Table of contents
Volume 444 Number 7120 pp635-788
In this issue (7 December 2006)
Also this week
(this content only available online) indicates content that is available online only
Editorials
Enough warheads, already p653
Its official: the reliability of existing US nuclear warheads makes their replacement unnecessary.
doi:10.1038/444653a
See also: Editor's summary
A fair share p653
The concept of sharing primary data is generating unnecessary angst in the psychology community.
doi:10.1038/444653b
Green shoots of growth p654
Energy from biomass is an idea whose time has returned.
doi:10.1038/444654a
News
Journal reveals plans to fight fraud p658
Science to select papers for extra-secure review process.
Meredith Wadman
doi:10.1038/444658a
Molecular HIV evidence backs accused medics p658
DNA analysis indicates health workers were not to blame for infections.
Declan Butler
doi:10.1038/444658b
US backs revamp of nuclear warheads p660
Weapons stockpile set for 'unnecessary' upgrade.
Geoff Brumfiel
doi:10.1038/444660a
Bush faces rough ride over climate change p660
Courts and Congress poised to shape environment policy.
Emma Marris
doi:10.1038/444660b
Sidelines p661
doi:10.1038/444661a
South Africa takes steps to tackle HIV p663
Government finally faces up to pandemic.
Michael Cherry
doi:10.1038/444663a
Oil firms back AIDS project in the Niger delta p663
Island community to be focus of anti-HIV initiative.
Colin Macilwain
doi:10.1038/444663b
Purdue attacked over fusion inquiry p664
Physicists angry at apparent inertia in misconduct investigation.
Eugenie Samuel Reich
doi:10.1038/444664a
Actions speak louder than images p664
Scientists warn against using brain scans for legal decisions.
Apoorva Mandavilli
doi:10.1038/444664b
Business Features
Introduction: Biofuelling the future p669
doi:10.1038/444669a
See also: Editor's summary
Sugar cane and ethanol: Drink the best and drive the rest p670
Brazil's sugar-cane ethanol industry is the world's best and able to get better, says Emma Marris.
Emma Marris
doi:10.1038/444670a
US biofuels: A field in ferment p673
To move US biofuels beyond subsidized corn will be a challenge, reports Katharine Sanderson.
Katharine Sanderson
doi:10.1038/444673a
Liquid fuel synthesis: Making it up as you go along p677
Chemists can make liquid fuel from biomass — or from coal. Heidi Ledford weighs up the pros and cons.
Heidi Ledford
doi:10.1038/444677a
Correspondence
A timely wake-up call as anti-evolutionists publicize their views p679
U. Kutschera
doi:10.1038/444679a
Creationist views have no basis in science p679
Gabriela Lorenc-Pluci
ska
doi:10.1038/444679b
Creationists weaken society's trust in scientists p679
Joanna Rutkowska
doi:10.1038/444679c
Claim of bias against critics is refuted by publication p679
Gerdien de Jong and Gert Korthof
doi:10.1038/444679d
Pseudoscience should not be published in Nature p679
Uwe Balthasar and Susannah Maidment
doi:10.1038/444679e
There is no new evidence that undermines evolution p680
Brian Charlesworth
doi:10.1038/444680a
Walking with dinosaurs? Not in the real world p680
Gary S. Hurd
doi:10.1038/444680b
Creationists pose political, not scientific, threat p680
Jerzy Banbura
doi:10.1038/444680c
How the word 'hominid' evolved to include hominin p680
Simon Underdown
doi:10.1038/444680d
Commentary
The right tools can save lives p681
Effective diagnosis, paired with treatment, for developing-world diseases can have far-reaching impacts, says the Global Health Diagnostics Forum.
doi:10.1038/444681a
Full Text | PDF (110K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Books and Arts
One good deed p683
Can a simple equation explain the development of altruism?
Oliver Curry reviews The Altruism Equation: Seven Scientists Search for the Origins of Goodness by Lee Alan Dugatkin
doi:10.1038/444683a
Film: The quest for immortality p684
Emma Marris reviews The Fountain directed by Darren Aronofsky
doi:10.1038/444684a
Bugs with bugs p684
Mark L. Winston reviews Big Fleas Have Little Fleas: How Discoveries of Invertebrate Diseases are Advancing Modern Science by Elizabeth W. Davidson
doi:10.1038/444684b
In retrospect: The birth of contraception p685
Michel Raymond reviews Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance by John M. Riddle
doi:10.1038/444685a
See also: Editor's summary
News and Views
Cancer: Stem cells and brain tumours p687
Stem cells are increasingly implicated in maintaining certain cancers. Studies of an intractable type of brain tumour provide hints as to why such cells may underlie the tumours' resistance to therapy.
Peter B. Dirks
doi:10.1038/444687a
Plasma physics: On the node of a wave p688
A compact electron accelerator can be made by the cunning use of laser pulses to let electrons 'surf' on a plasma wave. The problem has been controlling exactly how much the electrons are accelerated.
