(NECN/AP/NASA: Cape Canaveral, Fla.) - An astronaut anticipating the birth of his daughter at any moment embarked on the first spacewalk of his career Saturday, tackling a load of maintenance work outside the International Space Station.

Atlantis crewman Randolph Bresnik ventured out into the black void for the mission's second spacewalk as his wife, Rebecca, was on the verge of giving birth to their second child. They also have a 3-year-old son.

Mrs. Bresnik was due to give birth Friday, but as of the start

(NECN/AP: Geneva, Switzerland) - Scientists switched on the world's largest atom smasher for the first time since the $10 billion machine suffered a spectacular failure more than a year ago, circulating beams of protons in a significant leap forward for the Large Hadron Collider.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research has taken the restart of the collider step by step to avoid further setbacks as it moves toward new scientific experiments - probably starting in January - regarding the makeup of matter and the universe.

BRUSSELS (AP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Friday for all countries to fix binding climate change targets next year at the latest, acknowledging that no such deal is likely at global talks in Copenhagen next month.

In a joint press conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, she said they were both worried that ambitions for countries to agree on cuts to greenhouse gas emissions at Copenhagen "seem to have shrunk."

"Next year, if possible during the first half, we must clinch a binding deal which will have international oversight of each

(NECN: Utah) - Anyone out in Utah at around midnight Wednesday night heading into Thursday morning saw one great ball of fire in the sky.

An observatory surveillance camera caught the occurrence on tape.

NASA officials quickly explained the phenomenon, calling it a meteor known as a bolide.

It broke through the Earth's atmosphere and created the blinding flash just about one hundred miles above the ground.

An astronomer said the meteor likely broke up somewhere over Granite Peak in the West Desert.

(NECN: Ted McEnroe) - Brace yourself for a whole lot of looking back as we bring the first decade of the new millennium to a close.

(Sorry about the audio with this clip - we had a recording problem)

The Webby Awards, which recognizes the best websites each year, has decided its never too early to debut its list of the Ten Most Influential Internet Moments of the Decade.

(NECN) - In Sci-Tech Today, a closer look at the impact of roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan. There's new research underway aimed at improving quality of life for U.S. troops who've lost an arm or leg on the battlefield.

Alex Fiorentino joins NECN from the Museum of Science-Boston with more on the effort to improve prosthetic technology.

NEW YORK (AP) - Spike TV says the action-adventure video game "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" has seized a leading eight nominations for this year's Video Game Awards.

"Uncharted 2" is bucking for Game of the Year, as is "Batman: Arkham Asylum," which nabbed seven nominations. Military shooter game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" and zombie thriller "Left 4 Dead 2" each has landed six nominations.

Nominees for the 2009 VGAs were chosen by an advisory council made up of experts in the video game industry.

(NECN/ABC) - The hottest gift this holiday season is the gift of video: with the advent of cheaper cameras, never before has it been easier to shoot, edit and share video.

We start with the shoot and share cameras. The Flip camera is the original in this category. You'll pay under $200 for the Flip HD Mino, plus It's so easy to use -- anyone can pick it up, press one button, and start recording.

In everyday settings, the video quality is incredibly good.

(NECN: Ted McEnroe) - The folks at Google just don't stop, do they?

Google has announced an event Thursday morning to premiere at least some of the features of its new operating system, Google OS. The event, to be held at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, will include some technical background information as well as show off some demos, according to Tech Crunch. More notably, they will be giving a “complete overview” of the new OS, which they say will launch next year.

(NECN) - Twenty-seven vehicles were named by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety as winners of their top safety pick award for the 2010 model year.

The award recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting motorists in front, side, rear and rollover crashes -- and that have anti-rollover technology called Electronic Stability Control, or ESC.

Large Cars:

• Buick LaCrosse
• Ford Taurus
• Lincoln MKS
• Volvo S80

Midize Cars:

• Audi A3
• Chevrolet Malibu (built after Oct. 2009)