Mikel Arteta scored twice as Everton reignited their quest for Europe and left Hull in the relegation zone.

The Spaniard volleyed home at the back post to open the scoring but then saw a Yakubu penalty saved by Boaz Myhill.

Teenager Tom Cairney equalised with a superb volley but a slotted second from Arteta and an own goal from Richard Garcia made it 3-1 to the hosts.

Landon Donovan came off the bench and slammed in a fourth before Jack Rodwell completed another fine move to seal it.

All that means the Tigers are still without an away win in the league this season and well and truly failed to put down the marker demanded by manager Phil Brown.

But the day belonged to Everton, and Arteta in particular.

The goals were the Spaniard’s first since returning from injury and served as a timely reminder of his quality and importance to Everton’s cause.

The victory – a sixth in succession at home – equals a club record in the Premier League and lifts the Toffees up to eighth, four points behind Aston Villa.

The game was not as dramatic as Everton’s recent home success against Chelsea and Manchester United but it is matches against the struggling sides that David Moyes’ team must win if they are to qualify for Europe once again.

BBC Sport – Football – Everton 5-1 Hull

The Premier League has revealed it will not pursue the idea of a play-off for fourth place and the final Champions League place.

At the Premier League board meeting on Thursday, the clubs’ chairmen decided against looking into the proposal any further at this stage.

Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal were reportedly quick to voice their opposition.

However, other clubs were keen on the idea in principle.

The idea, which was put forward at last month’s meeting, was for automatic Champions League spots to go to the Premier League’s top three teams, rather than the top four.

The sides finishing from fourth to seventh would then play in a mini knockout competition.

The proposal drew a mixed reaction from top-flight bosses, with Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez completely against it but Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill described it as "interesting" and one that "people might go for".

Any change would have also needed the agreement of at least 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs, although there could not have been any changes for three years as the next TV deal is in place.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore claimed there was "not enough support" for the proposal.

BBC Sport – Football – Premier League rejects fourth-place play-offs idea

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has revealed that his team and Ferrari are seeking clarification from the FIA about the legality of McLaren’s rear wing design.

The design of the MP4-25 was the subject of discussion during last week’s final pre-season test at Barcelona in Spain – amid suggestions that the layout of its airbox and engine cover was helping to stall the rear-wing at high-speed and delivering the car extra straight-line performance.

Now, Horner has revealed, his team and Ferrari have taken the matter to the FIA to ask whether the governing body believes it to be legal.

"They have a slot on it and they can pick up a lot of straight-line speed. I think it will get resolved before the first race. We’ve asked the FIA for clarification although I think Ferrari are probably more excited than we are to be honest."

Horner said that the introduction of wing slot-gap separators several years ago was designed to stop attempts to stall wings – but he thinks the McLaren design could be being used as a way of getting around the regulations.

"Basically, if you stall the wing you take all the drag off it and pick up straight-line speed," he said. "It’s something that’s been done quite a lot over the years but with the wing separators you’re not supposed to do that.

"Our question ultimately will be: ‘Is it clever design or is it in breach of the regulations’?"

He added: "They must be very confident that it’s legal. I would think it will be legal."

autosport.com – F1 News: Teams seek McLaren wing clarification

The new HRT Formula 1 team unveiled its 2010 challenger on Thursday – just more than a week before the car is set to hit the tracks at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

With the Spanish team having announced that Karun Chandhok will partner Bruno Senna, both drivers were present at the launch that took place in the city of Murcia.

The HRT challenger has been designed by Italian racing car constructor Dallara – which endured weeks of uncertainty in its preparation following financial problems with the outfit when it was known as Campos.

With no testing allowed before the start of the season, HRT’s car is likely to run for the first time during Friday free practice in Bahrain.

autosport.com – F1 News: HRT unveils its 2010 F1 contender

Stefan Grand Prix’s hopes of getting on the grid in 2010 as Team US F1’s replacement suffered a blow on Wednesday night, when the FIA announced only 12 teams on its 2010 entry list.

Following weeks of speculation about the fate of the final slots of the grid, following US F1’s uncertain future, the sport’s governing body finally released the list of competitors for 2010.

Team US F1 was absent – with a note at the bottom stating the team had: "indicated that they will not be in a position to participate in 2010".

The FIA said no replacement could be considered so close to the start of the season.

"Having considered the various options, the FIA confirms that it is not possible for a replacement team to be entered for the Championship at this late stage," the FIA said.

"In the coming days the FIA will announce details of a new selection process to identify candidates to fill any vacancies existing at the start of the 2011 season."

The entry list also confirmed that Campos has been renamed HRT, and that BMW Sauber will retain the ‘BMW’ moniker for 2010 despite the German car manufacturer having pulled out of the sport last season.

The FIA also confirmed Sauber’s team numbers – which has been uncertain for several months after it temporarily lost its entry. Pedro de la Rosa will be number 22, and Kamui Kobayashi 23.

autosport.com – F1 News: Stefan GP not granted F1 entry

US F1 have applied to world motorsport’s governing body, the FIA, to defer their entry into the Formula 1 world championship for 12 months.

The team, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is among four newcomers entered for the 2010 season.

Team principal Ken Anderson told BBC Sport: "If the FIA say no (to the deferral) we are done. If they say yes we can put it back in gear and go."

An FIA spokesman told BBC Sport a statement would be made "soon".

Lotus and Virgin, who have already been testing, and Hispania – formerly known as Campos – are the other new teams for 2010 and all hope to be on the grid for the opening race.

If US F1 pull out, it could create an opening for the newly-established Serbian-backed Stefan Grand Prix team, which has been lobbying to take their place on the grid.

"My understanding is that they (Stefan) will be in Bahrain with ex-champion Jacques Villeneuve driving," said BBC pundit and former team boss Eddie Jordan.

Stefan, who plan to use last year’s Toyota F1 cars, released a statement on Sunday, saying: "SGP would like to re-confirm its desire and, importantly, its ability to compete in the whole of the FIA 2010 Formula 1 World Championship

BBC Sport – F1 – US team apply for Formula 1 entry deferral

Leighton Baines has been selected for the England squad to face Egypt on Wednesday.

The Everton left-back has been called-up by Fabio Capello for the World Cup warm-up at Wembley in place of Manchester City’s Wayne Bridge and Chelsea’s Ashley Cole. 

Cole remains sidelined with a broken ankle, while Bridge withdrew himself from selection earlier this week due to personal reasons.
This is Baines’ second call-up to the Three Lions’ senior set-up, having being picked by the Italian in March last year for fixtures against Slovakia and Ukraine respectively.

But although Baines is yet to make his full international debut, his consistently strong performances for Everton have earned him the chance to represent his country once again.

Should the Kirkby-born defender make it onto the Wembley turf next week it will be his first outing for his country since his 16th and final Under-21 appearance in 2007.

Baines’ left-back counterpart Steven Warnock of Aston Villa has also been named in the 24-man squad. And Blues legend Graeme Sharp says Baines’ recognition at international level is thoroughly deserved.

He told evertonfc.com: “Baines is the best candidate. I know Stephen Warnock and James Milner were mentioned but I think if you look over the season at what Leighton has done I think he has been unlucky to have been overlooked in previous England squads. He has more than done enough and he deserves this opportunity.

Baines In England Squad – News Archive – News – evertonfc.com – The Official Website of Everton Football Club

The F-35B Lightning II, world’s first supersonic stealth jumpjet and successor to the famous Harrier, has carried out its first "short" landing. Test pilots are currently making slower and slower flights with the aircraft, progressing gradually towards hovering vertical landings.

Video of the jet coming in for a rolling runway landing with its central lift fan shaft and downward-swivelling tailpipe in action was posted yesterday by Pratt and Whitney, the firm which makes the F-35B’s F135 engine:

The big fliptop lid covers the central lift-fan shaft: the fan inside is driven by a shaft from the plane’s single jet engine, which also delivers thrust through the swivelling tailpipe. The smaller dorsal doors open to admit extra intake air to the engine during vertical-lift operations. There are also two smaller outlets for engine gas under the wings, used to provide roll control in the hover.

Shorter rolling landings of the sort in the vid, in which lift is provided both by the wings and the vertical-thrust machinery, are planned to be the main mode of operation for the F-35B in British service, where it is to replace the Harriers now operated by the RAF and Royal Navy. The so-called "rolling vertical landing" has already been tried out by British engineers and test pilots using the Harrier, and is expected to allow a jet to get down onto a carrier deck at sea while carrying more weight than it could in a vertical hover landing. It should also lessen wear and tear on the engine, which has to run at quite destructive power levels and temperatures in the hover.

The Royal Navy in particular is desperate to get the Lightning II as the new British aircraft carriers will not have launcher catapults under current plans, and thus the F-35B will be the only Western-made jet able to fly from them. However the RAF is far less enthusiastic, and is thought to be quite willing – indeed keen – not to replace its Harriers at all, if this means it could spend the money on upgrades to the Eurofighter Typhoon instead.

Supersonic stealth jumpjet makes ’short landing’ • The Register

Helicopters make a lot of noise because of a physical phenomenon called blade-vortex interaction. Eurocopter engineers have developed a new kind of rotor blade that attenuates this problem.

The new blade shape is combined with another technology called Blue Pulse, which adds three flaps to the edge of the rotor blades. These flaps move up and down at 15 to 40 times per second, using piezoelectric motors that also help to reduce the blade-vortex interaction

The Blade That Would Make Helicopters Almost Silent – Blue blade – Gizmodo

Everton delivered another twist in the Premier League title race as Manchester United followed Chelsea in crashing to defeat at a vibrant Goodison Park.

David Moyes’ resurgent side came from behind, as they did against Chelsea, to deservedly seal only their second league win in their last 30 meetings with United.

Dimitar Berbatov’s 16th-minute goal looked to have paved the way for United to turn up the pressure on pacesetters Chelsea at the top of the table – but Everton had other ideas as they took another major scalp to emphasise their recent improvement.

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov’s thunderous strike pulled Everton level within three minutes of Berbatov’s goal and both Louis Saha and the excellent Landon Donovan wasted opportunities to put them ahead but they were not to be denied as they more than matched United after the break.

It was Everton’s two late substitutes who clinched the three points as Dan Gosling slid in Steven Pienaar’s cross with 14 minutes left and Jack Rodwell made it three with a solo effort in the dying seconds.

Rodwell’s moment of magic illustrated the talent that has made him a reported £30m transfer target for Sir Alex Ferguson – and the United boss saw what he is all about at close quarters.

Everton, with Leon Osman the game’s outstanding performer, were afforded a standing ovation by their ecstatic supporters at the final whistle – and rightly so after they demonstrated the confidence to match, and better, United in all areas of the pitch.

And United States star Donovan, in his short loan spell at Everton, is underlining what a threat he will be to England’s ambitions at the World Cup in South Africa this summer.

BBC Sport – Football – Everton 3-1 Man Utd