L.A. tops list of nation’s most polluted.
From yahoo.com:
TweetLos Angeles can continue being the butt of smog jokes now that it has once again topped the American Lung Association’s bad air list of most polluted cities in America.
The association found that the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside metropolitan area had the worst air based on 2003 through 2005 figures.The Pittsburgh area was ranked as the nation’s second most polluted metropolitan area followed by Bakersfield, Calif., Birmingham, Ala., Detroit and Cleveland. Visalia, Calif., Cincinnati, Indianapolis and St. Louis rounded out the top 10.
The news wasn’t all bad for Los Angeles. Despite the dubious distinction, the number of days residents breathed the nation’s worst ozone levels was fewer than in previous years.
“Nobody is surprised that LA has an air pollution problem,” said Janice Nolen, the association’s assistant vice president for national policy and advocacy. “The problems there are one of the reasons we have the Clean Air Act. But it is important for folks to know that there has been some improvement.”
The Smell of War: Scent Simulators
From popsci.com:
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I’m Army, Special Operations. My mission: to sneak up on a rebel training camp. If the intelligence is right—if the place is being operated by the enemy Tiger Brigade—then I’m supposed to plant a radio transmitter so that F-16 pilots can launch smart bombs directly to the target. I just need to make absolutely sure that the location is correct—that the rebels are indeed based here. And that won’t be easy.
I creep through a dark drainage culvert, my helmet skimming the ceiling. There’s graffiti on the walls, puddles and trash on the ground. The place smells like damp earth and moldy concrete, a bit like my parents’ cellar— although home didn’t have bats overhead or rats underfoot. I emerge in a forest, by a river, at night. The air is crisp and piney. After the dank culvert, the change is so refreshing that I initially don’t notice the cinderblock building on the hilltop ahead. I don’t notice the sentry on the roof, standing at a machine gun and looking right at me.
Read the full article about new military virtual scent training simulators….
