Opinion

Spanish universities and the obstacles to development p709

A viable science base requires a commitment to excellence and imagination that is incompatible with rigidity and cronyism. Spain needs to absorb this lesson if it is to flourish scientifically and economically.

doi:10.1038/25405

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Kemp's cultures p709

A series that ends this week should inspire not only appreciation of images but also a desire to communicate.

doi:10.1038/25407

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News

World Bank backs Third World centres of excellence plan p711

Colin Macilwain

doi:10.1038/25409

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Germany's nuclear secrets can now be told p711

Quirin Schiermeier

doi:10.1038/25412

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Spanish university sued for favouritism... p712

Xavier Bosch

doi:10.1038/25414

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... as new posts created in academic reforms p712

doi:10.1038/25417

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Europe bids for molecular biology 'club' p713

Alison Abbott

doi:10.1038/25419

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South Korean researchers under fire for claims of human cloning p713

Asako Saegusa

doi:10.1038/25421

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Britain embraces 'knowledge economy' p714

Ehsan Masood

doi:10.1038/25424

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Making a case in the corridors of power p714

Natasha Loder

doi:10.1038/25426

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Foresight initiative goes for competitiveness p715

Ehsan Masood

doi:10.1038/25428

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Canadian whistleblower row prompts broader code of conduct p715

David Spurgeon

doi:10.1038/25431

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News in Brief p716

doi:10.1038/25433

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Correspondence

Is Jerusalem the city in Rome's mural? p718

Eric Lewin Altschuler

doi:10.1038/25437

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News and Views

Longevity and the barren aristocrat p719

Daniel E. L. Promislow

doi:10.1038/25440

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Oceanography:  Something stirs in the deep p720

Peter Killworth

doi:10.1038/25444

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Auditory perception:  Sounds in a virtual world p721

Malcolm N. Semple

doi:10.1038/25447

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100 and 50 years ago p721

doi:10.1038/25451

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Electronic databases:  It's good to talk p723

Alison Mitchell

doi:10.1038/25453

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Nuclear fusion:  Advanced fuels under debate p724

G. L. Kulcinski and J. F. Santarius

doi:10.1038/25456

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Daedalus:  Brandy and cigars p725

David Jones

doi:10.1038/25460

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Science and Image

Frémiet's frenzy p727

Nineteenth-century museum sculptures depicting great moments in prehistory might seem kitsch to modern eyes. But, in their time, they were a key way for the latest scientific ideas to be communicated to the public.

Martin Kemp

doi:10.1038/25462

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Scientific Correspondence

Spines and tissues of ancient sharks p729

M. I. Coates, S. E. K. Sequeira, I. J. Sansom and M. M. Smith

doi:10.1038/25467

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Anoxic bioremediation of hydrocarbons p730

John D. Coates, Royce A. Bruce and John D. Haddock

doi:10.1038/25470

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (161K)

Book Reviews

Of snowflakes, symmetries and shells p731

Edward Cox

doi:10.1038/25473

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Life, the Universe and the single mollusc p731

John Shepherd

doi:10.1038/25476

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Africa's mistletoes ripe for the picking p732

Jeremy Midgley

doi:10.1038/25479

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Letters to Nature

Quantitative test of a microscopic mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity p733

Eugene Demler and Shou-Cheng Zhang

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (204K)

Moisture-induced ageing in granular media and the kinetics of capillary condensation p735

L. Bocquet, E. Charlaix, S. Ciliberto and J. Crassous

doi:10.1038/25492

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (231K)

Coherent moving states in highway traffic p738

Dirk Helbing and Bernardo A. Huberman

doi:10.1038/25499

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (239K)

Elasticity and rheology of iron above 220 GPa and the nature of the Earth's inner core p741

Ho-kwang Mao, Jinfu Shu, Guoyin Shen, Russell J. Hemley, Baosheng Li and Anil K. Singh

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (415K)

Human longevity at the cost of reproductive success p743

Rudi G. J. Westendorp and Thomas B. L. Kirkwood

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (192K)

See also: News and Views by Promislow

Role of spectral detail in sound-source localization p747

Abhijit Kulkarni and H. Steven Colburn

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (326K)

See also: News and Views by Semple

Hedgehog stimulates maturation of Cubitus interruptus into a labile transcriptional activator p749

Johanna Talavera Ohlmeyer and Daniel Kalderon

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (2,194K)

Local calcium signalling by inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate in Purkinje cell dendrites p753

Elizabeth A. Finch and George J. Augustine

doi:10.1038/25541

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,169K)

A new class of synaptic response involving calcium release in dendritic spines p757

Hajime Takechi, Jens Eilers and Arthur Konnerth

doi:10.1038/25547

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (759K)