The “ten” jumper who contracted HIV and lived for years with Seoul 88’s remorse

 

On World AIDS Day, Greg Louganis, the greatest jumper in history, is one of the greatest activists

On World AIDS Day, athletes who contracted HIV, such as Magic Jonhson. The most visible face, or tennis player Arthur Ashe, flood the minds. Surely none with a history as powerful and Hollywood as the jumper Louganis (California,1960), double Olympic champion in Los Angeles 84 and Seoul 88 on platform and on a 3m springboard, who from 1982 until his retirement in 1989 had no rival and created school, as recalled by the technician of the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation Donald Miranda: “His aesthetic was unique. It was the example of the ten”.

That aura of Nadia Comaneci, the first gymnast to achieve that score at the Montreal Games in 1976, where Louganis, at the age of 16, already hung a silver on platform, accompanied him during his tormented life away from a trampoline. It is paradoxical that the American felt more secure on the heights, about to throw himself head at 50 km/h into the pool, a courage that defines his history, than in other places a priori safer.

A few days after seeing the light, Louganis had to live the first difficulty. His parents were 15. He was from Samoa and she was of Nordic descent, a genuine mestizo. Without the ability to give him a training and take care of him, the Louganis family, made up of Peter and Frances, adopted him. If the mother was protective and help, the father barely took interest in his son until he understood that he had innate sports skills, as Louganis explains in his biography Breaking the Surface.

As a child, Louganis had problems at school. He was dyslexic, so he didn´t read fluid, which led him endure the bullying of his companions. He found refuge in gymnastics, also loved dancing and applied what he learned on his parents’ house trampoline. Which led hi to specialize in trampoline jumps, where in age category he already achieved tens. And he arrived at his first Games in Montreal, where he hung a silver. The beginning of a success that is defined with four other Olympic golds and five world golds.

In between, Louganis fought everything and everyone. Admired on top of the trampoline, life was only injured when he stepped on the mainland. Fellow and public people laughed at him for his dawn at a time when one was leaving the closet, while his manager and boyfriend Jim Babbitt abused him (he even threatened him with a knife) and in 1987 contracted HIV. Louganis took the test before the Seoul Games and also tested positive.

Possible explanation for Hubble tensión

 

Cosmologists attribute Hubble’s tension -discrepancies in the speed at which the Universe expands- to irregularities in the distribution of matter and not to an error in the calculation method.

The study, which uses an alternative theory of gravity, has been published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS).

The expansion of the universe causes galaxies to move away from each other. The speed at which they do is proportional to the distance between them. For example, if galaxy A is twice as far away from Earth as galaxy B, its distance to us also grows twice as fast. American astronomer Edwin Hubble was one of the first to recognize this connection.

Therefore, to calculate at what speed two galaxies are left one from each other, it is necessary to know how far they are. However, this also requires constant by which this distance must be multiplied. This is the constant call of Hubble-Lemaitre, a fundamental parameter in cosmology. Its value can be determined, for example, by observing regions far from the universe. This gives a speed of almost 244000 kilometers per megaparsec away (a megaparsec equals just over three million light years).

But you can also see celestial bodies that are much closer to us, the so-called category 1a supernovae, which are a certain type of exploding star” explains Professor Pavel Kroupa of the Helmholtz Institute of Radiation and Nuclear Physics at the University of Bonn, co-author of the study. It is possible to determine with great precision the distance of a supernova 1a to Earth. We also know that bright objects change colour when they move away from us and the faster they move, the stronger the change. This is similar to an ambulance, whose siren sound deeper as it moves away from us.

If we now calculate the speed of supernovae 1a from their colour change and correlate it with its distance, we reach a different value for the constant of Hubble-Lemaitre, that is, just under 264,000 kilometres per hour per megaparsec distance. “Therefore, the universe seems to expand faster in our environment, that is, up to a distance of about three billion light-years, than in its entirety” says Kroupa. “And that shouldn’t really be the case”.

Recently, however, there has been a comment that could explain this. According to this, the Earth located in a region of space where there ir relatively litter matter, comparable to an air bubble on a cake. The density of matter is higher around the bubble. From this surrounding matter emanate gravitational forces that attract the galaxies from the bubble to the edges of the cavity.

This is because the standard model does not provide for such sub densities or “bubbles”; in reality, they should not exit. On the other hand, matter should be evenly distributed in space. However, if this were the case, it would be difficult to explain which forces propel galaxies at their high speed.

“The standard model is based on a theory about the nature of gravity proposed by Albert Einstein” says Kroupa. “However, gravitational forces can behave differently from what Einstein expected”. The working groups of the universities of Bonn and St. Andrews used a modified gravity theory in a computer simulation. This “modified Newtonian dynamic (MOND) was proposed four decades ago by Israeli physicist Mordehai Milgrom. Even today it is considered an external theory. “However, in our calculations, MOND accurately predict the existence of this type of bubble” says Kroupa.

If it were assumed that gravity actually behaves according to the assumptions of Milgrom, Hubble’s tension would disappear: in reality there would be only one constant for the expansion of universe and the observed deviations were due to irregularities in the distribution of matter.

