Table of contents
Volume 460 Number 7256 pp667-772
(this content only available online) indicates content that is available online only
Editorials
A model approach p667
More development work is needed to help computer simulations inform economic policy.
doi:10.1038/460667a
Science under attack p667
Congress should stop playing politics with the peer-review process.
doi:10.1038/460667b
Research Highlights
Evolution: Arboreal ascent p668
doi:10.1038/460668a
Exoplanets: Avoiding shrinkage p668
doi:10.1038/460668b
Cancer biology: HPV's unexpected effect p668
doi:10.1038/460668c
Materials science: Foam finesse p668
doi:10.1038/460668d
Neuroscience: Learning experience p668
doi:10.1038/460668e
Genetics: Context is king p668
doi:10.1038/460668f
Water management: Colorado be dammed p669
doi:10.1038/460669a
Invertebrate immunity: Infection in real time p669
doi:10.1038/460669b
Chemical biology: 800 million strong p669
doi:10.1038/460669c
Structural biology: Get into the groove p669
doi:10.1038/460669d
News
US joins China in climate talks p670
But the two-day meeting was long on mutual understanding while being notably short on targets.
Jeff Tollefson
doi:10.1038/460670a
Greek scientists fight research shake-up p671
Protests greet plans to dismantle multidisciplinary institutions.
Alison Abbott
doi:10.1038/460671a
Snapshot: The guts of a dying star p671
Swirling gas sets pulsar spinning in supercomputer simulation.
Lizzie Buchen
doi:10.1038/460671b
Who speaks for science in Europe? p672
Questions remain over whether researchers have a coherent enough voice to influence European science policy. Natasha Gilbert reports.
Natasha Gilbert
doi:10.1038/460672a
Spain unveils its eye on the sky p674
World's largest optical telescope inaugurated.
Govert Schilling
doi:10.1038/460674a
Joint Mars plans come together p675
US and Europe schedule rovers and orbiters for the red planet.
Eric Hand
doi:10.1038/460675a
Grant scores leave applicants in limbo p676
Top-rated research must wait until September for NIH funding decision.
Meredith Wadman
doi:10.1038/460676a
India embarks on push to become a solar power p677
doi:10.1038/460677a
Lab worker charged with destroying protein crystals p677
doi:10.1038/460677b
Plummeting silicon prices may boost solar sales p677
doi:10.1038/460677c
US report backs distinction between science and policy p677
doi:10.1038/460677d
Chikyu showcases riser drilling for deep-sea research p677
doi:10.1038/460677e
Corrections p677
doi:10.1038/460677f
Column
Sending out an SOS p679
An Obama gambit on space policy highlights the benefits and risks of turning to outside experts. David Goldston explains.
David Goldston
doi:10.1038/460679a
News Feature
Economics: Meltdown modelling p680
Could agent-based computer models prevent another financial crisis? Mark Buchanan reports.
doi:10.1038/460680a
Correspondence
Helping young scientists to speak for themselves p683
Christina Astin
doi:10.1038/460683a
Flu: no sign so far that the human pandemic is spread by pigs p683
Bernard Vallat
doi:10.1038/460683b
Small but effective moves towards a greener China p683
Wanxin Li
doi:10.1038/460683c
Mystery ape: other fossils suggest that it's no mystery at all p684
Dennis A. Etler
doi:10.1038/460684a
Mystery ape: a call for taxonomic rigour p684
Kevin Padian
doi:10.1038/460684b
Human uniqueness and the denial of death p684
Ajit Varki
doi:10.1038/460684c
Opinion
The economy needs agent-based modelling p685
The leaders of the world are flying the economy by the seat of their pants, say J. Doyne Farmer and Duncan Foley. There is, however, a better way to help guide financial policies.
J. Doyne Farmer & Duncan Foley
doi:10.1038/460685a
Modelling to contain pandemics p687
Agent-based computational models can capture irrational behaviour, complex social networks and global scale — all essential in confronting H1N1, says Joshua M. Epstein.
Joshua M. Epstein
doi:10.1038/460687a
Books and Arts
In Retrospect: Lamarck's treatise at 200 p688
Fifty years before On the Origin of Species, a confusing, tiresome and prescient book laid the foundations of modern evolutionary theory, write Dan Graur, Manolo Gouy and David Wool.
