Table of contents
Volume 454 Number 7207 pp917-1028
In this issue (21 August 2008)
Also this week
(this content only available online) indicates content that is available online only
Editorials
Case not closed p917
The FBI says it has evidence showing that Bruce Ivins was behind the 2001 anthrax attacks — but with his death, this will not be tested in court. A full enquiry into the case is needed if justice is to be done.
doi:10.1038/454917a
Scandalous behaviour p917
Austria's most serious report of scientific misconduct in recent memory must be handled properly.
doi:10.1038/454917b
A case for nurture p918
Innovation is a complex ecosystem that requires careful cultivation.
doi:10.1038/454918a
Research Highlights
Animal behaviour: Don't you step on my ... p920
doi:10.1038/454920a
Electrophysiology: On the pulse p920
doi:10.1038/454920b
Microbiology: Running on arsenic p920
doi:10.1038/454920c
Fluid dynamics: Slip and slide p920
doi:10.1038/454920d
Atmospheric chemistry: Attacked from within p920
doi:10.1038/454920e
Climate indicators: Early birds p920
doi:10.1038/454920f
Animal behaviour: Crowd control p921
doi:10.1038/454921a
Immunology: The power of tick spit p921
doi:10.1038/454921b
Botany: Biofuel heir apparent? p921
doi:10.1038/454921c
Biophysics: Mob rule p921
doi:10.1038/454921d
News
Report finds grave flaws in urology trial p922
Scandal erupts at Austrian medical school.
Alison Abbott
doi:10.1038/454922a
Europe gets centres of excellence for neuroscience p922
University College London will play host to £140-million institute.
Geoff Brumfiel
doi:10.1038/454922b
Unproven stem-cell therapy ban p923
Bulgarian deputy minister quits over controversial treatment.
Maria Rossbauer
doi:10.1038/454923a
Whatever floats your boat p924
Shipping is one of the most fuel-efficient ways to move freight, but the industry still produces significant greenhouse-gas emissions, including more than a quarter of the world's nitrogen oxides emissions. And it also produces more sulphur dioxide emissions than all land transportation combined. In the latest of our Future Transport series, Duncan Graham-Rowe looks at the new wave in shipping.
Duncan Graham-Rowe
doi:10.1038/454924a
Bell Labs bottoms out p927
Institute pulls plug on basic research.
Geoff Brumfiel
doi:10.1038/454927a
FBI to reveal anthrax data p928
Science of case will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals.
Amber Dance
doi:10.1038/454928a
Leak leaves Antarctic observatory blinded p929
doi:10.1038/454929a
US ocean agency upgrades its research fleet p929
doi:10.1038/454929b
Computer experts blast ruling to gag students p929
doi:10.1038/454929c
Plans for the largest ever solar-power plants p929
doi:10.1038/454929d
Science illustration course draws to an end p929
doi:10.1038/454929e
New species of robin found in Gabon p929
doi:10.1038/454929f
Correction p929
doi:10.1038/454929g
News Features
Volcanology: Fire and life p930
Recent eruptions and field expeditions may herald a return to glory for the Son of Krakatau. Jerry Guo explores what the 78-year-old island has to offer.
doi:10.1038/454930a
Neuroscience: The great squid hunt p934
When jumbo Humboldt squid disappeared from Chilean waters, it led to the demise of a world-class electrophysiology laboratory. Now the creatures are back, finds Tony Scully, and so are the scientists.
doi:10.1038/454934a
Correspondence
IVF: stars may have to consider the risk of stolen parenthood p938
Christoph Bock
doi:10.1038/454938a
IVF: tight regulation may not be suitable for all cultures p938
David Adamson
doi:10.1038/454938b
A possible way out of the impact-factor game p938
Herman Tse
doi:10.1038/454938c
The human face of a difficult, heroic, passionate scientist p939
Elof Axel Carlson
doi:10.1038/454939a
Micromanaging ideas risks impeding flow of potential benefits p939
Jim Woodgett
doi:10.1038/454939b
Open debate could slow flu vaccine production p939
Stephen Inglis, John Wood & Philip Minor
doi:10.1038/454939c
Commentary
Innovation policy: not just a jumbo shrimp p940
Policies that predict and direct innovative research might seem to be a practical impossibility, says David H. Guston, but social sciences point to a solution.
doi:10.1038/454940a
See also: Editor's summary
Books and Arts
Flat Earth and Amazons p942
Charles-Marie de La Condamine's quest to Peru to calculate Earth's flattened shape included some adventures that didn't make it into the offical records at the time, finds D. Graham Burnett.
D. Graham Burnett reviews Measuring the New World: Enlightenment Science and South America by Neil Safier
doi:10.1038/454942a
Microbial fuels for the future p943
Bruce Logan reviews Bioenergy
doi:10.1038/454943a
A potter round Darwin's patch p944
Beverley Glover reviews Darwin's Garden: Down House and The Origin of Species by Michael Boulter
doi:10.1038/454944a
Exhibition digs deep to save our soils p946
Amber Dance reviews Dig It! The Secrets of Soil
doi:10.1038/454946a
News and Views
Developmental biology: Neither fat nor flesh p947
In mammals, white adipose tissue stores fat, whereas brown adipose tissue burns fat. Brown adipocytes have a common origin with muscle cells, which could help explain their unusual function.
Barbara Cannon & Jan Nedergaard
doi:10.1038/454947a
See also: Editor's summary
Chemistry: Precious little catalyst p948
In gold catalysis, less is more. Bulk gold is an inert metal, but tiny particles containing as few as 55 gold atoms are effective at catalysing the targeted oxidation of hydrocarbons.
D. Wayne Goodman
doi:10.1038/454948a
See also: Editor's summary
Physiology: Mutant flies lack magnetic sense p949
It seems that fruitflies can detect magnetic fields, but only if they are illuminated with blue light. Mutant flies reveal that a light-responsive receptor underpins this peculiar behaviour.
François Rouyer
doi:10.1038/454949a
See also: Editor's summary
50 & 100 years ago p950
doi:10.1038/454950a
Materials science: A metal left spinning p951
Conductors and semiconductors usually behave like conduits for fluids of electrons. But sometimes the electrons' spins conspire to produce unconventional behaviours that can be turned off and on with magnets.
Zachary Fisk & Stephan von Molnár
doi:10.1038/454951a
See also: Editor's summary
Biogeochemistry: Who lives in the sea floor? p952
The sediments that blanket the sea floor contain tremendous numbers of microorganisms. This deep marine biosphere, which is probed by deep-sea drilling, is a new frontier for microbiologists and geochemists.
Ann Pearson
doi:10.1038/454952a
See also: Editor's summary
Archaeology: An oasis in time p953
Christopher Surridge
doi:10.1038/454953a
Obituary: Yoji Totsuka (1942–2008) p954
Leader in the discovery of neutrino oscillations.
Henry W. Sobel & Yoichiro Suzuki
doi:10.1038/454954a
Articles
The Trichoplax genome and the nature of placozoans p955
Mansi Srivastava, Emina Begovic, Jarrod Chapman, Nicholas H. Putnam, Uffe Hellsten, Takeshi Kawashima, Alan Kuo, Therese Mitros, Asaf Salamov, Meredith L. Carpenter, Ana Y. Signorovitch, Maria A. Moreno, Kai Kamm, Jane Grimwood, Jeremy Schmutz, Harris Shapiro, Igor V. Grigoriev, Leo W. Buss, Bernd Schierwater, Stephen L. Dellaporta & Daniel S. Rokhsar
doi:10.1038/nature07191
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (692K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
PRDM16 controls a brown fat/skeletal muscle switch p961
Patrick Seale, Bryan Bjork, Wenli Yang, Shingo Kajimura, Sherry Chin, Shihuan Kuang, Anthony Scimè, Srikripa Devarakonda, Heather M. Conroe, Hediye Erdjument-Bromage, Paul Tempst, Michael A. Rudnicki, David R. Beier & Bruce M. Spiegelman
doi:10.1038/nature07182
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (953K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Cannon & Nedergaard
Letters
Magnetic support of the optical emission line filaments in NGC 1275 p968
A. C. Fabian, R. M. Johnstone, J. S. Sanders, C. J. Conselice, C. S. Crawford, J. S. Gallagher III & E. Zweibel
doi:10.1038/nature07169
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (3,007K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Heterogeneous chemistry in the atmosphere of Mars p971
Franck Lefèvre, Jean-Loup Bertaux, R. Todd Clancy, Thérèse Encrenaz, Kelly Fast, François Forget, Sébastien Lebonnois, Franck Montmessin & Séverine Perrier
doi:10.1038/nature07116
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,930K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Doping a semiconductor to create an unconventional metal p976
N. Manyala, J. F. DiTusa, G. Aeppli & A. P. Ramirez
doi:10.1038/nature07137
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,217K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Fisk & von Molnár
Selective oxidation with dioxygen by gold nanoparticle catalysts derived from 55-atom clusters p981
Mark Turner, Vladimir B. Golovko, Owain P. H. Vaughan, Pavel Abdulkin, Angel Berenguer-Murcia, Mintcho S. Tikhov, Brian F. G. Johnson & Richard M. Lambert
doi:10.1038/nature07194
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (577K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Wayne Goodman
Effect of phase transitions on compressional-wave velocities in the Earth's mantle p984
Li Li & Donald J. Weidner
doi:10.1038/nature07230
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (248K)
See also: Editor's summary
Self-destructive cooperation mediated by phenotypic noise p987
Martin Ackermann, Bärbel Stecher, Nikki E. Freed, Pascal Songhet, Wolf-Dietrich Hardt & Michael Doebeli
doi:10.1038/nature07067
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (265K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Significant contribution of Archaea to extant biomass in marine subsurface sediments p991
Julius S. Lipp, Yuki Morono, Fumio Inagaki & Kai-Uwe Hinrichs
doi:10.1038/nature07174
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (273K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Pearson
Spatio-temporal correlations and visual signalling in a complete neuronal population p995
Jonathan W. Pillow, Jonathon Shlens, Liam Paninski, Alexander Sher, Alan M. Litke, E. J. Chichilnisky & Eero P. Simoncelli
doi:10.1038/nature07140
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (768K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
New role of bone morphogenetic protein 7 in brown adipogenesis and energy expenditure p1000
Yu-Hua Tseng, Efi Kokkotou, Tim J. Schulz, Tian Lian Huang, Jonathon N. Winnay, Cullen M. Taniguchi, Thien T. Tran, Ryo Suzuki, Daniel O. Espinoza, Yuji Yamamoto, Molly J. Ahrens, Andrew T. Dudley, Andrew W. Norris, Rohit N. Kulkarni & C. Ronald Kahn
doi:10.1038/nature07221
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (628K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Cannon & Nedergaard
The pathogen protein EspFU hijacks actin polymerization using mimicry and multivalency p1005
Nathan A. Sallee, Gonzalo M. Rivera, John E. Dueber, Dan Vasilescu, R. Dyche Mullins, Bruce J. Mayer & Wendell A. Lim
doi:10.1038/nature07170
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (609K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Structural mechanism of WASP activation by the enterohaemorrhagic E. coli effector EspFU p1009
Hui-Chun Cheng, Brian M. Skehan, Kenneth G. Campellone, John M. Leong & Michael K. Rosen
doi:10.1038/nature07160
PDB code
3D view
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (716K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Cryptochrome mediates light-dependent magnetosensitivity in Drosophila p1014
Robert J. Gegear, Amy Casselman, Scott Waddell & Steven M. Reppert
doi:10.1038/nature07183
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (328K)
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Rouyer
Molecular basis of the copulatory plug polymorphism in Caenorhabditis elegans p1019
Michael F. Palopoli, Matthew V. Rockman, Aye TinMaung, Camden Ramsay, Stephen Curwen, Andrea Aduna, Jason Laurita & Leonid Kruglyak
doi:10.1038/nature07171
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (437K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Naturejobs
ProspectProspects p1023
Seeking a new kind of graduate school rankings scheme.
Gene Russo
doi:10.1038/nj7207-1023a
Special Report
Dissension in the ranks p1024
Graduate programmes are rated by various organizations using different criteria. How much use are these rankings? Genevive Bjorn surveys the options.
Genevive Bjorn
doi:10.1038/nj7207-1024a
Highlights
Highlight: New Jersey
doi:10.1038/nj0222
Highlight on Minnesota
doi:10.1038/nj0223
