Hyundai Motors will be recalling almost 140,000 Sonata sedans 2011 models regarding the concerns of incorrectly assembled steering column, according to the company on Sunday.

Hyundai revealed that there are just about 10 instances that drivers of the 2011 Sonata sedans were reporting the problems of the steering column manufactured in a Montgomery plant in Alabama. The company has likewise revealed that during the recall, there were no reported injuries or even accidents connected with the steering problems.

Before the end of August, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had been conducting investigations about the new Sonata sedan following the reports that some customers are complaining about the ability to steer the vehicles.

Jim Trainor, a representative of the company said the steering column problem is a worst scenario for the defect that has something to do with the bolt connecting the steering wheel and the steering column. Generally, complains are regarding the “looseness” when the driver tries steer the vehicle or a sound is heard when turning.

Most of the reported cases are for the cars that had run below 1,000 miles.

Trainor refused to answer a question, which he think a hypothetical one, as the question asked is how many miles a defective vehicle might travel before the steering system would be in a damaging failure.

According to him, they have not yet determined the problem, and having a number of vehicles that have had, consumers had carried them in and checked and repaired them, the vehicles all passed to the dealership.

Trainor added that when the cars are brought in, the dealer will examine the steering system to be able to ascertain whether the bolt is loose or incorrectly threaded, and in this case, it will just take about one hour to repair the cars.

However, Hyundai will not be affected much regarding the recall expenses because it is just a minor problem.

Space Station crews are getting ready for their second attempt to return to Earth after Soyuz spacecraft failed to undock from the outpost yesterday.

Three astronauts on the International Space Station are gearing up for another effort to return to earth. The Soyuz spacecraft experienced an unprecedented glitch that prevented the spacecraft from undocking from the International space station.

The three astronauts are Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko and NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson. They will try to return to earth and start their second attempt tonight at 10:02pm. If their second attempt will go according to plan, the astronauts will land on the steppes of Kazakhstan in Central Asia on September 25, Saturday at 1:21 am.

The return of the three astronauts from the International Space Station was delayed by a day because Russian Engineers are unsuccessful in correcting the malfunctioning microswitch. It prevented to release set of hooks and latches on the Russian Poisk of the space station preventing the Soyuz spacecraft from undocking.

Russian flight controllers failed to command the hooks and latches on the Poisk module to release the Soyuz spacecraft on its first attempt. There are different sets of hooks and latches that are connected to Soyuz spacecraft, however, the hooks and latches from the Poisk module must be released first before the other hooks.

The malfunctioning of the microswitch caused many hours of delay to the astronauts. It also resulted in the scrapping of the undocking and landing plans and Mission control for the day. The Soyuz crew returned to the space station and the 12 recovery helicopters that are waiting for their landing in Kazakhstan returned to their base.

The three astronauts of the space station rigged up cables and tried to fix the docking port for their second attempt to depart from the space station.

Recent research revealed that, having a dog in the family helps lower the risk of developing obesity in children.

Researchers from St George’s University of London made a study on 78 children in the inner-city primary schools in England and found out that children who have dogs at home are more active than those who do not.

Studies also showed that families who owned dogs are more likely to be involved with physical activities.

According to Christopher Owen, senior lecturer in epidemiology at St George’s the study is still not sure if families who are active tends to own a dog or sedentary families become active because of dogs.

“It’s probably both,” Owen added.

However, supplemental studies should still be conducted to reinforce the findings of the study.

The level of activity of about 2,000 kids aged nine and ten were measured in the study.  These activities include, number of steps walked and time spent in light or moderate to vigorous physical activity.

Survey reveals that one out of ten families in London, Birmingham and Leicester has a dog around the house.

These families tend to spend weekdays as well as weekdays with higher level of physical activities.

Kids in these families accompany their parents in walking the dog, or playing with the dog instead of just watching television or playing with computer games.

Other research states that, having a dog enhances physical and psychological wellbeing of humans.  Dog owners display better mental and physical health as compared to those non-owners.  Since these owners are more engaged with physical activities, minor health problems were significantly reduced.

Dr. Owen also added that significant result of reduced risk of developing obesity or diabetes were expected for these kids who are more engaged with physical activities.

Thad Allen, national incident commander, announced that the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico is effectively dead after the pressure test by British Petroleum (BP).

According to Thad Allen, there are additional regulatory steps that must be undertaken but he said that they can already conclude that the Macondo well located in the Gulf of Mexico poses no threat at the Gulf. The well released more than 4m gallons of crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico before it was capped temporarily on July 15, 2010. The oil spill disaster cost the job of BP chief executive Tony Hayward, took almost £45bn on the market value of BP and brought the deep sea drilling in the Gulf to be stopped temporarily. Almost 400 lawsuits are waiting for the company.

BP hoped to finish the permanent plugging of the well in July but because of bad weather, it was postponed to avoid any complications. Five months after the well started leaking, a 75-ton cement was plugged 2.5 miles below the surface of the Gulf. The well leaked an estimate ranging from 5,000 barrels or 210,000 gallons of oil every day. The oil spill cost BP almost $8 billion in the cleanup and other costs.

BP will face lawsuits from the businesses near the Gulf whose livelihoods were affected by the worst oil spill in the history of the U.S. It includes environmental workers and fisherman along the Gulf. The company also needs to pay a compensation bill worth $148 million from the state of Alabama.

Barack Obama, president of the United States, obliged BP to set aside a compensation fund worth $20 billion. If the company will be found guilty of gross negligence, the company will face another penalty worth $18 billion.

Apple launched the newest iPads in Shanghai and Beijing stores on Friday featuring the latest Wi-Fi version of Apple Tablet.

Furthermore, all of the authorized dealers all around China started to offer the Wi-Fi model of an Apple Tablet, millions of which have previously been sold on the other countries and particularly in the United States.

According to analyst, they expected strong demand for iPads regardless of scarcity of Chinese content and the enormous unofficial market of Apple’s products in the country, which are glided in from the United States, Singapore and Hong Kong and resold.

Moreover, in Shanghai, there are up to 200 individuals lined up outside the Apple’s underground store that was opened last July. The first buyer was Ma Ya, an art dealer, stated that he actually waited from 1:00 pm to purchase his second new iPad.

Ma told the AFP that he already had a 32 GB iPad that he purchased from Japan. He also added that maybe he can give the other one to an employee. The Wi-Fi model with 16GB charges 3,988 yuan and the 32GB costs 4,788 yuan and their 64GB Wi-Fi version is charged at 5,588 yuan.

Apple that was based in California has not declared if the 3G-equipped model will also go on sale in China, which is home not less than 420 users of Internet. On the other hand, the second biggest mobile operator in China, China Unicorn, already offers iPhone on their stores.

In addition, Apple launched the iPads in the US last April 3 and sold over three million devices for the first 80 days in the market. Apple also said that after the launching of iPads in China they were planning to launch it in several more countries in this year.

Intel unveiled new Atom chips that are aimed and focused on tablets, handhelds, and embedded devices.

New Atom chips that are aimed on the consumer electronics space , and embedded markets, as well as the upcoming Dell Inspiron Duo convertible tablet were among the highlights on the second part of the Intel Developer Forum keynote Tuesday.

Just after the more general discussion about software for new devices, Doug Davis, vice president of Intel, discussed about the places consumers could go with Atom. He talked about lines of devices, all of which are powered by Atom, connected to the Internet, and are operated by a wide list of operating systems from Windows to Linux to Meego.

Davis said that Atom would now be available in five series. D would be for desktops, N for netbooks, Z for tablets and handhelds, CE for consumer electronics, and featuring the new E series for Embedded.

Intel also announces several new versions of the Atom chip for different markets. For consumer electronics and the Television market, Davis announced the CE 4200, code-named Groveland, which builds on the current Atom CE 4100 chip. The 45-nanometer device is capable of doing 2 simultaneous video streams, H.264 encoding, and comes with integrated power management. Electronic companies like Samsung, Sagemcon, ADB, and Technicolor committed to using this device for their set-top boxes.

Davis discussed about the Z6XX series issued earlier this year for handheld devices. The device is out today in devices like Aava. He also mentioned Medfield, the 32-nanometer version expected to be out next year.

Tablet momentum is ongoing with devices running Windos, Meego,and Android. Davis showed a wafer of OakTrail, the nect generation of that chip. Davis showed a quick demo of two small tablets powered by OakTrail, including one aimed at Windows gaming. The demo made the tablet look good though still needs to pass through a keen eyed professional to verify.

On Wednesday night, four tornadoes strike in and around Dallas, Texas, causing debris to fly everywhere.

A funnel cloud was seen in Cockrell Hill, southwest of downtown, as sirens went off. Then, another tornado was spotted in Ellis County and another three in Dallas County, affirmed by CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward.

Some aerial footage were taken during the formation of the tornado and when it touched down an industrial complex resulting in to flying roofs and knocked down walls. A tractor-trailer truck situated in a parking lot had its roof caved in by cement block blown from a nearby building. However, no reports of damage, injuries, and casualties were reported after the incident took place.

According to Ward, tornadoes are common incident on the eastern side on a tropical system landfall. This is due to the increased rotation of the wind with height or vertical wind shear.

According to experts, the occurrence of tornadoes in Dallas is caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine. The Decaying tropical storms like the remnants of Hermine often spawn tornadoes.

In connection to this, the remnants of Hermine caused extensive flooding in the northern part of Texas, and started pounding the southern part of Oklahoma on Wednesday. Unfortunately, this phenomenon resulted two casualties and some damages.

