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NFL notes: How Matthew Slater’s passionate speeches helped keep the Patriots together

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:54 GMT

Patriots linebacker Josh Uche slowly closed his locker after a full day of meetings and practice, then took his first of a dozen steps toward the nearest exit.He had an appointment at 3:30 p.m. The clock read 3:28. A reporter walked with him to see if he might have time for one question. Uche politely declined, then overheard the reporter mention the subject of his story as he continued toward the door.He stopped and turned.“Oh, wait,” Uche said Thursday. “This is about Slate?”In that about-face, Uche epitomized how Matthew Slater, even in his 16th season, 13th year as captain and even from another room, holds his teammates’ attention and utmost respect. Slater said this week he will weigh retirement again this offseason, making Sunday’s season finale a potential farewell to one of the NFL’s greatest special teams players ever. Whether Slater, 38, retires or returns, and whether the Patriots win or lose, there is one guarantee about how Sund...

Citizen scientists needed to see what happens in trout streams in winter

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:54 GMT

University of Minnesota Extension at UMD is helping produce a free online event to raise awareness about the winter life of the little creatures in trout streams that make up the backbone of the food chain for fish.“Bugs Below Zero: Engaging Citizens in Winter Research” is set for 6:45 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11.A student inspects insects collected during winter months from a Minnesota trout stream as part of the Bugs Below Zero project. (Sarah Karnas / Bell Museum)Biologist Amy Schrank, an expert on trout streams stationed at Sea Grant’s University of Minnesota Duluth headquarters, will be joined by Rebecca Swenson, associate professor at the university’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, and by Alyssa Anderson, associate professor of biology at Southwest Minnesota State University.Bugs Below Zero is a Minnesota Sea Grant project designed to draw attention to the importance of winter stream food webs and how citizens can be involved in community science...

Snow blankets St. Louis, more winter weather expected

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:54 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- Precipitation has come to an end, with amounts ranging from just a dusting to a little over 2.5". The highest amounts were reported in St. Louis County and over into the metro east. Now we're left with some fog, clouds and chilly temperatures. We could have a few spotty sprinkles or flurries this afternoon but we are not expecting any additional accumulations. Temperatures will stay in the 30s today. Patchy fog is possible overnight, with lows falling to near freezing. On Sunday, we'll see a dry day with a lot of clouds to start with and maybe some sunshine popping out by the afternoon. Temperatures are still chilly, around 40s. As we've been talking about for a few days now, things get interesting on Monday. Monday will start off dry and temperatures will make it into the mid 40s. Rain and a rain/snow mix will build in through the afternoon. For Monday evening's commute in the metro, the precipitation type looks to be mainly rain at this point, with a wintry mix to the...

Advisory group recommends converting Colorado coal plant to nuclear power

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:54 GMT

A committee of Pueblo community members has recommended that Xcel Energy-Colorado replace a coal plant, beset by longstanding mechanical and operational problems, with modular nuclear units or a gas plant that would capture the carbon dioxide emissions.However, a report released Friday by the Pueblo Innovative Energy Solutions Advisory Committee made clear that the group’s top choice is what it calls advanced nuclear technology. A nuclear facility will create more jobs and tax revenue for local governments, the report said.Xcel Energy will consider the recommendations as it develops a new plan to provide a transition for the community leading up to the closure by the start of 2031 of the Comanche 3 coal plant in Pueblo, said Robert Kenney, president of Xcel Energy-Colorado. He said Xcel generally supports nuclear power, which generates some of the utility’s electricity in Minnesota.Xcel Energy’s Fort St Vrain power plant in Platteville was nuclear. It was decommiss...

Nuggets Journal: Five reasons Denver’s defense ranks vastly higher in NBA than it did this time last year

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:54 GMT

The Nuggets were ranked No. 8 in the NBA in team defensive rating heading into Friday night, allowing 112.6 points per 100 possessions at the 36-game mark of the season. At the same time last year, they were a couple of points worse — enough of a difference relative to the rest of the league that Denver ranked 25th. Here are five reasons the Nuggets have improved defensively after winning a championship.Swatson’s ascendanceIn terms of personnel, it certainly helps that the Nuggets have the same starting five as last season. From a communication and cohesiveness standpoint, any group of players should theoretically improve with more time together. Denver’s starting lineup is 1.2 points better at the defensive end so far, checking that box.But changes to the roster are more illuminating. Peyton Watson is replacing the minutes of multiple 2022-23 bench players, and he’s leading the team in individual defensive rating (108.9). In those same minutes, Bruce Brown a...

