Japan teeters on the brink of a nuclear meltdown following the 8.9 earthquake and the enormous tsunami. Meanwhile, many in the U.S. are pondering the state of our nuclear power plants if they ever faced a similar bout with mother nature. The U.S. is the home of 104 nuclear reactor sites, four of them along the west coast — famed for its fault line and earthquakes — one in Washington, two in California, and three in Arizona. 

U.S. regulators are announcing a recall of more than 10 million Fisher-Price tricycles, toys and high chairs after reports of 10 children being hurt. Here are the details of the affected toys, from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

A deadly gas pipe explosion in San Bruno, California last week left at least four people dead and nearly 40 houses destroyed. The company being held responsible is Pacific Gas & Electric, better known as PG&E. It could be more than a year before investigators determine precisely what caused the explosion. For years, however, California residents have accused PG&E of irresponsible safety practices.

When residents of San Bruno, Calif. heard a piercing squeal followed by an earth-shaking crash on Thursday evening, many thought an airplane had crashed in the neighborhood. In fact, even after they were told the deadly fireball that ensued was from an exploded natural gas pipeline, it was hard to believe: Few of them had ever been told the pipeline existed.

It's back to school time, when more kids are spending time in gym class and after-school sports. However, it's not all fun and games, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The report is called “Sport Related Concussion in Children and Adolescents,” and it reveals just how dangerous concussions can be to developing humans, interfering not only with physical health, but learning.

Why isn't there a better way to text while driving? That’s a question that Joel Johnson, editor at large of Gizmodo.com asked in a recent column.

So far, he’s received over 500 responses to his column, most of which suggest that people who text and drive should simply give it up, use the phone instead, or die behind the wheel because they deserve to. However, Johnson insists that, in a world where most people text and drive, his question is valid. If we can't stop it, why not make it safer?

What do you think? Should texting while driving be outlawed or be made safer?

33 miners remain trapped more than 2,000 feet below ground at the San Jose copper and gold mine in Copiapo, Chile. 

A new report released this week by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) warns that the "oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico poses... indirect threats to seafood safety." State and federal officials, however, say they are aggressively testing seafood from the Gulf Coast in order to protect the public from any potential health risks from the oil that gushed continuously into the water for nearly three months. With these conflicting messages, how difficult will it be for the Gulf's seafood industry to get back on its feet?

Why do people still drink and drive when they know they're not supposed to? Lindsay Lohan is going to jail because she violated her probation for NOT learning that lesson ... and she's not alone. 30 percent of us will be involved in a drunk driving accident in our lives. Every 45 minutes, someone will be killed by a drunk driver. And at least 50 percent of drunk drivers will continue to drive drunk after having their licenses suspended. 

What's your take: How do you stop doing something you know is wrong?

The BP oil leak on the Deepwater Horizon has passed the six-week mark and continues to gush oil into the Gulf of Mexico.  Many are now asking how the company continually received permission to drill with 760 safety violations.

Over the past three years, the popularity of unpasteurized milk – or raw milk, as it’s sometimes called – has grown across the country. Advocates say heat-treating milk destroys enzymes and nutrients, while detractors say it's necessary to keep people from getting sick. Battles over how milk is sold and regulated have exploded. 

Ten states, including Maine, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, have made it legal to sell unpasteurized milk in stores. Meanwhile, other states are fighting to make it easier to purchase. In Wisconsin, Governor Jim Doyle indicated last month that he’ll sign a bill – already passed by the senate and assembly - legalizing and regulating the sale of raw milk between farmers and consumers. In Massachusetts, raw milk supporters this week protested the fact that they ONLY have this right. They’d like to be able to buy milk from more places than the state’s 27 regulated farms. And in many states like New Jersey, raw milk supporters secretly run unpasteurized milk across state lines.

If you’re not part of the milk wars, you might be wondering: Why are people fighting so hard to drink milk that’s not pasteurized? And is it safe?

Monday night's explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia, left 25 confirmed dead and four more miners missing underground. Rescue operations were stalled yesterday because conditions were deemed too dangerous. The mine is owned by Massey Energy Company, which was immediately criticized for allowing egregious and numerous safety violations. Massey's CEO, Don Blankenship, responded in an interview with the Metronews radio network in West Virginia, saying, “violations are unfortunately a normal part of the mining process. There are violations at every coal mine in America.”

In a statement released yesterday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he intends to levy a $16.4 million fine, the largest allowed by law, against embattled, multinational Toyota Motor Company.  

As more of us are being forced to stretch our food dollars further, the question on some of our minds is: Can I eat that old can of soup in the back of the cupboard? Or more generally: Can I eat expired food?

Toyota has said that dealerships will be equipped with new parts later this week for customers whose cars have been recalled due to defective gas pedals. We speak with John McEleney, a Toyota dealer in Iowa and chairman of the National Association of Automobile Dealers, about how he's handling the recall.

The federal government is on the verge of spending billions of dollars on highways and public transit projects, beginning in 2010.  Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood views this as a historic moment in American history, when federal money will back policy aimed at getting Americans off the highways, out of our cars and into public transit and high-speed rail.  LaHood steps through the many areas of American life in which he's now shaping policy. (click through for the full interview transcript)

Seat belts are a simple technology; they have saved many lives since their introduction in the 1950s.  Since then, however, concern over protecting children in traffic accidents has led to many models of child car seats, and many state laws requiring parents to put kids in them until they are six or seven years old.  In "SuperFreakonomics," Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt compare the safety record of car seats and seat belts, going so far as to buy their own testing time at a safety rating facility. Their analysis brings into question whether seat belts actually perform any worse than newer technologies.  Some people, including the Secretary of Transportation, are questioning these results.  Here is "Super Freakonomics" co-author Steven Levitt's response.

Contaminated milk, poisonous pet food, toys containing dangerous levels of lead: Some products made in China have been found to be hazardous to your health. The latest is drywall. During the housing boom, construction companies used drywall from wherever they could get it, and now certain types, made in China, have been found to be releasing chemicals and fumes that cause medical problems. Adding insult to injury, many of the people affected are stuck with their infected walls because they can't afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to remove the drywall.

We talk with the BBC's Shanghai correspondent, Chris Hogg, who has details of an emerging partnership between the U.S. and China to crack down on tainted drywall. We also speak with Luis Gonzalez, a Miami-Dade police officer forced to leave his home, which was built using drywall from China. 

This week The National Transportation Safety Board will examine cockpit voice recordings and interview the pilots and crew of Northwest Airlines flight 188, which overshot Minneapolis airport and lost contact with air traffic controllers for over an hour last Thursday. The pilots said they were distracted by a heated conversation about airline policy. Officials will be investigating whether the pilots may have dozed off in the cockpit. We speak to Ben Berman, a commercial pilot and former chief of major investigations at the NTSB.

The Mexican city of Puebla is trying a bright pink experiment in a culture famous for its machismo and violence. In an effort to prevent violent crimes against women passengers, 35 new taxis are driving the streets. These pink cars are driven by women and will pick up only female passengers. Inside, each pink taxi comes with a beauty kit, a GPS system and an alarm button. We talk to Eduardo Del Castillo, CEO of Pink Taxi, along with Elena Alvarez, a recent passenger.

For a look inside the Pink Taxi, watch the video below: