ReportWire

Tag: Stars

  • NASA unveils close-up pictures of the comet popping by from another star

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    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA unveiled close-up pictures on Wednesday of the interstellar comet that’s making a quick one-and-done tour of the solar system.

    Discovered over the summer, the comet known as 3I/Atlas is only the third confirmed object to visit our corner of the cosmos from another star. It zipped harmlessly past Mars last month.

    Three NASA spacecraft on and near the red planet zoomed in on the comet as it passed just 18 million miles (29 million kilometers) away, revealing a fuzzy white blob. The European Space Agency’s two satellites around Mars also made observations.

    Other NASA spacecraft will remain on the lookout in the weeks ahead, including the Webb Space Telescope. At the same time, astronomers are aiming their ground telescopes at the approaching comet, which is about 190 million miles (307 million kilometers) from Earth. The Virtual Telescope Project’s Gianluca Masi zoomed in Wednesday from Italy.

    The comet is visible from Earth in the predawn sky by using binoculars or a telescope.

    “Everyone that is in control of a telescope wants to look at it because it’s a fascinating and rare opportunity,” said NASA’s acting astrophysics director, Shawn Domagal-Goldman.

    The closest the comet will come to Earth is 167 million miles (269 million kilometers) in mid-December. Then it will hightail it back into interstellar space, never to return.

    ESA’s Juice spacecraft, bound for Jupiter, has been training its cameras and scientific instruments on the comet all month, particularly after it made its closest pass to the sun. But scientists won’t get any of these observations back until February because Juice’s main antenna is serving as a heat shield while it’s near the sun, limiting the flow of data.

    Named for the telescope in Chile that first spotted it, the comet is believed to be anywhere from 1,444 feet (440 meters) across to 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) across. Observations indicate that the exceptionally fast-moving comet may have originated in a star system older than our own — “which gives me goose bumps to think about,” said NASA scientist Tom Statler.

    “That means that 3I/Atlas is not just a window into another solar system, it’s a window into the deep past and so deep in the past that it predates even the formation of our Earth and our sun,” Statler told reporters.

    NASA officials were quick to dispel rumors that this friendly solar system visitor, as they called it, might be an alien ship of some sort. They said that because of the federal government shutdown, they weren’t able to respond to all the theories cropping up in recent weeks.

    The space agency is always on the hunt for life beyond Earth, “but 3I/Atlas is a comet,” said NASA’s associate administrator, Amit Kshatriya.

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    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Thousands of newborn stars dazzle in the latest snapshot by NASA’s telescope

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    This image provided by NASA on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, shows a scene of star birth in Pismis 24, a young star cluster about 5,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpius taken by NASA’s Webb Space Telescope. (NASA via AP)

    The Associated Press

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  • Telescope reveals a growing tail on the comet that’s visiting from another star

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    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Telescope observations reveal a growing tail on the comet that’s visiting from another star.

    Released Thursday, the pictures taken by the Gemini South telescope in Chile late last month are the most detailed yet of the recently discovered comet. They show a wide coma of dust and gas around the ice ball as it speeds toward the sun, and also a tail that’s more extended than it was in previous shots.

    These new images confirm that the comet is becoming more active as it plows harmlessly through our solar system, according to the National Space Foundation’s NoirLab, which operates the telescope. It’s only the third known interstellar object to venture our way.

    As of Thursday, the comet known as 3I-Atlas was 238 million miles (384 million kilometers) from Earth and growing ever nearer, according to NASA. It will make its closest approach to the sun at the end of October and then pass closest to Earth in December from 167 million miles (269 million kilometers) away — farther from Earth than the sun.

    ___

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Scientists Have Identified the Origin of an Extraordinarily Powerful Outer Space Radio Wave

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    The Earth is constantly receiving space signals that contain vital information about extremely energetic phenomena. Among the most peculiar are brief pulses of extremely high-energy radio waves, known as fast radio bursts (FRB). Astronomers compare them to a powerful lighthouse that shines for milliseconds in the middle of a rough, distant sea. Detecting one of these signals is an achievement in itself, but identifying its origin and understanding the nature of its source remains one of the great challenges of science.

    That is why recent research led by Northwestern University in the United States has captured the attention of the astronomical community. The team not only detected one of the brightest FRBs ever recorded, but also traced its origin with unprecedented precision.

    The pulse, identified as RBFLOAT, arrived in March 2025, lasted just a few milliseconds, and released as much energy as the sun produces in four days. Thanks to a new method of analysis, the researchers located its origin in an arm of a spiral galaxy located 130 million light-years away, in the direction of the constellation Ursa Major. The research was published in the journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

    The CHIME radio telescope in Canada, one of the world’s leading FRB observatories, and a subnetwork of smaller stations called Outriggers detected the anomalous outburst. CHIME characterized the signal, while the Outriggers triangulated it to a narrow region of space. Optical and X-ray telescopes then provided complementary data. The team achieved a precision of 13 parsecs, equivalent to 42 light-years, within the galaxy NGC 4141.

    Astronomers had previously pinpointed other FRBs, but in those cases the signals were repeated, which made the analysis easier. “RBFLOAT was the first non-repeating source localized to such precision,” said Sunil Simha, coauthor of the study, in a university statement. “These are much harder to locate. Thus, even detecting RBFLOAT is proof of concept that CHIME is indeed capable of detecting such events and building a statistically interesting sample of FRBs.”

    What Caused the RBFLOAT?

    Scientists are still not sure what causes RBFs, but they have some ideas. Because of the enormous energy they release and the brevity of the phenomenon, it is likely that they originate from extreme cosmic events, such as neutron star mergers, magnetars, or pulsars.

    In the case of RBFLOAT, the data indicate that it is located in a star-forming region with really massive stars. The triangulation places the signal in a galactic arm where new stars are also being born. This suggests that it could be a magnetar, a subclass of neutron star with a magnetic field billions of times stronger than that of the Earth.

    The experience with RBFLOAT will allow the team to apply the same triangulation technique to future signals. The authors estimate that they could achieve about 200 accurate RBF detections per year with just the signals CHIME captures.

    “For years, we’ve known FRBs occur all over the sky, but pinning them down has been painstakingly slow. Now, we can routinely tie them to specific galaxies, even down to neighborhoods within those galaxies,” said Yuxin Dong, another member of the team.

    This story originally appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.

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    Jorge Garay

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  • Most Powerful Fast Radio Burst Ever Detected Hits Telescopes Across North America

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    For almost two decades, astronomers have detected extremely powerful, millisecond-long flashes of radio waves known as fast radio bursts (FRBs) from beyond our galaxy—and had no clue where they came from. Now, a team of scientists has detected the brightest-ever FRB and finally pinpointed its origin to a nearby galaxy.

    Researchers have long suspected that FRBs are the result of highly energetic and violent events, like clashes between neutron stars. But even though they can generate more energy in a burst than our Sun emits in a year, they’re gone in less time than it takes to blink. Due to their transient nature, astronomers have been unable to locate exactly where they originated until now.

    “We were detecting lots of FRBs, but only had crude information on where they were occurring in the sky,” Bryan Gaensler, a co-author of the study and dean of the UC Santa Cruz Science Division, said in a statement. “It was like talking to someone on the phone and not knowing what city or state they were calling from.”

    To which he added: “Now we know not only their exact address, but which room of their house they’re standing in while they’re on the call.”

    The burst’s brightness and its proximity are giving researchers new clues as to not just where the flash originated but also what caused it. The findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

    The GOAT of fast radio bursts

    Astronomers detected this exceptionally bright FRB, formally referred to as FRB 20250316A, in March from the direction of the Big Dipper using the CHIME radio telescope in British Columbia. They’re referring to the flash as “RBFLOAT” for “Radio Brightest Flash Of All Time.” The flash produced more energy in a few milliseconds than our Sun produces in four days.

    The astronomers pinpointed the flash thanks to the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME), a large radio telescope in B.C., and its newly completed “outrigger” telescope array, which spans across North America from B.C. to West Virginia. This vast network, which went live a few months ago, is sensitive enough to detect ultrafast, bright radio flashes.

    While many FRBs repeat, pulsing multiple times across several months, RBFLOAT emitted all its energy in just one burst. In hundreds of hours after it was first observed, astronomers did not detect another burst from the source.