Dan Graur, Manolo Gouy & David Wool review Philosophie Zoologique (Zoological Philosophy) by Jean Baptiste Lamarck
doi:10.1038/460688a
A passion for birds p689
Devorah Bennu reviews Life List: A Woman's Quest for the World's Most Amazing Birds by Olivia Gentile
doi:10.1038/460689a
Playing the con game of academe p690
Rachel Ivie reviews Lives in Science: How Institutions Affect Academic Careers by Joseph C. Hermanowicz
doi:10.1038/460690a
Me, environmentalist p691
Colin Martin reviews Tarzan! Or Rousseau Among the Waziri
doi:10.1038/460691a
Ecology reading p691
Joanne Baker
doi:10.1038/460691b
News and Views
Demography: Babies make a comeback p693
The population of some wealthy countries is shrinking because of a declining birth rate. It comes as a surprise, and one with policy implications, that after a certain point of development that trend can reverse.
Shripad Tuljapurkar
doi:10.1038/460693a
See also: Editor's summary
Galaxy formation: Too small to ignore p694
A study of one galaxy's dynamics backs up previous claims that surprisingly compact galaxies existed in the early Universe. But how such objects blew up in size to form present-day galaxies remains a puzzle.
Karl Glazebrook
doi:10.1038/460694a
See also: Editor's summary
Archaeology: The earliest musical tradition p695
Music is a ubiquitous element in our daily lives, and was probably just as important to our early ancestors. Fragments of ancient flutes reveal that music was well established in Europe by about 40,000 years ago.
Daniel S. Adler
doi:10.1038/460695a
See also: Editor's summary
Structural biology: Aerial view of the HIV genome p696
A bird's-eye view of the higher-order structure of HIV-1's entire RNA genome reveals new motifs in surprising places. Structural biologists can now zoom in on these regions to explore their functions further.
Hashim M. Al-Hashimi
doi:10.1038/460696a
See also: Editor's summary
50 & 100 years ago p697
doi:10.1038/460697a
Biogeochemistry: Carbonate rocks deconstructed p698
The ratios of stable isotopes, especially isotopes of carbon and oxygen, have tales to tell about Earth's history. Post-depositional alteration of the carbonate rocks being studied may radically alter the story.
Michael A. Arthur
doi:10.1038/460698a
See also: Editor's summary
Progress
Beyond the myth of the supernova-remnant origin of cosmic rays p701
Yousaf Butt
doi:10.1038/nature08127
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (234K)
See also: Editor's summary
Articles
miR-145 and miR-143 regulate smooth muscle cell fate and plasticity p705
Evidence for a single microRNA (miRNA) that can efficiently differentiate multipotent stem cells into a specific lineage or regulate direct reprogramming of cells into an alternative cell fate has been elusive. Two miRNAs, miR-145 and miR-143, are now shown to be co-transcribed in multipotent cardiac progenitors before becoming localized to smooth muscle cells. miR-145 was found to be necessary for myocardin-induced reprogramming of adult fibroblasts and sufficient to induce differentiation of multipotent neural crest stem cells.
Kimberly R. Cordes, Neil T. Sheehy, Mark P. White, Emily C. Berry, Sarah U. Morton, Alecia N. Muth, Ting-Hein Lee, Joseph M. Miano, Kathryn N. Ivey & Deepak Srivastava
doi:10.1038/nature08195
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (817K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Architecture and secondary structure of an entire HIV-1 RNA genome p711
Single-stranded RNA viruses are responsible for the common cold, cancer, AIDS and other serious health threats. The genomes of these viruses form conserved secondary structures that have functional and regulatory roles, but most potential regulatory elements in viral RNA genomes remain uncharacterized. Here however, the structure of an entire HIV-1 genome at single nucleotide resolution is reported.
Joseph M. Watts, Kristen K. Dang, Robert J. Gorelick, Christopher W. Leonard, Julian W. Bess Jr, Ronald Swanstrom, Christina L. Burch & Kevin M. Weeks
doi:10.1038/nature08237
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (744K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Al-Hashimi
Letters
A high stellar velocity dispersion for a compact massive galaxy at redshift z = 2.186 p717
The oldest and most luminous galaxies in the early Universe are surprisingly compact, having stellar masses similar to present-day elliptical galaxies but much smaller sizes. This suggests that massive galaxies have grown in size by a factor of about five over the past ten billion years, leading to the expectation that the stars in these galaxies have much higher velocities than those in present-day galaxies of the same mass. Here, the stellar velocity dispersion for a compact massive galaxy at redshift z = 2.186 is indeed found to be very high.
Pieter G. van Dokkum, Mariska Kriek & Marijn Franx
doi:10.1038/nature08220
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (511K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Glazebrook
Observed variations of methane on Mars unexplained by known atmospheric chemistry and physics p720
Recent observations of methane on Mars suggest that methane concentrations are locally enhanced and change with the seasons. However, methane has a photochemical lifetime of several centuries, and is therefore expected to have a spatially uniform distribution on the planet. Here, using a global climate model of Mars with coupled chemistry reveals that photochemistry as currently understood cannot explain these variations in Martian methane.
