Volume 488 Issue 7411, 16 August 2012

Lax management of Fukushima clean-up intensifies concerns over Japan's nuclear future.

The problem isn’t the public’s reasoning capacity; it’s the polluted science-communication environment that drives people apart, says Dan Kahan.

The week in science: US declares hottest month ever recorded; CERN physicists make hottest-ever plasma; and Indian politicians look coldly on GM crop trials.

Environmental groups use momentum to push for reforms.

As the Curiosity rover prepares to take its first trip across the surface, the lead scientist shares his hopes for the mission.

Researchers set up independent review panel after misconduct scandals hit government.

Ugandan laboratory helps to minimize number of cases.

Organocatalyst halves synthesis of prostaglandin family.

Upcoming patent expiries stand to make medicines cheaper — although less convenient.

Scientists have travelled the ancient Silk Road to understand how genes shape people's love for foods.

Stefan Kröpelin has carved out a career where few dare to tread — in the heart of the Sahara.

Advanced construction technologies promise huge energy savings, says Philip Farese. Investment is needed to bring them to market and to encourage their use.

Mario Livio enjoys a tour of modern astronomy that speculates on how black holes drive cosmic evolution.

Josie Glausiusz strolls through an evanescent 'cabinet of wonders' exploring the surreal side of technology.

Maja Matarić, a computer scientist and neuroscientist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, makes robots that assist people with disabilities, children with autism and elderly people — a phenomenon explored in the film Robot and Frank (2012). On the eve of its release, she talks about the future of socially assistive machines.

Some mutations in tumour cells play no part in causing cancer, but they generate cellular weak spots that may allow tumour cells to be selectively killed by drugs. See Article p.337

The technological potential of masers — the microwave equivalents of lasers — has been thwarted by their impractical operating conditions. A solid-state maser that works at room temperature may change that. See Letter p.353

Fat cells are usually thought of as being either energy-storing white fat cells or food-burning brown fat cells. The identification of a third type of fat cell in mice and humans might open up new avenues for combating obesity.

The chemical content of a star that was born relatively shortly after the formation of the Milky Way calls into question conventional understanding of how stars formed in the early Universe.

Neurons of the same type can show functional differences. It turns out that this diversity is in part the result of the cells' adaptation to their specific neural networks. See Letter p.375

Past studies have suggested that the ocean's nitrogen budget has a deficit of fixed nitrogen. This view may now change, thanks to upward revisions of the rate of nitrogen input through biological activity. See Letter p.361

The ‘collateral’ homozygous deletion of essential redundant housekeeping genes in cancer genomes is shown to confer therapeutic vulnerability on cancer cells with the deletion, without affecting genomically intact normal non-cancerous cells, suggesting new therapeutic opportunities.

Use of a two-way optical system to activate subclasses of inhibitory neurons, while simultaneously monitoring responses in target cells within cortical circuits in vivo, reveals that parvalbumin-expressing and somatostatin-expressing neurons exert distinct effects on cellular responses across the network.

X-ray, optical and infrared observations reveal a very high rate of star formation in the core of an extremely luminous galaxy cluster; this starburst seems to be triggered by a cooling flow of the dense intracluster plasma.

Using an organic molecular crystal as gain medium allows a maser to be operated in pulsed mode in air, at room temperature and in the terrestrial magnetic field, so avoiding many of the obstacles that have previously hindered the application of masers.

The long-lived nuclear spin state of an individual metal atom embedded in a single-molecule magnet is shown to be readable electronically.

A newly developed method of measuring oceanic nitrogen-fixation rates provides significantly higher estimates than a current widely applied technique, and could close gaps in the marine nitrogen budget.

The South Pacific convergence zone is a region of high precipitation spanning a vast swath of the Pacific Ocean that can shift northwards and become longitudinally oriented; such extreme zonal events have severe weather and climatic impacts and are predicted to become more frequent under greenhouse warming conditions.

A survey of genetic variation in Native American and Siberian populations reveals that Native Americans are descended from at least three streams of gene flow from Asia: after the initial peopling of the continent there was a southward expansion facilitated by the coast, with sequential population splits and little gene flow after divergence, especially in South America.

Functional heterogeneity within a class of neurons is investigated by comparing the intrinsic properties of pairs of mitral cells belonging to either the same or different glomerular circuits; this shows that neuronal excitability is stereotypic for mitral cells from the same olfactory network, indicating that local circuits are functionally adapted to process subtly distinct information.

Optogenetic activation of parvalbumin-expressing versus other classes of interneurons is found to have distinct effects on the response properties of individual and populations of excitatory cells, as well as on visual behaviour in awake mice, providing evidence that this specific interneuron subtype has a unique role in visual coding and perception.

Virulence factors from two bacteria are used to reprogram intracellular signalling in yeast and immune T cells, illustrating how pathogens can provide a toolkit to engineer cells for biotechnological or therapeutic applications.

The Nod-like receptor family member NLRP6 is characterized and shown to be a negative regulator of inflammatory signalling, dampening host responses against bacterial infections and impeding bacterial clearance.

APJ is shown to be a bifunctional receptor for both mechanical stretch and the endogenous peptide apelin, a finding that is important for the development of APJ agonists to treat heart failure.

During inflammation neutrophils roll along the vascular endothelium; here, previously unknown structures called ‘slings’, which appear and persist at the front of rolling cells in vivo and in vitro, are described.

A structure-guided small-molecule and chemoproteomics approach uncovers a catalytic site inhibitor selective for the jumonji subfamily of H3K27me3 demethylases; the inhibitor decreases lipopolysaccharide-induced proinflammatory cytokine production by human primary macrophages.

The H3K27 demethylase Utx is reported to be a critical regulator for the initiation of somatic and germ cell reprogramming.

The X-ray crystal structures of trypanosome and mammalian quiescin sulphydryl oxidase are determined; these structures and follow-up biochemical studies show that large conformational changes occur as the enzyme relays disulphide bonds through its redox-active sites.

Seminars on career alternatives and soft skills can provide crucial tips for advancement. But some workshops are more helpful than others.

Cardiologist is first winner of award supporting clinical research.

Academics sponsored by large firms have lower publication rates than those with other funding sources.

Programme aims to boost scientific participation for women from 81 developing nations.

Report pans scheme meant to boost competitiveness of German universities.

An old-fashioned night out.

The world cannot continue to rely on fossil fuels for its energy needs. Alternative cost-effective and sustainable sources must be identified. Of the various methods being explored, this Insight focuses on the developments in solar energy, water-based methods of electricity generation and the production of biofuels.