Editorial

Africa 2005 p669

The world's poorest continent is rightly at the top of the global agenda this year. But the agenda needs to be set by Africa, with the outside world in a supporting role — not the other way round.

doi:10.1038/433669a

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News

Salt sellers challenge US health agency using data-quality act p671

Industry fights for access to data showing salt and blood pressure link.

Meredith Wadman

doi:10.1038/433671a

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US extends security clearance for scholars p672

Visa-related checks to remain valid for up to four years.

Geoff Brumfiel

doi:10.1038/433672a

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Nuclear-physics research falls foul of budget cuts p672

Physics spending to drop 4% in Bush administration proposal.

Jessica Ebert

doi:10.1038/433672b

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Online access offers fresh scope for bug identification p673

Remote-control microscope to ease work in taxonomy.

Jim Giles

doi:10.1038/433673a

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Europe's research still lacks competitive edge, says panel p673

Five-year assessment of Framework funding comes to sober conclusion.

Quirin Schiermeier

doi:10.1038/433673b

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Scientists urged to end feud with White House p674

Former science adviser says now is the time for a fresh start.

Geoff Brumfiel

doi:10.1038/433674a

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Sanctions agreed over teenager's gene-therapy death p674

Out-of-court settlement ends five-year investigation into trial.

Erika Check

doi:10.1038/433674b

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India's nuclear debate hots up after tsunami floods reactor p675

Fast-breeder prototype open to fresh debate after 26 December disaster.

K. S. Jayaraman

doi:10.1038/433675a

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Global geoscience suffers as UNESCO curtails funding p675

Star of UN Earth sciences programme faces serious cuts.

Quirin Schiermeier

doi:10.1038/433675b

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news in brief p676

doi:10.1038/433676a

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News Features

Space technology:  Setting sail for history p678

A small budget and big dreams make for a heady mix. But solar-sail pioneer Lou Friedman is ready for anything as spacecraft Cosmos 1 prepares to take on the Sun and the space agencies. Tony Reichhardt reports.

doi:10.1038/433678a

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Cell biology:  Hopping fences p680

Just how proteins jostle around in the fatty membrane that surrounds every living cell has been a source of debate for decades. Now one researcher is using an ultra-high-speed camera to watch this dance in unprecedented detail — but that hasn't stopped the arguments. Alison Abbott investigates.

doi:10.1038/433680a

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Correspondence

No political will to seek innovative contraception p683

Focus instead on other reproductive issues, which may make birth-control superfluous.

Carl Djerassi

doi:10.1038/433683a

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Emissions control needs atmospheric verification p683

Euan Nisbet

doi:10.1038/433683b

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Books and Arts

In search of weighty matters p685

A hard look at the 45-year quest to detect gravitational radiation.

Virginia Trimble reviews Gravity's Shadow: The Search for Gravitational Waves by Harry Collins

doi:10.1038/433685a

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Watson's way with words p686

Lewis Wolpert reviews The Writing Life of James D. Watson by Errol C. Friedberg

doi:10.1038/433686a

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Science in culture p687

The Queen Anne churches in east London were precisely aligned on an east–west axis.

Heike Langenberg reviews

doi:10.1038/433687a

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The rise of the professional p688

John Waller reviews The Victorian Scientist: The Growth of a Profession by Jack Meadows

doi:10.1038/433688a

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Physics detective

Schrödinger's mousetrap p689

Part 5: Refracted glory.

Remco Zegers

doi:10.1038/433689a

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News and Views

Optoelectronics:  Silicon shines on p691

Researchers are getting better at making silicon do what it really does not like to do — emit light. A silicon laser is now demonstrated that has promising features for future practical applications.

Jerome Faist

doi:10.1038/433691a

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Cell biology: Divide and conquer p692

The discovery that cell death in nematode worms induces fragmentation of mitochondria reveals a new parallel to the death process in mammals, and may shed light on why mitochondria divide in death.

