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Sunday, May 5, 2013

New Trend in Baby Naming? Video Game Characters

What makes the perfect baby name? There's no right answer, of course ? perhaps you're a traditionalist who prefers John and Mary, or maybe you tend toward the literary: Ahab or Hermione, anyone? Perhaps you're in the market for something a little bit country, in which case Oakley or Harlan might suit.

Whatever your preferences, Laura Wattenberg has you covered. The third edition of Wattenberg's book "The Baby Name Wizard: A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby," will be on store shelves Tuesday (May 7), and it's pages are packed with some 18,000 names. You won't find plain-Jane name meanings in the book. Instead, Wattenberg provides the kind of information prospective parents really want, including a baby name's popularity over time and the associations people make with each moniker. The book also covers new trends, including parents drawing inspiration from not only movies and television, but increasingly, video games.

LiveScience got in touch with Wattenberg to talk in advance of her book's publication and mere weeks before the Social Security Administration is set to release baby-name rankings for 2012. Read on for what's new in names.

LiveScience: How did you get into the baby-name business?

Wattenberg: It started when my husband and I were looking for a name for our second child. There was a name he really liked that I had a feeling was starting to be really popular. I actually graphed out a trend line showing him that given the current rate of acceleration, that name should be unacceptably popular in about seven years. He should have laughed at me, but instead he said, "Wow. That's really interesting."

What we think of as a baby-name dictionary is not providing us the information that any of us use when we choose a baby name. There's no definition of current usage ? when you hear this, what does it mean to you? [The Most Hated Baby Names in America]

LiveScience: What makes "The Baby Name Wizard" different from other baby-name books on the shelves?

Wattenberg: The first thing that leaps out at you is there's a graph with every name. I try to present the name's history both in popularity and what people think about it. I try to paint a picture of who uses the name and what impression it gives as opposed to the derivation in old high German. I pack a lot of data into each name entry.

I don't mean to be anti-etymology! It can be fascinating tracking a name's history, but it's more than where it came from.

LiveScience: It seems like a really data-driven approach to names.

Wattenberg: The trends are real, and I think they're meaningful. Names are kind of a window into our changing culture. If you look at any generation, the baby names that a generation chooses encode parents' hopes and obsessions and lifestyles and dreams. It's really an expression of our values. Especially today when names are so diverse and there's no more "normal" anymore, you're expressing all of those things with the names you choose.

LiveScience: Did you notice any odd trends or surprises when putting together the third edition?

Wattenberg: One is that video games require their own category this time. These video games have become enough of a part of our culture that you start to see names coming out of these games. Which makes sense, because if you go and watch a movie, you watch a character for two hours. If you play a video game, you might embody this character for two years.

The first edition of the book came out in 2005. The names that were at their peak then are starting to look like the names of a passing generation, so I had to add a turn-of-the-century category. Caitlyn would be a good example, or Brandon.

My favorite new feature is the regional style maps. You can really see how names that you might never hear in Oregon are everywhere in Mississippi and vice versa.

LiveScience: Do you have any predictions of what we'll see when the Social Security Administration releases the 2012 list of baby names this month?

Wattenberg: The top of the charts is funny these days, because everything is moving down. There really isn't a name that is rising to take over from Jacob, for instance.

I feel like there's a pair of names that represents the year, a pair of anagram names, Liam and Mila. They're both super-hot names right now, they both have celebrities behind them, but it's really the sound ? very light, very smooth, very airy little names. [10 Scientific Tips for Raising Happy Kids]

LiveScience: Do you have any personal favorite names at the moment?

Wattenberg: Every day a new one. I really try to get into the mindset of each style, because telling parents what I like really doesn't help. They don't live where I live and they're not me. I try to tamp down the personal taste.

LiveScience: You said you got into this at the birth of your second child. Do you think it would have been harder to name your kids had you been a baby-name guru before you had them?

Wattenberg: It would be overwhelming! I can't imagine trying to name my own child right now. At this point, literally every name paints a picture for me. Every name tells a full story. I could write an essay on any name you could give me. Trying to pin one of those on my child would be very difficult.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter?and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook?& Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/trend-baby-naming-video-game-characters-132913722.html

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Poverty threatens health of US children

May 4, 2013 ? Pediatricians, economists, social scientists and policy experts will come together on Saturday, May 4, to address one of the greatest threats to child health -- poverty.

