Table of contents
Volume 446 Number 7134 pp347-468
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Editorials
Millennium development holes p347
The political commitment to helping the developing world is failing to deliver on its promises. The problem is made worse by the questionable evaluation of progress.
doi:10.1038/446347a
Independence day? p347
Spain has increased science funding but now needs to modernize the organizations at the top.
doi:10.1038/446347b
Going underground p348
A new study's recommendations for carbon capture should be pursued.
doi:10.1038/446348a
Research Highlights
Research highlights p350
doi:10.1038/446350a
Correction p351
doi:10.1038/446351a
News
Special ReportDegrees in homeopathy slated as unscientific p352
Alternative therapies are now a degree subject at some British universities. But do they deserve these credentials? Jim Giles reports.
doi:10.1038/446352a
See also: Editor's summary
Graphic detail: Where politicians stand on climate change p354
Since the Democrats took over the US House and Senate, ever more committees on climate change are holding hearings on a nearly daily basis. This month the leader of the House, Nancy Pelosi, formed yet another one, the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, leaving even Washington energy analysts struggling to keep up with it all. Emma Marris charts the key players in terms of clout and greenness.
doi:10.1038/446354a
Agencies join forces to share data p354
US to create a universal database of all its research results.
Declan Butler
doi:10.1038/446354b
Looking for hidden signs of consciousness p355
A 'brain-activity' test for patients in a vegetative state has divided neurologists.
Kerri Smith
doi:10.1038/446355a
Sidelines p355
doi:10.1038/446355b
A jump that would prove Newton wrong p357
A law of physics could break down on the equinox.
Philip Ball
doi:10.1038/446357a
Tamiflu side effects come under scrutiny p358
Is Tamiflu causing suicidal behaviour?
Ichiko Fuyuno
doi:10.1038/446358a
Experts call for active surveillance of drug safety p358
Drug agency urged to use latest technology to spot side effects early.
Meredith Wadman
doi:10.1038/446358b
Business
There goes Texas p362
A big deal in a big, conservative American state shows that energy utilities can no longer ignore CO2 emissions. Emma Marris reports.
doi:10.1038/446362a
In brief p363
doi:10.1038/446363a
Market watch p363
doi:10.1038/446363b
News Features
Materials science: Unexpected tricks of the light p364
The buzz over invisibility cloaks is fun — while it lasts. But metamaterials are likely to transform optics through more mundane applications. Katharine Sanderson reports.
doi:10.1038/446364a
See also: Editor's summary
Four years in Iraq: Lives in limbo p366
Many Iraqi academics have escaped death threats only to find that their qualifications are obsolete and immigration authorities are unsympathetic. Jim Giles hears their stories.
doi:10.1038/446366a
Four years in Iraq: The war against wounds p369
The US military is getting a lot of flak for the way it treats wounded soldiers returning from Iraq. Emma Marris reports on the advances in medical care that are helping to bring them home.
doi:10.1038/446369a
Correspondence
Poverty reduction must not exacerbate climate change p372
Terence P. Dawson and Simon J. Allen
doi:10.1038/446372a
Genetic test may lead to waste of healthy embryos p372
Roger Gosden
doi:10.1038/446372b
Intellectual edge can be gained in translation p372
Francesco Colucci
doi:10.1038/446372c
Commentary
Science degrees without the science p373
Some UK universities offer science degrees in complementary medicine. David Colquhoun argues that these are not science but anti-science, and asks who is to blame.
doi:10.1038/446373a
See also: Editor's summary
Books and Arts
The interior designer p375
Can the physiological agents of homeostasis create the appearance of design in nature?