Michael Hengartner

doi:10.1038/433692a

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Surface chemistry:  Oiled acrobatics p693

Magdalena Helmer

doi:10.1038/433693a

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Evolutionary biology:  The power of natural selection p694

Adaptation by natural selection is the centrepiece of biology. Yet evolutionary biologists may be deluding themselves if they think they have a good handle on the typical strength of selection in nature.

Andrew P. Hendry

doi:10.1038/433694a

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Planetary science:  Saturn's mixed magnetosphere p695

When interplanetary shock waves hit the Cassini spacecraft and then Saturn in January 2004, it presented a unique opportunity to study the planet's magnetosphere and to compare it with that of Earth.

Fran Bagenal

doi:10.1038/433695a

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100 and 50 years ago p695

doi:10.1038/433695b

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Neurodegeneration:  Cellular defences destroyed p696

A lack of blood flow can kill nerve cells, by causing a massive influx of calcium ions. But what's happened to the cellular mechanisms for coping with excess calcium?

Dennis W. Choi

doi:10.1038/433696a

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Neurobiology:  Bright blue times p698

The discovery of light-sensitive neurons that can adjust our body clocks prompted a search for their light-detecting molecule. We now know the identity of this pigment — and that these cells do more than was thought.

Russell G. Foster

doi:10.1038/433698a

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Obituary:  Ernst Mayr (1904–2005) p700

Jared Diamond

doi:10.1038/nature03435

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research highlights p702

doi:10.1038/433702a

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Brief Communications

Insect behaviour:  Migratory bands give crickets protection p703

Predators are not so lucky in picking out a flightless insect from a marching mass.

Gregory A. Sword, Patrick D. Lorch and Darryl T. Gwynne

doi:10.1038/433703a

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (259K) | Supplementary information

Chemical communication:  Butterfly anti-aphrodisiac lures parasitic wasps p704

Nina E. Fatouros, Martinus E. Huigens, Joop J. A. van Loon, Marcel Dicke and Monika Hilker

doi:10.1038/433704a

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (237K) | Supplementary information

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Review

Shape coexistence and triaxiality in the superheavy nuclei p705

S. wiok, P.-H. Heenen and W. Nazarewicz

doi:10.1038/nature03336

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (442K)

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Article

How sleep affects the developmental learning of bird song p710

Sébastien Derégnaucourt, Partha P. Mitra, Olga Fehér, Carolyn Pytte and Ofer Tchernichovski

doi:10.1038/nature03275

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,656K) | Supplementary information

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Letters to Nature

Morphological differences between Saturn's ultraviolet aurorae and those of Earth and Jupiter p717

J. T. Clarke, J.-C. Gérard, D. Grodent, S. Wannawichian, J. Gustin, J. Connerney, F. Crary, M. Dougherty, W. Kurth, S. W. H. Cowley, E. J. Bunce, T. Hill and J. Kim

doi:10.1038/nature03331

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Solar wind dynamic pressure and electric field as the main factors controlling Saturn's aurorae p720

F. J. Crary, J. T. Clarke, M. K. Dougherty, P. G. Hanlon, K. C. Hansen, J. T. Steinberg, B. L. Barraclough, A. J. Coates, J.-C. Gérard, D. Grodent, W. S. Kurth, D. G. Mitchell, A. M. Rymer and D. T. Young

doi:10.1038/nature03333

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,708K)

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An Earth-like correspondence between Saturn's auroral features and radio emission p722

W. S. Kurth, D. A. Gurnett, J. T. Clarke, P. Zarka, M. D. Desch, M. L. Kaiser, B. Cecconi, A. Lecacheux, W. M. Farrell, P. Galopeau, J.-C. Gérard, D. Grodent, R. Prangé, M. K. Dougherty and F. J. Crary

doi:10.1038/nature03334

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A continuous-wave Raman silicon laser p725

Haisheng Rong, Richard Jones, Ansheng Liu, Oded Cohen, Dani Hak, Alexander Fang and Mario Paniccia

doi:10.1038/nature03346

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Biological control of terrestrial silica cycling and export fluxes to watersheds p728

Louis A. Derry, Andrew C. Kurtz, Karen Ziegler and Oliver A. Chadwick

doi:10.1038/nature03299

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (182K) | Supplementary information

