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Volume 486 Issue 7401, 7 June 2012

Earth is getting a second chance. At the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, the world’s leaders pledged to protect the planet’s climate and biodiversity. Since then, however, the situation has deteriorated further. Twenty years on, on the eve of the second Rio Earth Summit, we report on what went wrong  and how things may yet be put right. Elsewhere in the issue, a series of Reviews and research papers explores how biodiversity loss is affecting ecosystems, and how much the consumption patterns of the developed world are to blame. Cover by Julene Harrison (photo: Samuel Acosta/Shutterstock).

Editorial

  • The world has a surfeit of pledges, commitments and treaties. What it needs from the second Earth summit in Rio is firm leadership and a viable plan for success.

    Editorial

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World View

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Research Highlights

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Seven Days

  • The week in science: Tension over Europe’s next research funding programme; Venus transits the Sun; and the Shaw and Kavli prizes are awarded.

    Seven Days
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News

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News Feature

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Comment

  • As host nation of Rio+20, Brazil should choose the right course for its own development, say Fabio Scarano, André Guimarães and José Maria da Silva.

    • Fabio Scarano
    • André Guimarães
    • José Maria da Silva
    Comment
  • The rules of business must be changed if the planet is to be saved, says Pavan Sukhdev.

    • Pavan Sukhdev
    Comment
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Books & Arts

  • Tom MacMillan gets a taste of the argument against consuming only locally grown food.

    • Tom MacMillan
    Books & Arts
  • José Esparza enjoys the memoir of a long-term veteran of the virus wars.

    • José Esparza
    Books & Arts
  • Investment bankers are addicts on a steroid roller coaster, finds Richard Lea.

    • Richard Lea
    Books & Arts
  • Aaron Koblin, head of the Data Arts Team in Google's Creative Lab, uses data visualization and crowdsourcing to reveal the changing relationship between people and technology. As he presents his work at the Eyeo Festival of digital creativity and prepares to release a collaboration with Google, London's Tate Modern and artist Chris Milk, he talks about the beauty of big data.

    • Jascha Hoffman
    Books & Arts
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Correspondence

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News & Views

  • International trade is the underlying cause of 30% of threatened animal species extinctions, according to a modelling analysis of the impact of global supply chains and consumption patterns on biodiversity. See Letter p.109

    • Edgar Hertwich

    Special:

    News & Views
  • A method commonly employed to study replicative ageing in yeast is laborious and slow. The use of miniaturized culture chambers opens the door for automated molecular analyses of individual cells during ageing.

    • Michael Polymenis
    • Brian K. Kennedy
    News & Views
  • An ingenious way of measuring the ages of stellar populations in the halo of the Milky Way will allow astronomers to obtain direct information on the timing of the Galaxy's evolution.

    • Timothy C. Beers
    News & Views
  • The cocktail of noble-gas isotopes in an Icelandic rock suggests that the upper mantle does not, and never did, receive gas from a deeper mantle reservoir. This challenges ideas of deep Earth's behaviour and formation. See Letter p.101

    • Chris J. Ballentine
    News & Views
  • Two studies show how electrical coupling between sister neurons in the developing cerebral cortex might help them to link up into columnar microcircuits that process related sensory information. See Letters p.113 & p.118

    • Thomas D. Mrsic-Flogel
    • Tobias Bonhoeffer
    News & Views
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Review Article

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Article

  • A riboswitch that binds fluoride was identified recently, which is surprising because both RNA and fluoride are negatively charged; here it is shown that the fluoride ion is coordinated to three positively charged magnesium ions, which are further encased in a negatively charged shell of RNA backbone phosphates and water molecules.

    • Aiming Ren
    • Kanagalaghatta R. Rajashankar
    • Dinshaw J. Patel
    Article
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Letter

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Technology Feature

  • High-quality, data-rich samples are essential for future research. But obtaining and storing these samples is not as straightforward as many researchers think.

    • Monya Baker
    Technology Feature
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Feature

  • Studying the mouth, including the diagnostic potential of saliva, is offering opportunities to explore overall health.

    • Roberta Kwok
    Feature
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Q&A

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Career Brief

  • Classifying PhD candidates as employees preserves their rights and benefits.

    Career Brief
  • Immigration cap criticized for effect on international students.

    Career Brief
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Futures

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