The group will take part in a plenary session titled, "A National Agenda to End Childhood Poverty," at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Washington, DC. The session will cover a range of issues related to childhood poverty, including its measurement, its impact on child health and potential solutions.

Children are the poorest segment of society: 22 percent of U.S. children live below the federal poverty level, a prevalence that has persisted since the 1970s. The effects of poverty on children's health and well-being are well-documented. Poor children have increased infant mortality; more frequent and severe chronic diseases such as asthma; poorer nutrition and growth; less access to quality health care; lower immunization rates; and increased obesity and its complications.

"How can this be the wealthiest country in the world when one in four of America's children has been living in poverty for over four decades?" said plenary Co-Chair Thomas K. McInerny, MD, FAAP, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). "The AAP and the Academic Pediatric Association (APA) have decided that now is the time to work on reducing childhood poverty as a major step to improve the health of our nation's children, our most precious resource."

Although the nation has made policy decisions to support the elderly (whose poverty prevalence has dropped from 35 percent in 1959 to 9 percent in 2010), the same has not been done for children.

"As a society, we have chosen to use government programs to protect seniors from poverty. What the U.S. does for seniors is clearly good; so why do we not also protect children from the life-altering effects of poverty?" said plenary Co-Chair Benard P. Dreyer, MD, FAAP, immediate past president of the APA and co-chair of the APA Task Force on Childhood Poverty.

"There is no higher-return investment for business than early childhood," said Dr. Dugger, co-founder of ReadyNation, a business partnership for early childhood and business success. "Investments in early health care that supports brain and child development have documented high near-term returns in the form of increased school readiness, reduced special education, and reduced costs for grade retention and English language learning. They also generate long-term returns through higher graduation rates, greater employment and increased lifetime job earnings. All of these add up to a more productive workforce, a stronger economy and higher business profits."

Childhood poverty is not without solutions, concluded plenary Co-Chair Paul Chung, MD, FAAP, chair of the APA Public Policy and Advocacy Committee and chief of General Pediatrics at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA. Other developed countries have devised long-term national efforts to decrease childhood poverty and have succeeded.

"Pediatricians simply can't reach their full potential as health care providers when we have no real strategy to help address the most important childhood drivers of lifelong poor health, such as poverty," Dr. Chung said. "Until then, we're all just playing at the margins."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Academy of Pediatrics, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/pMFvoLgWqCc/130504163257.htm

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Mathematics, University of Texas at Brownsville and ... - MathJobs

Mathematics, University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College Position ID: 128-MAP [#4741]
Position Title: Assistant Professor
Position Type: Tenure-track faculty
Position Location: Brownsville, Texas 78520, United States [map]
Subject Areas: Mathematics/Mathematics Education
Application Deadline: 2013/12/29 (posted 2013/05/03, listed until 2014/01/26)
Position Description: ? Apply ? ?

Position: Assistant Professor in Mathematics Reports to: Chairperson of the Department of Mathematics Scope: The Department of Mathematics, The University of Texas at Brownsville, invites applications for a tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor rank to begin in academic year 2013-2014. The department has several active research areas in Mathematics and it is currently increasing its strength and breadth in STEM Education Research. All fields of Mathematics will be considered but preferences will be given to a candidate who can contribute to the research area of the department faculty. Education: Ph.D. in Mathematics or closely related field required Experience: Successful candidate must be qualified to teach a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in Mathematics and he/she should display strong potential for extramurally-funded research in Mathematics or Mathematics Education. Salary: The salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications. Deadline: The screening of the applications will start on May 20, 2013 but the applications obtained by June 1, 2013 will receive full consideration. Application Procedure: Please submit a faculty application (download from www.utb.edu/ba/hr/employment), letter of application that addresses candidates fit for the position description, CV (with a complete list of publications and grants awarded), unofficial copies of transcripts, three letters of recommendation, research statement and teaching statement.

Application Material Required:

Submit the following items online at this website:

And anything else requested in the position description.

