Table of contents

Sidelines p143

Scribbles on the margins of science.

doi:10.1038/453143b

Institutes marshal locals to boost African physics p145

doi:10.1038/453145a

Patent on Mexican yellow beans is reversed p145

doi:10.1038/453145b

Drug firm turns spotlight on basic systems biology p145

doi:10.1038/453145c

NASA watchdog calls for Orion board suspensions p145

doi:10.1038/453145d

Sacked whistle-blower demands reinstatement p145

doi:10.1038/453145e

Elephant-hunting season opens in South Africa p145

doi:10.1038/453145f

Correction p145

doi:10.1038/453145g

News Features

Earth science: Harnessing the hum p146

A new way to analyse seismic vibrations is bringing order out of noise to help predict volcanic eruptions or create detailed images of Earth's interior. Rachel Courtland reports.

doi:10.1038/453146a

Full Text | PDF (1,634K)

Cell biology: The cellular hullabaloo p150

The inner life of a cell is noisy. Helen Pearson discovers how the resulting randomness makes life more challenging — and richer.

doi:10.1038/453150a

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Correspondence

Long-range energy forecasts are no more than fairy tales p154

Vaclav Smil

doi:10.1038/453154a

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Energy assumptions were reasonable at the time, but not now p154

Christopher B. Field

doi:10.1038/453154b

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Future scenarios for emissions need continual adjustment p155

Richard G. Richels, Richard S. J. Tol & Gary W. Yohe

doi:10.1038/453155a

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Climate policies will stimulate technology development p155

Ottmar Edenhofer, Bill Hare, Brigitte Knopf & Gunnar Luderer

doi:10.1038/453155b

Full Text | PDF (53K)

IPCC's climate-policy assumptions were justified p155

Joseph Romm

doi:10.1038/453155c

Full Text | PDF (53K)

Books and Arts

Not so amateur p156

Volunteer star-gazers tracking satellites at the start of the space age often surpassed the professionals.

Owen Gingerich reviews Keep Watching the Skies! The Story of Operation Moonwatch and the Dawn of the Space Age by W. Patrick McCray

doi:10.1038/453156a

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How brains develop p157

Bruce M. Hood reviews The Fundamentals of Brain Development: Integrating Nature & Nurture by Joan Stiles and The Baby in the Mirror: A Child's World from Birth to Three by Charles Fernyhough

doi:10.1038/453157a

Full Text | PDF (540K)

Learning from climates past p158

Chris Turney reviews Fixing Climate: What Past Climate Changes Reveal About the Current Threat — and How to Counter It by Wallace S. Broecker & Robert Kunzig

doi:10.1038/453158a

Mountains into molehills p158

Emma Marris reviews Burning the Future: Coal in America and Mountain Top Removal

doi:10.1038/453158b

Saving art in situ p159

A conservation scientist explains how borrowing gadgets from Mars rovers helps preserve culture on Earth.

Giacomo Chiari

doi:10.1038/453159a

Full Text | PDF (540K)

Essay

Science & Music: Facing the music p160

At the heart of any scientific explanation of music is an understanding of how and why it affects us. In the first of a nine-part essay series, Philip Ball explores just how far we can hope to achieve a full scientific theory of music.

Philip Ball

doi:10.1038/453160a

Full Text | PDF (600K)

News and Views

Planetary science: Music of the stratospheres p163

Fifteen-year oscillations in Saturn's equatorial stratosphere bear a striking resemblance to the shorter-term oscillations seen on Earth and Jupiter — akin to notes played on a cello, a violin and a viola.

Timothy E. Dowling

doi:10.1038/453163a

Full Text | PDF (275K)

See also: Editor's summary

Computational biochemistry: Old enzymes, new tricks p164

Although enzymes are superb catalysts, their range of reactions is limited to those that support life. Their repertoire could be expanded by a method that allows artificial enzymes to be made from scratch.

Giovanna Ghirlanda

doi:10.1038/453164a

Full Text | PDF (276K)

50 & 100 years ago p165

doi:10.1038/453165a

Full Text | PDF (185K)

Device physics: Chance match p166

A clever device uses the quantum statistics of electron tunnelling to match image patterns. The circuit is low-power, works at room temperature — and could point to a way forward for silicon electronics.

