President Trump announced Wednesday that a framework for a future Greenland deal had been reached. The Onion assesses the veracity of Trumps statements regarding Greenland.Claim: Greenland needs protection from Russia and China.Partially true: Greenland needs protection from Russia, China, and the United States.Claim: America will use military force to acquire Greenland if necessary.False: Military force will be used even if its unnecessary.Claim: Buying Greenland would benefit national and global security.False: Sometimes its fun to just buy stuff.Claim: The fearsome, 400-foot ice kaiju that protects Greenland from invaders can easily be felled with conventional weaponry.False: Sure, if you completely forget about its ability to rapidly regenerate damaged cells.Claim: Greenland contains large swaths of unspoiled resources.Partially true: Not for long!Claim: Greenlanders would welcome American influence.False: Though they probably wouldnt say no to a Cheesecake Factory.The post Fact-Checking Trump On Greenland appeared first on The Onion.

It's an important first step!READ MORE...

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) tries to get past the Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon during the first half of an NFL football divisional playoff game Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)2026-01-22T14:04:51Z NEW YORK (AP) Christian McCaffrey is the first player to be a finalist for three AP NFL awards in the same year, joining Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence, Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford in the running for The Associated Press 2025 NFL Most Valuable Player award.McCaffrey and Maye are also finalists for Offensive Player of the Year. McCaffrey and Lawrence are among the finalists for Comeback Player of the Year.The winners will be announced at NFL Honors on Feb. 5. A nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league completed voting before the playoffs began. Votes were tabulated by the accounting firm of Lutz and Carr.Voters selected a top 5 for the eight AP NFL awards. First-place votes were worth 10 points. Second- through fifth-place votes were worth 5, 3, 2 and 1 points.Here are the finalists, in alphabetical order, for the eight AP NFL awards: Most Valuable Player Allen, the reigning MVP, threw for 3,668 yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, posting a 102.2 passer rating while leading Buffalo to its seventh straight playoff appearance. He also ran for 14 TDs. The Bills were knocked out of the playoffs by Denver in the divisional round and fired coach Sean McDermott.Lawrence helped Jacksonville win 13 games and the AFC South title. He had 4,007 yards passing, 29 TDs and 12 picks. The Jaguars were eliminated by the Bills in the wild-card round.McCaffrey, an All-Purpose All-Pro, ran for 1,202 yards and 10 TDs and caught 102 passes for 924 yards and seven TDs. He played a key role in helping the injury-depleted San Francisco 49ers win 12 games. Maye had 4,394 yards passing, 31 TDs and eight picks to lead the New England Patriots to an AFC East title and an appearance in the AFC championship game on Sunday. Maye led the NFL in passer rating (113.5) and completion percentage (72).Stafford led the NFL with 4,707 yards passing and 46 TDs. He threw eight picks and finished second to Maye with a 109.2 passer rating. Stafford was first-team All-Pro for the first time in his 17-year career.Last year, Lamar Jackson was the first-team All-Pro QB but was edged out by Allen for MVP. Coach of the YearLiam Coen led the Jaguars to a 13-4 record and a division title in his first season, a nine-win turnaround for the franchise.Ben Johnson guided the Chicago Bears to an 11-5 record and their first NFC North championship in seven seasons.Mike Macdonald led the Seattle Seahawks to a 14-3 record and the NFCs No. 1 seed. The Seahawks host the Rams in the NFC championship game on Sunday.Kyle Shanahan guided the 49ers to 12 wins despite a slew of injuries to key players, including losing defensive stars Nick Bosa and Fred Warner for the season.Mike Vrabel, the 2021 AP NFL Coach of the Year, took the Patriots from worst to first, a 10-win turnaround in his first season with the team.Assistant Coach of the YearEagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels are the finalists. Comeback Player of the YearLawrence, McCaffrey, Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs, Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson and Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott are the finalists.Defensive Player of the YearAll-Pro edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. had 12 sacks for the Houston Texans and was a major part of the NFLs No. 1 ranked defense.Broncos edge rusher Nik Bonitto had 14 sacks for the leagues second-ranked defense.Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett, a unanimous choice for All-Pro, set a single-season record with 23 sacks and had 33 tackles for loss. He was the 2023 AP Defensive Player of the Year.Lions edge rusher Hutchinson had 14 1/2 sacks.All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons had 12 1/2 sacks in 13 1/2 games before tearing his ACL in his first season in Green Bay.Offensive Player of the YearPuka Nacua, Bijan Robinson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba join Maye and McCaffrey as finalists.Nacua and Smith-Njigba were unanimous selections for All-Pro.Nacua led the NFL with 129 catches for 1,715 yards and 10 TDs for the Rams. Smith-Njigba caught 119 passes and led the league with 1,793 yards receiving and had 10 TDs.Robinson, who was All-Pro running back, led the NFL with 2,298 yards from scrimmage. He ran for 1,478 yards and seven TDs and caught 79 passes for 820 yards and four scores. Defensive Rookie of the YearGiants edge rusher Abdul Carter, Seahawks defensive back Nick Emmanwori, Falcons edge rusher James Pearce Jr., Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger and Falcons safety Xavier Watts are the finalists.Offensive Rookie of the YearGiants quarterback Jaxson Dart, Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson, Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan and Saints quarterback Tyler Shough are the finalists.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl ROB MAADDI Maaddi is senior NFL writer for The Associated Press. Hes covered the league for 24 years, including the first two decades as the Eagles beat writer. mailto

From heart troubles to an eligibility battle, here's how the Gonzaga forward kept his playing career alive.

From underrated to perhaps the best hoops player in the country, Mikayla Blakes is just getting started.

Christian McCaffrey is the first player to be a finalist for three AP NFL awards in the same year, joining Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence, Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford in the running for The Associated Press 2025 NFL Most Valuable Player award.

The RedHawks crack the top 25 and the Cornhuskers climb as two of the last three unbeaten teams standing.

Wetzel: The NCAA needs Congress to give it a skinny exemption to at least set some eligibility standards.

One Battle After Another was close behind with 13 nods. Acting nominees include Michael B. Jordan, Kate Hudson, Timothe Chalamet and Teyana Taylor.

A standoff between demonstrators and congregants at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn. on Sunday added to tensions around federal immigration enforcement in the state.

