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  • Webb’s Search for Habitable Worlds

    Webb’s Search for Habitable Worlds

    Episode description: 

    Some exoplanets—like a gas giant with rain made of glass and 5,000-mile-per-hour winds—sound like worlds dreamed up by a science fiction writer. But they’re real. From light-years away, scientists can uncover details about planets orbiting distant stars and even ask whether some exoplanets could support life. Néstor Espinoza, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, explains how NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is revealing new details about exoplanets, especially rocky worlds like Earth.  

    [Music: Curiosity by SYSTEM Sounds] 

    HOST JACOB PINTER: You’re listening to NASA’s Curious Universe. I’m your host, Jacob Pinter.  

    Imagine a movie that starts like this: 

    [Muisic: Into the Void by Gage Boozan] 

    The camera pans up, and we see a spaceship. It’s sailing toward to an alien planet. The planet is cobalt blue, and it’s gigantic—bigger than any planet in our own solar system. It even has water vapor. But the explorers in the spaceship know they have to be careful because this planet’s atmosphere is basically blow-torched, with a rain of molten glass whipping in winds of more than 5,000 miles an hour. So the spaceship keeps flying, and as the movie continues we see other bizarre worlds.  

    There’s a planet that orbits a small, red star. It’s unknown if the planet has life. But if it does, that red starlight could make plants here red or purple—even black. We also glimpse a rogue planet. Somehow this one broke free from its star. It roams the galaxy alone and in perpetual darkness, never to see another sunrise.  

    Well, here’s the big plot twist: all of these planets are real. Hollywood didn’t make them up. They’re called exoplanets, a whole assortment of planets beyond our solar system, orbiting faraway stars.  

    NÉSTOR ESPINOZA:  If you go outside and you just pick a random star, chances are that star has a planet orbiting around it.  

    JACOB: Néstor Espinoza is an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute. 

    NÉSTOR: If they have rocky planets, do the atmospheres look like, you know, the Earth’s or Mars or Venus, or something else completely? We have no idea. We just started exploring them. It sounded science fiction up to five years ago. Now it’s science. It’s not science fiction anymore, which is pretty fun. (laughs) 

    [Music: Move As I Move by Jan Telegra] 

    JACOB: Now, these exoplanets are too far away for our spacecraft to visit. But we have tools to study them, including the James Webb Space Telescope. Webb is a huge telescope in space, a million miles from Earth, studying the cosmos in ways that we just can’t from Earth’s surface. NASA leads the international partnership that built Webb, and the Space Telescope Science Institute handles its science and operations for NASA. That means Néstor was there in Webb’s first moments, watching engineers take Webb for a test drive. Néstor planned to use Webb’s data to prove whether exoplanet science was something he could really do with this mission. And almost instantly, he got his answer from the universe. 

    NÉSTOR: Like, I got that answer within like 15 minutes, and it was, like a complete “Yes,” and I already knew it was going to be beyond what we were expecting. The signal was just so much better, like nothing I have ever seen. From that moment, I knew, like, this is going to make everyone crazy. 

    JACOB: But getting that cosmic “yes” was only the beginning. Before it launched, scientists around the world knew what Webb was supposed to be able to do. Now they were waiting to hear how it really performed. Néstor sifted through the data, making sure Webb could capture as much detail as the world hoped. 

    NÉSTOR: Doing exoplanet science with James Webb—it’s not that straightforward. Typically, just, you know—you want to look at a star with James Webb, point at a star, you get your data, and that’s it. With exoplanet data, you have to massage the data a little bit more in order to extract the signals that you want, because they’re very tiny signals. 

    JACOB: So what makes exoplanet data so tricky? 

    [Music: Results Take Time by Paul Richard O’Brien] 

    Imagine traveling far, far away from own solar system and trying to look back at Earth. From out here, the Sun is a speck—just one of many. As we try to zoom in on the Sun, we run into a problem. It’s really bright—so much brighter than Earth. There’s just no hope of seeing the faint glow of our own home planet. But there is a way we can detect it.  

    Whenever a planet passes in front of the Sun, the Sun would appear just a little bit dimmer. And since planets radiate their own energy, when they disappear behind the Sun, we could detect that too. That tiny bit of information may not sound like much. But with careful study, scientists can use it to figure out details like a planet’s temperature and what chemicals are in its atmosphere. 

    Since the first discovery of an exoplanet in the 1990s, scientists have catalogued thousands of these planets all across our galaxy. Some of them are exotic worlds in classifications like “hot Jupiters” or “sub-Neptune” gas giants. Néstor’s research focuses on rocky planets like Earth, and if you’re thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’, the next step is to ask, Could these rocky planets also show signs of life? 

    Now, rocky planets are smaller, and that makes them harder to study. NASA is already planning for a future telescope called the Habitable Worlds Observatory, specifically designed to hunt for signs of life. In the meantime, Néstor says Webb is giving us a lot to work with. 

    JACOB: It’s a big universe out there, and there’s a lot of stuff to study. What made you say, this is the thing that I want to spend my life looking at? 

    NÉSTOR: So from when I was a kid—I think everyone has gone through this stage in which you’re like, kind of obsessed with, like, aliens, right? Either from movies and like E.T. and stuff like that. Or Star Wars, for instance—big fan of Star Wars. I remember—I think that’s when started. My mom brought me to these—for some reason, they redid the original Star Wars movies, episodes, you know, four through six, and they put it in the movies. And my mom had only one free day in her week. She worked a lot. We were basically just my mom and I. She had one day free and the week, and she said, We’re going to spend the whole day and we’re gonna see the three episodes. I was, like, eleven.  

    JACOB: Back to back to back?  

    NÉSTOR: Back to back! It was nuts. I was like, I have no idea what this movie is about. I’ll just go. And it blew my mind too, right? This thing of seeing Tattoine with two suns. What?! This thing could exist out there? You know, planets that are covered in ice, planets that are like Earth or desert planets. And I thought that was nuts. So that really kick started the thing, like that little seed, and that just grew. I never thought I could actually be a scientist. So I come from Chile. And in Chile, I don’t know—science was not a thing that I knew one could do. From TV, I thought, There’s scientists out there, but it’s done by folks at NASA and other places. But I’m, like, very far away from that. So at some point, my physics teacher just grabbed me and she told me, “You know, I’ve seen you with these bright eyes in physics, and you like this astronomy thing a lot. You know you can be a scientist, right?” This was when I was 15, and I was like, but you—really? You can get paid for, like, doing science, for, like, discovering new things? That sounded completely nuts. It’s like someone paying you to play video games, right?  

    JACOB: Right. 

    NÉSTOR: And she was like, yeah, that’s a career, and you can study it here. And that also blew my mind. I was like, what? So that’s when I figured out that I wanted to be an astronomer. So that that was the kind of the path to science and me and the path to exoplanets: physics teachers, moms, and Star Wars. 

    JACOB: So, I wonder if you can fill in the blank in this sentence for me: James Webb is teaching us _____ about exoplanets.   

    NÉSTOR: Ooh. There’s no single word, really, because it’s revolutionizing the field, really. We are starting to see maybe the first hints of evidence of atmospheres around rocky exoplanets. That was well beyond our capabilities three years ago before the launch of James Webb. This is really the next frontier. Like, if we want to get and eventually detect life out there, the first question is, Does this rocky planet have an atmosphere or not? And we can see that in our solar system, even. So, you know, Mercury has, like, a very thin, almost non-existent atmosphere. Now that’s because it’s just too close to the sun, right? Poor planet.  

    JACOB: Sure. It’s getting baked all the time.  

    NÉSTOR: Exactly. Poor planet. You can bake a pizza in the thing if you want. But then it doesn’t have a substantial atmosphere, as you know, the one we have on Earth, the one that Venus has. And stars out there are also very different. We’re used to this beautiful Sun that we see every day, but there are stars of all sizes and colors out there. And in fact, one of the things that impresses the public I think the most is, when you ask them, “What do you think is the average star out there? How does it look like?” And everyone tells you, like, Ah, it looks like the Sun. And the answer is, no, that it’s not like the Sun. It’s actually a star that is kind of 10 percent the size of the Sun. So much smaller. That makes it much redder. And then you have to be closer to that star in order to feel the same heat, because it’s smaller, it’s colder. Just like a heater. So those stars really outnumber all the rest of the stars. Those are the majority of the stars out there. So we also know that rocky planets—actually most of the rocky planets—live around these small stars. We’re trying to explore, how does the average rocky planet out there look like, which orbits these small stars? Which is very alien. Like, if you imagine the sky on these things, it’s completely different. Like, you are used to this orange star coming up. Imagine now, like a very small star coming up. It’s red—like, very, very red. So if there’s plants or something like that, on these rocks—on these planets, they might look completely different. They might absorb completely different light. They might look completely different. So figuring out these alien worlds, it’s this exciting thing that James Webb is allowing us to do. 

    JACOB: The thing that the James Webb Space Telescope, I think, is the most famous for, is that it is looking back to cosmic dawn and sort of the very first galaxies and so on. And in a lot of ways, that’s what it was designed to do. So what makes those tools that it has also really useful for studying exoplanets? 

    NÉSTOR: That’s an excellent question. So what you do is that you wait until the planet passes in front of the star from your point of view on Earth. And when the planet passes—if you’re lucky enough to see that passage—some of the starlight passes through the atmosphere of the planet and interacts with it. And those little signals are the ones that we detect with James Webb, and we’re able to extract, like some sort of, like cosmic detective part, right, which is, see which light got absorbed by the atmosphere of the planet. What we’re trying to do is see which part of that starlight is being eaten up by the molecules in the atmosphere, and different molecules like to eat different colors of light. They have different diets. So if you want to detect sodium, for instance—you know, your classic salt—you typically go to what we call optical wavelengths, which are light that we can see. Like, you and I can see. Like the color of your shirt, the color of your pants. That’s light, colors of light that we can see. But there’s many other colors out there. In particular, James Webb is what we call an infrared telescope. So it’s able to detect light, which is called infrared light. It’s past—like way redder than the reddest you could see, that we cannot see. Our eyes just can’t detect that. In the infrared, it’s exactly where the molecules that we’re most excited about—like, you know, water; carbon dioxide, which is a big thing on the rocky planets on the solar system; methane—all of these molecules, their diets of light are based on infrared light. So if you want to detect those molecules, you have to go to the infrared, right? And that’s what makes James Webb so unique. You have this big bucket of light that is very stable, and it’s able to look at exactly the colors of light on which these very important molecules are absorbing. 

