nature

THIS WEEK

Editorials

The press under pressure ▶

With the Leveson inquiry scrutinizing journalistic practice in the United Kingdom, scientists should take the opportunity to fight back against agenda-driven reporting.

Troubled waters ▶

Protected areas are only the start of the road to reforming our relationship with the seas.

A massive comfort ▶

There are bigger things in the Universe than our earthly worries. Much bigger.

World View

If you want to win the game, you must join in ▶

When governments ignore scientific advice, it is often because researchers do not engage with the political process, says Rees Kassen.

Seven Days

Seven days: 2–8 December 2011 ▶

The week in science: Europe’s €80-billion research budget; Brazilian deforestation falls to record low; and Kepler finds a potentially habitable planet outside our Solar System.

NEWS IN FOCUS

Cutbacks threaten HIV gains ▶

Wealthy nations have reduced contributions to global research and treatment programmes.

Nano rules fall foul of data gap ▶

Incomplete nanotoxicology research is hampering efforts to introduce regulation.

Novartis to shut brain research facility ▶

Drug giant redirects psychiatric efforts to genetics.

Dynamo maker ready to roll ▶

Two rotating spheres separated by thousands of kilograms of liquid sodium aim to mimic Earth's interior.

State cuts fuel California protests ▶

Fears raised of lasting damage to public university system.

China pushes to rule the waves ▶

Launch of huge Kexue research vessel could put country at forefront of ocean science.

Features

Ocean conservation: Uncertain sanctuary ▶

Nations are racing to establish marine protected areas, but it's not clear whether many are living up to the name.

Out-of-body experience: Master of illusion ▶

Henrik Ehrsson uses mannequins, rubber arms and virtual reality to create body illusions, all in the name of neuroscience.

COMMENT

Technology: Asia's space race ▶

Greater global cooperation is needed to avert the risk of further militarization, says James Clay Moltz.

Social science: Open up online research ▶

Social media hold a treasure trove of information. But the secretive methods of ethics review boards are hindering their analysis, says Alexander Halavais.

Books and Arts

Neuroscience: Scent and sensibility ▶

Chris Loss savours a wide-ranging exploration of flavour that takes in evolution and physiology — and suggests it could be key to a healthier future.

Books in brief ▶

Philosophy: Meditation in mind ▶

Daniel Stoljar contemplates two contrasting takes on science and Buddhism.

Q&A: Chemical connector ▶

Theoretical chemist, poet and playwright Roald Hoffmann won a Nobel prize in 1981 for his work on how molecules change as they react. As the International Year of Chemistry comes to a close and he releases two books, Hoffmann talks about language, ethics and the sublime.

Correspondence

Violence: the role of society and state Gary G. Nelson | Violence: intuition is important too Colin Tudge | Scientific fraud: Europe must address research misconduct Xavier Bosch | Military intelligence: Caution over Iran's nuclear plans John W. Grula | Behavioural biology: Canny liars score by tricking themselves Mark A. Davis

Obituary

Norman Ramsey (1915–2011) ▶

Physicist behind precision spectroscopy and atomic clocks.

Corrections

Correction ▶

Correction ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

A disinhibitory microcircuit for associative fear learning in the auditory cortex ▶

Johannes J. Letzkus, Steffen B. E. Wolff, Elisabeth M. M. Meyer, Philip Tovote, Julien Courtin et al.

Learning causes a change in how information is processed by neuronal circuits. W...

Interactions between cancer stem cells and their niche govern metastatic colonization ▶

Ilaria Malanchi, Albert Santamaria-Martínez, Evelyn Susanto, Hong Peng, Hans-Anton Lehr et al.

Metastatic growth in distant organs is the major cause of cancer mortality. The ...

Reversal of cocaine-evoked synaptic potentiation resets drug-induced adaptive behaviour ▶

Vincent Pascoli, Marc Turiault & Christian Lüscher

Drug-evoked synaptic plasticity is observed at many synapses and may underlie be...

Open structure of the Ca2+ gating ring in the high-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channel ▶

Peng Yuan, Manuel D. Leonetti, Yichun Hsiung & Roderick MacKinnon

High-conductance voltage- and Ca2+-activated K+ channels function in many physio...

Modulation of TRPA1 thermal sensitivity enables sensory discrimination in Drosophila ▶

Kyeongjin Kang, Vincent C. Panzano, Elaine C. Chang, Lina Ni, Alexandra M. Dainis et al.

Discriminating among sensory stimuli is critical for animal survival. This discr...

Articles and Letters

New gene functions in megakaryopoiesis and platelet formation ▶

Christian Gieger, Aparna Radhakrishnan, Ana Cvejic, Weihong Tang, Eleonora Porcu et al.

Platelets are the second most abundant cell type in blood and are essential for ...

The circadian molecular clock creates epidermal stem cell heterogeneity ▶

Peggy Janich, Gloria Pascual, Anna Merlos-Suárez, Eduard Batlle, Jürgen Ripperger et al.

Murine epidermal stem cells undergo alternate cycles of dormancy and activation,...

Trifluoromethylation of arenes and heteroarenes by means of photoredox catalysis ▶

David A. Nagib & David W. C. MacMillan

Modern drug discovery relies on the continual development of synthetic methodolo...

Acute vision in the giant Cambrian predator Anomalocaris and the origin of compound eyes ▶

John R. Paterson, Diego C. García-Bellido, Michael S. Y. Lee, Glenn A. Brock, James B. Jago et al.

Until recently, intricate details of the optical design of non-biomineralized ar...

Ecology drives a global network of gene exchange connecting the human microbiome ▶

Chris S. Smillie, Mark B. Smith, Jonathan Friedman, Otto X. Cordero, Lawrence A. David et al.

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT), the acquisition of genetic material from non-par...

Spontaneous epigenetic variation in the Arabidopsis thaliana methylome ▶

Claude Becker, Jörg Hagmann, Jonas Müller, Daniel Koenig, Oliver Stegle et al.

Heritable epigenetic polymorphisms, such as differential cytosine methylation, c...

Predicting mutation outcome from early stochastic variation in genetic interaction partners ▶

Alejandro Burga, M. Olivia Casanueva & Ben Lehner

Many mutations, including those that cause disease, only have a detrimental effe...

Mapping intact protein isoforms in discovery mode using top-down proteomics ▶

John C. Tran, Leonid Zamdborg, Dorothy R. Ahlf, Ji Eun Lee, Adam D. Catherman et al.

A full description of the human proteome relies on the challenging task of detec...

The endonuclease activity of Mili fuels piRNA amplification that silences LINE1 elements ▶

Serena De Fazio, Nenad Bartonicek, Monica Di Giacomo, Cei Abreu-Goodger, Aditya Sankar et al.

Piwi proteins and Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) have conserved functions in tra...

Miwi catalysis is required for piRNA amplification-independent LINE1 transposon silencing ▶

Michael Reuter, Philipp Berninger, Shinichiro Chuma, Hardik Shah, Mihoko Hosokawa et al.

Repetitive-element-derived Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) act together with Piwi...

Atomic-resolution dynamics on the surface of amyloid-β protofibrils probed by solution NMR ▶

Nicolas L. Fawzi, Jinfa Ying, Rodolfo Ghirlando, Dennis A. Torchia & G. Marius Clore

Exchange dynamics between molecules free in solution and bound to the surface of...

Aspartate 112 is the selectivity filter of the human voltage-gated proton channel ▶

Boris Musset, Susan M. E. Smith, Sindhu Rajan, Deri Morgan, Vladimir V. Cherny et al.

The ion selectivity of pumps and channels is central to their ability to perform...