    Astronomers traced the burst to a region just 45 light-years across—smaller than the average star cluster—in the outskirts of a galaxy about 130 million light-years away. RBFLOAT occurred along a spiral arm of that galaxy, which is dotted with many star-forming regions. The burst originated near, but not inside, one of these regions, according to the study.

    “It is remarkable that only a couple of months after the full Outrigger array went online, we discovered an extremely bright FRB in a galaxy in our own cosmic neighborhood,” Wen-fai Fong, a senior author on the study and professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern University, said in a statement.

    Solving the cosmic mystery

    Then, using data from the Keck Cosmic Web Imager, a spectrographic instrument on the 10-meter Keck II Telescope in Hawai’i, the researchers were able to study RBFLOAT’s surroundings. This included the physical properties of the gaseous environment the FRB originated from, including the rate of star production in the galaxy, the total amount of gas present at any location in the galaxy, and its density.

    But it’s still a mystery what exactly caused the flash. The team suspects that it was produced by a magnetar—a highly magnetized neutron star left behind after a supernova.

    “Spiral arms are typically sites of ongoing star formation, which supports the idea that it came from a magnetar. Using our extremely sensitive MMT image, we were able to zoom in further and found that the FRB is actually outside the nearest star-forming clump. This location is intriguing because we would expect it to be located within the clump, where star formation is happening,” Northwestern graduate student Yuxin “Vic” Dong and study coauthor said in a statement.

    “This could suggest that the progenitor magnetar was kicked from its birth site or that it was born right at the FRB site and away from the clump’s center,” Dong added.

    With the CHIME Outriggers now fully running, astronomers expect to pinpoint more FRBs each year, perhaps bringing us closer to understanding their origins.

    “This result marks a turning point,” study author Amanda Cook, a postdoctoral researcher at McGill University, said in a statement. “Instead of just detecting these mysterious flashes, we can now see exactly where they are coming from. It opens the door for discovering whether they are caused by dying stars, exotic magnetic objects or something we haven’t even thought of yet.”

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    Natalia Mesa

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  • Michelin Will Announce Chicago, D.C., and New York Stars in December

    Michelin Will Announce Chicago, D.C., and New York Stars in December

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    Chicago restaurants must wait until December to learn if they’ve earned a Michelin star. Like last year, the tire guide will bundle announcements for Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C. at a private party held in New York.

    Michelin will announce on Monday, December 9 at a ceremony held at the Glasshouse in New York. Last year’s announcement came in November, and the big news was Smyth joined Alinea as the only two restaurants in Chicago will a full three Michelin stars. Daisies also received a Green Star which recognizes a commitment to environmental sustainability. There is some irony as the tire company created the guide to encourage car travel.

    Twenty-one Chicago restaurants have Michelin stars, one of the highest restaurant honors. But in recent years, local tourism boards have been attracting the Michelin Guide to their cities to help boost travel. Some have questioned whether this waters down the honor. The bib gourmands, a designation that recognizes value for the money, will also be announced.

    The guide has been rating restaurants in Chicago since 2011. The guide arrived in New York in 2005 and in D.C. in 2017. The guide is in eight American markets: California, Florida (Miami/Orlando/Tampa), Colorado, Atlanta, and Texas. It’s also in Toronto, Vancouver, Mexico, and Quebec.

    A fundraiser for Northern Thailand

    Northern Thailand has been in crisis with floods and typhoons. The government ordered evacuations, shelters were set up, and hundreds of animals needed rescue. Waters have since receded, but aid is still required. NaKorn, an upscale restaurant that opened in 2016 in suburban Evanston, is holding a fundraiser dinner to help the community. Proceeds from the Sunday, October 20 event will benefit underprivileged children and families in Thailand. There are two seatings and reservations are available via OpenTable.

    Goose Island’s Rare Day

    Goose Island Beer Co. won’t hold its annual Propreitor’s Day, an event that celebrates the Chicago-area-only release of a Bourbon County Brand Stout variant. It’s the one packaged in a blue box and the flavors change every year. Instead, Goose has unveiled a replacement centering around another variant: Rare Day. The event will take place on Saturday, November 16 at the Goose Island Barrel House. There were two sessions, but the early session has already sold out. Tickets for the $160 event are on sale via Oznr.

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    Ashok Selvam

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  • The largest storm in our solar system is moving unexpectedly, scientists say

    The largest storm in our solar system is moving unexpectedly, scientists say

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    New observations of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot captured by the Hubble Space Telescope show that the 190-year-old storm wiggles like gelatin and shape-shifts like a squeezed stress ball.Related video above: Space Station captures view of colossal Hurricane MiltonThe unexpected observations, which Hubble made over 90 days from December to March, show that the Great Red Spot isn’t as stable as it appears, according to astronomers.The Great Red Spot, or GRS, is an anticyclone, or a large circulation of winds in Jupiter’s atmosphere that rotates around a central area of high pressure along the planet’s southern midlatitude cloud belt. And the long-lived storm is so large — the biggest in the solar system — that Earth could fit inside it.Although storms are generally considered unstable, the Great Red Spot has persisted for nearly two centuries. The observed changes in the storm appear related to its motion and size.A time-lapse of the images shows the vortex “jiggling” like gelatin and expanding and contracting over time.Researchers described the observation in an analysis published in The Planetary Science Journal and presented Wednesday at the 56th annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences in Boise, Idaho.“While we knew its motion varies slightly in its longitude, we didn’t expect to see the size oscillate as well. As far as we know, it’s not been identified before,” said lead study author Amy Simon, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in a statement. “This is really the first time we’ve had the proper imaging cadence of the GRS,” Simon said. “With Hubble’s high resolution we can say that the GRS is definitively squeezing in and out at the same time as it moves faster and slower. That was very unexpected.”A shifting extraterrestrial stormAstronomers have observed the iconic crimson feature for at least 150 years, and sometimes, the observations result in surprises, including the latest revelation that the storm’s oval shape can change dimensions and look skinnier or fatter at times.Recently, a separate team of astronomers peered into the heart of the Great Red Spot using the James Webb Space Telescope to capture new details in infrared light. The Hubble observations were made in visible and ultraviolet light.The study, published Sept. 27 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, revealed that the Great Red Spot is cold in the center, which causes ammonia and water to condense inside the vortex and create thick clouds. The research team also detected the gas phosphine within the storm, which could play “a role in generating those mysterious” red colors that make the Great Red Spot so iconic, said study co-author Leigh Fletcher, a professor of planetary science at the U.K.’s University of Leicester, in a statement.NASA scientists use Hubble’s sharp eye to track the storm’s behavior once a year through the Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy, or OPAL, program, which Simon leads. Scientists use this program to observe the outer planets in our solar system and watch how they change over time.But the new observations were made separately through a program dedicated to studying the Great Red Spot in more detail by watching how the storm changed over a matter of months rather than a singular, yearly snapshot.“To the untrained eye, Jupiter’s striped clouds and famous red storm might appear to be static, stable, and long-lived over many years,” Fletcher said. “But closer inspection shows incredible variability, with chaotic weather patterns just as complex as anything we have here on Earth. Planetary scientists have been striving for years to see patterns in this variation, anything that might give us a handle on the physics underpinning this complex system.”Fletcher was not involved in the new study.The insights gathered from the program’s observations of the largest storms in our solar system can help scientists understand what weather may be like on exoplanets orbiting other stars. That knowledge can broaden their understanding of meteorological processes beyond ones we experience on Earth.Simon’s team used Hubble’s high-resolution images to take a detailed look at the size, shape and color changes of the Great Red Spot.“When we look closely, we see a lot of things are changing from day to day,” Simon said.The changes included a brightening of the storm’s core when the Great Red Spot is at its largest size as it oscillates.“As it accelerates and decelerates, the GRS is pushing against the windy jet streams to the north and south of it,” said study co-author Mike Wong, a planetary scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, in a statement. “It’s similar to a sandwich where the slices of bread are forced to bulge out when there’s too much filling in the middle.”On Neptune, dark spots can drift across the planet since no strong jet streams are holding them in place, Wong said, while the Great Red Spot is trapped between jet streams at a southern latitude on Jupiter.A shrinking spotAstronomers have noticed the Great Red Spot shrinking since the OPAL program began a decade ago and predict that it will continue to shrink until it reaches a stable, less-elongated shape, which could reduce the wobble.“Right now it’s over-filling its latitude band relative to the wind field. Once it shrinks inside that band the winds will really be holding it in place,” Simon said.The new Hubble study fills in more pieces of the puzzle about the Great Red Spot, Fletcher said. While scientists have known that the westward drift of the storm has an unexplained 90-day oscillation, the accelerating and decelerating pattern doesn’t seem to change although the storm is shrinking, he said.“By watching the GRS over a few months, Hubble has shown that the anticyclone itself is changing its shape along with this oscillation,” Fletcher said. “The shape change is important, as it may be affecting how the edge of the vortex interacts with other passing storms. Besides the gorgeous Hubble imagery, this study shows the power of observing atmospheric systems over long periods of time. You need that sort of monitoring to spot these patterns, and it’s clear that the longer you watch, the more structure you see in the chaotic weather.”

