Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Greg Iles, the Mississippi author of the “Natchez Burning” trilogy and other works, has died. He was 65.Iles died Friday after a decades-long battle with the blood cancer multiple myeloma, his literary agent Dan Conaway posted Saturday on Facebook.Initially diagnosed with the incurable condition in 1996, he kept his illness private until completing his final novel, “Southern Man,” which was published in 2024.Iles was born in Germany but moved to Natchez, Mississippi, with his family when he was just three years old and developed a deep connection with the region. Many of his stories are set…

Your blood serves numerous roles to maintain your health. To carry out these functions, blood contains a multitude of components, including red blood cells that transport oxygen, nutrients and hormones; white blood cells that remove waste products and support the immune system; plasma that regulates temperature; and platelets that help with clotting.Within the blood are also numerous molecules formed as byproducts of normal biochemical functions. When these molecules indicate how your cells are responding to disease, injury or stress, scientists often refer to them as biological markers, or biomarkers. Thus, biomarkers in a blood sample can represent a snapshot of…

Nothing calls to mind nonsensical treatments and bizarre religious healing rituals as easily as the notion of Dark Age medicine. The “Saturday Night Live” sketch Medieval Barber Theodoric of York says it all with its portrayal of a quack doctor who insists on extracting pints of his patients’ blood in a dirty little shop.Though the skit relies on dubious stereotypes, it’s true that many cures from the Middle Ages sound utterly ridiculous – consider a list written around 800 C.E. of remedies derived from a decapitated vulture. Mixing its brain with oil and inserting that into the nose was thought…

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — It’s not an ice-cream cone. It’s not an Italian rainbow cookie. It’s the baseball bat being used at the Little League World Series.Easton’s 2026 Hype Fire USA Bat with the neon green grip and the pink-and-neon yellow barrel is hard to miss at the plate. And the players love them.“I left it up to them which bats they wanted to use, most of them went with the bat they gave us,” Pennsylvania manager Michael Shaw said. “You know, a great color for 12-year-old kids — sour gummy worms.”When Little League teams arrive in Williamsport, they…

This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Jigar Bhati, a member of technical staff at OpenAI. He’s worked at the company since 2023 and previously worked as a software engineer at Twitter. This story has been edited for length and clarity.I was working at Twitter for almost seven years and was looking for a change in general. Twitter was a big tech company, and it was handling millions of users already. I wanted to join a company that was a bit smaller scale and work in a startup-like environment.When ChatGPT launched, software engineers were in awe. So I…

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — The Washington Commanders activated Terry McLaurin off the physically unable to perform list on Saturday amid lingering contract extension talks with the All-Pro wide receiver.McLaurin, who is entering the final year of a three-year, $68.2 million contract signed in 2022, reported to the team on July 27 after skipping the initial four days of training camp and June’s mandatory minicamp. That turned a holdout to a hold-in, but has not necessarily accelerated extension talks or returned McLaurin to practice. The team placed its top target on the PUP list with an ankle injury, and McLaurin requested…

AI guys aren’t only hot at Big Tech companies. They’re also just hot.Professional matchmakers in the Bay Area told Business Insider that AI engineers are newly desirable in the dating world, as their salaries balloon and all sectors rush to embrace the technology. Companies like Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI are offering top AI talent millions per year, and eligible singles in the country’s tech mecca are noticing.”The last couple of years, more women are saying they’re attracted to a nerd,” said Amber Lee, the CEO of Select Date Society. “They literally use the word nerd. So I think that’s kind…

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Kylan Darnell became an overnight celebrity in the TikTok niche that documents the glitzy, ritualistic recruitment process for sororities. As a 21-year-old rising senior four years later, she’s taking more of her sorority life offline.Darnell has until now been the embodiment of RushTok, a week-long marathon that has teens at schools around the country meticulously documenting their efforts to land a cherished spot in a sorority during the colorful, girly and enigmatic recruitment process known as rush week. Reactions to the content that once catapulted her to fame — depicting her life as a Zeta Tau…

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Things sure have changed since the last time the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers clashed, back in June.The Dodgers were running away in the NL West then with a nine-game lead. The Padres were in third place.Now, with 1 1/2 months left in the season, it’s all tied up.San Diego came into Dodger Stadium on Friday night with a one-game lead over the defending World Series champions. It’s the latest the Padres had led the division since September 2010 and the first time the Dodgers had been out of first this late in the…

HOUSTON (AP) — Baltimore Orioles rookie right-hander Brandon Young had to move past his last start.In dropping to 0-6, Young saw his ERA increase to 6.70 through the first 10 starts of his major league career after allowing six runs over three innings against the Athletics on Aug. 9.“Honestly, it’s easier said than done trying to flush bad outings like that,” Young said. “But just looking forward to the next (start) and trying to prepare myself. I think that’s what most of us look forward to, especially starters.”Young bounced back and nearly made history on Friday night. The 26-year old…