Editorials

Econophysicists matter p667

Economics and physics are two disciplines that, contrary to widespread perceptions, have significant common agendas. Shame, then, that the professionals don't do more to recognize the fact.

doi:10.1038/441667a

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Brute force in the clinic p667

Clinical microbiologists should catch up with their colleagues and use metagenomics.

doi:10.1038/441667b

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Peer review on trial p668

Introducing two Nature initiatives.

doi:10.1038/441668a

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Research Highlights

Research highlights p670

doi:10.1038/441670a

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News

EU science fund targets young guns p672

European Research Council becomes a reality.

Alison Abbott

doi:10.1038/441672a

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Disasters drive DNA forensics to reunite families p673

Genetics innovations may help Holocaust survivors.

Claire Ainsworth

doi:10.1038/441673a

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Insurers' disaster files suggest climate is culprit p674

Rising costs hint at weather effect.

Quirin Schiermeier

doi:10.1038/441674a

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Politicians chastise Australia's science institute p674

The CSIRO's management answers critics.

Carina Dennis

doi:10.1038/441674b

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Sea-lion studies come to a halt after court judgement p677

US government blocks 'hot branding' of pups.

Rex Dalton

doi:10.1038/441677a

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Sidelines p677

doi:10.1038/441677a

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Online methods share insider tricks p678

Wiki-style website allows tinkering with lab protocols.

Helen Pearson

doi:10.1038/441678a

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US scraps plan to license foreign scientists p679

Geoff Brumfiel

doi:10.1038/441679a

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News in brief p680

doi:10.1038/441680a

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Correction p681

doi:10.1038/441681a

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News Features

Virology: The gene weavers p683

Viruses are often thought of as simple creatures. But their staggering diversity and genetic promiscuity could make them the most creative force in evolution, says Garry Hamilton.

doi:10.1038/441683a

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Econophysics: Culture Crash p686

Some economists had hoped that physicists might shake up the rigid theories typical of mainstream economics. But so far, they're unimpressed by physicists' handling of the markets. Philip Ball reports.

doi:10.1038/441686a

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Business

Biochemist strikes gold p689

Merck is tapping into academic research in its hunt for drug candidates. Meredith Wadman reports on the company's latest deal with Harvard.

Meredith Wadman

doi:10.1038/441689a

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Correspondence

Funding: income criterion would hit postdoc careers p690

Phil Bland

doi:10.1038/441690a

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Funding: proposals ignore mentoring and teaching p690

John Bothwell

doi:10.1038/441690b

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Funding: income is already dependent on outcome p690

Joanna Bryson

doi:10.1038/441690c

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Technology transfer is all about bringing in money p690

W. Graham Richards

doi:10.1038/441690d

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Debye's wooden response undercut Nazi orders p690

Harvey Posvic

doi:10.1038/441690e

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Commentary

Europe pays the price for spending less p691

Europe's contribution to the global advancement of science and the promotion of learning is in decline. Better funding of universities and research institutions is needed to reverse this trend, argues Christopher Patten.

doi:10.1038/441691a

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Books and Arts

From cell to organism p695

How genetics unlocked the mysteries of development.

Alfonso Martinez Arias reviews Coming to Life: How Genes Drive Development by Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard

doi:10.1038/441695a

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Charting an Arabic course p696

A. M. Celâl engör reviews Mathematical Geography and Cartography in Islam and their Continuation in the Occident, Vol. I. Historical Presentation by Fuat Sezgin, translated by Guy Moore and Geoff Sammon

doi:10.1038/441696a

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Theatre: Would the real Mr Feynman...? p697

Richard Webb reviews Clever Dick written and directed by Crispin Whittell

doi:10.1038/441697a

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The eye of the beholder p697

Richard Gregory reviews On Seeing: Things Seen, Unseen and Obscene by F. Gonzalez-Crussi

doi:10.1038/441697b

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News and Views

Chemistry: Synthesis with a twist p699

Amide bonds underpin protein stability, but distortion from their preferred geometry makes them reactive. An archetypal twisted amide has at last been made, and its chemistry will be revelatory.

