PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) — When the referee whistled for the free kick just outside the area, Atletico Madrid forward Julián Álvarez quickly picked up the ball and moved in position to take the shot. “When I saw the free kick, I told Rodri (Rodrigo De Paul) that I felt confident with the shot,” Álvarez said. “And it was a great goal.” Álvarez, Atletico's main signing in the offseason , has not been lacking confidence lately. The Argentina forward curled in the free kick shot in the 15th minute for the first of his two goals in the team’s 6-0 rout of Brest in the Champions League on Tuesday — the team’s biggest ever away win in European competitions. “We'll keep rotating who takes the free kicks,” said Álvarez, who also found the net in the 59th. It was Álvarez’s seventh goal in the last 10 matches, and third in his last three games across all competitions. The 24-year-old had a slow start to his first season with Atletico, scoring twice in 10 matches. “It was a matter of time before we started connecting well with each other,” said Álvarez, who joined Atletico after two seasons at Manchester City. “We have to stay on this path to keep improving.” Ángel Correa also scored two goals for Atletico, with Marcos Llorente and Antoine Griezmann adding one each. “We know that in this format of the competition we need to keep adding the three points and scoring goals," Álvarez said. "It's important to get the points and the goals.” Atletico was sitting in 13th place in the 36-team league standings. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccerSuperintendent’s Notebook: Helping our kids navigate social media in the information age
None
November 26, 2024 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlightedthe following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: fact-checked trusted source proofread by Tohoku University With growing concerns over climate change and overpopulation, we urgently need to boost agricultural productivity. With the goal of creating a way to easily tell whether a plant is thriving or dying, a leaf-mounted sensor was created by researchers at Tohoku University. This small but mighty technology could help improve crop yields and resource management in order to meet ever-growing demands. Extreme weather events such as heat waves, heavy rain, and droughts stress plants, which can reduce crop yields and threaten the long-term health of our farms, forests, and biodiversity. There is an unmet need to monitor precisely how plants respond to these changes. While drones and aircraft have improved plant monitoring from above, they only capture more macro, surface-level information. They also require adjustments to be able to track plants accurately over time. Other small sensors that can capture changes at the individual plant level are inconvenient since they often require on-site personnel to install and manually check each sensor. "The traditional methods may work well for some purposes, but they are difficult to operate and quite expensive," explains Kaori Kohzuma, "In order to continuously monitor small changes, we needed a new solution." To address these issues, a team of researchers developed a novel sensor that attaches directly to the underside of plant leaves. This small device uses a spectroscopic sensor and light source to measure leaf color without blocking sunlight, and it can track changes in the same spot over time. Powered by a battery, with Wi-Fi data transfer and waterproofing, the sensor can work outdoors for over a month, allowing for extended data collection. The research is published in Sensing and Bio-Sensing Research . "Smart agriculture is a huge time-saver," says Ko-ichiro Miyamoto, "Farmers don't have time to manually check every single plant. This sensor is able to provide fine-tuned readings for what's going on in real time. Then, they can react accordingly to areas where plants are experiencing high levels of stress." This sensor performed well when compared with a commercial spectrometer on about 90 leaves from 30 different plant species. It accurately distinguished colors across seven out of its eight detectable wavelengths, and its readings at 620 nm were highly similar to commercial chlorophyll meters. Further tests with a stress-sensitive Arabidopsis thaliana mutant showed that changes at 550 nm in the sensor's readings matched the plant's stress responses, which aligned with the commonly used Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI). In an outdoor trial to test performance under real life conditions, they attached the sensor to birch leaves to track changes in leaf color during autumn, leaf fall, and aging over two weeks. They were able to observe a decrease in chlorophyll (an indicator of plant stress) and how the plant's response fluctuated with sunlight intensity. "This affordable sensor is a promising tool for accurately monitoring plant health and stress through leaf color and light reflection data. Its low cost makes it possible to place multiple sensors across various locations, creating a network for simultaneous monitoring in many spots," says Kohzuma. This smart diagnosis technology allows for support to be provided in the areas it's needed most. This sensor could be used widely in smart farming, forest health studies, and other areas where detailed plant health tracking is important. More information: Kaori Kohzuma et al, Analysis of plant physiological responses based on leaf color changes through the development and application of a wireless plant sensor, Sensing and Bio-Sensing Research (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.sbsr.2024.100688 Provided by Tohoku University
