Stellar Black Hole in Our Galaxy Is So Massive It Shouldn't Exist - Livescience.com

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1. Stellar Black Hole in Our Galaxy Is So Massive It Shouldn't Exist  Livescience.com
2. Scientists spot black hole so huge it 'shouldn't even exist' in our galaxy  Rappler
3. Massive black hole that 'should not even exist' has been discovered  Yahoo News
4. Black hole discovery: How an 'impossibly' heavy black hole will 'update astronomy books'  Express.co.uk
5. Scientists find ‘monster’ black hole so big they didn’t think it was possible  The Washington Post
6. View full coverage on Google News

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2019-11-30 12:00:00Z
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A 'Mole' Isn't Digging Mars: NASA Engineers Are Trying To Find Out Why - NPR

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A photo of the mole on NASA's InSight lander trying to drill into the Martian surface. NASA hide caption

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NASA

There's a mole on Mars that's making NASA engineers tear their hair out.

No, they haven't discovered a small, insectivorous mammal on the red planet.

The mole vexing engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena is a scientific instrument known as the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package, or HP3 — or just "the mole" — carried on NASA's InSight probe that landed on Mars a year ago.

"The mole is designed to measure heat flow coming out of the interior of Mars," says Troy Hudson, InSight's instrument system engineer.

Scientists are interested to know how much heat is still being generated inside the core of the once geologically active Mars. To do that, the mole has to bury itself about 16 feet below the Martian surface so it won't be affected by daily temperature fluctuations.

The mole is basically a tube about 16 inches long and an inch in diameter. It has a pointy tip and an internal hammer that works like a kind of pile driver to pound the instrument into the ground.

The frustrations began last February when the digging started. Instead of going down to 16 feet, it got stuck after just 14 inches.

Hudson says he and his team decided the problem was related to bouncing.

Just like a gun recoils when you fire it, the mole recoiled ever so slightly every time the hammer tried to drive it into the ground. So instead of going down, it bounced in place.

Some of the problem may be caused by uncertainty about the size of the grains of Martian sand. It turns out that pushing a probe into something like flour is very different than pushing it into a bowl of granulated sugar.

The low pressure on Mars also changes the way the dirt behaves compared to soil on Earth.

Engineers thought they might be able to prevent the bouncing if they used the scoop on InSight's robotic arm to press against the mole as it hammered. They tried that a few weeks ago — and it worked.

"For the first time in 8 months we have definite forward progress," Hudson told NPR at the time.

But Hudson knew there was another looming problem. Eventually, the top of the mole would be flush with the Martian surface, and there would be nothing for the scoop to press against.

So they came up with a new plan.

"We moved the scoop over to a different position nearby, and pushed hard on the soil, hoping that would transfer force to the mole through the soil rather than directly," he says.

They sent instructions for the scoop to press, the mole to hammer, and for Insight's camera to record what happened.

Hudson says he was horrified when he saw the pictures.

Credit: NASA

"I was very distraught," he recalls.

The mole had backed almost half-way out of the hole, inadvertently undoing much of their progress.

Hudson is pretty sure he knows what happened. Without the scoop pressing on the mole, it started bouncing again.

"When it does that, loose soil in front of the mole can infiltrate in front of the tip, filling up the space that occurs whenever it bounces," Hudson says. "Then it's just bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, and more material fills in and it ends up backing out of the ground."

Hudson says he and his team are confident they can use the scoop press technique to get the mole back down to where it was. They've already made an inch and a half of progress.

Once the top of the Mole is again flush with the surface, he says "we're going to have to come up with a new way to get it underground fully and we haven't figured out exactly what we're going to do there, yet."

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2019-11-29 13:16:00Z
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Chinese astronomers discovered a black hole so big it shouldn't exist according to current science - Business Insider

An artist's impression of the LB-1 black hole, recently discovered by Chinese scientists.YU Jingchuan, Beijing Planetarium, 2019.

• Chinese scientists discovered a stellar black hole that's so large it shouldn't exist based on current theories of black hole formation.
• LB-1 is 70 times greater than the mass of our sun, but scientists had believed that stellar black holes in our galaxy could not be bigger than 20 times the mass of the sun.
• The head of the team that made the discovery said that: "Black holes of such mass should not even exist in our Galaxy, according to most of the current models of stellar evolution."
• Prof. David Reitze of the University of Florida said: "This discovery forces us to re-examine our models of how stellar-mass black holes form."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Chinese scientists discovered a black hole so that's so big that it throws into question previous beliefs about how black holes are formed.

The newly discovered black hole, called LB-1, has a mass 70 times greater than the mass of our sun, China's Academy of Sciences said in a statement.

The statement noted that scientists had previously believed that an individual stellar black hole — formed when a star collapses — that's in our galaxy could only weigh as much as 20 times the mass of our sun.

This is because they believed that stars start to lose their gas as they die, and lose mass as a result. 

However, Professor Liu Jifeng of the National Astronomical Observatory of China, who led the team who made the discovery, said that LB-1, under this theory, was too big to exist.

"Black holes of such mass should not even exist in our Galaxy, according to most of the current models of stellar evolution."

"LB-1 is twice as massive as what we thought possible. Now theorists will have to take up the challenge of explaining its formation," he said.

"We thought that very massive stars with the chemical composition typical of our Galaxy must shed most of their gas in powerful stellar winds, as they approach the end of their life. Therefore, they should not leave behind such a massive remnant."

LB-1 is 15,000 light years from Earth.

This computer-simulated image shows a supermassive black hole at the core of a galaxy. The black region in the center represents the black hole’s event horizon, where no light can escape the massive object’s gravitational grip.NASA, ESA, and D. Coe, J. Anderson, and R. van der Marel (STScI)

The discovery was published in the scientific journal Nature on Wednesday. The black hole was discovered by looking at stars that were being pulled in by an invisible object instead of the usual technique of looking at the x-rays emitted by a black hole, which not all black holes emit.

The University of Florida's Prof. David Reitze, the director of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, said in the news releaseL "This discovery forces us to re-examine our models of how stellar-mass black holes form."

