A luminous fireball streaked across the Alabama night sky Friday, setting off NASA sensors and capturing the attention of on-lookers. 

The fireball was seen by spectators and NASA cameras around midnight at an altitude of 58 miles above Turkeytown, Alabama. It rocketed across the sky traveling at 53,700 miles per hour before fragmenting 18 miles above the town of Grove Oak, according to NASA officials. 

“It was an extremely bright event, seen through partly cloudy skies and triggering every camera and sensor operated by the Meteoroid Environment Office in the region,” Bill Cooke of the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office based in Alabama, said in a statement.

Cooke said the fireball was “at least 40 times as bright as the full moon” and was caused by a small asteroid 6 feet, or 2 meters, in diameter. 

The size of fireballs can range from 1 cm, about the size of a pea, to two meters and above — although Earth is typically hit with fireballs around 1 meter large. Fireballs are broken off from meteoroids, a type of small asteroid, according to the American Meteor Society. 

Around two to three fireballs enter Earth’s orbit weekly across the world. But the brighter the fireball, the more the event, according to the American Meteor Society. 

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Where next?

Cherries have been crowned the fruit of the summer. (Sorry you had to find out this way, other fruits.)

Cherry printed clothing, cherry-inspired accessories, and cherry red hues have been dominating the fashion world for months now. 

Back in April, the Strategist called attention to the cherry’s emerging popularity after cherry prints popped up in fashion designers’ collections, and Selena Gomez and Margot Robbie were spotted in cherry print ensembles. In June, Harper’s Bazaar dubbed cherries “fashion’s new favorite fruit.”

Models like Kaia Gerber and Sara Sampaio have spent the summer rocking the bright and playful cherry look, rousing consumer’s interest in cherry covered anything. If you take a quick look online numerous lists can be found directing shoppers to the very best cherry-inspired items available on the web.

Cherries, of course, have real 1950s vibes, but Cosmo also suggests they evoke the 1990s — without being costume-like or overtly retro. Simply put, cherries are a classic. 

But they aren’t just popping up in women’s fashion, they’re everywhere. They’ve become an exceedingly popular garnish, a desired additive in beauty products, and an attention grabbing prop for photos (both personal and professional).

There are currently over one million posts on Instagram with the hashtag cherry, and over four million with the hashtag cherries. 

Oh, and there are even cherry slime videos to fulfill all of your ASMR needs.

The cherry is indeed the fruit of the summer.

Maybe next year a bosc pear or doughnut peach will reign supreme, but for now go scoop up all the cherries and cherry products you can find. Embrace the fruits of the season just as nature intended. Sort of.

Ohio State officials have said an independent investigation into football coach Urban Meyer’s handling of domestic abuse allegations against a former assistant coach would be wrapped up Sunday.

Here is what we know as Meyer, on administrative league since Aug. 1, awaits a decision by school president Michael V. Drake:

OSU Board of Trustees receive the report first

No timetable has been released by the university, but the trustees are expected to receive the report early in the week and then they must provide 24 hours public notice of a meeting.  After deliberation with the board, Drake will make his announcement. Meyer could be suspended, fired or be reinstated. He is under contract through 2022, and is scheduled to make $7.6 million this season. Based on available information, it seems as if Wednesday would be earliest we could expect an announcement.

The heart of the investigation

This case is about how much Meyer knew, and when he knew about, the 2015 allegations of domestic abuse against former assistant Zach Smith who was fired last month. Meyer hasn’t spoken publicly since being placed on administrative leave, but he issued a statement saying he had followed proper protocol by reporting the allegations against Smith. He did not say to whom he reported the Smith information.

More: College football’s biggest quarterback competitions entering the season

More: Maryland football players discuss team’s culture, defend coach DJ Durkin

Another issue for Meyer

During the Big Ten Media day, Meyer, 54, said he knew about allegations against Smith when he worked for Meyer in Florida in 2009, but not the allegations in 2015 when he was at Ohio State. In his statement, he said he did know about the 2015 allegations against Smith and apologized for his misleading comments on media day.

Reason to move quickly

The Buckeyes are scheduled to open the season in 13 days at home against Oregon State (Noon, ABC). Ohio State ranked No. 3 in the preseason Amway Coaches Poll. Buckeyes offensive coordinator Ryan Day is the interim coach. He had turned down the Mississippi State head coaching job to stay with the Buckeyes.

Smith’s behavior receiving more scrutiny

The website Stadium reported Friday that Smith sent a lewd photo from his phone during Ohio State’s official visit to the White House April 20, 2015. He spoke to independent investigators before this allegation was revealed. His ex-wife Courtney also spoke to investigators. 

 

    

Cheteshwar Pujara is the first wicket to fall on day three as India reach 224-3 and build a huge lead over England on day three of the third Test match at Trent Bridge.

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A series of coordinated attacks against security forces were reported on Monday in Russia’s volatile autonomous republic of Chechnya, with authorities claiming to have killed at least two attackers.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the violence, the SITE monitoring group reported, citing the group’s website Amaq.

“Fighters from the Islamic State attacked Chechen police officers and elements in Grozny and Shali in Mesker-Yurt,” Amaq said, according to SITE.

Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting from Moscow, said information on the situation in Chechnya was scarce but there could have been at least three attacks.

“These attacks appear not to have been particularly sophisticated or effective,” he said. “Exact details are still coming in. The Russian investigative committee says it has launched a criminal case into attacks in Chechnya.”

Officials in Russia confirmed several policemen were wounded in the capital Grozny and Shali.

Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya’s president, said on his official Telegram social-networking account that one of the attacks saw a suicide bomber explode in Mesker-Yurt, on the outskirts of Grozny. The attack injured several policemen, but the attacker survived and was taken to a hospital, he said.

Police in the North Caucasus region said in a separate incident two men armed with knives attempted to enter the district police department in the town of Shali and “inflicted wounds on two police employees on duty” before being shot dead.

According to an anonymous source cited by RIA Novosti news agency, at least one female bystander was also wounded in the Shali incident.

There were also attacks in Grozny, according to unconfirmed reports by the Telegram channel Mash.

In one incident, an attacker was allegedly shot after hitting a traffic policeman with his car. There were also reports of a shootout between police officers and attackers at the intersection between Pervyomaiskaya and Isaev streets in Grozny that killed one officer.

Chechnya’s Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov said the attackers “attempted to destabilise the situation in Chechnya” but have been stopped. He said no officers were killed.

The Kremlin has relied on Kadyrov to stabilise Chechnya after two separatist wars in the 1990s and has provided generous subsidies to help rebuild the region.

International human rights groups have accused Kadyrov of rampant abuses, including arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings by his feared security forces.

Rebels, some of whom have sworn allegiance to ISIL, still conduct sporadic raids in Chechnya.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies