News & Views in 2001

Humans, and many other species, have a tendency to cooperate and help each other. But how does such behaviour evolve? Some new computer simulations provide a plausible answer.

Modern microscopes are not just for imaging. In the right hands they can be used to follow and control catalytic reactions on a metal surface — one atom at a time.

Some curious fossils from the Cambrian period have been grouped into a new phylum, the Vetulicolia. All of its members are extinct, and their unusual anatomy tempts evolutionary speculation.

Certain variable immune proteins affect an animal's choice of mate. In some species, females pick males with proteins as dissimilar as possible to their own. Studies of sticklebacks now reveal another mechanism.

In response to a protein that is linked to inflammation, cells either die or survive. Some molecular sleuthing has shed light on how the balance is tipped towards survival.

Opals do it, even biomolecules do it, so why can't self-assembly be harnessed to create photonic crystals with near-perfect order? A new technique shows that absolute order may not require absolute control.

In a plasma, a charged particle attracts a cloud of oppositely charged particles that modifies its behaviour. The first direct observations of this ultrafast 'dressing' process confirm key tenets of quantum kinetic theory.

Non-equilibrium processes, such as heat conduction in a bar of metal, remain poorly characterized at the microscopic level. Detailed analysis of simple models can introduce a new degree of understanding.

Using genetic approaches and a filamentous fungus, molecular biologists have found further evidence of an intimate relationship between genomes and the histone proteins that evolved to package them.

Readers obsessed with cleanliness, or even those who loathe housework, might welcome the invention of a scaled-down vacuum cleaner that runs continuously and independently.

How do we perceive distance using only one eye? A neat variation on existing methods of measuring visually perceived distance highlights the importance of 'angular declination', a cue long thought to be involved.

There is no known cure for Alzheimer's disease. But new hope (for mice at least) comes from an in-depth investigation of a class of drugs used to treat inflammatory diseases.

Antibiotic development is the first priority in responding to terrorist use of anthrax. But structural studies offer new leads in the hunt for more effective anti-toxin treatments.

Turning wood into paper uses lots of chemicals, whose waste products are a serious environmental concern. A new approach to the problem conjures up some clever chemistry but shows that there are no quick fixes.

All blood vessels originate from the same precursor cells in early embryos. So how do those precursors decide whether to contribute to arteries or veins? Studies of zebrafish bring us closer to the answer.

You would not expect water to enter a hydrophobic carbon nanotube. But computer simulations show that it can, and studying the process should provide clues about the behaviour of biological pores.