Latest news with #Jacobsen
Indianapolis Star
a day ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
7-foot-4 sophomore becomes 7th Boilermaker since 2015 to make USA Basketball Under-19 team
It's official: Daniel Jacobsen's return to the court will be with USA Basketball. The 7-foot-4 sophomore suffered a broken tibia two games into his first season with Purdue basketball. But he returned to basketball activities and had survived several cuts to represent his country as part of the FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Switzerland. Jacobsen went out to Colorado for camp, which began June 14, and was announced Friday as one of 12 players to make the team. He was ne of seven players with college experience among the 33 invited to the tryout. Jacobsen also has prior experience on that stage, helping Team USA win gold at the FIBA U18 Americup in Argentina last summer. He will continue to train at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic training center in Colorado Springs. Competition is scheduled for June 28 to July 6 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Games will be live-streamed on the FIBA YouTube page and the first game is June 28 against Australia at 2 p.m. He debuted with 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in Purdue's season opener against Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Then He suffered a broken tibia one minute into the second game of the season and did not play again. Buy IndyStar's book on Purdue's 2024 Final Four run! He was cleared for full contact not long after Purdue's season ended with a Sweet 16 loss to Houston in Indianapolis. While he could not play, other aspects of his development continued. For instance, Jacobsen was listed at 230 pounds last season but has grown to 250. Jacobsen projects as half of a promising center duo with transfer Oscar Cluff. Combined with returning first team All-Big Ten starter Trey Kaufman-Renn, second-year Raleigh Burgess and veteran transfer forward Liam Murphy, Purdue's frontcourt depth has increased since the end of last season. 'His eyes lit up': Trials and tribulations have Purdue basketball freshman primed to contribute Jacobsen is the seventh Boilermaker since 2015 to make the U19 team. Kentucky, Duke and Oklahoma State are next with four each.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Boeing whistleblower reveals theory behind Air India crash
When Air India flight 171 to London crashed and exploded into flames moments after take-off from the West Indian city of Ahmedabad, the world watched in horror. All but one of the 242 passengers on board died when the aircraft plummeted into a residential area Thursday June 12. At least eight people in the area where it came down were also killed. On Sunday, India's Office for Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a written statement, 'The AAIB (Air Accidents Investigation Branch) has launched a detailed investigation, and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is conducting a parallel probe under international protocols since the aircraft is American made.' Both Boeing – which manufactures the 787 Dreamliner airplane which crashed – and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced they had teams standing by to support investigators. Meanwhile, Air India announced Wednesday that it would temporarily cut international flights on widebody aircraft by 15 percent. But while preliminary findings may be made public within the next few months, a full report into the tragedy isn't expected to be published for at least a year. And according to aerospace engineer and Boeing whistleblower, Joe Jacobsen, that delay is not only unnecessary, it could prove fatal. He knows because he's seen it all before. Jacobsen worked at both Boeing and the FAA for decades. He is the man who raised the alarm about issues at the aeronautic giant in the wake of two fatal crashes involving the 737 MAX aircraft and killing a total of 346 people across 2018 and 2019. Last year, he testified at a senate subcommittee hearing on the 737 aircraft and Boeing's safety culture. Now, he has spoken exclusively with the Daily Mail to blow the lid on the finger pointing and blame shifting that, he said, goes on between airlines and aircraft manufacturers and needlessly delays the conclusion of vital reports into what lies behind crashes such as the Air India tragedy. Jacobsen said, 'Investigators would be able to have a pretty good idea of what happened within a week, and I would think they definitely should have 95 percent of the information within a month.' Indeed, both of Flight 171's key information sources – the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder or black box – had been recovered by Sunday. He said, 'It only takes a couple of days to download and have a look at that.' But, Jacobsen said, despite these valuable sources, much of the actionable findings won't be released to the public or acted upon for months. Shockingly, he went onto allege that part of Boeing's motivation in stalling on the release of potentially damaging findings, is financial. He explained, 'A lot of people are invested in Boeing and so they try and delay this stuff so people forget about it, or at least they can make their changes before the bottom falls out.' Indeed, these accidents take a massive toll on company finances. Boeing Co's stock closed at $203.75 on June 12, down 4.8%, after plunging as much as 8% in pre-market trading. One week after the crash it had continued its downward trajectory, hovering around $198.35 on Wednesday. Certainly, analysts and investment firms have been quick to downplay the impact and immediacy of the Air India crash to their investors. RBC Capital Markets, the global investment banking and capital markets arm of the Royal Bank of Canada, issued an investors' note last week in which they cautioned against any rush sell-off on the back of the Air India crash. They stated, 'It can often take months to fully understand the causes of a crash, and the implications for Boeing and its suppliers.' But from his experience, Jacobsen said, 'They know 95 percent of what happened after a week - but then the next 11 months are used up by people trying to control the message, and point fingers at one another, who's responsible, who's not responsible.' Jacobsen's worry is that, if the cause for last week's crash is a systemic issue across the 787 Dreamliner fleet, another crash could happen before it has been publicly identified and addressed. Indeed, with over 1,100 Dreamliners still in operation there has already been another scare. On Monday, another Air India pilot turned his 787 Dreamliner around 30 minutes into the flight, citing a technical issue. The airline told Reuters that the decision to return had been made as a matter of 'abundant precaution' and the flight had landed safely - they did not disclose the nature of the technical issue. US officials have stated there is no immediate evidence to warrant grounding the rest of the aircraft worldwide. But in the absence of any findings, this approach troubles Jacobsen. He said, 'A lot of times when it shows up on one airplane, there's other airplanes that have the same or similar issue. 