234 to win

234 to win LA Galaxy win record 6th MLS CupARLINGTON, Texas — Cam Skattebo posted on the stage, arms out, head down, WWE championship belt around his waist, confetti of all colors piling up on his shoulders. He closed his eyes, took it all in. He held the look of a pro wrestler or boxer after a big fight, short, stocky and ferocious at 5 feet 11 and 215 pounds. Still not completely known to much of the sports world entering Saturday, he might’ve been confused for a prizefighter. But given a spotlight, Arizona State ’s running back left no doubt, leading the Sun Devils to a 45-19 win over Iowa State to capture the Big 12 championship and punch a ticket to the College Football Playoff. Advertisement The former Sacramento State back who had one Division I offer out of high school pounded his way to 170 rushing yards, 38 receiving yards, three total touchdowns and one really smart throwaway pass that left his coach with mouth agape, both in frustration and amazement. The team picked 16th out of 16 in the Big 12’s preseason poll, coming off consecutive 3-9 seasons, is now headed to the biggest stage in the sport in the first year of the 12-team Playoff with an 11-2 record and a seed and round yet to be determined. GO DEEPER Unthinkable? A storybook season keeps getting better for surprise Big 12 champ Arizona State “If you look at our resume with Sam Leavitt as our starting quarterback, you can look deep and hard to see where we stand with champions,” head coach Kenny Dillingham said. The Sun Devils are red hot. Do you want to play them? The team we saw Saturday looked like one nobody should look past. A team willing to throw deep on fourth-and-1 inside its own territory. At the trophy presentation. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said the Sun Devils should head to Tempe, referencing the Fiesta Bowl and a first-round bye, rather than their trip home. This is what Playoff expansion was all about. To give teams like Arizona State something even bigger to play for. To get a player like Skattebo in front of the larger sports world. Texts and tweets from people around the country rang out asking who exactly this bulldozer running back was. Everyone who watched Saturday’s game knows now, and they’ll know more if he ends up in New York City at the Heisman Trophy ceremony. At the very least, he earned himself a lot of third-place votes as the first player with 1,500 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards since Christian McCaffrey in 2015. “I’ve always been the underdog, and nobody respects that I’m the best running back in the country, and I’m going to stand on that,” Skattebo said after the game when asked about his Heisman pose after a touchdown. “If people disrespect that, I’m going to keep proving people wrong.” Advertisement (That quote came just a few minutes after Skattebo gave all credit to his offensive line. You can keep him polished up and on-message for only so long.) The four-team CFP left almost no room for error, especially if you weren’t a big-brand program ranked in the top 10 in the preseason. In years past, the winner of this game Saturday would’ve gone to a New Year’s Six bowl and hoped not too many players opted out. The Sun Devils were picked last in the Big 12 and won the conference, and a loss at Cincinnati without Leavitt, their talented starting quarterback, didn’t end their Playoff hopes. This trip to Arlington was essentially a Playoff game — win and advance or lose and miss the CFP. This was the program’s first outright conference championship since 1996, and it all started with that running back. Skattebo’s first carry went for 28 yards. In the second quarter, he broke off a 47-yard run in which he broke six tackles. It’s what he’s always done. As his play Saturday started to spread on social media, so did his legendary highlights. Like a 66-yard touchdown run in the California high school state championship game where he broke tackles of pretty much the entire opposing team. For those watching Cameron Skattebo for the first time, here is the best run I’ve seen from a high school football player. This was in the California state title game in 2018. pic.twitter.com/dxqC98DGCu — Cameron Salerno (@cameronsalerno1) December 7, 2024 “It’s not very fun to see him in practice,” ASU safety Xavion Alford said. Skattebo’s always been hard to tackle. But he slimmed down this year and increased his speed. And he’s always been trusted to make the right play, even when he wasn’t supposed to. He’ll run, throw, catch, kick and do everything. On ASU’s second drive, he took a wildcat snap, ran into trouble, ran backward and threw the ball away, safely incomplete, avoiding an intentional grounding penalty. It saved valuable yards for a drive that finished in the end zone. Advertisement “(My thoughts were) don’t do it,” Dillingham said of his viral reaction to the play. “But that’s what makes Skat Skat. He does incredible things. To his credit, they pan out. I don’t know how. ... He finds ways to be successful.” He entered the stadium wearing a Boredom Kills-branded leather jacket, a fitting descriptor of his style of play. When the game ended, as teammates grabbed shirts, hats and signs, Skattebo grabbed his phone and started talking and mean-mugging the video screen off to the side, the wild side of him on display. On stage, after receiving his game MVP belt from