The Houston Rockets just extended their losing streak to the Golden State Warriors to fifteen straight games. Can they lift longtime Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr ‘s curse before their NBA Cup clash? The two teams will play each other in a quarterfinal elimination game on Wednesday. Can Rockets Break Warriors Losing Streak in the NBA Cup? The Rockets’ Streak versus the Warriors The Rockets and Warriors have a lot of recent history due to rival three-point revolutionaries and stylistically diametric superstars Steph Curry and James Harden . That played out in playoff series in 2017-18 and 2018-19. The 15-game losing streak against the Warriors dates back to March 2021. The Rockets last won a game in the matchup in February 2020. Clearly, much of that time coincided with the early stages of the Rockets’ rebuild. The Rockets weren’t beating much of anybody else from 2021 through to 2023, either. But even since the acquisition of win-now head coach Ime Udoka , the losing streak continues. Memorably, the Warriors halted Houston’s late-season push for a play-in spot in a matchup last season. In the Rockets’ defense, though they had been playing well courtesy of the best month of Jalen Green ‘s career, they were lacking their best player in Alperen Sengun . This time, the shoe was on the other foot. Houston found a way to get kicked with it regardless. Even with Curry and Draymond Green both being absent from the Warriors’ lineup, the Rockets still couldn’t pull out a win. Matching Their Energy The Warriors clearly get up to play the Rockets. Despite not playing in the game, Draymond Green barely ever sat down, yelling instructions and encouraging words from the sideline. Houston’s losing streak is certain to be something he gets a kick out of. Who can forget that even amid Golden State’s lottery plunging 2019-2020 season, the team still found the will to upset the Rockets on Christmas day behind Green’s best performance of the season? Even if the Warriors find extra motivation in the matchup, you would assume that the Rockets would at this point as well. Nobody wants to lose to the same team fifteen times in a row, after all. Maybe the Rockets had some of the wind taken from their sails by the absence of Golden State’s perpetual motion machine and table-setter, Chef Curry. Udoka called the team’s effort soft . Maybe the absence of Rockets hypeman Tari Eason left them with insufficient amounts of hype, or maybe the Warriors just have the Rockets’ number. The Rockets’ Stars The Rockets’ number, as far as Golden State is concerned, might just be Jalen Green’s field goal percentage. Green is a streaky player at the best of times, which, at the best of times , can make him look very good . But the best of times simply do not come for Green against the blue and gold. After a hot start, he’s averaging under 40% from the field in 2024-25. Somehow, for his career against the Warriors, it’s even worse. He actually averages under 30% from the field in 11 career games against the Warriors. He has shot over 50% in precisely none of them, 29.2% overall. Kerr is dogmatic about Gregg Popovich ‘s theory regarding the necessity of crowding Green in isolation. But even still, at this point, there has to be some mental element to Green’s poor performances. Green will get another chance to escape the asylum on Wednesday. Maybe an NBA Cup elimination game is exactly the kind of pressure he needs... Rockets fans can hope at least. Sengun Too The Warriors have also done a fairly good job of containing Houston’s more reliable star, the Turkiye Terror . Sengun got going late in the most recent matchup but started out the game, missing everything. He clearly struggles with the physical defense of longtime Warrior and dedicated Rockets’ saboteur Kevon Looney . The Warriors are physical with Sengun up and down the roster, too. They use the smalls-defending-bigs whistle better than any team in the NBA that isn’t based in Miami, a phenomenon the Rockets benefited from themselves in the days of P.J. Tucker at center. The Rockets have been finding ways to win this season despite slow starts on offense for their young stars, mostly on the defensive end. Maybe they could do it again on Wednesday and break Kerr’s curse with a complete team effort. Alternatively, if Jonathan Kuminga can go for a career-high against Houston, then why can’t Jabari Smith Jr. or Amen Thompson do so against Golden State? But are Green and Sengun build-around-players or not? The Last Word If either Green or Sengun are ever going to be considered bankable stars in this league, then Wednesday night is exactly the kind of game for them to go all in on. The team has had big wins already this season. This would be bigger. The Rockets have a chance at breaking Kerr’s curse and coming one step closer to snagging the second-ever NBA Cup in a single game. And if nothing else, that chance is probably higher than Green’s Golden State field goal percentage. This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong listens as evidence is presented during the first day of the medical marijuana civil trial on Oct. 29 in a lawsuit seeking to invalidate Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana petitions. A Lancaster County District Court judge ruled petitions circulated by Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana were legally sufficient on Tuesday, dismissing a legal challenge that sought to have the successful initiatives rendered void. Judge Susan Strong said attorneys for former state Sen. John Kuehn and Secretary of State Bob Evnen were only able to show a few hundred signatures were invalid on both petitions, well short of the number needed to declare them insufficient. “After reviewing the evidence, the court finds that they have fallen short,” Strong wrote in a 57-page order made public late Tuesday afternoon. “The court therefore declares that the ballot initiatives contain a legally sufficient number of signatures.” The ruling comes three weeks after both petitions won broad support at the Nov. 5 election. People are also reading... The first petition, which legalizes cannabis for medical use in Nebraska, received the support of nearly 71% of voters, while the second, which enacts regulations for medical marijuana, won the support of 67% of voters. Both initiatives are set to be certified by the Board of State Canvassers on Monday and will take effect 10 days later. The case originated when Kuehn, a staunch opponent of marijuana legalization in Nebraska, sued Evnen on Sept. 12 to stop the petitions circulated by Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana from being certified for the general election ballot. Evnen certified the petitions the next day hours after Attorney General Mike Hilgers announced criminal charges against a paid circulator for the ballot campaign who later admitted to forging signatures to petition sheets he found in a phone book. A week later, Evnen filed a cross-claim against Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, alleging the wrongdoing uncovered in the attorney general’s investigation could render tens of thousands of signatures invalid. His court filing asked a judge to determine whether or not the initiatives should be declared legally insufficient and removed from the ballot or the election results deemed void. The four-day civil trial , which ended on Nov. 4, focused on the actions of two circulators — Michael Egbert and Jennifer Henning — who described signing petition sheets outside the presence of a notary, in violation of the rules for those officials. Attorneys for Kuehn and Evnen, who was represented by Hilgers’ office, also pointed to what they described as sloppy or potentially fraudulent actions by circulators and notaries that may have affected enough voter signatures to sink the initiatives. In her order, Strong agreed to rule the signatures gathered by Egbert, who admitted to forging names he found in a phone book, as invalid and have them removed. Egbert, a paid circulator for the campaign from Grand Island, submitted 487 signatures on the legalization petition and 541 signatures for the regulatory petition. Strong also said signatures on petition sheets attorneys for Kuehn and Evnen had proven were improperly notarized by several people working for the Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana campaign would also lose the presumption of validity. That included 221 signatures on the legalization petitions and 285 signatures on the regulatory petitions, according to Strong's order. In all, Strong determined a total of 708 signatures on the legalization petition and 826 on the regulatory petition had lost the presumption of validity, while an additional three names signed to petition sheets after they had been notarized were also removed. "This case was about numbers," Strong wrote. "Thus, to prevail in this action, (Kuehn and Evnen) had to show that more than 3,463 signatures on the legalization petition and 3,357 signatures on the regulatory petition are invalid. "The plaintiff and secretary are well short," the judge added. Daniel Gutman, an attorney for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, said in a brief phone interview Tuesday evening he was pleased with Strong's result. "We appreciate the court's thorough review of this case in an expedited timeframe and agree with the result," Gutman said. "We have always been confident in the process in which the campaign collected signatures, as confirmed by the court's decision today.' AG weighing options for appeal On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Hilgers said the attorney general was weighing his options for appeal. "We appreciate the court's time and thoughtful consideration in declining this matter," the attorney general's office said in an email. "We are reviewing the decision and considering next step." Strong’s order follows resolutions reached in two other cases tied to the effort to legalize medical marijuana. Egbert, who hinted during his testimony that he was appearing in exchange for a reduced sentence in Hall County, pleaded guilty to attempted false swearing to a circulator’s affidavit days after the civil trial ended. In exchange for the guilty plea , Hall County Attorney Martin Klein agreed to reduce Egbert's charge from a Class IV felony to a Class I misdemeanor. Egbert, who admitted to forging the signatures of names he found in a phone book, was sentenced to pay a $250 fine. But the former Marine also told the court he was told he would be "covered" if he testified in the civil trial, though he had difficulty describing what that term meant, citing a neurological condition that sometimes affects his memory. And late last week, a Hall County judge dismissed two dozen criminal charges against a notary public accused of notarizing petitions outside the presence of the circulator. Jacy Todd, a York man who owned a CBD shop in Grand Island, was charged with 24 counts of official misconduct, a Class II misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Judge Alfred E. Corey III said while the functions performed by notaries are important, Todd was not acting as a government official when he signed petitions submitted by Egbert. Corey granted a motion to quash from attorney Mark Porto, saying there was no case law to use as a basis to bring criminal charges against Todd. Reach the writer at 402-473-7120 or cdunker@journalstar.com . On Twitter @ChrisDunkerLJS Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Higher education/statehouse reporter {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Young men swung to the right for Trump after a campaign dominated by masculine appeals
EASTON, Pa. (AP) — Alex Chaikin led Lafayette over NCAA DivisionIII-member Rosemont on Sunday with 21 points off of the bench in a 91-45 victory. Chaikin went 7 of 11 from the field (5 for 9 from 3-point range) for the Leopards (2-4). T.J. Berger went 4 of 10 from the field (2 for 6 from 3-point range) to add 10 points. Andrew Phillips finished 4 of 6 from the field to finish with 10 points. Bruce Black led the Ravens in scoring, finishing with 11 points. Denelle Holly added eight points for Rosemont. Kelton Warren also recorded seven points. Lafayette took the lead with 20:00 left in the first half and did not give it up. Mike Bednostin led their team in scoring with eight points in the first half to help put them up 38-22 at the break. Lafayette outscored Rosemont by 30 points in the second half, and Chaikin scored a team-high 15 points in the second half to help their team secure the victory. NEXT UP Lafayette hosts LIU in its next matchup on Friday. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by and data from . The Associated PressBraxton Meah, dunk machine, finds role — and alley-oops — with Nebraska basketball
Zimbabwe: Politicising Climate Diminishes Importance of Science
Agriculture Department orders testing of the nation's milk supply for bird fluMick Molloy admits shock at Mark Geyer's surprise axing from Triple M radio following 17 years of service Mick Molloy breaks silence about sacking of Mark Geyer Molloy he and other staff are doing it tough without Geyer Says he loved working with the NRL legend at Triple M By JAMES COONEY FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA Published: 23:32 GMT, 30 November 2024 | Updated: 23:39 GMT, 30 November 2024 e-mail View comments Mick Molloy has spoken of the sadness that he and his colleagues at Triple M are feeling after popular co-host Mark 'MG' Geyer was suddenly sacked by the broadcaster . Many were shocked by Triple M's decision to part company with the New South Wales State of Origin legend who has been a fan favourite on the station's Mick & MG in the Morning's breakfast show for some time. Despite having been with the broadcaster for 17 years, Geyer and his co-hosts Molloy and Cat Lynch are due to be replaced by a new cast that will include former NRL star-turned-media personality Beau Ryan. It is understood he will debut on the show on January 20, 2025 and will be joined by co-hosts Natarsha Belling and former West Tigers Captain Aaron Woods. The programme will be renamed Triple M Breakfast with Beau, Tarsh & Woodsy and will run from 6am to 9am on weekdays. Geyer's axing was first reported by The Daily Telegraph two weeks ago, but the reasons why he has left the station remain unclear - with the Penrith icon yet to speak out on the matter. Molloy, in his first public comment on the matter, revealed how tough it was without 'MG'. Mick Molloy (pictured) has spoken of the sadness felt by he and other Triple M staff after the shock sacking of footy legend Mark Geyer Mark Geyer was reportedly left 'devastated', according to a former NRL player, after he was dropped from Triple M Sydney's breakfast show 'You'll be aware that MG is not coming back next year and this is very sad for me. It's been tough doing the show for the last week and a half without him,' he told Triple M listeners. 