They are syncing and getting data. Most apps you can dig into the settings and control how often this data syncing occurs. You can also run an app like Advanced-Task-Killer and set the Auto Kill Level to "Crazy".
No. Auto task killer is terrible advice. It has been for like 4 major Android releases now. It will actually cause quite a bit more drain on the battery. The apps will still get started, then another app ( ATK ) has to start up as well. Both are now draining the battery. ATK then kills the app, then goes to sleep. This repeats over and over as the app tries to perform its task. Normal behavior would see the app start, complete its task, and go to sleep.
I'm betting the OP does not have those apps set to sync however ( though he might. If you do OP, you need to change their Sync options. The rest of this post can still have good info to know though.) My money is on the OP confusing ( this is normal because it isn't entirely made clear as you will see later in this post... ) a cached app and an actual running app. Your phone has tons of RAM, and RAM is far faster than the flash storage. As such, the OS pre-loads apps into the RAM...this way, if you start them, it will be significantly faster. Note that used RAM does NOT slow down your computer. The OS is very capable of clearing any RAM that might not be needed, NTM it does leave a fair bit empty to start with.
Now, the next clarification is the one that must be stressed: An app that is "Cached" into the RAM, is NOT necessarily running. If it is not running, it is using absolutely 0 power.
The bad news: I haven't really found a completely clear way of telling what is just cached, what is running, what is syncing occasionally, etc. I honestly haven't needed to look personally though. Under Application Manager, the "Running" tab is not all processes currently running. I believe it includes anything that has started up at all since the last charge. This includes anything that tries to Sync, but promptly goes to sleep. If you are constantly killing "Time Magazine" and such, when the OS briefly starts them to cache them up, they will pop onto the "Running" list. I'm not sure how long they will remain there, but I have seen stuff in mine that I have confirmed were closed out quite awhile ago.
The ( possibly ) good news: If the app is something you do not want at all, but can not uninstall...you can likely disable it. Menu -> Settings -> Application Manager-> All. Find each app, and at the top right you will see "disable". Select that, and accept the warning. The app/service will go to the bottom of the apps list, with a little * next to its name. You can re-enable it from there if you ever want to.
