Solid-state technique for making conductive polymers

Researchers at the Univ. of California at Los Angeles have developed the first solid-state process for synthesizing poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), or PEDOT, reports Fred Wudl, professor of chemistry and materials. PEDOT is one of the most successful conducting polymers used in industry.

Current processes for making conducting polymers suffer from the fact that it is not possible to obtain well-defined, highly ordered polymer structures in the presence of the necessary catalysts or initiators, Wudl points out. For example, PEDOT is produced by chemical or electrochemical oxidation of monomer solutions, which results in defect sites and a relatively low degree of intermolecular …

Analysis: In `squeeze play,' Iraq uses US political rifts to bolster position on troop pullout

Confusion over the Iraqi prime minister's seeming endorsement of Barack Obama's troop withdrawal plan is part of Baghdad's strategy to play U.S. politics for the best deal possible over America's military mission.

The goal is not necessarily to push out the Americans quickly, but instead give Iraqis a major voice in how long U.S. troops stay and what they will do while still there.

It also is designed to refurbish the nationalist credentials of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who owes his political survival to the steadfast support of U.S. President George W. Bush. Now, an increasingly confident Iraqi government seems to be undermining long-standing White …

Underwood honors sunken battleship

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MORGANTOWN - Gov. Cecil Underwood has proclaimed Dec. 7, 1999,USS West Virginia Day, honoring the battleship that was sunk byJapanese bombs at Pearl Harbor.

Underwood announced the proclamation at halftime during the Navy-West Virginia football game at West Virginia University Saturday.

"I think that's a day we can never forget," Underwood said. "Weare proud of the progress made …

49ers, A's Heading for Silicon Valley

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Athletics have started a new gold rush, south to the open spaces and financial bounties of Silicon Valley.

The 49ers and A's each hope to build new stadiums in the southern reaches of the San Francisco Bay Area. Though the A's yet-to-be-announced plan appears closer to fruition than the 49ers' move announced Thursday, both clubs seem determined to leave behind two of their sports' worst stadiums for sparkling new ballparks in accommodating new hometowns.

The 49ers have abandoned their decade-long attempts to build a new stadium and a massive commercial-residential development on Candlestick Point, their San …

Third man arrested in UK Olympic surveillance case

LONDON (AP) — A third person has been arrested by police investigating allegations that people acting for Premier League football club Tottenham spied on officials during the club's failed bid to take over London's Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games.

Tottenham has been accused of ordering surveillance on the London Olympic executives who eventually chose the bid of rival London club West Ham to take over the stadium.

Since August, London police have been investigating allegations of wrongdoing in the bidding process that were made by West Ham and the Olympic Park Legacy Company, whose board members decide the future of venues on the site of the 2012 Games.

Two people …

UN judges deliver genocide verdict on Srebrenica

U.N. judges are delivering their verdict against seven Bosnian Serb military and police officers for genocide and other war crimes in the U.N.-declared safe zone of Srebrenica in 1995.

It is the largest trial the Yugoslav war crimes trial has ever conducted and involved nearly 450 witnesses and three years of hearings that ended last year.

Five of …

Couple exchanges vows before heading overseas: Pair got married at Nitro Wedding Chapel

Rosie Sulzer kisses her father's cheek as he …