Claus Wedekind reviews The Tinkerer's Accomplice: How Design Emerges From Life Itself by J. Scott Turner
doi:10.1038/446375a
The age of chance p376
Arthur Fine reviews Uncertainty: Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and the Struggle for the Soul of Science by David Lindley
doi:10.1038/446376a
Poisoned at work p377
Anthony Robbins reviews How Everyday Products Make People Sick: Toxins at Home and in the Workplace by Paul D. Blanc
doi:10.1038/446377a
Essay
ConnectionsFrontier at your fingertips p379
Between the nano- and micrometre scales, the collective behaviour of matter can give rise to startling emergent properties that hint at the nexus between biology and physics.
Piers Coleman
doi:10.1038/446379a
See also: Editor's summary
News and Views
Mechanochemistry: A reaction to stress p381
Chemists usually kick-start reactions with heat, light or electricity, but a far less common option is to use mechanical stress. It now seems that stress not only triggers reactions, but can also direct their course.
Brad M. Rosen and Virgil Percec
doi:10.1038/446381a
See also: Editor's summary
Asteroids: Spun in the sun p382
Two asteroids have been observed gradually spinning faster and faster, and the hot tip is that sunlight is the cause. If so, this could give us a handle on the dynamics and evolution of the asteroid belt in general.
William F. Bottke
doi:10.1038/nature05711
See also: Editor's summary
Organic chemistry: Synthesis undressed p383
Fragile chemical groups can be shielded from harsh reaction conditions by temporary protection. This approach is conventional wisdom for organic synthesis, but is it always the best solution?
John A. Porco, Jr
doi:10.1038/446383a
See also: Editor's summary
Behavioural neuroscience: Hare-brained flies p385
Sadaf Shadan
doi:10.1038/446385a
Evolutionary biology: Adaptation under a microscope p386
Experiments with microorganisms can guide thinking about the big questions being tackled by evolutionary biologists — for instance, how predation and immigration might play a role in adaptive radiation.
Rosemary G. Gillespie and Brent C. Emerson
doi:10.1038/446386a
See also: Editor's summary
Biochemistry: Molecular cannibalism p387
The biosynthesis of vitamin B12 has fascinated generations of scientists, but part of the pathway was unknown. The missing enzymatic link has now been found, only to raise more mechanistic questions.
Steven E. Ealick and Tadhg P. Begley
doi:10.1038/446387a
See also: Editor's summary
50 & 100 Years Ago p387
doi:10.1038/446387b
Obituary: Alan Graham MacDiarmid (1927–2007) p390
Pioneer of conducting polymers, and proud Antipodean.
Andrew Holmes
doi:10.1038/446390a
News and Views Q&A
Organometallic chemistry: C–H activation p391
The stability of the chemical bonds in saturated hydrocarbons makes them generally unreactive. But the invention of processes in which carbon–hydrogen (C–H) bonds in hydrocarbons can be activated is allowing chemists to exploit organic compounds in previously unimaginable ways.
Robert G. Bergman
doi:10.1038/446391a
See also: Editor's summary
Review
Relativistic effects in homogeneous gold catalysis p395
David J. Gorin and F. Dean Toste
doi:10.1038/nature05592
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (464K)
See also: Editor's summary
Articles
Total synthesis of marine natural products without using protecting groups p404
Phil S. Baran, Thomas J. Maimone and Jeremy M. Richter
doi:10.1038/nature05569
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (463K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Porco
Skew of mantle upwelling beneath the East Pacific Rise governs segmentation p409
Douglas R. Toomey, David Jousselin, Robert A. Dunn, William S. D. Wilcock and R. S. Detrick
doi:10.1038/nature05679
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (517K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Autocatalytic cleavage of Clostridium difficile toxin B p415
Jessica Reineke, Stefan Tenzer, Maja Rupnik, Andreas Koschinski, Oliver Hasselmayer, André Schrattenholz, Hansjörg Schild and Christoph von Eichel-Streiber
doi:10.1038/nature05622
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (919K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Letters
