Table of contents
Volume 448 Number 7156 pp839-968
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Editorials
Innovation versus science? p839
Harder economic times will force governments to ask tough questions about their investments in research.
doi:10.1038/448839a
Indentured labour p839
The deal at the foot of the scientific totem pole remains a raw one.
doi:10.1038/448839b
Technology trap p840
California is right to sound a cautionary note on electronic voting.
doi:10.1038/448840a
News
Oldest gorilla ages our joint ancestor p844
Fossil teeth from Africa add years to early ape.
Rex Dalton
doi:10.1038/448844a
Ocean circulation noisy, not stalling p844
No immediate danger for the Gulf stream.
Quirin Schiermeier
doi:10.1038/448844b
Sidelines p845
doi:10.1038/448845a
Fleece myth hints at golden age for Georgia p846
Bronze Age mine may be world's oldest.
Emiliano Feresin
doi:10.1038/448846a
Journal presents a mathematical conundrum p846
Strife proves hard to solve for K-theory.
Jenny Hogan
doi:10.1038/448846b
More biologists but tenure stays static p848
Life is not so easy for US postdocs.
Erika Check
doi:10.1038/448848a
Is baby DVD research Mickey Mouse science? p848
Disney rejects video data from university.
Daniel Cressey
doi:10.1038/448848b
Let down by the statistics p849
Unsound analyses are common in gender genetics papers.
Claire Ainsworth
doi:10.1038/448849a
Hope for axed cancer-prevention trial p850
Appeal by study organizers may offer a reprieve.
Meredith Wadman
doi:10.1038/448850a
News in brief p851
doi:10.1038/448851a
Business
A change of gear at Siemens p852
Europe's largest technology company is switching its priorities, even as it faces a growing bribery scandal. Quirin Schiermeier reports.
doi:10.1038/448852a
In brief p853
doi:10.1038/448853a
Market watch p853
Colin Macilwain
doi:10.1038/448853b
News Features
RNA interference: Hitting the on switch p855
Researchers in San Francisco have findings that suggest a whole new side to RNA interference. Erika Check reports on their attempts to make a revolutionary field more revolutionary still.
doi:10.1038/448855a
See also: Editor's summary
Africa conservation: Making room p860
Elephant populations are soaring in some parts of Africa. Emma Marris discovers there's no single way to fit them in amid the people.
doi:10.1038/448860a
See also: Editor's summary
Correspondence
Scientists should unite against threat from religion p864
Sam Harris
doi:10.1038/448864a
Religion: Islamic science fading before colonialism p864
Todd P. Silverstein
doi:10.1038/448864b
Berlin shows how natural history can pull the crowds p864
Nizar Ibrahim
doi:10.1038/448864c
Puns can be baffling, so keep headlines simple p864
Jeff Craig
doi:10.1038/448864d
Puns: wimp or macho, not a particle of offence is meant p865
Milan Hopkins
doi:10.1038/448865a
Regions unite to challenge inequalities in Brazil p865
Luiz A. B. Castro & Allan Kardec Barros
doi:10.1038/448865b
Summing up The Simpsons p865
J. Ewart H. Shaw
doi:10.1038/448865c
Drop 'higher' and 'lower' to raise descriptive standards p865
Michael Mogie
doi:10.1038/448865d
Books and Arts
Four ways to take the policy plunge p867
How should researchers best interact with policy-makers for maximum benefit to society?
Andrew A. Rosenberg reviews The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics by Roger Pielke, Jr
doi:10.1038/448867a
Mankind's strange love of superweapons p868
Gregg Herken reviews Doomsday Men: The Real Dr Strangelove and the Dream of the Superweapon by P. D. Smith
doi:10.1038/448868a
Linnaeus lives on p868
Pamela S. Soltis reviews Order out of Chaos: Linnaean Plant Names and their Types by C. Jarvis
doi:10.1038/448868b
The theatre of quantum physics p869
Finn Aaserud reviews Faust in Copenhagen: A Struggle for the Soul of Physics by Gino Segrè
doi:10.1038/448869a
Medical history without frontiers p870
Yasmin Khan reviews Medieval Islamic Medicine by Peter Pormann & Emilie Savage-Smith
doi:10.1038/448870a
News and Views
Neuroscience: Obsessed with grooming p871
Roughly 2% of humans suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder, but a lack of animal models has impeded research into this condition. Could a genetically engineered mouse model provide an exciting lead?