As categories evolved over time, the way to make academy history did, too. But for decades, no film topped 14 nods, until Sinners smashed the record.

Heres how.READ MORE...

Save yourself the time and effort. READ MORE...

FILE -A cashier rings up groceries in Dallas, Aug. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)2026-01-22T15:15:00Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Federal Reserves preferred inflation gauge ticked up in November in the latest sign that prices remain stubbornly elevated, while consumers spent at a healthy pace. Consumer prices rose 2.8% in November from a year earlier, the Commerce Department said Thursday, up from a 2.7% annual pace in October. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices also increased 2.8% in November from a year ago, slightly higher than Octobers 2.7%.Consumer spending climbed 0.5% in November from the previous month, the report also showed, a solid increase that hits at an economy growing at a healthy pace in the final three months of last year. The figures point to a mostly strong economy with inflation still elevated, but down sharply from a four-decade peak in June 2022. Hiring has slowed to a crawl, however, leaving job-seekers frustrated even as the unemployment rate stays low. Thursdays figures suggest that the Federal Reserve will be less likely to reduce its key interest rate when it meets next week, a tact typically used if it is worried about a stumbling economy. Todays data should reassure the Fed that the economy remains on a solid footing, despite a cooler labor market, said James McCann, an economist at Edward Jones. Indeed, there looks to be little urgency to cut rates at next weeks meeting, and the central bank could stay on hold for longer should growth remain robust into 2026 and inflation continue to run at above target rates. On a monthly basis prices, were milder: Both overall inflation and core inflation moved up just 0.2% in November from October. At that pace, over time inflation would move closer to the Federal Reserves target of 2%. Thursdays data was delayed by the six-week government shutdown last fall.The solid figures on consumer spending follow a separate report Thursday which showed that the economy expanded at a healthy 4.4% annual rate in the July-September quarter, the fastest growth in two years. Thursdays data points to continued solid growth in the final quarter of 2025. CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Rugaber has covered the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy for the AP for 16 years. He is a two-time finalist for the Gerald Loeb award for business reporting. twitter mailto

Nekima Levy Armstrong holds up her fist after speaking at an anti-ICE rally for Martin Luther King Jr., Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)2026-01-22T14:41:30Z MINNEAPOLIS (AP) A woman who led an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church has been arrested, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday. Bondi announced the arrest of Nekima Levy Armstrong in a post on X days after protesters during Sunday service entered the Cities Church in St. Paul, where a local official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement serves as a pastor. The Justice Department quickly opened a civil rights investigation after the group interrupted services by chanting ICE out and Justice for Renee Good, referring to the 37-year-old mother of three who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis earlier this month. Bondi Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP, the attorney general wrote on X. Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney and prominent local activist, had called for the pastor affiliated with ICE to resign, saying his dual role poses a fundamental moral conflict. You cannot lead a congregation while directing an agency whose actions have cost lives and inflicted fear in our communities, she said Tuesday. When officials protect armed agents, repeatedly refuse meaningful investigation into killings like Rene Goods, and signal they may pursue peaceful protesters and journalists, that is not justice it is intimidation. Prominent leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention have come to the churchs defense, arguing that compassion for migrant families affected by the crackdown cannot justify violating a sacred space during worship. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on A longtime activist in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, Levy Armstrong has helped lead local protests after the high-profile police-involved killings of Black Americans, including George Floyd, Philando Castile and Jamar Clark. She is a former president of the NAACPs Minneapolis branch. It was not immediately clear what charge or charges Levy Armstrong faces. Justice Department officials have said in recent days they were considering charging the protesters under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. The FACE Act prohibits physically obstructing or using the threat of force to intimidate or interfere with a person seeking reproductive health services or seeking to participate in a service at a house of worship. The Trump administration has criticized the Biden administration for using the FACE Act to prosecute people for blocking access to abortion clinics and reproductive health centers, calling the cases an example of the weaponization of law enforcement. The Justice Departments swift investigation into the church disruption stands in contrast to its decision not to open a civil rights investigation into Goods killing by an ICE officer. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said last week there is no basis at this time for a civil rights investigation into her death.Administration officials have said the officer acted in self-defense and that the driver of the Honda was engaging in an act of domestic terrorism when she pulled forward toward him. But the decision not to have the departments Civil Rights Division investigate marked a sharp departure from past administrations, which have moved quickly to probe shootings of civilians by law enforcement officials. The Justice Department has separately opened an investigation into whether Minnesota officials impeded or obstructed federal immigration enforcement though their public statements. Prosecutors this week sent subpoenas to the offices of Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties, according to a person familiar with the matter.___Durkin Richer reported from Washington. ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Richer covers the Justice Department and federal courts. She joined The AP in 2013 and is based in Washington. twitter GIOVANNA DELLORTO DellOrto is a multimedia reporter with The APs Global Religion team. She has reported across the United States, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, covering events and issues ranging from the conclave to the Israel-Hamas war to the Olympics, from immigration to the intersection of Indigenous spirituality and the environment. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Nature, Published online: 22 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00153-3Two researchers describe how body size and having a disability can challenge perceptions of what a scientist should look like.

Eric Karabell forecasts what to expect from notable players such as Cooper Flagg, Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga and more.

Ariana Grande, Chase Infiniti and Paul Mescal were shut out, but voters made room for Delroy Lindo, Kate Hudson and F1.

The former special prosecutor is getting what is likely his best opportunity to challenge President Trumps assertion that he was persecuted for his politics.

The Federal Reserves preferred gauge for inflation in October and November was released belatedly after the government shutdown.

The presidents quick reversal on tariffs over Greenland was another sign of his willingness to rip up the international order even parts of it that he himself has made.

How do you preserve the free world when America goes rogue?

I wish Id found it years ago.READ MORE...