    JACOB: Do you think you could take me on a little tour of some of the exoplanets you study? Like, I don’t know—can we pretend that we’re visiting? And can you tell me what we see and what it even might be like to actually go there and be on the surface or be in that atmosphere or something? 

    NÉSTOR: Totally. Yeah, I can do that. So right now we don’t have a solid detection, but I can make a case for this. I think I’m going to put as an example case one planetary system that is very dear to my heart because I’ve been working a lot on that, and it’s called the TRAPPIST-1 system.  

    [Music: Designing the Future by Carl David Harms] 

    So in order to travel to the TRAPPIST-1 system, we have to take a rocket and travel like several tens—like a couple tens of light-years. That means that if we threw a little laser, it will take, like, 20 to 30 years to get there. So the first alien thing about this system is that the star is crazy small. The star is the size of Jupiter, which is like, What?! A star can be that small? The answer is yes, they can be that small. And this system doesn’t have, you know, one, two, or three, four rocky exoplanets going around. It has seven rocky exoplanets going around the star. The other alien thing about this system is that all these planets orbit very tightly packed together. So they are in orbits that are—in an orbit that it’s smaller than the orbit of Mercury. All these seven planets are packed in an orbit that is very, very small. The other alien part about this TRAPPIST-1 system—as I told you, seven planets. Two or three of those planets are in what we call the habitable zone of this system, which is a distance from its star, in which it’s not too hot and not too cold, such that if they had atmospheres like we have on Earth, they could sustain liquid water in their surfaces. And that’s pretty exciting, because it means, you know, maybe life is there. Even more, because the system is so tightly packed, if we, you know, we were traveling to this thing, if we were to go and land on one of these planets and you looked up in the sky, you could actually see the other planets as, like, big moons. So if you have a friend in this other habitable planet, you can call them and say, “Hey, there’s a storm coming your way in like three hours,” right? Which is nuts, right? The fact that it’s so packed means that you can see the planets in the sky, the other planets in the sky. So that would be, you know, a beautiful sight, 

    JACOB: Even better than Tatooine, right?   

    NÉSTOR: Even better! Right? So that’s the whole thing with this field. It’s like, you think you have seen cool stuff in science fiction? Wait until you see the science data, right? That’s crazy! 

    JACOB: This is maybe going to ask you to take your scientist hat off and put your prediction hat on. But do you think that we’ll find signs of life on an exoplanet—I don’t know, within your lifetime?  

    NÉSTOR: I surely hope so. Signs? Yes, I think we would be able within my lifetime, especially with what we have lined up in the future. So will we be able to detect these biosignatures within my lifetime, between like 30 years, 40 years from now? I think the answer is probably yes. Will we be able to claim unambiguously that that’s aliens, like, walking on that planet? Probably not. But that’s where our scientific community gets together to try to figure out what alternative scenarios will produce this particular signal?  

    JACOB: Right.  

    NÉSTOR: And I’m very confident that we will get to very good answers with that. Like the scientific community—once it focuses on a problem, it’s very good at figuring out how to make that happen. You just mentioned, for instance, that the James Webb Space Telescope was made basically for the deep universe, trying to figure out the first galaxies and so on. So they really thought very hard and how to make that with James Webb. That is the beauty of the Habitable Worlds Observatory. It’s the first time in history of humankind that we’re saying we’re going to build a big mission, big telescope, and this is going to be based on trying to figure out this—you know, actually get the signatures of possibilities of life out there in other planets. And that’s a very exciting—again, it’s a very exciting time to be alive, to be in this era in which we are jumping into try to figure out there’s life out there. It’s like, it’s never happened before. It’s amazing.   

    JACOB: I was thinking about when you said that you grew up and didn’t know that being a scientist was an option. What advice do you have for someone who is interested in science but also may not realize that that is a real career path? 

    NÉSTOR: Yeah. So what I would say—well, first of all that it is a real career path (laughs). It’s a thing you can do. So first thing is that there’s not a linear career path. You don’t have to be like a total genius that gets into physics, top grades, and then you go and do amazing discoveries. That’s just not how it works for the majority of us. If you have an interest and an excitement for this, that is like 60, 70 percent of the way. That is, if you’re really excited about this stuff, then this is a career path for you. It’s not going to be easy, like, I can tell you that from the very beginning, but it’s going to be totally worth it. I would also say that—and this is sometimes underlooked—that, yes, your excitement and for the science and so on is really important, but also having a support system is really important. I told you that basically it was my mom and I, and that support from my mom and from my friends and so on was key for me to going through this. I mean, if it weren’t for them, I would not be here. The final advice that I have for people that want to do science is that I know people have this concept of scientists being like these white-coated folks that are just in their own labs and the whiteboard, right? And they’re alone, lone wolves.  

    JACOB: Oh yeah. I’ve seen it in the movies. 

    NÉSTOR: Right! “Eureka! I solved cancer, whatever.” That’s not how science works. Science is a very, very collaborative environment. Like, my native language is Spanish, so I had to learn how to speak English and how to communicate effectively and so on. That is also very important. If you’re hearing all of this and you say, Wow, you have to do a lot of stuff, you can do it. If you’re excited about this stuff, you can be that scientist.   

