David Shiga, reporter

The honeymoon is over for NASA and the European Space Agency. Tight budgets at NASA have put ambitious joint space missions on the chopping block.

In recent years, NASA and ESA have been planning joint missions to places like Jupiter's moons and Mars. The idea was that by joining forces, they could mount bigger missions than either could afford alone.

But with NASA's budget expected to stay flat in the coming years, it now appears unable to pay its share of the bill for these missions, calling their future into question.

All today's stories on NewScientist.com, including: the latest on Japan's earthquake crisis, a robot opera, and the mathematics of being nice

Nuclear crisis: How safe is Japan's food and water?

Alerts have been issued on radiation levels in some Japanese food and water - how dangerous are they?

Death and the Powers: The robots' opera

It may be billed as the opera of the future but, despite whizzy technology, Tod Machover's new production lacks panache

Surveillance robots know when to hide

The creation of robots that can hide from humans while spying on them brings autonomous spy machines one step closer

Satellite snaps extent of Japan's post-quake blackout

Japan might appear to be glowing with light but this new image shows the extent of power-outage in the quake- and tsunami-hit country

The mathematics of being nice

Our ability to cooperate is the secret of humanity's success, says Martin Nowak, who tackles some of biology's biggest questions using mathematics

Japan's record of nuclear cover-ups and accidents

The history of nuclear power in Japan over the past 16 years reveals serious breaches of safety and transparency

Japanese fatalistic about risk of death from earthquake

Cross-cultural comparison reveals unexpected differences in people's perception of how they will fare if disaster strikes

Kinect hacks: Lights, camera, evil genius

Our latest round-up of Kinect hacks features home automation, cheap motion capture and an evil genius simulator

Murder, medicine and the first blood transfusions

In Blood Work, Holly Tucker tells a tale of fierce rivalry, bizarre experimentation and an uneasy sense of transgression

How Josef Oehmen's advice on Fukushima went viral

When an MIT risk researcher sent some advice to a cousin in Japan he quickly became cited as an authority on nuclear power. He tells New Scientist how

Modern bodies: Our 10,000-year makeover

Civilised living has transformed our bodies, from deep within our bones to the tips of our fingers

Nuclear crisis: Japan suspends food shipments

The Japanese government has suspended food shipments from four prefectures following the detection of increased radiation levels in food and water

Low testosterone linked with financial risk-taking

People who have low levels of the male sex hormone are as prone to taking financial risks as those who fit the high-testosterone stereotype

Sticky cars could save lives

Using glue to increase the friction on a surface could make it more resistant to impacts

Nematode study identifies a gene for staying or going

Should I stay or should I go? The same kind of gene controls the decision, whether you are looking for food or fleeing a predator

Black hole's burps may blow bubbles around Milky Way

Stars plunging into the giant black hole at the centre of our galaxy may explain two huge bubbles of gamma rays seen by NASA's Fermi space telescope

'Green rust' counteracts radioactive waste

A highly reactive form of rust could be used to protect waterways from radioactive waste from uranium reactors

Where are the world's nuclear reactors?

New Scientist takes stock of the nuclear power plants around the world - use our interactive maps to find and sort them by type

Biology's 'dark matter' hints at fourth domain of life

Over 99 per cent of organisms remain unknown to science - so could some of them sit outside the classic three domains of cellular life?

Nuclear update: Entire reactor core stored in fuel pond

The IAEA says the fuel core from Unit 4 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant had been unloaded from the reactor and placed in the spent fuel pond

Friday illusion: Deceptive dice

See an illusion where stacked-up dice appear to float on top of each other

Niall Firth, technology editor

(Image: DMSP/NOAA)

It might appear to be glowing with light, but this recently released image shows just how much of northern Japan was left without power the day after a powerful earthquake hit the country.

The picture is actually a composite of two satellite images, one taken in 2010 and one taken on 12 March, 2011. The yellow colour shows where lights were detected in both years. The red lights are where lights were seen in 2010 but were not visible the day after the earthquake.

