England captain Dylan Hartley continued his comeback from injury with a try to guide Northampton to a Premiership victory against Harlequins.

The hooker was on the end of a Saints rolling maul 10 minutes after coming on as a second-half replacement.

It proved decisive as Quins threatened an away win through tries from England scrum-half Danny Care and James Lang.

Dan Biggar kicked 17 points with a conversion and five penalties, missing just once off the tee for Saints.

The hosts clung on for a first win of the season – and for new director of rugby Chris Boyd – as Harlequins came within inches of snatching a draw before Saints turned the ball over on their own try line.

Hartley, who missed five months with a recurrence of a concussion after the last round of the Six Nations in March, was also ruled out of England’s summer Test series in South Africa.

His score was Northampton’s only try of the evening, after Biggar and Marcus Smith traded penalties in a first half that saw Saints lead 9-3.

Cobus Reinach had one disallowed by the television match official when Harlequins hooker Elia Elia wedged a hand under the ball with a last-ditch challenge.

Quins made few visits to their opponents’ 22. But Care bundled over from five metres with their first before replacement fly-half Lang set up a nervous finish with a burst through Northampton’s defence from 40 metres out for his first Premiership try.

Northampton director of rugby Chris Boyd told BBC Radio Northampton:

“We’re still working out how to play with each other. I think we probably deserved the victory more than they did in the end.

“If they’d have scored and kicked the goal at the end to get the draw, they probably would’ve taken that and it would’ve felt a bit hollow for us.

“We’ve just got to get better at the chances we create. We’re not converting them into enough points.

“It’s a new game plan, a new emphasis and new people playing it, so we’re a long way from complete that’s for sure.”

Northampton: Tuala; Pisi, Burrell, Francis, Collins; Biggar, Reinach; Waller (capt), Fish, Franks, Ribbans, Lawes, Haskell, Brussow, Harrison.

Replacements: Hartley, van Wyk, Painter, Ratuniyarawa, Gibson, Mitchell, Symons, Mallinder.

Harlequins: Morris; Walker, Marchant, Tapuai, Earle; Smith, Care; Lambert, Elia, Collier, Symons, Glynn, White, Robshaw (capt), Chisholm.

Replacements: Crumpton, Auterac, Swainston, South, Bothma, Mulchrone, Lang, Lasike.

Referee: Tom Foley.

An albatross belly, bulging with plastic shrapnel. Turtles caught in fish nets. A mahi-mahi that had swallowed plastic the size of a lipstick.

Every year, as many as 12 million of tons of plastic garbage are swept into the oceans worldwide. Some of it is pushed back to the coasts in a choking mass of cups, straws, bags and bottles that can cover beaches and foul nearshore waters. The rest, including the lint from synthetic clothing and bits of tires ground off into the gutters, is pulled out to the open sea by wind and currents, slowly collecting in great swirling gyres called trash patches that can spread over areas double the size of Texas.

There it’s joined by fishing gear lost at sea and trash dumped from ships. This plastic, which breaks up but never decomposes, becomes part of the ocean, creating a smog of micro plastics that are ensnaring marine animals and getting re-absorbed into the food supply, with sometimes fatal consequences for marine life. 

“I saw one dolphin who had fishing line caught on its dorsal fin. It actually cut through the fin, the tip of it was gone,” said Carlie Herring, a research scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program who oversees research on the impacts of this trash.

There’s even evidence that when fish eat the tiny pieces of plastic, the chemicals in the plastic can affect their health. Some experts worry this could potentially harm people who eat the fish. 

We’ll show you the path plastic takes, from take-out dinners and abandoned toys to the deep Pacific and San Francisco Bay, where a nonprofit has ambitious plans to clean up these vast floating garbage patches in the next five years.  

 

It starts when plastic doesn’t end up in the trash or recycling

Plastic waste washes from roads into culverts, to streams and finally rivers where it enters the ocean. Or it’s dumped over the side of ships or from sewers that feed directly into the sea.

The trash enters the water from coastal countries, with the majority coming from Asian countries such as China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. 

Developing economies that don’t have garbage and recycling programs that can keep up with their increasing use of disposable plastic are responsible for an outsized proportion of the trash that enters waterways, according to research published in the journal Science in 2015. 

Still, the United States produces the largest amount of plastic trash per capita of any country in the world — about 270 pounds per person per year.

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More: Flushing your contact lenses down the drain is adding plastic waste to oceans

 

Ocean gyres create trash patches that can be twice the size of Texas

The ocean has five major gyres: The North Pacific, South Pacific, North Atlantic, South Atlantic and Indian Ocean. Due to currents, plastics from Asia make their way to the North Pacific gyre creating the world’s largest garbage patch. 

Items made of heavier-duty plastic like detergent bottles and combs can escape the coastal current, ending as much as 1,500 miles from the shore. These are joined by lost and discarded fishing gear.

