Month: June 2024

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Sport

Tremendous Regionals Preview: 10 Issues to Watch Out for

Super Regionals Preview: 10 Things to Watch Out for

  • Ryan McGee, senior editor at ESPNJune 6, 2024, 10:00 a.m. ET

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    • Senior Editor for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com
    • 2-time Sports Emmy winner
    • 2010, 2014 NMPA Author of the Year

And then there were 16 … and soon there will be eight!

Welcome to the NCAA men's baseball tournament's super regionals, aka the final, steepest climb of the season-long best-of-three championship on the road to Omaha. From here, you can practically smell the steaks and taste the Zesto soft serve ice cream. But first, there's a lot of work for the baseball players and a lot of baseball for the rest of us to watch.

What exactly should you be watching for? That's a thought we've been pondering since Monday night when the final Regionals were scribbled into the score sheets. So grab your lucky stuffed animal, smear on some Eye Black, and read on, because we present to you our NCAA Hardball What2Watch4 Super Regionals Edition.

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Game of Southern Thrones | Defender of …
Omaha? | Top draft picks everywhere | It's so awesome

1. Game of Southern Thrones, people

This super regional has a Southern accent thicker than Marty Smith. Four SEC teams are visiting — Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and Texas A&M — and a fifth team, Florida, is on the road at Clemson. Speaking of the Tigers, they are one of four ACC teams also visiting — along with Florida State, Virginia and North Carolina — and a fifth team, NC State, is on the road at Georgia. So if we're doing our best Doctor Strange impersonation, we can definitely envision a scenario where only two conferences are represented in Omaha and the split is evenly four-four. The record for most teams from one conference is four, achieved by the SEC four times and the ACC once. Should we end up with four from each conference, someone please pack some extra barbecue sauce on the way to Nebraska.

2. Defender of the West Coast

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Back then, it wasn't unusual for a region to fill the Omaha bracket, but it was far west of the Mississippi, led by the Grand Canyon State with Arizona and Arizona State, and there were far too many California schools to list. But in recent years, the rise of the South has blocked access for Pacific programs. At the MCWS Baseball Village next to the ballpark, there is a giant map of the United States showing every school in the MCWS and its distance from Omaha. For the past three seasons, that very uneven map has shown only one team in the West, Stanford.

This year, West Coast time zone honor will be defended by archrivals Oregon and Oregon State, who must face No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 2 Kentucky on the road. This is also the Pac-12's last chance to win its record-breaking 30th MCWS title before the conference goes the way of the college wood bats.

3. Defender of all other places

College baseball has always been dominated by the Sunbelt, from Florida to California, where the weather is warm and baseball is played year-round. That's why the Big Ten hasn't won an MCWS title since 1966. And that's why what UConn has done in recent years is so amazing. The Huskies, who like most Northeastern teams spend the entire first month of their season on the road to avoid the snow, are making their 10th NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010, their third Super Regional since 2011 and their second in three years. They haven't been to Omaha since their fifth trip in 1979. If they can beat Florida State in Tallahassee, they will be the first Big East team in the MCWS since Louisville in 2013, just days before they left for the U.S.

4. Omaha? Where is that?

The Evansville Purple Aces reach the postseason for the first time in nearly two decades. AP Photo/Ben McKeown

Since the MCWS debuted in 1947, a whopping 116 schools have made it to college baseball's big show, so seeing a team make its debut in Omaha is now as likely as seeing Bigfoot play the piano. But this year's Super Regional field features four teams looking to be the first of their schools to reach the final eight. West Virginia is making its 15th NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth in the last seven postseasons, but this is the Mountaineers' first Super Regional. The Evansville Purple Aces are making their first postseason appearance in nearly two decades and had never advanced past the first weekend until they shocked 16th-seeded East Carolina in the Greenville Regional. Their reward? A trip to top-seeded Tennessee. The team ranked just behind the Vols, Kentucky, is the last SEC school that has never been to Omaha. Meanwhile, Kansas State, a team that only made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2009 but has been there five times since then, is also seeking its first MCWS berth.

5. Omaha? We've been there before, but it was a while ago

The Oregon Ducks have been to Omaha before. Once. In 1954. And they lost 2-0. Clemson has been there a dozen times, but not since 2010. Georgia's last trip was in 2008, when they led 4-0 by a game in the second game of the title series, but ended up losing the title to the Fresno State Wonderdogs.

