WASHINGTON ? Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich wants to create a lunar colony that he says could become a U.S. state. There's his grand research plan to figure out what makes the human brain tick. And he's warned about electromagnetic pulse attacks leaving America without electricity.
To some people, these ideas sound like science fiction. But mostly they are not.
Several science policy experts say the former House speaker's ideas are based in mainstream science. But somehow, Gingrich manages to make them sound way out there, taking them first a small step and then a giant leap further than where other politicians have gone.
Gingrich's promise that "by the end of my second term we will have the first permanent base on the moon" got amped up in a recent debate in Florida, which lost thousands of jobs with the end of the space shuttle program. By then, the lunar base had become a colony and even a potential state, and his moon ideas were ridiculed by rival Mitt Romney.
Returning to the moon and building an outpost there is not new. Until three years ago, it was U.S. policy and billions of dollars were spent on that idea.
Staying on the moon dates at least to 1969, when a government committee recommended that NASA first build a winged, reusable space shuttle followed by a space station and then a moon outpost. In 1989, President George H.W. Bush proposed going to the moon and staying there.
Sixteen years later, in 2005, his son, President George W. Bush, proposed a similar lunar outpost, phased out the space shuttle program and spent more than $9 billion designing a return to the moon program.
George Washington University space policy director Scott Pace, who was NASA's associate administrator in the second Bush administration and is a Romney supporter, said the 2020 lunar base date Gingrich mentioned was feasible when it was proposed in 2005.
But it is no longer, felled by funding cuts and President Barack Obama's decision to cancel the program. Pace said it would be hard to figure out when NASA could get back to the moon, but that such a return is doable.
What kept killing return-to-the moon plans were the costs, starting in 1969. The proposal died 20 years later when the price tag was released: more than $700 billion in current dollars. The second President Bush's plans started running into problems due to insufficient funding. After a special commission said those plans were not sustainable, Obama cancelled the return-to-the-moon program. Instead, he ordered NASA to aim astronauts toward an asteroid and eventually Mars, something many space experts say is even more ambitious.
"Some of you may like it and you may dislike it, but I gave the boldest explanation of going into space since John F. Kennedy in 1961," Gingrich said this week in Florida. "I believe in an America of big ideas and big solutions. I believe if we unleash the American people we will rebuild the American dream."
In Florida, nearly all the Republican presidential candidates promoted private companies sending astronauts into space. Several companies are building private spaceships. Commercial space companies taking over the job of getting Americans into low Earth orbit is a cornerstone of the Obama space plan. But, again, money has been an issue.
For example, NASA received $406 million in its current budget for private space programs. Obama had asked Congress for $805 million.
Neal Lane, former head of the National Science Foundation and White House science adviser during the Clinton administration, said Gingrich's proposals aren't crazy, although he may disagree with some of them. Gingrich's ideas and actions are "very pro-science," said Lane, who credited Gingrich with protecting federal science research from budget cuts in the 1990s.
"He's on the edge of mainstream thinking about big science. Except for the idea of establishing a colony on the moon, it's not over the edge," added Syracuse University science policy professor Henry Lambright.
In Iowa, Gingrich pushed a "brain science" initiative that advocates spending more private and federal money to map the human brain to help fight and cure Alzheimer's disease. He said the idea was based on the experience of watching his late mother's transformation from a happy person with friends to living in a long-term care facility suffering from bipolar disease, depression and physical ailments.
Gingrich said his "whole emphasis on brain science" is based on his mother's depression and mental illnesses. Discussing the issue in Iowa, he wiped away a tear, saying: "It's not a theory. It's in fact, my mother."
The idea of mapping the brain to figure out how it works is a traditional scientific approach to a difficult problem. Scientists have tried to conquer disease by mapping the human genome and figuring out the basic biology of cancer, said Arizona State University science policy professor Dan Sarewitz. The trouble is that, in the past, it hasn't paid off as promised, he said.
Gingrich also has raised eyebrows with his dire warnings about the threat of electromagnetic pulses. The fear being that a nuclear bomb detonated hundreds of miles above America could knock out the country's electricity for a long time. In 2009, Gingrich said it "may be the greatest threat we face ... We would in fact lose our civilization in a matter of seconds."
Paul Fischbeck, a professor of engineering and risk at Carnegie Mellon University, said the threat has existed for about a half a century and is real. But "it's getting more likely and more dangerous" as America becomes more electronic-dependent and other countries advance in technology, he said.
Still, it's space where Gingrich dreams biggest and raises the most eyebrows.
Much of the criticism of his space plans, especially in the media, have been unfair, said Alan Stern, NASA's space sciences chief during George W. Bush's administration. He said Gingrich is just thinking big, like a pioneer.
"That's how `Star Trek' begins," said Stern, vice president of the Southwest Research Institute and director of the Florida Space Institute. "But when a government guy or politician talks that way, they just get clobbered about being unrealistic and that's unfortunate."
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Associated Press writer Shannon McCaffrey in Florida contributed to this report.
NEW YORK ? Oil prices ended lower Monday on concerns that the U.S. economy could slow, and investors' worries eased about supply disruptions in the Persian Gulf.
Benchmark crude fell by 78 cents to finish at $98.78 per barrel in New York on Monday. Brent crude, which is used to price foreign oils that are imported by U.S. refineries, lost 71 cents to end at $110.75 per barrel in London.
The Commerce Department said Americans kept a tighter grip on their wallets in December. Consumer spending was flat, even though incomes rose by the most in nine months. The economy relies heavily on consumer spending, and analysts say the economic recovery could stall and energy demand may stay weak if spending doesn't pick up.
Meanwhile, Iran welcomed international weapons experts into the country in hopes of refuting claims that it is building a nuclear weapon. That eased concerns about possible military action in the region. Still, Europe plans to embargo Iranian oil this summer to pressure Iran about its nuclear program. If that happens, Iran says it could retaliate by blocking passage through the Persian Gulf, where tankers carry one-sixth of the world's oil exports.
The U.S. is ready to implement sanctions on Iran's central bank that will make it harder for Iran to sell oil.
