Opinion

101 uses for a dead bird p105

Natural history museums face an unprecedented opportunity as central players in biodiversity research. They and their financial supporters need to match fine words with appropriate actions.

doi:10.1038/27969

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New policy for structural data p105

doi:10.1038/27971

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News

US public puts faith in science, but still lacks understanding p107

Colin Macilwain

doi:10.1038/27973

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University says sorry for its racist past p107

Quirin Schiermeier

doi:10.1038/27976

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Indian meeting backed despite boycott threats over nuclear tests p108

K. S. Jayaraman

doi:10.1038/27978

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Congress turns NIH budget into a political football p108

Meredith Wadman

doi:10.1038/27980

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Genome research set to take off in China p109

David Swinbanks

doi:10.1038/27983

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Japan's Mars probe launched successfully p109

Asako Saegusa

doi:10.1038/27986

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Japan okays test-tube baby gene tests p110

Asako Saegusa

doi:10.1038/27988

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US think-tank queries cost of 'stockpile stewardship' programme p110

Colin Macilwain

doi:10.1038/27990

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Public 'must have more say on NIH spend' p111

Meredith Wadman

doi:10.1038/27993

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Panel casts doubt on helium sell-off plan p111

Colin Macilwain

doi:10.1038/27995

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CITES chief removed in scandal over trade in banned species p112

Ehsan Masood

doi:10.1038/27998

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Small-scale space projects 'threaten collaboration' p112

Alison Abbott

doi:10.1038/28000

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News Analysis

Future of Gabon lab hangs in the balance p113

The choice of a new director for the International Medical Research Centre in Gabon is crucial for the future of an institution which has been criticized as lacking relevance and falling far short of its potential.

Declan Butler

doi:10.1038/28003

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News in Brief p114

doi:10.1038/28006

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Briefings

Museum research comes off list of endangered species p115

Natural history museums are shaking off their dusty image in a bid to show relevance to contemporary concerns. Central to a revival in their research fortunes is a unique contribution to our understanding of life's complexity.

Declan Butler, Henry Gee and Colin Macilwain

doi:10.1038/28009

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Funding for renovation is the top priority p116

doi:10.1038/28013

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Core missions under growing pressure p117

doi:10.1038/28016

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Raising the relevance to outside needs p118

doi:10.1038/28019

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Museum world gears up to the 'big bang' of informatics p118

doi:10.1038/28021

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Chalmers' choice: make cuts or go under p119

doi:10.1038/28024

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Correspondence

Rescue plan needed for taxonomy p120

Henry Disney

doi:10.1038/28027

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Untenured in Toronto p120

Pekka K. Sinervo, (Chair)

doi:10.1038/28029

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News and Views

Familiarity breeds cooperation p121

Laurent Keller and H. Kern Reeve

doi:10.1038/28031

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Galaxy clusters:  Well of darkness p122

August E. Evrard

doi:10.1038/28034

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100 and 50 years ago p123

doi:10.1038/28037

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Cell motility:  Actin branches out p125

Laura M. Machesky and Michael Way

doi:10.1038/28039

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Superconductivity:  Disorder in the ranks p126

R. J. Cava

doi:10.1038/28044

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Palaeontology:  Ancient Australian arthropods p127

Tim Lincoln

doi:10.1038/28047

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Neuroscience:  Dancing dendrites p129

Frances A. Edwards

doi:10.1038/28050

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Glacial cycles:  Jive talking p130

John Chappell

doi:10.1038/28054

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Nanotechnology:  A quantum leap for electronics p131

Lydia L. Sohn

doi:10.1038/28058

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Neuroscience:  What makes the brain's tickers tock p132

John Lisman

doi:10.1038/28061

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Daedalus:  Corrugated carbon p133

David Jones

doi:10.1038/28065

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Retraction:  Immunology: Ways around rejection p133

David L. Vaux

doi:10.1038/28067

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Obituary:  Alberto P. Calderón (1920-98) p134

Robert A. Fefferman

doi:10.1038/28069

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Science and Image

Lane's landscapes p135

Biologists such as Nancy Lane are venturing into previously unexplored and strangely beautiful realms of the cell, using sophisticated microscopes allied with familiar, age-old visual techniques.