Further Info:

http://www.utb.edu/vpaa/csmt/math/Pages/default.aspx

9568826673

University of Texas Brownsville
Department of Mathematics
80 Fort Brown
Brownsville, Texas 78520

Source: https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/128/4741

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Calif. wildfire grows, but weather may aid fight

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) ? A wildfire tearing through a coastal region in Southern California nearly tripled in size as high temperatures fueled the flames, but a fire official said early Saturday that a favorable shift in the weather will likely help crews make progress against the flames.

The fire 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles mushroomed to 43 square miles Friday as 900 firefighters used engines, aircraft, bulldozers and other equipment to battle the flames.

Forecasters said a weekend of increased humidity should help teams fighting the early-season blaze.

"It's a total turnaround from what we had," said Kurt Kaplan, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Oxnard. "It should be a much better day for firefighters tomorrow."

Capt. Mike Lindbery of the Ventura County Fire Department said early Saturday that crews intended to take advantage of lower temps and higher humidity.

"That will give us a chance because it's going to really bring that fire activity down quite a bit. I think we will make some significant progress," Lindbery said.

Despite its size and speed of growth, the fire that broke out Thursday and quickly moved through the Camarillo Springs area has caused damage to just 15 structures, though it's threatening thousands.

Residents were grateful so many homes were spared.

"''It came pretty close. All of these houses ? these firemen did a tremendous job. Very, very thankful for them," Shayne Poindexter said. Flames came within 30 feet of the house he was building.

Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Bill Nash said parts of the Newbury Park community of Thousand Oaks were under mandatory and voluntary evacuations. Overnight, he said firefighters planned to stockpile resources along a road that lies between the fire and Malibu, protecting homes on the fire's eastern front. Its cause of the fire is under investigation.

The good fortune of the Camarillo Springs area wasn't the result of luck or clairvoyance by firefighters. It came after years of planning and knowing that sooner or later just such a conflagration was going to strike.

Camarillo Springs, which was nothing more than rugged backcountry when homes began to go up there 30 years ago, was well prepared.

Its homes were built with sprinkler systems and fireproof exteriors from the roofs to the foundations. Residents are required to clear brush and other combustible materials to within 100 feet of the dwellings, and developers had to make sure the cul-de-sacs that fill the area's canyons were built wide enough to accommodate the emergency vehicles seen on TV racing in to battle the flames.

Residents in the area are also particularly vigilant about clearing brush from the hillsides next to their yards, Kruschke said. Normally, firefighters remind people in such areas to do that every June, but in Camarillo Springs people do it every few months. The work paid off this week.

The type of blaze that hit the area usually doesn't strike Southern California wild-land until September or October, after the summer has dried out hillside vegetation. But the state has seen a severe drought during the past year, with the water content of California's snowpack only 17 percent of normal.

That created late-summer conditions by May, and when hot Santa Ana winds and high temperatures arrived this week, the spring flames that firefighters routinely knock down once or twice a year quickly roared up a hillside ? out of control.

On Friday, the wildfire stormed back through canyons toward inland neighborhoods when winds reversed direction.

After jumping Pacific Coast Highway 20 miles north of Malibu, the fire burned for a time on a beach shooting range at the Point Mugu Naval Air Station.

The blaze is one of more than 680 wildfires in the state so far this year ? about 200 more than average.

In Riverside County, a 4 1/2-square-mile fire that destroyed a home burned for a third day in mountains north of Banning. It was 75 percent contained.

Fifty-five miles away from Camarillo, in the hills above Glendale, a blaze broke out Friday afternoon, prompting evacuations and closure of a freeway as it quickly charred 75 acres.

In Tehama County in Northern California, the size of a wildfire north of Butte Meadows was revised down from more than 15 square miles to 10 square miles, state fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said.

The fire, which was 20 percent contained, was burning in a remote area and wasn't posing an imminent threat to any structures.

___

Associated Press writers Shaya Tayefe Mohajer and Robert Jablon in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/calif-wildfire-grows-weather-may-aid-fight-071128755.html

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Saturday, May 4, 2013

Telling time on Saturn: Undergraduate student shows how planet's magnetosphere changes with the seasons

May 3, 2013 ? A University of Iowa undergraduate student has discovered that a process occurring in Saturn's magnetosphere is linked to the planet's seasons and changes with them, a finding that helps clarify the length of a Saturn day and could alter our understanding of Earth's magnetosphere.

