"Football Fever" Causes High-Level Of Stress

A new study led by Bielefeld University in Germany provides a fascinating look at "football fever" through the lens of physiological data.

When Arminia Bielefeld stepped onto the pitch at the Olympiastadion for the 2025 DFB-Pokal final, history was already made. It was their first time reaching the summit of the German Cup football.

The German Football Association’s (DFB-Pokal) 2025 Cup final was against VfB Stuttgart on May 24, 2025, in the Berlin Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion).

But while the fans in the stands were busy shouting, their hearts were busy screaming.

Surprisingly, fans experienced a 41% increase in mean stress levels compared to non-match days. The average heart rate climbed from 71 beats per minute (BPM) on typical days to 79 BPM on the day of the final.

"The authors suggest that this reaction, known as 'football fever', may be driven by the intensity of fans' emotions towards their team, each other, and the sport," the press release said.

As the world’s most-watched sport, football clearly does more than entertain.

The beautiful game is a literal workout for the cardiovascular system — even if you’re just sitting in Row 10 with a beer. It drives powerful emotional and physical reactions that manifest directly in a fan’s heart rate.

The team conducted a 12-week longitudinal study using smartwatch data from 229 Arminia Bielefeld fans to track physiological changes surrounding the 2025 cup final.

It measured fans’ physical responses by tracking their heart rates and heart-rate variability, using these data points to calculate their overall stress levels. The data was collected ten days before the match and continued for ten weeks after the match.

To better understand these physical responses, they cross-referenced this biometric data with surveys from a 37-person subset (average age 39) to pinpoint how factors such as location and environment influenced fans’ intense physical reactions.

Arminia Bielefeld was reaching the final for the very first time, whereas the experienced VfB Stuttgart was returning for a seventh shot at the title.

The data revealed that heart rates jumped from an average of 71 to 79 beats per minute, peaking at kickoff and remaining elevated despite the 4-2 loss to VfB Stuttgart. And Stuttgart celebrated its fourth-ever Cup title.

Fans experiencing the atmosphere live at the Olympiastadion saw mean heart rates 23 percent higher than those watching via television or at public viewings.

In addition, alcohol consumption acted as a secondary physiological booster, contributing an extra 5 percent increase in heart rate compared to sober participants.

The authors highlight a serious side to the excitement.

"The findings highlight the strong physical reactions of football fans to major matches. The authors note that elevated heart rates in combination with alcohol can increase the risk of adverse cardiac events such as arrhythmias," the press release noted.

"They suggest that future studies should investigate physical responses to intense events in greater detail across different types of high-stress situations," it concluded.

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Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Parents

Conservatives in the U.S. celebrated last 17 March after a federal appeals court denied California’s request to narrow a Supreme Court ruling on transgender policies, two weeks after the high court dealt the state a major blow in the same case.

"California has now lost at the district court, lost at the Supreme Court, and been turned away by the Ninth Circuit," Executive Vice President of the Thomas More Society Peter Breen said in a statement. "The state has repeatedly tried to paint parents who don’t immediately accept their children’s assertion of a new name and gender as ‘abusive.’ The courts have resoundingly rejected that premise."

The Supreme Court had temporarily blocked California officials on 2 March from interfering with school policies that require parents to be notified if their child identifies as transgender.

Democrat California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office responded by turning to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to seek clarification on the high court's ruling in an effort to interpret it more narrowly.

A three-judge panel comprising three Democrat-appointed judges acknowledged that Bonta's office raised "important concerns" about whether the injunction upheld by the Supreme Court would force schools to disclose gender-related details to parents "who would engage in abuse." But, the panel said, that was for the lower court to decide at this stage.

The Thomas More Society, a Catholic-based law firm helping to represent the parents and teachers who brought the lawsuit against the state, added that the 9th Circuit effectively told California officials on Tuesday they cannot use the appellate court as a "backdoor to rewrite" the Supreme Court's ruling.

Civil rights lawyer Laura Powell noted that Bonta's "attempt to circumvent SCOTUS's order" had failed and that the district court judge, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, would likely side against Bonta again.

"Good like convincing Judge [Roger] Benitez to back down after being vindicated by SCOTUS!" Powell wrote.

The lawsuit, Mirabelli v. Bonta, was brought by California parents and teachers who argued that the state's policy violated their rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The parents said the policy prevented school administrators from telling them about their child’s potential efforts to engage in gender transitioning unless the child consented to it. The policy also required school staff to use a student's preferred name and pronouns regardless of the parents’ wishes.

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Proximity To Nuclear Power Plant Risks High Cancer Mortality

Many suspected this before, but there was scarce public discourse about it. Now , a new study confirmed the troubling pattern: US counties located closer to operational nuclear power plants (NPPs) have experienced higher rates of cancer mortality.

The research led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health could complicate the argument for scaling up nuclear power.

"Our study suggests that living near a NPP may carry a measurable cancer risk—one that lessens with distance," said senior author Petros Koutrakis, Akira Yamaguchi Professor of Environmental Health and Human Habitation.

Rather than relying on the combustion of fossil fuels, nuclear reactors harness the energy released through nuclear fission to generate heat.

This thermal energy is then used to produce steam, which drives turbines to generate electricity.

For a long time, the conversation surrounding nuclear power and cancer has been fractured, consisting mostly of small, isolated studies. This new analysis changes the scale entirely.

It is said to be the first 21st-century national analysis, covering all US counties and all operational NPPs between 2000 and 2018. This extensive analysis has helped to create a much larger, more detailed map of potential risk.

The national assessment particularly focused on the relationship between cancer mortality and proximity to nuclear power plants.

By using "continuous proximity" modeling to account for the cumulative impact of multiple plants, the team integrated data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

To ensure the accuracy of their findings, the team applied rigorous statistical adjustments for diverse confounding variables, including median household income, racial composition, educational attainment, lifestyle factors such as smoking and BMI, and access to healthcare facilities.

The data revealed that approximately 115,000 cancer deaths during the study period — roughly 6,400 per year — may be linked to proximity to these facilities.

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Filipinas Just Booked A Second Straight World Cup

For the Philippine National Women's Football team, they have one mission in the AFC Women's Asian Cup and they just achieve it.

The Filipinas are going back to the FIFA Women's World Cup, after blanking Uzbekistan, 2-0, in the play-in held at the Gold Coast Stadium in Australia last 19 March 2026.

It was a scoreless first half despite chances for both sides, with pressure mounting as a World Cup spot was on the line.

After two close calls in the first half, Angie Beard scored the breakthrough goal for the Filipinas in the 47th minute, converting a cross from Jael-Marie Guy.

Five minutes later, Guy once again assisted in the second goal, this time coming from Jackie Sawicki.

She doubled the lead for the Filipinas in the 52nd minute, knocking down a header from yet another cross from Guy.

Filipinas head coach Mark Torcaso praised Guy for stepping up during the big moments, which were vital to their return to the Women's World Cup.

"Even before the game, I told Jael this is your time to shine. And she put in two fantastic crosses that set us up in the second half. There was nothing I said apart from keep doing what we're doing, hoping the young players do something special, Torcaso said during the post-match press conference.

"To have one of our future stars, I think a star on the world stage, play so well in a big game like this and help us qualify for the World Cup is a testament to her and her family. Jael is just one of the number of players coming through our program to be successful for the national team for many, many years," he added.

For her part, Guy said the Filipinas return to the World Cup was a fruit of their teamwork and hard work on the pitch.

"As someone who is younger on the team, this is something I've dreamed about since I was little. Going to the World Cup is something that seems unreachable until it happens. I just feel very excited and grateful," she said.

"None of this wouldn't have been possible if we didn't work together and be confident in each other. I'm just super grateful and super happy and super excited to go to Brazil next summer," Guy added.

Torcaso likewise gave credit to the entire team for their grit and resilience in the tournament.

"To be able to have Angie go high and score and be on the end of it. I told her before the game, this is your game to score. Having the opportunity to have worked with Angie so long, enabled me to make the decision... We know Angie's qualities and I think we took full advantage of that," he shared.

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Ancient Gene Could Be The Key In Curing All Diseases

Researchers have finally resurrected a gene that humanity lost millions of years ago. The results could change how we treat common diseases such as gout and maybe even contribute to slowing down aging.

Using the gene editing tool CRISPR-Cas9, a team at Georgia State University introduced a reconstructed version of the ancient enzyme gene uricase into human liver cells. The lab tests were a success that hinted at a future where humanity could live without the crippling joint pain caused by gout. The idea is simple yet bold: re-install a piece of our revolutionary past to fix modern-day health issues.

For now, the research is done in petri dishes, not patients. No one has been treated yet, and no human trials have begun, yet the implications are large. The fact that we can now bring back once lost genes means we have a new weapon to fight modern diseases and improve the quality of life.

Humans, and our closest relatives, the great apes, once carried a functional gene for an enzyme called uricase. This enzyme helped break down uric acid, a normal waste product of our metabolism. Roughly 20 to 29 million years ago, our ancestors lost that gene. We don't know exactly why, but some scientists speculate the loss may once have offered an advantage.

As humans evolved and their diet changed, elevated uric acid might have helped convert fruit sugar into fat. That would be a useful survival mechanism. But what once helped us survive may now contribute to disease.

That's why bringing this gene back is so exciting. A research team from Georgia State University has just done exactly that. Led by biology professor Eric Gaucher, along with post-doctoral researcher Lais de Lima Balico, the team revived a reconstructed ancient uricase gene using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology.

CRISPR is used to treat cancer, but now we're also seeing this reconstructed gene added into human liver cells in the lab. The liver cells began producing uricase, which broke down the accumulated uric acid. What's even more interesting is that when these cells were exposed to fructose, they didn't turn it into fat, as the typical liver cells would.

To go beyond simple cell culture, the research team tested the ancient gene in three-dimensional liver spheroids, miniature lab-grown tissues that behave more like real human organs. The revived uricase enzyme worked there, too. The levels of uric acid dropped, and the buildup of fat was prevented. The resurrected gene might help humans restore their natural metabolic pathway that could protect us from modern diseases linked to high uric acid, especially gout and fatty liver diseases.

Uric acid does much more than cause gout. High levels of uric acid in the blood, called hyperuricemia, are linked to many modern diseases. It raises the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease. It's also tied to chronic kidney disease, and is correlated with metabolic syndrome and the buildup of fat in the liver.

The fact that lowering uric acid levels has improved outcomes in some trials connected to hypertension and cardiovascular diseases suggests a causal role. That's what makes this revived ancient CRISPR gene a potentially powerful weapon against many diseases.

The Georgia State University team is now planning to move from the lab to human trials. Next comes the animal testing phase. The team has already started planning the gene delivery to lab mice. They could use systems such as nanoparticles to carry CRISPR components or the gene itself. This is the same technology used in some of the COVID-19 vaccines, and it proved to be efficient. If animal studies are successful, researchers will move to carefully designed human trials.

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Aitana Bonmatí Voted As FIFA Best Women's Player Again

Aitana Bonmatí has just been voted The Best FIFA Women's Player for a third year in succession. It's yet another personal accolade for the Catalan star, who claimed a historic third Ballon d'Or in September.

While FC Barcelona and Spain were beaten in the finals of the Champions League and Euro 2025 respectively, Bonmatí claimed those competitions' Player of the Season and Player of the Tournament awards.

The midfield magician from Sant Pere de Ribes was also an inspiring influence as Barça won a domestic treble.

Bonmatí suffered a fracture of her left fibula in training with the Spanish national team at the end of November, leaving her facing several months out of action.

The winner of The Best FIFA Women's Player was chosen from a shortlist of top performers between August 2024 and August 2025.

Votes were cast by women's national team coaches, women's national team captains, football journalists, and fans, with each group contributing 25 percent of the total. Points were awarded based on voters' first, second, and third choices.

The 2025 FIFA Awards also recognised France's Ousmane Dembélé, of Paris Saint‑Germain, as Best Men's Player; Sarina Wiegman, coach of the England women's national team, as Best Women's Coach; and Luis Enrique, former Barça manager and now Paris Saint‑Germain boss, as Best Men's Coach.

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Study Shows Brain Can Still Develop New Cells After 70 Years

A recent study is challenging a long-standing assumption regarding the adult brain. It surmises that individuals can continue to develop new brain cells into old age. Researchers at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet, under Jonas Frisén’s leadership, have presented direct evidence that new neurons continue to develop in the memory center of the brain, the hippocampus, in 78-year-olds.

Brian Smith underscored the importance of this study, noting that it is fundamental to the ongoing debate in neuroscience related to whether or not neurogenesis (growing new neurons) ceases after childhood or continues throughout life.

The hippocampus is central to memory, learning, and mood, and is often called the "memory center" of the brain. Animal studies have revealed the continuous development of new neurons in this brain structure throughout life, yet researchers have had difficulty finding this in a human study.

In 2013, Frisén’s research team captivated the neuroscience field with what was a paradigm-shifting study. They used carbon-14 in DNA to date when human cells in the hippocampus were born and found evidence of new neurons developing in adult brains.

However, many scientists in the field were skeptical because they simply found dividing neural progenitor cells, which are foundational to the process of neurogenesis. In the present study, the research teams’ work focused on identifying definitive progenitor cells (cells that give rise to new neurons) in the human brain. Previously, no studies had looked for definitive progenitor cells in the human adult brain.