    JACOB: I have one last question for you, and then we’ll get you out of here. Since our show is called Curious Universe, what are you still curious about? 

    NÉSTOR: Well, I’m curious about these atmospheres around rocky planets, for—in particular, if the atmospheres survived around the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets. If they did and we find the system that it’s in the habitable zone of their stars, that has an atmosphere that we can characterize in detail, that would be such an amazing moment in humanity. Like, yes, we have this chance to figure out if life might be in this planet. That is the thing that has made me the most curious. And the overreaching kind of bigger question to that is, how frequent is life out there? The reality is that we don’t know. Maybe life is like this very rare, very niche thing that we were very lucky to have here on Earth, right? In our galaxy—in the hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy—is there another one that has life? Not only life—intelligent life, technology out there? Is there more advanced technology out there, perhaps? That has me very, very curious. That would be one of the questions if I had, like, a genie that could answer any question that would be—give me the number, right? How many? And that will solve so many questions in my mind about the universe out there.  

    [Music: Exoplanet by Jeff Penny] 

    But the very fact that we’re talking about this—and you folks are thinking, that you’re hearing this, you’re thinking, That’s an interesting question, and that’s an interesting question that we could get answered—that is amazing. Because we are not in the realm of science fiction anymore. This is science, and we are putting telescopes out there to get these answers. 

    JACOB: Néstor Espinoza is an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute. And I just want to give you a quick update. Since I talked to Néstor, we have a little bit more information about TRAPPIST-1, the planetary system that Néstor is really excited about. Using the Webb telescope, scientists determined that TRAPPIST 1-d—which is one of the planets in that system—does not have an Earth-like atmosphere. We’re still learning more about that planet, and the six other rocky planets orbiting the same star.  

    If you liked this episode, you will love NASA’s documentary Cosmic Dawn. Cosmic Dawn reveals the incredible true story of the James Webb Space Telescope with never-before-seen footage from the creation, construction, and launch of this remarkable telescope. See the film at nasa.gov/cosmicdawn.  

    And you can find the latest news from the Webb telescope and much more information at nasa.gov/webb. 

    This is NASA’s Curious Universe. This episode was written and produced by Emma Brambila. Our executive producer is Katie Konans. The Curious Universe team also includes Christian Elliott and of course, Padi Boyd. Krystofer Kim designed our show art. Our theme song was composed by Matt Russo and Andrew Santaguida of SYSTEM Sounds.  

    As always, if you enjoyed this episode of NASA’s Curious Universe, please let us know. Leave us a review. Share the show with a friend. And remember, you can “follow” NASA’s Curious Universe in your favorite podcast app to get a notification each time we post a new episode.  

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  • Everton fan’s relief as missing season-ticket seat issue resolved

    Everton fan’s relief as missing season-ticket seat issue resolved

    A lifelong Everton fan who found her allocated season ticket-seat at the club’s new Hill Dickinson stadium did not exist, said the club have “redeemed themselves” after resolving the issue.

    Cathy Clarke, from Liverpool, had previously described her shock when she attended the Blues’ first home game, only to discover a metal panel and railing in the space where her seat should have been.

    A week after raising the issue online, the club finally contacted her and offered her and her family a private tour of the ground and helped them to select four new seats.

    “They’ve sorted it out and we have seats together – that’s all we wanted,” she said. “We are really pleased.”

    Cathy, a season ticket-holder of 30 years, had been looking forward to the first Premier League game at Everton’s new ground since her family secured their season tickets earlier this year.

    It was the first time Cathy, her husband, her son and her nephew – who are all season ticket-holders, had been able to sit together, because it had not been possible at Goodison Park.

    But when she located the space where her seat should have been in the new stadium, there was only a metal railing – and no seat.

    In the following week, Cathy repeatedly tried to raise the issue with the club, but was unable to reach anyone who might resolve the issue.

    But after sharing her plight online, the club finally contacted the family.

    “We just wanted someone to listen to us, and Everton accepted the issue and a lack of communication,” she said.

    “They had to scour the ground – and they were able to give us a few options, and I appreciate the time they took doing that.

    “We have comparable seats in a different part of the ground but we are really happy with what we’ve got now – so we are over the moon!

    “They have redeemed themselves in our eyes. We are very happy with the outcome and I’m looking forward to sitting in my seat for the Aston Villa game.”

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  • OncLive’s August Roundup of Key FDA Approvals in Oncology: 3 Decisions to Know

    OncLive’s August Roundup of Key FDA Approvals in Oncology: 3 Decisions to Know

    FDA Approval Roundup: August

    Below is your guide to all the oncologic therapeutic options that were cleared by the FDA in August 2025. The roundup provides everything you need to know, right at your fingertips—all the topline data that supported the decisions and expert insights contextualizing what they mean for clinical practice.

    Indication: The FDA has granted accelerated approval to dordaviprone (Modeyso; formerly ONC201) for use in adult and pediatric patients at least 1 year of age with H3K27M-mutant diffuse midline glioma who have progressive disease after previous therapy. This marks the first systemic therapy approved for this biomarker-defined subset of diffuse midline glioma.