Over time much of the plastic is broken down into tiny pieces, known as “microplastic,” by the wind, waves and sun. These pieces can be the size of a fingernail to the size of a grain of rice, or smaller. Because they are made of plastic they will never decompose, only become smaller and smaller. 

This material is carried by global currents into one of the five “garbage gyres,” vast areas of ocean, sometimes hundreds of miles across, where slowly swirling currents gradually concentrate it into waters infected with a “smog” of micro plastic amid larger pieces and discarded nets, buoys and other industrial fishing gear.

Marine life that comes into contact with this plastic can become entangled and cut by the larger pieces, or have their stomachs filled with inedible plastic as they mistake the smaller pieces for food, causing them to die of starvation because they can’t get enough nutrition.  

‘Marine snow’ falls to the ocean floor

Eventually much of that material sinks to the ocean floor. This can happen when a fish or other marine life eats and then excretes it, covering it in detritus that allows it to sink. The same can happen with the small pieces of plastic are covered in marine biofilm, composed of bacteria and other microorganisms, eventually causing them to grow heavy enough to sink.

These pieces slowly fall to the bottom as part of what’s known as “marine snow,” tiny bits of decaying material and other items. They can fall for weeks before finally reaching the ocean floor, according to NOAA. Once there, the plastic bits can be eaten by deep-sea life, again potentially harming them through chemical contamination or actual physical damage to their intestines.

A 2,000-foot sea sieve will clean it up

In September, a Dutch non-profit is launching the Ocean Cleanup project to try to clean out the Pacific trash patch. Its contraption consists of a giant, 2,000-foot long sea sieve made up of pipes that float at the surface of the water with skirting below, corralling trash in the center of a U-shaped design. The group will test its design for several months in the open ocean after it steams out of San Francisco Bay where it’s being built. 

Some scientists worry that however successful the project is, the money might be better spent on the root problem: stopping plastic from getting into the ocean in the first place. 

A 14-year-old boy has been charge with murder and rape in connection with the death of an 83-year-old woman, Baltimore police announced Friday.

Maryland law requires the boy, Tyrone Harvin, be charged as an adult, police spokesman T.J. Smith said at a news conference. There is a process that would allow Harvin to be treated as a juvenile as his case progresses, Smith said.

Harvin is accused of sexually assaulting and killing 83-year-old Dorothy Mae Neal, who was found unresponsive on Aug. 29 in her West Baltimore apartment, police say. She later died at a hospital.

Neal was beaten to death, Smith said, calling the age difference between the suspect and victim “really something unheard of.”

Smith said that authorities speculated the suspect may be young during their investigation, “but I don’t think any of us were thinking a 14-year-old could be capable of something like this.” Harvin had recently turned 14, according to online court records.

Harvin may have part of a group of neighbors who helped care for Neal, Smith said. Harvin lived on the same street as the victim.

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Harvin has been charged with first degree murder and rape, in addition to various other offenses.

Smith said that police used physical evidence to link Harvin to the crime. 

Online court records show Harvin is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 19. 

Contributing: The Associated Press

 

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Juan Martin del Potro will compete in his first Grand Slam final for nine years after defending champion Rafael Nadal retired from their US Open semi-final.

Argentine third seed Del Potro was leading 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 when Nadal quit because of a knee problem.

Top seed Nadal, 32, twice needed medical attention before conceding.

“It was difficult for me to keep playing. I was in too much pain and it was not a tennis match,” said Nadal.

“It was one player playing and one on the other side of the court.

“I hate retiring but to stay one more set out there playing like that is too much for me.”

Del Potro, the 2009 champion, will face either Serbia’s Novak Djokovic or Japan’s Kei Nishikori in Sunday’s final.

‘Difficult decision – but you have to make it’

Nadal had problems with his right knee during his third-round win over Russian Karen Khachanov.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion insisted it was not a major problem and won gruelling matches against Nikoloz Basilashvili and ninth seed Dominic Thiem to reach the last four.

But the knee injury which has caused him problems throughout his career came back to ruin his seventh US Open semi-final.

Nadal said he was not feeling any issues during practice on Thursday nor before Friday’s match.

He started to feel pain at 2-2 in the first set, called for the trainer during the changeover at 4-3 and then again at 2-1 in the second.

Although the three-time US Open champion continued until the set was complete, the inevitable decision came after another chat with the medical man.

“I was trying to hope it would improve but it was not to be,” said Nadal.

“I waited as much as I could, it was very difficult for me to say goodbye before the match finished but at some position you have to make a decision,” he added.

Del Potro finally has another Grand Slam shot

Del Potro, 29, last competed in a Grand Slam final when he won at Flushing Meadows in 2009 by ending Roger Federer’s 41-match winning streak.

He has since suffered a catalogue of injury problems, contemplating retirement after having three operations on his wrist, before fighting back to his highest ranking this year.

Del Potro stood back and led a standing ovation on Arthur Ashe Stadium when Nadal, who looked emotional as he limped heavily between points before retiring, walked slowly off court.

