STEREO sees complete far side of the Sun

The STEREO spacecraft reached opposition (180° separation) on February 6 but part of the sun was inaccessible to their combined view until June 1.

This image represents the first day when the entire far side could be seen.

The image is aligned so that solar north is directly up. The seam between the two images is inclined because the plane of Earth’s -- and STEREO's -- orbit, known as the "ecliptic", is inclined with respect to the sun's axis of rotation. The data was collected by STEREO's Extreme Ultraviolet Imagers in the SECCHI instrument suites.

STEREO was built and is operated for NASA by the Applied Physical Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University; the spacecraft were launched on October 25, 2006 aboard a Delta II. The SECCHI instrument suite is a collaboration led by the Naval Research Laboratory, and the EUVI instruments were built by the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory.

Carbon 'grapevine' may store hydrogen

Rice University researchers have determined that a lattice of calcium-decorated carbyne has the potential to store hydrogen at levels that easily exceed Department of Energy (DOE) goals for use as a "green" alternative fuel for vehicles.

The rise of nanoscale strategies for energy storage has been dramatic in recent years, as evidenced by labs worldwide suggesting various ways to use nanotubes and ribbons as a medium.

But they may not be thinking small enough, according to new research by the lab of theoretical physicist Boris Yakobson that was published last week in the online journal Nano Letters.

Yakobson is Rice's Karl F. Hasselmann Chair in Engineering and a professor of materials science and mechanical engineering and of chemistry.
 
Carbyne is a chain of carbon atoms; it's what you'd get if you could pull a string from a slice of graphene the same way you'd pull a loose thread from a sweater.

"A one-atom rod of carbon is as thin as it can ever get, way thinner than a carbon nanotube," Yakobson said.

'Smart cars' that are actually, well, smart

The researchers test their algorithm using a miniature autonomous vehicle traveling along a track that partially overlaps with a second track for a human-controlled vehicle, observing incidences of collision and collision avoidance.

Missing Glasgow businesswoman 'may have come to harm'

Police in Glasgow fear that a businesswoman who went missing two months ago may have "come to harm".

Lynda Spence, who is also known as Lynda Zejaf, Lynda Palmer or Lynda Reilly, was last seen on 13 April.

Det Insp Alan Buchanan, of Strathclyde Police, said the 27-year-old's financial business had hit problems.

He added that there was "serious concern" she may have "come to harm" at the hands of "persons she owed money to".

Det Insp Buchanan said that those to whom Ms Spence owed money were "both members of the community and people who would be of interest to the police."

Fukushima City to give children radiation dosimeters

Japan's Fukushima city is to give radiation dosimeters to 34,000 children to measure their exposure from the tsunami-hit nuclear power plant.

All children aged between four and 15 will wear the devices for three months, and data will be collected monthly.

The city lies about 60km (37 miles) from the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which was badly damaged in the 11 March quake and tsunami.

More than three months on the facility is still leaking radioactive material.

Woman's body in Papua New Guinea leader's home

Police in Papua New Guinea are investigating the discovery of a woman's body at the home of the acting prime minister, Sam Abal. 

Mr Abal called the police when the body was found at his home in the capital Port Moresby.

The police say Mr Abal's adopted son is being treated as a suspect in the death; they are trying to find him.

Mr Abal is in charge of the government while the veteran leader, Michael Somare, recovers from heart surgery.

UK presses Sri Lanka over Channel 4's 'war crimes' film

The UK Foreign Office has pressed Sri Lanka to investigate alleged atrocities during its civil war after "horrific" footage aired in a TV programme.

Britain's Channel 4 showed what it said was previously unseen footage of what purported to be extrajudicial killings of Tamils by the military.

Sri Lanka's defence ministry dismissed the videos as fabricated, saying they were intended to discredit the army.

The army defeated the Tamil Tigers in 2009, ending 25 years of war.