Table of contents
Volume 451 Number 7174 pp1-106
In this issue (3 January 2008)
Also this week
(this content only available online) indicates content that is available online only
Editorials
Election fireworks p1
Now is the time for the research community to catch the attention of the next president of the United States of America.
doi:10.1038/451001a
Think about it p1
Reliable policy research is an underrated planning tool in developing countries.
doi:10.1038/451001b
News
Budget blow to US science p2
Physics takes a hit despite earlier promises.
Eric Hand
doi:10.1038/451002a
Airgun ban halts seismic tests p3
Whales sink plan for survey off the Canadian coast.
Rex Dalton
doi:10.1038/451003a
Iowa and after p4
The presidential hopefuls have their say.
Eric Hand
doi:10.1038/451004a
Free journal-ranking tool enters citation market p6
Database offers on-the-fly results.
Declan Butler
doi:10.1038/451006a
Debate heats up over food from cloned animals p7
doi:10.1038/451007a
Sociologist to head Turkey’s university board p7
doi:10.1038/451007b
California petition to limit vehicle emissions rejected p7
doi:10.1038/451007c
Disgraced cloner seeks licence in comeback bid p7
doi:10.1038/451007d
Physicist takes the helm of Italy's research council p7
doi:10.1038/451007e
Illinois picked as site for carbon-capture plant p7
doi:10.1038/451007f
News Features
Capacity building: The road from Rio p8
Are think-tanks staffed by scientists a luxury that only rich nations can afford? Ehsan Masood meets the founders of four institutes that set out to help poorer nations to think for themselves.
doi:10.1038/451008a
Geology: The next land rush p12
As countries race to file claims to areas of the sea floor before a United Nations deadline, geologists and geophysicists are getting caught up in the frenzy. Daniel Cressey reports.
doi:10.1038/451012a
Correspondence
Strategies and alliances needed to protect forest from palm-oil industry p16
Oscar Venter, Erik Meijaard & Kerrie Wilson
doi:10.1038/451016a
Illegal mining could revive Xinjiang's coalfield fires p16
Maohua Zhong & Tairan Fu
doi:10.1038/451016b
Slow development impedes the uptake of diagnostics p16
Chul-So Moon, Eddy C. Agbo & David Sidransky
doi:10.1038/451016c
Books and Arts
Keeping pace with change p17
A textbook covering all aspects of evolution puts the spotlight on the molecular motor that drives it.
Daniel Hartl reviews Evolution by Nicholas H. Barton, Derek E. G. Briggs, Jonathan A. Eisen, David B. Goldstein & Nipam H. Patel
doi:10.1038/451017a
See also: Editor's summary
Split world p18
Anton Zeilinger reviews Decoherence and the Quantum-to-Classical Transition by Maximilian Schlosshauer
doi:10.1038/451018a
Dendrites p18
doi:10.1038/451018b
Natural History: Drawing conclusions p19
Jenny Meyer reviews The Great Naturalists
doi:10.1038/451019a
The greening of genomics p19
Andrew H. Paterson reviews Functional Plant Genomics
doi:10.1038/451019b
Invertebrate Neurobiology p19
doi:10.1038/451019c
News and Views
Down's syndrome: Paradox of a tumour repressor p21
Having three copies of chromosome 21 reduces the incidence of solid tumours in people with Down's syndrome. Studies in mice provide clues to why, and highlight a complex gene–function relationship.
David W. Threadgill
doi:10.1038/451021a
See also: Editor's summary
50 & 100 Years Ago p22
doi:10.1038/451022a
Magnetism: Freedom for the poles p22
Magnetic poles always come in twos, a north and a south. That received wisdom has not stopped physicists from searching for 'monopoles' in accelerators and cosmic rays. Theory now indicates a better place to look.
Oleg Tchernyshyov
doi:10.1038/451022b
See also: Editor's summary
Aquaculture: The price of lice p23
Wild salmon stocks in Canadian coastal waters are being severely affected by parasites from fish farms. So intense are these infestations that some populations of salmon are at risk of extinction.
Andrew A. Rosenberg
doi:10.1038/451023a
Neuroscience: Love hangover p24
In many species, males have developed strategies to safeguard their genetic material from dilution by that of competing males. Fruitflies achieve this by altering the behaviour of their partners.
Leslie C. Griffith
doi:10.1038/451024a
See also: Editor's summary
Carbon cycle: Sources, sinks and seasons p26
Changes in the phasing of seasonal cycles of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere mark the time when a region becomes a source or a sink of CO2. One study of such changes prompts thought-provoking conclusions.
John B. Miller
doi:10.1038/451026a
See also: Editor's summary
Optics: Watch your back p27
A proposal for transporting photons invisibly between two unconnected points in space seems worthy of a Star Trek plot. But it is in principle wholly realizable, and could open up new vistas — literally.
Kosmas L. Tsakmakidis & Ortwin Hess
doi:10.1038/451027a
Obituary: Alan J. Southward (1928–2007) p28
Marine biologist: a pioneer of marine ecosystem time series.
Paul R. Dando
doi:10.1038/451028a
News and Views Q&A
Astronomy: Extrasolar planets p29
Hundreds of planets are known to orbit stars other than the Sun, and unprecedented observations of their atmospheres and structures are being made. It's an invaluable opening for understanding the planets' diverse natures, the formation of our Solar System, and the possibility of habitable planets beyond our home.
