Editorials

No more protection p485

Cutting NASA's science budgets is one thing; rejecting the agency's historic role in the study of Earth is something else entirely.

doi:10.1038/442485a

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A foundation for Africa p486

A research plan that has to be seen to be believed.

doi:10.1038/442486a

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What's in a name? p486

Chemistry is here to stay.

doi:10.1038/442486b

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Research Highlights

Research highlights p488

doi:10.1038/442488a

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News

Maths 'Nobel' rumoured for Russian recluse p490

Proof of Poincaré conjecture is tipped for Fields medal

Jenny Hogan

doi:10.1038/422490a

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Bird flu not set for pandemic, says US team p490

H5N1 virus fails to cause epidemic in ferret experiment.

Erika Check

doi:10.1038/422490b

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Sidelines p492

doi:10.1038/442492a

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NASA threatens to axe science on space station p492

Funds may be diverted to Moon programme.

Heidi Ledford

doi:10.1038/442492b

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The proof is in the product p492

Chemists clash over structure of mushroom molecule.

Emma Marris

doi:10.1038/442492c

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Singapore pulls plug on US collaboration p493

Research ties with Johns Hopkins University cut.

Ichiko Fuyuno

doi:10.1038/442493a

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Mouse data hint at human pheromones p495

Receptors in the nose pick up subliminal scents.

Helen Pearson

doi:10.1038/442495a

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Meteorologists pour into west Africa p496

Big push under way to collect monsoon data

Jim Giles

doi:10.1038/442496a

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Home health tests are 'genetic horoscopes' p497

'Nutrigenetics' comes under fire after Senate hearing.

Gene Russo

doi:10.1038/442497a

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News in brief p498

doi:10.1038/442498a

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Correction p498

doi:10.1038/442498b

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Business

Gas for the greenhouse p499

For big oil companies, carbon dioxide is waste; for people who grow fruit, it's a valuable commodity. Ned Stafford reports on a marriage of convenience in the Netherlands.

doi:10.1038/442499a

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News Features

Chemistry: What chemists want to know p500

Chemistry is a key component in all the scientific disciplines. But does that mean it is nothing more than a handy tool — or are there still major chemical questions to crack? Philip Ball finds out.

doi:10.1038/442500a

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Conservation at a distance:  Atomic detectives p504

There's more to ecology than ringing birds, and in this special section Nature explores how the molecular sciences are transforming the field. In this, the first of two features, Sharon Levy explores how atoms in feathers can reveal the secrets of rare warblers. In the second, Carina Dennis unveils a technique that aims to make killing whales for science a thing of the past.

doi:10.1038/442504a

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Conservation at a distance:  A gentle way to age p507

There's more to ecology than ringing birds, and in this special section Nature explores how the molecular sciences are transforming the field. In the first of two features, Sharon Levy explored how atoms in feathers can reveal the secrets of rare warblers. In this, the second, Carina Dennis unveils a technique that aims to make killing whales for science a thing of the past.

doi:10.1038/442507a

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Correspondence

The gender debate: science promises an honest investigation of the world p510

Steven Pinker

doi:10.1038/442510a

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Let's encourage gentler, more reflective scientists p510

Peter A. Lawrence

doi:10.1038/442510b

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Bias was built into research from the beginning p510

Margaret M. McCarthy

doi:10.1038/442510c

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Holding the centre among the scatter-brained p510

Donna L. Dierker

doi:10.1038/442510d

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Books and Arts

Future perfect? p511

Dizzying advances predicted for the next century could improve the world — or lead to disaster.

Norman Myers reviews The Meaning of the 21st Century: A Vital Blueprint for Ensuring Our Future by James Martin

doi:10.1038/442511a

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The road less travelled p512

Richard Akerman reviews The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson

doi:10.1038/442512a

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Sensitive to modern life p513

Peter J. Barnes reviews Allergy: The History of a Modern Malady by Mark Jackson

doi:10.1038/442513a

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Science in Culture: Hearing colours, seeing sounds p514

Wassily Kandinsky's synaesthetic paintings go on show in London.

Martin Kemp and Colin Blakemore

doi:10.1038/442514a

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News and Views

Evolutionary biology: How to build a longer beak p515

Evolutionary changes in the beaks of Darwin's finches have been instrumental in the adaptive radiation of these birds. The molecular basis for variation in beak size and shape is opening up to investigation.

Nipam H. Patel

doi:10.1038/442515a

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50 & 100 years ago p516

doi:10.1038/442516a

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Particle physics: A finer constant p516

For the first time in a decade, the precision of the fine-structure constant — central to understanding the electromagnetic force — has improved. But even greater accuracy is required to test new physics.

Andrzej Czarnecki

doi:10.1038/442516b

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Chemical biology: Cutting out the middle man p517

Wouldn't it be nice if you could control the function of any protein with one small molecule? Unlikely as it sounds, this could become possible through a crafty process known as protein splicing.

Tom W. Muir

doi:10.1038/442517a

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Cell biology: Polarity bites p519

Cells often need to have polarity to function — cells lining the gut, for instance, secrete digestive enzymes only from their intestinal side. A protein called Bitesize is pivotal in determining which way is up.

Richard Fehon

doi:10.1038/nature05036

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Astronomy: A dwarf-eats-dwarf world p520

A white dwarf burnt-out star and a brown dwarf wannabe star have been found in mutual orbit. This fascinating system has had a turbulent past, and its future evolution could be just as spectacular.

James Liebert

doi:10.1038/442520a

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Energy technology: Hydrogen quick and clean p521

Systems for producing pure hydrogen for fuel cells from methanol run into problems with energy efficiency and short lifetimes. Unless, that is, you combine the right catalyst and the right purification membrane.

Rich Masel

doi:10.1038/442521a

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Superconductivity: Hot vibes p522

Lattice vibrations — phonons — have long been implicated in conventional low-temperature superconductivity. That they could also have a supporting role when the heat is turned up had been dismissed.

Alex de Lozanne

doi:10.1038/442522a

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Brief Communications

Behavioural ecology: Bees associate warmth with floral colour p525

Pollinators may be seeking more than just food as a reward when they choose one flower over another.

Adrian G. Dyer, Heather M. Whitney, Sarah E. J. Arnold, Beverley J. Glover and Lars Chittka

doi:10.1038/442525a

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (183K) | Supplementary information

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Superhydrophobicity: Drying transition of confined water p526

Long-range hydrophobic interactions operating underwater are important in the mediation of many natural and synthetic phenomena.

Seema Singh, Jack Houston, Frank van Swol and C. Jeffrey Brinker

doi:10.1038/442526a

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (170K) | Supplementary information

Brief Communications Arising

Glass behaviour: Poisson's ratio and liquid's fragility pE7

Spyros N. Yannopoulos and G. P. Johari

doi:10.1038/nature04967

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (136K)

Review

P2X receptors as cell-surface ATP sensors in health and disease p527

Baljit S. Khakh and R. Alan North

doi:10.1038/nature04886

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (835K)

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Article

Dissecting self-renewal in stem cells with RNA interference p533

Natalia Ivanova, Radu Dobrin, Rong Lu, Iulia Kotenko, John Levorse, Christina DeCoste, Xenia Schafer, Yi Lun and Ihor R. Lemischka

doi:10.1038/nature04915

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,135K) | Supplementary information

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Letters

The removal of cusps from galaxy centres by stellar feedback in the early Universe p539

Sergey Mashchenko, H. M. P. Couchman and James Wadsley

doi:10.1038/nature04944

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Survival of a brown dwarf after engulfment by a red giant star p543

P. F. L. Maxted, R. Napiwotzki, P. D. Dobbie and M. R. Burleigh

doi:10.1038/nature04987

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (198K)

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Interplay of electron–lattice interactions and superconductivity in Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈₊ p546

Jinho Lee, K. Fujita, K. McElroy, J. A. Slezak, M. Wang, Y. Aiura, H. Bando, M. Ishikado, T. Masui, J.-X. Zhu, A. V. Balatsky, H. Eisaki, S. Uchida and J. C. Davis

doi:10.1038/nature04973

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (999K) | Supplementary information

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Adaptive liquid microlenses activated by stimuli-responsive hydrogels p551

Liang Dong, Abhishek K. Agarwal, David J. Beebe and Hongrui Jiang

doi:10.1038/nature05024

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (502K) | Supplementary information

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Plant litter decomposition in a semi-arid ecosystem controlled by photodegradation p555

Amy T. Austin and Lucía Vivanco

doi:10.1038/nature05038

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (185K) | Supplementary information

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Record of mid-Archaean subduction from metamorphism in the Barberton terrain, South Africa p559

Jean-François Moyen, Gary Stevens and Alexander Kisters

doi:10.1038/nature04972

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The calmodulin pathway and evolution of elongated beak morphology in Darwin's finches p563

Arhat Abzhanov, Winston P. Kuo, Christine Hartmann, B. Rosemary Grant, Peter R. Grant and Clifford J. Tabin

doi:10.1038/nature04843

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (584K) | Supplementary information

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Collinear activation of Hoxb genes during gastrulation is linked to mesoderm cell ingression p568

Tadahiro Iimura and Olivier Pourquié

doi:10.1038/nature04838

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (694K) | Supplementary information

Norm-based face encoding by single neurons in the monkey inferotemporal cortex p572

David A. Leopold, Igor V. Bondar and Martin A. Giese

doi:10.1038/nature04951

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Tumorigenic transformation by CPI-17 through inhibition of a merlin phosphatase p576

Hongchuan Jin, Tobias Sperka, Peter Herrlich and Helen Morrison

doi:10.1038/nature04856

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Spatial control of actin organization at adherens junctions by a synaptotagmin-like protein p580

Fanny Pilot, Jean-Marc Philippe, Céline Lemmers and Thomas Lecuit

doi:10.1038/nature04935

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,291K) | Supplementary information

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The physical basis of how prion conformations determine strain phenotypes p585

Motomasa Tanaka, Sean R. Collins, Brandon H. Toyama and Jonathan S. Weissman

doi:10.1038/nature04922

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (693K) | Supplementary information

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Rad54 protein promotes branch migration of Holliday junctions p590

Dmitry V. Bugreev, Olga M. Mazina and Alexander V. Mazin

doi:10.1038/nature04889

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (451K) | Supplementary information

Corrigendum: Titan Radar Mapper observations from Cassini's T₃ fly-by p594

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/nature05004

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Naturejobs

Prospects p595

New EU nations are shedding talent to the West.

Paul Smaglik

doi:10.1038/nj7102-595a

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From bench to briefs p596

Patent law offers opportunities for those who wish to leave the lab but not science, says Monya Baker.

Monya Baker

doi:10.1038/nj7102-596a

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Futures

Gordy gave me your name p600

Somebody out there likes me.

Jim Giles

doi:10.1038/442600a

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