Gasoline pump prices rose by a penny on Monday to $3.43 per gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. A gallon of regular is 15.3 cents higher than it was a month ago and 33 cents higher than it was last year.
In other energy trading, heating oil fell 2 cents to finish at $3.05 per gallon and gasoline futures fell 6 cents to end at $2.87 per gallon. Natural gas futures fell 4 cents to end the day at $2.71 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Director Benh Zeitlin, left, holds up actress Quvenzhane Wallis as they accept the Grand Jury Prize Dramatic award for the film "Beasts of the Southern Wild" during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony in Park City, Utah on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
Director Benh Zeitlin, left, holds up actress Quvenzhane Wallis as they accept the Grand Jury Prize Dramatic award for the film "Beasts of the Southern Wild" during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony in Park City, Utah on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
Director Benh Zeitlin, left, and actress Quvenzhane Wallis, right, pose with the Grand Jury Prize Dramatic award for the film "Beasts of the Southern Wild" during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony in Park City, Utah on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
Director Eugene Jarecki, right, puts his hand on the pregnant belly of producer Melinda Shopsin, left, as they accept the Grand Jury Prize U.S. Documentary during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony in Park City, Utah on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
Actress Quvenzhane Wallis poses with the Grand Jury Prize U.S. Dramatic award for the film "Beasts of the Southern Wild" during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony in Park City, Utah on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
Actress Quvenzhane Wallis poses for a photo after the film that she stars in, "Beasts of the Southern Wild," won the Grand Jury Prize U.S. Dramatic during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony in Park City, Utah on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) ? A mythical film starring an 8-year-old girl and a documentary about the war on drugs took top honors at the Sundance Film Festival.
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" won the grand jury prize in the U.S. dramatic competition, and "The House I Live In" won the same honor in the U.S. documentary category Saturday at the independent film festival's awards ceremony.
Directed and co-written by 29-year-old first-time filmmaker Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild" follows a girl named Hushpuppy who lives with her father in the southern Delta. The film also won the cinematography prize.
Zeitlin said he was grateful to the Sundance Institute and labs, where he worked on the film for more than three years.
"This project was such a runt, this sort of messy-hair, dirty, wild child, and we just have been taken care of and just eased along until we were ready to stand up on our own," he said in an interview after the ceremony. "It's just great that it happened here. This is the right place for the world to meet the film."
Zeitlin described his spunky young star, Quvenzhane Wallis, as "the biggest person I know." She said she is ready to be a movie star, but first will be going back to third grade.
Fox Searchlight acquired the film earlier this week.
Eugene Jarecki's documentary "The House I Live In" examines the social, human and financial costs of the war on drugs. The filmmaker won the same award in 2005 for his documentary "Why We Fight."
As he accepted his award, Jarecki called the war on drugs "tragically immoral, heartbreakingly wrong and misguided."
"If we're going to reform things in this country, putting people in jail for nonviolent crime, in many cases for life without parole, for possession of a drug, for sentences longer than is now given for murder in this country, must end," he said.
Kirby Dick's documentary about rape in the military, "The Invisible War," won the audience award, as did Ben Lewin's heartfelt drama "The Surrogate," which stars John Hawkes as a paralyzed 38-year-old man who hires a sex surrogate, played by Helen Hunt, to help him lose his virginity. Fox Searchlight acquired that film, too.
"I don't think most people have ever seen this sort of story before," Lewin said after the ceremony. "I think it was very new and unexpected... From the experiences I've had seeing it with an audience, it seems to be a real emotional ride."
"The Surrogate" also won a special jury prize for its ensemble cast.
World cinema jury prizes went to the documentary "The Law in These Parts," about Israel's legal system in occupied Palestinian territories, and the drama "Violeta Went to Heaven," about Chilean musician Violeta Parra.
The audience favorites in world cinema were the documentary "Searching for Sugar Man," which also won a special jury award, and the drama "Valley of the Saints," which also claimed the Alfred P. Sloan film prize. A second winner of the Sloan Award, which recognizes films with science as a theme or a scientist as a major character, was "Robot and Frank." The film, which premiered at Sundance, stars Frank Langella as a retired jewel thief who befriends the caretaker robot his children have given him, eventually bringing the robot along on his illegal outings.
Other winners:
? U.S. drama directing award: Ava DuVernay, "Middle of Nowhere."
? U.S. documentary directing award: Lauren Greenfield, "The Queen of Versailles."
? World cinema drama directing award: Mads Matthiesen, "Teddy Bear."
? World cinema documentary directing award: Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi, "5 Broken Cameras."
? U.S. drama screenwriting award: Derek Connolly, "Safety Not Guaranteed."
? World cinema screenwriting award: Marialy Rivas, Camila Gutierrez, Pedro Peirano, Sebastian Sepulveda, "Young & Wild."
? U.S. documentary editing award: Enat Sidi, "Detropia."
? World cinema editing award: Lisanne Pajot, James Swirsky, "Indie Game: The Movie."
? U.S. documentary cinematography award: Jeff Orlowski, "Chasing Ice."
? World cinema drama cinematography award: David Raedeker, "My Brother the Devil."
? World cinema documentary cinematography award: Lars Skree, "Putin's Kiss."
? U.S. drama special jury prize for producing: Andrea Sperling and Jonathan Schwartz, "Smashed" and "Nobody Walks."
? U.S. documentary special jury prizes: "Love Free or Die," ''Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry."
? World cinema drama special jury prize: "Can."
? Short film audience award: "The Debutante Hunters."
? Best of NEXT audience award: "Sleepwalk With Me."
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Follow Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen at www.twitter.com/APSandy .
TEHRAN, Iran ? A U.N. nuclear team arrived in Tehran early Sunday for a mission expected to focus on Iran's alleged attempt to develop nuclear weapons.
The U.N. nuclear agency delegation includes two senior weapons experts ? Jacques Baute of France and Neville Whiting of South Africa ? suggesting that Iran may be prepared to address some issues related to the allegations.
The delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency is led by Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts, who is in charge of the Iran nuclear file. Also on the team is Rafael Grossi, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano's right-hand man.
In unusually blunt comments ahead of his arrival in Tehran, Nackaerts urged Iran to work with his mission on probing the allegations about Iran's alleged attempts to develop nuclear weapons, reflecting the importance the IAEA is attaching to the issue.
Tehran has refused to discuss the alleged weapons experiments for three years, saying they are based on "fabricated documents" provided by a "few arrogant countries" ? a phrase authorities in Iran often use to refer to the United States and its allies.
Ahead of his departure, Nackaerts told reporters at Vienna airport he hopes Iran "will engage with us on all concerns."
"So we're looking forward to the start of a dialogue," he said: "A dialogue that is overdue since very long."
In a sign of the difficulties the team faces and the tensions that surround Iran's disputed nuclear program, a dozen Iranian hard-liners carrying photos of slain nuclear expert Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan were waiting at Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport early Sunday to challenge the team upon arrival.
That prompted security officials to whisk the IAEA team away from the tarmac to avoid any confrontation with the hard-liners.
Iran's official IRNA news agency confirmed the team's arrival and said the IAEA experts are likely to visit the underground Fordo uranium enrichment site near the holy city of Qom, 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of the capital, Tehran.
During their three-day visit, the IAEA team will be looking for permission to talk to key Iranian scientists suspected of working on a weapons program, inspect documents related to such suspected work and secure commitments from Iranian authorities to allow future visits to sites linked to such allegations. But even a decision to enter a discussion over the allegations would be a major departure from Iran's frequent simple refusal to talk about them.
The United States and its allies want Iran to halt its enrichment of uranium, which they worry could eventually lead to weapons-grade material and the production of nuclear weapons. Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes, such as generating electricity and producing medical radioisotopes to treat cancer patients.
Iran has accused the IAEA in the past of security leaks that expose its scientists and their families to the threat of assassination by the U.S. and Israel.
Iranian state media say Roshan, a chemistry expert and director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran, was interviewed by IAEA inspectors before being killed in a brazen bomb attack in Tehran earlier this month.
Iranian media have urged the government to be vigil, saying some IAEA inspectors are "spies," reflecting the deep suspicion many in Iran have for the U.N. experts sent to inspect Iran's nuclear sites.
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AP writer George Jahn contributed to this report from Vienna.
NEW ORLEANS ? On the day the Deepwater Horizon sank in the Gulf of Mexico, BP officials warned in an internal email conversation that if the well was not protected by the blow-out preventer at the drill site, crude oil could burst into the Gulf of Mexico at a rate of 3.4 million gallons a day, an amount a million gallons higher than what the U.S. government ultimately estimated spilled daily from the site.
The memo, which BP agreed to release Friday as part of federal court proceedings, suggests BP managers recognized the potential of the disaster in its early hours, and the company officials sought to make sure that the model-developed information wasn't shared with those outside the company. The emails also suggest BP was having heated discussions with Coast Guard officials over the potential of the oil spill.
The memo was released as part of the court proceedings to determine the division of responsibility for the nation's worst offshore oil disaster, which began when the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, 2010, killing 11 men about 50 miles southeast of the Louisiana coast. The first phase of the trial is set to start Feb. 27.
BP officials declined to comment on the emails late Friday.
The official amount of oil that flowed from the well was pegged at 206 million gallons from at least April 22 until the well was capped on July 15, a period of 85 days. That's a daily flow rate of about 2.4 million gallons ? two-thirds of the way to BP's projection of what could leak from the well if it was an "open hole." BP has disputed the government's estimates.
Having an accurate flow rate estimate is needed to determine how much in civil and criminal penalties BP and the other companies drilling the well face under the Clean Water Act.
In the memo, one BP official urges not to share the flow-rate projections and refers to the "difficult discussions" BP was having at the time with the Coast Guard.
Gary Imm, a BP manager, told Rob Marshall, BP's subsea manager in the Gulf, to tell the modeler doing the estimates "not to communicate to anyone on this."
"A number of people have been looking at this we already have had difficult discussions with the USCG on the numbers," Imm said in the email string, referring to the Coast Guard and flow estimates.
On April 23, the Coast Guard, relying on BP's remotely operated vehicles, reported that no oil was leaking from the well a mile under the sea. A day later, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry announced that oil was leaking an estimated rate of 42,000 gallons a day. The Coast Guard and BP did not divulge how they determined that figure.
In the second week after the spill, the official flow rate was increased to 210,000 gallons a day. The government continued to use that number until May 27.
On May 24, BP informed Congress that they had used an "undisclosed method to generate much higher figures" than official estimates, according to a report from a presidential commission investigating the spill. BP estimated that the flow rates were between 210,000 gallons and 1.6 million gallons a day, the January 2011 report said.
As the spill grew into weeks and months, and soiled fishing grounds, beaches and coastal marshes, independent scientists began to question official flow rates. Eventually, the federal government convened teams of government and independent scientists to determine how much oil leaked out of the well and came up with an official estimate of about 2.4 million gallons of oil a day on average.
HOUSTON ? The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. held steady this week at 2,008.
The Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. reported Friday that 1,225 rigs were exploring for oil and 777 for natural gas. Six were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago this week Baker Hughes reported 1,732 active rigs.
Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Oklahoma gained six rigs and Alaska picked up four. New Mexico was up by three, and Arkansas gained one.
Texas lost six rigs, while Louisiana and North Dakota were down four apiece. Colorado and Pennsylvania dropped by two each. California fell by one.
West Virginia was unchanged.
The rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.
International Monetary Fund, IMF, chief Christine Lagarde speaks during her visit to the social media corner at the 42nd annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. The meeting lasts until Jan. 29. (AP Photo/Keystone, Laurent Gillieron)
International Monetary Fund, IMF, chief Christine Lagarde speaks during her visit to the social media corner at the 42nd annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. The meeting lasts until Jan. 29. (AP Photo/Keystone, Laurent Gillieron)
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) ? The head of the International Monetary Fund appeared to making headway Saturday in her drive to boost the institution's financial firepower so that it can help Europe prevent its crippling debt crisis from further damaging the global economy.
Christine Lagarde, who replaced Dominique Strauss-Kahn as managing director of the fund six months ago, is trying to ramp up the IMF's resources by $500 billion so it can help if more lending is needed in Europe or elsewhere. The IMF is the world's traditional lender-of-last-resort and has been involved in the bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
Insisting that the IMF is a "safe bet" and that no country had ever lost money by lending to the IMF, Lagarde argued that increasing the size of the IMF's resources would help improve confidence in the global financial system. If enough money is in the fund the markets will be reassured and it won't be used, she said, using arguments similar to those that France has made about increasing Europe's own rescue fund.
"It's for that reason that I am here, with my little bag, to collect a bit of money," she said at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps town of Davos.
Her plea appeared to find a measure of support from ministers of Britain and Japan, sizable IMF shareholders that would be expected to contribute to any money-raising exercise.
George Osborne, Britain's finance minister, said there is "a case for increasing IMF resources and ... demonstrating that the world wants to help together to solve the world's problems," provided the 17 countries that use the euro show the "color of their money."
Osborne said he would be willing to argue in Parliament for a new British contribution, though he may encounter opposition from some members from his own Conservative Party.
Japan's economy minister, Motohisa Furukawa, said his country would help the eurozone via the IMF, too, even though Japan's own debt burden is massive. Unlike Europe's debt-ridden economies, Japan doesn't face sky-high borrowing rates, partly because there's a very liquid domestic market that continues to support the country's bonds.
Europe once again dominated discussions on the final full day of the forum in Davos. Despite some optimism about Europe's latest attempts to stem the crisis, fears remain that turmoil could return.
Whether the markets remain stable could rest for now on if Greece, the epicenter of the crisis, manages to conclude crucial debt-reduction discussions with its private creditors. It's also seeking to placate demands from its European partners and the IMF for deeper reforms.
A failure on either front could force the country, which is now in its fifth year of recession, to default on its debt and leave the euro, potentially triggering another wave of mayhem in financial markets that could hit the global economy hard.
"The fact that we're still, at the start of 2012, talking about Greece again is a sign that this problem has not been dealt with," Britain's Osborne said.
For Donald Tsang, the chief executive of Hong Kong, efforts to deal with the 2-year-old debt crisis have fallen short of what is required. The failure to properly deal with the Greek situation quickly has meant the ultimate cost to Europe has been higher, he said.
"I have never been as frightened (about the global economy) than I am now," he said.
Most economic forecasters predict that the global economy will continue to grow this year, but at a fairly slow rate. The IMF recently reduced its forecasts for global growth in 2012 to 3.3 percent, from the 4 percent pace that the IMF projected in September.
Lagarde sought to encourage some countries that use the euro to boost growth to help shore up the ailing eurozone economy, which is widely expected to sink back into recession, adding that it would be counterproductive if all euro countries cut their budgets aggressively at the same time.
"Some countries have to go full-speed ahead to do this fiscal consolidation, but other countries have space and room," Lagarde said.
Though conceding that there aren't many such countries, Lagarde said it is important that those that have the headroom explore how they can boost growth. She carefully avoided naming any countries, but likely had in mind Germany, Europe's largest economy and a major world exporter. She didn't specify how to boost growth or how one eurozone country could help others grow.
Lagarde said members of the eurozone should continue the drive to tie their economies closer together. On Monday, European leaders gather in Brussels in the hopes of agreeing on a treaty that will force member countries to put deficit limits into their national laws.
Britain's Osborne said eurozone leaders should be praised for the "courage" they have shown over the past few months in enacting austerity and setting in place closer fiscal ties, but said more will have to be done if the single currency is to get on a surer footing.
Fiscal transfers from rich economies to poorer ones will become a "permanent feature" of the eurozone, Osborne predicted.
While politicians and business people were discussing the state of the global economy within the confines of the conference center, protesters questioned the purpose of the event as income inequalities grow worldwide.
Protesters from the Occupy movement that started on Wall Street have camped out in igloos at Davos and were demonstrating in front of City Hall to call attention to the needs of the poor and unemployed.
In a separate protest, three Ukrainian women were arrested when they stripped off their tops ? despite temperatures around freezing ? and tried to climb a fence surrounding the invitation-only gathering of international CEOs and political leaders.
"Crisis! Made in Davos," read one message painted across a protester's torso.
Davos police spokesman Thomas Hobi said the three women were taken to the police station and told they weren't allowed to demonstrate. He said they would be released later in the day.
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Associated Press writers Frank Jordans and Edith M. Lederer contributed to this report.
Whilst the iPad is still the device of choice for many Google has seen its Android OS close the market share gap on the iOS machine
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Despite continuing to dominate the tablet market Apple has seen fierce rival Google narrow the gap on its iPad devices and reduce its share of the? tablet scene thanks to a flurry of well received Android tablets.
As Android tablets continue to grow in potential and popularity new figures have revealed that despite record iPad sales Apple's share of the overall tablet market dropped from 68 to 58 per cent in the final quarter of 2011.
Bolstered by huge popularity of the Amazon Kindle Fire tablet in the US and the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Tab range across the world the Android platform now controls 39 per cent of the tablet market as overall sales of the plus sized portable gadgets jumped from 10.7 to 26.8 million units year-on-year from Q4 2010 to Q4 2011.
"Dozens of Android models distributed across multiple countries by numerous brands such as Amazon, Samsung, Asus and others have been driving volumes," said Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics.
"Android is so far proving relatively popular with tablet manufacturers despite nagging concerns about fragmentation of Android's operating system, user-interface and app store ecosystem."
Apple iPad 3 Rumours
One possible reason for the narrowing market share is the continually banded array of Apple iPad 3 release rumours suggesting a largely improved Apple tablet will hit stores in the coming March or April.
Touted as sporting a near identical form factor to its predecessor, the Apple iPad 2, the iPad 3 is said to be just 1mm thicker with the increased amount of internal space tipped to be taken up by a new quad-core processor, improved camera optics and a coveted Retina style HD display.