Opinion: U.S. faces biggest COVID wave since omicron. Why are we ignoring?

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:54 GMT

The pandemic is far from over, as evidenced by the rapid rise to global dominance of the JN.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2. This variant is a derivative of BA.2.86, the only other strain that has carried more than 30 new mutations in the spike protein since omicron first came on the scene more than two years ago. This should have warranted designation by the World Health Organization as a variant of concern with a Greek letter, such as pi.By wastewater levels, JN.1 is now associated with the second-biggest wave of infections in the United States in the pandemic, after omicron. We have lost the ability to track the actual number of infections since most people either test at home or don’t even test at all, but the very high wastewater levels of the virus indicate about 2 million Americans are getting infected each day.In several countries in Europe, wastewater levels reached unprecedented levels, exceeding omicron. Clearly this virus variant, with its plethora of new mutations, has continue...

Cowen: Want to be wealthy? You might consider therapy

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:54 GMT

Economists are used to the idea that intervening in concrete ways — spending on development projects, for example, or on social services — can improve outcomes. But what about psychological interventions?Is it possible to make people wealthier simply by helping them feel better? What is the connection between psychotherapy, or pharmaceutical treatments, and wealth accumulation?This is a new branch of economic research, and the results are by no means definitive. Yet these investigations are especially important for development economics. In poor countries, people may be especially likely to suffer from trauma, given circumstances of war and violence, food scarcity or natural disasters. And purely psychological interventions have promise as modest tools for economic self-improvement.One study of Ethiopia looked at the psychological impact of raising aspirations. The researchers created a randomized control trial, showing one group of people short films about business and ...

Cómo Japón pasó más de un siglo protegiendo su arquitectura de los terremotos

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:54 GMT

(CNN) — Escenas de edificios reducidos a escombros dieron la vuelta al mundo esta semana tras el terremoto de magnitud 7,5 que sacudió el lunes la prefectura de Ishikawa, en la costa occidental de Japón.Aún se desconoce el alcance total de los daños. Según las autoridades, al menos 270 viviendas de la región quedaron destruidas, aunque es probable que la cifra final sea mucho mayor. Esta cifra no incluye, por ejemplo, Suzu o Wajima, una ciudad de más de 27.000 habitantes situada a solo 32 kilómetros del epicentro del sismo, donde los bomberos dijeron que se habían quemado unos 200 edificios, según la cadena pública NHK.Estos informes hablan de las tragedias personales a las que se enfrentan muchos de los residentes de la región. Sin embargo, aunque no hay dos sismos directamente comparables, terremotos de fuerza similar en otras partes del mundo —como el de magnitud 7,6 que provocó el derrumbe de más de 30.000 edificios en Cachemira en 2005, por ejemplo— han causado a menudo u...

Japanese safety experts search for voice data as workers clear plane debris from runway collision

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:54 GMT

Transport safety officials searched for a voice recorder from the severely burned fuselage of a Japan Airlines plane, seeking crucial information on what caused a collision with a small coast guard plane on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda airport.On Saturday, heavy machinery worked for a second day to remove debris of the burned Airbus A350 for storage in a hangar to allow the runway to reopen. Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito said officials were aiming to reopen the runway Monday. Wreckage of the Japan Coast Guard plane had been cleared.Saito said the airport’s traffic control operation would create a new position for monitoring aircraft movement on runways beginning Saturday. There has been speculation traffic controllers might not have paid attention to the coast guard plane’s presence on the runway when they gave the JAL plane permission to land.Six experts from the Japan Transport Safety Board on Friday walked through the mangled debris of the Airbus A350-900 that...

Sabalenka sets up a Brisbane final vs Rybakina. It’s a rematch of the 2023 Australian Open decider

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:50:54 GMT

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Almost a year after contesting the Australian Open final, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina will meet in the title match of a key tune-up event for the first major of 2024.Top-seeded Sabalenka overpowered her compatriot and two-time champion Victoria Azarenka in a 6-2, 6-4 win Saturday that earned her a spot in the Brisbane International final against Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon winner.The win extended top-seeded Sabalenka’s streak to 15 on Australian soil, including a title run in Adelaide last year before her Grand Slam breakthrough at Melbourne Park.That 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory in the Australian Open final last January was the highlight of Sabalenka’s five wins over Rybakina in their seven career meetings.“Let’s just say it’s going to be great battle as always,” Sabalenka said, looking forward to Sunday’s final. “Always great matches against Elena.“We both play really super aggressive tennis. That’s why all the matches are pretty tight — we both p...