    New observations of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot captured by the Hubble Space Telescope show that the 190-year-old storm wiggles like gelatin and shape-shifts like a squeezed stress ball.

    Related video above: Space Station captures view of colossal Hurricane Milton

    The unexpected observations, which Hubble made over 90 days from December to March, show that the Great Red Spot isn’t as stable as it appears, according to astronomers.

    The Great Red Spot, or GRS, is an anticyclone, or a large circulation of winds in Jupiter’s atmosphere that rotates around a central area of high pressure along the planet’s southern midlatitude cloud belt. And the long-lived storm is so large — the biggest in the solar system — that Earth could fit inside it.

    Although storms are generally considered unstable, the Great Red Spot has persisted for nearly two centuries. The observed changes in the storm appear related to its motion and size.

    A time-lapse of the images shows the vortex “jiggling” like gelatin and expanding and contracting over time.

    Researchers described the observation in an analysis published in The Planetary Science Journal and presented Wednesday at the 56th annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences in Boise, Idaho.

    “While we knew its motion varies slightly in its longitude, we didn’t expect to see the size oscillate as well. As far as we know, it’s not been identified before,” said lead study author Amy Simon, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in a statement.

    “This is really the first time we’ve had the proper imaging cadence of the GRS,” Simon said. “With Hubble’s high resolution we can say that the GRS is definitively squeezing in and out at the same time as it moves faster and slower. That was very unexpected.”

    NASA/ESA/STScI/Amy Simon via CNN Newsource

    A shifting extraterrestrial storm

    Astronomers have observed the iconic crimson feature for at least 150 years, and sometimes, the observations result in surprises, including the latest revelation that the storm’s oval shape can change dimensions and look skinnier or fatter at times.

    Recently, a separate team of astronomers peered into the heart of the Great Red Spot using the James Webb Space Telescope to capture new details in infrared light. The Hubble observations were made in visible and ultraviolet light.

    The study, published Sept. 27 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, revealed that the Great Red Spot is cold in the center, which causes ammonia and water to condense inside the vortex and create thick clouds. The research team also detected the gas phosphine within the storm, which could play “a role in generating those mysterious” red colors that make the Great Red Spot so iconic, said study co-author Leigh Fletcher, a professor of planetary science at the U.K.’s University of Leicester, in a statement.

    NASA scientists use Hubble’s sharp eye to track the storm’s behavior once a year through the Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy, or OPAL, program, which Simon leads. Scientists use this program to observe the outer planets in our solar system and watch how they change over time.

    But the new observations were made separately through a program dedicated to studying the Great Red Spot in more detail by watching how the storm changed over a matter of months rather than a singular, yearly snapshot.

    “To the untrained eye, Jupiter’s striped clouds and famous red storm might appear to be static, stable, and long-lived over many years,” Fletcher said. “But closer inspection shows incredible variability, with chaotic weather patterns just as complex as anything we have here on Earth. Planetary scientists have been striving for years to see patterns in this variation, anything that might give us a handle on the physics underpinning this complex system.”

    Fletcher was not involved in the new study.

    The insights gathered from the program’s observations of the largest storms in our solar system can help scientists understand what weather may be like on exoplanets orbiting other stars. That knowledge can broaden their understanding of meteorological processes beyond ones we experience on Earth.

    Simon’s team used Hubble’s high-resolution images to take a detailed look at the size, shape and color changes of the Great Red Spot.

    “When we look closely, we see a lot of things are changing from day to day,” Simon said.

    The changes included a brightening of the storm’s core when the Great Red Spot is at its largest size as it oscillates.

    “As it accelerates and decelerates, the GRS is pushing against the windy jet streams to the north and south of it,” said study co-author Mike Wong, a planetary scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, in a statement. “It’s similar to a sandwich where the slices of bread are forced to bulge out when there’s too much filling in the middle.”

    On Neptune, dark spots can drift across the planet since no strong jet streams are holding them in place, Wong said, while the Great Red Spot is trapped between jet streams at a southern latitude on Jupiter.

    Hubble's images allowed scientists to measure the Great Red Spot's size, shape, brightness and color over one full oscillation cycle.

    NASA/ESA/Amy Simon via CNN Newsource

    A shrinking spot

    Astronomers have noticed the Great Red Spot shrinking since the OPAL program began a decade ago and predict that it will continue to shrink until it reaches a stable, less-elongated shape, which could reduce the wobble.

    “Right now it’s over-filling its latitude band relative to the wind field. Once it shrinks inside that band the winds will really be holding it in place,” Simon said.

    The new Hubble study fills in more pieces of the puzzle about the Great Red Spot, Fletcher said. While scientists have known that the westward drift of the storm has an unexplained 90-day oscillation, the accelerating and decelerating pattern doesn’t seem to change although the storm is shrinking, he said.

    “By watching the GRS over a few months, Hubble has shown that the anticyclone itself is changing its shape along with this oscillation,” Fletcher said. “The shape change is important, as it may be affecting how the edge of the vortex interacts with other passing storms. Besides the gorgeous Hubble imagery, this study shows the power of observing atmospheric systems over long periods of time. You need that sort of monitoring to spot these patterns, and it’s clear that the longer you watch, the more structure you see in the chaotic weather.”

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  • Stopping The Downward Spiral – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    Stopping The Downward Spiral – Philadelphia Sports Nation

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    NCAA Football is Once Again a Philly Autumn Obsession.
    But Is the Local Feel Fading Away?

    Suppose you haven’t gotten an opportunity to take in some great Pennsylvania High School Football yet this fall. In that case,  you still have plenty of time to enjoy a Friday night frenzy or Saturday spectacular at many Philadelphia area high school fields or stadiums.

    You may even get an opportunity to see a 4th and short trademarked Philadelphia bulldozing, pile-driving-tush push — but not from the Eagles (at least not until Sunday).

    For most of us, fall plans of leaf raking and errand running must be worked on Saturday around the national obsession of college football.

    However, seeing some of the nation’s marquee matchups is proving more difficult in the Philadelphia area each year.

    Temple Football

    Sep 26, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Temple Owls wide receiver Dante Wright (5) celebrates his touchdown against the Army Black Knights during the second half at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images
    Sep 26, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Temple Owls wide receiver Dante Wright (5) celebrates his touchdown against the Army Black Knights during the second half at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images PHOTO: Danny Wild/Imagn Images

    Temple Football, the preeminent Football Program in Philadelphia dating back to 1894 and once influenced by the great Pop Warner, hasn’t gone to a bowl game since 2019 and hasn’t won one since 2017.

    Between 1990 and 2009, Temple Football didn’t have a winning season. Instead, it held on to the promise of a newly constructed stadium in Philadelphia, which has not yet happened.

    LaSalle Football

    LaSalle College and then LaSalle University — who developed a football program during the US Depression era in 1931 until it was discontinued in 2007 due to funding issues. From 1931 until 2007, the football program had only seven winning seasons.

    We’ll have to wait to see if the beginnings of a resurgence in LaSalle’s athletic programs beginning in 2025 will include a return to football.

    Villanova Football

    Perhaps Philadelphia’s saving grace in football lies in its suburbs. Villanova, with a combined record of 647–495–41 (a winning percentage of .564), a legacy since 1894, and one claimed National Championship in 2009. Or the University of Delaware — with its six Division I FCS National Titles, 24 playoff appearances, and 17 Conference Titles.

    Penn Football

    Sitting snugly on the University of Penn campus is one hundred thirty-year-old Franklin Field, whose Gilded-Age Era exterior facade of Weightman Hall has seen six of Penn’s seven national championships, last won in 1924.

    The Eagles beat the Packers in 1960, and the Philadelphia Stars won a USFL title in 1984. It is the oldest college football stadium still in use today.

