Table of contents
Volume 457 Number 7225 pp7-122
In this issue (1 January 2009)
Also this week
(this content only available online) indicates content that is available online only
Editorials
Starry messages p7
The first scientific observations with telescopes displaced Earth from the centre of the Universe. Modern technology continues to humble us but should not distance us from the cosmos itself.
doi:10.1038/457007a
See also: Editor's summary
Experts still needed p7
There are good reasons to be suspicious of metric-based research assessment.
doi:10.1038/457007b
A public service p8
The Christmas bird count is a model to be emulated in distributed, volunteer science.
doi:10.1038/457008a
Announcement: Evolutionary gems p8
doi:10.1038/457008b
See also: Editor's summary
News
Obama's picks underline climate focus p10
Strong roles for biologists as the president-elect chooses his science and technology team.
Eric Hand & Alexandra Witze
doi:10.1038/457010a
Universities struggle as value of endowments falls p11
Tough decisions need to be made about how to cut costs.
Eric Hand
doi:10.1038/457011a
Good grades, but who gets the cash? p13
Britain's Research Assessment Exercise finds excellence more widespread than a focus on elite institutions would suggest.
Natasha Gilbert
doi:10.1038/457013a
Single fund for African science aid p14
Cash pool could break power struggles between competing agencies on the continent.
Linda Nordling
doi:10.1038/457014a
Medical charity folds after investment losses p16
doi:10.1038/457016a
Spanish solar companies slammed over subsidy fraud p16
doi:10.1038/457016b
US firms power up to build advanced batteries p16
doi:10.1038/457016c
Health organization lays plans for major biobank p16
doi:10.1038/457016d
NASA awards contracts to supply space station p16
doi:10.1038/457016e
First antenna switches on in the Atacama p16
doi:10.1038/457016f
Correction p16
doi:10.1038/457016g
Column
The new boss in town p17
Barack Obama's transition team is hitting the ground running, and its speed and openness are winning praise, as David Goldston reports.
David Goldston
doi:10.1038/457017a
News Feature
Year of astronomy: New eyes, new skies p18
The next 40 years will see telescopes that far outstrip any ever seen before. Jeff Kanipe profiles four of them; illustrations by Lynette Cook.
doi:10.1038/457018a
Correspondence
Obama must match science rhetoric with action p26
Lisa Borghesi
doi:10.1038/457026a
Problems with anti-plagiarism database p26
Mauno Vihinen
doi:10.1038/457026b
Honeybee and the Phoenix analysing instrument p26
William V. Boynton
doi:10.1038/457026c
Commentary
Year of astronomy: Time to turn off the lights p27
Cities needlessly shine billions of dollars directly into the sky each year and, as a result, a fifth of the world's population cannot see the Milky Way. Malcolm Smith explains why a dark sky has much to offer everyone.
Malcolm Smith
doi:10.1038/457027a
See also: Editor's summary
Essay
Year of astronomy: Mankind's place in the Universe p28
Technological developments in astronomy have long helped to answer some of the greatest questions tackled by humanity, recounts Owen Gingerich.
Owen Gingerich
doi:10.1038/457028a
See also: Editor's summary
Books and Arts
Year of astronomy: Visions of ourselves p30
The view of our planet from space is beautiful and humbling, yet this shift in human perspective has not altered how we care for our environment, argues Charles Cockell.
Charles Cockell reviews Earthrise: How Man First Saw the Earth by Robert Poole
doi:10.1038/457030a
See also: Editor's summary
Year of astronomy: Q&A: One giant leap for art p31
Astronaut Alan Bean stepped down onto the lunar surface during the 1969 Apollo 12 mission, but left NASA in 1981 to devote himself to painting. With exhibitions of his work taking place this year to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing, he tells Nature how he attempts to convey his lunar experience.