Pressure sensitivity of olivine slip systems and seismic anisotropy of Earth's upper mantle p731

David Mainprice, Andréa Tommasi, Hélène Couvy, Patrick Cordier and Daniel J. Frost

doi:10.1038/nature03266

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (471K)

Stratigraphic placement and age of modern humans from Kibish, Ethiopia p733

Ian McDougall, Francis H. Brown and John G. Fleagle

doi:10.1038/nature03258

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (512K) | Supplementary information

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Parasites and climate synchronize red grouse populations p737

Isabella M. Cattadori, Daniel T. Haydon and Peter J. Hudson

doi:10.1038/nature03276

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Addition of human melanopsin renders mammalian cells photoresponsive p741

Z. Melyan, E. E. Tarttelin, J. Bellingham, R. J. Lucas and M. W. Hankins

doi:10.1038/nature03344

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (325K) | Supplementary information

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Induction of photosensitivity by heterologous expression of melanopsin p745

Xudong Qiu, Tida Kumbalasiri, Stephanie M. Carlson, Kwoon Y. Wong, Vanitha Krishna, Ignacio Provencio and David M. Berson

doi:10.1038/nature03345

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (287K) | Supplementary information

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Melanopsin-expressing ganglion cells in primate retina signal colour and irradiance and project to the LGN p749

Dennis M. Dacey, Hsi-Wen Liao, Beth B. Peterson, Farrel R. Robinson, Vivianne C. Smith, Joel Pokorny, King-Wai Yau and Paul D. Gamlin

doi:10.1038/nature03387

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DRP-1-mediated mitochondrial fragmentation during EGL-1-induced cell death in C. elegans p754

Ravi Jagasia, Phillip Grote, Benedikt Westermann and Barbara Conradt

doi:10.1038/nature03316

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (445K) | Supplementary information

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Rejuvenation of aged progenitor cells by exposure to a young systemic environment p760

Irina M. Conboy, Michael J. Conboy, Amy J. Wagers, Eric R. Girma, Irving L. Weissman and Thomas A. Rando

doi:10.1038/nature03260

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (318K) | Supplementary information

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Mitf cooperates with Rb1 and activates p21^Cip1 expression to regulate cell cycle progression p764

Suzanne Carreira, Jane Goodall, Isil Aksan, S. Anna La Rocca, Marie-Dominique Galibert, Laurence Denat, Lionel Larue and Colin R. Goding

doi:10.1038/nature03269

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (507K)

Microarray analysis shows that some microRNAs downregulate large numbers of target mRNAs p769

Lee P. Lim, Nelson C. Lau, Philip Garrett-Engele, Andrew Grimson, Janell M. Schelter, John Castle, David P. Bartel, Peter S. Linsley and Jason M. Johnson

doi:10.1038/nature03315

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (419K) | Supplementary information

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Highly coupled ATP synthesis by F₁-ATPase single molecules p773

Yannick Rondelez, Guillaume Tresset, Takako Nakashima, Yasuyuki Kato-Yamada, Hiroyuki Fujita, Shoji Takeuchi and Hiroyuki Noji

doi:10.1038/nature03277

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (272K) | Supplementary information

corrigendum: Sequence and comparative analysis of the chicken genome provide unique perspectives on vertebrate evolution p777

International Chicken Genome Sequencing Consortium

doi:10.1038/nature03394

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Naturejobs

Cultivating black gold p779

Paul Smaglik

doi:10.1038/nj7027-779a

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Baby blues p780

Are women being held back by an 'innate difference': their ability to give birth? With better academic policies, motherhood and scientific excellence would not seem mutually exclusive, says Virginia Gewin.

Virginia Gewin

doi:10.1038/nj7027-780a

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Graduate Journal:  A painful transition p782

Jason Underwood

doi:10.1038/nj7027-782a

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Scientists & Societies p782

Marika Willerroider

doi:10.1038/nj7027-782b

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Movers p782

doi:10.1038/nj7027-782c

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Futures

Undead again p784

How sweet the taste of freedom.

Ken MacLeod

doi:10.1038/433784a

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