    The Philadelphia region’s PIAA already boasts one of the best high school football programs in the country.
    Its surrounding PA suburbs deserve the same great experience on Saturday as on Friday.

    PHOTO: Danny Wild/Imagn Images

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    Michael Thomas Leibrandt

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  • How to See the Conjunction Between Mars, Jupiter, and the Moon This August

    How to See the Conjunction Between Mars, Jupiter, and the Moon This August

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    This story originally appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.

    August has delivered many spectacular sights in the night sky: a supermoon, meteor showers, and supercharged auroras. Mars and Jupiter also currently appear unusually close together in the night sky, in what’s known as a conjunction. They appeared closest during the early morning of August 14 and are now gradually moving apart, and won’t be this close again in the sky until 2033.

    But while they are still close, at the end of the month—on August 27—they’ll be joined by a third protagonist, the moon, producing a rare triple conjunction of the three bodies close together. The moon will be in its crescent phase, and according to the constellation-tracking app Star Walk, will be 40 percent illuminated. This decrease in brightness will make it possible to see the red dot of Mars and the larger star Jupiter next to it.

    The Jupiter—Mars conjunction as it appeared on August 14.

    NASA

    It isn’t necessary to have telescopes or binoculars to enjoy the conjunction, although it’s essential to be in a place away from light pollution. Photographers with experience viewing astronomical events recommend going to a high place to view the phenomenon, such as a mountain or the roof of a house—but if you do, make sure you are well sheltered and protected from the cold.

    NASA indicates that the triangle between the moon, Mars, and Jupiter will be visible to the west, one hour before sunrise. If a viewer uses advanced observing instruments, they will also be able to see the red-giant stars Aldebaran above the triangle and Betelgeuse below in the northern hemisphere.

    Conjunción entre la Luna Júpiter y Marte el 27 de agosto de 2024.

    How the triple conjunction will appear on August 27.

    NASA

    Distinguishing Between Planets and Stars

    Although they may look similar in the sky, planets and stars do not behave the same way. Stars maintain a fixed position that changes according only to the season of the year. The planets, on the other hand, move throughout the night along a line known as an ecliptic. In addition, the stars twinkle or appear to vary in brightness, while the planets maintain a constant luminosity.

    Only five planets can be seen with the naked eye from Earth: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury. Each body appears regularly in the sky, but because they move at different speeds and their distance from Earth varies, they have unique behaviors at night. For example, Mercury and Venus can be seen only at dusk or dawn, while Mars or Jupiter shine throughout the night.

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    Jorge Garay

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  • Remembering Julius Russell, Caterer to the Stars and Mentor to Black Chicago Chefs

    Remembering Julius Russell, Caterer to the Stars and Mentor to Black Chicago Chefs

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    Julius Russell was an influential chef, caterer, and a much-needed mentor in Chicago’s community of Black chefs. A South Side native, Russell founded a private chef and catering brand, A Tale of Two Chefs, and frequently shared his French and Creole culinary expertise — using his familiar resonant baritone — on TV and other media.

    “For young Black chefs, he was the Green Book — he could be your personal Green Book,” says private chef and consultant Maurice Wells, a longtime friend and mentee.

    Russell also cooked for celebrity clients, including NBA stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, and the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. Chicago’s culinary community is mourning the loss of Russell, who died from natural causes on Saturday, March 30. He was 58. Funeral services were held on Tuesday, April 16 at Calahan Funeral Home in Englewood.

    Wells says his friend knew the importance of being a role model and didn’t care about the costs: “He’d send you an Uber, he’d buy you lunch, he’d go to Restaurant Depot and grab a bunch of things just so you could learn how to properly chop onions to make soup and stock.”

    Julius Russell appeared at food festivals including Chicago Gourmet and Taste of Chicago.
    Maurice Wells

    Born in 1970 at Cook County Hospital and raised in Englewood, Russell spent his career cultivating a persona that reflected his wide range of kitchen experiences. Within him, he espoused, there were two chefs: Chef Julius, a skilled French culinary technician who honed his skill at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris; and “Chef Tiki,” a heartfelt advocate for indulgent comfort food (a value instilled in childhood at his mother’s and grandmothers’ tables) and Creole cuisine, which he studied at the New Orleans School of Cooking.

    “He enjoyed cooking more than many chefs I know,” says Brian Jupiter, the chef and co-owner of Frontier in West Town and Ina Mae Tavern in Wicker Park.

    For more than a decade, Jupiter counted Russell as a friend and collaborator: “Food excited him… When we’d do these menus together, he’d change the menu like 20 times! His mind was always on food and creating.”

    Though he had little interest in the grind of a restaurant kitchen, Russell held pop-ups and cooking demonstrations around town food festivals like Taste of Chicago and Chicago Gourmet. He became a familiar face with TV appearances on Fox 32 Chicago and WGN. he built a following within the athletic community, cooking for pro stars and even appearing on a 2009 episode of The Big Ten Cookout on the Big Ten Network. Though he spoke virtually no Spanish, Russell served as a culinary ambassador, working with the Chilean government from 2013 to 2019 to highlight the country’s food scene in the U.S.

    Wells credits Russell’s late wife, public relations and marketing specialist Jada Russell, for teaching her husband how to share his story and food with the world. She died from breast cancer in 2019 within months of her diagnosis. After his wife’s death, the chef raised funds for cancer research and supporting awareness projects like the American Cancer Society’s Men Wear Pink program.

    Wells and Russell were also writing a book together — a kind of roadmap for young Black chefs — which Wells still plans to complete.

    “When you see people who are as unselfish with knowledge and time as he was, that’s always going to leave a big void,” Jupiter says. “Chefs like myself and the [Virtue chef] Erick Williams of the world, we have to absorb some of that and make sure — even more than we have before — that people feel like they [have someone to] rely on when they feel stuck on their journey in this industry.”

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    Naomi Waxman

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  • Carolina Hurricanes can’t find their offense again, fall to Dallas Stars at PNC Arena

    Carolina Hurricanes can’t find their offense again, fall to Dallas Stars at PNC Arena

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    Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) stops the scoring attempt by Carolina Hurricanes center Martin Necas (88) during the first period at PNC Arena.

    Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) stops the scoring attempt by Carolina Hurricanes center Martin Necas (88) during the first period at PNC Arena.


    James Guillory

    James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

    Raleigh

    The Carolina Hurricanes’ past two games, against the Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars, had one thing in common: Sebastian Aho had the only Canes goal.

    One was enough against the Panthers, but not the Stars.

    Dallas finished off a season sweep of the Hurricanes on Saturday, taking a 2-1 victory at PNC Arena to end a four-game winless streak that had tested the patience of Stars coach Peter DeBoer.

    Goalie Jake Oettinger had 21 saves in earning his 21st win of the season, allowing only the Aho goal in the second period. The goals came from Jason Robertson in the first and Wyatt Johnston in the second as the Stars managed just 16 shots against the Canes and goalie Pyotr Kochetkov.

    “We didn’t get any bounces and they made two real nice plays on the goals,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We had a few chances but it wasn’t a ton, that’s for sure.”

    DeBoer questioned his team’s compete level during the four-game stumble. He didn’t have to Saturday as the Stars won enough board fights and neutral-zone battles, and blocked 25 shots.

    “They did a real nice job and I thought we did, too,” Brind’Amour said. “We played a great game. To hold a team like that to 16 shots is pretty good. But they’re a good team and they blocked 20-plus shots tonight. It was a hard-fought game and there wasn’t a lot of room and we didn’t find it.”

    The Canes (34-18-5) were not as sharp and not nearly as emotionally invested as they were against the Panthers.

    There’s bad blood between the Canes and Panthers after last year’s playoff series and it showed Thursday as Carolina won 1-0 on Aho’s late goal.

    Several players went at it when the game ended. One of the Canes players was Kochetkov, who moments after his 44-save shutout jumped into the skirmish along the boards, later saying: “These guys no touch my guys.”

    As exciting and intense as Thursday’s game was, Saturday’s was more of a grind.

    “It looked like we were a little lethargic at times,” Canes captain Jordan Staal said. “Obviously it wasn’t the same jump. But it’s the NHL. We had a sold-out crowd looking for a big game and we disappointed a little bit.”

    Robertson scored in the first period just after the Canes’ Brent Burns blistered a shot that hit the crossbar.

    “That’s the game, inches one way or the other,” Brind’Amour said. “It certainly was not in our favor tonight.”

