Table of contents
Volume 452 Number 7186 pp387-502
In this issue (27 March 2008)
Also this week
(this content only available online) indicates content that is available online only
Editorials
1917–2008: A Space Optimist p387
Arthur C. Clarke's technological prescience deserves to be honoured; his endless optimism needs to be cherished.
doi:10.1038/452387a
Critical journalism p387
Science coverage is on the wane when public scrutiny of science is more important than ever.
doi:10.1038/452387b
A reprogramming rush p388
Stem-cell research is in danger of falling foul of haste.
doi:10.1038/452388a
News
£130-million cut to grants hits UK physical scientists p392
Daniel Cressey
doi:10.1038/452392a
String theorists hope to classify the cosmos p392
Dimensions of space-time used to order potential universes.
Geoff Brumfiel
doi:10.1038/452392b
Sidelines p393
Scribbles on the margins of science.
doi:10.1038/452393a
Bagged and boxed: it's a frog's life p394
As many amphibians face the very real threat of being completely wiped out by disease, climate change and pollution, Emma Marris looks at a controversial approach to save some of them in glass boxes.
Emma Marris
doi:10.1038/452394a
Laptops track Earth's shakes, rattles and rolls p397
A geoscientist devises a way to boost computing power.
Erik Vance
doi:10.1038/452397a
Veto blocks Kansas coal plants ? for now p398
doi:10.1038/452398a
Science debate looking less likely in Philadelphia p398
doi:10.1038/452398b
Valuable bacterial archive destroyed p398
doi:10.1038/452398c
China declares ambitious alternative-energy plans p399
doi:10.1038/452399a
Faculty protest at sale of Canadian observatory p399
doi:10.1038/452399b
Joint drug venture to end after 30 years p399
doi:10.1038/452399c
Outstanding mentors in Germany p399
doi:10.1038/452399d
News Features
Chemistry: The photon trap p400
Chemists have long wanted to recreate photosynthesis in the lab — and to improve on its efficiency at converting sunlight into fuel. Katharine Sanderson reports on their latest efforts.
doi:10.1038/452400a
Biodiversity: Frozen futures p404
The 'Doomsday vault' buried in the Arctic ice will provide a backup for the world's seeds. But more needs to be done to safeguard food diversity, says Michael Hopkin.
doi:10.1038/452404a
Stem cells: 5 things to know before jumping on the iPS bandwagon p406
Induced pluripotent stem cells look just like embryonic stem cells, but are easier to create and free of the heavy ethics baggage. David Cyranoski separates fact from fiction in a burgeoning field.
doi:10.1038/452406a
Correspondence
Canadian government is committed to science p409
Jim Prentice
doi:10.1038/452409a
Call for a centralized grant proposal repository p409
Noam Y. Harel
doi:10.1038/452409b
Unfair statistics take the bloom off St Louis p409
Scott Jacques
doi:10.1038/452409c
Books and Arts
View from the top p411
From prisoner-of-war to head of Europe's space agency, astrophysicist Reimar Lüst reflects on his career.
Stefan Klein reviews Der Wissenschaftsmacher
doi:10.1038/452411a
Exhibition: Industrial paint's artistic legacy p412
Christopher Turner reviews Color Chart: Reinventing Color, 1950 to Today
doi:10.1038/452412a
Exhibition: How faces share feelings p413
Jascha Hoffman reviews The Search for Universals in Human Emotion: Photographs from the New Guinea Expedition
doi:10.1038/452413a
Exhibition: An eye for detail p413
Jenny Meyer
doi:10.1038/452413b
Hidden treasures: Florence's botanical collection p414
Italy's first centralized museum of plants was one of the early flowerings of the unification movement. Alison Abbott reports on an important scientific legacy.
Alison Abbott
doi:10.1038/452414a
See also: Editor's summary
News and Views
Catalysis: Triumph of a chemical underdog p415
In the fable of the tortoise and the hare, the reptilian slowcoach beats its fleet-footed rival in a race. A zinc catalyst recreates this story by giving a less reactive chemical group a turn of speed over a rival group.
Gorka Peris & Scott J. Miller
doi:10.1038/452415a
Circadian rhythms: Stem cells traffic in time p416
Circadian activity in the brain regulates the movement of blood stem cells into and out of the bone marrow. Perhaps this process is testing the suitability of these cell 'tenants' for their new home — the remodelling bone.
David T. Scadden
doi:10.1038/452416a
See also: Editor's summary
Astronomy: Starbursts near and far p417
Observations of intensely bright star-forming galaxies both close by and in the far Universe seem to emphasize their similarities. But look a little closer, and telling differences emerge.
Yu Gao
doi:10.1038/452417a
50 & 100 Years Ago p417
doi:10.1038/452417b
Nanoelectronics: Spin surprise in carbon p419
Spintronics is an emerging branch of electronics that exploits electrons' spin, rather than charge. In carbon nanotubes, the coupling of this spin with electron motion could offer a desirable way to control quantum information.
Arne Brataas
doi:10.1038/452419a
See also: Editor's summary
Neuroscience: Strength in numbers p420
To store information, the brain modulates synapses, which mediate communication between neurons. A closer look hints that subcellular changes in response to groups of synapses facilitate this process.
Nelson Spruston
doi:10.1038/452420a
Analytical chemistry: Do-it-yourself microfluidics p421
Tim Lincoln
doi:10.1038/452421a
Obituary: Joshua Lederberg (1925–2008) p422
Decisive discoveries in bacterial genetics.
Baruch S. Blumberg
doi:10.1038/452422a
Articles
Genetics of gene expression and its effect on disease p423
Valur Emilsson, Gudmar Thorleifsson, Bin Zhang, Amy S. Leonardson, Florian Zink, Jun Zhu, Sonia Carlson, Agnar Helgason, G. Bragi Walters, Steinunn Gunnarsdottir, Magali Mouy, Valgerdur Steinthorsdottir, Gudrun H. Eiriksdottir, Gyda Bjornsdottir, Inga Reynisdottir, Daniel Gudbjartsson, Anna Helgadottir, Aslaug Jonasdottir, Adalbjorg Jonasdottir, Unnur Styrkarsdottir, Solveig Gretarsdottir, Kristinn P. Magnusson, Hreinn Stefansson, Ragnheidur Fossdal, Kristleifur Kristjansson, Hjortur G. Gislason, Tryggvi Stefansson, Bjorn G. Leifsson, Unnur Thorsteinsdottir, John R. Lamb, Jeffrey R. Gulcher, Marc L. Reitman, Augustine Kong, Eric E. Schadt & Kari Stefansson
doi:10.1038/nature06758
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (563K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Variations in DNA elucidate molecular networks that cause disease p429
Yanqing Chen, Jun Zhu, Pek Yee Lum, Xia Yang, Shirly Pinto, Douglas J. MacNeil, Chunsheng Zhang, John Lamb, Stephen Edwards, Solveig K. Sieberts, Amy Leonardson, Lawrence W. Castellini, Susanna Wang, Marie-France Champy, Bin Zhang, Valur Emilsson, Sudheer Doss, Anatole Ghazalpour, Steve Horvath, Thomas A. Drake, Aldons J. Lusis & Eric E. Schadt
doi:10.1038/nature06757
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (425K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Compartmentalized dendritic plasticity and input feature storage in neurons p436
Attila Losonczy, Judit K. Makara & Jeffrey C. Magee
doi:10.1038/nature06725
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,523K) | Supplementary information
See also: News and Views by Spruston
Haematopoietic stem cell release is regulated by circadian oscillations p442
Simón Méndez-Ferrer, Daniel Lucas, Michela Battista & Paul S. Frenette
doi:10.1038/nature06685
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (690K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Scadden
Letters
Coupling of spin and orbital motion of electrons in carbon nanotubes p448
F. Kuemmeth, S. Ilani, D. C. Ralph & P. L. McEuen
doi:10.1038/nature06822
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (587K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Brataas
Proline-catalysed Mannich reactions of acetaldehyde p453
Jung Woon Yang, Carley Chandler, Michael Stadler, Daniela Kampen & Benjamin List
doi:10.1038/nature06740
