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Experimentalists and theorists need to talk
Chemists should thrash out discrepancies in modelling, synthesizing and applying porous materials, urge Aaron W. Peters, Ashlee J. Howarth and Omar K. Farha.
Aaron W. Peters, Ashlee J. Howarth, Omar K. Farha |
Maximize the impacts of space science
Put research goals first when prioritizing and managing national and international projects, urge Ji Wu and Roger Bonnet.
Ji Wu, Roger Bonnet |
Perfectly normal
Andrew Solomon hails a study on how conflating ‘ideal’ and ‘average’ spawned flawed concepts of identity.
Andrew Solomon |
The internet that wasn’t
Sharon Weinberger weighs up a history of PLATO, a prescient but doomed 1960s US computer network.
Sharon Weinberger |
Books in brief
Barbara Kiser reviews five of the week's best science picks.
Barbara Kiser |
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| Brief Communications Arising |
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A Jurassic gliding euharamiyidan mammal with an ear of five auditory bones
The fossil of a gliding mammal from the Jurassic period sheds light on both the evolution of gliding and the development of the middle ear, as it has a previously unseen five-ossicle auditory system.
Gang Han, Fangyuan Mao, Shundong Bi et al. |
A communal catalogue reveals Earth’s multiscale microbial diversity OPEN
As phase 1 of the Earth Microbiome Project, analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA sequences from more than 27,000 environmental samples delivers a global picture of the basic structure and drivers of microbial distribution.
Luke R. Thompson, Jon G. Sanders, Daniel McDonald et al. |
Programmable base editing of A•T to G•C in genomic DNA without DNA cleavage
A new DNA ‘base editor’ can change targeted A•T base pairs to G•C, allowing disease-associated mutations to be corrected and disease-suppressing mutations to be introduced into cells.
Nicole M. Gaudelli, Alexis C. Komor, Holly A. Rees et al. |
Visualization of chemical modifications in the human 80S ribosome structure
A high-resolution structure of the human ribosome determined by cryo-electron microscopy visualizes numerous RNA modifications that are concentrated at functional sites with an extended shell, and suggests the possibility of designing more specific ribosome-targeting drugs.
S. Kundhavai Natchiar, Alexander G. Myasnikov, Hanna Kratzat et al. |
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Solar abundance ratios of the iron-peak elements in the Perseus cluster
High-resolution X-ray spectra show near-solar abundances of chromium, manganese and nickel with respect to iron in the Perseus cluster, suggesting that the progenitors of type Ia supernovae could be near- and sub-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarfs.
Hitomi Collaboration |
Photonuclear reactions triggered by lightning discharge
Ground-based observations during a thunderstorm provide conclusive evidence of positrons being produced after lightning, confirming that lightning can trigger photonuclear reactions.
Teruaki Enoto, Yuuki Wada, Yoshihiro Furuta et al. |
Photonic quantum state transfer between a cold atomic gas and a crystal
In a step towards hybrid quantum networks, a quantum state can be transferred between two fundamentally different systems—a cold atomic ensemble and a solid-state crystal—by a single photon.
Nicolas Maring, Pau Farrera, Kutlu Kutluer et al. |
Ligand-accelerated non-directed C–H functionalization of arenes
Using a ligand as a promoter enhances the reactivity of the palladium catalyst in non-directed C–H functionalization of arenes, enabling the arene to be used as the limiting reagent.
Peng Wang, Pritha Verma, Guoqin Xia et al. |
Hydrogen-bearing iron peroxide and the origin of ultralow-velocity zones
A reaction between iron and water at the high pressure and temperature of the lowermost mantle is described that produces hydrogen-bearing iron peroxide, which has the properties expected of the ultralow-velocity zones at Earth’s core–mantle boundary.
Jin Liu, Qingyang Hu, Duck Young Kim et al. |
Genome sequence of the progenitor of the wheat D genome Aegilops tauschii OPEN
A combination of advanced sequencing and mapping techniques is used to produce a reference genome of Aegilops tauschii, progenitor of the wheat D genome, providing a valuable resource for comparative genetic studies.
Ming-Cheng Luo, Yong Q. Gu, Daniela Puiu et al. |
Synaptotagmin 7 confers frequency invariance onto specialized depressing synapses
The calcium-sensing protein synaptotagmin 7 mediates facilitation that is masked by depression, but supports frequency-invariant transmission in mouse cerebellar and vestibular synapses.
Josef Turecek, Skyler L. Jackman, Wade G. Regehr |
Quantitative microbiome profiling links gut community variation to microbial load
Quantitive microbiome profiling reveals that total microbial load is an important determinant of enterotypes and may be a key driver of microbiota alterations in patients with Crohn’s disease.
Doris Vandeputte, Gunter Kathagen, Kevin D’hoe et al. |
Identification of unique neoantigen qualities in long-term survivors of pancreatic cancer
The analysis of T-cell antigens in long-term survivors of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma suggests that neoantigen immunogenicity and quality, not purely quantity, correlate with survival.
Vinod P. Balachandran, Marta Łuksza, Julia N. Zhao et al. |
A neoantigen fitness model predicts tumour response to checkpoint blockade immunotherapy
An immune fitness model for tumours under checkpoint blockade immunotherapy is proposed, through which the authors show that the presentation and recognition properties of dominant neoantigens distributed over tumour subclones are predictive of response in melanoma and lung cancer cohorts.
Marta Łuksza, Nadeem Riaz, Vladimir Makarov et al. |
Structural basis of nucleotide sugar transport across the Golgi membrane
Crystal structures of the nucleotide sugar transporter Vrg4 are reported in both the substrate-free and the bound states.
Joanne L. Parker, Simon Newstead |
Structure of the human MHC-I peptide-loading complex
Electron cryo-microscopy structures of the human peptide-loading complex shed light on its operation and on the onset of adaptive immune responses.
Andreas Blees, Dovile Januliene, Tommy Hofmann et al. |
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