'We shouldn't be saying we're going to take our time and figure this out. No. We have to have urgency. There's another crash that could happen if we're not working as quickly as we can to get the information out as rapidly as possible.' This is not empty scaremongering. Jacobsen has seen it happen. He was working at the FAA when an Indonesian domestic flight, Lion Air Flight 610, plunged into the Java Sea 13 minutes after take-off on October 29, 2018. All 189 passengers on board the Boeing 737 MAX perished. Jacobsen recalled, 'I got the flight data recorder data a week after the crash, and it took five minutes to see what the problem was.' But a full report into the disaster wasn't released for a year. In the meantime, there was another fatal crash when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed six minutes after take-off in March 2019. In that instance all 149 passengers and 8 crew members were killed. Both incidents involved the Boeing 737 MAX and both were found to be caused by the same flawed flight control system. Boeing recently reached a $1.1 billion deal with the US Justice Department over the two crashes. Jacobsen isn't the only one frustrated by the slow drip feeding of information. Lawyers for another Boeing whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, put out a statement on Friday, criticizing the FAA for sitting on a report about safety issues with the Boeing 787 - the same model as the Air India crash - and 878 for months. Salehpour went public with his concerns last year, stating that Boeing was using 'shortcuts' in the making of the 787 Dreamliner fuselage and sparking a federal investigation into the company. But on Friday his lawyer Debra Katz expressed frustration at its slow progress. She said, 'The FAA previously represented to us that they had completed an investigation, suggested that it had meaningful and significant findings that supported Mr Salehpour's allegations, and it was going to release them imminently. 'That was months ago. We urge the agency to disclose the results of its investigation.' For Jacobsen the solution is clear. Issue findings promptly, allowing problems to be addressed and giving families the answers they need, or ground affected aircraft until the cause of these devastating crashes has been made public. Because as things stand, he fears, more people could die while investigators and Boeing drag their feet and families wait. Boeing did not respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment. Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg issued a statement following the crash which included the assurance, 'I have spoken with Air India Chairman N. Chandrasekaran to offer our full support, and a Boeing team stands ready to support the investigation led by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.'
The Citizen
14-06-2025
- Science
- The Citizen
Rare Blyde River Canyon gecko rediscovered after 33 years
Two Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) researchers have rediscovered a gecko species in the Blyde River Canyon that had not been seen for over 33 years. According to EWT communication manager Elenor Momberg, flat geckos (Afroedura) are known for their micro-endemism. 'This means that they occur only in one single, or a few localities.' Letaba Herald reports that the Blyde River flat gecko (Afroedura rondavelica) is known from only a single nearly inaccessible inselberg in the Blyde River Canyon. This species was first discovered by Dr Niels Jacobsen in December 1991, when he collected two males. The species was only formally described in 2014, and the two specimens collected by Jacobsen remained the only known representatives of this species for more than 33 years,' she says. She says that over the years, some debate has emerged regarding the taxonomic status of these specimens, with some experts surmising that they are merely juveniles of another species that occurs nearby. 'Because the species had not been recorded for more than 10 years, it was classified as a 'lost' species by re:Wild. The general lack of information regarding the species, taxonomic uncertainty surrounding it, and the possibility that it may have gone extinct, resulted in this species being listed as data-deficient in the latest International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species assessment.' She says in April this year, two EWT researchers, Dr Darren Pietersen and John Davies, visited the area to determine whether the gecko still inhabited the same inselberg. Following a process of about two years to secure the required permits to visit the difficult-to-reach site in the Blyde River Canyon, the researchers were able to access it by helicopter. They confirmed not only that the species had survived, but also the morphological and therefore taxonomic distinctness of the species. She says the ecological and population data that they collected will allow this species' conservation status to be re-evaluated, moving it out of the data-deficient category. 'Tissue samples were collected to facilitate an in-depth genetic investigation as to the taxonomic placement of this species within the genus, and to confirm its status as a distinct species. What makes this rediscovery particularly significant is the fact that this gecko has not been seen since it was first discovered in 1991, and until recently, Jacobsen was the only person to ever see this species alive,' she says. Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal. Read original story on At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
