The Obama administration will convene a summit in September to find solutions to the persistent practice of sending text messages while driving, Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood said on Tuesday. Many states have adopted laws prohibiting all or certain kinds of cell phone use while driving.

"If it were up to me, I would ban drivers from texting, but unfortunately, laws aren't always enough," said Sec. LaHood. "We've learned from past safety awareness campaigns that it takes a coordinated strategy combining education and enforcement to get results. That's why this meeting with experienced officials, experts and law enforcement will be such a crucial first step in our efforts to put an end to distracted driving."

Space tourism firm Virgin Galactic has unveiled a radically configured jet that will launch a spacecraft carrying tourists into Earth's orbit.

The firm conducted a demonstration flight of the double-hulled plane dubbed White Knight 2 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin Monday.

An airman stationed in California who went in to a hospital for a routine gall bladder operation has ended up losing both of his legs to amputation.

Surgeons at Grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base accidentally punctured Airman 1st Class Colton Read's aorta during a July 9 operation to remove his gall bladder. Because the critical vein was severed, he lost blood to his legs and lower body and his legs could not be saved.

Authorities in California's Fresno County have seized $1 billion worth of marijuana plants from pot farms discovered in the Sierra Mountains the past week.

A Wednesday press release by Fresno County said authorities also arrested 82 Mexicans acting as caretakers of the farms during the Operation Save Our Sierra. The massive operation aims to remove marijuana plantations in the Sierra Mountains operated by Mexican drug cartels.

A California teenager sailed back into his home port here Thursday to become the youngest person ever to sail around the globe.

Zac Sunderland, 17, returned 13 months and 28,000 miles after charting a course west into the Pacific on June 14, 2008. He was only 16 at the time.