a “faster demise” of giants as AI rewrites industry rules.
See below for an overview of Khosla’s major predictions for AI, the economy, and more.
Key takeaways:
Era of unprecedented disruption: Khosla describes the current technology cycle as “crazy and frenetic,” stating, “I’ve never seen a cycle like this… almost every job is being reinvented, every material thing is being reinvented differently with AI as a driver.” He compares the scale of change to the 1960s, noting, “We’re going to see this large change in such a short time, it’s almost hard to imagine how society adjusts.”
AI and the end of work: Khosla predicts, “Within the next 5 years, any economically valuable job humans can do, AI will be able to do 80% of it… 80% of all jobs can be done by an AI.” He believes by 2040, “the need to work will go away. People will work on things because they want to, not because they need to pay their mortgage.”
Disruption of the Fortune 500: He forecasts a dramatic acceleration in the demise of large incumbent companies: “One of my predictions is the 2030s will see a faster rate of demise of Fortune 500 companies than we’ve ever seen… that transition won’t happen from existing companies. Somebody new will reinvent this.”
Predictions by sector:
Health care: “If all medical expertise is free… you have an unlimited number of primary care doctors, oncologists, gastroenterologists, mental health therapists… how would you redesign the healthcare system?” Khosla argues that entrenched interests and regulatory barriers will slow—but not stop—AI-driven transformation.
Robotics: He predicts that “almost everybody in the 2030s will have a humanoid robot at home… probably starting with something narrow like doing your cooking for you.” The main bottleneck is not hardware, but intelligence.
Energy: Khosla is “very bullish about energy,” especially fusion and super-hot geothermal, which he believes could make power “cheaper than natural gas.”
Advice for entrepreneurs:
Societal and geopolitical implications: Khosla warns of the risks of authoritarian regimes using AI for both hard and soft power: “By 2040 the biggest risk we might face… is China using both good AI—cyber AI, warfare AI—but also socially good AI, like free doctors to everybody on the planet… to embed their political philosophy.”
Philosophy on venture and innovation: Khosla emphasizes founder-driven innovation: “Innovation only—I can’t think of very many large examples where large innovation came from somebody who was large or in the business… experts are terrible at predicting the future; they extrapolate the past. Entrepreneurs invent the future they want.”
On risk and impact: “Most people reduce risk to increase the probability of success. I do the opposite: Start with [the] high consequences of success. I don’t care about the probability of failure.”
Disclaimer: For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.
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DLA Piper advised Yorkville Acquisition Corp. in its initial public offering of 17,250,000 units at US$10.00 per unit, totaling US$172.5 million.
Yorkville Acquisition Corp. is a blank check company incorporated in the Cayman Islands as an exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses.
The core deal team was led by Partner Stephen Alicanti and included Partner Kurtis Weaver (Boston), Of Counsel Scott Josephson (Chicago), and Associates Michael Kumar, Sasha Grynszpan, Bethany Weitzman (all New York) and Molly Patricia McBride (Los Angeles).
DLA Piper’s global capital markets team represents issuers and underwriters in registered and unregistered equity, equity-linked and debt capital markets transactions, including initial public offerings, follow-on equity offerings, equity-linked securities offerings, and offerings of investments grade and high-yield debt securities.
Photo: Jonathan Bailey recalls what ‘Wicked’ co-star Jeff Goldblum him ahead of ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’
Jonathan Bailey recently shared that Jeff Goldblum contacted him when he landed the Jurassic World: Rebirth gig.
Speaking with PEOPLE Magazine, the actor, who found fame by starring in Bridgerton as Anthony, recalled the time when his Wicked co-star Jeff Goldblum reached out to him
Jonathan recounted him saying that “just have a great time.”
He even gushed over the actors who starred in the previous three Jurassic Park movies by saying, “They’re all just incredible, iconic actors.”
It is pertinent to mention here that Jeff played the character of The Wizard of Oz in the musical Wicked whereas in Jurassic Parke he starred as Dr. Ian Malcolm, a mathematician and chaos theorist.
Moreover, the Bridgerton star admitted in a former chat the pressure of leading his upcoming role as Dr Loomis in Jurassic World: Rebirth, releasing on 2nd July 2025.
The insider mentioned, “There are moments where, yes, you feel like you have to be excellent just to prove you can do it.”
He went on to add, “There’s the weight of history, and the many brilliant people who came before who’ve changed how we talk about sexuality. Being an out gay actor, historically, meant you wouldn’t be able to play straight—and there weren’t many gay parts to play, either.”
“That’s changed massively. But there’s still work to do,” the actor noted in this chat with The Hollywood Reporter.