Franck Lefèvre & François Forget
doi:10.1038/nature08228
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (626K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Observation of strong coupling between a micromechanical resonator and an optical cavity field p724
Achieving coherent quantum control over massive mechanical resonators via coupling to electrons or photons is a current research goal. Here, unambiguous evidence for strong coupling of cavity photons to a mechanical resonator is reported, paving the way for full quantum optical control of nano- and micromechanical devices.
Simon Gröblacher, Klemens Hammerer, Michael R. Vanner & Markus Aspelmeyer
doi:10.1038/nature08171
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (366K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
The late Precambrian greening of the Earth p728
The low 13C/12C ratio in some Neoproterozoic carbonates is considered to be evidence of carbon cycle perturbations unique to the Precambrian. Here, all published oxygen and carbon isotope data for Neoproterozoic marine carbonates are compiled. The combined isotope systematics are found to be identical to those of well-understood Phanerozoic examples, suggesting an influx of photosynthetic carbon rather than perturbations to the carbon cycle — and implying an explosion of photosynthesizing communities on late Precambrian land surfaces.
L. Paul Knauth & Martin J. Kennedy
doi:10.1038/nature08213
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,265K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Arthur
Fluid and deformation regime of an advancing subduction system at Marlborough, New Zealand p733
Newly forming subduction zones on Earth can provide insights into the evolution of major fault zone geometries from shallow levels to deep in the lithosphere, and into the role of fluids in promoting rock failure by several modes. The acquisition of a transect of magnetotelluric soundings across the Marlborough strike–slip fault system of the northern South Island of New Zealand now implicates three distinct processes connecting fluid generation along the upper mantle plate interface to rock deformation in the crust as the subduction zone develops.
Philip E. Wannamaker, T. Grant Caldwell, George R. Jiracek, Virginie Maris, Graham J. Hill, Yasuo Ogawa, Hugh M. Bibby, Stewart L. Bennie & Wiebke Heise
doi:10.1038/nature08204
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (390K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
New flutes document the earliest musical tradition in southwestern Germany p737
The existence of complex musical instruments is accepted to be an indication of fully modern behaviour and advanced symbolic communication. The discovery of bone and ivory flutes that are around 35,000 years old at Hohle Fels in southwestern Germany now demonstrates the presence of a well-established musical tradition at the time when modern humans colonized Europe.
Nicholas J. Conard, Maria Malina & Susanne C. Münzel
doi:10.1038/nature08169
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (717K)
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Adler
Advances in development reverse fertility declines p741
The increasing wealth of nations is accompanied by a fall in fertility such that in many developed and developing nations fertility rates have dropped below replacement value (less than 2.1 children per woman). Rapid population ageing, and in some cases the prospect of significant population decline, present difficult social and political problems. However, it is now shown that above a certain degree of economic development fertility begins to rise once again.
Mikko Myrskylä, Hans-Peter Kohler & Francesco C. Billari
doi:10.1038/nature08230
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (262K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Tuljapurkar
Common variants conferring risk of schizophrenia p744
Here, in the first of three papers on the genetics of schizophrenia, a genome-wide association study of single nucleotide polymorphisms using data from several large genome-wide scans reveals significant associations to individual loci that implicate perturbations in immunity, brain development, memory and cognition in the predisposition to schizophrenia.
