NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) launched in February 2010 with the goal of understanding the causes of solar variability and its impacts on Earth, focusing on measurements of the interior of the Sun, the Sun's magnetic field, the hot plasma of the solar corona, and the irradiance that creates the ionospheres of the planets. Since its launch, SDO has had practically unbroken coverage of the Sun's rise toward solar maximum - the peak of solar activity in its regular eleven-year cycle....

Stanford University researchers have developed a process that can render a mouse brain completely transparent. The postmortem brain remains whole - not sliced or sectioned - with its three-dimensional complexity of fine wiring and molecular structures completely intact and able to be measured and probed at will with visible light and chemicals. The process is called CLARITY, and ushers in a new era of whole-organ imaging that could change scientific understanding of the brain - the most...

West Virginia University researchers are partnering with the U.S. military to produce a new line of smart munitions that would be ballistically fired like mortars or grenades but would transform into an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), capable of surveillance or payload delivery. The devices resemble 40- and 60-millimeter shells. They are easily transportable and their adaptability makes them capable of being launched and operated autonomously or with a guidance system, depending on the task....