A ball of light that flew through the sky last night was neither bird nor plane nor UFO; rather, experts at NASA believe that the object was a firey asteroid, reports NBC Los Angeles. The fireball made its speedy journey at about 7:30 p.m., and was visible to residents across the southwest -- sightings were reported not just in California but in Nevada and Arizona as well. more ›

Vesta is coming into focus. Scientists working with The Dawn mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena have created a new, Twilight Zone-looking video showing the surface of the giant asteroid Vesta as "the spacecraft approaches this unexplored world in the main asteroid belt," reports NASA. more ›

Earlier this month, a mysterious fireball flew over the Los Angeles region. And now today, an e-mail tipster sends this to our inbox: "There was some sonic boom noise in Santa Monica, and all my neighbors reported hearing it, but nobody could figure out what this was. Have you heard of it? My coworker swears she saw a 'low flying shooting star that exploded over the ocean.'" Santa Monica Police report no calls about anything as such. Anyone else hear or see anything? Comment below. more ›

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• The Daily News has more details on those marijuana vending machines. Besides, you know, the fact that they are TOTALLY AWESOME!
• A rash of gang violence in Watts since the weekend has led to two shooting deaths and the injury of at least 13 others.
• Yahoo is not doing so well: a major drop in fourth quarter profits is going to mean layoffs somewhere in the neighborhood of of 7% of the workforce.
• Four people, including one juvenile, were arrested in Glendale for an attempted carjacking in which the suspects are accused of threatening the driver with a shotgun: "A suspect fired at the frightened driver as he took off in his truck, and shotgun pellets hit the back of the truck."
• More on the USC "Riots" and the cops who spoiled the party, from L.A. blogger WitnessLA: "Now, no one would argue against an officer having the right to use appropriate force on a large, drunk, bottle-throwing college guy. But, in multiple instances eyewitnesses insist that they saw an indiscriminate use of Tasers and batons on non-aggressive students."
• This isn't really news...which doesn't stop it from being TOTALLY AWESOME: make your Guitar Hero controllers into actual instruments!
• An asteroid passed by earth today, a mere 334 thousand miles away from us! Close calls, guys!

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