Space Station Dodges Debris From Destroyed Chinese Satellite (SPACE.com)

The International Space Station fired its thrusters Saturday (Jan. 28) in order to steer clear of orbital debris from China's 2007 anti-satellite test.

The dodging maneuver was required to avoid space junk from the Chinese satellite Fengyun 1C, which peppered low-Earth orbit with an estimated 3,000 pieces of shrapnel when it was intentionally destroyed by China five years ago. The remaining debris has required several similar avoidance maneuvers by the space station in recent years.

Rocket thrusters on the space station's Russian-built Zvezda service module fired at 6:50 p.m. EST (2350 GMT) in a 1-minute, four-second burn to slightly raise the laboratory's orbit, leaving it on a path that reaches just over 251 miles (404 kilometers) above Earth at the highest point, NASA officials said in an update.

Saturday's maneuver was "designed to place the station at the correct altitude and trajectory for future visiting vehicle activities and to avoid a repetitive coincidence of possible conjunctions with a piece of Chinese Fengyun 1C satellite debris," NASA officials explained.

A conjunction is what scientists call instances in which space debris will fly close enough to the station to cause concern. Since the space station orbits Earth at about 17,500 mph (28,164 kilometers per hour), even a small piece of orbital debris can cause serious damage if it hits. [Photos: Space Debris & Cleanup Concepts]

The Fengyun 1C satellite debris had the potential to cause seven conjunctions with the space station, so steering the $100 billion safely into the clear was required, according to an earlier NASA update.

The space station is currently home to a six-man crew that includes three Russians, two Americans and one Dutch astronaut. NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston typically orders a dodging maneuver when debris is expected to fly inside a safety perimeter, which is shaped like a pizza box, that extends about 15 miles (25 km) around the space station, as well as a half-mile (0.75 km) above and below the orbiting lab.

When there is not enough time to plan a dodging maneuver, station astronauts can take shelter inside the Russian Soyuz vehicles that ferry them to and from the station until a piece of space junk has safely zoomed by. The Soyuz capsules, two of which are docked at the station now, each seat three people and can double as lifeboats.

Maneuvers to avoid space junk conjunctions are not uncommon for the space station and other satellites orbiting Earth.? Earlier this month, the space station fired its thrusters to avoid debris from a 2009 satellite crash between an U.S. and Russian spacecraft.

Space junk poses an ongoing threat to astronauts on the space station , as well as other satellites in orbit. To date, there are about 6,000 tons of space junk orbiting Earth ranging from tiny bolts and paint chips to huge spent rocket stages and dead satellites.

More than 500,000 pieces of space junk are currently tracked every day by NASA and the U.S. military's Space Surveillance Network in order to avoid collisions in orbit.

You can follow Tariq Malik on Twitter?@tariqjmalik.?Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter?@Spacedotcom?and on?Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20120129/sc_space/spacestationdodgesdebrisfromdestroyedchinesesatellite

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Authorities: Man, 2 toddlers found dead in Va home (AP)

RICHMOND, Va. ? Authorities say they are investigating the suspicious deaths of a 40-year-old man and two 3-year-old girls ? all related ? whose bodies have been found in a home in central Virginia.

Hanover County Sheriff's spokesman Chris Whitley told The Associated Press the bodies were found Saturday afternoon after investigators were called to a home in Mechanicsville, near Richmond.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch identified the dead as a father and his two twins but Whitley declined to elaborate on their relationship or the cause of death.

Sgt. Whitley says authorities are collecting evidence as part of a "death investigation" and seeking to determine the sequence of events that led to the deaths. He says preliminary information indicates there are no suspects at large. He declined to release their names early Sunday.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_us/us_virginia_three_dead

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Amber Portwood Cops Plea, Narrowly Avoids Jail in Probation Case


Maligned Teen Mom all-star Amber Portwood has copped a plea in her probation case and will not be sentenced to five years in prison ... at least not yet.

In jail since before Christmas awaiting trial for felony drug possession case, Ambs cut a deal Friday to avoid spending the foreseeable future behind bars.

Portwood pleaded not guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance - a medication she had no prescription for - and one probation violation.

Awful Amber

In return, she remains on probation and, if she hopes to remain free, must complete the Madison County (Ind.) Drug Court program. Or else.

Her next hearing is scheduled for February 6.

Amber Portwood is on probation following her domestic violence case involving baby daddy Gary Shirley. She missed a probation hearing last month, a big no-no.

When police showed up at her house to check on her, they found the pills in her bag ... and she was unable to produce a prescription. Even bigger no-no.

While she's been in jail and making officials worried that she will shiv someone, Portwood's now-former landlord had sued to have her evicted.

A judge said she is already in the process of moving out, so the lawsuit is not necessary. A separate hearing on that issue is set for March 14.

[Photo: Fame Pictures]

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/amber-portwood-cops-plea-avoids-jail-in-probation-case/

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Screen Actors Guild votes to approve merger plan (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? The Screen Actors Guild national board of directors has voted to approve a plan to merge with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

In a statement, SAG says the board voted 87 percent to 13 percent Friday for the proposed merger at its meeting in Los Angeles.

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists' board is scheduled to meet Saturday for a vote on the package. If approved, a referendum will be sent out for a vote by members of both unions in the coming weeks.

The merger plan comes after two years of negotiations between the groups to join forces in a bid to gain more leverage in contract negotiations.

The TV and radio artists' group supported a merger with SAG in 1998 and 2003 only to see those efforts fail.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_en_mo/us_hollywood_labor

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Kindle Sales Growing Faster Than The Nook?s

kindle fireBarnes & Noble may be challenging Amazon's dominance of the e-book world, but the Kindle sales are still growing faster than the Nook's ? at least if you connect the dots between some of the numbers included in a recently-published article by The New York Times.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/P42BakLcEUs/

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Stanley builds 5-shot lead at Torrey Pines

Kyle Stanley tees off on the seventh hole of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Kyle Stanley tees off on the seventh hole of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Kyle Stanley hits tee shot on the third hole during third round of the Farmers Insurance Open Golf tournament in San Diego, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Kyle Stanley waves after his first putt on the third hole during third round of the Farmers Insurance Open Golf tournament in San Diego,use thi

John Huh watches his chip on the sixth hole of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi )

John Huh watches his approach shot to the second green of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi )

(AP) ? Hang gliders were taking off from the cliffs behind the 13th tee at Torrey Pines where Kyle Stanley was waiting to tee off on the 524-yard hole. Then, the 24-year-old launched a shot that was just as majestic.

"Wait 'til to you see where this one went," caddie Brett Waldman said.

On another clear day along the Pacific coast, it was hard not to notice.

In a familiar performance ? even if the name might not be all that familiar now ? Stanley overpowered the South Course on Saturday on his way to a 4-under 68 that gave him a five-shot lead going into the final round at the Farmers Insurance Open.

"For some reason, I've always been long," said Stanley, who has a slight but athletic build and generates enormous speed. "But if you take a golf course like this where you're hitting 7-irons into par 5s and short irons into long par 4s, it definitely helps."

It never hurt Tiger Woods, a seven-time winner as a pro at Torrey Pines.

Stanley chose to lay up on the par-5 18th with the large pond in front, and spun a wedge near the hole to about 4 feet. About his only regret in the third round was missing that putt. One last birdie would have broken the 54-hole tournament record that Woods set in 1998, before Rees Jones beefed up the South Course to 7,698 yards for the 2008 U.S. Open.

Stanley grew up outside Seattle when Woods ruled the sport. All through his school, he kept a poster of Woods over his bed.

"I think he's definitely influenced me, and a lot of other people, too," Stanley said.

He gladly settled for a spot alongside Woods in the record book at 18-under 198, and a five-shot lead over John Huh and John Rollins as he goes after his first PGA Tour title.

Stanley can't recall ever having a lead this large, which can be troublesome if looked upon as only an opportunity to fail.

"I think the biggest thing is you can't necessarily go out there and try to protect it," Stanley said. "You've got to really just keep doing what got you to this point. I'm not going to be any more conservative tomorrow. I'll stick to my game plan off the tee, and hopefully just continue to give myself a lot of chances."

He hit driver on all but three holes, and four of them traveled at least 320 yards, a big number considering Torrey Pines is just a cliff over sea level and even in pleasant weather, the ball doesn't go quite as far as summer in Ohio.

Big numbers are nothing new for Stanley, however.

He recalls coming down to the Titleist Performance Institute when he was a 17-year-old in his senior year in high school. His ball speed was measured at 184 mph.

"Now, I can't get it above 176," he said.

It wasn't just the big drives. Stanley showed exquisite control of his irons, especially his distance, and he has been working overtime the last few years on dialing in his wedges from inside 120 yards.

Even so, he refused to look ahead to Sunday and what a win might mean ? a trip to the Masters, perhaps a spot in the World Golf Championships, a two-year exemption.

No one was giving him the trophy, either.

"If a guy had a 10- or 12-shot lead, you'd feel pretty comfortable," Rollins said after his 68. "But when you're four or five shots, sometimes it's hard to play with a big lead because you get kind of relaxed and everything else."

Rollins should know. He had a three-shot lead with five holes to play in 2009, losing to Nick Watney.

Still, Stanley, the former All-American from Clemson aspires to play boring golf and not look too far ahead.

His lone bogey came on the 12th, when he went just over the green, chipped to 6 feet and missed the putt. Then came the big blast on the 13th ? "As good as I can possibly hit it," he said ? that left him a soft 7-iron to 15 feet on the fringe below the hole for an easy birdie.

"Are you playing this as a par 4?" Sang-Moon Bae turned and said to him with a smile.

Huh, a 21-year-old rookie who spent three years on the Korean Tour, also had a 68 and joined Rollins at 13-under 203. FedEx Cup champion Bill Haas (70) and Bae (72) were another shot behind. Bae was 5 over through five holes until he ran off four straight birdies to start the back nine to get his name back on the leaderboard.

The question is whether anyone else is in contention.

Stanley is no surprise to those who play with him or watch him hit balls, and he nearly joined the parade of rookie winners last year until Steve Stricker rallied with birdies on the last two holes to beat him in the John Deere Classic.

Stanley had a one-shot lead over Brandt Snedeker going into the third round at Torrey Pines, and before long had a comfortable lead, just as Woods has done on this public course.

From deep rough on the par-5 sixth, Stanley hammered a shot just short of the green and pitched up to 12 feet for birdie. He hit sand wedge to 10 feet on the 10th for another birdie, then established himself on the back nine.

Along with the easy birdie on the 13th, Stanley saved par on the 14th. The day before, his approach jumped out of the rough and over the green for a double bogey. Playing it safe this time, he hit 9-iron that went well short, into the bunker, but blasted out to 8 feet and made a tricky, downhill putt for par.

His final birdie came on a 20-foot putt at the par-3 16th. No one else could make a move.

Snedeker went to tap in a 2-foot par putt on the seventh and was shocked when it made a horseshoe around the cup. He then missed his next five greens in regulation, and when he got home in two on the 13th, he three-putted. Snedeker had a 74 and fell seven behind.

"This is something you dream about as a kid," Stanley said. "But there's still one more round."

DIVOTS: Jay Don Blake in 1991 was the last player to make Torrey Pines his first PGA Tour victory. ... Ryo Ishikawa had his third consecutive round of 69 and was tied for 11th. ... Jonas Blixt had the low round Saturday at 65. Under a "University of Farmers" campaign, that was worth a $20,000 donation to his alma mater, Florida State. Cameron Tringale (Georgia Tech) had a 66 to finish second, which was worth $10,000.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-28-Farmers%20Insurance/id-35a316679c114b148c08a3d8c2ad5963

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If Round 1 is the war of words, Phil Davis leads 10-8 over Rashad Evans

CHICAGO -- In most interviews Phil Davis comes off as a reserved young man. He's not out to ruffle any feathers, but those of us who've had a chance to speak to him repeatedly always knew there was a potential media darling behind that conservative facade.

In the lead-up to Saturday's UFC on Fox 2 card, Rashad Evans has brought out the beast in Davis and the former UFC light heavyweight hasn't reacted too well.

It started last week when Evans flipped out on Davis calling him a "boy." Yesterday during the UFC on Fox 2 prefight press conference, Evans shook his head, appeared annoyed and even looked flustered on several occasions.

As the banter began, Evans tried to play it cool.

"For the most part, I've got nothing against Phil, but you we've got a fight so I've got a lot against him right now. It's personal, but not really PERSONAL personal," said Evans, who had heated prefight words with previous opponents like Tito Ortiz and Quinton Jackson.

Evans got irked when the issue of college wrestling came up. Phil Davis, a more accomplished NCAA star at Penn State than Evans was at Michigan State, laughed when someone asked if his opponent could beat him in a straight wrestling match. Evans kept saying "your technique is trash."

Then Davis was asked about missing the opportunity to face Evans back in August in Philadelphia. Davis quickly pointed out that he didn't get to fight in front of his friends and family from nearby Harrisburg, Pa. Evans took issue with the fact that Davis didn't say he was sad to lose out on the opportunity to fight him. Davis fired back, "Nobody heard me say that!"

Evans snapped again when Davis explained his understanding of what the result of a win could be, a possible title shot against Jon Jones.

"The winner of this fight will fight for the title, but in the event that I hit him too hard and break my hand ... it might lead to somebody else getting the title shot first," said Davis.

"You don't punch nobody hard. Phil can't hit. Phil punches with his hands open and everything," Evans said. "He couldn't bust a grape. You look like Arsenio Hall."

Davis laughed.

"Give him a hand y'all. Give him a hand," said Davis.

That opened the door for a female fan to ask Davis whether he looked more like Hall or NBA star Dwight Howard? Davis handled it gracefully as he done throughout the lead-up to Saturday's tilt. We'll see if his poise remains intact in the fight. Either way, this week showed he'll be a valuable asset on main cards for years to come in the UFC.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/round-1-war-words-phil-davis-10-8-154948395.html

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RIM's new CEO on Android hardware: 'they are all the same'

CrackBerry interview

To say it's been an interesting year for Research in Motion and BlackBerry would certainly be an understatement. It was about 10 months ago that we first learned that RIM's tablet would be capable of running full-fledged Android applications, and suddenly we had to start caring about what was coming out of Waterloo.

This week RIM has undergone probably its most important change since realizing SurePress wasn't a sure thing -- co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie stepped down as co-CEOs, and chief operating officer Thorsten Heins has taken their place in the head office. There have been calls for RIM to adopt Android. There have been calls fro RIM to adopt Windows Phone. Really, everybody seems to know what's best for RIM.

Our pals at CrackBerry got some one-on-one time with Heins this week, and we're learning a little more about his position on Android -- mainly that he's unimpressed with the hardware on which it's running. "They are all the same," he says.

Here's what Heins told CrackBerry's Kevin Michaluk:

Kevin: I keep reading these articles that BlackBerry should build on Android, but I just don't understand them.
Thorsten: Just take a look where the Android OEMs are. I leave this to you. Take a look at their recent announcements and what you will immediately see is there is just no room for differentiation because they are all the same.

We've seen a lot of Android devices over the past year. Some good, some not. A lot of black slabs, to be sure. But also a dual-screen phone. Two phones with 3D screens. BlackBerry-esque phones with tiny screens and quint little keyboards. Thinner, lighter, faster, with web browsers that actually work and games you're not ashamed to play in public. Android hardware manufacturers might be guilty of too many models, but you certainly can't say they haven't experimented, even if it led to failure.

Before Heins bemoans the "sameness" of Android hardware, perhaps another look at RIM's own stable is in order.  

Check out Kevin's entire interview with Thorensten Heins at CrackBerry.com!

BlackBerry

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/1AUhpSe1FEw/story01.htm

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Chevron profit falls as refineries, output suffer (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Chevron Corp reported lower quarterly earnings on Friday, missing Wall Street forecasts, as rising spending on oil and gas projects and losses at its U.S. refinery business offset gains from higher crude oil prices.

Oil and gas output at the No. 2 U.S. oil company also declined to 2.64 million barrels per day (BPD) from 2.79 million BPD a year-ago, although benchmark oil prices rose about 25 percent during the quarter.

Chevron had said earlier this month its refinery margins were suffering and would be near breakeven for the quarter, but the U.S. losses pulled the entire segment into the red, and the company's profits from oil and gas sales also appeared weaker than expected.

Its shares fell 2.5 percent in early trading.

"It was a miss on some non-controllable factors," said Pavel Molchanov, analyst with Raymond James in Houston, citing the timings of sales and global pricing differences as the likely reason oil and gas profits fell about $500 million below his forecast.

Still, Chevron added 1.67 billion barrels of oil equivalent to its reserves last year, 171 percent of its 2011 output, a very strong performance, Molchanov said.

Chevron is embroiled in two major legal battles in South America, where a Brazilian prosecutor plans to file criminal charges against it and some of its local managers.

The company is facing an $11 billion lawsuit there related to an offshore oil spill in November, and it also remains locked in a legal war against plaintiffs in Ecuador, who won an $18 billion judgment against it in a court there.

PROFIT DIP

Fourth-quarter profit slipped to $5.1 billion, or $2.58 per share, from $5.3 billion, or $2.64 per share, a year earlier.

That fell short of the $2.84 per share that analysts had forecast, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Chevron's warning of weaker earnings on January 11 knocked 17 cents per share off the average analyst estimate.

Among other U.S. oil companies, the quarterly profits from ConocoPhillips and Occidental Petroleum Corp earlier this week topped Wall Street estimates, though Hess Corp fell short.

Exxon Mobil is due to report earnings on Tuesday, Jan 31.

Chevron is spending piles of money on production growth that will not really kick in until 2014. Its 2012 capital budget of $32.7 billion is nearly $5 billion higher than last year.

In the fourth quarter, Chevron's spending on oil and gas projects in the United States nearly doubled from a year ago to $2.0 billion, while outside the U.S. it grew by more than a quarter to $5.1 billion.

Shares of Chevron fell 2.5 percent to $103.94 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Matt Daily in New York, additional reporting by Braden Reddall in San Francisco, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/bs_nm/us_chevron

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