More than just skyline blight, smog is an ozone-filled haze packed with the power to inflict or exacerbate ailments in even healthy adults, to say nothing of small children and the elderly. Unfortunately, although scientists know how it forms and even how to detect it, they cannot always predict where it will strike. Now, researchers at Arizona State University and University of California at Berkeley have embarked upon a project that uses NASA satellites to detect smog precursors over a much wider area than before. The research could enable scientists to spot an ozone plume in time to help communities prepare for its health effects.