'I've really wanted to talk about his situation, but it's not right because he hasn't spoken about it himself. And out of respect for MG, I think it's his story to tell and he needs to get that out and people need to hear it too. 'What I can say is this, I love the bloke. I have absolutely thoroughly enjoyed doing the show with him for two years, to coming in to work with him for two years. He makes me laugh. He's one of the most unique men I've ever met in my life. 'There's many people who are sad here (at Triple M) that he's not going to be back next year. I can't tell you how much I love him and I really hope we can maintain our friendship for many years to come. He is one of the great men I've ever met and I really wish him all the best.' Geyer, who was capped three times for Australia and helped Penrith to their first premiership win in 1991, retired from professional footy in 2000. He would go on to pursue a career in media having written extensively for newspapers, before taking up roles with Triple M and Fox Footy. Molloy said he hopes Geyer will continue doing radio. 'The audience loves him,' he said. Molloy says he loved working with Geyer and he hopes that he stays in radio Molloy said he hopes he can maintain his friendship with 'MG' for many years to come 'He's well-loved here at Triple M (and) I hope we hear him back on the airwaves very soon, and I hope it's on Triple M (because) he's an absolute cracker.' The reasons why Geyer left the station remain unclear - with the former Kangaroos star yet to speak out on the matter. But according to former Penrith star Lou Zivanovic, who caught up with the 56-year-old for lunch recently, Geyer has been left 'devastated' by the sudden call after he had been 'blindsided' by the channel. 'MG [Mark Geyer] is one of the most loyal people you could meet and Triple M has shown him zero loyalty in return,' Zivanovic told Yahoo Sport Australia. 'He was blindsided by the decision and is quite understandably devastated. Decisions are made in business every day but there's a right way and wrong way to go about things. They've totally screwed him, without warning, after 17 years of loyal service. It doesn’t sit right with me and it doesn’t sit right with a lot of people. 'He's still coming to terms with it all, but he's a strong man,' Zivanovic added. 'MG showed during his footy career that you get knocked down and you get up again, and that’s the way he's approaching this. With the help and support of family and friends, he will bounce back from this. One door closes, another one opens.' NRL New South Wales Share or comment on this article: Mick Molloy admits shock at Mark Geyer's surprise axing from Triple M radio following 17 years of service e-mail Add comment
Trump wants pardoned real estate developer Charles Kushner to become US ambassador to FranceAIR FORCE 82, MERCYHURST 48Good Governance: Gemade solicits prayers, support for Alia to deliver on promises
Alabama flips RB Jace Clarizio from Michigan StateAmid another lost season for the New York Giants, they can't escape any drama. Instead of simply releasing , they and . The Giants are almost certainly preparing to draft a new quarterback this coming April, so they want the deck cleared. But stud rookie receiver Malik Nabers seemingly has a stark warning about that thought process. After the Giants took a 30-7 loss on the chin from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Nabers said he doesn't think the reason the 2-9 Giants keep losing is because of their quarterback play -- even though Jones and DeVito are both awful in their own unique ways. Oh? Then who could it be? Oh, right. Nabers didn't elaborate upon who the Giants' real issue was after bringing this to light, but he almost certainly knew what he was doing by making this statement in public: Malik Nabers: “I know I’m tired of losing” Says it’s not the quarterback — Charlotte Carroll (@charlottecrrll) If Nabers is implying what I think he's implying, then the Giants' main problem is the duo between general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll. Schoen has very few draft and free-agent hits in three years on the job in New York. He's also the GM who gave Jones a contract extension after a fluky playoff campaign in 2022 and who built the offensive line that let DeVito get sacked four times against an underwhelming Tampa Bay defense on Sunday. Meanwhile, Daboll had a respected reputation as a quarterback whisperer after helping Josh Allen on the Buffalo Bills. But he's also three years into the job, and the Giants have no identity in any phase. Oh, and over a personality squabble. At this rate, the Giants might need a full reset. They should consider firing both Schoen and Daboll in the offseason. That's because their underwhelming body of work does not merit getting a fourth year together. If Nabers won't say it, I'll say it for him.Trump wants pardoned real estate developer Charles Kushner to be ambassador to France