6. Omaha? We have a score to settle in Omaha!

The teams to watch this weekend, yearning for a return to Omaha to do a Ray Kinsella and ease their pain, are led by Florida State, who makes its first trip to the MCWS without the legendary Mike Martin, who has either played or coached in every single one of FSU's previous 23 appearances. Unfortunately, the team has also lost 0 of 23 attempts in its attempts to win the title.

There's a lot of pain to deal with in these Supers. Clemson is 0-12 in Omaha, Tennessee is 0-6 and North Carolina is 0-11 after losing both Finals appearances to Oregon State in 2007. It's safe to assume that many people at Carolina Blue have already figured out that there is a path that could lead to a rematch against the Beavers in this year's Finals.

7. The Return of Jactani

Jac Caglianone is expected to be selected No. 4 in the MLB Draft. Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

A year ago, the college baseball world was excited about Florida's Jac Caglianone, aka Jactani, like Shohei Ohtani, because like the Los Angeles Dodgers, this Gator is a two-way player. As a first baseman, he's batting .410 with 31 home runs and 63 RBIs. A left-handed hitter, he's 5-2 with 76 strikeouts, which is his team's best win-loss record and ranks second among the Ks. But don't take our college word for it. Our friends at the ESPN MLB site expect the 6-foot-5, 250-pound player to go as high as fourth in next month's MLB Draft.

8. Wait a minute… Caglianone is only fourth?

Yes. And two of the three players above him will also be in action this weekend. Beavers second bagger Travis Bazzana is on ESPN's list of young prospects (third), as are Texas A&M's Braden Montgomery (sixth), West Virginia's JJ Wetherholt (seventh) and Florida State's James “They Call Me Mister” Tibbs (ninth). Also keep an eye on fellow Seminole Cameron Smith (18th), Tennessee's Christian Moore (16th) and Billy Amick (26th), Kentucky's Ryan Waldschmidt (24th) and Kansas State's infielder Kaelen Culpepper.

9. Wait a minute…so who is in first place?

That would be Georgia third baseman Charlie Condon, who spent the 2024 season putting up numbers like a video gamer with the difficulty settings turned off. He has a .445 batting average with 36 home runs and 98 hits (all tops in the nation). He also has 77 RBIs despite being walked 55 times and has only 39 strikeouts in 220 at-bats. The 6-6, 215-pound right-hander has yet to miss a game this season and reaches base 56.6% of the time he steps up to the plate. I'm not good at math, but that all sounds pretty good to me. It also sounds pretty good to MLB scouts, who are very good at math.

10. A good time? No, the best time

Omaha is the destination. It's the fortress. The pinnacle. No one argues against that. But Supers weekend is also college baseball's last chance to get a little exposure before the national sports audience in the friendly surroundings of some of the most colorful venues and crowds in the sports world, not just the college sports world. So be sure to drive with the remote and the ESPN app like Renegade galloping onto the field in Tallahassee. Marvel at Kentucky's incredible multimillion-dollar commitment to the ballpark, even for a team that's never been to Omaha. Be reminded of Rome by the intimidating atmosphere that reigns at Texas A&M's Olsen Field in Blue Bell Park, enveloped in constant barbecue smoke at tailgating. Experience the magic of the Bosh in Chapel Hill, where the Heels have long specialized in dramatic postseason finishes, both wins and losses. And hear the clang of those composite bats in your ears, mixed with fight chants, wolf howls and “Rocky Top,” all marinated in outfield beer for three days. It's June. This is the Round of 16. And folks, it's so awesome.

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Technology

19-year-old founder brings on-demand automotive providers to Tesla and VW homeowners

19-year-old founder brings on-demand car services to Tesla and VW owners

Cars are great – until they break down, need servicing or a mechanical inspection. Then owning a car can be quite a hassle.

Ricard Guillem knows this all too well. The 19-year-old from Barcelona grew up in a family of car dealers and servicemen. Guillem – who was “born with a phone in his hand,” as he puts it – felt the family business was, for lack of a better word, outdated.

“So many industries have been turned on their head by technology – Netflix with movies, Uber with taxis, Deliveroo with food delivery. But there’s nothing like that for servicing or repairing your vehicle,” Guillem tells me.

That was the inspiration for Cafler. In 2021, at just 16 years old, Guillem co-founded the technology startup to make car ownership less of a hassle.

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“The idea was to design a platform where car users can access everything they need with just one click,” he explains.

Cafler customers can order a driver to pick up their car from home, work or even the gym. The driver will then take it for maintenance, repairs, washing or refueling. The company can even handle the paperwork for traffic fines or change of ownership.

The startup has an app, but it does most of its business through more than 100 partners, including Tesla, VW and Mercedes. Selected car dealerships or service centers in Spain, France or the UK (where the company operates) offer Cafler as a value-added service.

Focus on growth

I first came across Cafler last year at the Valencia Digital Summit, where the company won the Startup Contest pitch competition in the Growth category.

Since then, the company has grown tenfold, says Guillam. To date, Cafler has provided over 100,000 services and employs 60 people in offices in Barcelona, ​​​​Madrid, Paris and London.

In September, the startup raised a considerable €$8 million in a funding round led by Spain-based Seaya Ventures. While Guillem did not disclose exact financials, he said Cafler has now “passed the $5 million net revenue mark.”

“Right now we are focused on growth,” he says. “We plan to expand into new countries in Europe and beyond very soon.”

Cafler is in the process of adding more services to its platform, including replacement vehicles, valet parking and tow trucks in case of breakdowns. The company has also started to harness the power of data and—you guessed it—AI.

“We have huge amounts of data that we can use to train machine learning algorithms to make tailored suggestions to the user,” explains Guillem.

For example, the AI ​​knows if it has rained in your area and your car might be dirty. Then it asks: “Would you like a car wash?”

The people who service your vehicle usually know a lot more about it than you do. This information – from brake fluid levels to tire tread – can be used to gain predictive insights.

“Soon we will be able to tell you more or less when your car needs new tires or even a new engine before you break down on the side of the road,” says Guillem.

TNW is a strategic partner for VDS 2024, which will take place on October 23 and 24 in the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia. The eventwhich serves as a meeting place for entrepreneurs, startups, corporates and investors, is expected to bring together over 2,500 startups and attract over 12,000 attendees from over 100 countries. Super early bird discounts are available until June 15th – get your ticket here!

Categories
Health

New merchandise of weight reduction medicine Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro

New products of weight loss drugs Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro

Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drug Wegovy is enjoying meteoric popularity.

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LONDON — The rapid rise of weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro is giving rise to numerous new product lines as companies hope to land on the right side of disruptive change in healthcare.

Industries ranging from food and beverage to retail and fitness have come under the spotlight as demand for Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly's so-called miracle drugs soars amid fears they could dramatically change consumer behavior.

However, some companies say they welcome the new-found market opportunities.

Dutch biotechnology company DSM Firmenich told CNBC on Wednesday that it is looking into nutritional supplements to complement and offset some of the effects of weight-loss drugs, with CEO Dimitri de Vreeze calling it the natural evolution of the industry.

“If you want to lose weight and succeed, you move on to health, nutrition and lifestyle, because basically you want to carry on as you have been doing. And that's where we come in,” de Vreeze told CNBC's “Squawk Box Europe.”

The weight loss injections are based on a group of drugs called GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide 1) receptor agonists. They work by mimicking a naturally occurring gut hormone that helps regulate appetite in the brain.

Studies are ongoing into other health applications and possible side effects of appetite suppressants, but De Vreeze said his company is also looking into products to increase muscle maintenance and protein absorption.

“There are some side effects of weight loss drugs and that means it's harder to build muscle and keep protein levels up. And that's where we come in. We use ingredients and develop ingredients that kind of compensate for that,” he said.

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Consumer goods for airlines

DSM is not the only company looking to capitalize on the growing weight-loss drug market.

Swiss food giant Nestlé announced last month that it would launch a new frozen food range aimed at GLP-1 drug users. The Vital Pursuits range, which will initially include 12 items including wholegrain bowls and pizzas, is designed as a nutritional “companionship” to the medications, the company said.

CEO Mark Schneider told CNBC last week that while weight-loss drugs are changing consumer behavior, “the need for nutrients is not going away.”

GLP-1 drugs are “certainly an interesting addition to all the other needs we are trying to meet in the food industry,” Schneider said.

Danone CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique also told CNBC in April that he viewed GLP-1 as a “complement” to the French food group, adding that it would only increase demand for its food products.

However, according to analysts at Barclays, it is not yet clear whether consumers are more or less inclined to choose healthy products because they take weight loss medication.

“Greater adoption of GLP-1 drugs could be viewed as replacements for food categories that are more focused on health and wellness,” analyst Andrew Lazar said in a research note last year.

“This means consumers may also eat more weight-control foods as they seek to eat healthier and use such products instead of more indulgent snack alternatives,” he added.

Such changes could have similar effects on restaurants, grocers and delivery services that “proactively” adapt to the drugs, the bank's analysts added. They cited fast-food companies such as KFC's Yum Brands and Shake Shack as potential beneficiaries if consumers see the drugs as “compensation” for such indulgences.

Airlines could also benefit massively from fewer passengers as they become increasingly keen to reduce jet fuel costs. In a September note quoted by Bloomberg, Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu said: United Airlines would save $80 million per year if the average passenger weight were reduced by 10 pounds.

Even pharmaceutical packaging companies could benefit, Barclays said, with companies such as Germany's Gerresheimer seeing a two to four percent increase in sales from the weight-loss drug market, which is estimated to be worth $100 billion.

Increasing competition in weight loss drugs

It is not yet clear whether such supplements can replicate the meteoric rise of weight-loss drug makers such as Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.

“We think it is too early for investors to take a definitive position on the impact of GLP-1 drugs outside of healthcare stocks, and the range of possible scenarios is very wide,” Barclays analysts wrote.

When asked whether the increasing demand for food would be reflected in his company's share price, de Vreeze admitted that it was “too early” to make such a statement.

“This is something that has to be built over time. It's in the pipeline. But as soon as something changes, you'll see it reflected,” he said.

The new products come at a time when other pharmaceutical companies are hot on the heels of Novo and Eli, trying to grab a piece of the weight loss pie.

In China, a key market for the drug, about 15 generic versions of Ozempic and Wegovy are currently being developed, according to clinical trial records cited by Reuters on Thursday.

Meanwhile, some analysts have also expressed caution about the continued growth of the weight loss drug market.

“We don't necessarily believe that miracle cures will remain miracle cures forever,” Guillaume Menuet, head of investment strategy and economics for EMEA at Citi Wealth, told CNBC on Thursday.

Categories
Entertainment

First Take a look at Twins with Brandon Frankel (Unique)

First Look at Twins with Brandon Frankel (Exclusive)

Congratulations are in order for the actor Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe who revealed that she and her husband had twins, Brandon Frankelearlier this year.

RELATED: Congratulations! Eboni K. Williams Announces She's Pregnant (PHOTOS)

Gabby Sidibe announces that she recently gave birth to a child

According to Shutterstock, the 41-year-old announced that she and her husband had twins in early April. The portal reports that the couple gave birth to a boy named Cooper and a girl named Maya.

“Brandon always wanted to name his son Cooper so we could call him 'Coop,' and Maya was named just before our babymoon trip to the Riviera Maya in Mexico,” Sidibe told the outlet. “Both twins have traditional West African middle names after members of my family.”

Sidibe explained that her bundles of joy are “both extremely strong and hilarious” even though they “haven't really interacted with each other yet.”

“Cooper sometimes speaks for Maya and alerts us when she is about to spit up. Maya loves having her name sung to her and is the queen of comedic timing, and Cooper loves his sleep and has the funniest facial expressions,” Sidibe added. “They both love to snuggle with mom and dad.”

The 41-year-old explained that the day the contractions started came as a complete surprise to her.

“We originally planned to go for a routine appointment, but then we were told that the twins would not arrive until later that day and not at the originally planned time,” Sidibe said.

Since then, says the actress, every day with her babies has been a real event. The “biggest surprise” for Sidibe and her husband since the due date is “how loud and chaotic the babies are when they sleep.”

“'Active sleep' is pretty wild,” said the 41-year-old. “It was also a surprise to see how little they were aware of each other outside the womb, while they seemed to interact so much with each other inside.”

The star shares photos of her little darlings

Before concluding her talk about this major event in her life, Sidibe revealed that her most important advice for parents expecting twins is to “get them used to the same daily routine. It's a must!”

She also explained what she and her husband are most looking forward to as new parents of twins.

“We are looking forward to the outfits and dressing them up, singing with them, going on trips, exploring the world and raising them to be good people,” Sidibe said.

Check out photos of Sidibe and Frankel's bundle of joy below.

