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The scientific case for global warming is overwhelming. So what next for the IPCC? Helping policymakers decide what to do now may require radical reform, reports Jim Giles.
The corridors of power in the United States are ringing with the phrase 'cap and trade'. But when will carbon markets arrive in America — and what will they look like? Emma Marris investigates.
Energy efficiency is one of the least flashy but most promising ways to cut carbon dioxide emissions. In the first of two features, Declan Butler explores the energy-saving possibilities of an intelligent electrical grid. In the second, Zoë Corbyn looks at how labs can cut their energy use.
The Clean Development Mechanism can be viewed not only as a market, but also as a subsidy and a political mechanism. Michael Wara argues that it has been most effective, so far, in achieving its political goals.
Imprinting a coherent light pulse on the spins of atoms is standard quantum sorcery. Retrieving the same light pulse from a second, distant set of atoms looks rather like black magic. But it, too, is just quantum mechanics.
The p53 tumour-suppressor protein is a cell's principal guardian against cancer. Most cancers eliminate p53 — but it seems that its pathway remains intact, so resurrecting it might provide a cancer therapy.
As massive ice sheets grew on Antarctica during the first major glaciation of the Cenozoic era, the northern continents cooled and dried. The coincidence in timing implies that the cause was global rather than regional.
Nuclear magnetic resonance is the best way to study motion in proteins, but it could be applied only to small systems. This limitation has been overcome to reveal the dynamics of a large protein complex.
The invention of oxygenic photosynthesis was a small step for a bacterium, but a giant leap for biology and geochemistry. So when and how did cells first learn to split water to make oxygen gas?
By overcoming the molecular weight limitations that have traditionally hampered quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) studies, the dynamics of the 670-kilodalton 20S proteasome core particle have been explored. A selective isotope labelling scheme along with experiments that preserve the lifetimes of the resulting NMR signals reveal functionally important motions and interactions by recording spectra on complexes with molecular weights up to 1 MDa.
A slow light pulse can be stopped and stored in one Bose–Einstein condensate and subsequently revived from a totally different condensate, 160 micrometres away; information is transferred through conversion of the optical pulse into a travelling matter wave. This provides a dramatic demonstration of coherent optical information processing with matter wave dynamics.
A broadband frequency 'comb' provides, in a single laser beam, about a million optical modes with very narrow linewidths and precisely known absolute frequency positions. A technique has been developed that enables the resolution of the modes of a frequency comb and the simultaneous detection of them in a parallel manner.
Precisely dated evidence details that aridification on the Tibetan Plateau occurred at the time of the Eocene–Oligocene transition in the marine records. This suggests a direct link between the palaeontological and palaeoenvironmental changes recorded in continental Asia at the time and global climate cooling.
An analysis of fossil tooth enamel and fossil bones is used to derive a continental temperature record for the Eocene–Oligocene transition, and reports a large drop in mean annual temperature over roughly 400,000 years. This cooling explains the decline in cold-blooded terrestrial animals, whereas most mammals in the region were unaffected.
Imbalances in activity levels between two pathways in the basal ganglia have been proposed to underlie motor deficits observed in Parkinson's disease. However, only one of these pathways expresses endocannabinoid-dependent LTD. This LTD is impaired in mouse models of Parkinson's disease, and pharmacological treatments that rescue this LTD improve motor symptoms.
The plant hormone cytokinin is required for the activity of the shoot meristem, which is responsible for all the aerial organs. Fine-tuning of cytokinin activity by a novel cytokinin-activating enzyme is crucial for the control of the meristem activity. The enzyme, encoded by the LOG gene, catalyses the final step of bioactive cytokinin synthesis by its cytokinin-specific phosphoribohydrolase activity.
One of two papers showing that reactivation of the endogenous p53 tumour suppressor genes in established tumours causes cancer regression. In some tumours, p53 reactivation causes cellular senescence associated with an innate immune response that contributes to tumour clearance.
One of two papers showing that reactivation of the endogenous p53 tumour suppressor genes in established tumours causes cancer regression. In some tumours, p53 reactivation causes cellular senescence associated with an innate immune response that contributes to tumour clearance.
The DHFR major promoter is repressed in quiescent cells by a non-coding RNA initiated from an upstream promoter. This RNA molecule forms a complex with the major promoter, interacts with the general transcription factor IIB, and dissociates the pre-initiation complex from the promoter.
Gadd45a, a nuclear protein involved in DNA repair and suppressing cell growth, is shown to have a role in promoting DNA demethylation and relieving epigenetic gene silencing through a pathway involving the endonuclease XPG.
Short-term appointments are on the rise for teachers at colleges and universities around the world. Are these 'contingent' staff being taken for a ride? Heidi Ledford reports.