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Ad hoc collaborations between Europe's national funding agencies need to be complemented and, to some extent, replaced by a funding agency charged with supporting outstanding researchers from across the continent.
Determining the structure of cell-membrane ion channels was thought to be mission impossible. Alison Abbott meets the researcher who proved the doubters wrong, opening new windows on cellular function.
Practical products are about to emerge from the weird world of quantum mechanics. Erica Klarreich finds out how quantum cryptography made it from the lab to the marketplace
At the quantum level, common sense is often violated — for example, by pairs of entangled photons in which each seems to 'know' about the state of the other. Entanglement may be more robust than had been thought.
Early embryo cells can develop either into specialized body cells or into precursors of eggs or sperm. It is not understood how this crucial decision is made in mammals, but new work brings us closer to the answer.
A genetic study of the malaria parasite finds that this species is unexpectedly diverse. A second study shows multiple independent origins of mutations in one parasite gene that confer resistance to a widely used drug.
Materials may deform permanently under pressure, but it's difficult to guess exactly what will happen to their structure at the atomic level. A new model, and a powerful parameter, might allow firm predictions to be made.
The finding that a cellular compartment called the endoplasmic reticulum can merge with the cell's outer membrane is surprising. It would not have been predicted from our knowledge of cell organization.
In some organisms a reduced-calorie diet increases lifespan. Conventional thinking about the mechanism involved now comes under question from the results of experiments with yeast.