    Supporting Data: The regulatory decision was based on pooled findings from 5 open-label, nonrandomized US trials: ONC006 (NCT02525692), ONC013 (NCT03295396), ONC014 (NCT03416530), ONC018 (NCT03134131), and ONC016 (NCT05392374). Among 50 patients treated with monotherapy, the objective response rate (ORR) was 22% (95% CI, 12%-36%), with a median duration of response (DOR) of 10.3 months (95% CI, 7.3-15.2). Notably, 73% of responders maintained a response for at least 6 months, and 27% maintained a response for at least 12 months. Additional analyses showed 46.7% of evaluable patients achieved corticosteroid dose reduction of 50% or higher, and 20.6% had improved performance scores.

    Clinical Significance: Dordaviprone represents a first-in-class protease activator that establishes a long-awaited treatment option for patients with H3K27M-mutant diffuse midline glioma, a population with limited therapeutic options and poor prognosis. The decision underscores the value of biomarker testing for H3K27M mutations and opens the door for further drug development in primary brain tumors.

    In a recent interview with OncLive®, Timothy F. Cloughesy, MD, of UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, discussed the significance of the approval: “[Diffuse midline glioma] is a particularly difficult tumor to manage. Having a therapy available is just a huge win for our field.”

    OTHER RELATED COVERAGE

    • In an episode of OncLive On Air, Patrick Y. Wen, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, discussed the significance of this accelerated approval across patient age groups, key efficacy and safety data that supported the decision, and the importance of biomarker testing in this population.
    • In a past interview, Yoshie Umemura, MD, of Ivy Brain Tumor Center, further discussed the development of ONC201 in H3K27M-mutant diffuse midline glioma.
    • In another OncLive On Air episode, Stephen Bagley, MD, MSCE, of Penn Medicine, spotlighted the exploration of ONC201 in the phase 3 ACTION trial (NCT05580562) in H3K27M-mutant diffuse midline gliomas and explained why clinicians should consider the trial for patients.
    • This Clinical Trial Spotlight offers additional insight into the ACTION trial, in which dordaviprone aims to improve upon standard-of-care (SOC) radiotherapy in H3K27M-mutant glioma.
    • In a past interview, Ashley Sumrall, MD, FACP, of Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center and University of North Caroline at Chapel Hill, discussed the unmet needs for patients with gliomas, impacts that disease classification evolutions have had on diagnosis and management of the disease, and ongoing research with ONC201 in this area.
    • Ilyas Sahin, MD, of the University of Florida College of Medicine, previously shared preclinical data from a study examining the combination of milademetan and ONC201 in solid tumors with MDM2 overexpression.

    Indication: Accelerated approval was also awarded to zongertinib (Hernexeos) for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring HER2 TKD-activating mutations, as detected by an FDA-approved test, after previous systemic therapy.

    Supporting Data: The decision was supported by data from the phase 1 Beamion LUNG-1 trial (NCT04886804). Among evaluable patients who had received previous platinum-based chemotherapy without prior HER2-targeted TKIs or antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs; n = 71), the ORR was 75% (95% CI, 63%-83%) with a 6-month DOR rate of 58%. In patients previously treated with chemotherapy and a HER2-targeted ADC(n = 34), the ORR was 44% (95% CI, 29%-61%) and the 6-month DOR rate was 27%. Safety was manageable, with mostly grade 1/2 treatment-related adverse effects (TRAEs; diarrhea, 51%; rash, 27%); only 1 patient experienced a grade 3 or higher TRAE. No cases of treatment-related interstitial lung disease were reported.

    Clinical Significance: Zongertinib provides an important new targeted therapy option for patients with HER2-mutant NSCLC, a population with historically limited treatment choices. The high response rates, particularly in those who had not previously received a HER2-directed agent, highlight the drug’s potential to redefine the treatment paradigm for this biomarker-driven subset. Its ongoing evaluation in the phase 3 Beamion LUNG-2 trial (NCT06151574) will clarify its role vs SOC regimens.

    “It’s the first time that we’re seeing a HER2-targeting therapy that captures these most common exon 20 insertion mutations in HER2 with a specificity that doesn’t overlap with EGFR. We don’t see a lot of the on-target [adverse] effects [AEs] on the skin or in the gastrointestinal tract,” Martin F. Dietrich, MD, PhD, of The US Oncology Network Cancer Care Centers of Brevard and University of Central Florida College of Medicine, said in a recent interview.

    ALSO APPROVED: The regulatory agency cleared the Oncomine™ Dx Target Test as a companion diagnostic for the identification of patients with unresectable or metastatic nonsquamous NSCLC whose tumors have HER2 TKD–activating mutations and could benefit from zongertinib.

    OTHER RELATED COVERAGE

    • In a recent OncLive On Air episode, Ticiana Leal, MD, of Emory University School of Medicine, and Misako Nagasaka, MD, PhD, of University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, discussed the significance of the approval, spotlighted key efficacy and safety data from Beamion LUNG-1, and unpacked where zongertinib currently fits into the paradigm.
    • In the same month, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network updated their Clinical Practice Guideline in Oncology for the treatment of patients with NSCLC to include zongertinib tablets as a preferred subsequent therapy option for patients with advanced or metastatic HER2-mutant disease who have not previously received systemic therapy.
    • Among the Clinical Trials to Watch in 2025, the phase 3 Beamion Lung-2 study (NCT06151574) is evaluating zongertinib vs with the KEYNOTE-189 (NCT02578680) regimen in patients with HER2-mutated NSCLC.
    • In a previous interview, Joshua K. Sabari, MD, of New York University Grossman School of Medicine and Perlmutter Cancer Center, spotlighted key efficacy data from Beamion LUNG-1.
    • John V. Heymach, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, further discussed the potential role of zongertinib in HER2-mutated advanced NSCLC.
    • For a Bridging the Gaps in Lung Cancer: 6-Month Update to the 2025 Winter Lung Cancer Conference, Benjamin P. Levy, MD, and Misty D. Shields, MD, PhD, explained how emerging data on novel HER2-targeted agents, such as zongertinib, show promise for advanced NSCLC.