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (201K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Tracing the stepwise oxygenation of the Proterozoic ocean p456
C. Scott, T. W. Lyons, A. Bekker, Y. Shen, S. W. Poulton, X. Chu & A. D. Anbar
doi:10.1038/nature06811
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (365K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Lower-crustal intrusion on the North Atlantic continental margin p460
R. S. White, L. K. Smith, A. W. Roberts, P. A. F. Christie, N. J. Kusznir & the rest of the iSIMM Team
doi:10.1038/nature06687
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (833K) | Supplementary information
The first hominin of Europe p465
Eudald Carbonell, José M. Bermúdez de Castro, Josep M. Parés, Alfredo Pérez-González, Gloria Cuenca-Bescós, Andreu Ollé, Marina Mosquera, Rosa Huguet, Jan van der Made, Antonio Rosas, Robert Sala, Josep Vallverdú, Nuria García, Darryl E. Granger, María Martinón-Torres, Xosé P. Rodríguez, Greg M. Stock, Josep M. Vergès, Ethel Allué, Francesc Burjachs, Isabel Cáceres, Antoni Canals, Alfonso Benito, Carlos Díez, Marina Lozano, Ana Mateos, Marta Navazo, Jesús Rodríguez, Jordi Rosell & Juan L. Arsuaga
doi:10.1038/nature06815
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (643K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Pleiotropic scaling of gene effects and the 'cost of complexity' p470
Günter P. Wagner, Jane P. Kenney-Hunt, Mihaela Pavlicev, Joel R. Peck, David Waxman & James M. Cheverud
doi:10.1038/nature06756
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (220K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
The Drosophila pheromone cVA activates a sexually dimorphic neural circuit p473
Sandeep Robert Datta, Maria Luisa Vasconcelos, Vanessa Ruta, Sean Luo, Allan Wong, Ebru Demir, Jorge Flores, Karen Balonze, Barry J. Dickson & Richard Axel
doi:10.1038/nature06808
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (698K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Molecular identification of a retinal cell type that responds to upward motion p478
In-Jung Kim, Yifeng Zhang, Masahito Yamagata, Markus Meister & Joshua R. Sanes
doi:10.1038/nature06739
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,354K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
CO2 regulator SLAC1 and its homologues are essential for anion homeostasis in plant cells p483
Juntaro Negi, Osamu Matsuda, Takashi Nagasawa, Yasuhiro Oba, Hideyuki Takahashi, Maki Kawai-Yamada, Hirofumi Uchimiya, Mimi Hashimoto & Koh Iba
doi:10.1038/nature06720
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (906K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
SLAC1 is required for plant guard cell S-type anion channel function in stomatal signalling p487
Triin Vahisalu, Hannes Kollist, Yong-Fei Wang, Noriyuki Nishimura, Wai-Yin Chan, Gabriel Valerio, Airi Lamminmäki, Mikael Brosché, Heino Moldau, Radhika Desikan, Julian I. Schroeder & Jaakko Kangasjärvi
doi:10.1038/nature06608
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (600K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
SIRT6 is a histone H3 lysine 9 deacetylase that modulates telomeric chromatin p492
Eriko Michishita, Ronald A. McCord, Elisabeth Berber, Mitomu Kioi, Hesed Padilla-Nash, Mara Damian, Peggie Cheung, Rika Kusumoto, Tiara L. A. Kawahara, J. Carl Barrett, Howard Y. Chang, Vilhelm A. Bohr, Thomas Ried, Or Gozani & Katrin F. Chua
doi:10.1038/nature06736
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (556K) | Supplementary information
Naturejobs
ProspectProspects p497
Disease prevention should be fertile ground for researchers — if policy–makers catch up with the experts.
Gene Russo
doi:10.1038/nj7186-497a
Special Report
The art of self-defence p498
Vaccines are no longer 'worthy but dull'. A heady mix of funding and breakthroughs is bringing this once-quiet area to life, says Virginia Gewin.
Virginia Gewin
doi:10.1038/nj7186-498a
Futures
Acting up p502
Never work with children or animals.
Elizabeth Counihan
doi:10.1038/452502a