WWE star Jey Uso, Skattebo grabbed a sharpie pen, walked back over to his teammates and started having them sign the belt. “I don’t know how many yards I have this season but they’re the reason for it,” he said. Then the pictures, so many pictures. Teammates, coaches, donors, fans, everyone wanted a photo with the star. He cut wrestling-style promos into phones for Big 12 and ESPN officials. He eventually told his teammates he needed to stop because he just wanted to find his dad, who was trying to get down from the stand and into the suite. “C’mon guys, we’ll have all night,” Skattebo joked to teammates. Eventually, Cam made his way over to Leo Skattebo in the sideline suite and the two embraced in a deep hug. Son gave the belt to the father to look over. Leo has a big Arizona State pitchfork logo and Sacramento State logo tattooed on his right forearm, an imposing character in his own right. Maybe an NFL team logo is the next one. But the ride’s not over here. The Sun Devils are 11-1 when Leavitt plays, and they’ll head into whatever Playoff matchup with as much confidence as anyone else. The expansion of the College Football Playoff has thus far accomplished everything it was designed to do. There can be debates over the last team in the field or the various seeds, but a team like Arizona State would’ve been left out of the limited field in the past. In a season where seemingly nothing on the field has gone according to expectation, here come the streaking Sun Devils. Behind a do-everything truck of a running back. Best of luck to whoever has to slow him down. (Photo: Jerome Miron / Imagn Images)

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You can access the platform via your smartphone or tablet’s web browser without any need to download an app.Eagles WR DeVonta Smith (hamstring) ruled out vs. Rams

The United States is rapidly installing grid-scale batteries that are helping to prevent power blackouts, known in German as Dunkelflaute , according to The Guardian . From barely any just a few years ago, the US has now installed 20 GW of grid-scale battery storage for its electric grid — equivalent to twenty 1 MW nuclear power plants. 5 GW of that total occurred in just the first seven months of this year, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. The EIA predicts total grid-scale battery storage capacity could double again to 40 GW by the end of next year if the new projects already in the pipeline are completed. It also predicts grid-scale storage batteries will provide about 40% of all the world’s short-term electricity needs by 2050. California and Texas, which both saw all-time highs in battery-discharged grid power this month, are leading the way in this growth, with enormous grid-scale storage batteries helping to manage the large amount of clean but intermittent solar and wind energy those states have added in recent years. The battery systems helped keep the lights on in California this summer, when in previous years the state experienced electricity rationing or blackouts during intense heatwaves when the use of air conditioning soared and power lines were toppled by wildfires. “We can leverage that stored energy and dispatch it when we need it,” Patti Poppe, chief executive of PG&E, California’s largest utility, said last month. “It’s been extraordinary growth,” said John Moura, director of reliability assessment and performance analysis at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation. “It’s still technology that we are getting used to working with because the system wasn’t designed for it, but from a reliability perspective it presents a golden opportunity. This changes the whole paradigm of producing electricity, delivering it and consuming it. Storage gives us a bit of a time machine to deliver it when we need it. There are a lot of changes happening but monstrous action is still needed if we are going to make this energy transition,” he said. The rapid growth of clean energy such as solar and wind provides more peaks and troughs of production that need to be actively managed in order to maintain a reliable grid. “Batteries can smooth out some of that variability from those times when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining. The Germans have a word for this sort of drought: Dunkelflaute,” said Moura. “So if you have a four hour storage battery, that can get you through a Dunkelflaute.” Most grid storage batteries can only supply power back to the grid for about four hours, which creates an opportunity that many companies hope to exploit with longer duration batteries. Much of that technology is still in its infancy. Until they are commercially available, a fully decarbonized grid will require a big increase in long distance transmission lines in the US to transfer renewable energy from where it is produced to where it is needed. The permitting reform to allow this is a bitterly contested issue, with many environmental groups opposed to looser regulations they say will only empower thermal generation from coal or methane. In Texas, Element Energy is operating what may be the largest grid-scale storage installation in the US that uses cells from battery EV battery packs that are no longer able to serve as traction batteries. Used batteries are cheaper than new batteries, but making them safe to use is the key to Element’s success. The 53 MWh project is located in West Texas at a wind farm owned by Nextera Energy Resources. CEO Tony Stratakos told Canary Media recently, “It’s really a very nice, living demonstration that everything we talked about last time has come to fruition and works. The promise of our technology is, we can operate batteries that others can’t.” Previously, the largest second-life grid battery was a B2U Storage Solutions project in Lancaster, California, which has 28 MWh of storage. Element gained access to a warehouse full of modules taken out of used EV battery packs — Canary Media suspects they may have come from first generation Chevy Bolts — in various states of health. It repackages them into containers operated by its proprietary hardware and software, which fine-tune commands at the cell level instead of treating all the batteries as a monolithic whole. This enables the system to get more use out of each cell without stressing any so much that they break down or cause a fire. The success of the West Texas installation is expected to attract interest from other customers who may have been reluctant to use second-life batteries previously despite their lower cost. Element has finalized a partnership with LG Energy Solution Vertech, the grid storage division of the South Korean battery manufacturer. It just so happens, LG was the supplier of the original Chevy Bolt batteries. LG will provide operations and maintenance, alleviating the risks associated with buying a long-term grid asset from a young startup like Element. The actual installation process turned out to be ​“a learning experience,” Stratakos said, meaning it took longer and cost more than initially planned, ​“but it was worth it,” he said. The company honed its technique for integrating the batteries into large-scale power plants, and improved its enclosure design along the way. Now it is getting real world data from daily plant operations in the ERCOT energy markets. “There is a lot of talk in this category,” said Tim Woodward, who invested in Element as managing director at Prelude Ventures. This project shows Element can operate at the scale necessary ​“to get the big guys” — in other words, large, sophisticated clean energy developers. The company is now exploring where to build a factory capable of assembling multiple gigawatt-hours of used battery enclosures per year, Stratakos said. In the meantime, he is working to close a number of deals with the 2 gigawatt-hours of second-life batteries Element has stockpiled in a warehouse in Kentucky. “I don’t think anyone has [a large volume of second-life batteries] sitting there, ready to be deployed,” Woodward said. ​“Batteries are lasting longer in the field than anticipated. It’s not that common that you’re seeing batteries pulled out of even the earliest Teslas.” Further success will involve winning over grid storage developers, who currently buy new batteries nearly 100% of the time. The backing from LG will help calm any fears potential customers might have. Second-life startups typically highlight the sustainability aspects of using them to attract first-time customers. Used batteries can reduce the environmental costs of the energy transition and keep valuable battery materials out of landfills. When it comes to actually closing a deal, though, ​“The number one issue is cost,” Stratakos said. Sustainability and circularity are definitely factors that customers consider, but ultimately that’s ​“more of a bonus.” Element says it can cut 30 to 50% off the cost on a fully installed basis. Last week in Baku, a contingent of Republican representatives were preening and strutting for anyone who would listen about how coal and methane are essential to meet supply baseload power. That is partially accurate, but longer duration grid storage batteries are coming for that baseload power, and what will they have to say then? Storage batteries can do things spinning reserves cannot, such as manage frequency and voltage variations in near real-time fashion. That capability can generate revenue for the battery owners and operators. As Stratakos says, the number one issue is cost, and when long-term energy storage is cheaper than thermally generated baseload power, that will be all she wrote for coal and methane. Of course, then the fossil fuel fanatics will resort to mandates to stay in business, even though mandates are supposedly anathema to them. Nothing says hypocrisy like people who talk out of both sides of their mouth to preserve their status and revenue streams. CleanTechnica's Comment Policy LinkedIn WhatsApp Facebook X Email Mastodon RedditImpartner Partner Relationship Management platform now available in the Microsoft Azure MarketplaceSpot the difference: A $185m surrealist masterpiece and its sister displayed here

Systemic Sclerosis Clinical Trials 2024: EMA, PDMA, FDA Approvals, Medication, Therapies, Mechanism of Action, Route of Administration and Companies by DelveInsight

STORY: Syrian rebels advanced towards the capital city of Damascus on Saturday as front lines collapsed across the country... ...posing an existential threat to President Bashar al-Assad's 24-year rule. In a video posted on social media, protesters could be seen tearing down a statue of Assad's father in the suburbs of Damascus, while shouting "Down with Bashar al-Assad, Syria lives on." Meanwhile, Syrian rebels battled government forces for control of the key city of Homs. Since the rebels' sweep into Aleppo a week ago, government defenses have crumbled at a dizzying speed... ...putting the Assad dynasty's five-decade reign over Syria in danger, and the continued influence there of its main regional backer Iran. “...certainly there is an existential threat against the regime.” Qutaiba Idlbi is the resident senior fellow on Syria at the Atlantic Council “The regime finds itself isolated, especially because on one hand, Russia is bogged down in Ukraine. // But I think also more importantly, on the other hand, Iran is incapable of really responding effectively to protect and defend the regime.” The U.S. and other Western officials said the lightning rebel advance suggests Assad's government could fall within the week. The pace of events has stunned Arab capitals and raised fears of a new wave of regional instability. According to the state news agency, Assad remains in Damascus and the military said it was reinforcing around the capital and south. The foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and the main rebels' backer Turkey said they met in Doha on Saturday and agreed on the importance of Syria's territorial integrity and on restarting a political process. They said in a joint statement along with five Arab countries, that a political solution was needed to stop military operations and protect civilians in Syria. But there was no indication they agreed on any concrete steps, with the situation inside Syria changing by the hour.President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers urge judge to toss his hush money convictionTrump's picks for key positions in his second administration

Kid Loki Actor Shares Positive Update After '17 And Homeless' TikTok Videos Went Viral Enough To Get Actual HelpWoolworths has responded to shoppers who are currently “on the hunt” for a limited-edition after it was described as “unbelievable” by several popular foodies. The Australian retailer recently released its festive food collection into stores across the country, offering over 100 new products designed to help “take the pressure” off Christmas. While the new additions to supermarket shelves contained a number of festive favourites and classic dishes enjoyed over the holiday season, there was one new product that really caught the attention of food-loving Aussies. The Woolworths Biscoff Trifle is priced at $35 for a 1.4kg tub, and offers a modern twist on the cult-dessert item, often consumed at Christmas. Instead of the traditional sherry-flavoured sponge cake that is layered with custard, jelly and fruit, Woolworths has woven the popular biscuit spread throughout the classic recipe. Think a creamy Biscoff custard, layered with light vanilla sponge then paired with the iconic spread. It’s then topped with a classic Biscoff cookie crumble. If you think that sounds like heaven, you’re not alone, with TikTok foodies taking to social media in droves to rave about the item. Melbourne vlogger Nectorious Papi told news.com.au the Christmas release was “worth every cent” – despite its larger than expected price tag. “No shortage of Biscoff was spared and it is layers upon layers of deliciousness,” he said. “In my opinion it’s one of the best Biscoff releases that we’ve had in recent times.” 'None on shelves' Hunt for new Woolies item. Picture: TikTok/Woolworths Logan Reserve The Three Food Guys declared the item 'unbelievable'. Picture: TikTok/NectoriousPapi Foodies lose their minds over $35 item The foodie, who co-hosts the popular Three Food Guys Podcast with fellow foodies Ange Eats and Dub Eats Everything, added that part of the allure of Biscoff is that no one really knows exactly what it is. “I believe people love Biscoff in Australia as we’ve been used to chocolate and peanut butter spreads and then came Biscoff which is one of those spreads you can’t even describe,” he shared. “Is it cinnamon, is it caramel? It’s amazing, that’s all I know. Also it’s vegan so it caters to a much wider audience too.” In a video the trio shared, Ange Eats described the dessert as “f**king unbelievable” and told Aussies they “need to try” the sweet product. “Look at the layers on this,” Dub Eats Everything added. “We’re going to demolish this.” Nick Vavitis – the mastermind behind cult-dessert brand Choclt – said it was ‘beautiful’. Picture: TikTok/NickVavitis The boys aren’t the only fans, with Melbourne food entrepreneur Nick Vavitis – the mastermind behind cult-dessert brand Choclt – telling news.com.au the Woolies Biscoff Trifle was “beautiful”. The sweet-treat fan, who is famed for doing food reviews inside his vehicle, said it “captures the taste of Christmas”. “Times like this is why it’s so important to carry a spoon in your car because there is a Biscoff trifle out in the wild which is BEAUTIFUL,” Mr Vavitis said. “I love how there is so many different textures and layers through it. You’re really getting a full Biscoff experience.” Shoppers ‘on the hunt’ for Woolies Biscoff Trifle Meanwhile other social media users, such as Samantha Khater and the team at Sweet Sundayz, also described the festive product as “unreal” and “crazy”. Many raved about the $35 Christmas item. Picture: TikTok/SweetSundayz But it’s popularity meant that some struggled to find it in stores. Picture: TikTok/createwithcarlie Woolworths said shoppers who find 'bone on