CaaC (John)

Villarreal-Atletico Madrid will not be played in Miami after court ruling Plans to play Villarreal's home game against Atletico Madrid on 6 December in Miami have been abandoned. A Spanish court has decided not to grant "interim measures" to allow La Liga to stage the game as a decisive case on the issue of matches being held abroad is to take place in early 2020. The planned game is being blocked by the Spanish Football Association. The court will make a final ruling on whether the FA can prevent La Liga from holding a game in the US in February. Last year Barcelona abandoned plans to play a game against Girona in Miami because of a "lack of consensus". FULL REPORT

Nasa probes oxygen mystery on Mars The oxygen in Martian air is changing in a way that can't currently be explained by known chemical processes. That's the claim of scientists working on the Curiosity rover mission, who have been taking measurements of the gas. They discovered that the amount of oxygen in Martian "air" rose by 30% in spring and summer. The pattern remains a mystery, but researchers are beginning to narrow the possibilities. While the changes are most likely to be geological in nature, planetary scientists can't completely rule out an explanation involving microbial life. The results come from nearly six Earth years' (three Martian years') worth of data from the Sample Analysis at Mars (Sam) instrument, a portable chemistry lab in the belly of the Curiosity rover. The scientists measured seasonal changes in gases that fill the air directly above the surface of Gale Crater on Mars, where Curiosity landed. published their findings in the journal JGR-Planets. The Martian atmosphere is overwhelmingly composed of carbon dioxide (CO2), with smaller amounts of other gases such as molecular nitrogen (N2), argon (Ar), molecular oxygen (O2) and methane (CH4). Curiosity rover senses methane spike So where did the Mars methane go? Can this box answer the biggest question on Mars? Agencies aim to bring back rocks from Mars Nitrogen and argon followed a predictable seasonal pattern, changing according to how much CO2 was in the air (which is in turn linked to changes in air pressure). They expected oxygen to follow this pattern too, but it didn't. Oxygen rose during each northern hemisphere spring and then fell in the autumn. They considered the possibility that CO2 or water (H2O) molecules released oxygen when they broke apart in the atmosphere, leading to a short-lived rise. But it would take five times more water than there actually is to produce the additional oxygen, and CO2 breaks up too slowly to generate it over such a short time. "We know oxygen is created and destroyed on Mars through the energy provided by sunlight breaking down CO2 and H2O, both of which are observed in the atmosphere of Mars. The thing that doesn't make sense is the size of the variation - it doesn't match what we expect to see," Dr Manish Patel, from the Open University - who was not involved with the study, told BBC News. "Given that Curiosity makes measurements at the surface of Mars, it is tempting to think that this is coming from the surface - but we have no evidence for that. Geologically-speaking, it seems unlikely - I can't think of a process that would fit." Dr Timothy McConnochie, from the University of Maryland in College Park, who is one of the authors on the JGR-Planets paper, told the BBC: "You can measure the water vapour molecules in the Martian atmosphere and you can measure the change in oxygen... There just aren't enough water molecules. "Mars, in general, has a pretty small amount of water vapour, and there are several times more oxygen atoms that mysteriously appear than there is in the water vapour on the entire planet." They also considered why the oxygen dropped back to levels predicted by known chemistry in the autumn. One idea was that solar radiation could break up oxygen molecules into two atoms, which then escaped into space. But after running the numbers, scientists concluded it would take at least 10 years for the oxygen to disappear in this way. In addition, the seasonal rises aren't perfectly repeatable; the amount of oxygen varies between years. The results imply that something is producing the gas and then taking it away. Dr McConnochie thinks the evidence suggests a source of oxygen in the near-surface. "I think it points to a reservoir (of oxygen) in the soil that interchanges with the atmosphere," he said. "To exchange (with the atmosphere) fairly rapidly on a seasonal timescale it has to be close to the surface. If it's deeper, any process is going to be slower," he told BBC News. Some supporting evidence for this comes from Nasa's Viking landers, which touched down on the Red Planet in the 1970s. Results from the Viking Gas Exchange Experiment (GEX) showed that when the humidity was increased in a chamber containing a sample of Martian soil, it led to a release of oxygen. However, says Dr McConnochie, the