By Petar Komnenic

PODGORICA, June 7 (Reuters) - Ukraine blew World Cup qualifying Group H wide open with a stunning 4-0 away victory over table-topping Montenegro on Friday that saw three players sent off as the hosts finished with nine men.

The win revives Ukraine's hopes of reaching next year's finals in Brazil and leaves second-placed England within two points of top spot with a game in hand. Ukraine are now third, just one point behind England.

"Now we won't know anything until the end," said Montenegro coach Branko Brnovic. "We have a team that can bounce back. This was our worst game."

Ukraine triumphed with second-half goals from Denys Garmash, Yevhen Konoplyanka, Artem Fedetskiy and substitute Roman Bezus, having been reduced to 10 men just before halftime.

Roman Zozulja was shown a straight red card for elbowing Montenegro's Vladimir Bozovic off the ball but Ukraine still took the lead through Garmash after 52 minutes when the midfielder turned in a parried shot low off the left post.

Montenegro then had Vladimir Volkov shown a second yellow card after 66 minutes and Konoplyanka added a second goal for Ukraine 11 minutes later, firing home from the edge of the area after a twisting run down the right flank by Andriy Yarmalenko.

NINE MEN

Montenegro were reduced to nine men when Savo Pavicevic was dismissed by German referee Manuel Graefe in the 79th minute and Ukraine capitalised on their numerical advantage.

Fedetskiy scored in the 85th and substitute Bezus produced a fine individual goal in added time, running at the Montenegrin defence before clipping the ball over keeper Mladen Bozovic.

Montenegro striker Mirko Vucinic produced the home side's best chances, hitting the woodwork in the first half and twice testing goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov with long-range efforts.

Montenegro coach Brnovic rued not substituting Volkov before his second yellow card, saying: "This was one of those games. Whoever scores first goes on to win."

Montenegro stay on 14 points from seven games ahead of England with 12 from six, while Ukraine are on 11 points from six, two points above Poland who drew 1-1 away to Moldova.

"It was difficult going into the break a man down," said Ukraine coach Mikhail Fomenko. "At the break we were able to change the tactics and get the result. I can't say Montenegro played badly, they just played as they could."

"Now we're one point behind England, but we have to make up for lost points." (Reporting by Petar Komnenic; Editing by Matt Robinson and Ken Ferris)

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Tokyo's 2020 Olympic bid has been labeled as the safe choice in contrast to rivals Istanbul and Madrid but for city governor Naoki Inose, this is not a drawback.

"Safe choices are the most important ones," Inose told Reuters in an interview on Friday. "It is only once every four years that athletes can reach glory and honor."

The safe tag has been used to describe a solid bid by Tokyo that may appear to be lacking some of the excitement of the other two concepts but which could carry less risk.

Istanbul, making its fifth bid in the last six elections, has played up its plans to become the first city in a Muslim majority nation to host the Games, sitting on the crossroads of Europe and Asia.

Madrid, bidding for the third straight time despite economic problems in Spain, has highlighted the country's sporting successes in recent years and the large number of world-class venues already in place.

The International Olympic Committee will elect the winning host at its session in Buenos Aires in September.

Inose said broadcasters, the IOC and local organizers were putting a huge effort into staging the Games with safety of delivery being the number one priority.

SMOOTH WORK

"In order for these people to work smoothly, safety is a prerequisite. Otherwise the Games may face a turning point," said the outspoken politician through a translator.

"There has to be safety and security for the Games. It is inevitable that the scale and size of the Games will expand going forward in terms of spectators and viewers," he said.

Inose, who last month had to apologize for "inappropriate" comments he had made on Istanbul and Islamic countries in an interview, said Tokyo's already existing Games fund of $4.5 billion underlined the importance of that security.

"It is there, sitting in the bank," he said, adding that a winning Tokyo bid would mean a multi-billion market for the Games.

"We have a time zone reach where we can cover roughly half the world's population," he said.

A key aspect of the Tokyo bid is that many of its venues have already been constructed. Tokyo planners also emphasize the compactness of its offer, with 85 percent of the venues located within an 8 km (5 mile) radius of the Olympic Village.

Inose said having consecutive winter and summer Games in Asia, with South Korea's Pyeongchang hosting the 2018 winter Olympics, was not an obstacle.

"It has been decided. There is nothing I can do," he said.

"But they are totally unrelated," he said, citing examples of past consecutive Games, winter and summer, held on the same continent.

(Editing by Mark Meadows)

San Francisco's leading wide receiver underwent surgery Wednesday, though the team is optimistic he will return at some point in 2013. Crabtree was operated on at Stanford by Dr. Tim McAdams one day after suffering the injury during 7-on-7 drills in an organized team activity.

"Michael Crabtree underwent surgery to repair his Achilles tendon that he tore yesterday," coach Jim Harbaugh said. "Surgery was successful and we do not anticipate it will be season-ending for Michael. It was completely torn, and completely repaired."

Harbaugh would not speculate when Crabtree might return to play.

The 25-year-old Crabtree, the team's 10th overall pick in the 2009 draft out of Texas Tech, had career highs last season with 85 receptions for 1,105 yards and nine touchdowns for the NFC champion Niners, who lost 34-31 to the Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl.

USA Today first reported that Crabtree was hurt during Tuesday's OTA, citing an unidentified source.

Harbaugh said Crabtree went in motion, planted to begin a route and "felt like somebody kicked him in the Achilles, which sometimes people say that feels like." Having the operation right away was considered the best option so Crabtree has the chance to return this year unlike with running back Kendall Hunter last season, who had the same injury but the decision was made to wait some time before surgery.

"Good news is he woke up from the surgery and the first thing, asked the doctor how it went," Harbaugh said. "(The doctor) talked about the success of the surgery and he didn't anticipate he'd be out for the year. His comment to that was, 'Got no choice but to be back.' Every day now is a healing day, and that starts today."

This is a tough blow for the two-time defending NFC West champions after Crabtree's breakout 2012 season. He was one of the big reasons the franchise returned to the Super Bowl for the first time in 18 years, clicking with quarterback Colin Kaepernick after his promotion to starter in November over departed 2005 No. 1 overall draft pick Alex Smith.

"It's a setback, but Michael's young, he's strong. Everything will be a positive approach to healing and we'll anticipate great things," Harbaugh said. "Another thing right now is if you look at the young receivers on our team that will emerge because they have to emerge. I'm excited to watch them compete for that spot."

Harbaugh wouldn't say whether the 49ers would look outside the organization for a replacement with Crabtree out, or even if the team would consider bringing back Randy Moss.

"We're excited for the young receivers that we have, and feel that somebody's going to emerge there," he said. "Competition will create that, and we'll look forward to watching that."

Anquan Boldin, acquired in a trade with the Ravens this spring, will be counted upon to carry a bulk of the load. Boldin missed Wednesday's practice for what Harbaugh called "some prior commitments for this week."

Boldin had 65 catches for 921 yards and four touchdowns for the Ravens last season.

Kaepernick and Crabtree were eager to get back on the field together after falling just short in New Orleans back in February.

"It's an injury. Nobody wants it to happen no matter who it is," Kaepernick said.

Kaepernick's fourth-down throw into the end zone in the closing moments sailed over Crabtree. Harbaugh and the 49ers argued that Crabtree got held, bumped by cornerback Jimmy Smith with safety Ed Reed trailing the play.

Crabtree also had five TDs and 30 catches on third-down plays last season both stats among the top five in the NFL.

Kaepernick offered an easy explanation as to why they clicked so well: "He got open."

He has bounced back the past two seasons from several injuries.

After a 71-day contract stalemate as a rookie, Crabtree was sidelined during the 2010 preseason with a neck injury. Again a year later he was out with a broken foot sustained while working out in Alex Smith-organized practices during the NFL lockout.

In 2011, Crabtree led the team in catches (72) and yards receiving (874), but San Francisco came up short of a Super Bowl.

While he had four catches for 25 yards and a 4-yard touchdown reception in a 36-32 victory against Drew Brees and the favored Saints in the NFC divisional playoffs, it was the NFC championship game Crabtree remembers as a most disappointing day.

San Francisco's receivers had just one catch for 3 yards yes, it was by him and Crabtree was targeted four times in a 20-17 overtime loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

Crabtree said that performance helped fuel him last year.

"Obviously he's a great player, he's done a lot for this team," Kaepernick said. "We just have to have someone step up. He's not happy about it, he's just trying to get healthy now. Crab's going to work, he's going to be back."