Saturn's magnetosphere is the third largest structure in the solar system, eclipsed only by the magnetic fields of the sun and Jupiter. Unlike Earth, which has a visible rocky surface and rotates once every 24 hours, Saturn is composed mostly of clouds and liquid gas layers, each rotating about the planet at its own rate of speed. This variation in rotation made it difficult for scientists to pin down time for the planet.

Decades ago, a strong and naturally occurring radio signal, called Saturn kilometric radiation (SKR), was believed to give an accurate measurement of a Saturn day. But data gathered by an ESA/NASA spacecraft proved otherwise.

Now, using data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which entered orbit around Saturn in 2004, UI space physicist Donald Gurnett and other scientists showed that the north and south poles have their own SKR "days" that vary over periods of weeks and years. How these different periods arise and are driven through the magnetosphere has become a central question of the Cassini mission, according to NASA officials.

The discovery by Tim Kennelly, a UI junior majoring in physics and astronomy, is one of the first direct observations of seasonal changes in Saturn's magnetosphere. In addition, the finding carries over to all planets having a magnetosphere, including Earth.

"I'm pleased to have contributed to our understanding of Saturn's magnetosphere so early in my career," says Kennelly, the lead author of the paper published online in the American Geophysical Union's (AGU) Journal of Geophysical Research. "I hope this trend continues."

Scientists have known for some time that Saturn's magnetospheric processes are linked together, from the activity generating the SKR emission relatively near the planet to the periodic signatures in Saturn's magnetosphere stretching millions of miles downstream in the planet's magnetotail. But they didn't know how they were linked.

Kennelly analyzed phenomena recorded between July 2004 and December 2011 by Cassini's UI-built Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument and came to some novel conclusions about how the events are linked. First, he looked at inward-moving "flux tubes" composed of hot, electrically charged gas, called plasma. Focusing on the tubes when they initially formed and before they had a chance to dissipate under the influence of the magnetosphere, he found that the occurrence of the tubes correlates with activity in the northern and southern hemisphere depending upon the season.

Kennelly found that during winter in the northern hemisphere, the occurrence of flux tubes correlates with SKR period originating in the northern hemisphere. A similar flux tube and SKR correlation was noted for the southern hemisphere during southern winter. The events are strongly ordered, he says, and follow Saturn's seasonal changes.

This finding may alter how scientists look at Earth's magnetosphere and the Van Allen radiation belts that affect a variety of activities at Earth ranging from space flight safety to satellite and cell phone communications.

Commenting on his research experience, Kennelly says, "I'm really happy with the support I've received from Don Gurnett's group. They let me do a lot of the research on my own. I'm really appreciative." He adds that he will begin applying to graduate schools next semester and plans to earn his doctorate in plasma physics.

In addition to Kennelly, UI researchers include UI postdoctoral scholar Jared Leisner, associate research scientist George Hospodarsky and Donald Gurnett, head of the RPWS instrument investigation and the James A. Van Allen/Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver Professor of Physics and Astronomy.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Iowa. The original article was written by Gary Galluzzo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

T. J. Kennelly, J. S. Leisner, G. B. Hospodarsky, D. A. Gurnett. Ordering of injection events within Saturnian SLS longitude and local time. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 2013; 118 (2): 832 DOI: 10.1002/jgra.50152

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/astronomy/~3/jruyssL9gf4/130503094951.htm

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Friday, May 3, 2013

S&P raises Philippines to investment grade, second after Fitch

By Rosemarie Francisco and Karen Lema

MANILA (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's raised the Philippines' credit rating to investment grade on Thursday, the second debt agency to do so in less than two months, putting the Southeast Asian country on track to attract more foreign capital flows which are challenging policymakers.

S&P upgraded the Philippines' foreign long-term debt by one notch to BBB minus, and foreign short-term debt to A-3, with a stable outlook, citing the country's strong external profile, moderate inflation and declining reliance on foreign currency debt.

Most foreign funds are only allowed to hold investment-grade assets rated by either S&P or Moody's Investors Service. The influential JPMorgan Asia credit index (JACI), for example, considers investment grade debt classified by the two agencies.

"Inflows have already been quite strong and are likely to remain a challenge for policymakers as foreign players become more aware of the Philippines as a viable investment destination," said Eugene Low, an economist at DBS in Singpaore.