temperature in the Viking spacecraft chamber was much warmer than it would be outside, even during spring and summer. This complicates any attempt to apply the results to the Martian environment: "It's a tantalising clue, but it's not helping us solve the problem directly," he explained. Mars does become more humid during spring and summer. Water-ice gets deposited on the poles during the winter. Then, throughout the summer, there is a release of water vapour in the polar regions. There could be a link between the humidification of the entire planet at this time and the release of oxygen. Intriguingly, the changes in oxygen are similar to those seen for methane, which increases in abundance by about 60% in summer for inexplicable reasons. It's unclear whether there's any connection though. Soil sink The methane mystery has attracted much attention over the years because most of Earth's methane is produced by living organisms. Though there are several ways that methane could be released by geological processes on Mars, the production of this gas by microbes living deep beneath the surface remains a tantalising possibility. Oxygen, too, can be produced by microorganisms. The possibility that biology is behind the changing levels of the gas in the Martian atmosphere can't be ruled out. But the scientific bar on such claims is set very high indeed. It's a very remote possibility, but we still don't understand enough about the behaviour of oxygen to use it as an indicator of life. In addition, the near sub-surface of Mars is a very difficult place to live because of the high levels of radiation that leak through the Martian atmosphere, large variations in temperature and limited availability of water. "With current instruments on Mars spacecraft, we have no way of knowing whether biology is producing the springtime rise in oxygen. Abiotic processes look very promising, so we'll need to firmly rule them out first before pursuing microbial contribution," Prof Sushil Atreya, from the University of Michigan, who is a co-author on the study, told BBC News. But he added that future missions would make interrelated measurements that could shed light on Martian habitability. Dr Patel said: "Whilst I believe biological activity in the Martian sub-surface at some point in Mars' history is a real possibility, there is no way to explain this through oxygen-producing microbes - we are missing the copious other indicators that would come along with that. "Maybe it's all hidden, but as a scientist, I can only comment on what we observe - and an extraordinary claim requires an extraordinary observation." The notion of oxygen being locked up in some chemical form in the Martian soil remains much more likely. "One phenomenon that applies to most gas molecules is they stick to surfaces... especially anything with a lot of surface area. That sticking, that adsorption, changes on the basis of temperature," Tim McConnochie explained. "Oxygen is a very active molecule, so it changes to some other form and then sticks and then changes back. The tricky thing is the forms of the oxygen we know about in the Martian soil are the ones that are pretty stable." One of these stable molecules is a compound called perchlorate, which is widespread in Martian soil. It doesn't give up its oxygen easily, but it's possible that exposure to high energy radiation - cosmic rays, for example - could make some of it break down, leaving by-products. One potential by-product is hypochlorite - found in bleach - which is less stable and thus more prone to releasing its oxygen. "I feel we're closer to an idea of how to release it from the soil than we are to an idea of how to sequester it back into the soil," said Tim McConnochie. But he explained: "Presumably there is some cycle that sequesters it." Prof Atreya explained: "There are at least three potential abiotic reservoirs of oxygen in the surface/subsurface of Mars - oxidant, in the form of perchlorates; oxidant in the form of hydrogen peroxide; and oxidised rocks or hydrated minerals. "Water-rock reactions in the past, or even today if liquid water exists beneath the surface or as brines, were most likely responsible for the third reservoir." Dr Patel believes it may not be possible to apply the result from Gale Crater to the whole of Mars. "This has been highlighted by the recent methane measurement, where Curiosity measured a huge amount of methane, but it wasn't detectable by the NOMAD and ACS instruments on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, which makes measurements of these things at a global scale and at higher sensitivity." The authors of the study in JGR-Planets say they are throwing out the problem to scientists in the field, in a bid to harness expertise from across the community. We've learned huge amounts about the Red Planet over the last few decades, but it's clear from this there are still lots of puzzles to crack. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50419917