Hreinn Stefansson, Roel A. Ophoff, Stacy Steinberg, Ole A. Andreassen, Sven Cichon, Dan Rujescu, Thomas Werge, Olli P. H. Pietiläinen, Ole Mors, Preben B. Mortensen, Engilbert Sigurdsson, Omar Gustafsson, Mette Nyegaard, Annamari Tuulio-Henriksson, Andres Ingason, Thomas Hansen, Jaana Suvisaari, Jouko Lonnqvist, Tiina Paunio, Anders D. Børglum, Annette Hartmann, Anders Fink-Jensen, Merete Nordentoft, David Hougaard, Bent Norgaard-Pedersen, Yvonne Böttcher, Jes Olesen, René Breuer, Hans-Jürgen Möller, Ina Giegling, Henrik B. Rasmussen, Sally Timm, Manuel Mattheisen, István Bitter, János M. Réthelyi, Brynja B. Magnusdottir, Thordur Sigmundsson, Pall Olason, Gisli Masson, Jeffrey R. Gulcher, Magnus Haraldsson, Ragnheidur Fossdal, Thorgeir E. Thorgeirsson, Unnur Thorsteinsdottir, Mirella Ruggeri, Sarah Tosato, Barbara Franke, Eric Strengman, Lambertus A. Kiemeney, †Genetic Risk and Outcome in Psychosis (GROUP), Ingrid Melle, Srdjan Djurovic, Lilia Abramova, Vasily Kaleda, Julio Sanjuan, Rosa de Frutos, Elvira Bramon, Evangelos Vassos, Gillian Fraser, Ulrich Ettinger, Marco Picchioni, Nicholas Walker, Timi Toulopoulou, Anna C. Need, Dongliang Ge, Joeng Lim Yoon, Kevin V. Shianna, Nelson B. Freimer, Rita M. Cantor, Robin Murray, Augustine Kong, Vera Golimbet, Angel Carracedo, Celso Arango, Javier Costas, Erik G. Jönsson, Lars Terenius, Ingrid Agartz, Hannes Petursson, Markus M. Nöthen, Marcella Rietschel, Paul M. Matthews, Pierandrea Muglia, Leena Peltonen, David St Clair, David B. Goldstein, Kari Stefansson & David A. Collier
doi:10.1038/nature08186
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (144K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Common polygenic variation contributes to risk of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder p748
In the second of three papers on the genetics of schizophrenia, a large genome-wide association study looking at common genetic variants underlying the risk of schizophrenia implicates the major histocompatibility complex — and thus, immunity — and provides molecular genetic evidence for a substantial polygenic component to the risk of schizophrenia. The latter involves thousands of common alleles of very small effect that also contribute to the risk of bipolar disorder.
The International Schizophrenia Consortium
doi:10.1038/nature08185
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (441K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Common variants on chromosome 6p22.1 are associated with schizophrenia p753
In the third of three papers looking at the genetics of schizophrenia, a genome-wide association study using the Molecular Genetics of Schizophrenia case-control data set followed by a meta-analysis further implicates the major histocompatibility complex. The study also reveals that although common schizophrenia susceptibility alleles can be detected, there are probably few or no single common loci with large effects.
Jianxin Shi, Douglas F. Levinson, Jubao Duan, Alan R. Sanders, Yonglan Zheng, Itsik Pe'er, Frank Dudbridge, Peter A. Holmans, Alice S. Whittemore, Bryan J. Mowry, Ann Olincy, Farooq Amin, C. Robert Cloninger, Jeremy M. Silverman, Nancy G. Buccola, William F. Byerley, Donald W. Black, Raymond R. Crowe, Jorge R. Oksenberg, Daniel B. Mirel, Kenneth S. Kendler, Robert Freedman & Pablo V. Gejman
doi:10.1038/nature08192
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (376K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Switch in FGF signalling initiates glial differentiation in the Drosophila eye p758
Glial cells have an essential role in the building and wiring of nervous systems. They generally migrate over long distances before they initiate differentiation, but the molecular pathways coordinating the switch from glial migration to glial differentiation are largely unknown. The study of glial cells in the Drosophila eye disc now implicates fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signalling proteins in this process.
Sigrídur Rut Franzdóttir, Daniel Engelen, Yeliz Yuva-Aydemir, Imke Schmidt, Annukka Aho & Christian Klämbt
doi:10.1038/nature08167
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,277K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Proteome-wide cellular protein concentrations of the human pathogen Leptospira interrogans p762
Absolute protein concentration measurements of a considerable fraction of the proteome have, until now, only been derived from genetically altered Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells, using a technique that is not directly portable from yeast to other species. A mass-spectrometry-based method is now used to determine the absolute protein abundance for a significant fraction of the proteome of the human pathogen Leptospira interrogans.
Johan Malmström, Martin Beck, Alexander Schmidt, Vinzenz Lange, Eric W. Deutsch & Ruedi Aebersold
doi:10.1038/nature08184
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (626K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Corrigendum
Warming of the Antarctic ice-sheet surface since the 1957 International Geophysical Year p766
Eric J. Steig, David P. Schneider, Scott D. Rutherford, Michael E. Mann, Josefino C. Comiso & Drew T. Shindell
doi:10.1038/nature08286
Naturejobs
ProspectsBack to first principles p769
We need more physician innovators, not just more physician scientists, writes Justin Chakma.
Justin Chakma
doi:10.1038/nj7256-769a
Postdoc journal
Footloose and freelance? p769
Taking the plunge into freelance writing.
Joanne Isaac
doi:10.1038/nj7256-769b
In Brief
Postdocs join union p769
Rutgers University becomes one of a handful of US universities with unionized postdocs.
doi:10.1038/nj7256-769c
Help for service economy p769
Harnessing UK science could boost banking and other sectors.
doi:10.1038/nj7256-769d
Spotlight on UK energy p769
International panel to review UK research on renewable and sustainable energy.
doi:10.1038/nj7256-769e