Vice President JD Vance speaks at an industrial shipping facility on the administration's economic agenda and impacts on the Midwest in Toledo, Ohio, on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (Jim Watson/Pool Photo via AP)2026-01-22T16:44:49Z TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) Vice President JD Vance, speaking in his home state of Ohio before visiting Minnesota on Thursday, blamed the far left for turmoil surrounding the White Houses deportation campaign. If you want to turn down the chaos in Minneapolis, stop fighting immigration enforcement and accept that we have to have a border in this country, Vance said in Toledo. Its not that hard.Vance plans to meet with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis, which has been a focal point for protests since an agent fatally shot Renee Good, a mother of three, during a confrontation this month. The Republican vice president has played a leading role in defending that agent and said Goods death was a tragedy of her own making.He also praised the arrest of protesters who disrupted a church service in Minnesota on Sunday and said he expects more prosecutions to come. The protesters entered the church chanting ICE out and Justice for Renee Good. Theyre scaring little kids who are there to worship God on a Sunday morning, Vance said. Those people are going to be sent to prison so long as we have the power to do so. He added: Just as you have the right to protest, they have a right to worship God as they choose. And when you interrupt that, that is a violation of the law. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Vances appearance was primarily focused on bolstering the Trump administrations positive economic message on the heels of Trumps appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The vice president also took the opportunity to boost some of Republicans important statewide candidates in this falls midterm elections, including gubernatorial contender Vivek Ramaswamy and U.S. Sen. Jon Husted. Convincing voters that the nation is in rosy financial shape has been a persistent challenge for Trump during the first year of his second term. Polling has shown that the public is unconvinced that the economy is in good condition and majorities disapprove of how Trumps handling of foreign policy.Vance urged voters to be patient on the economy, saying Trump had inherited a bad situation from Democratic President Joe Biden.You dont turn the Titanic around overnight, Vance said. It takes time to fix what is broken.___Carr Smyth reported from Columbus. MICHELLE L. PRICE Price covers the White House. She previously covered the 2024 presidential campaign and politics, government and other news in New York, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. She is based in Washington. twitter mailto JULIE CARR SMYTH Smyth covers government and politics from Columbus, Ohio, for The Associated Press. She was part of the AP team honored as a finalist for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith takes an oath before the House Judiciary Committee at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)2026-01-22T11:25:44Z Follow live updates on President Donald Trump and his administration WASHINGTON (AP) Republican lawmakers are grilling former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith at a congressional hearing thats expected to focus fresh attention on two criminal investigations that shadowed Donald Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign.Smith testified behind closed doors last month but returned to the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday for a public hearing likely to divide along starkly partisan lines between Republican lawmakers looking to undermine the former Justice Department official and Democrats hoping to elicit new and damaging testimony about Trumps conduct.It was always about politics, said Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.Maybe for them, retorted Rep. Jamie Raskin, the panels top Democrat, during his on opening statement. But for us, its all about the rule of law. Smith will tell lawmakers that he stands behind his decision as special counsel to bring charges against Trump in separate cases accusing the Republican of conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden and hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity, Smith said. If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat. No one should be above the law in our country, and the law required that he be held to account. So that is what I did, he said.The hearing is unfolding against the backdrop of an ongoing Trump administration retribution campaign targeting the investigators who scrutinized the Republican president. The Justice Department has fired lawyers and other employees who worked with Smith, and an independent watchdog agency responsible for enforcing a law against partisan political activity by federal employees said last summer that it had opened an investigation into him. In my opinion, these people are the best of public servants, our country owes them a debt of gratitude, and we are all less safe because many of these experienced and dedicated law enforcement professionals have been fired, Smith said of the terminated members of his team. Smith was appointed in 2022 by Bidens Justice Department to oversee investigations into Trump. Both investigations produced indictments against Trump, but the cases were abandoned by Smith and his team after Trump won back the White House because of longstanding Justice Department legal opinions that say sitting presidents cannot be indicted.Smith was summoned to the hearing by Jordan, who on Thursday advanced a talking point frequently advanced by Trump that the investigation was driven by a desire to derail Trumps candidacy.We the people saw through it all, Jordan said.Smith vigorously rejected those suggestions and said the evidence placed Trumps actions squarely at the heart of a criminal conspiracy to undo the election he lost to Biden as well as the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by a mob of his supporters at the U.S. Capitol. During my tenure as Special Counsel, we followed Justice Department policies, observed legal requirements and took actions based on the fact and the law., he said.The evidence here made clear that President Trump was by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy, Smith said. These crimes were committed for his benefit. The attack that happened at the Capitol, part of this case, does not happen without him. The other co-conspirators were doing this for his benefit.Smith is also expected to face questions about his teams analysis of phone records belonging to more than half a dozen Republican members of Congress who were in touch with the president on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021. The records contained data about the participants on the calls and how long they lasted but not their contents. It is unlikely that Smith will share new information Thursday about his classified documents investigation. A report his team prepared on its findings remains sealed by order of a Trump-appointed judge in Florida, Aileen Cannon, and Trumps lawyers this week asked the court to permanently block its release.___Follow the APs coverage for former special counsel Jack Smith at https://apnews.com/hub/jack-smith. ERIC TUCKER Tucker covers national security in Washington for The Associated Press, with a focus on the FBI and Justice Department. twitter mailto ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Richer covers the Justice Department and federal courts. She joined The AP in 2013 and is based in Washington. twitter

