Alex Baudin won the Tour de Limousin last year, finished second at the Coppa Bernocchi, and came third on GC at the Tour of Guangxi, but the 23-year-old from the French Alps says that his most memorable ride is still a month-long bikepacking adventure he took across Europe. He is going to fit right in in his first season in EF Education-EasyPost pink.
Alex is a punchy climber, who excels at sustained, explosive efforts like the Ardennes classics demand. His favorite race that he has done so far is the Clásica de San Sebastián. He also likes the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal and Québec, because his uncles, who now live in Canada, can come to cheer. But Alex always returns home to the Alps and the roads he has been riding ever since he was a child.
He first fell in love with cycling when he was four-years-old. His dad was a racer and would take him up into the mountains to watch the Tour de France whenever the race neared their Albertville home. Alex was soon tearing up climbs like the Cormet de Roselend with his father, emulating the heroes he’d seen attacking through the colorful crowds. His dad was his first coach and had to tell him to slow down.
As Alex got older, he began to train harder and soon established himself as one of the most promising young climbers in France. The mountains are where he is most at home.
As soon as snow falls in the Alps, Alex heads to his local cross-country trails. Gliding across meadows and through forests is a great way for him to build his fitness and get away from it all.
To fuel all his time outside, Alex also loves to cook. When he is done cycling, Alex thinks he might become a chef.
For now, his focus is 100 percent on cycling. He wants to fly in his first year in pink.
This summer, Alex will make his Tour de France debut. Watch him soar in the mountains all around France this July.
The child’s skull has a mix of features that appear to align with both modern Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. (Image credit: Israel Hershkovitz/Tel Aviv University)
One of the earliest known human burials — that of a young child — could have been a cross between modern humans and Neanderthals, a new study suggests.
Researchers analyzed a skull that was found at a 140,000-year-old burial site and concluded that the child it belonged to had both modern human (Homo sapiens) and Neanderthal characteristics. However, the child’s precise ancestry is still uncertain.
The skull was part of a cache of mysterious human remains unearthed almost 100 years ago in Skhul Cave, located on Mount Carmel in Israel. These fossils have been the subject of much scientific debate since their discovery, but were largely considered to be anatomically modern humans.
Skhul Cave is the earliest of all known organized human burial sites, so the identity of the remains buried there is significant. The authors of the study, published in the July-August issue of the journal L’Anthropologie, argued that based on their analysis, the remains can no longer be attributed exclusively to Homo sapiens.
The researchers used CT scanning techniques to get a new and detailed look at the child’s skull (Skhul I), which consists of a broken braincase (neurocranium) and jaw (mandible). On further study, the braincase mostly exhibited modern features typical of Homo sapiens, but the jaw was more like a Neanderthal’s, according to the study.
Study co-author Anne Dambricourt Malassé, a paleoanthropologist at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and National Museum of Natural History in France, told Live Science in an email that there was “no way” this morphology represents variability of Homo sapiens and the child was “objectively” a hybrid.
However, not everyone thinks the findings are so definitive. Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London who was not involved in the study, told Live Science that while the mandible looked primitive, when considering all of the fossils together, he thought they primarily aligned with Homo sapiens. But Stringer did note that the study’s conclusions were consistent with a 2024 study suggesting that there was cross-population (or cross-species) gene flow between Neanderthals and humans about 100,000 years ago.
Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.
“Even if not 1st-generation hybrids, it’s certainly possible that the Skhul fossils reflect some gene flow between the 2 populations,” Stringer said in an email. “Overall though, looking at all the material including the skeletons, the material still primarily aligns with Homo sapiens, in my view.”
Related: Stunning facial reconstructions of ‘hobbit,’ Neanderthal and Homo erectus bring human relatives to life
John Hawks, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who wasn’t involved in the study, told New Scientist that the study advances our understanding of the skull, but scientists can’t definitively identify the child as a hybrid without extracting its DNA.
“Human populations are variable and there can be a lot of variability in their appearance and physical form even without mixing with ancient groups like Neanderthals,” Hawks said.
Modern humans bred with Neanderthals, which is why most people alive today carry between 1% and 3% of Neanderthal DNA. However, researchers still have a lot to learn about this interbreeding, as well as how the ancient human family tree fits together.