Daniel Cressey
doi:10.1038/457031a
See also: Editor's summary
Year of astronomy: Voyaging to discovery, alone p31
David Bodanis reviews The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes
doi:10.1038/457031b
Year of astronomy: Star poetry p32
doi:10.1038/457032a
Year of astronomy: Hidden treasures: the Paris Observatory p33
Giovanni Domenico Cassini helped to create an institution that pinpointed Neptune, showed that light had a finite speed — and even mapped France, explains Alison Abbott.
Alison Abbott
doi:10.1038/457033a
See also: Editor's summary
News and Views
Quantum physics: Squeeze until it hurts p35
Quantum systems are uncertain by nature. By 'squeezing' this uncertainty, physicists can make better measurements of quantities such as distance. But overdoing it makes things burst out all over the place.
Geoff J. Pryde
doi:10.1038/457035a
See also: Editor's summary
50 & 100 years ago p36
doi:10.1038/457036a
See also: Editor's summary
Cancer: Inflaming metastasis p36
Cancer can be defined by six hallmarks, including uncontrollable growth, immortality and the ability to invade other tissues. Increasing evidence suggests that a seventh feature should make this list — inflammation.
Alberto Mantovani
doi:10.1038/457036b
See also: Editor's summary
Astrophysics: Star formation branches out p37
Deciphering how stars form within turbulent, dense clouds of molecular gas has been a challenge. An innovative technique that uses a tree diagram provides insight into the process.
Ralph E. Pudritz
doi:10.1038/457037a
See also: Editor's summary
Game theory: How to treat those of ill repute p39
A much-needed theoretical analysis deals with whether the principle known as 'costly punishment' helps to maintain cooperation in human society. It will prompt a fresh wave of experiments and theory.
Bettina Rockenbach & Manfred Milinski
doi:10.1038/457039a
See also: Editor's summary
Darwin 200: A natural selection p40
doi:10.1038/457040a
See also: Editor's summary
Review
18 years of science with the Hubble Space Telescope p41
Julianne J. Dalcanton
doi:10.1038/nature07621
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,361K)
See also: Editor's summary
Articles
Cell-cycle restriction limits DNA damage and maintains self-renewal of leukaemia stem cells p51
Andrea Viale, Francesca De Franco, Annette Orleth, Valeria Cambiaghi, Virginia Giuliani, Daniela Bossi, Chiara Ronchini, Simona Ronzoni, Ivan Muradore, Silvia Monestiroli, Alberto Gobbi, Myriam Alcalay, Saverio Minucci & Pier Giuseppe Pelicci
doi:10.1038/nature07618
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (2,771K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
WSTF regulates the H2A.X DNA damage response via a novel tyrosine kinase activity p57
Andrew Xiao, Haitao Li, David Shechter, Sung Hee Ahn, Laura A. Fabrizio, Hediye Erdjument-Bromage, Satoko Ishibe-Murakami, Bin Wang, Paul Tempst, Kay Hofmann, Dinshaw J. Patel, Stephen J. Elledge & C. David Allis
doi:10.1038/nature07668
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (980K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Letters
A role for self-gravity at multiple length scales in the process of star formation p63
Alyssa A. Goodman, Erik W. Rosolowsky, Michelle A. Borkin, Jonathan B. Foster, Michael Halle, Jens Kauffmann & Jaime E. Pineda
doi:10.1038/nature07609
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (824K) | PDF 3D version (8,171K)* | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Pudritz
*requires Adobe Acrobat version 8 or higher
Squeezing and over-squeezing of triphotons p67
L. K. Shalm, R. B. A. Adamson & A. M. Steinberg
doi:10.1038/nature07624
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (434K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Pryde
Optical manipulation of nanoparticles and biomolecules in sub-wavelength slot waveguides p71
Allen H. J. Yang, Sean D. Moore, Bradley S. Schmidt, Matthew Klug, Michal Lipson & David Erickson
doi:10.1038/nature07593
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (663K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Seismic evidence for overpressured subducted oceanic crust and megathrust fault sealing p76