In this long exposure photo, a string of SpaceX StarLink satellites passes over an old stone house near Florence, Kan., on May 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann, File)2026-01-22T16:01:55Z CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) As more and more space junk comes crashing down, a new study shows how earthquake monitors can better track incoming objects by tuning into their sonic booms.Scientists reported Thursday that seismic readings from sonic booms that were generated when a discarded module from a Chinese crew capsule reentered over Southern California in 2024 allowed them to place the objects path nearly 20 miles (30 kilometers) farther south than radar had predicted from orbit.Using this method to track uncontrolled objects plummeting at supersonic speeds, they said, could help recovery teams reach any surviving pieces more quickly crucial if the debris is dangerous.The problem at the moment is we can track stuff very well in space, said Johns Hopkins Universitys Benjamin Fernando, the lead researcher. But once it gets to the point that its actually breaking up in the atmosphere, it becomes very difficult to track. His teams findings, published in the journal Science, focus on just one debris event. But the researchers already have used publicly available data from seismic networks to track a few dozen other reentries, including debris from three failed SpaceX Starship test flights in Texas. A growing concern among scientists and others is that falling space debris could strike a plane in flight.There are thousands, tens of thousands, more satellites in orbit than there were 10 years ago, including SpaceXs Starlinks and other companies internet satellites, said Fernando. Unfortunately, we dont really have anything other than the word of the company to say that when they break up, they completely burn up in the atmosphere. Fernando, who normally studies quakes on the moon and Mars, teamed up with Imperial College Londons Constantinos Charalambous the day after the Chinese debris streaked across the California sky in 2024. Over time, they gathered data from more than 120 seismometers that captured the sonic booms from the reentry, using that data to plot the objects suspected path. Chinas out-of-control module had been abandoned in a decaying orbit ever since it was cut loose from the Shenzhou-15 capsule returning three Chinese astronauts from their countrys space station in 2023. The 1.5-ton (1.36-metric tonne) module more than 3 feet (1 meter) in size broke into countless smaller pieces as it plummeted through the atmosphere, resulting in multiple sonic booms. Besides attempting to trace the objects fall, the seismic readings provided a sense of the cascading breakup, Fernando said.Fernando acknowledged its impossible to know how close his teams predictions are to the actual path since no debris was reported on the ground. The goal is to ascertain, within minutes or even seconds, the speed and direction of the incoming space junk as well as its fragmentation. In remote areas like the South Pacific, nuclear blast monitoring stations could potentially track the sonic booms to fine-tune the paths of descent. Thats where NASA plans to ditch the International Space Station in five years. SpaceX is working on the deorbiting vehicle to ensure a controlled entry. Fernando is looking to eventually publish a catalog of seismically tracked, entering space objects, while improving future calculations by factoring in the winds effect on falling debris.In a companion article in Science, Los Alamos National Laboratorys Chris Carr, who was not involved in the study, said further research is needed to reduce the time between an objects final plunge and the determination of its course.For now, Carr said this new method unlocks the rapid identification of debris fall-out zones, which is key information as Earths orbit is anticipated to become increasingly crowded with satellites, leading to a greater influx of space debris.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Trader Edward Curran works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)2026-01-22T04:37:09Z NEW YORK (AP) The U.S. stock market is ticking higher Thursday and regaining more of its losses for the week following the latest walkback by President Donald Trump from tariffs he had earlier threatened.The S&P 500 rose 0.4% and added to its big gain from Wednesday, when Trump said he had reached the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and called off 10% tariffs on European countries that he said opposed his having the Arctic island. The index has recovered most of its losses taken after Trump shook financial markets with his initial tariff threat. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 260 points, or 0.5%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher. Its the latest example of Trump making a big, initial threat, only to pull back after seeing how much pain it caused in financial markets. The pattern has led to the TACO acronym, suggesting that Trump Always Chickens Out if markets react strongly enough. Tuesdays drop for the U.S. stock market was the worst since October and large enough that Trump, who often takes credit when Wall Street is doing well, acknowledged the dip. But the pattern has also led to deals for Trump that outsiders may have initially considered unlikely if not for his extreme initial threat. Details are still sparse about the framework of a deal on Greenland that Trump said he reached with the head of NATO. And it is not a signed deal yet. Financial markets nevertheless showed some signs of steadiness, though nerves were still apparent. Golds price seemed to pause its ascent into records as investors may have felt less urgency to own something seen as safe. The value of the U.S. dollar rose against some foreign currencies, though it fell against the euro, after sliding sharply earlier in the week when global investors bailed out of several U.S. markets. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market following some encouraging reports on the U.S. economys strength. One said that fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected in a potential signal that the pace of layoffs remains low. A second suggested the U.S. economy grew at a faster rate during the summer than the government initially estimated.A third said that inflation in November was close to economists expectations, while spending by U.S. consumers was a touch better than expected. They helped the yield on the 10-year Treasury remain at 4.26%, where it was late Wednesday.On Wall Street, Northern Trust climbed 5.8% after reporting a stronger profit for the end of 2025 than analysts expected. CEO Michael OGrady also said that the financial services company is entering 2026 with strong momentum across all our businesses.Procter & Gamble added 2.1% after delivering a better profit than analysts expected. Revenue for the company behind the Downy, Pantene and Tide brands, though, fell just shy of expectations amid what CEO Shailesh Jejurikar called a challenging consumer and geopolitical environment. Another winner was Generac, which makes power generators. It rose 4.1% as forecasters warn a potentially catastrophic ice storm may hit a large swath of the United States.They helped offset a 6.3% drop for spice seller McCormick & Co., whose profit fell short of expectations. CEO Brendan Foley said it continues to face rising costs because of a shifting global trade environment.Shares of BitGo, a company that helps everyone from crypto businesses to traditional financial firms hold and manage digital assets, are set to begin trading later in the day on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time. The company priced its stock at $18 per share in its initial public offering, above its earlier estimated range of $15 to $17. In stock markets abroad, indexes climbed across Europe and Asia amid relief on Trumps walkback of tariffs. Japans Nikkei 225 jumped 1.7%, and Frances CAC 40 climbed 1.1% for two of the worlds bigger gains. Global markets also got support from a continuing easing of long-term yields in Japans bond market. They had spiked early in the week on worries that Japans popular prime minister could make moves that would add heavily to the governments already big debt. But the 40-year Japanese government bond yield has eased since hitting a record and dropped back below 4% on Thursday after hitting 4.22% on Tuesday.___AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed.

In posts on ManyVids, the porn platforms official account holds imaginary conversations with aliens, alongside AI-generated videos of UFOs, fractal images, angel numbers, and a video of its founder and CEO Bella French in a space suit shooting lasers from her eyes.French launched the site in 2014 as a former cam model herself, and the platform has millions of members and tens of thousands of creators. Adult content creators use it to sell custom videos and subscriptions, and perform live on camera. French recently changed her personal website to state her new goal is to transition one million people out of the adult industry and do everything we can to ensure no one new enters it. The statement follows posts on Xs ManyVids account about new strategies to pivot the site toward safe-for-work, non-sexual content.This sudden shift away from years of messaging about being a compatriot with sex workers, combined with bizarre AI-generated text and images about talking to aliens and numerology on social media, has made some creators worry for their livelihoods, and caused others to leave the site completely.For years, the official ManyVids social media accounts made mostly normal posts that promoted the site and its creators. But in mid-2025, the posts from the ManyVids X account changed. Instead of promotions of top creators, announcements of contests, and tips for using the platform, the account shifted its focus to existential and metaphysical musings. Around August, it started posting cryptic quotes, phrases, and images, many seemingly generated by or about AI.The account also started replying to engagement-farming posts from influencers, writing things like Our purpose: to protect the feminine energy so that balance may return, and posting borderline-nonsensical bullet-point lists about the boldness scale and how ManyVids leadership is all connected.The impact strength of a positive leader Effectiveness Execution Discipline Accountability, one post in August said. On August 20, @ManyVids posted an image on X of a flow chart alongside a screenshot of a ChatGPT conversation, seemingly illustrating how the platform would bring in users through a safe-for-work zone, then allow them to access NSFW content after verifying their identifications. Our vision: Adult Industry 2.0 isnt about more revenue. Its about evolution, the post said.The replies to these posts show ManyVids creators expressing anger, concern, and bafflement. The account stopped posting on X in September. But on the ManyVids platform itself, which has a news feed that functions similarly to a microblogging platform but is just for official platform posts, the odd entries continue.Do you know anything else about what's happening at ManyVids, or do you have a tip about porn platforms and online sex work generally? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at sam.404. Otherwise, send me an email at sam@404media.co.Social API for the AI Age. Phase 1 Pride Engine, one post from January 16 says:The High Universal Income (HUI) Engine is the distribution hub of the new economy, built for a world where AI does the work humans never wanted to do. AI generates surplus wealth, but humans need surplus purpose. Human meaning becomes the rarest and most valuable resource on Earth. Instead of opaque taxes, AI companies fund a Social License through platforms like ManyVids, converting AI efficiency into merit-based bonuses for human contribution. For every dollar earned through passion, creation, care, or learning, HUI adds 10%. This is not charity. It is a Pride Engine. We shift the foundation of human value.The post ends with a six-second AI generated video that includes the phrase the ultimate guide to rebuilding civilization. Most posts in recent weeks are like this: clearly AI generated text alongside six-second AI generated clips showing angels, chakras, or spiritual phrases. The Simulation of Integrity. If we dont fully understand the ultimate nature of reality, what should guide how we live inside it? one recent post says. If the nature of the game is unknown, then how you treat others and yourself becomes the most meaningful data point.And in a post right after the new year: Hey everyone! Back-to-the-office Monday vibe. How were your holidays? Did you travel anywhere? I did... Next time, Ill bring sunglasses. I came back with a few new ideas and fresh thoughts Lets get to work. Lets go, 2026! Below the text: a video of French in a space suit, black hole in the background, shooting laser-lightning out of her eyes. 0:00 /0:11 1 Screengrab via ManyVids A lot of people who rely on ManyVids for income have noticed this odd behavior and are disturbed by it.Ethical dilemmas about AI aside, the posts are completely disconnected with ManyVids as a site, one ManyVids content creator told 404 Media, on the condition of anonymity. Their customers and their creators are not served in any way by these. When faced with backlash, MV removed the ability to comment on posts. To anyone looking at them they appear to be ramblings and images generated by a person in active psychosis. 0:00 /0:06 1 Screengrab via ManyVids Almost every ManyVids creator 404 Media spoke to for this story brought up AI psychosis unprompted, when asked if theyd seen the ManyVids posts.I have seen them and I find them really insulting, Sydney Screams said. The way I perceive the posts is that Bella and the MV team doesn't respect their creators enough to spend time making their own content, instead taking the easy way out and using bizarre AI that doesn't even relate. Why do we need Bella shooting laser beams out of her eyes to make an announcement? It's infuriating because it's like she doesn't take us seriously, doesn't take her own platform seriously, and we're supposed to just be grateful for the crumbs she's giving us. We deserve better, she said. We deserve to be treated with respect, talked to like we're adults, and listened to like our voices matter. Instead we get AI slop and posts that promise big things without any sort of follow through.Harlan Paramore, a ManyVids creator who also helps other creators onboard and manage their selling sites, said hes noticed bizarre posts about AI, angel numbers, christopaganism, cyberpaganism.I don't have anything against any of those beliefs, but they seem wildly out of place for an official site blog. They are also heavily loaded with AI-like language and structure, and decorated with AI images, Paramore said. I'm also a professional artist, and as both an artist and sex worker I'm frustrated and confused. Some of it kind of sounds like AI psychosis, too, which has me concerned for whoever is running that blog.I'm not a mental health professional, but whatever Bella is going through doesn't seem normal. It doesn't seem healthy, Screams said. From where I'm sitting, if I were close to Bella, I'd be reaching out to her other friends and family members to stage an intervention and try to get her serious mental health care.All of this is coinciding with an apparent massive change in Frenchs ideology toward sex work. On her personal website, French says the goal of ManyVids is changing to transition one million people out of the adult industry. She calls sex work exploitative. Her bio quotes her as saying: I had two choices: surrender to an exploitative industry or dismantle it. I chose to build its replacement... ManyVids was the resultthe most efficient revenue-distribution engine for the AI-displaced workforce. Guided by first principles and core value thinking, Bella is leading MVs next evolution: a Fintech/Social-Impact hybrid that turns digital presence into economic creation. By utilizing AI-integrated workflows and layered access, ManyVids is migrating creators from adult content into a diversified creative economy, her bio says. Our goal is to transition one million people out of the adult industry and do everything we can to ensure no one new enters it. We are working to transform an industry we dont believe should existbut we recognize that simple elimination creates deeper shadows. The solution is elevation through meaningful alternatives.This is a recent addition to her website. According to archived versions of the site, the section about transitioning people out of the sex industry wasnt there in November 2025.ManyVids is now becoming a regulated e-social ecosystem a digital space that sensitizes, elevates, and restricts adult content through layered brackets of access, Frenchs bio says now. This ensures that sacred sexual expression is never free, never exploited, and never divorced from its core human depth. The layered brackets seem to be a reference to the ChatGPT screenshots from August 20.This is an extreme departure in tone from what French has said was her mission with ManyVids in the past. In 2019, I met French for an on-background hotel room meeting during the porn industrys biggest award show and conference, AVN, where she told me she created ManyVids out of a passion to create a platform where other sex workershaving been an adult content creator herselfwould be treated fairly and would be listened to by the platforms owners. French is a former