Researchers digitally removed plaster (shown in green) from the jaw. (Image credit: Israel Hershkovitz/Tel Aviv University)
Who was this ancient child?
Archaeologists first discovered human remains at Skhul Cave in 1928. Excavations uncovered the skeletons of seven adults and three children, which had been deliberately buried, along with bones linked to 16 other individuals. The bones were initially considered to be a transitional species between Neanderthals and modern humans. Researchers later suggested they were a hybrid between the two, but that assessment was also then rejected, and they ended up classed as anatomically modern humans, according to the study.
Skhul I belonged to a child, likely a female, between the ages of 3 and 5 years old. The middle section of the skull’s face and a large part of the base were missing, while the rest was in pieces. In the past, archaeologists attempted to put the skull back together and consolidated the pieces with plaster, which made it more difficult for modern researchers to study. The new CT scans allowed researchers to virtually remove this plaster and compare the skull with other specimens.
The skull’s modern human features include the vertical orientation of a bone on the side of the skull’s base, while the jaw’s Neanderthal-like features include a lack of chin.
It’s been a bad week for the U.S. energy transition.
President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans effectively repealed large swaths of the landmark Inflation Reduction Act last Friday, a move that will set back the nation’s efforts to decarbonize just as they were gaining steam.
But the United States is not the only country in the world. It’s one of the biggest emitters, true, but it’s responsible for only about 13% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
And luckily, even as Trump hitches the U.S. to fossil fuels, the world is continuing to move quickly toward cleaner sources. Let’s take a tour of some global energy-transition bright spots.
In China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, wind and solar capacity overtook coal and gas in the first quarter of 2025 — a first, according to a Global Energy Monitor report released this week. The country is still building and using immense amounts of fossil fuels, but reports suggest its emissions may finally be in reverse.
In the European Union, solar was the largest source of electricity across all of June. It’s the first time solar has led the pack for an entire month in the EU, according to a new Ember report, producing 22% of the region’s electricity. Meanwhile, coal fell to its lowest-ever level, a reflection of the region’s push to eliminate the dirty fuel: Ireland shuttered its last coal plant in late June, becoming Europe’s 15th coal-free country. Italy and Spain are slated to close their last major coal plants this summer, too.
Across the entire world, $2 is now invested in clean energy, efficiency, and the grid for every $1 invested in fossil fuels. That’s serious progress, and a big reason why clean energy is growing so rapidly worldwide. Last year, more than 90% of the new electricity built globally was clean energy. Meanwhile, EV adoption is set to leap 25% this year, compared with 2024, setting yet another record even amid headwinds in the U.S., according to BloombergNEF. More than one-quarter of new passenger vehicles sold worldwide will be battery-powered.
To be clear, the trajectory the world is on right now is not fast enough to meet global climate commitments. All of the progress mentioned above needs to accelerate further — and the U.S. resisting the energy transition is a big deal. But with or without the U.S., the global energy transition is happening, and a future that’s powered by solar, wind, batteries, nuclear, and other forms of carbon-free power is on the way.
More big energy stories
Megabill fallout
One week ago today, Trump signed the GOP megabill into law and changed the trajectory of the U.S. energy transition with the stroke of a pen.
The law made deep cuts to the Inflation Reduction Act, the national climate law passed by the Biden administration in 2022. As a result, the U.S. is now expected to install clean energy at a slower pace, sell fewer EVs, and emit a lot more carbon dioxide in the coming years. Oh, and energy prices are going to rise, too. If you’re looking for a piece to share widely that covers the basics, try this one I published on Monday.
“This morning somebody asked me where Jersey was,” says the island cricket side’s captain Charles Perchard.
After Friday’s last-ball win over Scotland, there will be few in the sport who can fail to have heard of the tiny Channel Island.
But for hosts Netherlands beating Italy by nine wickets on Friday evening, Jersey – with its population of just over 100,000 – would have been heading to India and Sri Lanka next February to take on the globe’s best in the T20 World Cup.
Despite the disappointment of missing out after finishing third behind Italy on net run rate in the ICC T20 World Cup Europe qualifying group, Jersey know they are capable of mixing it with the big boys.