According to CNN, the Chinese team suggested multiple reasons why the black hole is so big, including the suggestion that it could have been formed by the collapse of more than one star.

CNN also noted that other black holes that are larger than LB-1 have been discovered, like supermassive black holes, but that LB-1 is the largest of its kind.

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2019-11-29 12:14:47Z
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Scientists have discovered a 'monster' black hole that's so big it shouldn't exist - CNN

It's a stellar black hole — the type that forms after stars die, collapse, and explode. Researchers had previously believed that the size limit was no more than 20 times the mass of our sun because as these stars die, they lose most of their mass through explosions that expel matter and gas swept away by stellar winds.

This theory has now been toppled by LB-1, the newly-discovered black hole. Located about 15,000 light years away, it has a mass 70 times greater than our sun, according to a press release from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The findings were published by Chinese researchers in the journal Nature on Wednesday.

"Black holes of such mass should not even exist in our galaxy, according to most of the current models of stellar evolution," said Liu Jifeng, head of the team that made the discovery. "LB-1 is twice as massive as what we thought possible. Now theorists will have to take up the challenge of explaining its formation."

Scientists are now scratching their heads at how LB-1 got so huge.

The Chinese team has proposed a number of theories. LB-1's sheer size suggests that it "was not formed from the collapse of only one star," the study said -- instead, it could potentially be two smaller black holes orbiting each other.

Another possibility is that it formed from a "fallback supernova." This is when a supernova -- the last stage of an exploding star -- ejects material during the explosion, which then falls back into the supernova, creating a black hole.

This fallback formation is theoretically possible, but scientists have never been able to prove or observe it. If this is how LB-1 formed, then we may have "direct evidence for this process" for the first time, the study said.

LB-1 is not the biggest black hole ever discovered -- but it may be the largest of its kind. There are several types of black holes, and stellar black holes like LB-1 are on the smaller side, according to NASA. Supermassive black holes are much bigger -- they can be billions of times the mass of our sun.

Scientists believe supermassive black holes may be connected to the formation of galaxies, as they often exist at the center of the massive star systems -- but it is still not clear exactly how, or which form first.

Stellar renaissance

Stellar black holes are believed to be commonly scattered across the universe, but they are difficult to detect because they do not normally emit X-rays -- only doing so when they gobble up gas from a star that has ventured close enough. They are so elusive that scientists have only found, identified, and measured about two dozen stellar black holes, the press release said.

The researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences tried a different approach. Instead of looking for X-rays emitted by black holes, the team looked for stars that were orbiting some invisible object, being pulled in by its gravity.

Their efforts paid off -- they soon spotted a giant star eight times heavier than the sun, orbiting around what turned out to be LB-1.

"This discovery forces us to re-examine our models of how stellar-mass black holes form," said David Reitze, a physicist at the University of Florida. In May, Reitze's team made its own breakthrough discovery -- observing the never-before-seen collision of a neutron star and a black hole, which sent out ripples in space and time.

These twin discoveries -- the collision, and now LB-1 -- indicate that scientists are reaching "a renaissance in our understanding of black hole astrophysics," said Reitze in the press release.

There have been several other discoveries over the past year that have added to this renaissance. In October, researchers discovered what they believe to be a new type of black hole, smaller than the other kinds. And earlier this week, astronomers discovered a black hole that is actually helping baby stars grow instead of destroying them.

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2019-11-29 11:04:00Z
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Scientists have discovered a 'monster' black hole that's so big it shouldn't exist - CNN

It's a stellar black hole — the type that forms after stars die, collapse, and explode. Researchers had previously believed that the size limit was no more than 20 times the mass of our sun because as these stars die, they lose most of their mass through explosions that expel matter and gas swept away by stellar winds.

This theory has now been toppled by LB-1, the newly-discovered black hole. Located about 15,000 light years away, it has a mass 70 times greater than our sun, according to a press release from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The findings were published by Chinese researchers in the journal Nature on Wednesday.

"Black holes of such mass should not even exist in our galaxy, according to most of the current models of stellar evolution," said Liu Jifeng, head of the team that made the discovery. "LB-1 is twice as massive as what we thought possible. Now theorists will have to take up the challenge of explaining its formation."

Scientists are now scratching their heads at how LB-1 got so huge.

The Chinese team has proposed a number of theories. LB-1's sheer size suggests that it "was not formed from the collapse of only one star," the study said -- instead, it could potentially be two smaller black holes orbiting each other.

Another possibility is that it formed from a "fallback supernova." This is when a supernova -- the last stage of an exploding star -- ejects material during the explosion, which then falls back into the supernova, creating a black hole.

This fallback formation is theoretically possible, but scientists have never been able to prove or observe it. If this is how LB-1 formed, then we may have "direct evidence for this process" for the first time, the study said.

LB-1 is not the biggest black hole ever discovered -- but it may be the largest of its kind. There are several types of black holes, and stellar black holes like LB-1 are on the smaller side, according to NASA. Supermassive black holes are much bigger -- they can be billions of times the mass of our sun.

Scientists believe supermassive black holes may be connected to the formation of galaxies, as they often exist at the center of the massive star systems -- but it is still not clear exactly how, or which form first.

Stellar renaissance

Stellar black holes are believed to be commonly scattered across the universe, but they are difficult to detect because they do not normally emit X-rays -- only doing so when they gobble up gas from a star that has ventured close enough. They are so elusive that scientists have only found, identified, and measured about two dozen stellar black holes, the press release said.

The researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences tried a different approach. Instead of looking for X-rays emitted by black holes, the team looked for stars that were orbiting some invisible object, being pulled in by its gravity.

Their efforts paid off -- they soon spotted a giant star eight times heavier than the sun, orbiting around what turned out to be LB-1.

"This discovery forces us to re-examine our models of how stellar-mass black holes form," said David Reitze, a physicist at the University of Florida. In May, Reitze's team made its own breakthrough discovery -- observing the never-before-seen collision of a neutron star and a black hole, which sent out ripples in space and time.

These twin discoveries -- the collision, and now LB-1 -- indicate that scientists are reaching "a renaissance in our understanding of black hole astrophysics," said Reitze in the press release.

