WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - A New Zealand man playing his first-ever competitive Scrabble game in Spanish, a language he doesn't speak, has won the board game's Spanish-language world title. Nigel Richards, a professional player who holds five English-language world titles, won the Spanish world Scrabble championships in Granada, Spain, in November, losing one game out of 24. Richards started memorizing the language's Scrabble word list a year ago, his friend Liz Fagerlund - a New Zealand Scrabble official - told The Associated Press. "He can't understand why other people can't just do the same thing," she said. "He can look at a block of words together, and once they go into his brain as a picture he can just recall that very easily." In second place was defending champion Benjamin Olaizola of Argentina, who won 18 of his games. Nothing like the New Zealander's feat had ever happened in Spanish Scrabble, said Alejandro Terenzani, a contest organizer. "It was impossible to react negatively, you can only be amazed," Terenzani said. "We certainly expected that he would perform well, but it is perhaps true that he surpassed our expectations." Richards has done this before. In 2015, he became the French language Scrabble world champion, despite not speaking French, after studying the word list for nine weeks. He took the French title again in 2018. Recognized in international Scrabble over his three-decade career as the greatest player of all time, Richards' Spanish language victory was notable even by his standards, other players said. While compensating for different tile values in English and Spanish Scrabble, Richards also had to contend with thousands of additional seven, eight and nine letter words in the Spanish language - which demand a different strategy. Richards in 2008 was the first player ever to hold the world, U.S. and British titles simultaneously, despite having to "forget" 40,000 English words that do not appear in the American Scrabble word list to triumph in the U.S. His victories are legendary in the Scrabble community, and games analyzed in YouTube videos watched by tens of thousands. Scrabble does not require players to know the definitions of words, only what combinations of letters are allowed in a country's version of the game, but native speakers have "a huge leg up," American Scrabble player Will Anderson said in a video summarizing Richards' Spanish win. Richards' mother, Adrienne Fischer, told a New Zealand newspaper in 2010 that he did not excel at English in school, never attended university and took a mathematical approach to the game rather than a linguistic one. "I don't think he's ever read a book, apart from the dictionary," she said. Fagerlund said Richards impressed her when he arrived at his first Scrabble club meeting at age 28. Two years later, in 1997, he cycled 220 miles (350 kilometers) from Christchurch to the city of Dunedin, won the New Zealand title on his first attempt and cycled home again. At the Spanish event he was shy and modest, organizer Terenzani said, but happily posed for photos and spoke with fans who approached him. "Although he did so in English, of course," Terenzani added. What motivates Richards, who now lives in Malaysia, is a mystery. He never speaks to reporters. "I get lots of requests from journalists wanting to interview him and he's not interested," Fagerlund said. "He doesn't understand what all the hoo-ha is about." https://apnews.com/article/spanish-scrabble-world-champion-nigel-richards-zealand-9743b41cf1bbe1628adec1f59121aa50
2024-12-11 14:42:00
Charlotte Graham-McLay
The Geminids - among the few major meteor showers to come from asteroids - peak on Friday. It's one of the year's last chances to see fireballs in the sky. The shower often produces meteors with a distinctly more yellow glow, likely due to the unusual origin material, said Sally Brummel, planetarium manager at the University of Minnesota's Bell Museum. Under ideal viewing conditions, the Geminids typically put on one of the best and brightest shows of the year because of the high volume of meteors visible each hour. However, an almost full moon this year means up to 15 meteors per hour are expected at peak time, according to the American Meteor Society. The moonlight "will wash out a lot of them," Brummel said. Viewing lasts until Dec. 21. Here's what to know about the Geminids and other meteor showers. What is a meteor shower? Multiple meteor showers occur annually and you don't need special equipment to see them. Most meteor showers originate from the debris of comets, but a few - including the Geminids - result from the debris of asteroids. The Geminids come from the sun-orbiting asteroid 3200 Phaethon. When rocks from space enter Earth's atmosphere, the resistance from the air makes them very hot. This causes the air to glow around them and briefly leaves a fiery tail behind them - the end of a "shooting star." The glowing pockets of air around fast-moving space rocks, ranging from the size of a dust particle to a boulder, may be visible in the night sky. The rocky nature of asteroid debris makes the Geminids especially likely to produce fireballs, said NASA's William Cooke. "Those are pretty tough rocks that can penetrate deep into the atmosphere," he said. How to view a meteor shower: Meteor showers are usually most visible between midnight and predawn hours. It's easier to see shooting stars under dark skies, away from city lights. Meteor showers also appear brightest on cloudless nights when the moon wanes smallest. And your eyes will better adapted to seeing meteors if you aren't checking your phone. When is the next meteor shower? The next meteor shower, the Ursids, will peak on Dec. 22. https://apnews.com/article/how-to-watch-geminid-meteor-shower-0404b8c198028749bc6c95313e3f8ecf
2024-12-11 09:31:00
Christina Larson
The oldest known wild bird in the world has laid an egg at the ripe age of about 74, her first in four years, U.S. wildlife officials said. The long-winged seabird named Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, returned to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge at the northwestern edge of the Hawaiian Archipelago and laid what experts estimate may be her 60th egg, the Pacific Region of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service said in a Facebook post this week. Wisdom and her mate, Akeakamai, had returned to the atoll in the Pacific Ocean to lay and hatch eggs since 2006. Laysan albatrosses mate for life and lay one egg per year. But Akeakamai has not been seen for several years and Wisdom began interacting with another male when she returned last week, officials said. "We are optimistic that the egg will hatch," Jonathan Plissner, supervisory wildlife biologist at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge said in a statement. Every year, millions of seabirds return to the refuge to nest and raise their young. Albatross parents take turns incubating an egg for about two months. Chicks fly out to sea about five to six months after hatching. They spend most of their lives flying over the ocean and feeding on squid and fish eggs. Wisdom was first banded as an adult in 1956 and has raised as many as 30 chicks, Plissner said. The typical lifespan of a Laysan albatross is 68 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. https://apnews.com/article/oldest-bird-lays-egg-wisdom-hawaii-5e7867ba9c8a51373d4d570f73fa7c2d
2024-12-06 14:37:00
Hallie Golden
NEW YORK (AP) - Neanderthals and humans likely mixed and mingled during a narrow time frame 45,000 years ago, scientists reported Thursday. Researchers analyzed ancient genes to pinpoint the time period, which is slightly more recent than previous estimates for the mating. Modern humans emerged in Africa hundreds of thousands of years ago and eventually spread to Europe, Asia and beyond. Somewhere along the way, they met and mated with Neanderthals, leaving a lasting fingerprint on our genetic code. Scientists don't know exactly when or how the two groups entangled. But ancient bone fragments and genes are helping scientists figure that out. "Genetic data from these samples really helps us paint a picture in more and more detail," said study co-author Priya Moorjani at the University of California Berkeley. The research published Thursday in the journals Science and Nature. To pin down the timeline, researchers peeked at some of the oldest human genes from the skull of a woman, called Zlatykun or Golden horse for a hill in the Czech Republic where it was found. They also examined bone fragments from an early human population in Ranis, Germany, about 140 miles (230 kilometers) away. They found snippets of Neanderthal DNA that placed the mating at around 45,000 years ago. In a separate study, researchers tracked signs of Neanderthal in our genetic code over 50,000 years. They found Neanderthal genes related to immunity and metabolism that may have helped early humans survive and thrive outside of Africa. We still carry Neanderthals' legacy in our DNA. Modern-day genetic quirks linked to skin color, hair color and even nose shape can be traced back to our extinct former neighbors. And our genetic code also contains echoes from another group of extinct human cousins called Denisovans. Future genetic studies can help scientists detangle exactly what - and who - we're made of, said Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian's Human Origins program who was not involved with the new research. "Out of many really compelling areas of scientific investigation, one of them is: well, who are we?" Potts said. https://apnews.com/article/neanderthal-dna-gene-human-origins-africa-1c584991f8028979993315c6793048eb
2024-12-12 14:09:00
Adithi Ramakrishnan
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Known across the globe as the stuck astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams hit the six-month mark in space Thursday with two more to go. The pair rocketed into orbit on June 5, the first to ride Boeing's new Starliner crew capsule on what was supposed to be a weeklong test flight. They arrived at the International Space Station the next day, only after overcoming a cascade of thruster failures and helium leaks. NASA deemed the capsule too risky for a return flight, so it will be February before their long and trying mission comes to a close. While NASA managers bristle at calling them stuck or stranded, the two retired Navy captains shrug off the description of their plight. They insist they're fine and accepting of their fate. Wilmore views it as a detour of sorts: "We're just on a different path." "I like everything about being up here," Williams told students Wednesday from an elementary school named for her in Needham, Massachusetts, her hometown. "Just living in space is super fun." Both astronauts have lived up there before so they quickly became full-fledged members of the crew, helping with science experiments and chores like fixing a broken toilet, vacuuming the air vents and watering the plants. Williams took over as station commander in September. "Mindset does go a long way," Wilmore said in response to a question from Nashville first-graders in October. He's from Mount Juliet, Tennessee. "I don't look at these situations in life as being downers." Boeing flew its Starliner capsule home empty in September, and NASA moved Wilmore and Williams to a SpaceX flight not due back until late February. Two other astronauts were bumped to make room and to keep to a six-month schedule for crew rotations. Like other station crews, Wilmore and Williams trained for spacewalks and any unexpected situations that might arise. "When the crews go up, they know they could be there for up to a year," said NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free. NASA astronaut Frank Rubio found that out the hard way when the Russian Space Agency had to rush up a replacement capsule for him and two cosmonauts in 2023, pushing their six-month mission to just past a year. Boeing said this week that input from Wilmore and Williams has been "invaluable" in the ongoing inquiry of what went wrong. The company said in a statement that it is preparing for Starliner's next flight but declined comment on when it might launch again. NASA also has high praise for the pair. "Whether it was luck or whether it was selection, they were great folks to have for this mission," NASA's chief health and medical officer, Dr. JD Polk, said during an interview with The Associated Press. On top of everything else, Williams, 59, has had to deal with "rumors," as she calls them, of serious weight loss. She insists her weight is the same as it was on launch day, which Polk confirms. During Wednesday's student chat, Williams said she didn't have much of an appetite when she first arrived in space. But now she's "super hungry" and eating three meals a day plus snacks, while logging the required two hours of daily exercise. Williams, a distance runner, uses the space station treadmill to support races in her home state. She competed in Cape Cod's 7-mile Falmouth Road Race in August. She ran the 2007 Boston Marathon up there as well. She has a New England Patriots shirt with her for game days, as well as a Red Sox spring training shirt. "Hopefully I'll be home before that happens -- but you never know," she said in November. Husband Michael Williams, a retired federal marshal and former Navy aviator, is caring for their dogs back home in Houston. As for Wilmore, 61, he's missing his younger daughter's senior year in high school and his older daughter's theater productions in college. "We can't deny that being unexpectedly separated, especially during the holidays when the entire family gets together, brings increased yearnings to share the time and events together," his wife, Deanna Wilmore, told the AP in a text this week. Her husband "has it worse than us" since he's confined to the space station and can only connect via video for short periods. "We are certainly looking forward to February!!" she wrote. https://apnews.com/article/stuck-astronauts-nasa-boeing-starliner-1929d955463291701b99d4862b2c45ef
2024-12-05 17:39:00
Marcia Dunn