News & Views

Stem cells: The clock within ▶

Lorena Aguilar-Arnal & Paolo Sassone-Corsi

Genetics: Noise rules ▶

Hana El-Samad & Jonathan S. Weissman

Materials science: A sense for touch ▶

C. Mathew Mate & Robert W. Carpick

Cancer: Sacrifice for survival ▶

Nana-Maria Grüning & Markus Ralser

Brief Communications Arising

GSK-3α/β kinases and amyloid production in vivo ▶

Tomasz Jaworski, Ilse Dewachter, Benoit Lechat, Maarten Gees, Anna Kremer et al.

Phiel et al. reply ▶

Christopher J. Phiel, Christina A. Wilson, Virginia M.-Y. Lee & Peter S. Klein

Corrigendum

A draft genome of Yersinia pestis from victims of the Black Death ▶

Kirsten I. Bos, Verena J. Schuenemann, G. Brian Golding, Hernán A. Burbano, Nicholas Waglechner et al.

Research Highlights

Biodiversity: Amazon frogs galore | Cancer: Spoilers of chemotherapy | Neuroimmunology: A boost to the brain's barrier | Bioengineering: Two-in-one biofuel maker | Ecology: The collapse of an invasive ant | Developmental biology: Stem cells from the heart | Ecology: Bacteria pass through plants | Molecular evolution: Pathogens put the pressure on

NEWS & COMMENT

Troubled waters | Cutbacks threaten HIV gains | Nano rules fall foul of data gap | Novartis to shut brain research facility | China pushes to rule the waves | Ocean conservation: Uncertain sanctuary | Out-of-body experience: Master of illusion | Neuroscience: Scent and sensibility | Books in brief | Behavioural biology: Canny liars score by tricking themselves Mark A. Davis

More Biological Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Open structure of the Ca2+ gating ring in the high-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channel ▶

Peng Yuan, Manuel D. Leonetti, Yichun Hsiung & Roderick MacKinnon

High-conductance voltage- and Ca2+-activated K+ channels function in many physio...

Articles and Letters

Trifluoromethylation of arenes and heteroarenes by means of photoredox catalysis ▶

David A. Nagib & David W. C. MacMillan

Modern drug discovery relies on the continual development of synthetic methodolo...

Mapping intact protein isoforms in discovery mode using top-down proteomics ▶

John C. Tran, Leonid Zamdborg, Dorothy R. Ahlf, Ji Eun Lee, Adam D. Catherman et al.

A full description of the human proteome relies on the challenging task of detec...

Miwi catalysis is required for piRNA amplification-independent LINE1 transposon silencing ▶

Michael Reuter, Philipp Berninger, Shinichiro Chuma, Hardik Shah, Mihoko Hosokawa et al.

Repetitive-element-derived Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) act together with Piwi...

Atomic-resolution dynamics on the surface of amyloid-β protofibrils probed by solution NMR ▶

Nicolas L. Fawzi, Jinfa Ying, Rodolfo Ghirlando, Dennis A. Torchia & G. Marius Clore

Exchange dynamics between molecules free in solution and bound to the surface of...

News & Views

Organic chemistry: A radical approach to diversity ▶

Andrew T. Parsons & Stephen L. Buchwald

Cancer: Sacrifice for survival ▶

Nana-Maria Grüning & Markus Ralser

Research Highlights

Bioengineering: Two-in-one biofuel maker

NEWS & COMMENT

Q&A: Chemical connector

CAREERS

Germany: Renewables revolution

More Chemical Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Latest Online

Fast core rotation in red-giant stars as revealed by gravity-dominated mixed modes ▶

Paul G. Beck, Josefina Montalban, Thomas Kallinger, Joris De Ridder, Conny Aerts et al.

When the core hydrogen is exhausted during stellar evolution, the central region...

Articles and Letters

Two ten-billion-solar-mass black holes at the centres of giant elliptical galaxies ▶

Nicholas J. McConnell, Chung-Pei Ma, Karl Gebhardt, Shelley A. Wright, Jeremy D. Murphy et al.

Observational work conducted over the past few decades indicates that all massiv...

Atomic homodyne detection of continuous-variable entangled twin-atom states ▶

C. Gross, H. Strobel, E. Nicklas, T. Zibold, N. Bar-Gill et al.

Historically, the completeness of quantum theory has been questioned using the c...

Combined obliquity and precession pacing of late Pleistocene deglaciations ▶

Peter Huybers

Milankovitch proposed that Earth resides in an interglacial state when its spin ...

Frictional ageing from interfacial bonding and the origins of rate and state friction ▶

Qunyang Li, Terry E. Tullis, David Goldsby & Robert W. Carpick

Earthquakes have long been recognized as being the result of stick–slip ...

Reviews and Perspectives

Assembly of hybrid photonic architectures from nanophotonic constituents ▶

Oliver Benson

The assembly of hybrid nanophotonic devices from different fundamental photonic ...

News & Views

Astrophysics: Monster black holes ▶

Michele Cappellari

Materials science: A sense for touch ▶

C. Mathew Mate & Robert W. Carpick

Research Highlights

Applied physics: Moving micro magnets

NEWS & COMMENT

A massive comfort | Nano rules fall foul of data gap | China pushes to rule the waves | Technology: Asia's space race | Social science: Open up online research | Norman Ramsey (1915–2011)

CAREERS

Germany: Renewables revolution

More Physical Sciences ▶

RESEARCH

Articles and Letters

Combined obliquity and precession pacing of late Pleistocene deglaciations ▶

Peter Huybers

Milankovitch proposed that Earth resides in an interglacial state when its spin ...

Frictional ageing from interfacial bonding and the origins of rate and state friction ▶

Qunyang Li, Terry E. Tullis, David Goldsby & Robert W. Carpick

Earthquakes have long been recognized as being the result of stick–slip ...

NEWS & COMMENT

Troubled waters | Nano rules fall foul of data gap | Dynamo maker ready to roll | China pushes to rule the waves | Technology: Asia's space race | Books in brief

More Earth & Environmental Sciences ▶

Influenza ▶

Herb Brody 

Epidemiology: Racing against the flu ▶

Influenza mutates fast and spreads easily, earning a place among humanity's biggest killers. 

Q&A: The flu catcher ▶

Richard Webby studies the ecology of influenza, trying to better understand how certain strains of influenza can leap across the species divide from animals to people. Nature Outlook sat down with him to learn more about his research. 

Prevention: Vaccine for all seasons ▶

As researchers map the stable parts of the proteins that stud the surface of influenza, the decades-long quest for a universal flu vaccine is showing signs of progress. 

Drugs: Lines of defence ▶

Antiviral treatments are a critical component of an effective healthcare response to influenza, but drug resistance to the treatment-of-choice has public health officials searching for other options. 

Public health: Life lessons ▶

The 2009 pandemic arrived suddenly and lethally, exposing our plans to reality. Are we now better prepared? 

Morbidity: A personal response ▶

Some people get horribly sick from the flu, and even die. Others just rest for a few days. What's behind this fateful variation? 

Sponsors

Germany: Renewables revolution ▶

Europe's largest economy is boosting research on alternative energy sources and generating job opportunities.

Unleash your inner dummy ▶

There is something to be said for letting go of the mantle of expert, argues Peter Fiske.

Doctorate awards drop ▶

Number of US doctorates awarded falls for first time in eight years.

Manchester hiring ▶

University establishes science posts despite austerity measures.

Gift system for science ▶

Website lets scientists build funding and public support.

Careers related news & comment

Novartis to shut brain research facility | State cuts fuel California protests | Social science: Open up online research | Scientific fraud: Europe must address research misconduct Xavier Bosch

Postodoctoral Research Fellow / Research Associate

University of Southern California (USC) 

Postdoc in Drug and Gene Delivery

Wayne State University 

Postdoctoral fellow in immunology: T cell development and migration

University of Chicago 

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Genome Damage and Stability Centre

Genome Damage and Stability Centre, University of Sussex, UK 

International Human Microbiome Congress 2012

19.-21.03.12 Paris, France