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Monday, 5:01 AM

February 16, 2026

Good morning news friend! Discover today’s defining stories and the future they set in motion. 📰🌟

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Nancy Guthrie Update

Authorities intensified the search for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, missing since January 31, from Tucson, Arizona. The FBI leads hundreds of agents using helicopters and sniffer dogs.

Investigators found 16 gloves near her home; one found two miles away carries DNA matching a masked suspect caught on video at her porch. The suspect is about 5'9"-5'10", average build, wearing gloves, a ski mask, and carrying a 25-liter Ozark Trail pack.

Blood matching Guthrie’s DNA was found at the scene alongside unknown DNA. No arrests made. Guthrie’s family offered ransom and appealed for her return.

The FBI increased the reward to $100,000. Guthrie’s health is at risk without medication.

Sources: AP News, Reuters, Ms, BBC

Inflation Cools

U.S. consumer prices rose 2.4% year-over-year in January, below the 2.5% forecast and down from 2.7% in December, the lowest since May 2025.

Core inflation remained steady at 2.5%. Housing costs rose 0.2% monthly, food prices edged up 0.2%, energy fell 1.5%, and airline fares jumped 6.5%. Used car prices dropped 1.8%.

Tariffs imposed by President Trump since April 2025 raised prices for furniture and appliances but had limited overall inflation impact. The slowdown supports expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut as soon as June.

Service costs increased, notably in hospital care and travel. Mixed signals from inflation and labor market strength complicate monetary policy outlook.

Sources: Reuters, CNBC, Xtb, Fxstreet, WallStreetJournal

America’s Nuclear Energy Renaissance

The U.S. Air Force transported Ward250, a 100 kWt micro nuclear reactor by Valar Atomics, from California to Utah for testing.

Ward250 uses TRISO fuel, helium cooling, and graphite moderation, aiming to operate by July 4, 2026. Funded by the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program, this supports President Trump's 2025 executive orders targeting 300 GW of nuclear capacity by 2050.

The military plans to deploy such reactors to power bases globally, reducing fuel dependence.

Valar Atomics raised $19 million in 2025 to address rising energy demands, including for AI data centers. Officials called the mission critical for energy and military resilience.

Sources: Desertsun, Twz, WallStreetJournal

OpenClaw’s Creator Joins OpenAI

Peter Steinberger, creator of the open-source AI agent OpenClaw, is joining OpenAI to lead personal AI agent development. OpenClaw recently gained 180,000 GitHub stars, automating tasks like email and calendar management.

Steinberger declined billion-dollar acquisition offers from Meta and OpenAI, insisting OpenClaw stay open source; OpenAI will maintain this within a supported foundation. OpenAI aims to advance agentic AI technology to compete with Google and Anthropic.

OpenClaw works across AI models and platforms, including Chinese apps. Steinberger faced major hacking attacks tied to scammers.

OpenAI commits ongoing support and resources, viewing collaboration as the fastest way to expand autonomous AI assistants that could replace much existing software.

Sources: CNBC, Decrypt, TechCrunch, Siliconangle

Cancer’s Shape-Shifting Secret

Researchers discovered that pancreatic and lung carcinomas can shift identity by transforming into other cell types, complicating treatment.

The Vakoc lab identified a protein controlling pancreatic cancer cell fate between original and skin-like identities. In lung cancer, the crystal structure of proteins in tuft cell lung cancer was resolved.

These “master regulators” govern cell identity, presenting new therapeutic targets. Mouse models showed these targets cause no major organ damage, suggesting safer treatments.

The findings build on 17 years of epigenetic research aiming to modify gene regulation instead of DNA sequences. Though further development is needed, these insights could lead to precise therapies for tough cancers like pancreatic and lung carcinomas.

Sources: SciTechDaily

Fasting Brain

A review of 63 articles and 71 studies with 3,484 participants found no overall difference in cognitive performance between fasting and fed states in healthy adults.

Children and teens showed lower cognitive scores when skipping meals. Longer fasts reduced performance gaps, possibly due to ketone use after 12 hours without food.

Cognitive decline during fasting was more pronounced late in the day. Tasks with neutral cues showed stable or improved performance, but food-related cues increased distraction during fasting.

Most healthy adults can fast without losing mental sharpness, but children should not skip meals, and those with late-day demanding tasks or frequent food cues might face challenges. Medical advice is advised for those with health issues.

Sources: Sciencealert

“A man made of solid timber don't find much comfort leaning on a reed. It is a pitiful thing to see a fellow standing high on a pedestal made of rotten wood; he is liable to come down faster than he went up.”

Baked with love,

Anna Eisenberg ❤️