The Citizen
11-06-2025
- Science
- The Citizen
Rare Blyde River gecko rediscovered after 33 years
LIMPOPO – Two Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) researchers have rediscovered a gecko species in the Blyde River Canyon that had not been seen for over 33 years. According to EWT communication manager Elenor Momberg, flat geckos (Afroedura) are known for their micro-endemism. 'This means that they occur only in one single, or a few localities.' The Blyde River flat gecko (Afroedura rondavelica) is known from only a single nearly inaccessible inselberg in the Blyde River Canyon. This species was first discovered by Dr Niels Jacobsen in December 1991, when he collected two males. The species was only formally described in 2014, and the two specimens collected by Jacobsen remained the only known representatives of this species for more than 33 years,' she said. She said that over the years, some debate has emerged regarding the taxonomic status of these specimens, with some experts surmising that they are merely juveniles of another species that occurs nearby. 'Because the species had not been recorded for more than 10 years, it was classified as a 'lost' species by re:Wild. The general lack of information regarding the species, taxonomic uncertainty surrounding it, and the possibility that it may have gone extinct, resulted in this species being listed as data-deficient in the latest IUCN Red List of Threatened Species assessment.' She said in April this year, two EWT researchers, Dr Darren Pietersen and John Davies, visited the area to determine whether the gecko still inhabited the same inselberg. Following a process of about two years to secure the required permits to visit the difficult-to-reach site in the Blyde River Canyon, the researchers were able to access it by helicopter. They confirmed not only that the species had survived, but also the morphological and therefore taxonomic distinctness of the species. She said the ecological and population data that they collected will allow this species' conservation status to be re-evaluated, moving it out of the data-deficient category. 'Tissue samples were collected to facilitate an in-depth genetic investigation as to the taxonomic placement of this species within the genus, and to confirm its status as a distinct species. What makes this rediscovery particularly significant is the fact that this gecko has not been seen since it was first discovered in 1991, and until recently, Jacobsen was the only person to ever see this species alive,' she said. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Indianapolis Star
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Newcomers out, or limited, for first Purdue basketball practice: 3 things we learned
WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue basketball big man Trey Kaufman-Renn looks up and down the roster and struggles to find a weakness for a preseason national championship favorite. He's eager to finally experience that much-anticipated squad in its complete form. Summer practice began Monday without two of the Boilermakers' biggest offseason additions. South Dakota State transfer center Oscar Cluff is waiting on his renewed visa to arrive so he can board a plane from Australia. He is expected in West Lafayette soon. Incoming freshman guard Omer Mayer remains overseas, as he will play with Team Israel at the FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Switzerland later this month. As a result, his own visa process is less time-urgent. Another incoming transfer, former North Florida forward Liam Murphy, participated in a limited capacity. Purdue coach Matt Painter said Murphy is not expected to be fully cleared from shoulder surgery until the fall. "It's going to take time to get people in different systems, especially the way that we play," Kaufman-Renn said. "We play a little bit differently than a lot of other teams, so it'll take time for it to be perfect. But from what I've heard, what I've seen as far as their film. I think they'll fit right in." Here are three things we learned from Monday's practice on Cardinal Court: Second-year center Daniel Jacobsen will soon depart for the Team USA training camp to compete for a spot in the same FIBA Under-19 World Cup where Mayer will play. Monday, though provided the first public look at Jacobsen participating in full-contact action since the broken tibia which ended his freshman season after two games. Our book on Purdue basketball's Final Four run is the perfect Father's Day gift It was a different look, too, as Jacobsen has added over 30 pounds, weighing in around 253. Beefing up his 7-foot-4 frame had always been part of his freshman plan. Sitting out most of the season accidentally helped that process. "I feel a lot better, a lot bigger," said Jacobsen, who crashed to the floor a few times and bounced right back up. "I feel like I'm not getting moved around as much." Raleigh Burgess remains out after offseason leg surgery and may not participate this summer. The decision not to use a redshirt season with him last season drew the most attention because it came down to the start of the season. Last season's other redshirt decision will lead to a bigger role for Jack Benter. The Brownstown Central grad was somewhat out of sight, out of mind last season while sitting out. Now he'll fight to earn guard rotation minutes and can also play the 4 in smaller lineups. "He's got good length, good size," Painter said. "He can stretch the defense. He knows how to play." Painter called Monday's practice a "glorified pickup game." Yet it's an important first step for freshman guard Antione West Jr., the player with the steepest learning curve. That freshman initiation can be a tough process for those coming in with a big class. Coming in with a small one amplifies the corrective focus of the coaching staff. West was merely getting his feet wet Monday. The NCAA allows up to eight weeks of required summer activities. Of the eight allowed hours per week, no more than four can be spent on skill instruction such as drills and film sessions. The rest of the time can go toward weightlifting and conditioning.