Harry H. Wasserman

doi:10.1038/441699a

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Palaeontology: Respect for stromatolites p700

Is it time to stop worrying over whether the ancient structures called stromatolites are of microbial origin? 'Yes' is the answer to emerge from field and lab work on a 3,430-million-year-old marine ecosystem.

Stanley M. Awramik

doi:10.1038/441700a

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Photonics: Transparency on an optical chip p701

A two-laser trick that renders opaque media transparent can be achieved in systems of tiny optical resonators — with potentially profound consequences for optical communication and information processing.

Robert W. Boyd and Daniel J. Gauthier

doi:10.1038/441701a

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Neurobiology: Extending influence p702

Rather than merely firing in a digital on–off fashion, vertebrate neurons may have an analogue aspect to their signalling too — a finding that will not surprise many who have worked on invertebrate neurons.

Eve Marder

doi:10.1038/441702a

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Earthquakes: A hand on the aftershock trigger p704

Received wisdom relates that static stress change associated with an earthquake mainshock is the prime mover of its aftershocks. But a fresh look at the data points the finger at wave-surfing dynamic stress.

Ian Main

doi:10.1038/441704a

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Chemical technology: All together now p705

A method that combines techniques for performing chemical synthesis, separation and measurement on a single device illustrates the considerable potential of integrated lab-on-a-chip technology.

Stephen J. Haswell

doi:10.1038/441705a

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Brief Communications

Biodiversity hotspots: Rediscovery of the world's leggiest animal p707

This ancient animal, found only in a tiny stretch of California, is close to being a true millipede.

Paul E. Marek and Jason E. Bond

doi:10.1038/441707a

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Brief Communications Arising

Molecular spectroscopy: Complexity of excited-state dynamics in DNA pE7

Dimitra Markovitsi, Francis Talbot, Thomas Gustavsson, Delphine Onidas, Elodie Lazzarotto and Sylvie Marguet

doi:10.1038/nature04903

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Molecular spectroscopy: Complexity of excited-state dynamics in DNA (Reply) pE8

Carlos E. Crespo-Hernández, Boiko Cohen and Bern Kohler

doi:10.1038/nature04904

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Articles

Titan Radar Mapper observations from Cassini's T₃ fly-by p709

C. Elachi, S. Wall, M. Janssen, E. Stofan, R. Lopes, R. Kirk, R. Lorenz, J. Lunine, F. Paganelli, L. Soderblom, C. Wood, L. Wye, H. Zebker, Y. Anderson, S. Ostro, M. Allison, R. Boehmer, P. Callahan, P. Encrenaz, E. Flamini, G. Francescetti, Y. Gim, G. Hamilton, S. Hensley, W. Johnson, K. Kelleher, D. Muhleman, G. Picardi, F. Posa, L. Roth, R. Seu, S. Shaffer, B. Stiles, S. Vetrella and R. West

doi:10.1038/nature04786

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (383K) | Supplementary information

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Stromatolite reef from the Early Archaean era of Australia p714

Abigail C. Allwood, Malcolm R. Walter, Balz S. Kamber, Craig P. Marshall and Ian W. Burch

doi:10.1038/nature04764

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (277K) | Supplementary information

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Noise-resistant and synchronized oscillation of the segmentation clock p719

Kazuki Horikawa, Kana Ishimatsu, Eiichi Yoshimoto, Shigeru Kondo and Hiroyuki Takeda

doi:10.1038/nature04861

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (588K) | Supplementary information

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Letters

Stabilization of the disk around  Pictoris by extremely carbon-rich gas p724

Aki Roberge, Paul D. Feldman, Alycia J. Weinberger, Magali Deleuil and Jean-Claude Bouret

doi:10.1038/nature04832

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A constitutive law for dense granular flows p727

