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With the launch of a new NASA spacecraft and a probe nearing Pluto, it's been a busy week in space. NPR science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel tells NPR's Scott Simon what's going on up there.

In the 1940s, U.S. publishers printed paperbacks — everything from romances to Westerns — that were designed for battle. Molly Guptill Manning explores their history in When Books Went to War.

Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant successfully removed some radioactive fuel from one of the damaged reactors on Monday. It's an important first step, but there's a long way to go before the situation at the plant can be said to be completely under control

The days of mystery meat are far from over in the nation's school cafeterias. That's judging by an online project assembling thousands of photos of school lunches submitted by students from across the nation. But it's not all bad news: The images also show that in some cafeterias, change has already arrived.

The Shenzhen-based company BYD started producing cellphone batteries and moved to electric cars. Now, it's rolling out a fleet of electric buses in the U.S., a first for a Chinese auto manufacturer.

Some Navajo activists want to overturn a tribal law banning same-sex marriages. They say the law contradicts Navajo values because it disrupts harmony. Host Michel Martin talks with people on both sides of the debate: Deswood Tome of the Navajo Nation Council and Alray Nelson of the Coalition for Navajo Equality.

The self-defense groups that have emerged in the western Mexican state of Michoacan are on the public relations offensive. They've been posting videos on Twitter and Facebook condemning the Knights Templar drug traffickers and exalting their own crusade to expel the cartel from their towns and businesses. Meanwhile, federal officials don't seem to know how many of these vigilantes there are and have halted efforts to disarm them.

The blaze at a complex that housed the elderly quickly engulfed much of the building. Investigators were having a hard time searching for victims because water used to fight the flames had frozen over the scene. A key question: Why was the complex only partially fitted with sprinklers?

Although it may be uncomfortable for patients to learn that there are profound disagreements among doctors about medicine, these differences of opinion are common.

Lanny and Tracy Barnes competed on the U.S. Olympic team in 2006, and Lanny competed in 2010. This year, Tracy gave her spot on the team to Lanny, who was ill during the selection races and just missed qualifying. "The Olympics are about more than just competing," Tracy says.