 

 

Dinosaurs may have influenced how humans age

 

Human aging may have been influenced by millions of years of dinosaur dominance, according to a new theory from a leading aging expert

The “longevity bottleneck” hypothesis has been proposed by Professor Joao Pedro de Magalhaes of the University of Birminghan in a new study published in BioEssays. The hypothesis relates the role that dinosaurs played for more than 100 million years to aging process of mammals.

While some reptiles and amphibians do not show significant sings of aging, all mammals, including humans, show a marked aging process.

Professor de Magalhaes’s hypothesis suggests that during the Mesozoic Era, mammals faced persistent pressure for rapid reproduction during the reign of the dinosaurs, which for more than 100 million years led to the loss or inactivation of genes associated with long life, such as processes with tissue regeneration and DNA repair.

Joao Pedro de Magalhaes, Professor of Molecular Biogerontology at the Institute of Inflammation and Aging at the University of Birminghan, explain: “The ‘longevity bottleneck hypothesis’ may shed light on the evolutionary forces that have shaped the aging of people. Mammals for millions of years. While humans are among the longest-lived animals, there are many reptiles and other animals that have a much slower aging process and show minimal sings of senescence throughout their lives”.

This was really Napoleon’s most epic battle

 

The criticism has been clear: Ridley Scott’s Napoleon is full of historical inaccuracies. From a scene in which Joaquin Phoenix shoots at the Great Pyramid of Giza to a moment in which the French army wins a battle by drowning the enemy under a frozen lake, the film has taken numerous licenses. The last scene is a recreation of the Battle of Austerlitz, which in reality occurred very differently from how it is shown in the film.

The real Battle of Austerlitz was a risky and audacious plan by Napoleon, and it involved defeating not one, but two emperors. The great tactic Napoleon used was not to drown his enemy, especially since the frozen lake was completely visible that day, without any layer of snow.

Instead, Napoleon tricked his enemy into believing that the French army was smaller and quite weak in the days before the battle. What’s more, he even feigned a retreat, abandoning the advantageous high ground, and deliberately wakened his right flank by deploying part of the French army to draw in the Russians and Austrians.

Cody Rhodes confirms his participation in the Royal Rumble Match 2024

 

During the Monday Night Raw broadcast on USA Network, Cody Rhodes has been confirmed as the first participant in the men’s battle royal at Royal Rumble 2024, WWE’s next Premium Live Event

This Monday’s episode in Nashville, Tennessee saw The American Nightmare take the floor before the audience. After his victory at Survivor Series WarGames, Cody Rhodes set a goal that avoided him for a good part of the year: “everyone is making news, and I think I have to make them tonight. There is only one destiny for me, and that is why under the authority of Adam Pearce, I am the first to declare his appearance at Royal Rumble”.

Cody Rhodes will enter the Royal Rumble after winning the 2023 edition, which took him directly to the main event of WrestleMania 39. The American Nightmare failed to capture the Undisputed Universal Championship against Roman Reigns, developing other stories unrelated to The Tribal Chief during the rest of the anus. The battle royal could catapult him into WrestleMania XL, and would be the first step in “ending his story”.

WWE Royal Rumble 2024 will take place on Saturday, January 27 at Tropicana Field in St. Peterburg, Florida. Fans will be able to watch this event live from the venue, or through its broadcast on WWE Network and Peacock in the United States.

QT Marshall announces he is leaving AEW

 

The veteran says he is finishing up at the end of the year

 

AEW wrestler of Talent Relations QT Marshall has announced on X (before Twitter) that he will be finishing up with the company at the end of the year.

Marshall thanked Tony Khan and the company and mentioned some of the work he did while he worked there. He also noted that the company has changed a lot from when he first joined in 2019 and aside from his on-camera role, he’s done a lot behind the scenes.

Marshall did not say what his future plans are but since he is close with Cody Rhodes, one has to wonder if he’s looking at WWE as his next destination. Marshall’s full statement can be read below.

“Thank you AEW. Thank you Tony Khan. I’ve had the privilege of being here since day 1 and I’ve written over 750 formats for All Elite Wrestling and always with pride. As much as I’ve enjoyed being a VP, Manger of Talent Relations and wearing a myriad of hats, the company has changed a lot since 2019 and is heading in different direction and I feel that it’s best I do the same as we only get one chance to go All In! I have officially resigned from AEW and will have fulfilled all obligations by the end of 2023. Than you to everyone from the front office to the production truck to some of the hardest working talent in this sport! Most importantly, thank you to those who booed, cheered, and took part in this season of my life”.

CM Punk had his WWE Raw return promo cut short

 

On Monday night, CM Punk appeared in the final segment of WWE Raw for his first promo since returning to WWE at Saturday’s Survivor Series premium live event, where he declared that he was home.

Punk only had a few minutes to talk about how he has changed and is a different person. He stated he was back for unfinished business and to prove to people that he is still the best in the world.

Many fans felt it was a different Punk than what we had been seeing in AEW and poked fun at it being the PG version of his character.

Pwinsider reports the initial plan was for a longer promo that would have given Punk more time. However, the Randy Orton vs Dominik Mysterio match went long than planned, and WWE cut Punk’s time, which is something that happens on a regular basis due to it being live television.