Pierre Jop, Yoël Forterre and Olivier Pouliquen

doi:10.1038/nature04801

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Synthesis and structural analysis of 2-quinuclidonium tetrafluoroborate p731

Kousuke Tani and Brian M. Stoltz

doi:10.1038/nature04842

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Decay of aftershock density with distance indicates triggering by dynamic stress p735

K. R. Felzer and E. E. Brodsky

doi:10.1038/nature04799

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Bone histology indicates insular dwarfism in a new Late Jurassic sauropod dinosaur p739

P. Martin Sander, Octávio Mateus, Thomas Laven and Nils Knötschke

doi:10.1038/nature04633

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Intensity of sexual selection along the anisogamy–isogamy continuum p742

Adam Bjork and Scott Pitnick

doi:10.1038/nature04683

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Social interactions among epithelial cells during tracheal branching morphogenesis p746

Amin S. Ghabrial and Mark A. Krasnow

doi:10.1038/nature04829

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Importance of SoxE in neural crest development and the evolution of the pharynx p750

David W. McCauley and Marianne Bronner-Fraser

doi:10.1038/nature04691

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A dynamic role for the mushroom bodies in promoting sleep in Drosophila p753

Jena L. Pitman, Jermaine J. McGill, Kevin P. Keegan and Ravi Allada

doi:10.1038/nature04739

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Sleep in Drosophila is regulated by adult mushroom bodies p757

William J. Joiner, Amanda Crocker, Benjamin H. White and Amita Sehgal

doi:10.1038/nature04811

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Modulation of intracortical synaptic potentials by presynaptic somatic membrane potential p761

Yousheng Shu, Andrea Hasenstaub, Alvaro Duque, Yuguo Yu and David A. McCormick

doi:10.1038/nature04720

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Germline transmission of genetically modified primordial germ cells p766

Marie-Cecile van de Lavoir, Jennifer H. Diamond, Philip A. Leighton, Christine Mather-Love, Babette S. Heyer, Renee Bradshaw, Allyn Kerchner, Lisa T. Hooi, Terri M. Gessaro, Susan E. Swanberg, Mary E. Delany and Robert J. Etches

doi:10.1038/nature04831

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SAGA interacting factors confine sub-diffusion of transcribed genes to the nuclear envelope p770

Ghislain G. Cabal, Auguste Genovesio, Susana Rodriguez-Navarro, Christophe Zimmer, Olivier Gadal, Annick Lesne, Henri Buc, Frank Feuerbach-Fournier, Jean-Christophe Olivo-Marin, Eduard C. Hurt and Ulf Nehrbass

doi:10.1038/nature04752

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Nuclear pore association confers optimal expression levels for an inducible yeast gene p774

Angela Taddei, Griet Van Houwe, Florence Hediger, Veronique Kalck, Fabien Cubizolles, Heiko Schober and Susan M. Gasser

doi:10.1038/nature04845

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Naturejobs

Prospect p779

Hustling for opportunities can overcome local disadvantages.

Paul Smaglik

doi:10.1038/nj7094-779a

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Bound for Boston p780

With its top academic institutions, Boston has long been a Mecca for biotechnology companies. But the demand for more academic input into industrial science is luring top drug companies there too, says Corie Lok.

Corie Lok

doi:10.1038/nj7094-780a

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Bruce Jones, chief scientist, United States Geological Survey, Washington DC p782

Snake man heads for the Environmental Protection Agency.

Virginia Gewin

doi:10.1038/nj7094-782a

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Nurturing bioincubators in the north p782

Sheffield boosts bioscience.

Gene Russo

doi:10.1038/nj7094-782b

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Einstein's secret diary? p782

A day in the life of a grad student.

Mhairi Dupre

doi:10.1038/nj7094-782c

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Spotlight on Boston and Cambridge

doi:10.1038/nj0119

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Futures

The computiful game p784

A sporting chance.

Paul Steven Miller

doi:10.1038/441784a

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