Acceleration of the rotation of asteroid 1862 Apollo by radiation torques p420
Mikko Kaasalainen,
Josef 
urech,
Brian D. Warner,
Yurij N. Krugly
and
Ninel M. Gaftonyuk
doi:10.1038/nature05614
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (325K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Bottke
Biasing reaction pathways with mechanical force p423
Charles R. Hickenboth, Jeffrey S. Moore, Scott R. White, Nancy R. Sottos, Jerome Baudry and Scott R. Wilson
doi:10.1038/nature05681
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (642K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Rosen & Percec
Seismic evidence for convection-driven motion of the North American plate p428
David W. Eaton and Andrew Frederiksen
doi:10.1038/nature05675
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (430K)
See also: Editor's summary
The effects of competition and predation on diversification in a model adaptive radiation p432
Justin R. Meyer and Rees Kassen
doi:10.1038/nature05599
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (230K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Gillespie & Emerson
Immigration history controls diversification in experimental adaptive radiation p436
Tadashi Fukami, Hubertus J. E. Beaumont, Xue-Xian Zhang and Paul B. Rainey
doi:10.1038/nature05629
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (295K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Gillespie & Emerson
Relating ligand binding to activation gating in CNGA2 channels p440
Christoph Biskup, Jana Kusch, Eckhard Schulz, Vasilica Nache, Frank Schwede, Frank Lehmann, Volker Hagen and Klaus Benndorf
doi:10.1038/nature05596
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (583K) | Supplementary information
p53-induced inhibition of Hif-1 causes cardiac dysfunction during pressure overload p444
Masanori Sano, Tohru Minamino, Haruhiro Toko, Hideyuki Miyauchi, Masayuki Orimo, Yingjie Qin, Hiroshi Akazawa, Kaoru Tateno, Yosuke Kayama, Mutsuo Harada, Ippei Shimizu, Takayuki Asahara, Hirofumi Hamada, Shuhei Tomita, Jeffrey D. Molkentin, Yunzeng Zou and Issei Komuro
doi:10.1038/nature05602
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (681K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
BluB cannibalizes flavin to form the lower ligand of vitamin B12 p449
Michiko E. Taga, Nicholas A. Larsen, Annaleise R. Howard-Jones, Christopher T. Walsh and Graham C. Walker
doi:10.1038/nature05611
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (2,045K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Ealick & Begley
Peptide bond formation destabilizes Shine–Dalgarno interaction on the ribosome p454
Sotaro Uemura, Magdalena Dorywalska, Tae-Hee Lee, Harold D. Kim, Joseph D. Puglisi and Steven Chu
doi:10.1038/nature05625
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (845K) | Supplementary information
Stepwise protein-mediated RNA folding directs assembly of telomerase ribonucleoprotein p458
Michael D. Stone, Mariana Mihalusova, Catherine M. O'Connor, Ramadevi Prathapam, Kathleen Collins and Xiaowei Zhuang
doi:10.1038/nature05600
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (321K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Naturejobs
ProspectProspects p463
The course of true love never did run smooth.
Paul Smaglik
doi:10.1038/nj7134-463a
Careers and Recruitment
Chemistry in context p464
Rumours of the demise of chemistry are misplaced — the 'science of everything' prevails, if sometimes under new guises. Ricki Lewis reports.
Ricki Lewis
doi:10.1038/nj7134-464a
Career Views
David Schimel, chief executive, National Ecological Observatory Network, Washington DC p466
David Schimel takes the reins at the National Ecological Observatory Network
Matthew Nestel
doi:10.1038/nj7134-466a
Researchers without frontiers p466
Marie Curie fellows seek maximum mobility.
Vanessa Díaz & Guggi Kofod
doi:10.1038/nj7134-466b
Beginner's luck p466
I actually seem to be enjoying my postdoc.
Peter Jordan
doi:10.1038/nj7134-466c
Recruiters
The inside track from academia and industry: Staying power p468
Carving out a successful career as an academic is hard, but there are steps you can take to ease your way.
Moray Campbell
doi:10.1038/nj7134-468a