VAR: Mike Riley tells Premier League club 'improvement is required' Referees' chief Mike Riley has told Premier League clubs that "improvement is required" with the video assistant referee system. The technology has caused frustration and controversy since its introduction at the start of the season. At a meeting on Thursday, Riley gave a full appraisal of VAR with clubs discussing their "grave concerns". The Premier League has promised to improve VAR's consistency and speed and increase communication with fans. The league will also lead a consultation with "fans and other relevant stakeholders" on the technology. Riley spoke for just under two hours at what was described as a fractious four-and-a-half-hour meeting before it was decided no substantive changes would be made this season for fear it would affect the integrity of the competition. FULL REPORT

Lee Child's - Jack Reacher, book number 11 in his series 'Bad Luck and Trouble' ( 2007), read this a few years back when I was working, thought I would give it another read and as per normal all of the Reacher character books are a brilliant read and worth reading over and over again.

I was shite doing this quiz, I got 10/40 Quiz: England higher or lower? Who has most caps? Goals? Clean sheets?

Hayabusa-2: Japan spacecraft leaves asteroid to head home Japan's Hayabusa-2 spacecraft has departed from a faraway asteroid and begun its year-long journey back to Earth. The spacecraft left its orbit around Ryugu on Wednesday with samples of the asteroid in tow. Hayabusa-2 is expected to return to Earth in late 2020, completing its successful multi-year mission. Japan's space agency, Jaxa, said the collected samples could shed light on the origins of the Solar System. Hayabusa-2 first launched in 2014. Three and a half years later, it reached the asteroid Ryugu, located about 300 million km (190 million miles) from Earth. Following its arrival in June 2018, the spacecraft made touchdowns twice, collecting data and rock samples from the Ryugu - a primitive space rock leftover from the early days of the Solar System. FULL REPORT

Secrets of the largest ape that ever lived A fossilised tooth left behind by the largest ape that ever lived is shedding new light on the evolution of apes. Gigantopithecus blacki was thought to stand nearly three metres tall and tip the scales at 600kg. In an astonishing advance, scientists have obtained molecular evidence from a two-million-year-old fossil molar tooth found in a Chinese cave. The mystery ape is a distant relative of orangutans, sharing a common ancestor around 12 million years ago. "It would have been a distant cousin (of orangutans), in the sense that its closest living relatives are orangutans, compared to other living great apes such as gorillas or chimpanzees or us," said Dr Frido Welker, from the University of Copenhagen Human evolution hopes The research, reported in Nature, is based on comparing the ancient protein sequence of the tooth of the extinct ape, believed to be a female, with apes alive today. 'Astonishing' fossil ape discovery revealed Mystery ape found in an ancient tomb. Obtaining skeletal protein from a two-million-year-old fossil is rare if not unprecedented, raising hopes of being able to look even further back in time at other ancient ancestors, including humans, who lived in warmer regions. There is a much poorer chance of being able to find ancient DNA or proteins in tropical climates, where samples tend to degrade quicker. "This study suggests that ancient proteins might be a suitable molecule surviving across most of the recent human evolution even for areas like Africa or Asia and we could thereby in the future study our own evolution as a species over a very long time span," Dr Welker told BBC News. Extinction clues Gigantopithecus blacki was first identified in 1935 based on a single tooth sample. The ape is thought to have lived in Southeast Asia from two million years ago to 300,000 years ago. Many teeth and four partial jawbones have been identified but the animal's relationship to other great ape species has been hard to decipher. The ape reached massive proportions, exceeding that of living gorillas, based on analysis of the few bones that have been found. It is thought to have gone extinct when the environment changed from forest to savannah. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50409541