shelves' should check the store availability function. Picture: TikTok/createwithcarlie But despite the rave reviews, some shoppers pointed out in the comments section that the trifle was “impossible to find anywhere”. “I looked everywhere for this, it’s sold out near me! Just their regular trifle was in stock,” one lamented. “Yeh you can’t get them anywhere,” another agreed. One “hopeful” shopper even documented her “hunt” to find the popular product, reporting there were “none on the shelves” at any stores she visited. Woolies responds to Biscoff Trifle frenzy Woolworths told news.com.au that “due to the popular demand, customers are encouraged to check the in store availability function on our website to see where it is available at their local store”. “Australia’s love affair with Lotus Biscoff continues to grow, with millions of products flying off our shelves every year,” Donald Keith, Woolworths Merchandise Manager for Bakery, added. “Which is why we’ve partnered with Lotus Biscoff to bring Aussies this decadent new trifle just in time for Christmas. “The Lotus Biscoff Trifle captures the iconic flavour in a convenient and festive way, perfect for sharing with loved ones this holiday season.” More Coverage Common act explains Aus divorce rates spike Rebekah Scanlan Shock find in pimple mum ‘squeezed too hard’ Claudia Poposki Originally published as Woolies responds as shoppers ‘hunt’ for new $35 Biscoff Trifle Eat Don't miss out on the headlines from Eat. Followed categories will be added to My News. More related stories Eat Surprise reaction to bare shelves at Woolies Australians have been left facing empty shelves thanks to a supermarket warehouse strike — and some are saying it’s worse than the pandemic. Read more Eat Major change for popular fast-food chain The popular fast-food chain has announced the major change which will impact multiple stores across the country. Read more

Gaetz report comes outThe branded hotels sector will end fiscal 2025 with a double-digit revenue growth of 13–14%, according to a Crisil Ratings report. And, in the next financial year, the sector will witness 11–12% growth, it added. The study also stated that in the previous fiscal, the segment had registered 17% growth. The ratings agency pointed to domestic leisure and business travel as the primary drivers. According to the report, increased activity in the MICE—meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions—segment, coupled with a pickup in foreign tourist arrivals, will add some boost. “The domestic leisure segment will continue to drive growth on the back of rising travel aspirations and better regional connectivity. Further, a positive economic outlook and the government's ‘Meet in India’ initiative to promote corporate events will support the business and MICE segments. Foreign tourist arrivals are also expected to surpass the pre-pandemic levels this fiscal,” Crisil Ratings’ Senior Director Mohit Makhija said. These factors, he said, will drive up the average room rates of branded hotels by 6-7% this fiscal. However Makhija added, that “growth in ARRs is expected to moderate to 3–4% next fiscal as significant room capacities come up. These factors will boost the revenue growth by 13–14% this fiscal and 11–12% in the next”. According to the report, the adoption of asset-light management contract route will help pick up the pace of room additions further from last fiscal. As a result, supply will increase by 20% over this fiscal and the next. "As 60-65% of room additions, over this fiscal and the next, are being done through an asset light route, it eliminates the need for large upfront investment and helps navigate business cyclicality better," the ratings agency’s Associate Director Pallavi Singh said. While Crisil expects the hotel industry’s operating margin to improve by 100–150 basis points this fiscal, it added that they should sustain at similar levels in the next year too. Crisil further said strong cash flows, asset-light expansion and sizeable equity raising will keep debt levels under check, hence, strengthening credit profiles. The report expects the number of branded hotel rooms to rise 8–9% this fiscal and 11–12% in the next. And, leisure and non-metro destinations will account for 65% additions. Of these additions, 25% will be in the top seven metros that offer scope for leisure and business activities. The upcoming spiritual tourism destinations will contribute towards the balance. “The hotel industry is expanding more into non-metros and emerging leisure destinations as travellers seek more choices, and infrastructure in these regions improve,” Singh added. Despite these significant room additions, occupancy levels are expected to remain strong at 74–75% next fiscal, declining by a modest 50 basis points after increasing 100–150 bps this fiscal. The report noted that hotels will benefit from operating leverage, which in addition to effective cost management, could result in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margin expansiong of 100–150 bps to 33–34% this fiscal and the next. Cost management initiatives could include higher adoption of technology and manpower rationalisation to move to a leaner fixed cost structure. However, it warned that a surge in airfares could affect leisure travel, while an economic downturn could result in a decline in business travel. With PTI inputs