There have been several other discoveries over the past year that have added to this renaissance. In October, researchers discovered what they believe to be a new type of black hole, smaller than the other kinds. And earlier this week, astronomers discovered a black hole that is actually helping baby stars grow instead of destroying them.

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2019-11-29 08:57:00Z
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Massive black hole discovered in Milky Way - CBS This Morning

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2019-11-28 13:59:30Z
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Thanksgiving in Space: For Astronauts, It's a Cosmic Friendsgiving! - Space.com

They may be circling hundreds of miles above the United States, but the three American residents of the International Space Station have a plan to celebrate Thanksgiving.

"It's all about the togetherness, but not necessarily the commercialism," said Christina Koch, who is spending nearly a year in space, in a NASA video Monday (Nov. 25). 

"In recent years," she added, "I've come to love 'Friendsgiving', and that's a little like what we're having on board here ... although you can say that we're family, too."

Related: Here's What Astronauts Will Eat for Thanksgiving Today
More: Thanksgiving Night Sky 2019: See Venus, Jupiter & the Moon Together!

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir (left), Christina Koch (center) and Andrew Morgan will celebrate a "Friendsgiving" in space for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on the International Space Station this Nov. 28, 2019. (Image credit: NASA TV)

U.S. astronauts Koch, Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan are just half of the population in space right now, forging strong bonds through recent tasks such as ongoing complicated repairs of a dark-matter experiment and conducting the first all-woman spacewalk. 

Also on board the space station are two Russians (Aleksandr Skvortsov and Oleg Skripochka) and an Italian (Luca Parmitano). The Americans said they are eager to share the U.S. holiday with their friends, most especially including the food.

The three NASA astronauts on board the station, @Astro_Christina, @Astro_Jessica and @AstroDrewMorgan, share what #Thanksgiving means to them and get a look at what the holiday in space will be like in 2019. pic.twitter.com/fEgZIHIrf7November 25, 2019

"When we think of Thanksgiving, we think of friends, family and food," Morgan said, as his crewmates dug below their floating feet to bring out a cornucopia of space food for the Thanksgiving holiday. The astronauts grabbed the packets out of the air and explained their contents. Among them were vegetables, green beans, macaroni and cheese (just needs water!), cornbread and of course, smoked turkey.

More: NASA's Recipe for Space Corn Bread Dressing

"I want to know who's going to carve the turkey after it comes out of that pouch," Koch joked. The crew may also come up with a way to create their own pumpkin pie out of supplies on board, including cookies, she hinted. (Their full menu will be shared on the NASA website soon.)

Meir, the daughter of American immigrants, recalled Thanksgivings she had as a child: "I grew up in a family with five kids, and as first-generation Americans, I guess my parents had to learn pretty quick how to put on a great Thanksgiving feast."

As she got older, she added, she "lived in various places" and has enjoyed Thanksgiving with "adopted families all over the country." 

This year, her Thanksgiving celebration will be literally out of this world.

Follow Chelsea Gohd on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Need more space? Subscribe to our sister title "All About Space" Magazine for the latest amazing news from the final frontier! (Image credit: All About Space)

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2019-11-28 12:38:00Z
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Astronomers discover huge 'black hole' in Milky Way - Al Jazeera English

Astronomers have discovered a black hole in the Milky Way so huge that it challenges existing models of how stars evolve, researchers said on Thursday.

LB-1 is 15,000 light-years from Earth and has a mass 70 times greater than the Sun, according to the journal Nature.

More:

The Milky Way is estimated to contain 100 million stellar black holes but LB-1 is twice as massive as anything scientists thought possible, said Liu Jifeng, a National Astronomical Observatory of China professor who led the research.

"Black holes of such mass should not even exist in our galaxy, according to most of the current models of stellar evolution," he added.

Scientists generally believe that there are two types of black holes.

The more common stellar black holes - up to 20 times more massive than the Sun - form when the centre of a very big star collapses in on itself.

Supermassive black holes are at least a million times bigger than the Sun and their origins are uncertain.

But researchers believed that typical stars in the Milky Way shed most of their gas through stellar winds, preventing the emergence of a black hole the size of LB-1, Liu said.

"Now theorists will have to take up the challenge of explaining its formation," he said in a statement.

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2019-11-28 10:41:00Z
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An electron highway headed for methanol - Phys.org

A conception of a new catalyst that converts carbon dioxide and water to methanol — the catalyst uses carbon nanotubes to create a “highway” for electrons. Credit: Hailiang Wang lab

Making methanol just got a lot easier, now that chemists at Yale have opened up a new electron highway.

The discovery, published online Nov. 27 in the journal Nature, finds a novel solution for two chemical tasks: producing methanol—a volatile, liquid fuel that is prized by industry—and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Hailiang Wang, an assistant professor of chemistry at Yale and member of the Energy Sciences Institute at Yale's West Campus, led the research.

Methanol is used in a variety of products, including antifreeze, paint thinners, and glass cleaners. It is also used to produce biodiesel fuel, plastics, plywood, and permanent-press clothing.

Yale researchers developed a catalyst that converts carbon dioxide and water into methanol using electricity. It's a type of catalyst called a heterogeneous molecular electrocatalyst—"heterogeneous" because it's a solid catalyst material operating in a liquid electrolyte, and "molecular" because the active site of the catalyst is a molecular structure.

The distinct structure of the new catalyst is the key, Wang said.

He and his team anchored individual molecules of cobalt phthalocyanine (or its derivative) onto the surface of carbon nanotubes, nanometer-sized tubes of rolled up graphene layers. The nanotubes act like a highway for electrons, creating a rapid and continuous delivery of electrons to the catalytic sites for converting carbon dioxide to methanol. It is a six-electron reduction process, the researchers said, meaning that six electrons are injected into one carbon dioxide molecule.

Yueshen Wu (left) and Xu Lu, co-authors of the new study. Credit: Hailiang Wang lab

Prior to this discovery, a more limited delivery of electrons—a two-electron reduction process—meant molecular catalysts were only able to convert carbon dioxide into products such as carbon monoxide.

"Heterogenized molecular catalysts allow our group to do new chemistry and known chemistry in better ways, and this is one example," Wang said.