“It is not the best way to win a match. I love to play against Rafa because he is the biggest fighter in the sport,” Del Potro said.

“I don’t like to see him suffering like today. I am sad for him. I think the key of the match was the first set.”

Del Potro started confidently against Nadal, who had beaten him in three of the previous four Grand Slams, as his powerful groundstrokes helped him break serve for 1-0 and 5-4 leads.

Nadal wiped them out on both occasions in the very next game – Del Potro missing two set points at 5-4.

However, Del Potro recovered to win the tie-break and then ran away with the second set as the extent of Nadal’s injury problems became clear.

It was his first win in four Grand Slam semi-finals since beating Federer in 2009, having lost to Djokovic at Wimbledon 2013, then twice to Nadal at last year’s US Open and Wimbledon in July.

Analysis – bitterly disappointing but Nadal has lots to look forward to

BBC Sport tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

Nadal hardly ever retires. Del Potro was playing so well and there was no way back for him.

I don’t take any pleasure in watching Nadal go through the motions in that second set – especially in case he did more damage – but it was great to see him talking about his future in his press conference.

Yes, it is bitterly disappointing but he has added another Grand Slam title in 2018 and he is world number one. He knows there is lots to look forward to and he has the patience to keep going.

Hopefully, he is not out for too long.

USA TODAY

Published 6:26 p.m. ET Sept. 7, 2018 | Updated 6:57 p.m. ET Sept. 7, 2018

Rafael Nadal, the No. 1 ranked player and defending US Open champion, retired from his semifinal match with Juan Martin del Potro on Friday. 

Nadal stopped play with del Potro leading 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, citing trouble with his right knee. He walked to del Potro’s chair after the second set and shook his hand. The players embraced, and Nadal walked out to an enormous cheer.

Nadal, a 17-time Grand Slam champion who also won at Flushing Meadows in 2010 and 2013, had his right knee wrapped twice during the match.

Afterward, he said the knee had not bothered him Thursday or earlier Friday.

Nadal called for a trainer as he held serve to lead 4-3 in the opening set. The trainer wrapped his right knee. Nadal removed the tape later in the set. The trainer returned early in the second set to wrap it again and massage his upper leg. Nadal appeared to be in pain and limped through the rest of the second set. 

Del Potro, who won his only Grand Slam title in 2009 when he beat Roger Federer in five sets at the US Open, will meet the winner of the Novak Djokovic-Kei Nishikori semifinal on Sunday.

More: Best-of-five or best-of-three? Some argue players, fans better served with shorter matches

“Well, of course it’s not the best way to win a match. I love to play against Rafa because he’s the biggest fighter in this sport. I don’t like to see him suffering on the court like today. I’m sad for him, but I’m also happy, too,” Del Potro said.

Nadal has retired in two other Grand Slam tournaments – the 2010 and 2018 Australian Open, also on hardcourt.

The clay-court master already had played nearly 16 hours on the hardcourt before starting against del Potro on Friday. His epic five-set, nearly five-hour quarterfinal win Wednesday that went until after 2 a.m. ET, might have proved too much from which to recover. 

Planning a trip to Antarctica? Now there’s a new map to guide your way.

Scientists from Ohio State University and the University of Minnesota have created what they say is the best, most complete and accurate map ever made of the frozen continent at the bottom of the world (see example, below). 

“Up until now, we’ve had a better map of Mars than we’ve had of Antarctica,” Ian Howat, earth science professor at Ohio State, said in a statement. “Now it is the best-mapped continent on Earth.”

The map uses high-resolution satellite images to show the continent in “stunning detail” It will also provide new insight on climate change.

Amazingly, researchers now know the height of every mountain and all the ice in all of Antarctica within a few feet. “It is the highest-resolution terrain map by far of any continent,” said Howat. 

“Considering that Antarctica is the highest, driest, and one of the most remote places on Earth, we now have an incredible topographic model to measure against in the future,” said Paul Morin, a University of Minnesota earth sciences researcher.

Global warming has dramatically changed the landscape over the past several decades. Over 3 trillion tons of ice has melted from Antarctica since 1992, a study reported earlier this year.

More: Move or die: Global warming threatens Antarctica’s King penguins

More: Global warming has melted over 3 trillion tons of ice in Antarctica since 1992, and it’s only getting worse

That’s equivalent to more than 2 quadrillion gallons of water added to the world’s oceans, making Antarctica’s melting ice sheets one of the largest contributors to rising sea levels. 

“Now we’ll be able to see changes in melting and deposition of ice better than ever before,” Morin said. “That will help us understand the impact of climate change and sea level rise. We’ll be able to see it right before our eyes.”

 

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Alastair Cook hits 71 in his final match for England but India’s bowlers seize the initiative with late wickets, leaving the hosts on 198-7 after day one of the fifth Test at The Oval.

REPORT: India take control despite Cook’s 71

WATCH MORE: Cook receives guard of honour from India

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