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Volume 476 Issue 7359, 11 August 2011

All life at deep-sea hydrothermal vents relies on the geofuels provided by hot fluids spewing from the sea floor. Only two of these fuels were known to provide energy for chemosynthetic symbionts - reduced sulphur compounds, used by sulphur-oxidizing symbionts, and methane, used by methane-oxidizing symbionts. Now hydrogen can be added to that list. Bathymodiolus mussels from hydrothermal vents on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge have been found to associate with microbial symbionts that can use hydrogen for primary production. A key gene for the oxidation of hydrogen is present in the symbionts of other hydrothermal vent animals such as the tubeworm Riftia pachyptila and the shrimp Rimicaris exoculata, suggesting that hydrogen may be an important energy source in other symbioses as well. Cover illustration: Abigail Lingford.

Editorial

  • Some commercial firms that oversee the ethics and scrutiny of clinical trials have been found wanting. Human volunteers in research deserve better.

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  • The launch of an ecological monitoring network is good news at a difficult time.

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World View

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Comment

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Books & Arts

  • Emma Marris reflects on a classic children's fable that still has lessons for environmental policy 40 years on.

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  • A scenario blaming rats for the devastation of Easter Island doesn't account for recent results, argues Paul Bahn.

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Correspondence

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News & Views

  • The vast array of bacterium–animal symbioses at deep-sea hydrothermal vents was thought to be fuelled by just two chemicals. A study of one such symbiosis in its environmental context reveals a third energy source. See Article p. 176

    • Victoria J. Orphan
    • Tori M. Hoehler
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  • A new type of ion-trap quantum technology has been developed that uses microwave radiation to perform computations. It will considerably simplify the practical implementation of large-scale quantum computers. See Letters p.181 & p.185

    • Winfried K. Hensinger
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  • The previously increasing atmospheric methane concentration has inexplicably stalled over the past three decades. This may be due to a fall in fossil-fuel emissions or to farming practices that are curtailing microbial sources. See Letters p.194 & p.198

    • Martin Heimann
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  • Human skin cells have been directly converted into neurons, an achievement that could lead to the cell-based treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. But the road ahead remains long and tortuous. See Letters p.220, p.224 & p.228

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  • To understand the properties of many useful materials, the chemical structures that form within them from elements of low relative atomic mass must be determined. A new X-ray imaging technique does just that.

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  • A three-year study provides insights into how the productivity of a semi-arid rangeland, containing grasses using different photosynthetic pathways, will change in a warmer world with more atmospheric carbon dioxide. See Letter p.202

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Q&A

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Career Brief

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Futures

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    • Brian Malow
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Brief Communications Arising

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