Meet The First Asteroid Of 2014

At midnight on Jan. 2, the first asteroid of the year was discovered before it hit the atmosphere. The asteroid, catchily named 2014 AA, was found hours before it actually hit planet Earth — for just the second time in history.

2014 AA was very small: from its brightness, it was estimated to be between two to four meters across, which is about equal to the size of a car. It was initially seen by the Mount Lemmon Survey in Arizona, thanks to a 150-centimeter telescope on a mountaintop.

The Minor Planet Electronic Circular discovery announced: “It is virtually certain that 2014 AA hit the Earth's atmosphere on 2014 Jan. 2.2 +/- 0.4”—meaning around 05:00 UTC Jan. 2, midnight EST, just a few hours ago. It most likely burned up over the Atlantic, somewhere between South America and Africa.” Another asteroid called 2008 TC3 burned up over Africa in 2008.

And in other news? Well, after Ani DiFranco was called out for planning to host a songwriting retreat on a former slave plantation, and after she tried to apologize in what evolved into a lengthy non-apology, the singer apologized again... and for real this time. DiFranco wrote on Facebook:

it has taken me a few days but i have been thinking and feeling very intensely and i would like to say i am sincerely sorry. it is obvious to me now that you were right; all those who said we can't in good conscience go to that place and support it or look past for one moment what it deeply represents. i needed a wake up call and you gave it to me.

The duck-hunting company owned by A&E's Duck Dynasty reality stars, Duck Commander, is teaming up with Mossberg & Sons, Inc to produce a line of shotguns and semi-automatic rifles. Yep, you can now purchase your very own Duck Dynasty -themed gun.

The Internet wasn't happy after Twitter user Safiyyah Nawaz apparently joked "this beautiful earth is now officially 2014 years old." Luckily, celebrities on the interwebs had her back.

Women love Pinterest. No, this isn't an overgeneralization about gender and the DIY-themed social media site— according to a recent survey from Pew Research Center, 33 percent of American women use Pinterest.

Fallon Fox, a 37-year-old transgender athlete, opened up to GQ about being the first transgender MMA fighter. She explained: "Gender is the last thing I think about when I'm fighting. It's the one situation where I don't think of gender at all."

Chris Kluwe, former punter for the Minnesota Vikings, has claimed he was most likely fired for defending marriage equality. He wrote in Deadspin:

It's my belief, based on everything that happened over the course of 2012, that I was fired by Mike Priefer, a bigot who didn't agree with the cause I was working for, and two cowards, Leslie Frazier and Rick Spielman, both of whom knew I was a good punter and would remain a good punter for the foreseeable future, as my numbers over my eight-year career had shown, but who lacked the fortitude to disagree with Mike Priefer on a touchy subject matter.

Beautiful Existence, a 40-year-old Seattle woman, spent an entire year eating nothing but Starbucks. It ended up costing her between $500-$600 each month.

On Thursday, California's Supreme Court decided that undocumented immigrants can receive law licenses, despite their U.S. citizen statuses.

Finally, according to new research, high praise and accolades doesn't necessarily make children more confident. In fact, it can actually make them feel worse about themselves.e.