Diggzy/Shutterstock EXCLUSIVE – Congratulations are in order for Gabourey Sidibe as she and her husband welcome twins (a boy and a girl)! The 41-year-old Oscar-nominated actress exclusively revealed to Shutterstock that she and her husband Brandon Frankel welcomed twins (a boy and a girl) in early April. Diggzy/Shutterstock Diggzy/Shutterstock Congratulations are in order for Gabourey Sidibe as she and her husband welcome twins (a boy and a girl)! Diggzy/Shutterstock Diggzy/Shutterstock Congratulations are in order for Gabourey Sidibe as she and her husband welcome twins (a boy and a girl)! Diggzy/Shutterstock Diggzy/Shutterstock EXCLUSIVE – Congratulations are in order for Gabourey Sidibe as she and her husband welcome twins (a boy and a girl)! Diggzy/Shutterstock Diggzy/Shutterstock Congratulations are in order for Gabourey Sidibe who and her husband are welcoming TWINS (boy and girl)! Diggzy/Shutterstock Diggzy/Shutterstock EXCLUSIVE – Congratulations are in order for Gabourey Sidibe who and her husband are welcoming TWINS (boy and girl)! Diggzy/Shutterstock Diggzy/Shutterstock Congratulations are in order for Gabourey Sidibe who and her husband are welcoming TWINS (boy and girl)! Diggzy/Shutterstock Diggzy/Shutterstock EXCLUSIVE – Congratulations are in order for Gabourey Sidibe who and her husband are welcoming TWINS (boy and girl)! Diggzy/Shutterstock Diggzy/Shutterstock Congratulations are in order for Gabourey Sidibe who and her husband are welcoming TWINS (boy and girl)! Diggzy/Shutterstock Diggzy/Shutterstock EXCLUSIVE – Congratulations are in order for Gabourey Sidibe as she and her husband welcome twins (boy and girl)! Diggzy/Shutterstock Diggzy/Shutterstock

This is how Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe revealed her pregnancy

As The Shade Room previously reported, Sidibe and her husband announced their pregnancy in February. At the time, the “Precious” star revealed on Instagram that she was expecting not one, but two precious gifts!

“I'm pregnant! We thought it was time to give our cats some responsibility so we're giving each of them a baby to take care of! Twice as many babies, twice as many cats, twice as much fun!! Twins due! Twins, twins, four!!,” she wrote on the platform.

RELATED TOPICS: Congratulations! 'Precious' Star Gabby Sidibe Reveals DOUBLE Surprise in Pregnancy Announcement (Photos)
Categories
Science

Success! SpaceX's Starship causes a sensation throughout its fourth flight take a look at

Success! SpaceX's Starship causes a sensation during its fourth flight test

SpaceX's Starship today received top marks in its fourth unmanned flight test, making significant progress in developing a launch system that will land NASA astronauts on the moon as early as 2026.

The Super Heavy booster lifted off at 7:50 a.m. CT (5:50 a.m. PT) from SpaceX's Starbase complex in South Texas, taking to the skies using 32 of its 33 methane-fueled Raptor engines. Considered the world's most powerful launch vehicle, Super Heavy has 16.7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.

A few minutes after launch, the rocket's upper stage – the so-called ship – separated from the first stage and ignited its own six Raptor engines. In the meantime, Super Heavy flew independently to a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

The soft splashdown was a new achievement for Starship. During the third flight test in March, only a few of the Super Heavy's engines were able to restart for a decisive landing. As a result, the booster hit the water with an uncontrolled splash.

SpaceX plans to have the super-heavy booster eventually fly back to its base on its own once its work is done.

The upper stage reached an orbit of over 200 kilometers, but reaching a full orbit was not part of today's plan. Instead, SpaceX planned to gently splash Ship itself down in the Indian Ocean.

Streaming video transmitted over SpaceX's Starlink satellite network showed the rocket's protective shell glowing from the heat of reentering the atmosphere. Burning debris broke off one of Ship's control fins, damaging the camera's lens — but the blurry view still confirmed that the spacecraft successfully hit the target. This was another step up from the third test, when Ship broke apart during its descent into the ocean.

“Despite the loss of many tiles and a damaged hatch, Starship made it to a soft landing in the ocean!” rejoiced SpaceX founder Elon Musk in a post on his social media platform X.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson also congratulated X, noting that the successful test was a plus for the space agency's Artemis lunar program. “We are one step closer to returning humanity to the moon with Artemis – and then we look to Mars,” he wrote.