Notes: The 49ers signed fourth-round draft pick WR Quinton Patton to a four-year contract. ... The team also claimed tight end/long snapper Kyle Nelson off of waivers from the San Diego Chargers and waived P Anthony Santella. ... Also gone Wednesday were S Darcel McBath, who Harbaugh said was ill; LT Joe Staley, C Jonathan Goodwin, CB Tarell Brown and LB NaVorro Bowman.

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

(Reuters) - An Idaho man who admitted to breaking into a Boise zoo last year and killing a monkey was sentenced to seven years in prison on Thursday, court records show.

Michael Watkins, 22, of Weiser, Idaho, in March pleaded guilty to attempted grand theft, a felony, and misdemeanor animal cruelty stemming from the break-in and beating death of the monkey at Zoo Boise in November.

The primate was one of the zoo's two Patas monkeys, ground-dwelling animals from Africa that stand more than 2 feet tall and weigh about 35 pounds. They are rare in zoos but not endangered in the wild.

The case shook officials at the zoo and triggered an outpouring of sympathy and donations from animal lovers worldwide.

Watkins scaled the security fence at Zoo Boise in the pre-dawn hours of November 17 and attempted to steal the monkey, which bit him, police said. Watkins then kicked and hit the animal, severely wounding it, according to police. The monkey later died of blunt force trauma, zoo officials said.

Zoo Boise Director Steve Burns said on Thursday the sentencing of Watkins closed a particularly devastating chapter for the facility.

"We're moving on," he said. "The court has done its job and we're continuing to do our job."

In the days after the death, zoo staff sought to boost the spirits of the companion-less Patas monkey and considered shipping it to another zoo with primates since they are exceedingly social, Burns said.

Instead, Zoo Boise in December gained two female Patas monkeys donated by the Rosamund Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York.

News about the monkey's death brought donations from across the United States and overseas, allowing the zoo to begin construction on Monday of a $250,000 exhibit for the three Patas monkeys, Burns said.

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Bill Trott)

To illustrate this reality, astrophysicist Mario Livio of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md., highlights five of thein his new book "Brilliant Blunders" (Simon & Schuster, May 2013). Livio tells the stories of errors by Charles Darwin, Sir William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Linus Pauling, Fred Hoyle, and . SPACE.com caught up with Livio to find out just what qualifies as a brilliant blunder, and what we can all learn from these famous mistakes.

What separates a "brilliant blunder" from a just plain blunder?

The things I tried to refer to as brilliant blunders are blunders that are made when you're trying to think innovatively, trying to have a big idea. These are blunders that are produced when you took a calculated risk with the potential for a big reward. These are not done because the scientist is sloppy or not careful in what they do, or because the scientist is inexperienced. To get a breakthrough, you need to be able to embrace a risk. []

In addition, of course, the people I particularly chose, they were also brilliant by themselves.

Was it difficult to choose just five blunders to profile in your book? Are there many more "brilliant blunders" out there?

Yes, absolutely.

Think of howworks. You make a certain assumption and then perform an experiment, and if those don't agree you have to falsify the theory and then think of another idea. In other words, finding something is wrong is really part of the way the scientific method works. In that sense, definitely, making blunders is a part of the scientific process.

There is something to be learned from every mistake.

Do you think allhave made significant blunders along the way?

I must say there are some that make more of these than others.was particularly annoying in the sense that he almost made no mistakes.

Have you ever made any brilliant blunders of your own?

I've certainly made many mistakes during my scientific career. I'm not sure that any one of those could be called a brilliant blunder.

What do you think the average person can learn from these genius' blunders?

Number one is, even geniuses can make major blunders. I think that should be comforting to most.

The second and perhaps more important thing is about the creative process. In order to get important discoveries or real breakthroughs, you need what we call 'thinking outside the box.' When you think outside the box you necessarily have to accept the fact that maybe you will be making a blunder. But if you accept that, you increase your chances of getting something that is really important, as opposed to playing it safe all the time and getting very slow incremental progress. We really need to think more about how do we allow in a variety of creative processes, realizing that that may lead to a blunder but it also has the potential to lead to something big.

Do you see any overarching theme among the blunders you detail in the book?

I've chosen people who have worked on evolution evolution of life on Earth, or evolution of the Earth itself, evolution of the stars, or evolution of the universe as a whole. And I've chosen them deliberately like this.