    Indication: The FDA cleared a 3-month, 21-mg subcutaneous depot formulation of leuprolide mesylate (Camcevi ETM) for the palliative treatment of adult patients with advanced prostate cancer.

    Supporting Data: The approval was supported by findings from a global, open-label, single-arm phase 3 trial (NCT03261999). In the intention-to-treat population (n = 144), 97.9% (95% CI, 93.5%-99.3%) of patients achieved the primary end point of sustained serum testosterone suppression to castration levels (≤50 ng/dL) by day 28 and maintained through day 168. Among evaluable patients (n = 143), 98.6% achieved castration by day 28, with a mean testosterone concentration of 17.8 ng/dL; no mean increase was observed following the second injection. Safety was manageable, with the most common AEs being hot flushing (24%), hypertension (11%), weight gain (8%), and injection site hemorrhage (6%).

    Clinical Significance: This approval expands the Camcevi portfolio by offering a shorter 3-month dosing option alongside the 6-month, 42-mg formulation that was previously approved in 2021. The availability of multiple depot schedules provides greater flexibility in androgen deprivation therapy delivery, potentially improving convenience and alignment with patient and clinician treatment preferences in advanced prostate cancer management.

    OTHER RELATED COVERAGE

    OTHER NOTEWORTHY DECISIONS

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  • My favorite cooking gadget is getting a big upgrade

    My favorite cooking gadget is getting a big upgrade

    I’ve owned a Thermomix TM6 for about five years, and I use it multiple times a day for everything from making smoothies in the morning to steaming veggies for dinner, whipping up a sauce, or cooking some rice. It’s the most versatile smart gadget in my kitchen. Now its successor, the Thermomix TM7, has arrived in the US, launching today for $1,699.

    Yes, it’s expensive — but this all-in-one machine is designed to replace a countertop’s worth of gadgets, with functions like weighing, chopping, whisking, steaming, sautéing, slow cooking, and even fermenting. The standout upgrade is a larger 10-inch touchscreen powered by a faster multicore processor. However, I‘m wary of the missing physical dial, as the screen features all the device’s controls, as well as access to 200 built-in guided cooking recipes (and many more with a Cookido subscription for $65 a year).

    The rest of the TM7 has been redesigned as well, with a sleeker, all-black design, an open-lid cooking option, and a larger steaming basket. Vorwerk, which owns Thermomix, says its software platform has been rebuilt from the ground up to enable future bigger updates — including voice control.

    The TM6, which launched in 2019, has been discontinued, but Vorwerk has committed to 10 years of support.

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  • Pakistan Floods: Almost 1 million people evacuated from Punjab as children miss out on third week of school – Save the Children – ReliefWeb

    1. Pakistan Floods: Almost 1 million people evacuated from Punjab as children miss out on third week of school – Save the Children  ReliefWeb
    2. Watch: Luxury neighbourhood in Lahore submerged in floods  BBC
    3. Two million impacted as Pakistan’s Punjab faces worst floods in its history  Al Jazeera
    4. Pakistan: Monsoon Floods 2025 Flash Update #4 (As of 30 August 2025)  ReliefWeb
    5. 41 people dead so far in Punjab floods: PDMA DG  Dawn

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  • Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 and Z Flip5 get One UI 8 beta update in Korea

    Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 and Z Flip5 get One UI 8 beta update in Korea

    Samsung recently seeded the One UI 8 beta for the Galaxy S23 series and a bunch of Galaxy A series phones. Now, the company has started rolling out the beta update for the older Galaxy Z Fold5 and Galaxy Z Flip5.

    The update is currently rolling out for the fifth generation Samsung foldables in South Korea as the One UI 8 Beta program has gone live. Interested users can register for the beta program by downloading the Samsung Members app.





    Apart from new features, the beta update also includes the latest September Android security patch, according to screenshots shared online.

    The One UI 8 update is expected to roll out for the Galaxy Z Fold5 and Z Flip5 in other countries including the UK, the US, and India. The update was also released for the Galaxy Z Fold6, Z Flip6, and the Galaxy S24 series last month.

    Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7

    Source 1 • Source 2

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  • New treatment gives hope to children with achondroplasia

    New treatment gives hope to children with achondroplasia

    When Kati Gyulai learned during her pregnancy that her baby’s arms and legs measured far shorter than average, she feared the worst.

    “Toward the end of my pregnancy, the ultrasound showed his upper arm and thigh lengths were in the lowest first percentile,” Gyulai said. Doctors warned her and her husband, Alpar, that their child could be born with one of more than 200 types of skeletal dysplasia, some of which are fatal.