A modified version of Ship is planned to serve as the lunar lander for Artemis 3. This would be the first manned mission to the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972. This mission is currently planned for 2026, but the timing depends in part on whether the Starship system is ready in time.

SpaceX's unmanned flight tests follow a phased plan to make Starship ready for a wide range of missions – including deploying hundreds of Starlink satellites, point-to-point travel between spaceports on Earth, and manned odysseys to the Moon, Mars and beyond.

In these early tests, the Starship rockets are still without a payload. “We've said it before and we'll say it 9,000 times: The data is the payload,” said SpaceX commentator Dan Huot during today's flight test.

But as the development program progresses, the scope of flight testing will expand to include multi-orbit operations, payload deployments and precision landings on landing pads. Ahead of today's test, SpaceX and the Federal Aviation Administration worked out an agreement to streamline the approval process for future flight tests.

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Categories
Sport

PSG owes Kylian Mbappé bonus plus 2 months’ wage – sources

PSG owes Kylian Mbappé bonus plus 2 months’ salary – sources

  • Julien Laurens, correspondentJune 5, 2024, 12:09 PM ET

Sources told ESPN that Paris Saint-Germain has not yet paid Kylian Mbappé his bonus and two months' salary for 2024. This fact also contributed to his comments on Tuesday that he was dissatisfied with the club.

On Tuesday, Mbappé said in his first press conference since joining Real Madrid on a free transfer that certain people at PSG made him “unhappy”.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, NWSL and more (USA)

Sources told ESPN on Wednesday that PSG found his comments “ungrateful,” adding that PSG would not pay the 80 million euros ($86 million) in back pay in salary and bonuses to recoup the money for his departure, which the sources said Mbappé had already agreed to with PSG in August.

According to sources, Mbappé is demanding the outstanding payment as PSG benched him for the end of the season after he informed them of his departure from the club.

He is entitled to his February bonus as well as wages for April and May, and it remains to be seen whether the club will also pay him his June salary, sources said.

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Sources denied that anyone at the club told Mbappé he would never play again during the season, adding that the club had tried everything possible to keep him happy and entertained over the past seven years.

At a press conference with the French national team on Tuesday, Mbappé said the Paris club had informed him that he would not play at all in the 2023-24 season.

Mbappé was involved in a dispute with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi last summer over whether he would extend his contract beyond the end of the season and thanked club manager Luis Enrique and sporting director Luis Campos for “saving” him.

“[The club] “They made it clear to me that I wasn't going to play. They told me to my face, they told me with all their might,” said Mbappé. “Luis Enrique and Luis Campos saved me. Without them, I would never have set foot on the pitch again. The mere fact that I played made me very proud, but next year I will certainly not be satisfied with a year like that.”

Sources told ESPN that PSG wants to push forward a new project that is more based on collective strength.

Mbappé was close to joining Real Madrid in the summer of 2022, but ultimately decided to sign a new contract at the Parc des Princes.

In an interview with ESPN FC Daily on Tuesday, former Real Madrid midfielder Steve McManaman said he believes the past could complicate his start at the Bernabeu.

“I think he's got a lot of fans to win over,” said McManaman. “I think it's fitting that he joins them now when they've won their 15th Champions League and are top of the list. But yes, he agreed to join them two years ago and then backed out at the last minute. He's joining the team at a really exciting and important time for the future and for himself.”

He added: “If he wants to be the world superstar, considered the very best, he has to be better than Vinícius Júnior, who will win the Ballon d'Or this year. He has to be better than Jude Bellingham, he has to score more goals because Jude, as you would expect, will have to go back to midfield.”

Categories
Health

Scientists develop ultra-thin battery that might be charged by tears

Scientists develop ultra-thin battery that could be charged by tears

Scientist Lee Seok Woo said a scene from the movie “Mission Impossible” inspired his latest invention: batteries for smart contact lenses.

In the fourth film in the series, an agent wears contact lenses that enable facial recognition and eye tracking. Lee wanted to make this lens a reality.

“I asked myself, 'How can I work in the field of smart contact lenses?'” the associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Nanyang Technological University told CNBC's “The Edge.”

Lee's expertise in battery components served as a starting point for his foray into wearable technology. He realized that smart contact lenses would require safe and compact batteries, which would be critical to the continued development of these devices.