Whilst Apple has yet to acknowledge the existence of any potential iPad 3 device blog iLounge has claimed to have had hands-on time with the upcoming tablet posting a somewhat suspect hands-on Apple iPad 3 review.
Are there now Android tablets out there that can topple the mighty iPad or is Apple the only way to go if entering the tablet scene? Let us know via the comments box below.
UFC president Dana White started off the press conference with the statement that everyone in MMA has thought, but not said. Sonnen, who walked out with a UFC championship belt and the words, "Undisputed, undefeated!" flowing from his mouth, showed again he is the best promoter in MMA.
White barely had to say anything to promote Saturday's bouts on Fox, because the Sonnen Show took center stage. His opponent on Saturday, Michael Bisping, tried to keep up with Sonnen, but his attempts were futile.
He explained where he picked up the belt ... kind of.
"Well, for those of you who can't see, this is the championship belt that I took from Anderson Silva. In this country, possession is nine tenths of the law. Finders keepers, losers weepers. If he wants it back, he knows where he can find it."
"I think you can get it on eBay for $29.99!" Bisping said.
Sonnen even broke into rhyme.
"You're looking at the reflection of perfection. You're looking at the man who gets all your attention. You're looking at the man with the biggest arm. At the man, with the greatest charm, the man in Chicago who will do harm to the guy three doors down."
White, standing between Sonnen and Bisping, couldn't help but smile as Sonnen spit out rhyme after rhyme. He was particularly happy as Sonnen added the time and station of the fights to each exclamation.
"Whatcha gonna do, when you know who? Howya gonna deal, with the man of steel? How ya gonna react to Sonnen's attack? Tune in on the 28th! 8 p.m. Eastern Time! You'll find out who the real champion is."
If Sonnen keeps the act up -- and there's no reason to believe he won't -- White won't have to work to promote a single Sonnen card. Why would he, when the "champ" does the work for him?
NEW YORK ? AT&T Inc. is still the home of the iPhone. It activated 7.6 million of them in the latest quarter, accounting for one out of every five iPhones sold globally.
And AT&T remains heavily dependent on the iPhone to gain and keep customers, despite a vow by CEO Randall Stephenson a year ago to "very aggressively" market competing smartphones in 2011. That vow came in the wake AT&T's loss of an exclusive right to sell the iPhone in the U.S.
The iPhone accounted for about 80 percent of the smartphones AT&T activated in the fourth quarter of 2011, up from 70 percent just before Stephenson made his vow.
The figures are somewhat skewed because the fourth quarter of 2011 saw the launch of a new iPhone model, the iPhone 4S, whereas the fourth quarter of 2010 didn't. Looking at annual sales instead, there's a decline in the iPhone's percentage of AT&T smartphones ? to 69 percent last year, from 79 percent in 2010.
The Dallas-based company has also retained its position as the premier U.S. iPhone carrier, beating Verizon Wireless' 4.3 million iPhone activations handily.
AT&T's iPhone dependency comes at a heavy cost. The phone is more expensive than many other smartphones, and AT&T needs to subsidize each iPhone with hundreds of dollars to put it in customers' hands for as little as $1.
That, together with massive charges for adjustments in the value of the company's pension plans, the breakup of a deal to buy T-Mobile USA and a writedown of the value of its phone-directory business, forced AT&T to report a massive loss on Thursday of $6.68 billion, or $1.12 per share, for the fourth quarter.
It was the first quarterly loss for AT&T in three years. An adjustment of pension-plan obligations was also the main culprit behind the previous loss, in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Excluding charges, net income was 42 cents per share in the latest quarter, a penny shy of Wall Street expectations, according to a survey by FactSet.
The loss compares with net income of $1.09 billion, or 18 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Revenue rose 3.6 percent to $32.5 billion, helped by the smartphone sales. Analysts were expecting revenue of $31.99 billion, on average.
AT&T also said it expects earnings per share to grow by a mid-single-digit percentage in 2012, a bit lower than analysts had expected.
In morning trading Thursday, shares of AT&T Inc. fell 63 cents, or 2 percent, to $29.59.
In a welcome move for investors, AT&T is shifting the cash it had hoped to buy T-Mobile with into stock buybacks, saying it will buy back 300 million shares, worth about $9 billion at current prices, into a program that will start immediately.
Most of the iPhone activations were upgrades for people who were already AT&T subscribers. The carrier gained a net 717,000 subscribers on contract plans in the quarter. That was the best result all year, but didn't match Verizon's 1.2 million. AT&T has been lagging Verizon in this important measure for more than a year.
The wild early lives of today's most massive galaxiesPublic release date: 25-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Douglas Pierce-Price dpiercep@eso.org 49-893-200-6759 ESO
Dramatic star formation cut short by black holes
Astronomers have combined observations from the LABOCA camera on the ESO-operated 12-metre Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope [1] with measurements made with ESO's Very Large Telescope, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, and others, to look at the way that bright, distant galaxies are gathered together in groups or clusters.
The more closely the galaxies are clustered, the more massive are their halos of dark matter the invisible material that makes up the vast majority of a galaxy's mass. The new results are the most accurate clustering measurements ever made for this type of galaxy.
The galaxies are so distant that their light has taken around ten billion years to reach us, so we see them as they were about ten billion years ago [2]. In these snapshots from the early Universe, the galaxies are undergoing the most intense type of star formation activity known, called a starburst.
By measuring the masses of the dark matter halos around the galaxies, and using computer simulations to study how these halos grow over time, the astronomers found that these distant starburst galaxies from the early cosmos eventually become giant elliptical galaxies the most massive galaxies in today's Universe.
"This is the first time that we've been able to show this clear link between the most energetic starbursting galaxies in the early Universe, and the most massive galaxies in the present day," explains Ryan Hickox (Dartmouth College, USA and Durham University, UK), the lead scientist of the team.
Furthermore, the new observations indicate that the bright starbursts in these distant galaxies last for a mere 100 million years a very short time in cosmological terms yet in this brief time they are able to double the quantity of stars in the galaxies. The sudden end to this rapid growth is another episode in the history of galaxies that astronomers do not yet fully understand.
"We know that massive elliptical galaxies stopped producing stars rather suddenly a long time ago, and are now passive. And scientists are wondering what could possibly be powerful enough to shut down an entire galaxy's starburst," says Julie Wardlow (University of California at Irvine, USA and Durham University, UK), a member of the team.
The team's results provide a possible explanation: at that stage in the history of the cosmos, the starburst galaxies are clustered in a very similar way to quasars, indicating that they are found in the same dark matter halos. Quasars are among the most energetic objects in the Universe galactic beacons that emit intense radiation, powered by a supermassive black hole at their centre.
There is mounting evidence to suggest the intense starburst also powers the quasar by feeding enormous quantities of material into the black hole. The quasar in turn emits powerful bursts of energy that are believed to blow away the galaxy's remaining gas the raw material for new stars and this effectively shuts down the star formation phase.
"In short, the galaxies' glory days of intense star formation also doom them by feeding the giant black hole at their centre, which then rapidly blows away or destroys the star-forming clouds," explains David Alexander (Durham University, UK), a member of the team.
###
Notes
[1] The 12-metre-diameter APEX telescope is located on the Chajnantor plateau in the foothills of the Chilean Andes. APEX is a pathfinder for ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, a revolutionary new telescope that ESO, together with its international partners, is building and operating, also on the Chajnantor plateau. APEX is itself based on a single prototype antenna constructed for the ALMA project. The two telescopes are complementary: for example, APEX can find many targets across wide areas of sky, which ALMA will be able to study in great detail. APEX is a collaboration between the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR), the Onsala Space Observatory (OSO) and ESO.
[2] These distant galaxies are known as submillimetre galaxies. They are very bright galaxies in the distant Universe in which intense star formation occurs. Because of this extreme distance, their infrared light from dust grains heated by starlight is redshifted into longer wavelengths, and the dusty galaxies are therefore best observed in submillimetre wavelengths of light.
More information
This research is presented in a paper to appear in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on 26 January 2012.
The team is composed of Ryan C. Hickox (Dartmouth College, Hanover, USA; Department of Physics, Durham University (DU); STFC Postdoctoral Fellow, UK), J. L. Wardlow (Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California at Irvine, USA; Department of Physics, DU, UK), Ian Smail (Institute for Computational Cosmology, DU, UK), A. D. Myers (Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming, USA), D. M. Alexander (Department of Physics, DU, UK), A. M. Swinbank (Institute for Computational Cosmology, DU, UK), A. L. R. Danielson (Institute for Computational Cosmology, DU, UK), J. P. Stott (Department of Physics, DU, UK), S. C. Chapman (Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK), K. E. K. Coppin (Department of Physics, McGill University, Canada), J. S. Dunlop (Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, UK), E. Gawiser (Department of Physics and Astronomy, The State University of New Jersey, USA), D. Lutz (Max-Planck-Institut fur extraterrestrische Physik, Germany), P. van der Werf (Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, The Netherlands), A. Wei (Max-Planck-Institut fur Radioastronomie, Germany).
The year 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and two survey telescopes. VISTA works in the infrared and is the world's largest survey telescope and the VLT Survey Telescope is the largest telescope designed to exclusively survey the skies in visible light. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 40-metre-class European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".
ALMA, an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA construction and operations are led on behalf of Europe by ESO, on behalf of North America by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and on behalf of East Asia by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.
Links
- Research paper: http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1206/eso1206.pdf
- Information about APEX: http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/apex.html
- Images related to APEX: http://www.eso.org/public/images/archive/category/apex/
Contacts
Ryan Hickox
Dartmouth College
Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
Tel: +1 603 646 2962
Email: ryan.c.hickox@dartmouth.edu
Douglas Pierce-Price
ESO ALMA/APEX Public Information Officer
Garching, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6759
Email: dpiercep@eso.org
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The wild early lives of today's most massive galaxiesPublic release date: 25-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Douglas Pierce-Price dpiercep@eso.org 49-893-200-6759 ESO
Dramatic star formation cut short by black holes
Astronomers have combined observations from the LABOCA camera on the ESO-operated 12-metre Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope [1] with measurements made with ESO's Very Large Telescope, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, and others, to look at the way that bright, distant galaxies are gathered together in groups or clusters.
The more closely the galaxies are clustered, the more massive are their halos of dark matter the invisible material that makes up the vast majority of a galaxy's mass. The new results are the most accurate clustering measurements ever made for this type of galaxy.
The galaxies are so distant that their light has taken around ten billion years to reach us, so we see them as they were about ten billion years ago [2]. In these snapshots from the early Universe, the galaxies are undergoing the most intense type of star formation activity known, called a starburst.
By measuring the masses of the dark matter halos around the galaxies, and using computer simulations to study how these halos grow over time, the astronomers found that these distant starburst galaxies from the early cosmos eventually become giant elliptical galaxies the most massive galaxies in today's Universe.
"This is the first time that we've been able to show this clear link between the most energetic starbursting galaxies in the early Universe, and the most massive galaxies in the present day," explains Ryan Hickox (Dartmouth College, USA and Durham University, UK), the lead scientist of the team.
Furthermore, the new observations indicate that the bright starbursts in these distant galaxies last for a mere 100 million years a very short time in cosmological terms yet in this brief time they are able to double the quantity of stars in the galaxies. The sudden end to this rapid growth is another episode in the history of galaxies that astronomers do not yet fully understand.
"We know that massive elliptical galaxies stopped producing stars rather suddenly a long time ago, and are now passive. And scientists are wondering what could possibly be powerful enough to shut down an entire galaxy's starburst," says Julie Wardlow (University of California at Irvine, USA and Durham University, UK), a member of the team.
The team's results provide a possible explanation: at that stage in the history of the cosmos, the starburst galaxies are clustered in a very similar way to quasars, indicating that they are found in the same dark matter halos. Quasars are among the most energetic objects in the Universe galactic beacons that emit intense radiation, powered by a supermassive black hole at their centre.