Tom Katsouleas
doi:10.1038/444688a
See also: Editor's summary
Evolutionary biology: Caught right-handed p689
Are two penises better than one? Not so, implies a study of doubly endowed earwigs. An ancestral behavioural preference for the right penis might have facilitated the loss of the left in species that arose later.
A. Richard Palmer
doi:10.1038/444689a
50 & 100 Years Ago p692
doi:10.1038/444692a
Chemical biology: Renewing embryonic stem cells p692
Embryonic stem cells have great potential in medicine, but the current methods used to grow them prevent their therapeutic use. A dual-action compound has been discovered that may help solve this problem.
Reka R. Letso and Brent R. Stockwell
doi:10.1038/444692b
Condensed-matter physics: Defects and perfect flows p693
The discovery that parts of a solid helium crystal could flow through other parts without friction ignited physicists' interest. Independent experiments confirm this unusual superflow, but its origin remains mysterious.
Henry R. Glyde
doi:10.1038/444693a
Oceanography: Plankton in a warmer world p695
Satellite data show that phytoplankton biomass and growth generally decline as the oceans' surface waters warm up. Is this trend, seen over the past decade, a harbinger of the future for marine ecosystems?
Scott C. Doney
doi:10.1038/444695a
See also: Editor's summary
Ion channels: A paddle in oil p697
How do voltage-gated ion channels in cell membranes open? The latest work suggests that the process depends on having the correct lipid molecules in the membrane, with phosphate groups being mandatory.
Anthony G. Lee
doi:10.1038/nature05408
Chemistry: Metals line up for DNA p698
The versatile DNA molecule has found many applications beyond biology. In its latest role, it serves as a self-assembling scaffold to arrange different metal ions in a row, like pearls on a string.
Jens Müller
doi:10.1038/444698a
Astrophysics: Unity among black holes p699
Black holes box at two weights: active galactic nuclei are in the super-heavyweight class, whereas galactic black holes are relative featherweights. But does the same physics pack both objects' punches? It seems that it does.
Jörn Wilms
doi:10.1038/444699a
See also: Editor's summary
Correction p699
doi:10.1038/444699b
Obituary: Reinhart Heinrich (1946–2006) p700
Pioneer in systems biology.
Marc W. Kirschner
doi:10.1038/444700a
Brief Communications
Nectar bat stows huge tongue in its rib cage p701
The extreme length of this bat's tongue might have coevolved with the long flowers it pollinates.
Nathan Muchhala
doi:10.1038/444701a
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (361K) | Supplementary information
Navigation: Bat orientation using Earth's magnetic field p702
Richard A. Holland, Kasper Thorup, Maarten J. Vonhof, William W. Cochran and Martin Wikelski
doi:10.1038/444702a
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (198K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Top of page
Brief Communications Arising
Evolutionary Biology: Evidence for sympatric speciation? pE12
U. K. Schliewen, T. D. Kocher, K. R. McKaye, O. Seehausen and D. Tautz
doi:10.1038/nature05419
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,010K)
Evolutionary Biology: Evidence for sympatric speciation? (Reply) pE13
Marta Barluenga, Kai N. Stölting, Walter Salzburger, Moritz Muschick and Axel Meyer
doi:10.1038/nature05420
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (74K)
Continental Runoff: A quality-controlled global runoff data set pE14
Murray C. Peel and Thomas A. McMahon
doi:10.1038/nature05480
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (67K)
Continental Runoff: A quality-controlled global runoff data set (Reply) pE14
N. Gedney, P. M. Cox, R. A. Betts, O. Boucher, C. Huntingford and P. A. Stott
doi:10.1038/nature05481
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (68K)
Progress
The critical role of disks in the formation of high-mass stars p703
Riccardo Cesaroni, Daniele Galli, Giuseppe Lodato, Malcolm Walmsley and Qizhou Zhang
doi:10.1038/nature05344
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (210K)
See also: Editor's summary
Review
Electrical activity in early neuronal development p707
Nicholas C. Spitzer
doi:10.1038/nature05300
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (886K)
See also: Editor's summary
Articles
Insights into the dynamics of mantle plumes from uranium-series geochemistry p713
Bernard Bourdon, Neil M. Ribe, Andreas Stracke, Alberto E. Saal and Simon P. Turner
doi:10.1038/nature05341
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (354K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
The efficient interaction of indirect reciprocity and costly punishment p718
Bettina Rockenbach and Manfred Milinski
doi:10.1038/nature05229
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (331K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Thymic selection threshold defined by compartmentalization of Ras/MAPK signalling p724