Steven E. Hyman
doi:10.1038/448871a
See also: Editor's summary
Quantum physics: Wave goodbye p872
When measuring photons, it's a case of 'wanted, dead' — catching them alive is not an option. But we can observe how a superposition of many photon waves progressively collapses as it interacts with a beam of atoms.
Luis A. Orozco
doi:10.1038/448872a
See also: Editor's summary
50 & 100 Years Ago p873
doi:10.1038/448873a
Economics: Age, health and wealth p875
Ageing populations raise the spectre of crippling healthcare costs. Extra spending on medical research might bring healthier, happier older people who work (and pay taxes) for longer. Is that a good investment?
Frances Cairncross
doi:10.1038/448875a
Materials science: Stirring stuff p876
Take silicon, soak in water, add acid — and stir. This simple new recipe for the self-assembly of complex microstructures belies an involved sequence of hydrophobic, electrostatic and van der Waals interactions.
David J. Pine
doi:10.1038/448876a
Evolutionary biology: Structure in mutualistic networks p877
Statistical analyses of the networks formed by plant–animal mutualisms can now take account of the relatedness of the players on either side. How helpful is this innovation for understanding network dynamics?
Susanne S. Renner
doi:10.1038/448877a
See also: Editor's summary
Materials science: Embedded shells decalcified p879
Synthetic microcapsules with membrane-bound inner chambers in which chemical reactions can be isolated and controlled have been assembled, layer by layer. Could artificial cells be on the horizon?
Catherine Picart & Dennis E. Discher
doi:10.1038/448879a
Earth science: Old diamonds and the upper crust p880
Was the early Earth a blackened landscape of congealed lava, or was it cool enough for oceans to form? The discovery of diamonds in the oldest-known relics of surface rocks adds new élan to this debate.
Ian S. Williams
doi:10.1038/448880a
See also: Editor's summary
Obituary: Daniel Koshland (1920–2007) p882
Biochemist, institution-builder and editor of Science.
Bruce Alberts
doi:10.1038/448882a
Analysis
Integrating molecular and network biology to decode endocytosis p883
Eva M. Schmid & Harvey T. McMahon
doi:10.1038/nature06031
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (877K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Brief Communications Arising
Magnetoelectrics: Is CdCr2S4 a multiferroic relaxor? pE4
Gustau Catalan & James F. Scott
doi:10.1038/nature06156
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (211K)
Magnetoelectrics: Is CdCr2S4 a multiferroic relaxor? (reply) pE5
Joachim Hemberger, Peter Lunkenheimer, Robert Fichtl, Hans-Albrecht Krug von Nidda, Vladimir Tsurkan & Alois Loidl
doi:10.1038/nature06157
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (211K)
Articles
Progressive field-state collapse and quantum non-demolition photon counting p889
Christine Guerlin, Julien Bernu, Samuel Deléglise, Clément Sayrin, Sébastien Gleyzes, Stefan Kuhr, Michel Brune, Jean-Michel Raimond & Serge Haroche
doi:10.1038/nature06057
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (556K)
See also: Editor's summary
Cortico-striatal synaptic defects and OCD-like behaviours in Sapap3-mutant mice p894
Jeffrey M. Welch, Jing Lu, Ramona M. Rodriguiz, Nicholas C. Trotta, Joao Peca, Jin-Dong Ding, Catia Feliciano, Meng Chen, J. Paige Adams, Jianhong Luo, Serena M. Dudek, Richard J. Weinberg, Nicole Calakos, William C. Wetsel & Guoping Feng
doi:10.1038/nature06104
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (739K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Gap junction adhesion is necessary for radial migration in the neocortex p901
Laura A. B. Elias, Doris D. Wang & Arnold R. Kriegstein
doi:10.1038/nature06063
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (2,143K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Letters
No extreme bipolar glaciation during the main Eocene calcite compensation shift p908
Kirsty M. Edgar, Paul A. Wilson, Philip F. Sexton & Yusuke Suganuma
doi:10.1038/nature06053
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (502K)
See also: Editor's summary
