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The co-founder of Microsoft has made a mint from a business that many attack, but his efforts in Africa highlight a virtue: a philanthropic understanding of science. The world needs more of it.
Scientists like to think that research collaboration can overcome political barriers. But for those on opposite sides of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, how realistic is this ideal? Jim Giles visited the region to find out.
Research on two Bolivian rivers provides explanations of how and when they flood. It also gives pointers for interpreting Earth's history as recorded by the sediments left behind by flood waters.
Alerting the immune system to invading microorganisms is essential for effective immunity. Uric acid released by damaged cells is a danger signal that is able to notify immune cells of microbial attack.
Molecular signals are not the only forces that pattern and shape the developing embryo. Mechanical stresses sensed by cells also seem to be involved in creating the body plan.
Many molecules exist in two mirror-image forms, which have different biological properties. A new way of creating solid chiral surfaces might make it easier to synthesize and purify only one of the mirror forms.
At synapses, nerve cells release neurotransmitters, which affect other nerve cells or muscles. Studies of how muscles in turn influence neurotransmitter release hint at how synapses adapt to changes in use.
Soft matter is often found in tight spots. A study shows that tangled chain-like molecules, squeezed between solid surfaces and stroked by sliding, might become exceptionally ordered.
There is often more than one way of cracking a scientific problem. Two views of one question have led to the marriage of two signalling proteins in search of a partner.
The perfection of a fly's eye and the chaotic nature of tumours provide eloquent examples of the need to coordinate cell death and proliferation. The intricacies of the underlying mechanism are now being uncovered.