Mark A. Daniels, Emma Teixeiro, Jason Gill, Barbara Hausmann, Dominique Roubaty, Kaisa Holmberg, Guy Werlen, Georg A. Holländer, Nicholas R. J. Gascoigne and Ed Palmer
doi:10.1038/nature05269
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,035K) | Supplementary information
Letters
Active galactic nuclei as scaled-up Galactic black holes p730
I. M. McHardy, E. Koerding, C. Knigge, P. Uttley and R. P. Fender
doi:10.1038/nature05389
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (212K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Wilms
Free fermion antibunching in a degenerate atomic Fermi gas released from an optical lattice p733
T. Rom, Th. Best, D. van Oosten, U. Schneider, S. Fölling, B. Paredes and I. Bloch
doi:10.1038/nature05319
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (456K)
Controlled injection and acceleration of electrons in plasma wakefields by colliding laser pulses p737
J. Faure, C. Rechatin, A. Norlin, A. Lifschitz, Y. Glinec and V. Malka
doi:10.1038/nature05393
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (287K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Katsouleas
Thermal radiation scanning tunnelling microscopy p740
Yannick De Wilde, Florian Formanek, Rémi Carminati, Boris Gralak, Paul-Arthur Lemoine, Karl Joulain, Jean-Philippe Mulet, Yong Chen and Jean-Jacques Greffet
doi:10.1038/nature05265
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (599K)
See also: Editor's summary
Oxidation of the Ediacaran Ocean p744
D. A. Fike, J. P. Grotzinger, L. M. Pratt and R. E. Summons
doi:10.1038/nature05345
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (358K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
How Neanderthal molar teeth grew p748
Roberto Macchiarelli, Luca Bondioli, André Debénath, Arnaud Mazurier, Jean-François Tournepiche, Wendy Birch and M. Christopher Dean
doi:10.1038/nature05314
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (574K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Climate-driven trends in contemporary ocean productivity p752
Michael J. Behrenfeld, Robert T. O'Malley, David A. Siegel, Charles R. McClain, Jorge L. Sarmiento, Gene C. Feldman, Allen J. Milligan, Paul G. Falkowski, Ricardo M. Letelier and Emmanuel S. Boss
doi:10.1038/nature05317
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (543K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Doney
Glioma stem cells promote radioresistance by preferential activation of the DNA damage response p756
Shideng Bao, Qiulian Wu, Roger E. McLendon, Yueling Hao, Qing Shi, Anita B. Hjelmeland, Mark W. Dewhirst, Darell D. Bigner and Jeremy N. Rich
doi:10.1038/nature05236
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (609K) | Supplementary information
See also: News and Views by Dirks
Bone morphogenetic proteins inhibit the tumorigenic potential of human brain tumour-initiating cells p761
S. G. M. Piccirillo, B. A. Reynolds, N. Zanetti, G. Lamorte, E. Binda, G. Broggi, H. Brem, A. Olivi, F. Dimeco and A. L. Vescovi
doi:10.1038/nature05349
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,243K) | Supplementary information
See also: News and Views by Dirks
A bacterial dynamin-like protein p766
Harry H. Low and Jan Löwe
doi:10.1038/nature05312
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (767K) | Supplementary information
Klotho converts canonical FGF receptor into a specific receptor for FGF23 p770
Itaru Urakawa, Yuji Yamazaki, Takashi Shimada, Kousuke Iijima, Hisashi Hasegawa, Katsuya Okawa, Toshiro Fujita, Seiji Fukumoto and Takeyoshi Yamashita
doi:10.1038/nature05315
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (424K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Phospholipids and the origin of cationic gating charges in voltage sensors p775
Daniel Schmidt, Qiu-Xing Jiang and Roderick MacKinnon
doi:10.1038/nature05416
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (3,598K) | Supplementary information
See also: News and Views by Lee
Corrigenda
Smad4 signalling in T cells is required for suppression of gastrointestinal cancer p780
Byung-Gyu Kim, Cuiling Li, Wenhui Qiao, Mizuko Mamura, Barbara Kasprzak, Miriam Anver, Lawrence Wolfraim, Suntaek Hong, Elizabeth Mushinski, Michael Potter, Seong-Jin Kim, Xin-Yuan Fu, Chuxia Deng and John J. Letterio
doi:10.1038/nature05421
Definitive fossil evidence for the extant avian radiation in the Cretaceous p780
Julia A. Clarke, Claudia P. Tambussi, Jorge I. Noriega, Gregory M. Erickson and Richard A. Ketcham
doi:10.1038/nature05424
Naturejobs
ProspectHow to ask yourself questions about major career decisions. p781
Paul Smaglik
doi:10.1038/nj7120-781a
Postdocs and Students
Should I stay or should I go? p782
Gut check time: should you stay in academia, on the bench or even quit science?
Kendall Powell
doi:10.1038/nj7120-782a
Highlights
Special Feature: NIH
doi:10.1038/nj0135
Highlight: Germany's Excellence Initiative
doi:10.1038/nj0136
Futures
Awakening the genius within p788
Revolution in the head.
Daniel Gregory
doi:10.1038/444788a