Furthermore, nonstop search-and-rescue operations are conducted to save stranded people by fast-rising floodwater across north and central part of Texas. Texas Governor Rick Perry immediately ordered the activation of state search-and-rescue capabilities. In this, rescue teams will be equipped with UH-60 Blackhawk choppers and other rescue resources.

As of now, authorities of Texas are continuously searching for possible victims of this phenomenon. This is according to Williamson County sheriff’s Sgt. John Foster.

Lastly, the National Hurricane Center stated that further rainfall is expected through Thursday from eastern Texas and Oklahoma into Missouri and Arkansas. Flash floods or flood warnings are considered, but hoping not to happen, in those particular states.

Tennis superstar Rafael Nadal prevailed in consecutive sets despite committing falters against Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in their U.S. Open match.

Nadal, the world’s top-seeded player was able to complete the game after an exhausting tiebreaker against the 23-year-old Istomin, who is supported by the crowd at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

It was the second time in as many rounds for Nadal to advance through his effort and determination. He defeated Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili in the first round, and he needed at least 3 hours to win the match in consecutive sets. In the second round, Istomin came up prepared for the match on a surprising rain-free evening in the Flushing Meadows, but Nadal defeated him in consecutive sets as well.

Istomia, the Uzbekistan tennis player holds his highest-ranking career in the world at number 39 has reached the final at the Pilot Pen in New York Haven before the U.S. Open. He was able to stun the fans even if he was not the crowd’s favorite.

However, the fans who attended the evening match immediately acknowledge him as he battled the top-seeded Nadal. The fans started to make noise in the second set tiebreaker, which turn into a breath-taking match up.

Nevertheless, the top-seed player in the world, Nadal, was able to control the tempo and proved the crowd why he deserved to be the top-seed. The victory he gained on Friday has proven his skills on playing a composure game in a tight match unlike other top-seed players who are often outplayed by their opponents mostly in the early rounds of a tournament.

This is a special victory for Nadal because it came in a test or two in one tournament and not just is the Open that the top-seed player has never won a Grand Slam, it is also the only one that he never advanced to the final.

Despite being trapped for more than three weeks, a Chilean miner decided to finally ask the woman he loves to marry him in church.

Esteban Rojas and Jesica Yanez have been spending time together for some 25 years now; they have three children and two grandchildren.

Church wedding is a custom in Chile. That is why Rojas and Yanez, who already had a civil wedding years ago, finally promised to take vows in a church ceremony.

Right after the rescue workers found the miners; Rojas sent a letter to his wife, asking her to marry him.
“Please keep praying that we get out of this alive. And when I do get out, we will buy a dress and get married,” he wrote. Yanez said the note made her shout with joy. “I think he thought about his family at that moment, and that gave him the strength to fight on,” Yanez added.

The rescue workers rigged a line that connects the miners to the world above them. Families were able to speak with their loved ones for the first time after the accident on Sunday. Each relative only have 20 seconds to talk with their love ones, time that the soon to be newlyweds spent planning their wedding.

“I was worried he might not mention it again, but he said we should get married in church. He’d asked me if I’ve already chosen the dress,” said Yanez, after talking to her husband. “Of course I told him we would get married.”

Rojas and Yanez will have to wait before they can fulfill their long time dream. Officials said earlier that it could take for as long as four months before they can put the miners back to the surface.

“We know the rescue will take a long time, but we won’t lose hope,” said Yanez. “He always said he planned to grow old with me, and I plan to grow old with him. Our love is very deep.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is pushing its investigation one step further in almost 1.2 million Toyota Corolla’s and Matrix cars’ probable troubles in stalling.

The concern is that the engine can stall at any place in any time without advance warning and it will not restart, according to the description of NHTSA.

Last November, the authorities had started its preliminary investigation wit regards to the problem. At that time, the analysis riveted only the 2006 model of Toyota Corolla and Matrix Cars, which is the wagon version of the Corolla. However, at present, the concern has now been upgraded to an engineering investigation; a more specified and detailed type of analysis.

This time, the investigation involves model ear 2005 up to 2007. Collectively, Toyota and NHTSA have gathered as many as 1,100 protests of stalling engine, which includes six cases that engaged fires or crashes, according on documents presented by NHTSA.

By the time the preliminary investigation was started by NHTSA, Toyota had discovered two likely causes in engine troubles, in accordance to the NHTSA documents. Both cases include manufacturing troubles with the electronic control units of the car’s engine.

Moreover, Toyota said in a letter to NHTSA dated March 2, 2010 that based on its investigation; Toyota said that they do not consider the alleged defect makes a difficult risk to the security of motor vehicle.

Toyota said in the letter that they believe that when there are any troubles on the electronic control unit, it is anticipated that the engine will stall, which allows the engine to run, endangering a probable catastrophic collapse or fire.

The letter however was written to answer NHTSA’s request for information. It also provides elements of some steps Toyota had already done to attend to the problems in its engine that is related to electronic engine control units on the Toyota models involved.