cam model herself, and has always been open publicly about wanting to create better platforms for other sex workers.Their customers and their creators are not served in any way by these." We try to offer sex workers the tools to be more successful as independent entrepreneurs without being judged, French told the Daily Beast in 2019. What was really important for me was to educate the world and make them realize that porn stars are not stupid.Shortly after she and I met in 2019, French agreed to a written interview as part of a VICE story about authenticity in cam work. In that email, she called camming the biggest gift shed ever received. Being a camgirl not only has a huge influence on my approach to taking business decisions but has changed the way I view people and life in general, French wrote at the time. Every single decision we take at ManyVids must answer 1 simple question, Will this help the content creators, our MV Stars? Thats it, French wrote in 2019. If the answer is yes then we proceed, regardless if there is any financial advantage or potential for profit, that is irrelevant.Platforms have long profited off of sex workers and pornography to establish popularity and rake in revenue before eventually doing a heel-turn on the creators who made them successful. Weve seen it happen with mainstream social media platforms like Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter, and also on sites ostensibly made for sex workers, like OnlyFans, which nearly changed its policies to ban explicit material after making billions of dollars off their content. I asked ManyVids and French if the platform is changing to reflect these social media posts and her statements on her bio, who is making the AI-generated posts mentioned above, how French plans to transition one million people out of sex work, and if any of this will affect creators and fans who use ManyVids. The ManyVids support team did not answer these questions specifically, but sent the following response (emphasis theirs): "Hello,thanks for reaching out. Respect for Online Sex Workers. Sex work is real work. No more living in the shadows, no more being misunderstood.No more being afraid, shadowbanned, or persecuted by systems and institutions. Not on our watch.We are not victims and we are taking action now.This generation of online sex workers is about tochange the game foreverand transform the oldest profession in the world in the right direction,for good. Respect the creators. Respect the work. Respect what you watch. We stand forsafety, dignity, and opportunity for all creators."Screenshot of the emailed response from ManyVids supportI asked ManyVids to explain in specific terms what "we are taking action now" means. They replied: "A post will be published to our ManyVids News feed this Saturday, January 24th. It will provide additional clarification and go into a bit more detail on this," with a link to the feed.It concerns me that access to my earnings, and more importantly my personal information, is in the hands of someone seemingly out of touch with reality.In the meantime, creators have been confused and worried for weeks. Nothing has changed about the way the site operates publicly or creators payouts as of writing, but this is a series of events that many adult content creators are concerned represents a potential threat to their livelihood.If something were to happen to MV (or to my account there) due to what can only be described as AI psychosis, I would lose upwards of 14k per yeara not insignificant amount of income, another adult creator on ManyVids told 404 Media. It concerns me that access to my earnings, and more importantly my personal information, is in the hands of someone seemingly out of touch with reality.ManyVids takes a larger-than-most cut from creators' profits, depending on the type of content: For videos and contest earnings (which are similar to tips), the platform takes 40 percent. On tips and custom video sales, it takes 20 percent, which is more in line with other adult platforms. This has been a source of complaint from creators for a long time, combined with unpredictable algorithms that creators say change how theyre discovered on the platform and what content performs best, impacting their earnings. Users have expressed dissatisfaction with these aspects of the platform, and how French runs it, for years. But the recent turn to AI and Frenchs statements about the industry are making some wonder if its time to leave.I will still be using ManyVids for NSFW content for as long as they allow it, adult content creator August told 404 Media. But part of me thinks that they will try to do what OnlyFans did years ago and try to ban NSFW content which would be an absolute disaster for sex workers whose income depends on platforms like ManyVids.Luna Sapphire, a creator who has been using the platform since 2015, said she finds Frenchs statements on her website harmful and insulting to those whove helped popularize the site from the start. Most of us are not looking for a path out of the adult industry; we simply want to do our jobs with as little interference and censorship as possible, Sapphire said. Bella used to be very pro-sex worker and it is disappointing to see her change her tune.Several adult platforms have embraced, or at least allowed, AI-generated content and models on their sites alongside human creators in the last few years. On OnlyFans, AI-generated is allowed, but must comply with the sites terms of service and and must be clearly and conspicuously captioned as AI Generated Content with a signifier such as #ai, or #AIGenerated, Onlyfans says in its terms. Fansly, another adult platform for independent creators, forbids photorealistic AI-generated content but allows non-photorealistic virtual entities (like V-tubers) if theyre registered using the uploaders real legal information for verification purposes. JustForFans requires that consent, identity, and proof of age must be established if the AI images are based on a real person's likeness, and allows deepfakes if consent has been established. For example, you can use your own face to create images of yourself or a model who has granted consent to use their face, the platforms terms say. IWantClips, another site for selling custom content, also requires users making AI-generated models to verify their identities, but explicitly doesnt allow deepfakes.In 2024, IWantClips awarded an AI-generated model $1,000 as the winner of a Valentines Day-themed contest. Adora competed in the contest alongside human sex workers. On most of these sites, engagement and attention are currency, and on ManyVids, AI generated models sell content alongside humans. The platform prohibits AI-generated or deepfake content that misrepresents real individuals without consent, as part of its terms that forbid content that violates any third party's intellectual property rights or another individual's privacy.The AI/intense spirituality path has been so strange to witness, and I cant imagine what its leaving the fans to think, Elizabeth Fields, an adult content creator whos used ManyVids for six years, told 404 Media. I dont understand what they are trying to do by taking this direction, nor do I understand how its fair of a sexwork built site to assume all of us dont want to do NSFW contentand to try and funnel us into this box of not enjoying the work we do. To an extent it feels degrading honestlyjust because Bellas experience in sex work was survival based and to make ends meeta lot of us thoroughly enjoy our jobs, the path we took, and want to continue doing this.Many sex workers are disabled, neurodivergent, mentally ill, chronically ill, or all of the above, Fields noted, and rely on online sex work to pay the bills. It feels absolutely unfair to feel like we could be pushed off of a site that became popular off OUR NSFW contentbecause they want to make it more SFW, and implement all these new AI features that will quite frankly just turn clients off.Despite all of this, Fields said she wont be leaving the site. To the point that as much as I'm extremely disappointed with many of the recent changes occurring, I wont be deleting my account as to not lose that income and disappoint my ManyVids fans.Others are done. Sydney Screams said shes no longer uploading to ManyVids and made the decision to slowly start removing content from her stores there. Platforms that allow for online sex work should be working FOR us, not against us. Sex workers use platforms like MV to earn our own living, to enable ourselves to have better lives, to keep ourselves housed and fed, to pay for medical bills, etc. Many of us choose this life and choose to make this our career, though there are far too many who are survival sex workers, Screams said. We aren't looking for a pathway out of the adult industry, especially on a platform that is a porn platform!!! Unless MV is going to start funding the educations & trainings of those trying to leave the industry for work elsewhere, I do not see how a porn platform is going to create a path out of the industry.Emanuel Maiberg contributed reporting to this story.

