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Catalysts steer reactions towards certain products — but the basis of their control is often unclear. Quantum chemical calculations reveal which parameters control bond formation in a network of catalytic reactions.
DNA-binding proteins have the daunting task of finding their binding sites among the 3 billion base pairs of the human genome. The shape of DNA, and not just its sequence, may offer proteins much-needed direction.
A micrometre-sized particle immersed in a liquid can be trapped by light. An experiment shows that the trapping can be accompanied by a whirling whose direction can be reversed by changing the light intensity.
Quantum systems habitually leak information, limiting their usefulness for practical applications. By optimally reversing the leak, this information loss has been reduced to a trickle in the solid state.
The most distant γ-ray burst yet sighted is the earliest astronomical object ever observed in cosmic history. This ancient beacon offers a glimpse of the little-known cosmic dark ages.
Materials that combine ferroic properties — such as ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity — are highly desirable, but rare. A new class of multiferroic solids heralds a fresh approach for making such materials.
Fluorescence microscopy is the most popular way to image biomolecules, but it leaves many of them in the dark. Non-fluorescent, light-absorbing molecules can now be viewed by a method that turns them into mini-lasers.
Studies of molecular dynamics can be foiled by the presence of stereoisomers — molecules that have the same bond sequence arranged in different geometries. This problem has now been deflected.
A hitherto undetected disk of debris around Saturn is the largest ever found to be orbiting a planet. This ring may hold the key to one of the most enigmatic landscapes in the Solar System.
Analyses of boron isotopes in ancient marine carbonate sediments provide an enlightening perspective on the links between carbon dioxide and ice-cap cover at a climatically momentous time in Earth's history.
Dedicated binding proteins stabilize single-stranded DNA, protecting it from breakage and distortion. Once thought to form inert complexes with DNA, such proteins are now shown to be remarkably mobile.
Polyketide synthase enzymes make compounds from molecules that synthetic chemists can't easily control. The basis of the enzymes' ability to use such unstable precursors has been laid bare.
Determining the magnetic charge of monopoles in a crystalline host seemed a mountain too high for physicists to climb. An experiment based on Wien's theory of electrolytes has now measured its value.
Quasicrystals have a host of unusual physical properties. These intermediates between amorphous solids and regular crystalline materials can now be made to self-assemble from nanoparticles.
Neurons known as place cells encode spatial information that is needed to guide an animal's movement. Nearly 40 years after these cells were discovered, neuroscience gets a look at their internal dynamics.
Many of the best methods available for monitoring biological binding events can't be used in a diverse range of clinical samples. An ultrasensitive assay based on magnetic signals overcomes this problem.