Yueshen Wu, a graduate student at Yale, is first author of the study. Co-authors are postdoctoral fellow Xu Lu of Yale and associate professor Yongye Liang and graduate student Zhan Jiang of the Southern University of Science and Technology in China.

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Explore further

Carbon dioxide to methanol conversion

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More information: Yueshen Wu et al. Domino electroreduction of CO2 to methanol on a molecular catalyst, Nature (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1760-8

Provided by Yale University

Citation: An electron highway headed for methanol (2019, November 28) retrieved 28 November 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2019-11-electron-highway-methanol.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

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2019-11-28 09:44:50Z
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NASA panic: Shock interstellar object hurtling towards Earth from deep space spotted - Express.co.uk

Known as 21/Borisov experts say that the object is only the second interstellar object spotted in our solar system. The first close up of the object was captured in August by experts at the Keck observatory in Hawaii. Borisov is now set to make its close approach next month passing roughly 190 million miles away from our orbit, about twice the distance from Earth to the Sun.

The object itself has a long tail made up of ice and debris stretching a whopping 100,000 miles behind it.

With the tale included this makes the Borisov vastly huge staggeringly longer than 12 earths.

"It's humbling to realise how small Earth is next to this visitor from another solar system," said Yale scientist Dr Pieter van Dokkum.

Spotting Borisov well in advance has allowed scientists to study the object extensively before it shoots off once again into deep space.

"Comet Borisov will eventually leave our Solar System," University of California astronomer Dr Paul Kalas wrote last month.

"Until then we should all enjoy the marvellous beauty of our alien comet friend."

Despite the extensive study and focus given to the interstellar object scientists still remain clueless as to what Borisov actually is.

At the moment many scientists best guess is that it is a comet, with the hope being that studying it will open the door to answers on how comets are formed in deep space.

JUST IN: NASA photos reveal storms on Mars create 50 MILE dust towers

Further down, the planet turns towards muddied hues of green, blue and violet before ending in a deep purple colour around the south pole.

But why is the Ringed Giant painted in these unusual colours?

The incredible palette is the result of NASA’s Hubble looking at Saturn in infrared wavelengths of light.

The colours shift in hue with changes in the atmosphere’s density and composition.

For instance, the dark purple at the South Pole suggests a big hole has opened in the atmosphere.

The lighter red and orange colours, on the other hand, indicate a haze above Saturn’s cloud coverage.

NASA said: “The blue colours indicate a clear atmosphere down to a main cloud layer.

“Different shadings of blue indicate variations in the cloud particles, in size or chemical composition.

“The cloud particles are believed to be ammonia ice crystals.”

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2019-11-28 04:03:00Z
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Knicks’ RJ Barrett plays with confidence in homecoming vs. Raptors - Sportsnet.ca

RJ Barrett was on the gold-and-black floor at Scotiabank Arena early for his first NBA game in his hometown.

He was trying to work through all the patterns he’s been honing for years now, pointing to some version of this day – three-pointers of every variation, different kinds of finishing moves.

The only problem was he kept getting interrupted.

Raptors rookie Oshae Brissett – a fellow Mississauga native – ran onto the floor and essentially tackled him. Chris Boucher the up-and-coming Raptor from Montreal and a national team colleague the summer before last, woofed him as he walked on the floor for his pre-game work.

But Barrett still looked good, moving well, smiling easily as he went through his paces, even if he was coming off an undisclosed illness – described only as something respiratory — that kept him out of the New York Knicks‘ lineup a couple of night ago.

There was no trace of nerves.

“Today you would have thought we were in any other gym,” Knicks head coach David Fizdale said. “It was like any other shootaround today. I’m expecting him to play well.”

You know what? Barrett did play pretty well, all things considered. But there were some nerves. The good kind.

“I had way too many emotions,” he said afterward. “I was so happy all day. Literally the whole time I was trying to calm myself down for the two hours before the game. It was great to back in Toronto.”

Most importantly, he played with confidence. He drove to the rim hard on his first possession where his lay-up was tipped by Norm Powell. He stepped into open threes with appropriate belief, making 2-of-8 but looking like he could have had more go down. He left the arena with a brace on his shooting hand – his left – having sprained a finger a few days back, so that probably wasn’t helping.

Barrett moved the ball reasonably efficiently. His work ethic on defence was more than passable, even if he was but a finger in the Knicks’ porous dike.

One of his best moments was a lefty floater in the first half, which marked his first basket at Scotiabank Arena since high school, when he played there as a ninth grader from Mississauga’s St. Marcellinus Secondary. Barrett followed up with a corner three and a couple nice passes, one of which earned him an assist. In the second half, he drove hard into the sizable chest of Marc Gasol and managed to bounce off and convert. Barrett easily could have drawn a foul on that play.

The 19-year-old was doing his best to put on a good showing in front what he estimated was a gathering of 300 friends and family who made it to the game.

He finished with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists on 5-of-17 shooting in 31 minutes. The Raptors were led by Pascal Siakam with 31 points. The most impressive rookie on the floor might have been undrafted 22-year-old Terence Davis, who cruised to 15 points and five assists.

“I tried my best out there,” Barrett said. “Hopefully I get to come back here and play many times.”

.@RjBarrett6 rocking some inspired kicks tonight vs. @Raptors pic.twitter.com/dXlVNBSkdA

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 27, 2019

His main problem?

He plays for the Knicks, who leave Toronto with a 4-14 record after the Raptors all too easily handed them a 126-98 win after jumping ahead by double figures late in the second quarter and never looking back. Toronto improved to 13-4 and a perfect 8-0 at home – a franchise record to start a season — as they led by 20 heading into the fourth quarter and were able to relax as the game finished with an extended garbage time session.

This is Barrett’s NBA reality: The Knicks have faced the fourth easiest schedule in the league, so their record is probably even better than it should be.

The ball doesn’t move – the Knicks are 28th in the league in assists and had just 19 against the Raptors – and they don’t have the three-point shooting to spread the floor enough to cater Barrett’s abilities to drive the basket. He’s always had a knack for getting to the free-throw line, but he’s shooting only 49 per cent on five attempts a game – an area that will have to improve (he was 4-of-6 against the Raptors), but is unlikely to elevate the league’s second-worst offence.