Contact lenses themselves are extremely thin at 0.5mm, so the size and flexibility of these batteries are crucial to avoid discomfort for the user.

“The thickness of our battery is about 0.2 mm, which is about twice the thickness of a human hair,” Lee said.

A demonstration of how a smart contact lens would fit on a human eye model.

Lauren Choo |

Lee and his team have invented a battery that can be powered by a biocompatible saline solution as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries that contain flammable materials.

This new battery can be charged using a traditional wire method or a chemical method. The battery is coated with glucose and when immersed in a salt solution, the glucose reacts with the sodium and chloride ions and charges it.

Scientists at NTU in Singapore demonstrate how the battery of a smart contact lens can be charged using the conventional cable method.

Lauren Choo |

After eight hours of chemical charging, the battery can reach 80% of its full capacity. It can then be used for several hours during the day.

However, there is another unusual way to power the battery.

“Tear solution also contains glucose, which means your tears can charge the battery even while you're wearing the contact lens,” Lee said.

“If you cry more, you can recharge your battery more.”

A scientist presents an intelligent contact lens equipped with a working prototype of a microbattery.

Lauren Choo |

Currently, the capacity and voltage of the battery are still very low. Using the two methods, the battery can only produce a voltage of about 0.3V – 0.6V. The standard voltage for an AA battery is 1.5V.

At this point, this power is not enough to power data storage or an internet connection, but the team is working on developing battery specifications.

Lee has identified a potential partner in the healthcare sector.

“We use glucose as biofuel. There are many diabetics who check their glucose levels daily,” Lee said.

“We investigated how we could measure glucose levels while the user is wearing the contact lens.”

Despite the potential promise of such innovation, Lee believes costs should be kept low given the capacity of the batteries.

“Once the product is in serious commercial use, the cost of the battery should be only a few dollars.”

Categories
Technology

Dutch chip big NXP plans $7.eight billion plant in Singapore amid tensions with China

Dutch chip giant NXP plans $7.8 billion plant in Singapore amid tensions with China

Dutch semiconductor group NXP has partnered with TSMC-backed Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) to create a $7.8 billion (€7.2 billion) Chip factory in Singapore.

The new factory will produce 300 mm silicon wafers for chips in the size range of 130 to 40 nanometers, which are used in industrial, automotive, consumer and mobile applications.

These chips are less advanced than those that TSMC itself makes in Taiwan. But the 300 million wafer capacity is a first for VIS, which currently produces 200mm wafers at its existing Singapore plant. The larger size of the 300 million wafers will allow it to produce a higher number of chips.

Construction of the factory is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2024, with production starting in 2027. The two companies expect to produce 55,000 wafers per month in 2029.

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As part of the joint venture, VIS will invest $2.4 billion (€2.2 billion) for a 60% stake. NXP will hold 40% of the equity and support the project with $1.6 billion (1.5 billion €)The remaining funding comes from (unspecified) third-party donors.

“NXP continues to take proactive steps to ensure it has a manufacturing base that offers competitive costs, supply control and geographic resilience to support our long-term growth objectives,” Kurt Sievers, president and CEO of NXP, said in a statement.

Diversification of chip supply chains

Geographical resilience is critical to ensuring diversified supply chains, particularly in an increasingly unstable geopolitical landscape.

Tensions between the US and China and fears of a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan have fueled concerns about the concentration of global chip production in just a few countries.

Taiwan is one of these countries and produces about 90 percent of the world's most advanced chips. China, on the other hand, dominates the market for low-end semiconductors.

Against this backdrop, Southeast Asian countries have emerged as an attractive investment alternative for American and European chipmakers. German company Infineon, US company Micron Technology and NXP have already established their presence in Singapore through a previous partnership with TSMC.

Categories
Science

Sea Floor Temperature Blues – What’s Going On?

Sea Surface Temperature Blues – What’s Going On?

Guest article by Willis Eschenbach

In the X-Twitterverse, I see Roger Hallam (@RogerHallamCS21) doing his best to scare people. Here is his Xtweet:

If there was ever a data point proving that humanity is inevitably entering a period of revolutionary societal upheaval, it is the upper right point on this graph.

Global sea level temperature for the first 5 months of 2024 is literally beyond good and evil. The superexponential hypothesis is alive and active.

In everyday life, this means that the situation will become so bad that political regimes will collapse so quickly that they will fall like dominoes.