Martin Kemp

doi:10.1038/28072

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Scientific Correspondence

Nicotine withdrawal and accident rates p137

Andrew J. Waters, Martin J. Jarvis and Stephen R. Sutton

doi:10.1038/28076

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (233K)

Cause of sea fan death in the West Indies p137

David M. Geiser, John W. Taylor, Kim B. Ritchie and Garriet W. Smith

doi:10.1038/28079

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Origins of Old Testament priests p138

Mark G. Thomas, Karl Skoreckiad, Haim Ben-Amid, Tudor Parfitt, Neil Bradman and David B. Goldstein

doi:10.1038/28083

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (288K) | Supplementary information

Regeneration in metazoan larvae p140

Minako S. Vickery and James B. McClintock

doi:10.1038/28086

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Book Reviews

Postmodernism disrobed p141

Richard Dawkins reviews Intellectual Impostures by Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont

doi:10.1038/28089

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From protective rind to cognitive cortex p143

John C. Marshall reviews Brain, Vision, Memory: Tales in the History of Neuroscience by Charles G. Gross

doi:10.1038/28095

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A piece of the true Feynman p144

Stephen Battersby reviews The Meaning of it All: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist by Richard P. Feynman

doi:10.1038/28098

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Article

Three-dimensional structure of the Stat3 homodimer bound to DNA p145

Stefan Becker, Bernd Groner and Christoph W. Müller

doi:10.1038/28101

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (714K)

Letters to Nature

Large-scale coronal heating by the small-scale magnetic field of the Sun p152

C. J. Schrijver, A. M. Title, K. L. Harvey, N. R. Sheeley, Jr, Y.-M. Wang, G. H. J. van den Oord, R. A. Shine, T. D. Tarbell and N. E. Hurlburt

doi:10.1038/28108

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (369K)

The signature of chemical valence in the electrical conduction through a single-atom contact p154

Elke Scheer, Nicolás Agraït, Juan Carlos Cuevas, Alfredo Levy Yeyati, Bas Ludoph, Alvaro Martín-Rodero, Gabino Rubio Bollinger, Jan M. van Ruitenbeek and Cristián Urbina

doi:10.1038/28112

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (984K)

Cation effects in doped La₂CuO₄ superconductors p157

J. P. Attfield, A. L. Kharlanov and J. A. McAllister

doi:10.1038/28120

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A molecular metal with ion-conducting channels p159

Takayoshi Nakamura, Tomoyuki Akutagawa, Kazumasa Honda, Allan E. Underhill, A. Treeve Coomber and Richard H. Friend

doi:10.1038/28128

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (285K) | Supplementary information

Magnitudes of sea-level lowstands of the past 500,000 years p162

E. J. Rohling, M. Fenton, F. J. Jorissen, P. Bertrand, G. Ganssen and J. P. Caulet

doi:10.1038/28134

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (349K) | Supplementary information

Megaripple migration in a natural surf zone p165

Edith L. Gallagher, Steve Elgar and Edward B. Thornton

doi:10.1038/28139

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The unique anisotropy of the Pacific upper mantle p168

Göran Ekström and Adam M. Dziewonski

doi:10.1038/28148

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Devonian terrestrial arthropods from Gondwana p172

Gregory D. Edgecombe

doi:10.1038/28156

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Development of cooperative relationships through increasing investment p175

Gilbert Roberts and Thomas N. Sherratt

doi:10.1038/28160

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Visual synchrony affects binding and segmentation in perception p179

Marius Usher and Nick Donnelly

doi:10.1038/28166

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Inhibitory long-term potentiation underlies auditory conditioning of goldfish escape behaviour p182

Yoichi Oda, Keisuke Kawasaki, Masahiro Morita, Henri Korn and Haruko Matsui

doi:10.1038/28172

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Cholinergic induction of network oscillations at 40 Hz in the hippocampus in vitro p186

André Fisahn, Fenella G. Pike, Eberhard H. Buhl and Ole Paulsen

doi:10.1038/28179

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Electrical coupling underlies high-frequency oscillations in the hippocampus in vitro p189

A. Draguhn, R. D. Traub, D. Schmitz and J. G. R. Jefferys

doi:10.1038/28184

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Visualizing secretion and synaptic transmission with pH-sensitive green fluorescent proteins p192

Gero Miesenböck, Dino A. De Angelis and James E. Rothman

doi:10.1038/28190

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (372K)

Antagonism between extradenticle function and Hedgehog signalling in the developing limb p196

Sergio González-Crespo, Muna Abu-Shaar, Miguel Torres, Carlos Martínez-A, Richard S. Mann and Ginés Morata

doi:10.1038/28197

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (767K)

Reduction of atherosclerosis in mice by inhibition of CD40 signalling p200

François Mach, Uwe Schönbeck, Galina K. Sukhova, Elizabeth Atkinson and Peter Libby

doi:10.1038/28204

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Truncating mutations of hSNF5/INI1 in aggressive paediatric cancer p203

Isabella Versteege, Nicolas Sévenet, Julian Lange, Marie-Françoise Rousseau-Merck, Peter Ambros, Rupert Handgretinger, Alain Aurias and Olivier Delattre

doi:10.1038/28212

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (298K)