Through examining human brain samples, the authors were able to assess the installation of neurogenesis in humans from birth to adult ages of 78 years old. The human brain tissue was obtained from multiple biobanks in several different countries, a unique opportunity for researchers to study brain development across the human lifespan.

Researchers employed single-nucleus RNA sequencing, which analyzes gene activity in individual cell nuclei, often used to study brain development. Through this, they characterized all stages of progenitor cells in the human brain from stem cells to immature neurons. They also employed a mechanistic approach called flow cytometry, which allows the separation of the cells by characteristics, and then coupled this technique with machine learning to identify very small populations of dividing cells.

In brain tissue from children obtained during early childhood, the team was painstaking in confirming that all stages of neural progenitor cells were clearly identified. The principal finding of the study was the validation of definitive progenitor cells in the adult human brain. The researchers then demonstrated that these neural progenitor cells were actively dividing. They validated this by using antibodies to Ki67, a well-known marker of cell proliferation.

To identify the specific location of the new neurons within the brain of an adult, the authors utilized RNAscope and Xenium, which reveal sites of active gene expression in discrete locations of tissue.

Notably, in an important finding, the progenitor cells and young neurons were located in a small subregion of the hippocampus known as the dentate gyrus, which is a critical brain region that is involved with the formation of new memories, spatial learning, and adaptation to change.

The precise mapping of neural progenitor cells has added weight to the idea that the adult human brain continues to generate new neurons, while at the same time providing researchers with a specific region to investigate in future studies and prospective treatments.

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Iran-Egypt WorldCup Match Creates Logistical Nightmare For FIFA

Controversy has started over a FIFA World Cup game scheduled for Seattle, and this could have ramifications for Vancouver. Both Egypt and Iran have filed complaints with FIFA over their World Cup match in Seattle, which is slated to include Pride celebrations.

The two teams were selected in the FIFA draw to play at Seattle’s Lumen Field on 26 June 2026.

Both federations argue that the Pride event contradicts their cultural and religious values. The two countries criminalize gay relationships and in Iran it is punishable by the death penalty.

Seattle Pride organizers say their programs will proceed on that day, suggesting that FIFA might move the game between Egypt and Iran to Vancouver.

However, the Vancouver Pride Society told Global News that if that should happen, there will probably be Pride events in Vancouver as well.

"It’s in the middle of Pride season, and Pride month is in June, around all of North America," Morgane Oger with the Vancouver Pride Society said.

"Vancouver Pride is the end of July, but Eastside Pride is in June if my calendar mind is correct, and we’re certainly not gonna give up Eastside Pride just because some people want to play soccer."

FIFA has not commented on the matter at this time, but a viable alterative will be holding the game in Mexico.

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Colorado College Approved TPUSA Chapter Application

A retired professor had a classic meltdown in front of the camera and called conservatives "Nazis". Apparently, he had a negative reaction after a proposed Turning Point USA chapter was approved at a Colorado college.

David Kozak, a former professor of anthropology at Fort Lewis College, was caught on camera last 7 November yelling in reaction to the Associated Students of Fort Lewis College (ASFLC) voting to approve the TPUSA chapter in an emergency meeting. Their decision came after previously rejecting senior Jonah Flynn’s proposal to register the group with the university, which had sparked controversy across campus.

The ASFLC's decision to reverse its earlier rejection to deny the chapter apparently angered Kozak, who flipped off the person filming and called the TPUSA supporters "Nazis." He then said, "F--- the Nazis."

"Go on, fascists," Kozak said. "Go on, Nazi lovers."

"C’mon Nazis!," Kozak said repeatedly.

Kozak's confrontation occurred after a challenging few weeks for the TPUSA chapter at the liberal arts college, which is based in a left-leaning area that overwhelmingly supported Democrat Kamala Harris in the last election.

A Fort Lewis College spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Kozak had retired.

"Mr. Kozak retired from Fort Lewis College in 2022 and is no longer employed by the institution," the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "At Fort Lewis College, we remain committed to fostering an environment grounded in academic excellence, free expression, and civil discourse."

On 17 October, a petition launched by the Fort Lewis College community garnered only 400 signatures, arguing that TPUSA "has engaged in actions that directly harm our community."

Shortly after the chapter was denied, a counter-petition launched backing TPUSA, garnering over 1,000 signatures so far.

The student government ultimately reversed itself, approving the chapter on 7 November.

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