Napoli could be forced to sell 28-year-old Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who has been linked with Manchester United, and 32-year-old Belgium forward Dries Mertens, who is thought to be a target for Arsenal, for cut-price fees after a poor start to the season. (Ilmattino - in Italian) Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici has been spotted in Manchester, with rumours of a swap deal involving Manchester United's 26-year-old France midfielder Paul Pogba and the Italian giants' Croatian forward Mario Mandzukic, 33. (Talksport)

Callum Hudson-Odoi: One chat with Frank Lampard convinced Chelsea winger to stay Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi says it took only one conversation with new boss Frank Lampard to convince him to stay at Stamford Bridge. The 19-year-old handed in a transfer request in January after Chelsea rejected a £35m bid from Bayern Munich. But he broke into Maurizio Sarri's side last season and has impressed for Lampard who took charge in the summer. "He wants me to play for him," Hudson-Odoi said. "They were encouraging signs that you want to hear from a manager." FULL REPORT

SLIDES - 1/20 The annual Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards highlight hilarious photos of animals in the wild. The contest aims to raise awareness about wildlife conservation. The overall winning photo, entitled "Grab life by the..." and taken by Sarah Skinner, shows a young lion cub in a poorly aimed pounce.

The snowman-shaped target of NASA’s New Horizons mission gets a brand-new name A snowman-shaped object that NASA probe New Horizons flew by in early 2019 now has a brand-new name. On November 12th, NASA officials announced that the item is formerly known as MU69 — and once nicknamed Ultima Thule — would now have the name Arrokoth, which is the word for “sky” in the Powhatan / Algonquian language. Arrokoth remains the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft — located approximately 4 billion miles away from Earth in a distant region of the Solar System called the Kuiper Belt. The name was chosen because the team of scientists who operate New Horizons is based in Maryland — the land where the Powhatan people lived historically, and where many still live today. NASA says that they consulted with Powhatan tribal elders and representatives before deciding on the name. “We graciously accept this gift from the Powhatan people,” Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Science division said in NASA’s announcement of the name. “Bestowing the name Arrokoth signifies the strength and endurance of the indigenous Algonquian people of the Chesapeake region.” The name Arrokoth replaces the former official designation of 2014 MU69 — which doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. It also replaces the object’s nickname, Ultima Thule, a name that dated to ancient Rome and meant “beyond the limits of the known world.” The term was appropriated by the predecessor of the Nazi Party. That made NASA’s original choice of nickname highly controversial. The object itself has fascinated researchers since its discovery in 2014. It wasn’t until 2017 that researchers got any clue what Arrokoth looked like. Interest-only increased after the New Horizons spacecraft zipped by it on New Year’s Day 2019. Images from that flyby revealed that the object was far flatter than originally anticipated, and researchers are still analyzing data from the mission. “Data from the newly-named Arrokoth, has given us clues about the formation of planets and our cosmic origins,” Marc Buie, one of the people who discovered Arrokoth, said in a statement. “We believe this ancient body, composed of two distinct lobes that merged into one entity, may harbour answers that contribute to our understanding of the origin of life on Earth.” https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/snowman-shaped-target-of-nasas-new-horizons-mission-gets-a-brand-new-name/ar-BBWGBv0?ocid=chromentp

A Golden Oldie, watching it right now, Jon Voight in The Odessa File (1974), never goes amiss this film, read the book too.

Fiorentina have made an approach for ex-Inter Milan boss Luciano Spalletti with patience running low with Vincenzo Montella. (Football Italia)

Real Madrid are considering a world-record offer of £340m for Paris St Germain's 20-year-old striker Kylian Mbappe. (Le Parisien via Calciomercato)