Unfortunately for Barrett, things will likely only get worse as the Knicks are poised to enter a six-week, 20-game stretch where they play 12 games on the road, including two trips to the west coast and two trips to Milwaukee. They get the East-leading Bucks at home in there, too.

By then, the league-wide expectation is the Knicks will be trying to sell-off the quality veterans they do have for draft picks as their never-ending rebuild continues. Barrett’s head coach, Fizdale, is considered a leading candidate to get fired and there are rumoured front office shake-ups coming as well.

For Barrett, the entire season seems poised to be a lesson in, ‘You are not at Duke anymore.’

He’s trying to remain optimistic even if he’s already lost more games this season than he did in his final three amateur years combined.

“I’m playing basketball. That’s the light that I see,” Barrett said. “I get to play basketball every day. I come in, put my hard hat on every day and try to help the team every day.”

But Barrett’s homecoming Wednesday was a bit of perfect symmetry and hinted at some better days to come.

On Tuesday, Denver Nuggets star Jamal Murray told Sportsnet he was committing to play for the national team next summer. Then, in rapid fire, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nickeil Alexander-Walker of the Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans, respectively, announced their plans to do the same. Dillon Brooks of the Memphis Grizzlies had already thrown his hat in the ring.

Wednesday morning was Barrett’s turn as he stood before a podium at Scotiabank Arena and declared he was in – “100 per cent.”

Barrett has been projected as the future face of Canadian basketball since he was 14 years old.

The beauty of his homecoming was that it’s clear he’s going to be part of a crowd, with a chance to play on a strong team.

In the fourth quarter of last night’s game, there were four Canadians on the floor at once: Brissett and Boucher for the Raptors, along with Barrett and Ignas Brazdeikas for the Knicks. It’s believed to be a Canadian first. Even two months into his first NBA season, Barrett has grown accustomed to seeing familiar faces at nearly every stop.

The national team element was a welcome sidebar to what was a fairly pedestrian weeknight game between an Eastern Conference contender and a team that is miles from even thinking playoffs.

Not only was Barrett playing in front of friends and family, he was playing in front of national team head coach – and Toronto Raptors head coach — Nick Nurse.

“I just talked to him (Monday) night a little bit, very quickly,” Nurse said before the game. “He’s in town obviously with a lot of family and stuff, but we did have a really nice exchange, and you’ve seen his comments today that he’s 100 per cent committed to playing for the team and excited about it and stuff like that — and that’s great to see, great to see.”

Was Nurse watching with an eye toward next summer?

“One-eighth of my eye is looking at the national team and seven-eighths of my eyes are trying to do this job, focusing in on this,” Nurse joked.

“(But) there’s a lot of time, obviously (before Olympic qualifying begins next summer),” said Nurse. “I think every time I got a game on, and these guys are playing, I watch personnel closely. Especially a little more concentration on the guys who can possibly be playing no doubt, see how they’re doing. They’re, as a group, they’re great dudes man, you’re pulling for them — except when they’re playing you, you’re pulling for them.”

Barrett could use some support. It’s going to be a long year and summer basketball amongst friends with a chance to win might seem like something to look forward to by the time December and January roll around.

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November 28, 2019 at 10:27AM

Maple Leafs win a 54-shot laugher in Detroit - Toronto Sun

DETROIT — On American Thanksgiving, the Maple Leafs were treated to a wild turkey shoot.

They beat up the Red Wings 6-0 on Wednesday, giving new coach Sheldon Keefe three wins, the most by a Toronto in-season bench replacement since expansion and the most since Pat Quinn debuted with three in 1998-99.

The rebuilding Wings, winless in seven, are as bad as advertised, but have an injury list that includes top scorer Anthony Mantha, with the added misfortune of two ailing goalies in this mismatch. Jimmy Howard left with a groin injury after Toronto’s third goal at 9:48 of the first. A flu-ridden Jonathan Bernier allowed three, but he also made 30-plus saves.

When it was mercifully over, the Leafs had outshot Detroit 54-25, with 40 coming in the first 40 minutes. They had one shift in the Wings zone that lasted more than a minute, spent more than half the middle period inside Detroit’s blue line and increased the latter’s league-worst goal differential to minus-45, while improving their own to plus-2.

By the loud music pumping from the dressing room and the broad smiles on faces that were frowns just a week ago, it’s hard to believe this is the same team Mike Babcock coached.

“You get a new coach, you want to work hard and be detailed in everything,” said winger Andreas Johnsson, who had the Leafs’ final two goals. “Some new things he put in our system give us more speed and we wear teams down. It’s been good so far, but we still have a lot to work on.”

Keefe’s Leafs are still two games under .500, but the 39-year-old coach quipped that his fast start “is better than the alternative.”

“We feel good about how things have gone. The players have responded beautifully and deserve all the credit,” he said.

EMPTY NETTERS

Bernier was announced as the starter earlier in the day, but became too sick. He was in the Wings’ room when Howard, who’d been beaten on deflected shots by defencemen Travis Dermott and Tyson Barrie, stretched for a John Tavares rebound. As they’d done from puck drop, the Leafs kept coming and seeing that Howard couldn’t push himself up, Tavares wired a high goal to make it 3-0.

With no goalie on the bench or the ice, a timeout had to be called with the officials conferring with hockey operations in Toronto.

Eventually Bernier appeared, needing an IV hook-up between periods to avoid dehydration.

William Nylander scored with some mid-air trickery — twice tapping an airborne Morgan Rielly pass — before Johnsson was pushed into the net along with the the puck for the fifth Toronto goal. And just to show how everything was going the Leafs’ way, they added a power-play goal with  Jason Spezza feeding Johnsson.

“We’d heard Bernier had the flu and thought we might see a Scott Foster (an emergency goalie pulled out of the stands in Chicago in 2018),” said Barrie. “We were getting a little excited, but Bernier played well.”

Ex-Leaf Calvin Pickard was summoned by Detroit after the game. The Wings did have their practice goalie ready if needed.

Meanwhile, Frederik Andersen collected his 11th Leafs shutout, improved his record to 9-0-1 against Detroit, and made a couple of impressive saves, despite the disparity in play.