    Johnston’s goal, which was the winner, came off the rush in the second for a 2-1 lead. His shot went through the legs of Canes defenseman Jaccob Slavin and was on Kochetkov quickly at 8:15 of the period.

    Aho’s 22nd of the season tied the score 1-1 early in the second. Taking a pass from Jesper Fast out of the neutral zone, he skated through two Stars players down the slot and beat Oettinger high to the glove.

    The Stars (35-16-8) began the third on a power play after Canes defenseman Dmitry Orlov was called for an interference penalty with a half-second left in the second. The Canes killed it off, but Orlov then had another penalty for tripping in the third that put the penalty killers back to work.

    “The PK pulled through for us again,” Staal said,

    The Canes had a power play eight minutes into the third, with a chance to tie it, but did little with it. They pulled Kochetkov for an extra attacker in the final minutes but Oettinger made a scrambling save on a Martin Necas shot with 19 seconds remaining.

    Dallas, which beat the Canes 4-2 at home Feb. 13, did it again 11 days later. A common thread: Robertson, always the sniper, scored in both games.

    The Hurricanes finish off a back-to-back set with a game Sunday at Buffalo. Goalie Spencer Martin is expected to be the starter for the Canes, who then have road games at Minnesota and Columbus.

    This story was originally published February 24, 2024, 10:40 PM.

    In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.

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    Chip Alexander

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  • Martin Scorsese Looks Back on ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ Scene in ‘Mean Streets’

    Martin Scorsese Looks Back on ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ Scene in ‘Mean Streets’

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    “I think it reflects, for me, who we were at that time — who we thought we were, maybe, growing up in that area,” Martin Scorsese told James Corden of the 1968 Rolling Stones song he chose for Mean Streets.

    Scorsese is the latest guest on This Life of Mine with James Corden, a new interview show exclusive to SiriusXM where guests pick the music, possessions, memories, places, people, and more that made them who they are.

    On previous episodes, Jeremy Renner shared never-before-heard details of his near-death snow plow accident, Odell Beckham Jr. looked back on the one-handed catch that changed his life, and Kim Kardashian read a letter her father wrote her when she was 13.

    Martin Scorsese’s Defining Song: “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”

    Scorsese chose the Rolling Stones song “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” to share on This Life of Mine with James Corden — a song he used in his film Mean Streets (1973) starring Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro.

    “I think it reflects, for me, who we were at that time — who we thought we were, maybe, growing up in that area. You see it in Mean Streets. The song’s there, but you feel that swaggering, to a certain extent,” Scorsese told James. “A sense of danger, a great use of language … It’s being knocked around in life and making you stronger. But the most incredible rock ‘n’ roll you can imagine. That’s a very important piece.”

    “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” plays in the film when the audience is first introduced to De Niro’s character, Johnny Boy, as he enters a bar with a woman on each arm. Scorsese’s runner-up song choice was “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes, also featured on Mean Streets.

    When James asked Scorsese if he knows what song he’s going to use before he even starts a film, Scorsese said yes. He even had “Layla” by Derek and the Dominos playing on set when they shot the pink Cadillac and garbage truck scene in Goodfellas (1990).

    “So that’s a picture you’ve painted long before you’ve ever stepped on that set,” James said.

    “It all comes from the music,” Scorsese confirmed, “whether it’s the rock music of that period, whether it’s British rock like [Eric] Clapton and Cream and Derek and the Dominos or Blind Faith, even.”

    Killers of the Flower Moon — the 2023 epic western crime drama based on the book of the same name that Scorsese co-wrote, produced, and directed — is nominated for 10 awards at the upcoming 96th Oscars, including Music (Original Score) and Best Picture.

    Martin Scorsese talks about growing up in New York City, having a child at 56, his wife’s enduring strength, the contents of his briefcase, and more in the latest episode of This Life of Mine with James Corden, now available to stream on the SiriusXM app. New episodes premiere Thursdays at 5pm ET exclusively on Stars (Ch. 109).

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    Jackie Kolgraf

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  • ‘Oppenheimer’ wins Christopher Nolan a best director prize and more at British Academy Film Awards

    ‘Oppenheimer’ wins Christopher Nolan a best director prize and more at British Academy Film Awards

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    Stars from both sides of the Atlantic and beyond converged in London Sunday for the 77th British Academy Film Awards, where atom-bomb epic “Oppenheimer” could smash a 53-year-old record if it makes good on its field-leading 13 nominations.Christopher Nolan ‘s biopic of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer was up for trophies including best film, best director and best actor for star Cillian Murphy. A good night could see it surpass the record nine awards won by “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” at the BAFTAs in 1971.It was guaranteed at least five prizes when Nolan won his first best-director BAFTA, having also won trophies for editing, cinematography and musical score, as well as the best supporting actor prize for Robert Downey Jr.”Oppenheimer” faced stiff competition in what’s widely considered a vintage year for cinema, and an awards season energized by the end of actors’ and writers’ strikes that shut down Hollywood for months.Holocaust drama ” The Zone of Interest” — a British-produced film shot in Poland with a largely German cast — was named both best British film and best film not in English, a first.Jonathan Glazer’s unsettling drama takes place in a family home just outside the walls of Auschwitz.”Walls aren’t new from before or since the Holocaust and it seems stark right now that we should care about innocent people being killed in Gaza or Yemen or Mariupol or Israel,” producer James Wilson said. “Thank you for recognizing a film that asks us to think in those spaces.”Gothic fantasia “Poor Things” had 11 nominations, including best film, director for Yorgos Lanthimos and actress for Emma Stone. Historical epic “Killers of the Flower Moon” had nine for the awards, officially called the EE BAFTA Film Awards.The ceremony, hosted by “Doctor Who” star David Tennant — who entered wearing a kilt and sequined top while carrying a dog named Bark Ruffalo — is a glitzy, British-accented appetizer for Hollywood’s Academy Awards, closely watched for hints about who might win at the Oscars on March 10.The prize for original screenplay, went to French courtroom drama “Anatomy of a Fall.” The film about a woman on trial over the death of her husband was written by director Justine Triet and her partner, Arthur Harari.”It’s a fiction, and we are reasonably fine,” Triet joked.Da’Vine Joy Randolph was named best supporting actress for playing a boarding school cook in “The Holdovers” and said she felt a “responsibility I don’t take lightly” to tell the stories of underrepresented people like her character Mary.Cord Jefferson won the adapted screenplay prize for the satirical “American Fiction,” about the struggles of an African-American novelistJefferson said he hoped the success of the movie “maybe changes the minds of the people who are in charge of greenlighting films and TV shows, allows them to be less risk-averse.”Ukraine war documentary “20 Days in Mariupol,” produced by The Associated Press and PBS “Frontline,” won the prize for best documentary.”This is not about us,” said filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov, who captured the harrowing reality of life in the besieged city with an AP team. “This is about Ukraine, about the people of Mariupol.”Chernov said the story of the city and its fall into Russian occupation “is a symbol of struggle and a symbol of faith. Thank you for empowering our voice and let’s just keep fighting.”Other leading award contenders included “The Holdovers” and Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro” — each with seven nominations — and grief-flecked love story “All of Us Strangers” with six. Barbed class-war dramedy “Saltburn ” has five nominations.” Barbie,” one half of 2023’s “Barbenheimer” box office juggernaut and the year’s top-grossing film, also had five nominations but missed out on nods for best picture and best director. Many saw the omission of “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig — for both the BAFTAs and the Oscars — as a major snub.The best film race pits “Oppenheimer” against “Poor Things,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Holdovers.”Britain’s film academy introduced changes to increase the awards’ diversity in 2020, when no women were nominated as best director for the seventh year running and all 20 nominees in the lead and supporting performer categories were white. However, Triet was the only woman among this year’s six best-director nominees.A woman of color could take the best actress BAFTA for the first time, with Fantasia Barrino for “The Color Purple” and Vivian Oparah for “Rye Lane” nominated alongside Sandra Hüller for “Anatomy of a Fall,” Mulligan for “Maestro,” Margot Robbie for “Barbie” and Stone for “Poor Things.”No British performers are nominated in the best-actor category, but Ireland is represented by Murphy for “Oppenheimer” and Barry Keoghan for “Saltburn.” They’re up against Cooper for “Maestro,” Colman Domingo for civil rights biopic “Rustin,” Paul Giamatti for “The Holdovers” and Teo Yoo for “Past Lives.”Before the ceremony, nominees including Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Rosamund Pike, Ryan Gosling and Ayo Edebiri all walked the red carpet at London’s Royal Festival Hall, along with presenters Andrew Scott, Cate Blanchett and David Beckham.Guest of honor was Prince William, in his role as president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He arrived without his wife, Kate, who is recovering from abdominal surgery last month.The ceremony included musical performances by “Ted Lasso” star Hannah Waddingham, singing “Time After Time,” and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, singing her 2001 hit “Murder on the Dancefloor,” which shot back up the charts after featuring in “Saltburn.”Actress Samantha Morton received the academy’s highest honor, the BAFTA Fellowship, and film curator June Givanni, founder of the June Givanni PanAfrican Cinema Archive, was honored for outstanding British contribution to cinema.Sunday’s ceremony was being broadcast on BBC One in the U.K. from 1900GMT, and on streaming service BritBox in the U.S., Canada, Australia and South Africa.___Hilary Fox contributed to this story.