Some people 'genetically wired' to avoid some vegetables Hate eating certain vegetables? It could be down to your genes, say US scientists who have done some new research. Inheriting two copies of the unpleasant taste gene provides a "ruin-your-day level of bitterness" to foods like broccoli and sprouts, they say. It could explain why some people find it difficult to include enough vegetables in their diet, they suggest. The gene may also make beer, coffee and dark chocolate taste unpleasant. In evolutionary terms, being sensitive to bitter taste may be beneficial - protecting humans from eating things that could be poisonous. But Dr Jennifer Smith and colleagues from the University of Kentucky School of Medicine say it can also mean some people struggle to eat their recommended five-a-day of fresh fruit and veg. Why don't we all like the same foods? The man who discovered umami The man who discovered umami Everyone inherits two copies of a taste gene called TAS2R38. It encodes for a protein in the taste receptors on the tongue which allows us to taste bitterness. People who inherit two copies of a variant of the gene TAS2R38, called AVI, are not sensitive to bitter tastes from certain chemicals. Those with one copy of AVI and another called PAV perceive bitter tastes of these chemicals, but not to such an extreme degree as individuals with two copies of PAV, often called "super-tasters", who find the same foods exceptionally bitter. The scientists studied 175 people and found those with two copies of the bitter taste PAV version of the gene ate only small amounts of leafy green vegetables, which are good for the heart. Dr Smith told medics at a meeting of the American Heart Association: "You have to consider how things taste if you really want your patient to follow nutrition guidelines." The researchers hope to explore whether using spices could help mask the bitter taste and make vegetables more appealing for people who are hard-wired to dislike certain varieties. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-50387126

Arsenal manager Unai Emery will be given the next six games to prove he is still the man for the job at Emirates Stadium. (Standard)

Endangered hoiho penguin wins New Zealand's bird of the year poll © Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images NEW ZEALAND - 2008/12/16: A Yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) on a slope on Enderby Island, a sub-Antarctic Island in the Auckland Island group, New Zealand. An antisocial penguin that communicates by screaming has won New Zealand’s hotly contested bird of the year poll. But the victory of the hoiho, or yellow-eyed penguin, has served to underscore the threat to its existence: it received more votes than there are hoiho remaining on the planet. The birds are charismatic and gorgeous, “a magnificent version of a penguin”, said Yolanda van Heezik, an associate professor of zoology at the University of Otago. She added that the penguins – the world’s rarest – could become extinct on mainland New Zealand within 30 years without drastic action by conservation authorities. Monday’s result was the first time a seabird has won the title since the competition began 14 years ago, and it was something of an underdog victory: the hoiho placed 12th in 2018. At final count, the hoiho won 12,022 out of 43,460 verified votes, said Forest and Bird, the independent conservation group that runs the poll. Only 225 pairs of hoiho remain on mainland New Zealand, with 1,700 pairs left when populations on the sub-Antarctic islands are included. The annual poll is taken so seriously in New Zealand that full-size billboards were commissioned by rival campaigns in the major cities, and voters were forced to validate their identities for the first time. Past voting scandals have involved foreign actors – in 2018, Australians – attempting to hack the election (in the Australians’ case, to favour the shag). Unlike the huddled penguins of wildlife documentaries, yellow-eyed penguins are reclusive, said Thor Elley, a campaign spokesman and a zoology student. “They’re a very antisocial species,” he said. “They don’t nest within sight of other penguins.” But when mates do return home to each other, they stand upright, flipper to flipper, and begin what Dr van Heezik called “an ecstatic ceremony”. “They are screamingly happy to see each other again,” she said. The hoiho is just one of many endangered New Zealand species with bleak prospects, said Dr van Heezink, and were under threat from climate change, fisheries, and disease. She said the government had conservation plans in place for the birds but could be doing more, and she hoped the publicity generated by the bird of the year win would spur greater action. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/endangered-hoiho-penguin-wins-new-zealands-bird-of-the-year-poll/ar-BBWAZfd?li=AAg17eQ#image=BBzYCtr|1

