Editorials

Danger and opportunity p141

The response to the financial crisis needs to go beyond the immediate pressures. Policy-makers must seize this moment to solidify the science and innovation required for sustained economic growth.

doi:10.1038/456141a

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Situations vacant p142

Italy's universities should be free to hire who they want — and should be accountable for the result.

doi:10.1038/456142a

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Science by litigation p142

A company's lawsuit against researchers should not be allowed to intimidate others.

doi:10.1038/456142b

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Research Highlights

Molecular biology: Clones of the dead p144

doi:10.1038/456144a

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Astronomy: Star birth p144

doi:10.1038/456144b

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Meteorology: Prediction with plants p144

doi:10.1038/456144c

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Animal behaviour: Got the scent p144

doi:10.1038/456144d

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Molecular biology: Micro-conspirator p144

doi:10.1038/456144e

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Chemical biology: Clotting by quorum p145

doi:10.1038/456145a

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Quantum physics: Entangled accuracy p145

doi:10.1038/456145b

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Molecular biology: Chewing the fat p145

doi:10.1038/456145c

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Geosciences: Submarine slippage p145

doi:10.1038/456145d

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Journal Club

Journal club p145

Douglas Natelson

doi:10.1038/456145e

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News

Climate first for Obama transition team p146

Modified genes spread to local maize p149

China asks world to step up on climate p151

WHO congress backs traditional medicine p152

Proposed reform to animal testing rules draws fire p152

Contaminants identified in plastic lab equipment p152

Marine census nets wealth of unknown ocean life p153

Research agency focuses on first-time applicants p153

Billion-dollar bid for stem-cell treatments p153

Science in the meltdown p155

News Feature

Neuroscience: The plaque plan p161

Correspondence

Italy: 'draconian' new law galvanizes demonstrations p166

Rete Nazionale Ricercatori Precari

doi:10.1038/456166a

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Italy: restoring axed funds is not enough to cure all ills p166

Ferdinando Boero

doi:10.1038/456166b

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Peer-reviewed parrot studies speak for themselves, as he did p166

Irene M. Pepperberg

doi:10.1038/456166c

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Commentary

The innovative brain p168

'Hot' decision-making, involving the evaluation of reward and punishment, is essential to the entrepreneurial process and may be possible to teach, argue Barbara Sahakian and her coauthors.

doi:10.1038/456168a

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Books and Arts

Meditating on consciousness p170

Two books exploring the relationship between Buddhism and science reveal surprising synergies — and hint that insights into the brain may come from studying the religion's practices, finds Michael Bond.

Michael Bond reviews Buddhism and Science: A Guide for the Perplexed by Donald S. Lopez and Mind and Life: Discussions with the Dalai Lama on the Nature of Reality by Pier Luigi Luisi & Zara Houshmand

doi:10.1038/456170a

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Seeing is behaving p171

Warren Mansell reviews Living Control Systems III: The Fact of Control by William T. Powers

doi:10.1038/456171a

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Change begins at home p172

Josie Glausiusz reviews Climate Change: The Threat to Life and a New Energy Future

doi:10.1038/456172a

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The two cultures of Wall Street p173

J. Doyne Farmer reviews Physicists on Wall Street and Other Essays on Science and Society by Jeremy Bernstein

doi:10.1038/456173a

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Mapping the cerebral globe p174

A detailed sketch by architect Christopher Wren reveals his surprising contribution to neuroscience, explain Martin Kemp and Nathan Flis.

Martin Kemp & Nathan Flis

doi:10.1038/456174a

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Essay

Why do intelligent people live longer? p175

We must discover why cognitive differences are related to morbidity and mortality, argues Ian Deary, in order to help tackle health inequalities.

Ian Deary

doi:10.1038/456175a

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News and Views

Neuroscience: Light moulds plastic brains p177

In tadpoles, the number of neurons expressing the neurotransmitter dopamine increases on exposure to light. Such plasticity might allow animals to match their brains' response to environmental stimuli.

Stefan Thor

doi:10.1038/456177a

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Analytical chemistry: Home diagnostics to music p178

Fed up with sitting in the doctor's surgery among all those sneezy patients, waiting for the results of a health check? With the latest technology, you could one day perform bioassays on your home compact-disc player.

Jeffrey S. Erickson & Frances S. Ligler

doi:10.1038/456178a

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Marine biology: Genes in the glass house p179

Sequence data on a second species of diatom provide abundant insights into the evolution and metabolic capabilities of this group, as well as into mechanisms of gene acquisition and diversification.

Ronald P. Kiene

doi:10.1038/456179a

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Quantum physics: Swift control of a single spin p182

For now, quantum information processing systems remain a dream. Step by step, however, progress towards that goal is being made, with one promising route involving a novel means of manipulating electron spin.

Keiichi Edamatsu

doi:10.1038/456182a

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Ion channels: The voltage-sensor quartet p183

Decoding the workings of voltage-gated sodium channels is crucial because their mutation leads to severe disease and their activity is modulated by toxins and drugs. An innovative approach now allows such investigations.

J. R. Bankston & R. S. Kass

doi:10.1038/456183a

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Microscopy: Watching catalysts at work p185

Solid catalysts speed up many industrial chemical reactions and steer them towards making desired products. A microscopy technique could reveal the changes in composition that catalysts undergo as they perform.

Alexis T. Bell

doi:10.1038/456185a

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Biochemistry: Flexible peptide assembly p186

A jack of all trades is a master of none, as the saying goes. But a protein has been discovered that shuns specialism, and that multitasks to give flexibility to its biosynthetic repertoire.

Jan C. M. van Hest

doi:10.1038/456186a

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Neuroscience: Cool songs p187

Cooling a specific cluster of neurons in songbirds' brains slows song tempo without changing other acoustic features. This clever technique could be used for understanding neural control of other complex behaviours.

Chris M. Glaze & Todd Troyer

doi:10.1038/456187a

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Brief Communications Arising

The origin of hydrogen around HD 209458b pE1

A. Lecavelier des Etangs, A. Vidal-Madjar & J.-M. Désert

doi:10.1038/nature07402

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Holmström et al. reply pE1

M. Holmström, A. Ekenbäck, F. Selsis, T. Penz, H. Lammer & P. Wurz

doi:10.1038/nature07403

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Articles

Using temperature to analyse temporal dynamics in the songbird motor pathway p189

Michael A. Long & Michale S. Fee

doi:10.1038/nature07448

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,323K) | Supplementary information

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Illumination controls differentiation of dopamine neurons regulating behaviour p195

Davide Dulcis & Nicholas C. Spitzer

doi:10.1038/nature07569

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,155K) | Supplementary information

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Deconstructing voltage sensor function and pharmacology in sodium channels p202

Frank Bosmans, Marie-France Martin-Eauclaire & Kenton J. Swartz

doi:10.1038/nature07473

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (14,517K) | Supplementary information

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Structure of the guide-strand-containing argonaute silencing complex p209

Yanli Wang, Gang Sheng, Stefan Juranek, Thomas Tuschl & Dinshaw J. Patel

doi:10.1038/nature07315

• PDB code

  • 3DLH
  • 3DLB

• 3D view

  • 3DLH
  • 3DLB

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,313K) | Supplementary information

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Letters

Complex structure within Saturn's infrared aurora p214

Tom Stallard, Steve Miller, Makenzie Lystrup, Nicholas Achilleos, Emma J. Bunce, Christopher S. Arridge, Michele K. Dougherty, Stan W. H. Cowley, Sarah V. Badman, Dean L. Talboys, Robert H. Brown, Kevin H. Baines, Bonnie J. Buratti, Roger N. Clark, Christophe Sotin, Phil D. Nicholson & Pierre Drossart

doi:10.1038/nature07440

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Complete quantum control of a single quantum dot spin using ultrafast optical pulses p218

David Press, Thaddeus D. Ladd, Bingyang Zhang & Yoshihisa Yamamoto

doi:10.1038/nature07530

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Nanoscale chemical imaging of a working catalyst by scanning transmission X-ray microscopy p222

Emiel de Smit, Ingmar Swart, J. Fredrik Creemer, Gerard H. Hoveling, Mary K. Gilles, Tolek Tyliszczak, Patricia J. Kooyman, Henny W. Zandbergen, Cynthia Morin, Bert M. Weckhuysen & Frank M. F. de Groot

doi:10.1038/nature07516

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Transient nature of late Pleistocene climate variability p226

Thomas J. Crowley & William T. Hyde

doi:10.1038/nature07365

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Radiative conductivity in the Earth's lower mantle p231

Alexander F. Goncharov, Benjamin D. Haugen, Viktor V. Struzhkin, Pierre Beck & Steven D. Jacobsen

doi:10.1038/nature07412

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The interaction between predation and competition p235

Peter Chesson & Jessica J. Kuang

doi:10.1038/nature07248

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The Phaeodactylum genome reveals the evolutionary history of diatom genomes p239

Chris Bowler, Andrew E. Allen, Jonathan H. Badger, Jane Grimwood, Kamel Jabbari, Alan Kuo, Uma Maheswari, Cindy Martens, Florian Maumus, Robert P. Otillar, Edda Rayko, Asaf Salamov, Klaas Vandepoele, Bank Beszteri, Ansgar Gruber, Marc Heijde, Michael Katinka, Thomas Mock, Klaus Valentin, Fréderic Verret, John A. Berges, Colin Brownlee, Jean-Paul Cadoret, Anthony Chiovitti, Chang Jae Choi, Sacha Coesel, Alessandra De Martino, J. Chris Detter, Colleen Durkin, Angela Falciatore, Jérome Fournet, Miyoshi Haruta, Marie J. J. Huysman, Bethany D. Jenkins, Katerina Jiroutova, Richard E. Jorgensen, Yolaine Joubert, Aaron Kaplan, Nils Kröger, Peter G. Kroth, Julie La Roche, Erica Lindquist, Markus Lommer, Véronique Martin–Jézéquel, Pascal J. Lopez, Susan Lucas, Manuela Mangogna, Karen McGinnis, Linda K. Medlin, Anton Montsant, Marie-Pierre Oudot–Le Secq, Carolyn Napoli, Miroslav Obornik, Micaela Schnitzler Parker, Jean-Louis Petit, Betina M. Porcel, Nicole Poulsen, Matthew Robison, Leszek Rychlewski, Tatiana A. Rynearson, Jeremy Schmutz, Harris Shapiro, Magali Siaut, Michele Stanley, Michael R. Sussman, Alison R. Taylor, Assaf Vardi, Peter von Dassow, Wim Vyverman, Anusuya Willis, Lucjan S. Wyrwicz, Daniel S. Rokhsar, Jean Weissenbach, E. Virginia Armbrust, Beverley R. Green, Yves Van de Peer & Igor V. Grigoriev

doi:10.1038/nature07410

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Associative learning of social value p245

Timothy E. J. Behrens, Laurence T. Hunt, Mark W. Woolrich & Matthew F. S. Rushworth

doi:10.1038/nature07538

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Oligopotent stem cells are distributed throughout the mammalian ocular surface p250

François Majo, Ariane Rochat, Michael Nicolas, Georges Abou Jaoudé & Yann Barrandon

doi:10.1038/nature07406

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Stereocilin-deficient mice reveal the origin of cochlear waveform distortions p255

Elisabeth Verpy, Dominique Weil, Michel Leibovici, Richard J. Goodyear, Ghislaine Hamard, Carine Houdon, Gaelle M. Lefèvre, Jean-Pierre Hardelin, Guy P. Richardson, Paul Avan & Christine Petit

doi:10.1038/nature07380

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A key role for autophagy and the autophagy gene Atg16l1 in mouse and human intestinal Paneth cells p259

Ken Cadwell, John Y. Liu, Sarah L. Brown, Hiroyuki Miyoshi, Joy Loh, Jochen K. Lennerz, Chieko Kishi, Wumesh Kc, Javier A. Carrero, Steven Hunt, Christian D. Stone, Elizabeth M. Brunt, Ramnik J. Xavier, Barry P. Sleckman, Ellen Li, Noboru Mizushima, Thaddeus S. Stappenbeck & Herbert W. Virgin IV

doi:10.1038/nature07416

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Loss of the autophagy protein Atg16L1 enhances endotoxin-induced IL-1 production p264

Tatsuya Saitoh, Naonobu Fujita, Myoung Ho Jang, Satoshi Uematsu, Bo-Gie Yang, Takashi Satoh, Hiroko Omori, Takeshi Noda, Naoki Yamamoto, Masaaki Komatsu, Keiji Tanaka, Taro Kawai, Tohru Tsujimura, Osamu Takeuchi, Tamotsu Yoshimori & Shizuo Akira

doi:10.1038/nature07383

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A fasting inducible switch modulates gluconeogenesis via activator/coactivator exchange p269

Yi Liu, Renaud Dentin, Danica Chen, Susan Hedrick, Kim Ravnskjaer, Simon Schenk, Jill Milne, David J. Meyers, Phil Cole, John Yates III, Jerrold Olefsky, Leonard Guarente & Marc Montminy

doi:10.1038/nature07349

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Corrigenda

The delayed rise of present-day mammals p274

Olaf R. P. Bininda-Emonds, Marcel Cardillo, Kate E. Jones, Ross D. E. MacPhee, Robin M. D. Beck, Richard Grenyer, Samantha A. Price, Rutger A. Vos, John L. Gittleman & Andy Purvis

doi:10.1038/nature07347

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STING is an endoplasmic reticulum adaptor that facilitates innate immune signalling p274

Hiroki Ishikawa & Glen N. Barber

doi:10.1038/nature07432

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A role for clonal inactivation in T cell tolerance to Mls-1^a p274

Marcia A. Blackman, Hans-Gerhard Burgert, David L. Woodland, Ed Palmer, John W. Kappler & Philippa Marrack

doi:10.1038/nature07514

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Structural basis for specific cleavage of Lys 63-linked polyubiquitin chains p274

Yusuke Sato, Azusa Yoshikawa, Atsushi Yamagata, Hisatoshi Mimura, Masami Yamashita, Kayoko Ookata, Osamu Nureki, Kazuhiro Iwai, Masayuki Komada & Shuya Fukai

doi:10.1038/nature07515

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Addendum

Genes mirror geography within Europe p274

John Novembre, Toby Johnson, Katarzyna Bryc, Zoltán Kutalik, Adam R. Boyko, Adam Auton, Amit Indap, Karen S. King, Sven Bergmann, Matthew R. Nelson, Matthew Stephens & Carlos D. Bustamante

doi:10.1038/nature07566

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Naturejobs

Prospects p275

Government funds are increasingly scarce. But investing in research could not only generate jobs but help reverse the economic downturn.

Gene Russo

doi:10.1038/nj7219-275a

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Brain work p276

Industry's urge to build on breakthroughs in neurotechnology could be a boon for business-minded scientists, says Virginia Gewin.

Virginia Gewin

doi:10.1038/nj7219-276a

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Futures

Quantum erat demonstrandum p280

Surfing the treacherous data wave.

C. N. Simms

doi:10.1038/456280a

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