Breyten Breytenbach, who died Sunday, was one of South Africa's most honoured writers, who found beauty in his Afrikaans language but was horrified at the white supremacy imposed by his government. The poet, author and painter had not lived in South Africa for decades, leaving in the early 1960s to settle in Paris, where he became a global voice against apartheid. What was intended to be a short and secret trip back in 1975 led to him spending seven years in jail, two in solitary confinement, after he was betrayed and arrested. French president Francois Mitterrand helped secure his release in 1982 and he returned to France to become a citizen. He travelled back to South Africa regularly, according to his daughter Daphnee Breytenbach, who confirmed his death to AFP. "My father, the South African painter and poet Breyten Breytenbach, died peacefully on Sunday, November 24, in Paris, at the age of 85," she said. "Immense artist, militant against apartheid, he fought for a better world until the end." Breytenbach was born in the small Western Cape town of Bonnievale in 1939 at a time when Afrikaans was emerging with a distinct identity as a language, having been derided as "kitchen Dutch". When in 1964 Breytenbach published his first volume of poetry -- "Die ysterkoei moet sweet", or The Iron Cow Must Sweat -- Afrikaans was not just ascendent but had given the name "apartheid" to South Africa's brutal system of racial segregation. With Afrikaners in power, their language became ever more associated with the regime. "I'd never reject Afrikaans as a language, but I reject it as part of the Afrikaner political identity. I no longer consider myself an Afrikaner," he said in an interview with The New York Times the following year. In his language and politics, Breytenbach pushed back against the strictures of the country in which he was born. He travelled around Europe in his early 20s, eventually settling in 1962 in Paris, where he met his wife, Yolande Ngo Thi Hoang Lien, who was born in Vietnam and raised in France. She was refused a visa to visit South Africa in the late 1960s as she was considered "non-white" by the apartheid system. Breytenbach returned to the country in the early 1970s on a false passport to deliver money to the anti-apartheid struggle and meet white activists. But he was discovered and sentenced to nine years in prison, serving seven. Of his more than 50 books, most are in Afrikaans. His acclaimed 1984 prison memoir, "The True Confession of an Albino Terrorist", is in English. In the book, he recalls the horrors of hearing fellow inmates being hanged, often for political crimes. "Very often –- no, all the time really –- I relive those years of horror and corruption, and I try to imagine, as I did then with the heart an impediment to breathing, what it must be like to be executed. What it must be like to be. Executed," he wrote. His path crossed once, briefly, with another famous inmate. Nelson Mandela was for a time transferred from Robben Island to Pollsmoor prison in Cape Town, where Breytenbach was serving his time. The writer was tasked with preparing new prison clothes for the future president. Breytenbach eventually turned to painting to portray surreal human and animal figures, often in captivity, with his art displayed in Johannesburg, Brussels, Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Paris. His literature gathered several prizes, including the international Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award (2017), the Mahmoud Darwish Literature Prize (2010) and the Van der Hoogt prize for Dutch literature (1972). "His poems are rich in metaphors and are a complex mixture of references to Buddhism, Afrikaans idiomatic speech, and memories of the South African landscape," according to the Hague-based Writers Unlimited foundation. For all his activism, when democracy arrived in 1994, the older and gray-bearded Breytenbach did not return to embrace the new South Africa. He wrestled with the failings of the democratic government, even with Mandela, despairing at what he called in Harpers magazine in 2008 the "seemingly never-ending parade of corrupt clowns in power at all levels". Breytenbach also taught at the University of Cape Town, the Goree Institute in Dakar and New York University. zm-gs-br/lhd/js
No. 22 St. John's, Georgia pack busy schedule with game on Sunday