“It felt the guys had the puck the whole second period,” said Andersen. “You see how much the skill shows. The more we can have the puck like that, the better. Teams get tired out.

“Guys are playing very free and enjoying it a lot. We came out hot and scored.”

The question now is whether Keefe decides that Friday in Buffalo is a good place to plug in Michael Hutchinson. Zero wins by a backup was another factor in Babcock’s firing.

BARRIE VERY GOOD

After talk that he was disgruntled in Toronto, Barrie has become the first Leafs blueliner in franchise history to score in three consecutive road games, in addition to consecutive two-point games.

His goal, which pinged in off a Wing in the slot, and Dermott’s were the type of bounces the Leafs weren’t getting before.

“Mine was a brutal shot that caught a stick and went in,” Barrie said. “When things are going well, you’re getting those bounces.
“Start to finish that was a good game for us. We employed our system and had a lot of fun out there. We spent a lot of time in the o-zone and carried that theme throughout.”

NYLANDER BURIES THE PAST

Nylander said he was going through old pictures on his phone on Wednesday and found one of him a year ago in Switzerland, just before his contract stand-off with the Leafs ended. This year is going much better, up to nine goals and now with Keefe now behind the bench, an early influence on him with the Marlies.

“He came in and we had a great first meeting, everyone understood the way he wanted to go,” Nylander said. “Our team is built to be a puck possession team.”

LOOSE LEAFS

Somehow, Leafs sniper Auston Matthews did not get a point on Wednesday, while Andreas Athanasiou, the NHL’s lowest plus-minus player, was not on for any Toronto goals … Barrie’s goal followed a big push by Keefe’s all-Marlies grad line of Frederik Gauthier, Dmytro Timashov and Pierre Engvall, all getting generous ice time … Alex Kerfoot began serving a two-game suspension for an illegal hit in Saturday’s game in Colorado, so Nic Petan moved up to the third line with Spezza and Kasperi Kapanen … The Brampton-born Keefe was in his first Original Six match as a coach. “It’s exciting. I hadn’t thought of it that much in that context, but playing here now this week, in the conference and in the division, it has been a little bit more normal in terms of the way the days have gone. We get to play a home game this week. There’s lots to look forward to” … The Leafs had a 6-0 win over the Flyers last year, but the 54 shots were two off their high in 2018-19, in a loss against the Rangers.

lhornby@postmedia.com

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November 28, 2019 at 02:16PM

Flames coach Bill Peters apologizes for using 'offensive language' - CBC.ca

Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters admitted his use of racial slurs and apologized to GM Brad Treliving in a statement issued Wednesday night.

"Please accept this as a sincere apology to you, and the entire Calgary Flames organization, for offensive language I used in a professional setting a decade ago," Peters wrote

"I know that my comments have been the source of both anger and disappointment, and I understand why. Although it was an isolated and immediately regrettable incident, I take responsibility for what I said."

Peters' status as the Flames coach has been placed into question while the NHL and the team investigate allegations he directed racist slurs at Nigerian-born player Akim Aliu in the minors 10 years ago. He was not behind the bench when the Flames faced the Buffalo Sabres in a road game on Wednesday.

His statement makes no mention of Aliu, but Peters said the comment was "made in a moment of frustration and does not reflect my personal values."

"After the incident, I was rightfully challenged about my use of language, and I immediately returned to the dressing room to apologize to the team," he said in the statement. "I have regretted the incident since it happened, and I now also apologize to anyone negatively affected by my words."

CBC Sports has reached out to Aliu for comment on Peters' statement.

WATCH | Timeline of Bill Peters saga:

Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters has come under fire after former player Akim Aliu accused the coach of using racial slurs towards him years ago. 2:11

Aliu played under Peters during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. He was demoted to the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL during the 2009-10 season. Aliu, who was born in Africa but raised in Ukraine and Canada, later played seven NHL games over two seasons with Calgary.

Aliu alleged Peters "dropped the N bomb several times towards me in the dressing room in my rookie year because he didn't like my choice of music." It happened during the 2009-10 season while the two were with the Chicago Blackhawks minor-league affiliate in Rockford, Ill. 

"I am aware that there is no excuse for language that is offensive. I meant no disrespect in what I said, and it was not directed at anyone in particular. But, that doesn't matter; it was hurtful and demeaning. I am truly sorry.

WATCH | Current Hurricanes coach confirms incidents involving Peters:

Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour confirms allegations by former player Michal Jordan that Bill Peters kicked Jordan and punched another player during a game. 1:35

There is also no mention of former player Michal Jordan, who alleged Peters kicked him and punched a teammate while with the Carolina Hurricanes.

"I accept the reality of my actions. I do believe that we must strive to act with integrity, and to take accountability for what we say and do. This letter is intended to do exactly that; I hope it is accepted as intended.

"I appreciate the thorough review of this situation being undertaken by the Flames. It's the right thing to do, and I support it fully," the statement concludes.

Treliving met with the media following the Calgary's 3-2 win over the Sabres and said the investigation continues and the team hopes to provide and update on Thursday.

Treliving meeting with media post-game, RE: Peters' letter. There is no change, as the investigation continues: <a href="https://t.co/15oMEVN4gt">pic.twitter.com/15oMEVN4gt</a>

&mdash;@mikeFAIL

The NHL called the alleged behaviour "repugnant and unacceptable," but held off commenting pending further investigation.

Treliving had called the alleged comments "repulsive."

"Allegations of this nature, we take very, very seriously. This is subject matter that has no place in our organization," Treliving said. "Now it's my job to find out exactly what's taken place."

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November 28, 2019 at 09:32AM

Scott Stinson: Bill Peters, racial slurs, and the inevitable next front in hockey's culture wars - Calgary Herald

Now that the Calgary Flames coach is almost certainly about to be fired over decade-old slurs, he is bound to have his vocal defenders

Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters. Azin Ghaffari/Postmedia/File

If the Calgary Flames had fired head coach Bill Peters on Monday afternoon, few would have rushed to his defence. His team with playoff aspirations has just 11 wins on the season, and was recently mired in a losing streak that culminated in a thorough pantsing at the hands of the St. Louis Blues. Coaches of struggling teams are tossed aside, the earth is round, et cetera.

But now that Peters is almost certainly about to be fired, possibly by the time you are reading this, he is bound to have his vocal defenders. The last mash-up of hockey and the culture wars has barely finished, and the next is about to begin.

Akim Aliu Morris Lamont/Postmedia/File

Peters’ seemingly inevitable dismissal comes after Akim Aliu, who played under him a decade ago for the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League, said that he repeatedly used racial slurs while criticizing his choice of music. Aliu, 30, who was born in Nigeria and moved to Toronto as a child, first made the allegations on Twitter on Monday night, while reacting to a story about Mike Babcock, the recently fired coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Peters is a former assistant to Babcock.

On Tuesday, Aliu provided more detail to TSN’s Frank Seravalli. Aliu said he was playing hip-hop music in the dressing room, and Peters walked in and said, “’Hey Akim, I’m sick of you playing that n—-r s–t.’“ Aliu told TSN Peters said, “‘I’m sick of hearing this n—–s f—— other n—–s in the ass stuff.’” Then the coach walked out.

Seravalli also spoke with two of Aliu’s former Rockford teammates, who confirmed his account of the alleged events. Aliu told TSN that Peters never apologized, and simply insisted that he needed to play different music. No more of that hip-hoppery, as it were.

Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving, speaking to reporters in Buffalo, said the team was investigating the matter and that no decision has been made on Peters’ future. He also called the alleged incident “repulsive.” Not a great sign for one’s job prospects when your boss is speaking this way. The NHL went with “repugnant” in its statement on the incident. Not much better.

And so, two weeks after Don Cherry lost his job over offensive comments, there are bound to be some who will insist that Peters, if he loses his, will be a martyr to leftist mobs, and cancel culture and other such nonsense. What about his freedom of speech?, some will cry. It will also be said that if it’s OK for rappers to use the N-word, then why can’t a hockey coach use it, too?

Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters, foreground, during a game on Nov. 7, 2019. Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

To which I say: Sigh. First, the obvious: there is no context in which it is anything other than wildly inappropriate for a white coach to upbraid a black player over his preference for “n—-r s–t.” That would be a fireable offence in most workplaces, especially in the case of a leadership position. And free speech rights don’t extend to being able to say whatever you want in a professional setting without consequences from your employer. As for why there is a double standard with who gets to use the N-word, the answer is that black artists long ago co-opted the slur for themselves, as a way of taking back a term that was so often used against them. It feels silly to be pointing any of this out, but it’s worth pre-empting a few of the bad-faith arguments soon to be made about all this.

The thing that should be closely examined in light of the Peters story is the culture that allows coaches to act with impunity around their players, like a bunch of banana-republic dictators on skates. Aliu told TSN that he didn’t make a thing out of what happened 10 years ago because he was 20 years old and playing his first professional season. He had taken a stand against hazing in his junior days with the Windsor Spitfires, and felt that had already hurt his career. Players who push back against authoritarian coaches — especially young players — are not complimented for being assertive, they are criticized for not respecting their leader, or ripped for thinking they are bigger than the team.

Related

Aliu told TSN that his relationship with Peters soured after the incident, and he was demoted to the ECHL and traded following that season. Aliu would play for more than 20 pro teams in seven leagues, but just seven games in the National Hockey League. Peters went from Rockford to Babcock’s NHL staff in Detroit, and was the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes for four seasons before joining the Flames two years ago. Of the two principals in this story, it is evident which one emerged from their interactions unscathed and on an upward career trajectory.

Hockey does a lot of good for a lot of people in this country. It also has, at the elite levels, issues that have long been a problem. The hazing, the coach worship, the racial insensitivity, it has all been exposed before. Akim Aliu seems to have been at the nexus of all of it, for the simple reason that he wasn’t like so many of his teammates. He finally spoke up. We should listen to what he is saying.

Calls for diversity, inclusion in sports amplified following Peters allegations Dinos search for stolen soccer jerseys as team heads west for...

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November 27, 2019 at 10:30AM

Game Recap 27.0: Edmonton Oilers at Colorado Avalanche - Oilers Nation

Short bench, bad reffing, and a game to forget. Final Score: 4-1 Avalanche

Coming into tonight’s game, the Edmonton Oilers had a chance of picking up eight out of a possible 10 points on their road trip and I don’t need to tell anyone here how massive of an opportunity that was. And seeing as this is a lighter game week than we’ve had in the past, closing out the roadie with another win would have done wonders for keeping the rest of the Pacific Division at bay, and it was the only outcome I was about to accept. Furthermore, the Avalanche were still without both Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog in their lineup which was another rare opportunity that the boys needed to take advantage of exactly as they did a couple of weeks ago. I know I talk about developing a killer instinct a lot, but I couldn’t help but look at a game like this one and think that it was an excellent chance to work on kicking a team while they’re down, or, at the very least, missing two of their most important players.

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As always, the first step in achieving our two-point dream was for the boys to get off to a fast start and test the Avs’ goaltender early and often. Instead, what we got was an onslaught by the Avalanche in the first few minutes and an Oilers team that was too often watching rather than engaging. The good news is that Mikko Koskinen was dialled in, and his brick wall-ness afforded his teammates the time they needed to settle in and get their game rolling. Unfortunately, that’s where the fun stopped. In the second period, the Oilers were back on their heels for the bulk of the frame and beyond as a result of losing a couple of guys and some horrible officiating that left them shorthanded for five+ minutes. As a result, the Avalanche had momentum swing to their side, used it to pound seemingly endless shots at Koskinen, and all Edmonton could really do was hang on for dear life until the buzzer sounded. With the game tied heading into the third, both sides had a chance to close the game out and I was hoping that the Oilers were going to be able to find their legs again, but sadly, it was not meant to be.

At the end of the day, the Oilers had a solid first period but could never recover from the sequence that saw both Alex Chiasson and Adam Larsson removed from the game. From too much time on the PK to too few defenders, the Oilers had a laundry list of obstacles to overcome and it was simply too daunting to handle on this night. Sometimes these games will happen and we’ll just have to learn our lessons and move on.