Dimitar D. Sasselov
doi:10.1038/451029a
See also: Editor's summary
Article
A receptor that mediates the post-mating switch in Drosophila reproductive behaviour p33
Nilay Yapici, Young-Joon Kim, Carlos Ribeiro & Barry J. Dickson
doi:10.1038/nature06483
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (465K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Griffith
Letters
A young massive planet in a star–disk system p38
J. Setiawan, Th. Henning, R. Launhardt, A. Müller, P. Weise & M. Kürster
doi:10.1038/nature06426
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (341K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Magnetic monopoles in spin ice p42
C. Castelnovo, R. Moessner & S. L. Sondhi
doi:10.1038/nature06433
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (467K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Tchernyshyov
Three-dimensional atomic-scale structure of size-selected gold nanoclusters p46
Z. Y. Li, N. P. Young, M. Di Vece, S. Palomba, R. E. Palmer, A. L. Bleloch, B. C. Curley, R. L. Johnston, J. Jiang & J. Yuan
doi:10.1038/nature06470
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (354K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Net carbon dioxide losses of northern ecosystems in response to autumn warming p49
Shilong Piao, Philippe Ciais, Pierre Friedlingstein, Philippe Peylin, Markus Reichstein, Sebastiaan Luyssaert, Hank Margolis, Jingyun Fang, Alan Barr, Anping Chen, Achim Grelle, David Y. Hollinger, Tuomas Laurila, Anders Lindroth, Andrew D. Richardson & Timo Vesala
doi:10.1038/nature06444
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (828K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Miller
Vertical structure of recent Arctic warming p53
Rune G. Graversen, Thorsten Mauritsen, Michael Tjernström, Erland Källén & Gunilla Svensson
doi:10.1038/nature06502
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (445K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Effects of acoustic waves on stick–slip in granular media and implications for earthquakes p57
Paul A. Johnson, Heather Savage, Matt Knuth, Joan Gomberg & Chris Marone
doi:10.1038/nature06440
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (391K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Sparse optical microstimulation in barrel cortex drives learned behaviour in freely moving mice p61
Daniel Huber,
Leopoldo Petreanu,
Nima Ghitani,
Sachin Ranade,
Tomá
Hromádka,
Zach Mainen
&
Karel Svoboda
doi:10.1038/nature06445
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (944K) | Supplementary information
Behavioural report of single neuron stimulation in somatosensory cortex p65
Arthur R. Houweling & Michael Brecht
doi:10.1038/nature06447
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (360K) | Supplementary information
TRPC channel activation by extracellular thioredoxin p69
Shang-Zhong Xu, Piruthivi Sukumar, Fanning Zeng, Jing Li, Amit Jairaman, Anne English, Jacqueline Naylor, Coziana Ciurtin, Yasser Majeed, Carol J. Milligan, Yahya M. Bahnasi, Eman Al-Shawaf, Karen E. Porter, Lin-Hua Jiang, Paul Emery, Asipu Sivaprasadarao & David J. Beech
doi:10.1038/nature06414
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (480K) | Supplementary information
Trisomy represses ApcMin-mediated tumours in mouse models of Down's syndrome p73
Thomas E. Sussan, Annan Yang, Fu Li, Michael C. Ostrowski & Roger H. Reeves
doi:10.1038/nature06446
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (221K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Threadgill
NUMB controls p53 tumour suppressor activity p76
Ivan N. Colaluca, Daniela Tosoni, Paolo Nuciforo, Francesca Senic-Matuglia, Viviana Galimberti, Giuseppe Viale, Salvatore Pece & Pier Paolo Di Fiore
doi:10.1038/nature06412
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (525K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Poly(ADP-ribose)-binding zinc finger motifs in DNA repair/checkpoint proteins p81
Ivan Ahel, Dragana Ahel, Takahiro Matsusaka, Allison J. Clark, Jonathon Pines, Simon J. Boulton & Stephen C. West
doi:10.1038/nature06420
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,114K) | Supplementary information
Non-fermentative pathways for synthesis of branched-chain higher alcohols as biofuels p86
Shota Atsumi, Taizo Hanai & James C. Liao
doi:10.1038/nature06450
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (264K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Distinct domains of tRNA synthetase recognize the same base pair p90
Kirk Beebe, Marissa Mock, Eve Merriman & Paul Schimmel
doi:10.1038/nature06454
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (282K) | Supplementary information
Structure of a tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase splicing factor bound to a group I intron RNA p94
Paul J. Paukstelis, Jui-Hui Chen, Elaine Chase, Alan M. Lambowitz & Barbara L. Golden
doi:10.1038/nature06413
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,016K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Structure of the sulphiredoxin–peroxiredoxin complex reveals an essential repair embrace p98
Thomas J. Jönsson, Lynnette C. Johnson & W. Todd Lowther
doi:10.1038/nature06415
PDB code
3D view
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (702K) | Supplementary information
Corrigenda
Dissecting a circuit for olfactory behaviour in Caenorhabditis elegans p102
Sreekanth H. Chalasani, Nikos Chronis, Makoto Tsunozaki, Jesse M. Gray, Daniel Ramot, Miriam B. Goodman & Cornelia I. Bargmann
doi:10.1038/nature06540
Gene-specific control of inflammation by TLR-induced chromatin modifications p102
Simmie L. Foster, Diana C. Hargreaves & Ruslan Medzhitov
doi:10.1038/nature06541
Naturejobs
ProspectProspects p103
Tales of life as a postdoc.
Gene Russo
doi:10.1038/nj7174-103a
Futures
When Britney Spears comes to my lab p106
Now that's what I call pop culture!
Vince LiCata
doi:10.1038/451106a