Only a handful of lights remain in operation around the city of Sendai and the ravaged coast north-east of Tokyo, which bore the brunt of the tsunami.

The image was taken by an F18 satellite as part of the US Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program.

Large swathes of Japan are still suffering from rolling blackouts and power cuts more than a week on from the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the country.

Wendy Zukerman, Australasia reporter

Spinach from Ibaraki prefecture on sale yesterday (Image: Gregory Bull/AP/PA)

As emergency workers battle to stabilise the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the Japanese government has suspended food shipments from four prefectures following the detection of increased radiation levels in spinach, milk, fava beans and tap water. Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures were ordered to suspend shipments of milk and two kinds of vegetable.

An unnamed state minister in charge of consumer affairs and food safety was quoted by Kyodo saying that the radiation levels are "not expected to immediately affect human health". But, as a precaution, the health ministry has encouraged residents of Itate village in Fukushima prefecture - where tap water radiation showed more than triple the level allowed by the government - to avoid drinking it.

Caitlin Stier, contributor

(Image: Bo C. Christiansen/University of Copenhagen)

A highly reactive form of rust could be used to contain radioactive neptunium waste from nuclear power plants.

Green rust (pictured above) is a type of clay consisting of iron that has not entirely rusted. It has a deficit of electrons, making it react easily with other substances, including common pollutants.

Now, Bo Christiansen of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and colleagues say it can help contain radioactive neptunium, a byproduct of uranium reactors with a half-life of more than 2 million years. The waste is disposed of in iron-lined copper vessels that are submerged in water.

Christiansen and colleagues say that surrounding these vessels with green rust could help ensure the waste does not seep into waterways should the containers break down.

Journal reference: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2010.12.003

Peter Aldhous, San Francisco bureau chief

As Japan struggles to bring the stricken Fukushima Daiichi site under control, and politicians worldwide debate the future of nuclear energy, it's a good time to take stock of the current inventory of reactors.

Use our interactive maps to find and sort them by type.

1800 GMT, 18 March 2011

Zena Iovino, reporter

Japan has raised the accident level at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to 5 on an international scale of 7, according to the Kyodo news agency and NHK. The partial meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979 also ranked as a level 5. But there was some good news.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Friday that the situation at reactors 1, 2 and 3 appears to remain fairly stable. The spent-fuel ponds at units 3 and 4, however, remain an important safety concern. Reliable, validated information is still lacking on water levels and temperatures at the spent fuel ponds, but the IAEA announced on Friday that prior to the earthquake,

The entire fuel core of reactor unit 4 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant had been unloaded from the reactor and placed in the spent fuel pond located in the reactor's building.

This would explain the fear yesterday that the spent fuel in the unit 4 pond could go critical (see 1820 GMT, 16 March update, below).

All today's stories on NewScientist.com, including: the latest on the Japanese nuclear plant, eggs woo sperm, and a cryogenic frog

Japanese send robots into Fukushima nuclear plant

Monirobo is designed to operate at radiation levels too high for humans and includes a radiation sensor and 3D camera system

Japan's record of nuclear cover-ups and accidents

The history of nuclear power in Japan over the past 16 years reveals serious breaches of safety and transparency

How not to change a climate sceptic's mind

Even the soundest evidence is not enough if it comes from a source we suspect

Security firm RSA gets hacked, ID token data stolen

An "extremely sophisticated cyber attack" may have given hackers access to security tokens used by corporate networks and banks

Make your own self-balancing skateboard

See a new skateboard designed to stay upright that can be made at home

After the flood: triage for disaster recovery

With thousands killed and almost half a million displaced, what are the priorities for rebuilding homes and communities in Japan?

Feedback: Conversing with a robot

Robot customer service fail, deeply chilled music, 1-centimetre cars, and more

How human eggs woo sperm

When a human egg is ready to be fertilised, it releases a hormone that gives nearby sperm cells a go-faster boost

Defending against botnet attacks - by fighting back

A way of fighting back against DDoS attacks by web activists Anonymous proved so successful it could be used to defend against other attacks

The cultural response to climate change

U-N-F-O-L-D combines video, sculpture, photography and music to show you climate change in a new light

Quake map: Tokyo might escape massive aftershock

A map showing all of the aftershocks that have struck Japan this week suggests the fault system close to the nation's capital has not been affected

Nuclear crisis: Still no power at Fukushima

It seems that engineers at Japan's beleaguered Fukushima nuclear power plant have not yet restored power to reactor 2

Probing the minds of scientists on geek X-factor

Over the next two weeks, New Scientist will be following the action on I'm a scientist, get me out of here!. First up - a particle physicist

Zoologger: Cryo-frog survives deep freeze

Still another animal that makes humans look like wimps: the brown tree frog survives being frozen by secreting protective chemicals from its skin

A right to be forgotten online? Forget it

The European Union wants a "right to be forgotten" online, but removing data from the web is difficult

Wendy Zukerman, Asia-Pacific reporter

Aftershocks have ravaged the east coast of Japan since the Sendai megaquake of 11 March, and are expected to continue in the coming days. Could Tokyo, with a population of 8.5 million, be hit?

An interactive graphic, produced by Paul Nicholls at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, provides tantalising evidence to suggest Japan's capital might dodge the worst of the seismic activity.

Read more here

Steady beats flashy in evolution death match

Staged survival battles between bacterial clones show that early pacesetters seldom prevail in the end

Most detailed view of moon's elusive far side

Images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have provided the most complete picture of the topography of the moon's far side

Botanic gardens blamed for spreading plant invaders

More than half of the world's most invasive plant species take over native habitats after escaping from botanic gardens

Software to predict 'March Madness' basketball winner

Can software pick winning teams in the annual March Madness basketball competition better than humans can?

Giant 'quasi-stars' spawned early black holes

Black holes may have formed in the bellies of gaseous cocoons, which would explain why they grew so big so fast in the early universe

Building shelters that can withstand a tsunami

Plans exist for shelters that could protect coastal residents from the full force of a tsunami

Born to be viral: Mousetraps simulate nuclear reaction

See how to simulate a nuclear chain reaction using only mousetraps and golf balls

Why Fukushima Daiichi won't be another Chernobyl

As Japan struggles to control some of its nuclear reactors, New Scientist explains why the situation will not be as bad as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster

Obesity expert: A better fat measure than BMI

For nearly 200 years, the body mass index has been used as a measure of obesity. Richard Bergman argues it could be time for a change

American radiation pill scramble a 'waste of time'

Pills used to fight radiation poisoning are selling out in US stores. Experts warn they are not only unnecessary but could do more harm than good

Memory may be built with standard building blocks

We think of the brain as being totally malleable, but a new study suggests that its neurons may be organised into basic assemblies

Beware: It's raining creepy crawlies

Watch a clip from a new planetarium film featuring ultrarealistic virtual insects

Rubbery muscle motors to make robots more lifelike

Soft and stretchy artificial muscles could one day fulfil the functions currently carried out by more complex mechanical means

Nuclear crisis: Hope for cooling the reactors?

The Tokyo Electric Power Company has admitted that the spent fuel rods at the Fukushima plant could go critical and a nuclear chain reaction could restart

How to spot a fake whisky using its signature

Researchers are re-purposing technology that is already being used to spot counterfeit medicines to analyse the contents of liquids in bottles

Apple modifies your music - with your photos

Your photos could generate unique versions of your favourite music track. Apple thinks it's worth a patent. But why?

Gene therapy for Parkinson's passes the ultimate test

A double-blind clinical trial has shown that the symptoms of Parkinson's disease can be alleviated by gene therapy

Meet the fire-breathing scrap metal dragon

Powered by wheelchair motors, fiery kinetic sculpture El Grando turned up the heat at last weekend's Maker Faire