Robert M. Westervelt

doi:10.1038/453166a

Full Text | PDF (144K)

Quantum information: Stopping the rot p167

Uncontrollable outside influences undermine the whole enterprise of quantum computing. Nailing down the sources of this 'decoherence' in a solid-state system is a step towards solving the problem.

Philip C. E. Stamp

doi:10.1038/453167a

Full Text | PDF (303K)

See also: Editor's summary

Obesity: What's your fat-cell allowance? p169

Sadaf Shadan

doi:10.1038/453169a

Full Text | PDF (148K)

Molecular biology: An HIV secret uncovered p169

With two catalytic activities and many substrates, how does HIV's reverse transcriptase enzyme know what to do to which substrate? Zooming in on the enzyme's molecular interactions provides tantalizing clues.

Eddy Arnold & Stefan G. Sarafianos

doi:10.1038/453169b

Full Text | PDF (451K)

See also: Editor's summary

News and Views Q&A

Materials science: Supramolecular polymers p171

Most polymers consist of long molecular chains made up of many units connected by covalent bonds — but supramolecular polymers are different. The strikingly dynamic properties of these materials arise from the reversible bonds that hold their chains together, and open up the prospect of many new applications.

Tom F. A. de Greef & E. W. Meijer

doi:10.1038/453171a

Full Text | PDF (451K)

Articles

Genome analysis of the platypus reveals unique signatures of evolution p175

A list of authors and their affiliations appears at the end of the paper

doi:10.1038/nature06936

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (435K) | Supplementary information

See also: Editor's summary

Dynamic binding orientations direct activity of HIV reverse transcriptase p184

Elio A. Abbondanzieri, Gregory Bokinsky, Jason W. Rausch, Jennifer X. Zhang, Stuart F. J. Le Grice & Xiaowei Zhuang

doi:10.1038/nature06941

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (546K) | Supplementary information

Kemp elimination catalysts by computational enzyme design p190

Daniela Röthlisberger, Olga Khersonsky, Andrew M. Wollacott, Lin Jiang, Jason DeChancie, Jamie Betker, Jasmine L. Gallaher, Eric A. Althoff, Alexandre Zanghellini, Orly Dym, Shira Albeck, Kendall N. Houk, Dan S. Tawfik & David Baker

doi:10.1038/nature06879

PDB code
- 2rkx

3D view
- 2rkx

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (745K) | Supplementary information

Letters

Semi-annual oscillations in Saturn's low-latitude stratospheric temperatures p196

Glenn S. Orton, Padma A. Yanamandra-Fisher, Brendan M. Fisher, A. James Friedson, Paul D. Parrish, Jesse F. Nelson, Amber Swenson Bauermeister, Leigh Fletcher, Daniel Y. Gezari, Frank Varosi, Alan T. Tokunaga, John Caldwell, Kevin H. Baines, Joseph L. Hora, Michael E. Ressler, Takuya Fujiyoshi, Tetsuharu Fuse, Hagop Hagopian, Terry Z. Martin, Jay T. Bergstralh, Carly Howett, William F. Hoffmann, Lynne K. Deutsch, Jeffrey E. Van Cleve, Eldar Noe, Joseph D. Adams, Marc Kassis & Eric Tollestrup

doi:10.1038/nature06897

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (428K) | Supplementary information

An equatorial oscillation in Saturn's middle atmosphere p200

T. Fouchet, S. Guerlet, D. F. Strobel, A. A. Simon-Miller, B. Bézard & F. M. Flasar

doi:10.1038/nature06912

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (266K) | Supplementary information

Quantum oscillations in a molecular magnet p203

S. Bertaina, S. Gambarelli, T. Mitra, B. Tsukerblat, A. Müller & B. Barbara

doi:10.1038/nature06962

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (606K) | Supplementary information

Colossal cages in zeolitic imidazolate frameworks as selective carbon dioxide reservoirs p207

Bo Wang, Adrien P. Côté, Hiroyasu Furukawa, Michael O'Keeffe & Omar M. Yaghi

doi:10.1038/nature06900

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (953K) | Supplementary information

See also: Editor's summary

Increasing risk of Amazonian drought due to decreasing aerosol pollution p212

Peter M. Cox, Phil P. Harris, Chris Huntingford, Richard A. Betts, Matthew Collins, Chris D. Jones, Tim E. Jupp, José A. Marengo & Carlos A. Nobre

doi:10.1038/nature06960

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (370K) | Supplementary information

See also: Editor's summary

Scale effects and human impact on the elevational species richness gradients p216

D. Nogués-Bravo, M. B. Araújo, T. Romdal & C. Rahbek

doi:10.1038/nature06812

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (450K) | Supplementary information

Neutral metacommunity models predict fish diversity patterns in Mississippi–Missouri basin p220

Rachata Muneepeerakul, Enrico Bertuzzo, Heather J. Lynch, William F. Fagan, Andrea Rinaldo & Ignacio Rodriguez-Iturbe

doi:10.1038/nature06813

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,063K) | Supplementary information

See also: Editor's summary

REST maintains self-renewal and pluripotency of embryonic stem cells p223

Sanjay K. Singh, Mohamedi N. Kagalwala, Jan Parker-Thornburg, Henry Adams & Sadhan Majumder

doi:10.1038/nature06863

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (461K) | Supplementary information

Long-term haematopoietic reconstitution by Trp53^-^/-p16^Ink4a^-/-p19^Arf-^/- multipotent progenitors p228

Omobolaji O. Akala, In-Kyung Park, Dalong Qian, Michael Pihalja, Michael W. Becker & Michael F. Clarke

doi:10.1038/nature06869

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (482K) | Supplementary information

See also: Editor's summary

Discrete fixed-resolution representations in visual working memory p233

Weiwei Zhang & Steven J. Luck

doi:10.1038/nature06860

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (490K) | Supplementary information

See also: Editor's summary

TGF--induced Foxp3 inhibits T_H17 cell differentiation by antagonizing RORt function p236

Liang Zhou, Jared E. Lopes, Mark M. W. Chong, Ivaylo I. Ivanov, Roy Min, Gabriel D. Victora, Yuelei Shen, Jianguang Du, Yuri P. Rubtsov, Alexander Y. Rudensky, Steven F. Ziegler & Dan R. Littman

doi:10.1038/nature06878

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,022K) | Supplementary information

Imaging of Rab5 activity identifies essential regulators for phagosome maturation p241

Masahiro Kitano, Michio Nakaya, Takeshi Nakamura, Shigekazu Nagata & Michiyuki Matsuda

doi:10.1038/nature06857

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,338K) | Supplementary information

Chromatin decouples promoter threshold from dynamic range p246

Felix H. Lam, David J. Steger & Erin K. O'Shea

doi:10.1038/nature06867

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (719K) | Supplementary information

Naturejobs

Prospect

Prospects p251

Postdocs need a set of defined, widely endorsed core competencies. Or do they?

Gene Russo

doi:10.1038/nj7192-251a

Full Text | PDF (68K)

Region

Toronto rising p252

Specialist research centres are springing up in Canada's biggest city, nourished by government funds that also attract high-calibre scientists. Kurt Kleiner reports.

Kurt Kleiner

doi:10.1038/nj7192-252a

Full Text | PDF (756K)

Career View

Karin Lochte, director, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany p254

Oceanographer and climate change specialist heads to Germany's Wegener Institute.

Virginia Gewin

doi:10.1038/nj7192-254a

Full Text | PDF (72K)

Animal assets in academia p254

Trying to get vets into academia.

Virginia Gewin

doi:10.1038/nj7192-254b

Full Text | PDF (72K)

Going with your gut p254

I strive to find the best hummus — and the best experimental approach.

Zachary Lippman

doi:10.1038/nj7192-254c

Full Text | PDF (72K)

Spotlight

Spotlight on North Carolina and Research Triangle Park

doi:10.1038/nj0207

Full Text | PDF (4,825K)