    Stars from both sides of the Atlantic and beyond converged in London Sunday for the 77th British Academy Film Awards, where atom-bomb epic “Oppenheimer” could smash a 53-year-old record if it makes good on its field-leading 13 nominations.

    Christopher Nolan ‘s biopic of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer was up for trophies including best film, best director and best actor for star Cillian Murphy. A good night could see it surpass the record nine awards won by “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” at the BAFTAs in 1971.

    It was guaranteed at least five prizes when Nolan won his first best-director BAFTA, having also won trophies for editing, cinematography and musical score, as well as the best supporting actor prize for Robert Downey Jr.

    “Oppenheimer” faced stiff competition in what’s widely considered a vintage year for cinema, and an awards season energized by the end of actors’ and writers’ strikes that shut down Hollywood for months.

    Holocaust drama ” The Zone of Interest” — a British-produced film shot in Poland with a largely German cast — was named both best British film and best film not in English, a first.

    Jonathan Glazer’s unsettling drama takes place in a family home just outside the walls of Auschwitz.

    “Walls aren’t new from before or since the Holocaust and it seems stark right now that we should care about innocent people being killed in Gaza or Yemen or Mariupol or Israel,” producer James Wilson said. “Thank you for recognizing a film that asks us to think in those spaces.”

    Gothic fantasia “Poor Things” had 11 nominations, including best film, director for Yorgos Lanthimos and actress for Emma Stone. Historical epic “Killers of the Flower Moon” had nine for the awards, officially called the EE BAFTA Film Awards.

    The ceremony, hosted by “Doctor Who” star David Tennant — who entered wearing a kilt and sequined top while carrying a dog named Bark Ruffalo — is a glitzy, British-accented appetizer for Hollywood’s Academy Awards, closely watched for hints about who might win at the Oscars on March 10.

    The prize for original screenplay, went to French courtroom drama “Anatomy of a Fall.” The film about a woman on trial over the death of her husband was written by director Justine Triet and her partner, Arthur Harari.

    “It’s a fiction, and we are reasonably fine,” Triet joked.

    Da’Vine Joy Randolph was named best supporting actress for playing a boarding school cook in “The Holdovers” and said she felt a “responsibility I don’t take lightly” to tell the stories of underrepresented people like her character Mary.

    Cord Jefferson won the adapted screenplay prize for the satirical “American Fiction,” about the struggles of an African-American novelist

    Jefferson said he hoped the success of the movie “maybe changes the minds of the people who are in charge of greenlighting films and TV shows, allows them to be less risk-averse.”

    Ukraine war documentary “20 Days in Mariupol,” produced by The Associated Press and PBS “Frontline,” won the prize for best documentary.

    “This is not about us,” said filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov, who captured the harrowing reality of life in the besieged city with an AP team. “This is about Ukraine, about the people of Mariupol.”

    Chernov said the story of the city and its fall into Russian occupation “is a symbol of struggle and a symbol of faith. Thank you for empowering our voice and let’s just keep fighting.”

    Other leading award contenders included “The Holdovers” and Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro” — each with seven nominations — and grief-flecked love story “All of Us Strangers” with six. Barbed class-war dramedy “Saltburn ” has five nominations.

    ” Barbie,” one half of 2023’s “Barbenheimer” box office juggernaut and the year’s top-grossing film, also had five nominations but missed out on nods for best picture and best director. Many saw the omission of “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig — for both the BAFTAs and the Oscars — as a major snub.

    The best film race pits “Oppenheimer” against “Poor Things,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Holdovers.”

    Britain’s film academy introduced changes to increase the awards’ diversity in 2020, when no women were nominated as best director for the seventh year running and all 20 nominees in the lead and supporting performer categories were white. However, Triet was the only woman among this year’s six best-director nominees.

    A woman of color could take the best actress BAFTA for the first time, with Fantasia Barrino for “The Color Purple” and Vivian Oparah for “Rye Lane” nominated alongside Sandra Hüller for “Anatomy of a Fall,” Mulligan for “Maestro,” Margot Robbie for “Barbie” and Stone for “Poor Things.”

    No British performers are nominated in the best-actor category, but Ireland is represented by Murphy for “Oppenheimer” and Barry Keoghan for “Saltburn.” They’re up against Cooper for “Maestro,” Colman Domingo for civil rights biopic “Rustin,” Paul Giamatti for “The Holdovers” and Teo Yoo for “Past Lives.”

    Before the ceremony, nominees including Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Rosamund Pike, Ryan Gosling and Ayo Edebiri all walked the red carpet at London’s Royal Festival Hall, along with presenters Andrew Scott, Cate Blanchett and David Beckham.

    Guest of honor was Prince William, in his role as president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He arrived without his wife, Kate, who is recovering from abdominal surgery last month.

    The ceremony included musical performances by “Ted Lasso” star Hannah Waddingham, singing “Time After Time,” and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, singing her 2001 hit “Murder on the Dancefloor,” which shot back up the charts after featuring in “Saltburn.”

    Actress Samantha Morton received the academy’s highest honor, the BAFTA Fellowship, and film curator June Givanni, founder of the June Givanni PanAfrican Cinema Archive, was honored for outstanding British contribution to cinema.

    Sunday’s ceremony was being broadcast on BBC One in the U.K. from 1900GMT, and on streaming service BritBox in the U.S., Canada, Australia and South Africa.

    ___

    Hilary Fox contributed to this story.

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  • Odell Beckham Jr. Remembers the One-Handed Catch That Changed His Life

    Odell Beckham Jr. Remembers the One-Handed Catch That Changed His Life

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    “I love and I hate that moment,” Odell Beckham Jr. (OBJ) told James Corden of his famous one-handed catch for the Giants in a game against the Dallas Cowboys in 2014.

    OBJ joined James for the second episode of This Life of Mine with James Corden, the new interview show exclusive to SiriusXM where guests pick the memories, possessions, places, people, music, and more that made them who they are. On last week’s debut episode, Jeremy Renner shared never-before-heard details of his near-death snow plow accident.

    “For me, in this environment, with you — my guy — I’m one thousand percent comfortable, which doesn’t happen often,” OBJ said of James.

    OBJ’s Fondest Memory: Preparing for the NFL Since Age Four

    “They amount that catch to my entire career.”

    With two successful athletes for parents, OBJ was a naturally gifted athlete. He considered football his third sport after soccer and basketball. He shared with James that he never felt pressure to become a successful athlete growing up simply because he always knew he would be, in whichever sport he chose.

    As a wide receiver, OBJ played three seasons for the LSU Tigers before being drafted into the NFL by the New York Giants his senior year. He played with the Giants from 2014–2018, and he was then traded to the Cleveland Browns, where he played from 2019–2021 while suffering a torn ACL in 2020. The Browns released him in November 2021, and he signed with the Los Angeles Rams for one year. In Super Bowl LVI, OBJ caught the first touchdown of the game for the Rams before leaving with another ACL tear. Following his injury, he signed a one-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens in 2023, going on to appear in 14 games that season.

    His unforgettable one-handed catch happened during his rookie NFL season. OBJ explained to James that he both loves and hates the moment because “people who probably are not necessarily happy with their lives and would rather focus on someone else’s life than their own — they amount that catch to my entire career.”

    EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - NOVEMBER 23: Odell Beckham #13 of the New York Giants scores a touchdown in the second quarter against Brandon Carr #39 of the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium on November 23, 2014 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

    Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

    “You fell over as Odell, and you stood up as OBJ.”