Vietnam deer rediscovered after nearly 30 years © - A still from a remote camera shows the Silver-backed Chevrotain -- long considered to be near-extinct -- in a forest in central Vietnam A very rare species of small, deer-like animal thought to be on the verge of extinction has been spotted in the northwestern jungle of Vietnam for the first time in nearly 30 years. Known as the Silver-backed Chevrotain or Mouse deer, a specimen was last recorded in 1990, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution. The species, Tragulus Versicolor, was first described in 1910 based on several animals found near Nha Trang, about 450 kilometres (280 miles) northeast of Ho Chi Minh City. With no confirmed sightings since 1990, experts assumed the species must have been pushed to the brink of extinction by hunting. However Vietnamese biologist An Nguyen, who works with Global Wildlife Conservation and is a PhD student at the Leibnitze Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, had been wondering for years whether the Silver-backed Chevrotain might still be holding on somewhere. Gallery: Polar bears and 50 other species threatened by climate change (Stacker) SLIDES - 1/52 Working with colleagues Barney Long and Andrew Tilker, the experts got together with local villagers to sift through reported sightings. Some were consistent enough with the Silver-backed Chevrotain to justify putting up more than 30 motion-activated cameras in nearby forested habitats. "The results were amazing. I was overjoyed when we checked the camera traps and saw photographs of a chevrotain with silver flanks," said Nguyen. Tilker cautioned in a blog post however that "just because we found this species relatively easily doesn't mean it is not threatened". Forests in Southeast Asia are under tremendous pressure from growing populations and development "so we need to get ahead of the curve" on conservation, Tilker added. In May, a United Nations body of biodiversity experts, known as IPBES, issued a landmark report warning that up to one million species face the risk of extinction due to humanity's impact on the planet. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/vietnam-deer-rediscovered-after-nearly-30-years/ar-BBWB6Xk?ocid=chromentp

German goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, 27, defends his criticism of his Barcelona team-mates. (Bild Sport - in German)

He's got his great daddies blood in him, tbh I could never work out why he never landed at OT and played for us, like father like son.

Never liked a goalkeeper as a captain, it's always has been a defender or a midfielder for me, I know Peter "The Great" Schmeichel captained United in the treble year final but that was a one-off because Keane was suspended. Don't get me wrong, DeGea would be ok as v/c and maybe captain the side if the current United captain was rested or injured, but not full time, you need a captain that's in the thick of things and can yell the lads on just like the great United captains of the past in Cantona, Keane, Robson, Rio, Vidic, Bruce...

23 Countries That No Longer Exist and the History Behind Them SLIDES - 1/24 There are 195 countries in the world today, some of which the U.S. government prefers you not visit, but this number has changed over the centuries. Throughout history, borders have rarely remained static, with new countries forming and others ceasing to exist. Many nations were created organically as a group of people had a common culture and language. Other countries were formed simply because of geography -- such as these 25 smallest countries and territories in the world. Some were created following mass migrations, and some were established after the breakup of bigger empires or countries into smaller states, and others were established following wars and treaties. To account for the changes in our world over time, 24/7 Wall St. has compiled a list of countries that no longer exist.

That's so haunting, it's like sitting in a truck or car in the middle of an American or Australia outback and just looking at the surrounding hills and scenery, spell-bounding and to think all that is, is NASA's Curiosity all by itself, "Beam me up, please "

‘I am scared all the time’: Chimps and people are clashing in rural Uganda SLIDES - 1/11 Editor's note: This story contains graphic descriptions of violence that may be upsetting to some readers. Life was already hard enough for Ntegeka Semata and her family, scratching out a subsistence on their little patch of garden land along a ridgeline in western Uganda. They could barely grow food for themselves, and now a group of desperate, bold, crop-raiding chimpanzees threatened their livelihood, maybe even their safety. The chimps had been coming closer for a year or two, prowling all throughout Kyamajaka village, searching for food, ripping bananas from the trees, grabbing mangoes and papayas and whatever else tempted them. They had helped themselves to jackfruit from a tree near the Semata house. But on July 20, 2014, scary tribulations gave way to horror—a form of horror that has struck other Ugandan families as well. That was the day when a single big chimp, probably an adult male, snatched the Semata family’s toddler son, Mujuni, and killed him FULL REPORT