One thing that you realize is that all of these different evolutions are really very intimately related to one another. The universe evolved, and that's what allowed galaxies to form within it. As stars evolved, that's what formed those elements that at the end gave rise to planets and eventually to life. Really, we tend to think of these different evolutions as if they are different disciplines, but in fact they are very closely related. And of course they are all driven, ultimately, by the laws of physics, even though we are not at the stage where we can describe biology by the laws of physics. That's another thing I hope will come out of this book.

Follow Clara Moskowitz onand . Follow us,and . Original article on .

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Mothers who are mildly iodine deficient are more likely to have children who perform poorly in spelling, grammar and literacy, according to a new study from Australia.

Severe iodine deficiency during pregnancy is known to cause serious mental disabilities in children, but researchers examined the test scores of nine year olds whose mothers were only slightly iodine deficient during pregnancy and found the kids performed between 6 percent and 10 percent worse than peers born to mothers with sufficient iodine.

"This is to show in areas where there is even mild deficiency it can have long-term impacts on children," said Kristen Hynes, the study's lead author from the University of Tasmania in Sandy Bay.

Throughout life, everyone needs iodine to make thyroid hormones, but it's also crucial that pregnant women get enough of the element to support their children's brain development.

Past research has found that women who are severely iodine deficient give birth to children with motor, cognitive and auditory defects, Hynes' team writes in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Little is known, however, about what impact a mother's mild iodine deficiency might have on her child.

The U.S. Institute of Medicine recommends the average adult get 150 micrograms (mcg) of iodine every day. Pregnant women are told to get 220 mcg every day and women who are breastfeeding are told to get 290 mcg.

The main source of iodine in the American diet is milk, but it can also be found in some fish and vegetables as well as in "iodized" table salt.

One cup of reduced-fat milk contains about 56 mcg of iodine and one serving of baked cod has about 99 mcg, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

For the new study, Hynes and her colleagues used data on about 228 pregnant women who were patients at The Royal Hobart Hospital in Tasmania between 1999 and 2001 and the children they delivered at the time.

The researchers compared the standardized test scores of the nine-year-old children born to women whose urinary iodine levels fell below 150 mcg (mildly deficient) during pregnancy to the children of women whose iodine levels exceeded 150 mcg (sufficient).

The children of women who were iodine deficient scored about 371 points on the national student test for spelling and about 377 points for grammar. That compared to about 412 points for spelling and 408 points for grammar among children of women who had sufficient levels of iodine while pregnant.

The average score for all of Tasmania at that time was about 390 for spelling and about 410 for grammar in that age group.

The researchers also found that children born to mothers who were mildly iodine deficient scored about 6 percent lower on English literacy scores, compared to those whose mothers had sufficient iodine levels.

Hynes told Reuters Health her group suspects that iodine deficiency may have some impact on a child's auditory pathways to the brain, which may hurt their ability to quickly process the information they hear.

"It's really only a theory at this stage," she cautioned.

The researchers can't say for certain whether the mothers' iodine deficiency led to their children's poor scores, but she said there is an association.

"I think people working in education will realize this is important, but there are a lot of other things going on as well," Hynes said.

Dr. Elizabeth Pearce, who researches iodine but was not involved in the study, said the findings support recommendations that soon-to-be pregnant, pregnant and breastfeeding women take an iodine supplement, but added that it's important to not get too much of the mineral.

"Very excessive intake in susceptible people can lead to thyroid dysfunction and goiter," said Pearce, an associate professor of medicine at Boston University.

The NIH says the upper safe limit of iodine is 1,100 mcg a day.

"People should not read this and think more iodine is better," she said.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/ZCksYH The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, online April 30, 2013.

Cochran, who clinched his maiden major title in the over-50 ranks at the 2011 Senior Open Championship, fired a five-under-par 66 to end the day at seven-under 135, level with good friend and fellow Kentucky native Kenny Perry, who also returned a 66.

Japan's Kiyoshi Murota was two shots off the pace after carding a 70 in tricky gusting winds, with first-round leaders Jay Haas (72) and Duffy Waldorf (72) a further stroke back at four under along with fellow American Loren Roberts (68).

Cochran, who tied for seventh in the 1992 PGA Championship played at Bellerive, has relished playing alongside Perry over the last two days in the first of the season's five senior majors.

