Table of contents : Nature

The state of California is clamping down on companies that offer direct-to-consumer genetic testing in a move that threatens the burgeoning industry. Meredith Wadman looks at a grey area in US regulation.

Meredith Wadman

doi:10.1038/4531148a

Full Text | PDF (259K)

Biogen fights takeover bid p1149

Board members reject billionaire's plans.

Heidi Ledford

doi:10.1038/4531149a

Full Text | PDF (99K)

Scientists get online news aggregator p1149

Canadian researcher launches science version of Google News.

Declan Butler

doi:10.1038/4531149b

Full Text | PDF (99K)

Payback time p1150

The UK government has invested heavily in science. Now it's looking for a return, and some worry that the research councils are being pressured to deliver, possibly at the expense of 'blue skies' research. Geoff Brumfiel looks at the changing landscape of science funding in Britain.

Geoff Brumfiel

doi:10.1038/4531150a

Full Text | PDF (730K)

When water gushed on Mars p1153

Could crevasses in the ice have been caused by a recent volcanic eruption?

Eric Hand

doi:10.1038/4531153a

Full Text | PDF (246K)

Population genomics for fruitflies p1154

Aggressive drosophila prompt study of genetic make-up.

Heidi Ledford

doi:10.1038/4531154a

Full Text | PDF (269K)

Online anthropology draws protest from aboriginal group p1155

South African tribe objects to multimedia images of remains.

Tony Scully

doi:10.1038/4531155a

Full Text | PDF (140K)

Sidelines p1155

Scribbles on the margins of science.

doi:10.1038/4531155b

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US Congress signals new funds for key science areas p1156

doi:10.1038/4531156a

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Boost biosafety funding to cut risks, say UK officials p1156

doi:10.1038/4531156b

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Phoenix digger uncovers ice in Martian soil p1156

doi:10.1038/4531156c

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International stem-cell collaborations launched p1156

doi:10.1038/4531156d

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Latest satellite launches to monitor sea level p1156

doi:10.1038/4531156e

Full Text | PDF (158K)

Radar and wind farms should coexist, say advisers p1156

doi:10.1038/4531156f

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News Features

Planetary science: Tunguska at 100 p1157

The most dramatic cosmic impact in recent history has gathered up almost as many weird explanations as it knocked down trees, writes Duncan Steel.

doi:10.1038/4531157a

Full Text | PDF (1,331K)

Planetary science: The hole at the bottom of the Moon p1160

A giant crater on the lunar farside holds the key to a catastrophic bombardment that reshaped the Moon, Earth and other planets. Eric Hand reports.

doi:10.1038/4531160a

Full Text | PDF (1,961K)

Planetary science: The burger bar that saved the world p1164

Fewer people are searching for near-Earth asteroids, astronomer David Morrison said in the 1990s, than work a shift in a small McDonalds. But that group — a little larger now — has over the past two decades discovered a host of happily harmless rocks, and in doing so reduced the risk of an unknown asteroid blighting civilization (see page 1178). David Chandler puts together the story in the words of those who watched, and those who watched the watchers.

doi:10.1038/4531164a

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Gallery feature: All craters great and small p1170

From a 5-millimetre dent on a satellite to a 3-kilometre pit in the surface of Mars, the scars of impact events can be seen at every scale. We present a gallery of some particularly appealing ones from Earth and beyond.

doi:10.1038/4531170a

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Correspondence

Agronomy and plant breeding are key to combating food crisis p1177

Lucas Borrás & Gustavo A. Slafer

doi:10.1038/4531177a

Full Text | PDF (48K)

The ethical basis of the null hypothesis p1177

John Pastor

doi:10.1038/4531177b

Full Text | PDF (48K)

Stem-cell urological treatment was not carried out illegally p1177

Hannes Strasser

doi:10.1038/4531177c

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Commentary

What Spaceguard did p1178

A survey of large objects near Earth has shown that there is little risk of a cataclysmic impact in the next century. Alan Harris asks if such cataloguing efforts should continue.

doi:10.1038/4531178a

Full Text | PDF (597K)

See also: Editor's summary

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Books and Arts

The end of the line? p1180

A spotlight on the historic US fishing port of Gloucester fails to capture the complexity of the fisheries collapse caused by overexploitation and regulation, says Daniel Pauly.

Daniel Pauly reviews The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester, America's Oldest Fishing Port and Most Original Town by Mark Kurlansky

doi:10.1038/4531180a

Full Text | PDF (381K)

Making genetic history p1181

Jerry A. Coyne reviews In Pursuit of the Gene: From Darwin to DNA by James Schwartz

doi:10.1038/4531181a

Full Text | PDF (188K)

Swayonomics p1182

Michael Shermer reviews Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori Brafman & Rom Brafman

doi:10.1038/4531182a

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Q&A: Travels with a paintbrush p1183

Watercolour artist and explorer Tony Foster paints in some extreme places. He has climbed mountains, sketched erupting volcanoes and drawn underwater. As an exhibition of his works of Mount Everest and the Grand Canyon opens in London, he tells Nature why he goes to such extraordinary efforts.

Daniel Cressey

doi:10.1038/4531183a

Full Text | PDF (207K)

In Retrospect: Lucifer's Hammer p1184

Oliver Morton recalls how the first major science fiction novel to depict an impact event conjured the thrill and the horror of natural cataclysm — and even inspired some researchers.

Oliver Morton reviews Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

doi:10.1038/4531184a

Full Text | PDF (212K)

Message from the heavens p1185

Discerning the meaning behind Maurizio Cattelan's violent, provocative and now highly valuable sculpture of Pope John Paul II felled by a meteorite raises many questions for viewers, explains Martin Kemp.

Martin Kemp

doi:10.1038/4531185a

Full Text | PDF (256K)

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Essays

Beyond the notes p1186

The way performers shape notes brings music to life. Nicholas Cook argues that measuring these subtle changes can help us appreciate and replicate the performer's art.

Nicholas Cook

doi:10.1038/4531186a

Full Text | PDF (359K)

The other beetle-hunter p1188

Thanks to a fateful letter, the theory of evolution by natural selection was unveiled 150 years ago this week. Andrew Berry and Janet Browne celebrate the letter's writer, Alfred Russel Wallace.

Andrew Berry & Janet Browne

doi:10.1038/4531188a

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News and Views

Planetary science: Forming the martian great divide p1191

Early in its history, Mars suffered a convulsion that left a lasting geological and topographical scar. The latest work adds to evidence that the cause was external — a massive impact.

Walter S. Kiefer

doi:10.1038/4531191a

Full Text | PDF (342K)

See also: Editor's summary

Behavioural neuroscience: Out of sight, but not out of mind p1192

Flies are cleverer than previously thought. They can remember their original destination even if distracted en route by another landmark. This behaviour depends on a specific group of neurons.

Seth M. Tomchik & Ronald L. Davis

doi:10.1038/4531192a

Full Text | PDF (409K)

See also: Editor's summary

50 & 100 Years Ago p1193

doi:10.1038/4531193a

Full Text | PDF (191K)

Drug discovery: A lifeline for suffocating tissues p1194

When a blood vessel becomes blocked, the ideal treatment would be a drug that induces new vessel formation in the damaged tissue, without affecting healthy tissues. With the chemical nitrite, we might be on to a winner.

Massimiliano Mazzone & Peter Carmeliet

doi:10.1038/4531194a

Full Text | PDF (254K)

Atmospheric chemistry: Sun, sea and ozone destruction p1195

Halogens are known to decrease the levels of stratospheric ozone. The latest measurements show that something similar occurs in the lower atmosphere over tropical oceans — and probably above most other oceans, too.

Roland von Glasow

doi:10.1038/4531195a

Full Text | PDF (224K)

See also: Editor's summary

Psychology: Bias at the ballot box p1197

Tim Lincoln

doi:10.1038/4531197a

Full Text | PDF (109K)

Molecular biology: Power sequencing p1197

Advances in DNA-sequencing technology provide unprecedented insight into the entire collection of four genomes' transcribed sequences. They herald a new era in the study of gene regulation and genome function.

Brenton R. Graveley

doi:10.1038/4531197b

Full Text | PDF (146K)

See also: Editor's summary

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Articles

Ventastega curonica and the origin of tetrapod morphology p1199

Per E. Ahlberg, Jennifer A. Clack, Erv i macr ns Luk s caron evi c caron s, Henning Blom & Ivars Zupi ncedil s caron

doi:10.1038/nature06991

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,495K) | Supplementary information

See also: Editor's summary

Scaling of the BMP activation gradient in Xenopus embryos p1205

Danny Ben-Zvi, Ben-Zion Shilo, Abraham Fainsod & Naama Barkai

doi:10.1038/nature07059

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (591K) | Supplementary information

See also: Editor's summary

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Letters

The Borealis basin and the origin of the martian crustal dichotomy p1212

Jeffrey C. Andrews-Hanna, Maria T. Zuber & W. Bruce Banerdt

doi:10.1038/nature07011

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (641K) | Supplementary information

Mega-impact formation of the Mars hemispheric dichotomy p1216

Margarita M. Marinova, Oded Aharonson & Erik Asphaug

doi:10.1038/nature07070

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,429K) | Supplementary information

Implications of an impact origin for the martian hemispheric dichotomy p1220

F. Nimmo, S. D. Hart, D. G. Korycansky & C. B. Agnor

doi:10.1038/nature07025

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (2,102K) | Supplementary information

A BCS-like gap in the superconductor SmFeAsO_0.85F_0.15 p1224

T. Y. Chen, Z. Tesanovic, R. H. Liu, X. H. Chen & C. L. Chien

doi:10.1038/nature07081

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (525K) | Supplementary information

See also: Editor's summary

The total synthesis of (-)-cyanthiwigin F by means of double catalytic enantioselective alkylation p1228

John A. Enquist Jr & Brian M. Stoltz

doi:10.1038/nature07046

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (316K) | Supplementary information

See also: Editor's summary

Extensive halogen-mediated ozone destruction over the tropical Atlantic Ocean p1232

Katie A. Read, Anoop S. Mahajan, Lucy J. Carpenter, Mathew J. Evans, Bruno V. E. Faria, Dwayne E. Heard, James R. Hopkins, James D. Lee, Sarah J. Moller, Alastair C. Lewis, Luis Mendes, James B. McQuaid, Hilke Oetjen, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Michael J. Pilling & John M. C. Plane

doi:10.1038/nature07035

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (282K) | Supplementary information

Explosive volcanism on the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge, Arctic Ocean p1236

Robert A. Sohn, Claire Willis, Susan Humphris, Timothy M. Shank, Hanumant Singh, Henrietta N. Edmonds, Clayton Kunz, Ulf Hedman, Elisabeth Helmke, Michael Jakuba, Bengt Liljebladh, Julia Linder, Christopher Murphy, Ko-ichi Nakamura, Taichi Sato, Vera Schlindwein, Christian Stranne, Maria Tausenfreund, Lucia Upchurch, Peter Winsor, Martin Jakobsson & Adam Soule

doi:10.1038/nature07075

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (648K)

See also: Editor's summary

Dynamic repertoire of a eukaryotic transcriptome surveyed at single-nucleotide resolution p1239

Brian T. Wilhelm, Samuel Marguerat, Stephen Watt, Falk Schubert, Valerie Wood, Ian Goodhead, Christopher J. Penkett, Jane Rogers & Jürg Bähler

doi:10.1038/nature07002

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,523K) | Supplementary information

Analysis of a spatial orientation memory in Drosophila p1244

Kirsa Neuser, Tilman Triphan, Markus Mronz, Burkhard Poeck & Roland Strauss

doi:10.1038/nature07003

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (336K) | Supplementary information

Hippocampus-independent phase precession in entorhinal grid cells p1248

Torkel Hafting, Marianne Fyhn, Tora Bonnevie, May-Britt Moser & Edvard I. Moser

doi:10.1038/nature06957

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,023K) | Supplementary information

See also: Editor's summary

Rapid strengthening of thalamo-amygdala synapses mediates cue–reward learning p1253

Kay M. Tye, Garret D. Stuber, Bram de Ridder, Antonello Bonci & Patricia H. Janak

doi:10.1038/nature06963

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (978K) | Supplementary information

See also: Editor's summary

Crystal structures of oseltamivir-resistant influenza virus neuraminidase mutants p1258

Patrick J. Collins, Lesley F. Haire, Yi Pu Lin, Junfeng Liu, Rupert J. Russell, Philip A. Walker, John J. Skehel, Stephen R. Martin, Alan J. Hay & Steven J. Gamblin

doi:10.1038/nature06956