Table of contents
Volume 442 Number 7102 pp485-600
(this content only available online) indicates content that is available online only
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
A foundation for Africa p486
A research plan that has to be seen to be believed.
doi:10.1038/442486a
What's in a name? p486
Chemistry is here to stay.
doi:10.1038/442486b
News
Maths 'Nobel' rumoured for Russian recluse p490
Proof of Poincaré conjecture is tipped for Fields medal
Jenny Hogan
doi:10.1038/422490a
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
Sidelines p492
doi:10.1038/442492a
NASA threatens to axe science on space station p492
Funds may be diverted to Moon programme.
Heidi Ledford
doi:10.1038/442492b
The proof is in the product p492
Chemists clash over structure of mushroom molecule.
Emma Marris
doi:10.1038/442492c
Singapore pulls plug on US collaboration p493
Research ties with Johns Hopkins University cut.
Ichiko Fuyuno
doi:10.1038/442493a
Mouse data hint at human pheromones p495
Receptors in the nose pick up subliminal scents.
Helen Pearson
doi:10.1038/442495a
Meteorologists pour into west Africa p496
Big push under way to collect monsoon data
Jim Giles
doi:10.1038/442496a
Home health tests are 'genetic horoscopes' p497
'Nutrigenetics' comes under fire after Senate hearing.
Gene Russo
doi:10.1038/442497a
News in brief p498
doi:10.1038/442498a
Correction p498
doi:10.1038/442498b
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
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
See also: Editor's summary
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
See also: Editor's summary
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
See also: Editor's summary
Correspondence
The gender debate: science promises an honest investigation of the world p510
Steven Pinker
doi:10.1038/442510a
See also: Editor's summary
Let's encourage gentler, more reflective scientists p510
Peter A. Lawrence
doi:10.1038/442510b
See also: Editor's summary
Bias was built into research from the beginning p510
Margaret M. McCarthy
doi:10.1038/442510c
See also: Editor's summary
Holding the centre among the scatter-brained p510
Donna L. Dierker
doi:10.1038/442510d
See also: Editor's summary
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
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
Sensitive to modern life p513
Peter J. Barnes reviews Allergy: The History of a Modern Malady by Mark Jackson
doi:10.1038/442513a
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
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
See also: Editor's summary
50 & 100 years ago p516
doi:10.1038/442516a
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
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
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
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
See also: Editor's summary
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
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
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
See also: Editor's summary
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
Top of page
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)
See also: Editor's summary
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
See also: Editor's summary
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
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (191K)
See also: Editor's summary
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)
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Liebert
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
See also: News and Views by de Lozanne
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
See also: Editor's summary
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
See also: Editor's summary
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
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,003K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
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
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Patel
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
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (625K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
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
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (827K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
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
See also: News and Views by Fehon
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
See also: Editor's summary
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
Naturejobs
ProspectProspects p595
New EU nations are shedding talent to the West.
Paul Smaglik
doi:10.1038/nj7102-595a
Special Report
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
Futures
Gordy gave me your name p600
Somebody out there likes me.
Jim Giles
doi:10.1038/442600a