    During delivery, an entire team stood by Gyulai, bracing for complications. Instead, she and her husband welcomed Aron, a beautiful baby boy with achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism. “We felt like we won the lottery,” Kati said of her son’s 1-in-25,000 odds.

    “Achondroplasia is the most common genetic form of dwarfism,” said Hua Wang, MD, Aron’s geneticist at Loma Linda University Children’s Health. “It is caused by a mutation in the FGFR3 gene, which slows bone growth, especially in the arms and legs, leading to short stature with disproportionate limbs. Intelligence is normal, but children may face medical concerns involving bone structure, breathing, hearing, or mobility,” Wang said.

    For Aron, those concerns surfaced quickly. “He had mild sleep apnea that improved after his tonsils and adenoids were removed, and some conductive hearing loss that improved with ear tubes,” Wang said. Aron also wears bifocal glasses to correct eye alignment and continues with speech and physical therapy.

    Despite these hurdles, Kati says her son’s energy and determination have always shone through. “He’s never let anything hold him back.

    Historically, families facing achondroplasia had very limited treatment options. Growth hormone provided minimal benefit and was rarely used. The only other option was limb-lengthening surgery, a highly invasive procedure that requires breaking the bones before they can be extended. That changed with the arrival of Voxzogo, the first FDA-approved medication that directly targets the underlying cause of the growth issue.

    “Voxzogo works at the growth plates of bones to counteract the overactive FGFR3 signal, allowing bones to grow more normally,” Wang said. “It represents a major breakthrough. For the first time, we have a treatment that can improve growth and possibly body proportions in children with achondroplasia.”

    Kati and her husband enrolled Aron in a clinical trial when he was a toddler, and when Voxzogo became available, they fought through months of insurance denials before finally gaining access with Wang’s help. “When we got the approval, we cried tears of joy,” Kati said.

    Within his first year of treatment, Aron grew seven centimeters in height and increased his arm span by eight centimeters, growth that meets or exceeds the average for boys with achondroplasia on this medication. “This is clinically significant,” Wang said. “In the past, children with achondroplasia grew much more slowly after infancy.”

    Beyond height, Wang hopes the therapy may help reduce joint strain, improve mobility, and potentially lessen the need for surgeries later in life.

    “It’s possible. If bone proportions improve and certain structural risks are reduced, this could mean fewer orthopedic surgeries, such as leg straightening, and potentially less spinal or neurological intervention. However, long-term studies will be needed to confirm these benefits.”

    Today, five-year-old Aron loves swimming, basketball, and soccer. He recently transitioned from special education preschool into a general classroom, where he is doing well.

    For families navigating the challenges of achondroplasia, expert guidance and support can make all the difference.

    “We provide clear, ongoing education, connect families to support groups, and ensure they have access to specialists for comprehensive care,” Wang said. “It’s important for families to know they’re not alone, especially since achondroplasia is lifelong, and decisions about treatments like Voxzogo involve balancing hope with realistic expectations.”

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  • 5 militants killed after attacking paramilitary force headquarters in Pakistan | World News

    5 militants killed after attacking paramilitary force headquarters in Pakistan | World News

    At least five terrorists were killed on Tuesday after they attacked the headquarters of a paramilitary force in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to officials.

    Six policemen were injured in subsequent gunfights with the terrorists.(AP Photo/Representative Image )

    Six policemen were injured in subsequent gunfights with the terrorists.

    The militants stormed the Federal Constabulary (FC) Lines in the Bannu district bordering north Waziristan and Afghanistan after a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car near its main gate, District Police Officer (DPO) Saleem Abbas Kalachi said.

    One of the terrorists was killed by security force personnel in a gunfight.

    In subsequent clashes, four more militants were killed in joint operations by the police, paramilitary, and other security personnel.

    During the exchange of fire, a Station House Officer (SHO) from the Cantonment Police Station was critically injured, while five other policemen sustained injuries.

    Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Bannu Sajjad Khan visited those injured at the District Headquarters Hospital.

    DPO Kalachi, who is supervising the operation, told the media that no act of terrorism will be tolerated in Bannu, declaring: “Terrorists can never be called Muslims.”

    Separately, two policemen were killed when terrorists opened fire on them in the province’s Lakki Marwat district, police said.

    The area was cordoned off by the police, who launched a massive combing operation to apprehend the terrorists.

    Pakistan has seen a surge in terrorism since the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire deal with the government in November 2022, vowing to increase attacks.

    According to data released by the Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), the country witnessed an alarming spike in militant violence in August this year, registering a 74 per cent increase in militant attacks compared to July, becoming the “deadliest month in over a decade“.

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  • Reading Cell Death with Light: Real-Time Visualization of Apoptosis Using a Novel Fluorescent Reporter

    Reading Cell Death with Light: Real-Time Visualization of Apoptosis Using a Novel Fluorescent Reporter

    Newswise — Cells in our body are programmed to die after a certain period of time—a natural process known as apoptosis or “cell suicide.” This process is essential for maintaining the body’s balance. When aged or damaged cells are not properly eliminated, it can lead to diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disorders, and dementia. Therefore, accurately observing when and how cells die has become a crucial tool in life sciences and medicine, particularly for early disease diagnosis and evaluation of therapeutic efficacy.