    During the first play of the second quarter, the Giants had the ball at the Cowboys’ 43 when OBJ, covered by cornerback Brandon Carr, caught a pass from quarterback Eli Manning at the five-yard line with only his right hand while falling backward into the end zone.

    “I remember specifically we called a play, supposed to be an out-and-up route,” he recounted to James, remembering running to the sideline during a timeout to talk to coach Tom Coughlin, whom he begged not to change the play. “This was my opportunity to score a touchdown.”

    Manning told the team not to rush it, OBJ said, but all he heard was “rush it.”

    He continued, “And I run the out-and-up, and I run it just a little fast. I didn’t sell it, but I just was so in the moment … It felt like a moment of slow-mo. It felt like a moment of ‘this is that opportunity.’ And, for me, I’ve been practicing one-handed catches for so long. To me, it was only like, ‘Finally, I caught it one-handed.’ Like, I didn’t know that lightning struck. I didn’t know that my life would forever be changed. I didn’t know the magnitude of the moment.”

    “It does feel like the second that ball lands in your hand … your entire life is before and after that moment,” James remarked. “You fell over as Odell, and you stood up as OBJ.”

    His one-handed catch now lives forever as No. 16 on the NFL’s list of 100 Greatest Plays.

    Odell Beckham Jr. shares more about his childhood, the most important person in his life, building his new house, life after football, and more in the full interview, now available to stream on the SiriusXM app. New episodes of This Life of Mine with James Corden premiere Thursdays at 5pm ET exclusively on Stars (Ch. 109).

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    Jackie Kolgraf

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  • ‘Old Smoker’ Star Discovered Lurking in Milky Way Galaxy | High Times

    ‘Old Smoker’ Star Discovered Lurking in Milky Way Galaxy | High Times

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    A strange new type of star referred to by scientists as an “old smoker” has been discovered after a years-long astronomical study. 

    According to four different studies recently published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, these recently discovered stellar objects are essentially really large and very old stars that emit puffs of what appears to be smoke and dust after many decades of inactivity. 

    These stars were discovered using a powerful giant telescope located deep in the mountains of Chile. Lead author of one study and co-author of the other three, Phillip Lucas, said that thus far, scientists are not completely sure what creates this effect in the old smoker stars. 

    “Everything we have been able to learn about them suggests that this is a case of stars throwing off puffs of smoke—for reasons that we don’t fully understand,” Lucas said. “We weren’t sure if these stars were protostars starting an eruption, or recovering from a dip in brightness caused by a disc or shell of dust in front of the star — or if they were older giant stars throwing off matter in the late stages of their life,” Lucas said

    Originally the studies were focused at finding newborn stars, oftentimes surrounded by dust and gasses making them hard to see. This is why the VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope) in Chile, capable of seeing infrared light, was used to scan the skies for the stars other telescopes would not be able to see. As Dr. Zhen Guo, Fondecyt Postdoc Fellow at the University of Valparaiso in Chile and lead author of two studies explained, these newborn stars often help to form new solar systems over time. 

    “Our main aim was to find rarely-seen newborn stars, also called protostars, while they are undergoing a great outburst that can last for months, years, or even decades,” Guo said. “These outbursts happen in the slowly spinning disc of matter that is forming a new solar system. They help the newborn star in the middle to grow, but make it harder for planets to form. We don’t yet understand why the discs become unstable like this,” Guo said.

    The old smoker stars are a kind of red giant. Red giants are stars which have essentially expired, that is, they’ve run out of hydrogen fuel and have “died” in a sense. This often causes violent energy outbursts from the star for a while. Our own sun will go through this one day in the far off future, swallowing several of the inner planets in the course of its death according to NASA, though the fate of the Earth remains relatively unclear when this happens. Luckily, it’ll be several billion years before this occurs so it will more than likely be somebody else’s problem by then.  

    The team of scientists involved with these studies found several red giants, 21 to be exact, that appeared to be a bit different than those found in the past. They chose seven of these stars to focus on and noticed unusual characteristics that puzzled them, most noticeably the smoke and dust they appeared to exert which is how they received the moniker ‘old smoker.’ 

    “These elderly stars sit quietly for years or decades and then puff out clouds of smoke in a totally unexpected way,” said Dante Minniti, a professor in the department of physics at Andrés Bello University in Chile and coauthor on three of the studies, in a press release “They look very dim and red for several years, to the point that sometimes we can’t see them at all.”

    Most of the stars the team studied were found near the center or the nucleus if you will of the Milky Way Galaxy, known as the innermost nuclear disc. Lucas explained that these newly discovered stars could potentially play a role in the way elements are distributed across the galaxies.

    “Matter ejected from old stars plays a key role in the life cycle of the elements, helping to form the next generation of stars and planets,” Lucas said. “This was thought to occur mainly in a well-studied type of star called a Mira variable. However, the discovery of a new type of star that throws off matter could have wider significance for the spread of heavy elements in the Nuclear Disc and metal-rich regions of other galaxies.”

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    Patrick Maravelias

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  • Jeremy Renner Details the Moments Leading up to and Following His Accident

    Jeremy Renner Details the Moments Leading up to and Following His Accident

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    On the debut episode of James Corden’s new exclusive interview show, This Life of Mine with James Corden — where guests pick the possessions, places, people, music, memories and more that made them who they are — special guest Jeremy Renner shared never-before-revealed details about his near-death accident on New Years Day 2023.

    After choosing “titanium” for his defining possession, as the metal now makes up 15–20% of his body after the accident (“It will be with me forever. It’s like half of my ribs, right?” he said), Jeremy took James through the moments leading up to and immediately following the accident at his rural Nevada home, as well as his healing journey.

    Jeremy Renner’s Place: Lake Tahoe

    Jeremy considers Nevada his “happy place,” even after the accident. He started skiing there as a kid and became really invested in the community as an adult, using it as his main residence for the past decade. He was no stranger to the extreme weather they experienced that New Years that led to his accident.

    “We’re kind of locked down in a giant three-, four-day storm,” Jeremy recalled. “It happens often up there, but this was a pretty gnarly one. It was like snowmageddon. Everything was shut down. We were without power for two to three days. But we were all having fun. There was like 25 of us, celebrating post-Christmas into New Years. And New Year’s Eve was pretty snowy. And we finally got a break in the weather. And like 8-10 feet, I think, fell, and so we had to go kind of clear some snow.”

    He continued, “This is a little bit more snow than typical. And then the power out — we’re kind of used to that. But, you know, going on the third day, it’s starting to get not fun. So when the sun came out, it was great. Everybody’s very, very happy. Everyone’s gonna get the kids skiing.

    “There’s cars that they thought that could make it. They got stuck. Snowmobiles got stuck. So that really trapped us all in no matter what. So I had to get the snowcat,” he said. Specifically, a PistenBully snow groomer. “It’s super reliable because it floats a little bit more on the snow … It’s a big, big monstrous tank. And it’s super, super dependable for this kind of stuff. So I kept pulling all the things out of the way of the driveway ’cause they’re all stuck. So once I got almost all of those out of the way, I was gonna go then plow the driveway. But pulling the last truck out is where the accident happened.”

    Jeremy then recounts exactly how the accident occurred and what he experienced, having never lost consciousness for more than a few minutes if at all while suffering from eight broken ribs, a broken eye socket, a collapsed lung, and more injuries. He actually credits his survival to remaining conscious and forcing himself to keep breathing.

    Why near-death felt “glorious”

    “Recovery was like a one-way road,” he told James. “I wasn’t going to come back from death — which I thought was glorious, by the way … You know, having a near-death experience. I was probably gone on the ice for a minute, at least … I was there for 45 minutes, and I got pretty exhausted breathing. I started getting 18 beats per minute, was my heart rate, and that’s probably almost from death. And you kind of fade. I don’t know if it’s fading in consciousness or just fading out of, like, heart stoppage.”

    But at that moment, Jeremy felt like “all life was grand.” He said, “All life just got better. Everything you know and you love and loved in your life is a two-way street now, and they’re there with you. It’s an energetic thing. There’s no time, place or space or color or anything. It’s just a known peace. And that peace was so glorious — I don’t know why ‘orgasmic’ pops into my head, because it’s not that stimulating. It’s just like a peaceful excitement, and it’s hard to express.”

