News & Views in 2009

The discovery in Colombia of a giant species of fossil snake is news in itself. But a wider, more controversial inference to be drawn is that tropical climate in the past was not buffered from global warming.

Life depends on the flow of hydrogen cations in water, yet their dynamic behaviour when in complex with water molecules is unknown. The latest computer simulations cast light on the jiggling of these hydrated ions.

To propagate, the hepatitis C virus relies on entry into liver cells. Ironically, cellular proteins that normally assemble firm seals between adjacent cells serve as crucial keys by which the virus gains access.

Quantum buffers will be an essential part of quantum-information networks. A buffer that can preserve not only a 'quantum bit' but also a 'quantum image' is a major step towards creating those networks.

Crystal-structure prediction methods and diffraction data show that a newly discovered form of boron is partially ionic. This is the first time such a structure has been observed for any elemental solid.

Non-invasive detection and prognostic evaluation of cancer represents a formidable challenge. Studies of the entire metabolite composition of cells promise advances towards this objective for prostate cancer.

Could it be that mouse fetal liver cells and adult bone-marrow blood cells originate from a subset of cells that line the blood vessels in the embryo? Several lines of evidence suggest that this is indeed the case.

Fishing and hunting by humans are the main causes of mortality in many populations of wild animals. The consequence is that large and rapid changes occur in certain characteristics that far exceed changes due to other agents.

Does it float or sink? And to what extent? The answers to these questions can be used to follow the course of chemical reactions on solid supports, and are obtained simply by using two magnets, a salt solution and a ruler.

The drought tolerance of sorghum is just one of the features that make it a valuable crop plant. There is much for agronomists to learn from the complete genome sequence of this type of grass.

The development of synthetic routes to unusual and complex molecules frequently leads to surprising lessons about chemical reactivity. The first synthesis of a marine toxin provides just such a lesson.

A rare example of gene incompatibility between two species of budding yeast has been found. This discovery of elusive 'speciation' genes adds to other reproductive-isolation mechanisms operating in yeasts.

Which human genes have been hotspots for positive selection? Analyses of the top candidates reveal, not genes subject to such selection, but genes that have probably been subject to biased DNA repair.

Cells of the adaptive immune system hold a grudge: on re-encountering a pathogen, they show a robust protective response. It seems that natural killer cells of the innate immune system might also have this ability.

Hopes are that the emergent family of iron-based superconductors, the pnictides, could act as a Rosetta stone in decoding the two-decade mystery of superconductivity observed at high temperatures.

Electrical signalling among brain cells summons the local delivery of extra blood — the basis of functional brain imaging. Yet sometimes, blood is sent in anticipation of neural events that never take place.

It's cold in winter and hot in summer. But the latest analysis illustrates the need to put observational data at the forefront of attempts to achieve a more detailed understanding of the annual temperature cycle.

Computer simulations of the cosmos suggest that cold streams of gas could underlie the unexpectedly high star-formation activity of many massive galaxies found to exist a few billion years after the Big Bang.