The wrap.

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• After missing the last couple of games with an illness, Jujhar Khaira made an immediate impact upon his return as he opened the scoring for the Oilers with a wonderful second effort play that saw him grind along the boards, pick up the loose puck, try a wrap-around, find his own rebound, and finish it off. Basically, what I’m trying to say is that it was a hell of a shift by Jujhar and I was pumped to see him finish it off with a goal. The hammer was swingin’ and Khaira now has four goals in his last four games!
• Mikko Koskinen was back between the pipes tonight after closing out his ninth win of the season on Sunday night against the Coyotes, and I’d argue, despite what the scoreboard said, that he was one of the best Oilers on the night. From start to finish, Koskinen made plenty of huge saves for his team but he was only human and thus unable to stop them all. To put it another way, how lopsided could this game have gotten had it not been for him? Koskinen finished the night with 46 saves at a .920 save%.
• I want to give Sam Gagner another shout out for filling in for Nugent-Hopkins admirably over the past two games. What will be interesting to see is whether or not his fine play will be enough for Dave Tippett to keep him in the lineup, or if he’ll come out because his style of play doesn’t fit in with the bottom-six goals the coaching staff has for those players. Place your bets?
• Big ups to the penalty kill, especially for the fine work they accomplished in the second period when dealing with the five minute major to Adam Larsson and two-minute 5-on-3 that was thrown in there for good measure. If we’re looking for bright sides, the Oilers’ PK has to rank right up there because they were about as good as it gets in this one.
• Props to Gene Principe for bringing back the clip of Jim Playfair losing his mind and throwing his clothes on the ice during the first intermission. That shit is hilarious and I never get tired of that clip. So funny.

• Nazem Kadri tied the game up at one apiece after firing home a low snapshot to the glove side that Koskinen just couldn’t grab. To that point, the Avalanche had just finished their ridiculous five-minute power play and the momentum was fully in their corner and the Oilers just couldn’t do enough to curb it.  By the time Kadri scored, Colorado had already had an array of primetime chances that were turned aside but this last 2-on-1 was just too much to handle.
• Matt Nieto gave the Avalanche their first lead of the night by being the business end of a perfectly executed 2-on-1 with Nathan MacKinnon. The Oilers were giving up odd-man rushes all night long and it was almost fortunate that they didn’t give up more than they did.
• Speaking of Nathan MacKinnon , he made it a 3-1 game after a rebound bounced right to his stick and he was able to hack it just over the goal line.
• Logan O’Connor scored his first NHL goal after picking up a turnover near the crease and roofing it over Koskinen. The Oilers were undermanned, absolutely gassed, and just could not fend off the attack.
• The last 40 minutes was pretty tough to watch as the Oilers were absolutely dominated in almost every facet of the game. That said, I can’t imagine how tough it must be to compete in the NHL when you’re down to four defencemen so the Oilers’ lack of gas has to be taken into account here.
• Can someone please explain to me how Adam Larsson got a five-minute penalty and a game misconduct for that elbow in the second period? A penalty? Okay, sure. But five minutes and a game? Give me a break. Though, I don’t know why we should be surprised considering the refs were garbage all night long.
• Oilers won only 35% of the draws tonight. Not ideal.
• I’m not sure how the Avalanche got only a single penalty (that wasn’t coincidental) tonight, but I guess they’re such good boys that they never do anything wrong whatsoever. The Oilers had 29 minutes of penalties assigned against them while the Avalanche had only eight. *fart sound*
• I miss you, NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE! Here’s hoping RNH can make it back in the lineup for Saturday’s matchup with the Canucks.

1ST PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
13:17	Edmonton	Jujhar Khaira (5) ASST: Darnell Nurse (10)	1-0

2ND PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
10:50	Colorado	Nazem Kadri (8) ASST: Joonas Donskoi (8), Calle Rosen (1)	1-1

3RD PERIOD

TIME	TEAM	DETAILS	SCORE
03:05	Colorado	Matt Nieto (5) ASST: Nathan MacKinnon (20), Joonas Donskoi (9)	1-2
04:07	Colorado	Nathan MacKinnon (15) ASST: Ian Cole (9), Ryan Graves (5)	1-3
05:37	Colorado	Logan O’Connor (1) ASST: Valeri Nichushkin (3)	1-4

Huge shout out to the @OilersnationHQ , @jsbmbaggedmilk, Frank and @thesquireyeg for helping make my fiancé’s day. I’ve been in and out of the hospital for a few months and I wanted to do something special for her. Needless to say these guys didn’t disappoint and are AMAZING! pic.twitter.com/oCQLYLd8uL

— Brandon (@Brandiebear88) November 27, 2019

That's the mustache of a man who's done fucking around and is getting on with his career. pic.twitter.com/vO8AE8gS8n

— Woodguy (@Woodguy55) November 28, 2019

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Jujhar’s moustache can solve a Rubik’s cube in less than 2.9 seconds

— Maysy Man 🇨🇦 (@MaysyMan) November 28, 2019

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Searching Twitter for any explanation for how that could possibly be a game misconduct: pic.twitter.com/ZtCzg17sSK

— Alice Moran (@Alice_Moran) November 28, 2019

I don’t know if I owe more apologies to Mikko or more thank you’s to the @NHLFlames for Neal. 🤷🏼‍♂️ https://t.co/VxOAiuOc6q

— Ty Hilgersom 🇨🇦 (@tyhilg7) November 28, 2019

HAHAHAHA then we can’t get the guy out of the box because he didn’t get his helmet back so we’re short handed for no reason??? Wtf is going on

— Rusty Shackleford (@AdmiralRusty) November 28, 2019

Talk to me, Twitter. Tweet at @OilersnationHQ and @jsbmbaggedmilk for your chance to land in the Best of the Tweets.

THE BLACKOUT COLLECTION

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We’ve upgraded every aspect of this year’s gear and we cannot wait for you guys to check it out! The 2019 Blackout collection is coming soon and available only at NationGear.ca.

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Source: NHL, Official Game Page, 11/27/2019 – 11:00 pm MT

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November 28, 2019 at 12:45PM