    He compared it to the “beautiful, exhilarating peace” of childhood feelings around Disneyland or Christmas.

    “I saw light strands that sort of connected me visually,” he added. “There was a visual, it’s that. ‘Cause you’re just constantly connected, always, forever.”

    He was never afraid of death, Jeremy explained, but after experiencing that, now he’s really not afraid.

    In fact, he’s kind of excited for it.

    Jeremy shares the life-defining movie he’s watched over 500 times, his most-cherished childhood memory with his father, the two people who’ve affected his life the most, and more in the full interview, now available to stream on the SiriusXM app. New episodes of This Life of Mine with James Corden premiere Thursdays at 5pm ET exclusively on Stars (Ch. 109).

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    Jackie Kolgraf

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  • Biggest solar flare in years temporarily disrupts radio signals on Earth

    Biggest solar flare in years temporarily disrupts radio signals on Earth

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    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A NASA telescope has captured the biggest solar flare in years, which temporarily knocked out radio communication on Earth.

    The sun spit out the huge flare on Thursday, resulting in two hours of radio interference in parts of the U.S. and other sunlit parts of the world. Scientists said it was the biggest flare since 2017.

    Multiple pilots reported communication disruptions, with the impact felt across the country, said the government’s Space Weather Prediction Center. Scientists are now monitoring this sunspot region and analyzing for a possible outburst of plasma from the sun, also known as a coronal mass ejection, directed at Earth. The eruption occurred in the far northwest section of the sun, according to the center.

    NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory caught the action in extreme ultraviolet light, recording the powerful surge of energy as a huge, bright flash. Launched in 2010, the spacecraft is in an extremely high orbit around Earth, where it constantly monitors the sun.

    The sun is nearing the peak of its 11-year or so solar cycle. Maximum sunspot activity is predicted for 2025.

    ___

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • A partial solar eclipse of the sun, the first stage of a rare “ring of fire” eclipse, is now visible over the Americas

    A partial solar eclipse of the sun, the first stage of a rare “ring of fire” eclipse, is now visible over the Americas

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    A partial solar eclipse of the sun, the first stage of a rare “ring of fire” eclipse, is now visible over the Americas

    ByThe Associated Press

    October 14, 2023, 11:16 AM

    PORTLAND, Ore. — A partial solar eclipse of the sun, the first stage of a rare “ring of fire” eclipse, is now visible over the Americas.

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  • ‘Ring of fire’ solar eclipse will cut across the Americas, stretching from Oregon to Brazil

    ‘Ring of fire’ solar eclipse will cut across the Americas, stretching from Oregon to Brazil

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    PORTLAND, Ore. — A rare “ring of fire” eclipse of the sun cuts across the Americas on Saturday, stretching from Oregon to Brazil.

    For the small towns and cities along its narrow path, there was a mix of excitement, worries about the weather and concerns they’d be overwhelmed by visitors flocking to see the celestial event, also called an annular solar eclipse.

    Unlike a total solar eclipse, the moon doesn’t completely cover the sun during a ring of fire eclipse. When the moon lines up between Earth and the sun, it leaves a bright, blazing border.

    Saturday’s path: Oregon, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Texas in the U.S., with a sliver of California, Arizona and Colorado. Next: Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Brazil. Much of the rest of the Western Hemisphere gets a partial eclipse.

    Viewing all depends on clear skies — part of the U.S. path could see clouds. NASA and other groups planned to livestream it.

    With a chance of rain in its forecast, the small town of Reedsport near Oregon’s Pacific Coast moved its eclipse festival inside so that a bounce house and games wouldn’t get soaked in the mud.

    “But we’re still hoping that we might get a glimpse of it,” said city official Rosa Solano.

    Weather was less of a concern in tiny Baker, Nevada, where the population hovers around 100. Inn and general store owner Liz Woolsey made T-shirts and planned a slate of activities including a drum circle and a dance party. Her seven rooms have been booked for over a year.

    “For a little place, we’re putting on a good show,” said Woolsey, who became an eclipse enthusiast after seeing the 2017 total solar eclipse that swept the U.S. from coast to coast.

    Tens of thousands could get a double treat in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For the city’s annual air balloon fiesta, which ends this weekend, hundreds of colorful hot air balloons lift off around dawn, hours before the eclipse briefly dims the skies.

    Colombia’s Tatacoa desert was playing host to astronomers helping a group of visually impaired people experience the eclipse through raised maps and temperature changes as the moon blots out the sun.

    At the Cancun Planetarium, young visitors built box projectors to indirectly and safely view the ring of fire. The ancient Maya — who called eclipses “broken sun” — may have used dark volcanic glass to protect their eyes, said archeologist Arturo Montero of Tepeyac University in Mexico City.

    Towns and national parks in the path braced for a huge throngs. Officials in Oregon’s Klamath County urged residents to stock up on groceries and fill their gas tanks in case traffic backs up on its two-lane highways. Utah’s Bryce Canyon expected Saturday to be the park’s busiest day of the year, spokesperson Peter Densmore said. Brazil’s Pedra da Boca state park, known for its rocky outcrops for climbing and rappelling was also expecting crowds.

    The entire eclipse — from the moment the moon starts to obscure the sun until it’s back to normal — is 2 1/2 to three hours at any given spot. The ring of fire portion lasts from three to five minutes, depending on location.

    Next April, a total solar eclipse will crisscross the U.S. in the opposite direction. That one will begin in Mexico and go from Texas to New England before ending in eastern Canada.

    The next ring of fire eclipse is in October next year at the southernmost tip of South America. Antarctica gets one in 2026. It will be 2039 before another ring of fire is visible in the U.S., and Alaska will be the only state in its direct path.

    ____

    AP reporters Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Astrid Suarez in Bogota, Colombia, María Verza in Cancun, Mexico, and Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo, Brazil, contributed.

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  • India launches a spacecraft to study the sun after successful landing near the moon’s south pole

    India launches a spacecraft to study the sun after successful landing near the moon’s south pole

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    NEW DELHI — India launched its first space mission to study the sun on Saturday, less than two weeks after a successful uncrewed landing near the south polar region of the moon.

    The Aditya-L1 spacecraft took off on board a satellite launch vehicle from the Sriharikota space center in southern India on a quest to study the sun from a point about 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles) from Earth. The point, known as L1, affords an uninterrupted view of the sun.

    The spacecraft is equipped with seven payloads to study the sun’s corona, chromosphere, photosphere and solar wind, the Indian Space Research Organization said.

    After over an hour, the ISRO said the launch was “accomplished successfully.”

    “The vehicle has placed the satellite precisely into its intended orbit. India’s first solar observatory has begun its journey to the destination of Sun-Earth L1 point,” ISRO posted on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.

    The satellite is scheduled to take 125 days to reach the L1 point.

    India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole on Aug. 23 — a historic voyage to uncharted territory that scientists believe could hold vital reserves of frozen water. After a failed attempt to land on the moon in 2019, India joined the United States, Russia and China as only the fourth country to achieve the milestone.

    Jitendra Singh, India’s junior minister for science and technology, praised the ISRO officials for their work on the latest launch.

    “Congratulations India. Congratulations ISRO,” he said while being present at the ISRO control room. “It’s a sunshine moment for India.”

    The sun study, combined with India’s successful moon landing, would completely change the image of the ISRO in the world community, said Manish Purohit, a former scientist at the research organization.

    Hundreds of people who had gathered to watch the launch cheered as India’s sun mission took off.

    Among the spectators, Prakash, who gave only one name, said the launch was “one more milestone” like the country’s recent moon mission. “This is going to set the bar high for ISRO,” he said.

    “We are privileged to be Indian and witness this kind of developmental activities on the space center for India,” said Sridevi, who also gave only one name.

    Once in place, the satellite would provide reliable forewarning of an onslaught of particles and radiation from heightened solar activity that has the potential to knock out power grids on Earth, said B.R. Guruprasad, a space scientist, in an article in The Times of India newspaper. The advanced warning can protect the satellites that are the backbone of the global economic structure as well as the people living in space stations.

    “Those seven payloads are going to study the sun as a star in all the possible spectrum positions that we have visible, ultraviolet, and X-ray. … It’s like we’re going to get a black and white image, the color image and the high-definition image, 4K image of the sun, so that we don’t miss out on anything that is happening on the sun,” Purohit said.

    —-

    AP video journalist Shonal Ganguly contributed to this report.

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