There is mounting evidence to suggest the intense starburst also powers the quasar by feeding enormous quantities of material into the black hole. The quasar in turn emits powerful bursts of energy that are believed to blow away the galaxy's remaining gas the raw material for new stars and this effectively shuts down the star formation phase.
"In short, the galaxies' glory days of intense star formation also doom them by feeding the giant black hole at their centre, which then rapidly blows away or destroys the star-forming clouds," explains David Alexander (Durham University, UK), a member of the team.
###
Notes
[1] The 12-metre-diameter APEX telescope is located on the Chajnantor plateau in the foothills of the Chilean Andes. APEX is a pathfinder for ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, a revolutionary new telescope that ESO, together with its international partners, is building and operating, also on the Chajnantor plateau. APEX is itself based on a single prototype antenna constructed for the ALMA project. The two telescopes are complementary: for example, APEX can find many targets across wide areas of sky, which ALMA will be able to study in great detail. APEX is a collaboration between the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR), the Onsala Space Observatory (OSO) and ESO.
[2] These distant galaxies are known as submillimetre galaxies. They are very bright galaxies in the distant Universe in which intense star formation occurs. Because of this extreme distance, their infrared light from dust grains heated by starlight is redshifted into longer wavelengths, and the dusty galaxies are therefore best observed in submillimetre wavelengths of light.
More information
This research is presented in a paper to appear in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on 26 January 2012.
The team is composed of Ryan C. Hickox (Dartmouth College, Hanover, USA; Department of Physics, Durham University (DU); STFC Postdoctoral Fellow, UK), J. L. Wardlow (Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California at Irvine, USA; Department of Physics, DU, UK), Ian Smail (Institute for Computational Cosmology, DU, UK), A. D. Myers (Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming, USA), D. M. Alexander (Department of Physics, DU, UK), A. M. Swinbank (Institute for Computational Cosmology, DU, UK), A. L. R. Danielson (Institute for Computational Cosmology, DU, UK), J. P. Stott (Department of Physics, DU, UK), S. C. Chapman (Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK), K. E. K. Coppin (Department of Physics, McGill University, Canada), J. S. Dunlop (Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, UK), E. Gawiser (Department of Physics and Astronomy, The State University of New Jersey, USA), D. Lutz (Max-Planck-Institut fur extraterrestrische Physik, Germany), P. van der Werf (Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, The Netherlands), A. Wei (Max-Planck-Institut fur Radioastronomie, Germany).
The year 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and two survey telescopes. VISTA works in the infrared and is the world's largest survey telescope and the VLT Survey Telescope is the largest telescope designed to exclusively survey the skies in visible light. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 40-metre-class European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".
ALMA, an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA construction and operations are led on behalf of Europe by ESO, on behalf of North America by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and on behalf of East Asia by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.
Links
- Research paper: http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1206/eso1206.pdf
- Information about APEX: http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/apex.html
- Images related to APEX: http://www.eso.org/public/images/archive/category/apex/
Contacts
Ryan Hickox
Dartmouth College
Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
Tel: +1 603 646 2962
Email: ryan.c.hickox@dartmouth.edu
Douglas Pierce-Price
ESO ALMA/APEX Public Information Officer
Garching, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6759
Email: dpiercep@eso.org
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
DNA analysis revealed that 11 populations of blind cavefish did not all descend from a single blind ancestor, but had five separate evolutionary origins. Sophie Bushwick reports.
January 24, 2012
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When Mexican tetra fish moved into dark caves long ago, they evolved to deal with the dark by becoming albino?and going blind. And new research shows that the changes various cavefish populations went through occurred repeatedly?a massive, textbook example of convergent evolution. The study is in the journal BioMed Central Evolutionary Biology. [Martina Bradic et al, Gene flow and population structure in the Mexican blind cavefish complex (Astyanax mexicanus)]
To determine how the dark-dwelling fish evolved their sightlessness, researchers tested the DNA of 11 Mexican cavefish populations. They compared the genes with those of tetra populations that lived out in the light. Originally, researchers had believed that all of the cave populations were descended from a single group of tetra fish that went underground and then went blind. But the cavefish genes told a different story: the 11 populations had five separate evolutionary origins, with different groups independently experiencing and selecting an eyeless mutation.
Although the surface- and cave-dwelling fish frequently mix, interbreeding has not eradicated cavefish blindness. Which means that evolution is actively selecting blindness. Perhaps because investing bodily resources in sight is a waste of energy in the dark.
Forum rules This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.
Please post all "Players Wanted" threads in the Roleplayers Wanted forum!
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Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup. Okay so questions...
1. Can other be people be sith? Or is it only you.? 2. By the zombie tag don't you mean Rhakghouls? 3. I'm running out of question.... ummm could you put a list of people available in that team? Your new right?
Duranin battle poem from Tales of the past 3: When shadow comes to claim our souls, Some must rise - the light of old.
Names in stone, spirits of legend. Deeds unknown, yet never forgotten.
These are the Duranin!
Of honor within and of fear without. Remember them, when in hope you doubt.
Cheeseymonkey
Member for 2 years
Oh and another thing. You should get a pic for the roleplay 'else nobody will see it.
Cheeseymonkey
Member for 2 years
1: This is pretty unoriginal... 2: You should look over you RP page for some spelling/grammar mistakes. Maybe you should use Spell Czech 3: This does, however, sound like it might be fun... Although I'm not sure exactly what you want of your players. I'm not asking to be a Jedi or anything, but I'd certainly like to play something unorthodox and thus I'd need some back-and-forth discussion to get a good character up. You could always use an extra Ewok :D 4: Will there be any sort of posting order? 5: Bounty hunter definitely sounds interesting. 5: Anzati are similar to humans, the only differences being two prehensile probosci and a somewhat enlarged nose. People of their species are rare, but they have an impressive lifespan that can last for over a millennium. The proboscises lie coiled and hidden in pockets within the cheeks and can be extended to drain a victim's 'luck' or 'soup' by piercing the brain through the nose. The Anzati are capable of mild telepathic control to render their victims paralyzed, and are assassins of legendary skill. The Jedi hunting mercenary Aurra Sing was trained by these assassins, as was the Jedi Master Tholme. Their planet of origin has never been verified, as all sent to investigate the planet suspected to be Anzat are never seen again. Two more famous Anzati were Dannik Jerriko, an assassin of great renown who hunted Han Solo, as written in "Tales From Mos Eisley Cantina."[3] and the dark Jedi Nikkos Tyris. I want to be a an Anzati assassin/bounty hunter :D Do Robots Dream of Electronic Sheep? "Ego sum Alpha quod Omega, exordium quod End." 3:6
Man, given the average Int of an Otyugh, I can just see the boss monologue now: PC:"Before we fight, why don't you tell us your master plan?" Otyugh:"I like poop." PC:"Umm, what?" Otyugh:"Do you have poop?"
That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die. Life is a gamble, roll the dice. If your life is like cards, rig the deck.
Nevermore90
Member for 1 years
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GLENDALE, Ariz. - Ricardo Clark had barely played in the last six months. His last appearance for his German second-division team came in July, and this was his first game for the U.S. national squad since August.
Finally given a chance, he provided the goal that had eluded his team all night.
Clark headed Jermaine Jones' corner kick into the net in the 7th minute of stoppage time and the United States beat Venezuela 1-0 in a friendly on Saturday night.
U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann inserted Clark into the game in the 86th minute.
"Ricardo came in and you could see that he was struggling because he hasn't played for many months," Klinsmann said. "He was trying hard to catch up with the group and still not there because of that long stretch. But once on the field he is a player that is technically very gifted."
The U.S. had dominated play with nothing to show for it before Clark beat goalkeeper Jose Morales from 7 yards away for his third international goal and first since September 2009.
Venezuela was livid at the finish, upset with a series of calls and non-calls by officials that led to a series of events concluding with the winning goal.
Moments after Clark scored, Venezuela's Jose Velasquez was ejected with a red card. Venezuela drew four yellow cards to one for the United States.
"For us, it was sad to give up a goal in the 98th minute," Venezuela coach Cesar Farias said. "For us, this result leaves a sour taste and the way we lost, but the experience is important."
The first match between the countries in five years featured the "B" teams of both nations because the top players are with their professional squads.
An exception was Jones, who is playing with the national team while serving an eight-game suspension by the German soccer federation.
"It was a great cross," Clark said of the corner kick that led to the goal. "I found a good spot and made the most of it."
It was Clark's first game since the United States played Mexico on Aug. 10. He last scored in international competition against Trinidad and Tobago on Sept. 9, 2009.
The 28-year-old midfielder from Jonesboro, Ga., is ignominiously remembered for a play in the 2010 World Cup, when Ghana's Kevin-Prince Boateng stripped the ball from him and put the Black Stars ahead in the fifth minute. Ghana went on to eliminate the Americans 2-1 in overtime.
Jones, who served as U.S. captain for the game, was suspended when the German federation concluded he had intentionally stepped on the foot of star player Marco Reus during a break in the action of a German Cup game between Jones' team Schalke and Borussia Moenchengladbach.
The U.S. outshot Venezuela 15-6, many of the opportunities from short range, but the shots were errant, or Morales made one of his five saves.
Even though it was a struggle, Klinsmann liked what he saw from his young players.
"We had 10, 12 chances and they had no chances, we controlled completely and that gives them confidence," he said. "We wanted to give them a feeling of this type of game that they can play with these nations."
Morales was shaken up after he took a knee to the left thigh from American C.J. Sapong. The goalkeeper sat on the ground for several minutes until the decision was made to leave him in the game, an incident that led to the extended stopping time that featured the winning goal.
The United States beat a team from South America for the first time since a 3-1 win over Ecuador on March 25, 2007. The U.S. had 10 losses and three ties against teams from that continent since then.
The U.S .improved to 3-4-1 since former German World Cup star Klinsmann took over from Bob Bradley as coach last year.
Jones had one of the best chances for a goal but missed from point-blank range. The U.S. had also failed miserably on set plays until the game winner.
Venezuela had a scoring shot in the 62nd minute but Carlos Salazar's header went right into the hands of goalkeeper Bill Hamid. Moments later, the U.S. squad missed another chance when Teal Bunbury's shot off a breakaway was just right of the post.
Venezuela and the United States played for the fourth time. The U.S. leads the series 2-0-1.
Clark's goal was only the sixth for the U.S. teams in Klinsmann's eight games as coach.
Clark, a former player with Major League Soccer's Houston Dynamo, is with Eintracht Frankfurt but has fallen out of favor and hasn't been in a match for the team since July 25, the second game of the season.
The United States plays Panama in Panama City on Wednesday.
Hamid made his U.S. national team debut along with defender A.J. DeLaGarza, midfielder Graham Zusi and substitute Sapong.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Balotelli lifts Man City
Mario Balotelli scored a stoppage-time penalty kick Sunday to give first-place Manchester City a 3-2 victory over Premier League title rival Tottenham.
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Hat trick
Clint Dempsey became the first American to score a hat trick in England's Premier League, helping Fulham rally from a halftime deficit to rout Newcastle 5-2 Saturday.
CHICAGO -- "Chael's nuts."![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 25-Jan-2012
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Evolution
Anzati are similar to humans, the only differences being two prehensile probosci and a somewhat enlarged nose. People of their species are rare, but they have an impressive lifespan that can last for over a millennium. The proboscises lie coiled and hidden in pockets within the cheeks and can be extended to drain a victim's 'luck' or 'soup' by piercing the brain through the nose. The Anzati are capable of mild telepathic control to render their victims paralyzed, and are assassins of legendary skill. The Jedi hunting mercenary Aurra Sing was trained by these assassins, as was the Jedi Master Tholme. Their planet of origin has never been verified, as all sent to investigate the planet suspected to be Anzat are never seen again. Two more famous Anzati were Dannik Jerriko, an assassin of great renown who hunted Han Solo, as written in "Tales From Mos Eisley Cantina."[3] and the dark Jedi Nikkos Tyris.