I say it again and again: The key question of our time is: WHAT COMES NEXT? Fascism or radical democracy?

Figure 1. Roger Coppock's diagram referenced in Roger Hallam's tweet.

So what's not to like about this chart?

Well, first of all, each point on the graph represents a full year of data… except for the point on the top right, which only has 5 months of data, from January to May. If I remember correctly, this is called “comparing apples to orange peels” or something like that. And in any case, under whatever name… this is not done.

Also, by averaging over several years, they threw away about 90% of the data. Why don't we use monthly data if we have it?

And the idea that a few months of higher-than-average sea levels “prove that humanity is inevitably entering a period of revolutionary social upheaval” is also a joke. It assumes that we have never experienced such a rapid rise in sea surface temperatures before.

So what would a real graph of the ERSST data look like? To answer this question, as usual, I got the underlying data and plotted it. Here is the result.

Figure 2. Plot of the complete ERSST.V5 monthly sea surface temperature (SST) dataset. Periods with red line and blue background are times of rapid warming or cooling.

Well, there are several interesting things about this dataset. First, there were two times in the past, around 1878 and around 1942, when we observed similarly large jumps in sea surface temperature. I've highlighted both of these anomalies in red, along with the current warming. Oddly, neither of them led to, what was it… “a period of revolutionary social unrest.” In fact, no one would have known about these events if there had been no thermometers.

I mean, when was the last time you woke up and thought, “Wow, it actually feels like the global sea surface temperature is a quarter of a degree Celsius warmer than it was a few months ago!”?

So what caused the temperature jumps of 1878 and 1942? And more importantly, why did the temperature return to the status quo ante so quickly in both cases?

As we always said during the many seasons I spent as a commercial fisherman, “More unsolved mysteries of the sea.”

And although CO2 levels rose in the half century between 1860 and 1910, sea surface temperatures fell during that time… just imagine. Another unsolved mystery of the ocean…

Next, there is a relatively strong cycle with a period of about 9.1 years in the data… too short to be related to sunspots. Why nine+ years? Damn these mysteries!

Finally, we come to the question mark in the top right corner of Figure 1 – what will tomorrow bring? My first guess would be that it will do the same as it has in the past: rise and fall again. However, to get a better sense of where it's headed, Figure 2 shows a closer look at the most recent portion of the same data as in Figure 1, with the same yellow/red smoothed lines as in Figure 1.

Figure 2. The same data as in Figure 1, but only showing the current sea surface temperature since 2016. The yellow/red lines are the same CEEMD smoothing of the data as in Figure 1

And that reveals a curious fact… ocean surface temperatures are not rising as Hallam and Coppock claim. Quite the opposite – temperatures peaked in August of last year, 2023, and have generally been falling in the nine months since then.

Finally, we can see why, in the Hallam/Coppock graph, the average of the temperature data for the first five months of 2024 is so much higher than the average for the entire twelve months of 2023, even though sea surface temperatures have been falling for nine months.

TL;DR version: We may indeed be heading into a “period of revolutionary social change,” but it is not because of a single, very misleading point on the global sea surface temperature graph…

Best wishes to everyone, now I have to mow the lawn.

w.

Yes, you have heard it before: When commenting, please quote the exact words you are debating. I can defend my words, but I cannot defend your interpretation of my words.

And if you want to prove me wrong, here are instructions on how to prove Willis wrong.

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Categories
Entertainment

Jennie Garth's daughter Fiona appears to be like all grown up in promenade images

Jennie Garth's daughter Fiona looks all grown up in prom photos

Jennie Garth tells us everything we want to hear about prom.

After all, the former actress from Beverly Hills, 90210 couldn’t help but put the spotlight on her and Peter Faccinelli's daughter Fiona before her high school dance.

“This will be my second to last prom with my girls,” Jennie wrote on Instagram on June 4. “It's always so much fun helping them dress up and feel beautiful. Enjoying every moment of this journey. It goes by so fast…”

The 17-year-old posed outside in a black, figure-hugging dress with a side slit and black strappy pumps. She accessorized with two silver bracelets and opted for radiant make-up.

While she raved about her daughter's look for the dance, the 52-year-old admitted that she didn't bring out her inner seamstress for this dress.

“PS Sorry to disappoint you,” she added. “I didn't make Fiona's dress myself this year. Maybe next year!”