Brief Communications in 2006

Underwater backswimmers use their haemoglobin to help them stay stationary while waiting for prey.

An intricate vocal anatomy underlies the subtleties of this animal's melodic mating calls.

Insight into risks posed by corrective gene therapy comes from an immunodeficient mouse model.

This denizen of tropical swamps may shed light on how ancient fish were able to survive out of water.

Flint tips were surprisingly effective for drilling tooth enamel in a prehistoric population.

A sophisticated dual support system enables a crab to stay mobile immediately after moulting.

The torsional properties of spider silk add to its list of remarkable physical credentials.

Avian and human flu viruses seem to target different regions of a patient's respiratory tract.

Enhancing catalytic performance holds promise for hydrogen production by water splitting in sunlight.

A molecular motor in a liquid-crystal film uses light to turn items thousands of times larger than itself.

Tiny transparent larvae of the Japanese eel collected in the open ocean reveal a strategic spawning site.

Cane toads seem to have honed their dispersal ability to devastating effect over the generations.

This huge eruption slowed sea-level rise and ocean warming well into the following century.

An uncanny similarity in the karyotype of these malignant tumours means that they could be infective.

Migrating birds may have transported the Balea land snail across vast distances to remote islands.

Conditions have been discovered that allow extensive deformation of rigid single-walled nanotubes.

Tapping into the dialogue between leader and follower reveals an unexpected social skill.