"It's been a great couple of days," the 54-year-old told reporters after soaring to the top of the leaderboard with a mix of seven birdies and two bogeys. "We have always pulled for each other and continue to do so.

"My son caddies for me and one of my best friends caddies for Kenny Perry and he's one of Kenny's best friends, too. So we had a good time out there."

Cochran, who began the second round at the par-four 10th, made his stunning move up the leaderboard with birdies at the 17th, 18th, first, third and fourth.

"In this round I had an opportunity to kind of get in a groove and get in a rhythm," he said. "Yesterday I didn't hit it very good. Today I was right on the money. Felt like I played a pretty good round."

Perry, a 14-times winner on the PGA Tour who has triumphed twice since competing on the over-50 Champions Tour, was equally thrilled to play in Cochran's company.

"It's been pretty neat for me to play alongside him for the last two days and for both of us to play tremendous," the 52-year-old Perry said after a flawless five-birdie display.

"Russ is kind of the guy I always looked up to. I got better because I tried to aspire to be a lot like Russ."

The cut fell at four-over 146 with 80 players advancing to the weekend.

Among those missing out were Mark Calcavecchia, Scott Simpson and Curtis Strange, all former major winners on the PGA Tour. (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - China threatened on Thursday to retaliate if the European Union formally opens an investigation into alleged anti-competitive behavior by Chinese mobile telecom equipment companies.

European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said on Wednesday he and fellow commissioners had agreed in principle to open an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy case against China, but would first seek to negotiate a solution with Chinese authorities.

Although not mentioned in the statement, EU officials told Reuters the primary targets of the investigation would be world No. 2 telecoms equipment maker Huaweiand smaller Chinese company ZTE .

"If the European side insists on opening an investigation, the Chinese side will according to WTO rules and Chinese law take firm measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests, and the consequences must be borne by the party provoking the friction," Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman Shen Danyang told reporters in Beijing.

The case would be the largest trade investigation ever started by the EU and the first to be launched without a complaint by European companies, but rather by the Commission itself.

Manufacturers such as Ericsson , Nokia Siemens Networksand Alcatel-Lucenthave suffered as a result of cheap Asian imports but will not make formal complaints for fear of Chinese reprisals, which has made it hard for the Commission to gather evidence.

Shen said Beijing had taken note of De Gucht's statement through media reports and that communications between the EU and the Chinese side were "smooth and open".

He said China had made a proposal over the telecoms matter to the European Commission during a recent visit by an EU delegation to China, but had still not received any response.

"This makes one cast doubt on the sincerity of the EU to resolve conflicts through consultations," Shen said.

EU officials said on Wednesday they now had proof of Chinese subsidies, but both Huawei and ZTE deny benefiting from illegal state support. Huawei also denied it was selling telecoms equipment below cost to secure market share.

"I think that the EU in the end does not want to make a big fuss about this," a Chinese diplomat told Reuters, saying the 27-member bloc would negotiate rather than carry through with its threat.

"If tariffs are leveled on Chinese products it will not only harm the interests of Chinese industry but also the European Union. It is like cutting one finger will hurt the whole hand," the diplomat said.

A spokesman for De Gucht said that the Commission had no comment.

(Editing by Louise Ireland and Rex Merrifield)

[More from BGR: ]

This article was

NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites acquired these images of the colorful blooms on April 20 and May 4, according to . On the later date, a noticeably larger bloom occurred, fueled by nutrient runoff from French rivers and warmer temperatures in the Bay of Biscay.

provide food for a whole host of creatures, from zooplankton (small drifting animals) to whales. Through photosynthesis, the blooms harness the energy of the sun and turn carbon dioxide into sugars. Sometimes, however, they can cause problems: certain species of phytoplankton can form so-calledand produce neurotoxins that affect marine mammals as well as humans. And when they get too big, the blooms can create dead zones as the algae sinks and decomposes, consuming oxygen.

The blooms can also have beneficial environmental effects. According to a study published last summer in the journal Science, phytoplankton blooms absorb about one-third of the carbon dioxide humans emit into the air each year through burning fossil fuels.

Various pigments produce the colors of the phytoplankton blooms. For example, a type of algae called Coccolithophores makes a calcium-containing shell that creates a milky appearance, according to the Earth Observatory.

Emailor follow him onor. Follow us,or. Original article on LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet.