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Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Wednesday 8 September 2010

Two Asteroids to Buzz Earth Wednesday - a double flyby - discovered just days ago -

Two Asteroids to Buzz Earth Wednesday - a double flyby - discovered just days ago - 



Skywatchers get ready: Two asteroids passing nearby tonight should make for quite a spectacle.
NASA says two small asteroids discovered just days ago will zip harmlessly past Earth on Wednesday, a double flyby that should be visible through a telescope.
Both asteroids should be observable with moderate-size amateur telescopes, the space agency said -- stressing that neither has a chance of hitting the Earth. In fact, asteroids like these are relatively common: A 10-meter near-Earth asteroid from the undiscovered population of about 50 million would be expected to pass almost daily within a lunar distance, and one might strike Earth's atmosphere about every 10 years on average, NASA said.
The asteroids were discovered Sunday by the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona. The Minor Planet Center in Massachusetts, which tracks asteroids and comets, determined there was no chance of an Earth collision.
Asteroid 2010 RX30, thought to be 32 to 65 feet (10 to 20 meters) long, passrf within 154,000 miles (248,000 kilometers) of Earth shortly before 3 a.m. PDT; (1000 GMT) Wednesday morning.
The second one, dubbed 2010 RF12, will fly by about 11 hours later at a distance of about 49,000 miles (79,000 kilometers). NASA says the second one is slightly smaller, at just 20 to 46 feet (6 to 14 meters) long.

16 condom machines installed in the San Francisco County Jail - although sex among inmates technically is illegal -

16 condom machines installed in the San Francisco County Jail - although sex among inmates technically is illegal - 






Looking for a little action?
You might want to try the San Francisco County Jail's San Bruno lockup, where authorities have installed 16 condom machines for the jail's 750 prisoners.
The condom dispensers are the latest evolution in a safe-sex program that began in 1989, when health workers began distributing condoms to inmates as part of their counseling before they were released.




And although sex among inmates technically is illegal, the Sheriff's Department went ahead and installed the 16 machines anyway - one for each jailhouse pod - paid for by a pair of small grants from UCSF and a Southern California nonprofit.
"It may be controversial," Sheriff Michael Hennessey said, "but I think the larger health education message is important."
As for the chance that all those machines will actually promote jailhouse sex?
The sex already takes place, says Kate Monico Klein, who is directing the program for the city's Public Health Department. "If (providing condoms) saves one or two lives, it's worth it," she said.


Read more: 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/08/BAQ91FA4QO.DTL&type=politics#ixzz0yyq9olKa