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The rising tide of data being generated by high-throughput approaches to drug screening is slowly bringing about a chemical revolution. Chemoinformatics, which marries chemistry with computer science, is becoming big business, says Eugene Russo.
Since reunification, Germany has witnessed significant scientific development almost regardless of the party in charge. The forthcoming election offers smooth continuation and important challenges, whoever wins.
Reproductive and neonatal medicine have cut the minimum time that fetuses need to spend in the womb. Are completely artificial pregnancies in the offing? Jonathan Knight investigates.
Enthusiasts for European scientific integration believe the time is ripe to launch a new independent research agency. Quirin Schiermeier examines the case for a European Research Council.
This quantum attractive force induces measurable effects between ultrasmall mechanical components. New calculations indicate that systems could be engineered in which Casimir forces are repulsive.
Cellular DNA-repair mechanisms prevent mutations from accumulating, thereby averting defects in cell function. A molecule best known for its role in protein degradation is now shown to have a specific task in DNA repair.
Some stars might be 'magnetars', powered by magnetism instead of fusion. The discovery of an X-ray burst from an anomalous X-ray pulsar suggests that this type of star can be added to the list.
Glacial intervals are characterized by low levels of atmospheric CO2. A new explanation for that connection invokes nutrient export from the Southern Ocean to warmer waters at such times.
Optical tweezers use light to manipulate tiny particles — but only one at a time. If the light in the tweezers is a 'Bessel beam', this problem can be overcome, creating some interesting experimental possibilities.
People with the genetic disease Peutz–Jeghers syndrome have many intestinal polyps — benign tissue outgrowths. These seldom become malignant, and the reason may lie in the properties of the affected gene.
Phytoplankton are marine algae that support all ocean life, so it is important to understand the processes that control their distribution, abundance and diversity. Macroecology offers a way to do so.
The warming of the Earth's climate more than 50 million years ago is as yet unexplained. Now the finger points to the heating of sediment in the Gulf of Alaska as an important source of the greenhouse gas methane.
Water in its various forms has always worked as a great amplifier of changes imposed on the climate system. It acts both as the Earth's central heating system and as the refrigerator, and how these processes will evolve in a changing climate is as important a question as it is difficult. The articles in this Insight explore some of the interactions between climate and the hydrologic cycle in the past, present and future.
