In a spectacle that might have beguiled poets, lovers and songwriters if only they had been around to see it, Earth once had two moons, astronomers now think. But the smaller one smashed into the other in what is being called the "big splat."

The result: Our planet was left with a single bulked-up and ever-so-slightly lopsided moon.

Thai lawmakers elected U.S.-educated businesswoman Yingluck Shinawatra as the country's first female prime minister Friday, setting the stage for the 44-year-old political novice to take charge of a volatile nation that's been deeply divided since her brother was ousted in a 2006 coup.

The vote comes a month after Yingluck's Pheu Thai party swept the country's July 3 elections, winning an absolute majority of 265 seats in the 500-member lower house of Parliament. Since then, Pheu Thai has consolidated those gains, building alliances with smaller parties to form a 300-seat-strong coalition.

Doing skateboard tricks on a theater stage is usually deeply frowned upon. But at the Union Square Theatre these days, they're not only encouraged — they're a big part of the show.

During a recent rehearsal of the touring show "Traces," the seven ensemble members practiced flips, jumps and dance moves on and off their boards as they fine-tuned a section of their 90-minute, cardio-intensive circus.

Sony's next-generation portable game machine, the PlayStation Vita, won't be going on sale in the U.S. or Europe in time for Christmas — a key sales period for game console makers.

Expectations had been high the machine would be ready worldwide for the year-end holiday shopping season. Sony earlier promised a "phased global rollout" starting late this year.

Flat-panel TVs and PCs go great together — the PC gets a giant screen, and the TV gets access to tons of online video.

But getting the two together in an elegant way has been difficult. PC makers haven't shown much interest in making computers that work really well when controlled from the couch.

A British lawmaker has updated his guide on how his colleagues can stay true to their constituents while staying true to their partners.

Labour lawmaker Paul Flynn said his new version of "How to Be a Backbencher" will include tips on drafting pithy Twitter messages and tongue-in-cheek ways to dampen what the 76-year-old described as parliamentarians' "sexual magnetism."

Malaysian Christian officials accused Islamic authorities on Thursday of unlawfully entering a church and harassing guests at a community dinner.

The incident reignited criticism that authorities in the Muslim-majority country fail to respect the rights of Christian, Buddhist and Hindu minorities.

Seventy-two people have been charged in the U.S. with participating in an international child pornography network that prosecutors say used an online bulletin board called Dreamboard to trade tens of thousands of images and videos of sexually abused children.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday a 20-month law enforcement effort called Operation Delego targeted more than 600 Dreamboard members around the world for allegedly participating in the private, members-only Internet club created to promote pedophilia.

Research In Motion is unveiling five new BlackBerrys with touchscreens, as it hopes to revive the line's dwindling appeal in the face of competition from the iPhone and Android smartphones.

The new phones had been expected earlier this year, but were delayed. Those delays have weighed heavily on Research In Motion Ltd.'s stock price, which is at its lowest level since 2006.

U.S. veteran James Blake upset defending champion David Nalbandian 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday to reach the third round of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.

Once ranked as high as No. 4, Blake won the hard-court U.S. Open tuneup in 2002 and was the runner-up in 2005. But beset by a series of injuries, most recently a bad right knee, he dropped to 173rd in the rankings in March and began this week at 90th.