Nature, Published online: 22 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-04064-7After turning off ChatGPTs data consent option, Marcel Bucher lost the work behind grant applications, teaching materials and publication drafts. Heres what happened next.

Nature, Published online: 22 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00219-2Metabolites in mouse and human breath correlate to gut-microbe populations and might be helpful in diagnosing disease.

Arsenal are still top of the Champions League table, and likely to remain there, but the fight for a bye to the round of 16 is shaping up to be fierce.

The path of an approaching winter storm is not clear yet, but much of the country, including places unused to frigid weather, is bracing for the worst.

Megachurches, Pagans, TradCaths and the Amish.

Researchers found an antibody that seems to play a role in people with better lung cancer prognoses, but turning it into a treatment could be difficult.

After the latest bout of trade turmoil with the United States, European leaders are looking for ways to project strength to the Trump administration, which considers them weak.

They cant guarantee future health, but they can tell you the trajectory youre on.

This creative couple turned their first apartment into a warm and custom home, all without adding any square footage to the 710 square feet.READ MORE...

These colors are instant bliss.READ MORE...

It helps keep my sink empty!READ MORE...

Nature, Published online: 22 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00184-wMicroplastics are everywhere, but new research points to a need to standardize measurements of microparticles.

A photo showed the boy with an oversized hat and Spider-Man backpack being held next to a vehicle as his father was detained. A Homeland Security spokeswoman said the man had fled and left the child.

American and NATO officials have discussed giving the United States sovereignty over U.S. military bases in Greenland. The Danes dont seem to like that.

Negotiators have discussed proposals to check Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic and transfer sovereignty over pockets of Greenlandic land to the United States, an idea opposed by Denmark.

Welcome to the era of the Polymarket sharp.

The post Trump To Europe: Getting Greenland Was Mr. Dilberts Final Wish appeared first on The Onion.

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, speaks at the America Business Forum, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, file)2026-01-22T18:32:56Z NEW YORK (AP) President Donald Trump sued banking giant JPMorgan Chase and its CEO Jamie Dimon for $5 billion, accusing JPMorgan of debanking him and his businesses for political reasons after he left office in January 2021.The lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade County court in Florida, alleges that JPMorgan abruptly closed multiple accounts in February 2021 with just 60 days notice and no explanation. By doing so, Trump claims JPMorgan cut the president and his businesses off from millions of dollars, disrupted their operations and forced Trump and the businesses to urgently open bank accounts elsewhere. JPMC debanked (Trump and his businesses) because it believed that the political tide at the moment favored doing so, the lawsuit alleges.In a statement, JPMorgan said that it regrets that Trump sued them but insisted they did not close the accounts for political reasons. We believe the suit has no merit, a bank spokesperson said. JPMC does not close accounts for political or religious reasons. We do close accounts because they create legal or regulatory risk for the company.

Marine One, with President Donald Trump aboard, lifts off the South Lawn, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2006 at the White House in Washington. The new ballroom construction can be seen on the right. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)2026-01-22T18:25:21Z Some of Donald Trumps handpicked appointees who have a say in his White House ballroom project asked questions Thursday about its immense design and scale, even as they broadly endorsed the presidents vision for a massive expansion. The Commission on Fine Arts discussion, which also included a brief review of mostly negative public comments on Trumps plans, revealed no immediate threat to Trumps overall idea, which historic preservationists are separately asking a federal court to slow down. But it demonstrated the sensitivity and political controversy involved since the president approved the demolition of the East Wing after unveiling designs that would more than double the square footage the White House as it was before. This is an important thing to the president. Its an important thing to the nation, said the new Fine Arts chairman, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., in the panels first public hearing on Trumps proposal. You cant have the United States of America entertaining people in tents, Cook said, noting that administrations long before Trump complained about having to host State Dinners and major events in temporary structures. The question, the chairman added, is if we can do this in a way that this building remains true to its fundamental character and still take care of what the president wants us to do. 3D scale models requested by Fine Arts commissionersAfter lead architect Shalom Baranes presented renderings during Thursdays online meeting, commissioners asked him to return to a future, in-person session with 3D scale models of the White House complex with the proposed addition. Baranes said an in-person presentation, per commissioners request, also would include include scale models of the U.S. Treasury Department building to the east of the presidential mansion and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to the west. Baranes and commissioners alike came into meeting aware of concerns about the projects scale and whether it can be incorporated well enough into the White House, even as Trump remains undeterred. President Trump is working 24/7 to Make America Great Again, including his historic beautification of the White House, said West Wing spokesman Davis Ingle. The total addition would be almost 90,000 square feet, Baranes confirmed, with 22,000 of that the ballroom itself. The White House was about 55,000 square feet before the East Wing, first built in 1902 and expanded in the 1940s, was demolished.Thomas Luebke, the commissions executive director, told the group that public comments received online ahead of the meeting were almost all negative in some way, criticizing the process, the design or both. Luebke read one comment that he described as more positive because it complimented the design and style shown in renderings. Yet even that commenter, Luebke said, wrote that the scale appears oversized, making the main structure dominated. Nodding to the criticism, Baranes emphasized that current plans call for the additions north boundary to be set back from the existing North Portico essentially the front porch and for the top of the new structure to be even with the primary facade of the White House and its residence. The view of the White HouseBaranes, whose firm has worked on other federal buildings, said this is to ensure the view of the White House from Pennsylvania Avenue would not change fundamentally. A new east side colonnade connecting the main structure to the ballroom addition also would be two stories, rather than the single story that was demolished. This would add to the continuity of the new design, Baranes said. He added that architects have contemplated a similar second story atop the West Wing to address concerns about symmetry. But he said during questioning that is merely a concept. There has been no structural analysis of the existing West Wing, he said, to determine if it could support another level. Some commissioners said they appreciated Baranes effort to address scale and symmetry on the north side of the White House, which front Pennsylvania Avenue. But they noted that still doesnt address how much the design might change the view from the South Lawn. Renderings show a 10-column, multistory porch on the south side of the addition that looks more like the Treasury Department edifice than any part of the White House. Its immense, Cook said to Baranes. If the president just wants cover, do you think you might be able to tone down that element? The architect answered: We looked at ways of covering it at different scales with different numbers of columns, and theres a presidents desire to proceed with this one.The meeting Thursday was part of a series of meetings and public hearings with the Fine Arts panel and the National Capital Planning Commission, both of which have roles in assessing and approving federal construction projects in Washington. Whats next for the projectHistoric preservationists have argued in federal court that Trump defied federal laws and regulations by razing the East Wing and beginning site preparations before consulting those panels and seeking congressional approval, as well. The plaintiffs and the administration are scheduled to be in a court later Thursday. Trumps appointees now constitute a majority of the Fine Arts Commission. The new members elected Cook as chairman after the group was sworn in. One of Trumps appointees, James McCrery II, was involved in the initial ballroom plans and recused himself from the discussion and any future votes. Trump replaced McCrery with Baranes last year on the project, but McCrerys continued in a consulting role. BILL BARROW Barrow covers U.S. politics for The Associated Press. He is based in Atlanta. twitter mailto

Subscribe to 404 Media to get The Abstract, our newsletter about the most exciting and mind-boggling science news and studies of the week. When it comes to the evolution of the human penis, size matters.Scientists have discovered that men with larger penises are not only more attractive to women, they are also deemed more threatening to men, which is the first experimental evidence that males assess rivals fighting ability and attractiveness to females based partly on a rivals penis size, according to a study published in PLOS Biology on Thursday.In humans, height and body shape are well known to influence attractiveness, but penis size has rarely been tested alongside these traits in a controlled, experimental setup, said Upama Aich, a behavioral and evolutionary biologist at the University of Western Australia who led the study, in an email to 404 Media.What motivated us was the evolutionary puzzle that the human penis is unusually large relative to other primates, which raises the question of whether it signals information beyond its primary reproductive role of sperm transfer, she added.Sexual selection, a form of natural selection, is a process in which certain traits that enhance reproductive successfrom big antlers to colorful feathersbecome amplified in a lineage over time. Male traits may persist both because they are selected by females, which is known as intersexual selection, or because those traits are associated with better success against male rivals, which is called intrasexual selection.Previous research has presented evidence that bigger penises are more attractive to women, in tandem with characteristics like height and body shape, suggesting that intersexual selection may have played a role in the anomalously large human penis. Aich and her colleagues set out to confirm that result, while also testing out the role of intrasexual selection for the first time.The researchers recruited more than 600 male and 200 female participants to rate computer-generated male figures with different heights, body shapes, and penis sizes (all shown in a flaccid state). Some participants attended an in-person display of life-size images while others rated the figures on an online platform. Men were asked to assess the figures as potential rivals, while women were asked to rate them as potential mates.Participants also filled out a questionnaire about their physical characteristics (including height and weight) and sexuality. Given the focus on mates and rivals, the researchers only used responses from self-identified heterosexual males and females in the study.The team designed the approach with nondescript figures devoid of any personality or identifiable background in part to sidestep the immense cultural weight of the human penis, an anatomical feature endowed with major significance across eras and societies.We were very conscious that penis size is culturally loaded and surrounded by myths, humour, and anxiety, said Aich. Thats one reason we used anatomically accurate, computer-generated figures: it allowed us to manipulate specific traits independently while controlling for personal identity, social narratives and contextual cues.I do think this cultural baggage has discouraged careful scientific study in sensitive topics in the past, but from an evolutionary perspective, that makes it even more important to examine the question empirically rather than relying on assumptions, she added.To that end, the new study confirmed that women generally preferred figures with larger penises in addition to taller figures with more V-shaped bodies. It also revealed for the first time that men factored penis size into their assessment of male rivals, as they rated the figures with larger penises as more threatening rivals. Even more importantly, the men overwhelmingly guessed that the figures with larger penises would be more attractive to women.According to the researchers, this hints that in our evolutionary past, males may have avoided confrontations with rivals based in part on their penis size in addition to height and body shape. As a consequence, males with larger penises may have secured more access to mates not only due to female preference, but also because they were not challenged by rivals as often. This aspect of male-male competition may have helped to enlarge the human penis over time through selection.Previous research had often focused on the effect of penis size on female preferences, so our results that men also use penis size when assessing rivals adds a new dimension to the story, Aich said. It suggests penis size is interpreted not only in a sexual context, but also in competitive rival cues.However, the effect of penis size on attractiveness was four to seven times higher than its effect as a signal of fighting ability, she continued. This suggests that the enlarged penis in humans may have evolved more in response to its effect as a sexual ornament to attract females than as a badge of status for males, although it does both.Aich said her team was most surprised by the consistency of the participants responses across many manipulated variables. Similar patterns in the responses showed up regardless of whether the participants were viewing life-sized projections or scaled images online, whether they received payment for the experiment, and across both male and female participants.One obvious next step is to study how these visual cues interact with others that matter in real-world interactions, such as facial features, voice, or movement, she said. Another open question is how culturally variable these perceptions are, since standards of masculinity and attractiveness differ across societies. A cross-cultural study would be interesting.The new study adds to the evidence that both forms of sex selection influenced the size of the human penis, but many other factors also played a role in the development of the organ. For example, penis shape and size may have evolved to scoop the sperm of rival males out of the vaginal canal, or to raise the odds of female orgasm, both of which can contribute to reproductive success.In other words, both the size of the ship and the motion of the ocean are a part of the complex story of human sexual evolution.Subscribe to 404 Media to get The Abstract, our newsletter about the most exciting and mind-boggling science news and studies of the week.

Nature, Published online: 22 January 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00222-7A molecule produced by cancer cells can shield the brain from Alzheimers disease in mice.

Andreeva won the Australian Open lead-up in Adelaide -- and could be the most likely player to upset Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff or Iga Swiatek.