A new survey from the American Lung Association has revealed the most polluted cities in America. Which cities topped the list? Pittsburgh ranked the highest in short-term pollution, but Los Angeles proved to be the most polluted on a year-round basis, as well as in terms of smog or ozone. Time to whip out the gas mask? If you want to know whether your city made the list, follow the "read more" link below.

 Here's an update on the developments circulating around optical implants: the first ever pair of bionic eyes were successfully implanted. The doctors responsible for this operation utilized pea-sized cameras which allows the blind to see. Find out more on this in the full article.

Love, the prevalent emotion during Valentine's Day which just passed, is still very mysterious to some. Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) conducted a study to find out if love is really blind, and the results say yes. Check out the full article to learn more.

Politics is a harsh arena and a powerful tool, but as the old saying goes, "power in the wrong hands..." In a recent investigation in the Los Angeles Times, David William tells the story of the battle for the Anthrax Vaccine.

In the investigation, he narrates how Emergent BioSolutions Inc., the current supplier of anthrax vaccines, kept its competitor, VaxGen Inc., from manufacturing a better vaccine by lobbying against it. Read all about the political drama in the full article.

Oh man. The Apophis meteor is to hit us in year 2029, but even before that happens, the world might be facing a more immediate problem. See, it's been known that Yellowstone has been sitting on top of a super volcano. And though it has long been revealed that Yellowstone is way past its due date for explosion, recent findings show that the 30-mile gap between the magma and Yellowstone's surface has now been substantially reduced to only 6 miles. Is it getting hot in here or what? There's still some hope though...

 

A futuristic car that looks like it came from the set of Minority Report has graced the Los Angeles Auto Show this year. Called the Honda 1^4 (One to the Power of Four), the car runs partly from solar power; but that's not the interesting part. The interesting part is that it splits into four pieces.

The car was made with carpooling in mind. The idea is that four people share the car until the point where they have to split up to get to their separate destinations and then the car will split into four single seater pods. Although they are also maneuverable when separate, it doesn't move as fast.

It would certainly be interesting to see how this little baby would affect commuting, but it probably won't hit the streets anytime soon (it's still a concept car). On a side note it looks like it was inspired by the Fantastic Four's vehicle.

ScienceDaily reports that Condor #245, one of only 300 remaining condors in the world, has died while undergoing lead poisoning treatment at the Los Angeles Zoo.

Tests at the LA Zoo showed that the condor, first trapped at the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge late last month, had blood lead levels ten times that of the minimum amount needed to require lead poisoning treatment in condors. The condor's high blood lead levels are thought to have been caused by ingestion of lead fragments.

Glenn Olson, Executive Director of Audubon California, urged the California Fish and Game Commission to ban usage of lead ammunition in condor territory. More than 45 prominent wildlife biologists recently signed a "Statement of Scientific Agreement" that pointed towards lead bullets as threatening the survival of California Condors in the wild.

"The sooner the Fish and Game Commission acts, the sooner we can remove this toxic and deadly substance from the condors' environment," said Gary Langham, Ph.D, director of bird conservation, Audubon California. "The death of Condor #245 underscores the need for rapid action and the clear and present danger that environmental lead presents."

The California Fish and Game Commission will be considering a ban on the use of lead bullets for big game hunting during a special session on August 27.

Australian author and historian Peter Trickett claims that a 16th century map at a Los Angeles library is the single, most irrevocable proof that Portuguese explorers led by Christopher de Mendonca beat Captain James Cook to the punch in discovering the land down under by about two and a half centuries.

In his manuscript "Beyond Capricorn," Trickett reveals that when the small map was enlarged, it was discovered that the Portuguese have actually landed in the Australian East Coast in 1522 as proven by the accurate mapmaking of Sydney's Botany Bay.

Trickett described the map as something  "so accurate that I found I could draw in the modern airport runways, to scale in the right place, without any problem at all." The map is named "Terra Java" and is among 15 hand drawn-maps in the compilation of Vallard Atlas which was the representation of the lands known back then.

Trickett made his accidental but monumental discovery eight years ago when he was browsing through the collection in a Canberra book store. The shop had a replica of the original map preserved in the United States.

An earthquake warning is put out for the residents of Southern California. Instruments located in the region along the Pacific-North American Plate Boundary at the Cajon Pass (Southern California) near GeoSeismic Labs read a rapid decompression in lithospheric stress.

The foreshock of the said lithospheric stress is measured at magnitude 2.7 Lithosphere is the surface of the earth, and a foreshock is a smaller earthquake preceding a larger earthquake. Southern Califonians are advised to stay alert for a possible earthquake attack of huge magnitude.

The potentially dangerous lithospheric reaction occured between the Southern San Andreas Fault Zone, and the San Jacinto/ Cucamonga-Eastern Sierra Madre Fault Zones. Inland Empire residents, especially along the nearby, and long overdue San Jacinto Fault Zone, should be prepared for a moderate magnitude or larger earthquake during the next several days.

The New Moon's arrival a few days from now (March 19, 2007) may be enough of an induced increase, or change in lithospheric stress to rupture a fault located to the Northeast of Los Angeles, CA associated with the Sierra Madre Fault System, or the San Jacinto Fault Zone.

BBC News reports that the launch of the British military satellite Skynet 5 has been postponed due to a "last minute technical glitch." Apparently, the delay was caused by a fault found in the "deluge" system, which sprays water across the launch pad to keep it cool as the rocket lifts off.

According to the BBC, the Skynet spacecraft will deliver secure, high-bandwidth communications for UK and "friendly" forces. Skynet 5's launch is part of a multi-billion-pound project that aims to allow the Army, Royal Navy and RAF to pass more data faster between command centers.

Engineers are currently investigating the problem. Another launch attempt is planned for Sunday from Kourou, French Guiana. Nobody cared to comment on the possible connection between Skynet's launch delay and the sudden appearance of a naked Austrian bodybuilder in a Los Angeles biker bar.