The upgrade came just a little over four months after S&P raised its rating outlook for Philippine debt to positive from stable in late December, and as the debt watcher downgraded its outlook for the country's larger neighbour Indonesia to stable from positive, citing concerns that much-needed economic reforms were losing momentum in Jakarta.

"There is more evidence of structural economic improvement in the Philippines than in Indonesia in recent years," Credit Suisse economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde wrote in a note.

"Also, the Philippines' so-called macro vulnerability indicators are generally better than those of Indonesia - the exception being on public finances."

Fitch Ratings raised the Philippines' credit rating to investment grade in late March, a first for the Southeast Asian nation, in a move expected to boost investment and lift the country's long-term growth potential.

With investment-grade status from two of the major agencies, the sovereign now becomes eligible to be part of the Barclays U.S. Investment-Grade and Global Aggregate and Asia Pacific IG Aggregate indices, as well as other investment-grade indices from Citigroup.

It is still unclear what weighting the Philippines will have in the key indexes, but tens of trillions of dollars are benchmarked against the Citi and Barclays indexes. Funds that benchmark against the indices will have to buy Philippines government bonds if they don't already own them.

Full S&P statement http://link.reuters.com/qet77t

Philippine CDS gap over rival Indonesia at all time high

http://r.reuters.com/wax86t

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

CAPITAL INFLOWS

Foreign capital inflows are already posing challenges for many policymakers across Asia as global investors flock to the region in search of higher returns.

Shielding the peso currency and the economy from the impact of such large inflows have strained the central bank's resources.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando Tetangco said in a statement the S&P upgrade "undoubtedly cements the Philippines' status as an economy with one of the brightest prospects globally," adding that further inflows, particularly foreign direct investments, should increase the country's productive capacity and create more jobs.

He told reporters at the Asian Development Bank annual meeting in India that managing capital flows and inflation were the BSP's key priorities, with the central bank keen to use non-interest rate tools to tackle inflows.

In its statement, S&P said the current and previous governments' improved fiscal flexibility, foreign debt reduction programmes, deeper domestic capital market and recent revenue gains were factors for the ratings upgrade.

"The upgrade on the Philippines reflects a strengthening external profile, moderating inflation, and the government's declining reliance on foreign currency debt," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Agost Benard.

S&P expected the country to achieve a near-balanced external position helped by persistent current account surpluses driven by strong remittances from Filipinos working abroad, he added.

But S&P noted the country's low revenue base and relatively high, though declining, costs of commercial external debt, as well as other structural impediments to higher growth.

President Benigno Aquino, who took office nearly three years ago, has successfully passed a sin tax reform that raised taxes on alcohol and tobacco, but tax administration remains a challenge. He wants to achieve record economic growth of 8.5 percent under democratic rule before he steps down in 2016 by creating more jobs and increasing income levels in a country where nearly a third of its 96 million people live below the poverty line.

"It is further indicative of sustained confidence in the Philippine economy, of our collective resilience, optimism, and growing potential, amidst global economic uncertainty," Edwin Lacierda, presidential spokesperson, said in a statement.

Philippine bonds were up by half a point due to a U.S. Treasury rally and with the upgrade, they added another half a point on average. The 2037 bond was last seen at 122.75.

Philippines' 5-year credit default swaps (CDS) tightened 2-3 basis points to 84/87 after the upgrade announcement.

The peso closed at the day's high of 41.05 per dollar, after trading weaker for most of the day and against 41.155 on Tuesday.

One-year non-deliverable forwards (NDFs), which have been trading below the spot rate since November and thereby implying expectations for further appreciation in the peso, moved to 40.85 per dollar after the S&P move, from 40.9 before.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the upgrade was a vote of confidence on the Philippines and reaffirmed the country's underlying fundamentals, which have seen investors push prices of its bonds and stocks sharply higher.

"For now, we must redouble our efforts to remove the remaining constraints to our growth if we are to reach even greater heights. The Philippine government will continue to focus on infrastructure development, on creating a larger fiscal space to support social investments, and on further opening up the economy," Purisima said.