Northern Hemisphere forcing of climatic cycles in Antarctica over the past 360,000 years p912
Kenji Kawamura, Frédéric Parrenin, Lorraine Lisiecki, Ryu Uemura, Françoise Vimeux, Jeffrey P. Severinghaus, Manuel A. Hutterli, Takakiyo Nakazawa, Shuji Aoki, Jean Jouzel, Maureen E. Raymo, Koji Matsumoto, Hisakazu Nakata, Hideaki Motoyama, Shuji Fujita, Kumiko Goto-Azuma, Yoshiyuki Fujii & Okitsugu Watanabe
doi:10.1038/nature06015
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (606K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Hadean diamonds in zircon from Jack Hills, Western Australia p917
Martina Menneken, Alexander A. Nemchin, Thorsten Geisler, Robert T. Pidgeon & Simon A. Wilde
doi:10.1038/nature06083
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,236K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
A new species of great ape from the late Miocene epoch in Ethiopia p921
Gen Suwa, Reiko T. Kono, Shigehiro Katoh, Berhane Asfaw & Yonas Beyene
doi:10.1038/nature06113
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,620K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Non-random coextinctions in phylogenetically structured mutualistic networks p925
Enrico L. Rezende, Jessica E. Lavabre, Paulo R. Guimarães, Pedro Jordano & Jordi Bascompte
doi:10.1038/nature05956
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (376K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Regulation of IgA production by naturally occurring TNF/iNOS-producing dendritic cells p929
Hiroyuki Tezuka, Yukiko Abe, Makoto Iwata, Hajime Takeuchi, Hiromichi Ishikawa, Masayuki Matsushita, Tetsuo Shiohara, Shizuo Akira & Toshiaki Ohteki
doi:10.1038/nature06033
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (812K) | Supplementary information
An IRF8-binding promoter variant and AIRE control CHRNA1 promiscuous expression in thymus p934
Matthieu Giraud, Richard Taubert, Claire Vandiedonck, Xiayi Ke, Matthieu Lévi-Strauss, Franco Pagani, Francisco E. Baralle, Bruno Eymard, Christine Tranchant, Philippe Gajdos, Angela Vincent, Nick Willcox, David Beeson, Bruno Kyewski & Henri-Jean Garchon
doi:10.1038/nature06066
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (328K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
A central integrator of transcription networks in plant stress and energy signalling p938
Elena Baena-González, Filip Rolland, Johan M. Thevelein & Jen Sheen
doi:10.1038/nature06069
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (517K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
p15Ink4b is a critical tumour suppressor in the absence of p16Ink4a p943
Paul Krimpenfort, Annemieke IJpenberg, Ji-Ying Song, Martin van der Valk, Martijn Nawijn, John Zevenhoven & Anton Berns
doi:10.1038/nature06084
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (984K) | Supplementary information
The effects of molecular noise and size control on variability in the budding yeast cell cycle p947
Stefano Di Talia, Jan M. Skotheim, James M. Bean, Eric D. Siggia & Frederick R. Cross
doi:10.1038/nature06072
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (544K) | Supplementary information
Antidepressant binding site in a bacterial homologue of neurotransmitter transporters p952
Satinder K. Singh, Atsuko Yamashita & Eric Gouaux
doi:10.1038/nature06038
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (964K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Technology Features
Tissue preparation: Tissue issues p959
Millions of tissue samples have been collected and archived, but researchers wanting to explore them at the molecular level have found it tough going. Nathan Blow investigates the issues.
Nathan Blow
doi:10.1038/448959a
See also: Editor's summary
Tissue preparation: Frozen in time p959
doi:10.1038/448959b
Tissue preparation: The cutting edge p960
doi:10.1038/448960a
Tissue Preparation: Table of suppliers p963
doi:10.1038/448963a
Naturejobs
ProspectThe pharmaceutical industry has had big job losses of late. p965
Gene Russo
doi:10.1038/nj7156-965a
Futures
Formic gender disorder p968
Divide and conquer.
Barrington J. Bayley
doi:10.1038/448968a