Large Hadron Collider restarts after two-year rebuild –
The Large Hadron Collider has restarted, with protons circling the machine’s 27km tunnel for the first time since 2013. Particle beams have now travelled in both directions, inside parallel pipes, at a whisker below the speed of light. Actual collisions will not begin for at least another month, but they will take place with nearly double the energy the LHC reached during its first run. Scientists hope to glimpse a “new physics” beyond the Standard Model. [BBC]
Cristiano Ronaldo scores five as Real Madrid thrash Granada 9-1 in Easter morning La Liga clash –
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo struck the quickest hat-trick of his career on his way to netting five goals in a 9-1 drubbing of second-from-bottom Granada on Sunday, lifting Real to within a point of La Liga leaders Barcelona. Portugal forward Ronaldo struck three times in eight minutes in the first half and added two headers after the break on a festive, sun-drenched afternoon at the Bernabeu to help fire Real to their biggest victory in almost half a century. [Daily Telegraph] Christiano Ronaldo
Mieko Nagaoka: 100-year-old Japanese swimmer sets 1,500m record –
A Japanese woman has become the first 100-year-old to complete a 1,500m freestyle swim in a 25m pool. Mieko Nagaoka, who only took up swimming at the age of 82, already holds the record in her age category for the same distance in a 50m pool. She completed the latest feat in just over one hour and 15 minutes, using backstroke all the way. She was the only person taking part in her age range – 100 to 104 – at the competition in Matsuyama on Saturday. Nagaoka already dominates the world record board for her age group, as awarded by the international swimming federation (Fina), holding 24 titles over both short and long distances. [BBC]
Smartphones could be charged in 60 seconds with new battery –
An iPhone 6 takes around two hours to charge but could be full of power in a minute if fitted with a new aluminium battery. Smartphones could be charged in less than one minute after scientists at Stanford University invented an aluminium battery so powerful it could revolutionise the industry. The new rechargeable battery can go from flat to full in a fraction of the time it currently takes to pull in enough electricity to fully charge a phone, laptop or tablet. While an iPhone 6 takes around two hours to fully charge its in-built battery, if it was fitted with the aluminium power source it would be completely topped up in around 60 seconds. And it will keep going for more than seven times as long as a lithium-ion battery. A traditional battery can be recharged around 1,000 times, while the new one can withstand 7,500 cycles. [Daily Telegraph]
Biggest American Indian tribe in US introduces country’s first junk food tax –
As diabetes and obesity spiral out of control on their vast reservation, Navajo Nation harks back to a healthier time and starts taxing Spam and crisps. In times gone by, Navajo Indians ate whatever mother nature was generous enough to bestow, their existence intimately and spiritually bound up with the land on which they lived. Their food would have been the envy of any modern dietitian as they foraged for pinyon nuts and wild potato, and nibbled on sumac berries, yucca fruit, prickly pears and beeweed greens. Today, life is very different in the Navajo Nation, the largest American Indian reservation in America, which covers an area of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah that is the size of Scotland and has a tribal population of 300,000. The modern Navajo, who prefer to be called the Diné, are facing an intensifying health crisis fuelled by a complete transition to a diet based largely on fried potatoes, tortillas, cookies, crisps, sugary drinks and Spam. [Daily Telegraph]
Southampton footballer Sadio Mané scores fastest ever Premier League hat-trick in under 3 minutes-
Southampton winger Sadio Mane described the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history as his “best moment in football”. The Senegalese, 23, netted three goals in two minutes and 56 seconds in the 6-1 win against Aston Villa on Saturday. It surpasses Robbie Fowler’s hat-trick of four minutes and 32 seconds for Liverpool against Arsenal on Sunday, 28 August 1994, aged just 19. “In Senegal they will be happy for me. I have many fans there,” said Mane. The winger opened the scoring at St Mary’s in the 13th minute and completed his trio of goals by the 16th minute. [BBC] Mané’s trio are not the fastest ever – see List of the Day Sadio Mané
American Pharoah wins Kentucky Derby for Espinoza & Baffert –
Favourite American Pharoah won the Kentucky Derby to give jockey Victor Espinoza back-to-back wins in the race before a record crowd of 170,513.
The Bob Baffert-trained horse had won four times on the trot coming into the ‘Run for the Roses’ at Churchill Downs. American Pharaoh went to the front just past the final turn and finished ahead of Firing Line, trained by Englishman Simon Callaghan. Another Baffert-trained horse, Dortmund, finished third. Victor Espinoza
Video of the Day –
Google self-driving car launched –
List of the day –
Fastest football (soccer) hat-tricks
Tommy Ross (1 min 30 secs, Ross County v Nairn County, November 28, 1964)
Eduardo Maglioni (1 min 50 secs, Independiente v Gimmasia de la Plata, March 18, 1973)
Jimmy O’Connor (2 mins 13 secs, Shelbourne v Bohemians, November 19, 1967)
James Hayter (2 mins 20 secs, Bournemouth v Wrexham, February 24, 2004)
Barcelona win La Liga title –
Lionel Messi’s strike gave Barcelona their 23rd Spanish title as they beat Atletico Madrid to regain La Liga. Messi’s 41st league goal of the season ensured that Real Madrid will finish second – despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick against Espanyol. With one game left Barca hold a four-point lead ahead of rivals Real. Cristiano Ronaldo scored his seventh hat-trick of the season to give Real Madrid victory at Espanyol. Ronaldo’s treble took his tally for the season to 45 in La Liga – four ahead of Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, who hit the winner for his club. [BBC] See List of The Day Lionel Messi
Texas bikers in deadly shootout at Waco restaurant –
Police in the US state of Texas say nine people have been killed and at least 100 arrested after a shootout between rival biker gangs in Waco. The incident happened at the Twin Peaks Sports Bar and Grill in a shopping area called the Central Texas Market Place. Police said eight had died at the scene and a ninth in hospital – all were bikers. At least 18 others were hurt. Waco police said the shooting happened shortly after midday when rival gangs got into a fight, apparently over parking space near the restaurant. Up to five gangs were involved. Police spokesman Sgt W Patrick Swanton said the fight started with punches and then escalated to chains, clubs, knives and finally firearms.
Blizzard tackles World of Warcraft ‘cheats’ –
Thousands of World of Warcraft accounts have been shut down by Blizzard as it moves to stop people using “bots” to play the game Blizzard announced it had banned a “large number” of accounts in a message posted to the game’s online forums. The accounts had been discovered using programs, called “bots”, that automate gameplay, said Blizzard. Blizzard did not reveal how many accounts had been shut down. However, a widely-shared screengrab of a conversation between a player and a customer service rep suggested that about 100,000 accounts had been closed. The ban will be in force for six months, said Blizzard.
At least 9 people are killed and 18 injured, some by law enforcement and others in gunfire exchanges, in a shootout between rival biker gangsin Waco, Texas at the Twin Peaks Restaurant. (KWTX), (The Guardian)
A ‘groundbreaking’ combination of drugs which could improve the quality of life and life expectancy of cystic fibrosis sufferers is trialed. (BBC News)
Christiano Ronaldo