The Philippine government expects Moody's, which still rates the country a notch below investment grade, to follow suit. (Additional reporting by Vidya Ranganathan, and Christopher Langner and Umesh Desai of IFR; Editing by Kim Coghill)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/p-raises-philippines-investment-grade-second-fitch-140220353.html

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Solar plane leaves Calif. on cross-country trip

AAA??May. 3, 2013?3:09 PM ET
Solar plane leaves Calif. on cross-country trip
By HAVEN DALEYBy HAVEN DALEY, Associated Press?

The Solar Impulse plane takes off on a multi-city trip across the United States from Moffett Field NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., Friday, May 3, 2013. Solar Impulse, considered the world's most advanced solar-powered plane, will stop for seven to 10 days at major airports in each city, so the pilots can display and discuss the aircraft with reporters, students, engineers and aviation fans. It plans to reach New York's Kennedy Airport in early July ? without using a drop of fuel, its creators said. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

The Solar Impulse pilot Bertrand Piccard, left, enters the cockpit before taking off to embark on a multi-city trip across the United States from Moffett Field NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., Friday, May 3, 2013. Solar Impulse, considered the world's most advanced solar-powered plane, will stop for seven to 10 days at major airports in each city, so the pilots can display and discuss the aircraft with reporters, students, engineers and aviation fans. It plans to reach New York's Kennedy Airport in early July ? without using a drop of fuel, its creators said. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

Bertrand Piccard, pilot of the Solar Impulse plane, speaks to reporters before taking off on a multi-city trip across the United States from Moffett Field NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., Friday, May 3, 2013. Solar Impulse, considered the world's most advanced solar-powered plane, will stop for seven to 10 days at major airports in each city, so the pilots can display and discuss the aircraft with reporters, students, engineers and aviation fans. It plans to reach New York's Kennedy Airport in early July ? without using a drop of fuel, its creators said. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

The Solar Impulse plane sits on the tarmac early in the morning before takes off on a multi-city trip across the United States from Moffett Field NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., Friday, May 3, 2013. Solar Impulse, considered the world's most advanced solar-powered plane, will stop for seven to 10 days at major airports in each city, so the pilots can display and discuss the aircraft with reporters, students, engineers and aviation fans. It plans to reach New York's Kennedy Airport in early July ? without using a drop of fuel, its creators said. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

Pilots Bertrand Piccard, right, and Andr? Borschberg, left shake hands before the Solar Impulse plane takes off to embark on a multi-city trip across the United States from Moffett Field NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., Friday, May 3, 2013. Solar Impulse, considered the world's most advanced solar-powered plane, will stop for seven to 10 days at major airports in each city, so the pilots can display and discuss the aircraft with reporters, students, engineers and aviation fans. It plans to reach New York's Kennedy Airport in early July ? without using a drop of fuel, its creators said. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) ? A solar-powered airplane left Northern California on Friday for the first leg of a planned cross-country trip that its co-pilot described as a "milestone" in aviation history.

The Solar Impulse ? considered the world's most-advanced sun-powered plane ? left Moffett Field in Mountain View just after dawn. Its creators said the trip is the first attempt by a solar airplane capable of flying day and night without fuel to fly across America.

It plans to land at Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth airport in Texas, Lambert-St. Louis airport, Dulles airport in the Washington area and New York's John F. Kennedy airport. Each flight leg will take about 19 to 25 hours, with 10-day stops in each city.

"All the big pioneers of the 20th century have tried to fly coast to coast across America," said co-pilot and one of the plane's founders, Bertrand Piccard. "So now today we're trying to do this, but on solar power with no fuel with the first airplane that is able to fly day and night just on solar power."

The plane is powered by about 12,000 photovoltaic cells that cover massive wings and charge its batteries.

The delicate, single-seat Solar Impulse flies around 40 mph and can't go through clouds. It weighs about as much as a car, making it vulnerable to bad weather.

Its creators said solar planes will never replace fuel-powered commercial flights. But the goal is to showcase the potential of solar power.

"What we look for is to have a new milestone in this very exciting history of aviation that can attract interest of the people, of the political world, of the media and show that with renewable energies and clean technology for energy efficiency, we can achieve impossible things," Piccard said.

The plane has previously impressed audiences in Europe. It is expected to reach Phoenix around 1 a.m. Saturday.

___

Online:

http://www.solarimpulse.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-05-03-US-Solar-Plane/id-91a7af2cad9d48a6b23cfdae490a617b

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