    A research team led by Dr. Sun-Uk Kim at the Future Animal Resource Center of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) has successfully developed a novel fluorescent reporter technology that enables real-time visualization of apoptosis inside living cells. By overcoming the limitations of conventional apoptosis detection methods, this breakthrough technology is expected to open new opportunities for drug discovery and biomedical research.

    Until now, apoptosis detection has relied on methods such as microscopy observation, genetic analysis, and traditional fluorescent protein reporters. However, these methods often involved complex sample preparation, additional staining steps, and issues with accuracy.

    The KRIBB team focused on caspase-3, a key enzyme that serves as the “final executioner” of apoptosis. Caspase-3 selectively cleaves a short amino acid sequence known as DEVDG. By precisely inserting this sequence into the structure of GFP (green fluorescent protein), the researchers engineered a biosensor that loses fluorescence at the moment apoptosis occurs. This “fluorescence switch-off” mechanism allows for real-time and highly sensitive detection of apoptosis.

    Among the GFP-based reporters developed so far, KRIBB’s system stands out for its simplified operating principle and compact design, which greatly enhance both sensitivity and accuracy. The team further validated the sensor by tracking apoptosis in real time under various experimental conditions, including exposure to toxic substances and anticancer drugs.

    Importantly, the new technology is applicable not only to cancer cell lines but also to a wide range of animal cell models, making it a powerful tool for evaluating drug-induced cytotoxicity and verifying therapeutic efficacy. Looking ahead, the fluorescent apoptosis reporter is expected to contribute significantly to studies on Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disorders, and cancer, all of which are closely linked to programmed cell death.

    Dr. Sun-Uk Kim, who led the study, emphasized

    “Our newly developed sensor allows apoptosis to be monitored with greater sensitivity and simplicity than existing methods. We anticipate it will accelerate the evaluation of new drug candidates, such as anticancer agents, and serve as a powerful tool in studies of neurodegenerative diseases where cell death plays a pivotal role.”

    Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) is a leading national research institute in South Korea dedicated to cutting-edge research in biotechnology and life sciences. Established in 1985, KRIBB focuses on advancing scientific knowledge in areas such as molecular biology, genomics, bioinformatics, synthetic biology, and aging-related studies. As a government-funded institute, KRIBB plays a pivotal role in driving innovation, supporting national R&D strategies, and collaborating with academic and industrial partners both domestically and internationally.

    This research was supported by Big Issue Group Program(KRIBB Research Initiative Program) and the Global TOP Program funded by the National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST), the Excellent Young Researcher Program under the Basic Science Research Program of the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), and the Core Technology Development Program for the Bio-Industry of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE).

    The study was published online on June 24, 2025, in the prestigious international Journal of Advanced Research (Impact Factor: 13.0) under the title: “Designing an apoptosis reporter by mutagenesis-based insertion of caspase-3 cleavage motif into green fluorescent protein.”

    (Corresponding Authors: [KRIBB] Drs. Sun-Uk Kim, Young-Ho Park)

    (First Authors: [KRIBB] Drs. Dong Gil Lee, Hae-Jun Yang, Unbin Chae)


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  • Indie Financier TPC Acquires 114-Title Film Library From Myriad Pictures

    Indie Financier TPC Acquires 114-Title Film Library From Myriad Pictures

    Indie financier TPC has made its first formal library deal, acquiring 114 titles from Myriad Pictures including The Good Girl (Jennifer Aniston, John C. Reilly), Margin Call (Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore), Van Wilder (Ryan Reynolds), Bob Trevino Likes It (SXSW 2024 Audience and Narrative Awards), Simulant (Sam Worthington, Simu Liu, Jordana Brewster) and a robust slate of features produced by Myriad over the past 25 years.

    Financial details weren’t disclosed.

    TPC plans to continue expanding its footprint in both film library ownership and rights management, particularly with smaller catalogs that are often overlooked by big private equity-backed buyers focused on bulk acquisitions. It said it “intends to fill that void with institutionally backed capital and a hands-on, targeted approach to monetizing content.”

    “We’re excited to enter this space with a compelling portfolio and a strategic focus on thoughtful growth,” said TPC CEO David Gendron. “We see library acquisition and management as a natural complement to our broader platform, allowing us not only to service our own assets, but also to offer turnkey backend management solutions to other rights holders.”

    Myriad CEO Kirk D’Amico said the sale will allow his company to focus on its new titles, some of which will be announced imminently at the Toronto International Film Festival. “We’re very proud to see these [library] titles continue to be managed and sold by an organization such as TPC,” he said.

    TPC launched in 2009 as a production finance company and has grown into a full-service provider supporting studios, producers, brands, and agencies across film, television, commercials and video games. It offers tax credit brokerage and administration, delivery services and production accounting from offices in LA, Melbourne, Vancouver and London, TPC, part of Forest Road, which is also the parent of indie film distributor Vertical, has financed and serviced more than 1,000 projects globally. It works with films in the $2 million to $30 million-budget range. 

    Indie producer and distributor Myriad Pictures’ current slate includes SXSW-premiering social media thriller American Sweatshop starring Lili Reinhart and directed by Uta Briesewitz; horror thriller The Pond, directed by Jeff Renfroe and starring Isabelle Fuhrman and Douglas Smith; and Shaman by Antonio Negret, released in August by  Well Go USA.

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