“We lost a nail-biter to the Dutch – they chased our score with three balls to go,” Perchard told BBC Sport.
“Time and time again when we’ve been coming up the gears to play against these better sides, we’ve rubbed shoulders with them very well.
“We’ve caused some scares – we could have beaten Zimbabwe when they were at home, in Scotland we blew another tight run chase against them.
“That win today shows we can do it and the belief will be there for the guys so that hopefully next time we’ve got a tight run chase, we will know we’ve been there before, we’ve done it before and we can do it again.”
These two Pokémon are charging up to electrify wonder picks in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket! From July 10, 2025, at 11:00 p.m. to July 20, 2025, at 10:59 p.m. PDT, Togedemaru and Greedent are headlining a new Wonder Pick event featuring their very own promo cards.
Be on the lookout for bonus picks, a type of wonder pick in which you can receive items or promo cards without using any wonder stamina. The Togedemaru and Greedent promo cards are marked with an image of the Pokémon Chansey.
The event will also feature missions that award event shop tickets for wonder picking or collecting certain cards. Show off your collection in style by exchanging these tickets for accessories, such as an icon, backdrop, and card sleeve featuring Gladion, a Silvally Pokémon coin, and Gladion and Silvally together on a playmat and binder cover.
Have fun wonder picking during this event, Trainers!
The Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—Black Bolt and Scarlet & Violet—White Flare split expansion celebrates all things Unova and features every Pokémon first discovered in the Unova region. If you’re looking to open a booster pack and find your favorite Pokémon, though, you’ll need to choose wisely. Scarlet & Violet—Black Bolt and Scarlet & Violet—White Flare have unique card pools with different Pokémon, and we have just the thing to help.
Download both of these handy Pokédex-style infographics featuring a total of 156 Pokémon first discovered in the Unova region. Each expansion features 78 different Pokémon—all of them appearing as beautiful illustrations—and they’re just waiting to be collected. Looking for a fun collecting challenge? Create a Pokédex-style binder to match the infographics themselves!
Over the past decade, the treatment paradigm for severe asthma has been reshaped by the approval of targeted biologics and a deeper understanding of inflammatory pathways driving disease. What began with agents like omalizumab has rapidly expanded with the approvals of mepolizumab, benralizumab, and dupilumab—and most recently, tezepelumab in 2021, which became the first biologic approved for severe asthma regardless of baseline eosinophil count. These therapies have set a new standard of care for type 2–high asthma and are prompting earlier identification of eligible patients, more nuanced treatment algorithms, and greater emphasis on biomarker-driven decisions.1 More recently, the 2024 approval of dupilumab for eosinophilic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has opened new doors for targeted therapy in a population that long lagged behind asthma in biologic innovation.2
With each new approval, the expectations for disease control and long-term outcomes continue to evolve, ushering in a new era where earlier diagnosis, individualized therapy selection, and consistent biomarker assessment are becoming essential components of care. Clinicians are now tasked not just with managing symptoms, but with navigating a growing array of therapeutic options, understanding nuanced eligibility criteria, and integrating these treatments into increasingly complex clinical workflows. The potential for long-term steroid-sparing, exacerbation reduction, and quality-of-life improvements is greater than ever—but so too is the need for clear guidance on optimizing these innovations in practice.
At a recent clinical forum convened by HCPLive in Houston, Texas, a group of pulmonologists, led by Nicola A. Hanania, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine Airways Clinical Research Center, gathered to examine how these developments are playing out in practice.
Their discussion focused on the practicalities of initiating and sequencing biologics, the value and limitations of biomarkers like eosinophils and FeNO, and the need for more structured approaches to early referral and diagnosis. They discussed how the last 2 decades of asthma research have shifted clinical paradigms toward targeted, phenotype-driven biologic therapies.
“The biggest thing that I think is missed in all these discussions are that the steroid inhalers are still the key and making sure they’re taking it correctly. And taking regularly Because the compliance on the steroid inhaler is still the biggest problem. They get better, they stop using it,” one panelist pointed out.
Type 2 inflammation remains a central focus, with discussion on how eosinophils, FeNO, and IgE levels guide patient selection and biologic choice, although real-world use is hampered by access, education, and insurance hurdles. These barriers highlight how real-world implementation is now the critical frontier in maximizing biologic impact. They also emphasized the critical role of multidisciplinary collaboration in delivering personalized asthma care.
“The big issue is, should we phenotype everybody with asthma? Probably not. But the ones that we see as specialists are the ones that are problematic. I think primary care, we are trying to build bridges with primary care for them at least to look at the blood eosinophils, to think about deferring patients with high risk of exacerbation,” Hanania said.
Panel participants shared insights on challenges in diagnosis, treatment adherence, inhaler technique, and navigating insurance for biologics, underscoring the complexity of treating severe asthma in both public and private settings. They outlined how shared decision-making, comorbidity considerations, and patient convenience shape treatment plans.
Looking at the long-term impact of biologics on the asthma field, they reiterated that real-world evidence supports sustained biologic efficacy, while questions do remain about tapering, biomarker monitoring, and the possibility of treatment discontinuation in clinical remission. The group also touched on emerging needs in COPD and non-type 2 asthma, as well as the potential for dual-target or multi-mechanism therapies in the future.
“I think every single biologic out there has to be experimented with. I’d really love to see if we can expand the use of what’s out there that people can do and make it even a little more accessible for patients,” one panelist concluded.
REFERENCES
FDA Approves Tezspire™ (Tezepelumab-ekko) in the U.S. for Severe Asthma. News release. Amgen. December 17, 2021. https://www.amgen.com/newsroom/press-releases/2021/12/fda-approves-tezspire-tezepelumabekko-in-the-us-for-severe-asthma
Dupixent® (dupilumab) Approved in the U.S. as the First-ever Biologic Medicine for Patients with COPD. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. September 27, 2024. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/09/27/2954552/0/en/Dupixent-dupilumab-Approved-in-the-U-S-as-the-First-ever-Biologic-Medicine-for-Patients-with-COPD.html.
[This story contains major spoilers for the series premiere of Dexter: Resurrection.]
Dexter Morgan died once before, born again as a lumberjack and eventually an upstate New York man about town. What’s one more resurrection between friends?
After getting fatally shot in the heart in the 2022 finale of Dexter: New Blood, Michael C. Hall‘s outlandishly lucky serial killer-killing serial killer once again stalks the land, thanks to the latest entry in the franchise, Dexter: Resurrection.
The series premiere (the first two episodes began streaming on Friday) reveals how Dexter survived a point-blank gunshot wound to the chest, leveled his way by son Harrison (Jack Alcott), thanks to the violence occurring in the midst of radically cold temperatures. Just a few degrees warmer and Dexter would be as dead as all the villains he’s killed in the past. Instead Resurrection finds him alive, if not exactly well, as he suffers through an existential end-of-life crisis littered with ghosts from his past only to come out the other side of it as a man on the run in New York City. (John Lithgow’s Trinity Killer, Jimmy Smits’ Miguel Prado, Erik King’s Sgt. Doakes make cameos; James Remar’s father Harry is also there, along with the graves of departed sister Debra, wife Rita and former colleague Maria LaGuerta.)
Before hitting the road toward the Big Apple, however, Dexter faces down his even bigger past in the form of an old friend shaping up to be a new foe: Angel Batista, the fedora-hatted Miami cop played across the decades by David Zayas. After having returned to the franchise in New Blood, Angel reemerges here with newfound awareness about Dexter, all-but completely clued in on his old colleague’s status as the infamous Bay Harbor Butcher. Angel and Dexter’s wariness of one another comes to a head in the premiere during a scene in the hospital, when Angel lays his cards out on the table, without making a full on declaration of war.
“That scene is one of my favorite scenes I’ve ever gotten to play in the show,” Hall tells The Hollywood Reporter about the long-awaited showdown between Dexter and Angel. “It’s a scene you could only enjoy if you’ve been doing something for as long as we’ve been doing it. We have real memories between us [as actors].
Hall found the scene to be a complicated one for Dexter, who is being confronted by the former Miami Metro Homicide chief he has long respected. “It’s really bittersweet for him to reconnect with someone who was once his friend and colleague, when it was a much simpler relationship,” says Hall. “It’s incredibly rich to face Batista with the knowledge of what Batista now has every reason to suspect, or even knows. It makes for some delicious dynamics. Ultimately, Dexter’s a self-preservationist, but he does have a genuine fondness for Angel, and Angel for him, in spite of everything.”
Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan with David Zayas as Angel Batista in the premiere.
Zach Dilgard/Paramount+
For Zayas, the view of the scene is a bit different: “This is a different Angel, with all the information he has now, particularly Dexter just being alive. It’s a new case he has to deal with outside of his environment, in a new place, in New York, where he has no authority as a police officer. He’s having to deal with the cold coming from Miami. There’s so many little issues for him to navigate, while he’s trying to get some justice for all of what he’s missed over those many years.”
Rather than face that justice, Dexter evades it, hitting the road for New York for one reason and one reason only: Harrison. Dexter finds out his son is still alive and not all that far away, living in Manhattan working at a hotel. What’s more, he’s killing at that hotel, and Dexter hears about it, leading him to charge into action to atone for his biggest sin of all: letting his son down.
“Dexter’s invested in the fact of his humanity in a way that feels more substantial and committed than ever before,” says Hall, adding, “But there’s also a new set of characters Dexter interacts with that feels fantastical in a good way.”
Those new characters are a who’s-who of serial killers, played by Uma Thurman, Peter Dinklage, Neil Patrick Harris, Krysten Ritter, Eric Stonestreet and David Dastmalchian.
“The spectrum between those two things feels even broader and more vibrant. We’re proud of it,” says Hall of the show’s confrontation between Dexter’s humanity and serial killer identity. “The show belongs to us while we’re making it. We’re finished making it, and now it belongs to the fans. I’m excited to give it to them.”
But is he excited to bring justice to Dexter’s doorstep? When the dust settles on Resurrection, it’s hard to imagine how both Dexter and Angel can walk away intact — or even alive, in Batista’s case. If it came down to ensuring Angel’s survival, is Hall open to the idea of finally putting Dexter behind bars?
“It’s certainly within the realm of possibility,” he muses. “If he were to be apprehended, he would probably find himself in a prison population that was pretty ripe for his code. It’s a compelling idea.”
***
Dexter: Resurrection’s first two episodes are now streaming on Paramount+ for Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers, before an on-air debut Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Remaining episodes drop weekly.
Not all batteries age the same way. Some problems will appear quickly, but others won’t be noticeable until after many charge/discharge cycles. A few years back, Samsung released the Galaxy Note 7 with a slightly larger battery than the previous model. Within weeks, the phones started to catch fire, and even after swapping in a different battery pack, the issue persisted. It was a huge mess that led to a recall and steep financial losses.
Samsung’s battery missteps may have prompted manufacturers to take possible battery defects more seriously. So when Google detected problems with aging Pixel 4a batteries, it didn’t take any chances. It decided to degrade the experience on the remaining Pixel 4a units out there, even if the lower capacity and slower charging upset users. When Pixel 6a units started to catch fire again, Google decided to simply limit battery performance.
The mandatory Android 16 July update will limit battery charging speed and capacity on affected phones.
Credit:
Ryan Whitwam
The mandatory Android 16 July update will limit battery charging speed and capacity on affected phones.
Credit:
Ryan Whitwam
Pixel 4a units contained one of two different batteries, and only the one manufactured by a company called Lishen was downgraded. For the Pixel 6a, Google has decreed that the battery limits will be imposed when the cells hit 400 charge cycles. Beyond that, the risk of fire becomes too great—there have been reports of Pixel 6a phones bursting into flames.
Clearly, Google had to do something, but the remedies it settled on feel unnecessarily hostile to customers. It had a chance to do better the second time, but the solution for the Pixel 6a is more of the same.
A problem of Google’s making
Like other smartphone manufacturers, Google moved away from offering removable batteries in the 2010s to make phones slimmer and more durable. Smartphone makers largely dismissed the concerns of repair advocates who pointed out that lithium-ion batteries degrade over time, and making them difficult to remove wasn’t the best idea. However, this was a time when people only kept smartphones for a year or two before upgrading, but we have since entered an era in which people use phones for much longer. The way phones are marketed has changed to reflect that—Google has enacted longer support windows, topping out at seven years for its latest phones.