Pascal Audet, Michael G. Bostock, Nikolas I. Christensen & Simon M. Peacock
doi:10.1038/nature07650
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (401K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Indirect reciprocity provides only a narrow margin of efficiency for costly punishment p79
Hisashi Ohtsuki, Yoh Iwasa & Martin A. Nowak
doi:10.1038/nature07601
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (150K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Rockenbach & Milinski
Emergence of complex cell properties by learning to generalize in natural scenes p83
Yan Karklin & Michael S. Lewicki
doi:10.1038/nature07481
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (673K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Immune control of an SIV challenge by a T-cell-based vaccine in rhesus monkeys p87
Jinyan Liu, Kara L. O'Brien, Diana M. Lynch, Nathaniel L. Simmons, Annalena La Porte, Ambryice M. Riggs, Peter Abbink, Rory T. Coffey, Lauren E. Grandpre, Michael S. Seaman, Gary Landucci, Donald N. Forthal, David C. Montefiori, Angela Carville, Keith G. Mansfield, Menzo J. Havenga, Maria G. Pau, Jaap Goudsmit & Dan H. Barouch
doi:10.1038/nature07469
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (204K)
See also: Editor's summary
Live-animal tracking of individual haematopoietic stem/progenitor cells in their niche p92
Cristina Lo Celso, Heather E. Fleming, Juwell W. Wu, Cher X. Zhao, Sam Miake-Lye, Joji Fujisaki, Daniel Côté, David W. Rowe, Charles P. Lin & David T. Scadden
doi:10.1038/nature07434
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,303K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Detection of functional haematopoietic stem cell niche using real-time imaging p97
Yucai Xie, Tong Yin, Winfried Wiegraebe, Xi C. He, Diana Miller, Danny Stark, Katherine Perko, Richard Alexander, Joel Schwartz, Justin C. Grindley, Jungeun Park, Jeff S. Haug, Joshua P. Wunderlich, Hua Li, Simon Zhang, Teri Johnson, Ricardo A. Feldman & Linheng Li
doi:10.1038/nature07639
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,033K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Carcinoma-produced factors activate myeloid cells through TLR2 to stimulate metastasis p102
Sunhwa Kim, Hiroyuki Takahashi, Wan-Wan Lin, Pascal Descargues, Sergei Grivennikov, Youngjun Kim, Jun-Li Luo & Michael Karin
doi:10.1038/nature07623
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (441K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Mantovani
Chaperonin complex with a newly folded protein encapsulated in the folding chamber p107
D. K. Clare, P. J. Bakkes, H. van Heerikhuizen, S. M. van der Vies & H. R. Saibil
doi:10.1038/nature07479
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (661K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
X-ray structure of a pentameric ligand-gated ion channel in an apparently open conformation p111
Nicolas Bocquet, Hugues Nury, Marc Baaden, Chantal Le Poupon, Jean-Pierre Changeux, Marc Delarue & Pierre-Jean Corringer
doi:10.1038/nature07462
PDB code
3D view
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (987K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Structure of a potentially open state of a proton-activated pentameric ligand-gated ion channel p115
Ricarda J. C. Hilf & Raimund Dutzler
doi:10.1038/nature07461
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,245K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Naturejobs
Career ViewDown but not out, and still fighting p1
Amanda Goh
doi:10.1038/nj7225-1
Postdoc Resolutions p1
Jon Yearsley
doi:10.1038/nj7225-2
Lofty ambitions p1
Aliza le Roux
doi:10.1038/nj7225-3
Suffering from nostalgia p1
Zachary Lippman
doi:10.1038/nj7225-4
Prospects
Journey's end p119
The Postdoc Journal keepers of 2008 offer parting thoughts on a year of personal and professional milestones.
Gene Russo
doi:10.1038/nj7225-119a
Futures
Gravitational astronomy 101 p122
It's a bit of a shock.
David Blair
doi:10.1038/457122a
See also: Editor's summary
