News & Views |
Featured
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News |
Why spider webs glisten with dew
Two driving forces acting on wet spider silk help it to capture water.
- Janet Fang
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News & Views |
Nanothermal trumpets
The thermal process known as Joule heating, which often plagues electronic devices, has been turned to good use: making devices that can produce sound as well as reproduce music and speech.
- Rama Venkatasubramanian
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Books & Arts |
Q&A: Peter Atkins on writing textbooks
The success of Peter Atkins's classic textbook Physical Chemistry led him to trade research for full-time writing and teaching in the 1980s. In the first of a series of five interviews with authors who each write science books for a different audience, Atkins explains how the rewards for textbooks can be great, but the effort needed can affect your research.
- Nicola Jones
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News & Views |
Fluorescent methane spotted
The atmospheric properties of distant worlds are becoming increasingly clear. The latest observations reveal fluorescent emission from methane in the upper atmosphere of a Jupiter-like extrasolar planet.
- Seth Redfield
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News & Views |
Quantum design for a light trap
The photosynthetic apparatus of cryptophyte algae is odd — its pigments are farther apart than is expected for efficient functioning. A study into how this apparatus works so well finds quantum effects at play.
- Rienk van Grondelle
- & Vladimir I. Novoderezhkin
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News Feature |
Networking: Four ways to reinvent the Internet
The Internet is struggling to keep up with the ever-increasing demands placed on it. Katharine Gammon looks at ways to fix it.
- Katharine Gammon
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News |
America pushes to overhaul chemical safety law
Congress to consider stronger regulation.
- Brendan Borrell
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News |
Top astronomer suspended after leak allegation
Row may impact on South Africa's bid to host the Square Kilometre Array telescope.
- Michael Cherry
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News |
Mars rover Spirit (2003–10)
NASA commits robot explorer to her final resting place.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Letter |
A relativistic type Ibc supernova without a detected γ-ray burst
Long duration γ-ray bursts mark the explosive death of some massive stars and are a rare sub-class of type Ibc supernovae. To date, central-engine-driven supernovae have been discovered exclusively through their γ-ray emission, yet it is expected that a larger population goes undetected. The discovery of luminous radio emission from the seemingly ordinary type Ibc supernova SN 2009bb, which requires a substantial relativistic outflow powered by a central engine, is now reported.
- A. M. Soderberg
- , S. Chakraborti
- & M. A. P. Torres
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Letter |
Broken rotational symmetry in the pseudogap phase of a high-Tc superconductor
In the study of high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) copper oxide superconductors, a fundamental question is what symmetries are broken when the pseudogap phase sets in below a temperature T*. A large in-plane anisotropy of the Nernst effect is now observed in a high-Tc copper oxide superconductor that sets in precisely at T* throughout the doping phase diagram. It is concluded that the pseudogap phase is an electronic state that strongly breaks four-fold rotational symmetry.
- R. Daou
- , J. Chang
- & Louis Taillefer
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Research Highlights |
Material science: Speedy silk imprinting
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Research Highlights |
Astronomy: Hot spectra
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Research Highlights |
Biomaterials: Super snail shells
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News |
Altered microbe makes biofuel
Bacterium could work directly on grass or crop waste.
- Jeff Tollefson
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News Feature |
Planetary science: A whiff of mystery on Mars
The surprising discovery of methane in Mars's atmosphere could be a sign of life there. Researchers are now working out how to find its source, reports Katharine Sanderson.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Letter |
Cleaving carbon–carbon bonds by inserting tungsten into unstrained aromatic rings
The transformation of petroleum-derived feedstocks into useful chemicals often requires controllable cleavage of C–H or C–C bonds. There are many examples of achieving this through the oxidative addition of C–H bonds to metal centres, but analogous transformations of C–C bonds are rare. Here, using a tungsten centre and exploiting the formation of an unusual chelating ligand, a strong C–C bond is cleaved; other metal centres with suitable ancillary ligands could perform the same function.
- Aaron Sattler
- & Gerard Parkin
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News and Views Q&A |
Quantum computing
The race is on to build a computer that exploits quantum mechanics. Such a machine could solve problems in physics, mathematics and cryptography that were once thought intractable, revolutionizing information technology and illuminating the foundations of physics. But when?
- Emanuel Knill
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News & Views |
Carbon–carbon bonds get a break
As a rule of thumb, carbon–carbon bonds are not easily broken. But a tungsten complex has been found to break a particularly strong carbon–carbon bond, opening up fresh opportunities for organic synthesis.
- Alan S. Goldman
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News & Views |
Degrees of climate feedback
A probabilistic analysis of climate variation during the period AD 1050–1800 refines available estimates of the influence of temperature change on the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
- Hugues Goosse
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News |
Light extinguishes dark-matter claims
Starlight accounts for anomalous electron signals.
- Eric Hand
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News Feature |
Literature mining: Speed reading
Scientists are struggling to make sense of the expanding scientific literature. Corie Lok asks whether computational tools can do the hard work for them.
- Corie Lok
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Letter |
A mildly relativistic radio jet from the otherwise normal type Ic supernova 2007gr
Type Ic supernovae have drawn attention since 1998 owing to their sparse association with long duration γ-ray bursts (GRBs). Although the GRB central engine generates ultra-relativistic jets, no relativistic outflows have yet been found in type Ib/c supernovae explosions. Here, radio observations reveal a mildly relativistic expansion in a nearby type Ic supernova, SN 2007gr.
- Z. Paragi
- , G. B. Taylor
- & B. Paczyński
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News |
What will the next solar cycle bring?
Orbiting mission will probe the Sun's activity, including flares that can disrupt electricity grids.
- Lizzie Buchen
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News |
Plans for alien contact found wanting
Governments lack frameworks to respond to discoveries.
- Lucas Laursen
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Letter |
High-water-content mouldable hydrogels by mixing clay and a dendritic molecular binder
In the search to reduce our dependency on fossil-fuel energy, new plastic materials that are less dependent on petroleum are being developed, with water-based gels — hydrogels — representing one possible solution. Here, a mixture of water, 3% clay and a tiny amount of a special organic binder is shown to form a transparent hydrogel that can be moulded into shape-persistent, free-standing objects and that rapidly and completely self-heals when damaged.
- Qigang Wang
- , Justin L. Mynar
- & Takuzo Aida
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Letter |
Strong crystal size effect on deformation twinning
Although deformation twinning in crystals controls the mechanical behaviour of many materials, its size-dependence has not been explored. Using micro-compression and in situ nano-compression experiments, the stress required for deformation twinning is now found to increase drastically with decreasing sample size of a titanium alloy single crystal, until the sample size is reduced to one micrometre; below this point, deformation twinning is replaced by dislocation plasticity.
- Qian Yu
- , Zhi-Wei Shan
- & Evan Ma
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Letter |
Earth encounters as the origin of fresh surfaces on near-Earth asteroids
Telescopic measurements of asteroids' colours rarely match laboratory reflectance spectra of meteorites owing to a 'space weathering' process that rapidly reddens asteroid surfaces. 'Unweathered' asteroids, however, with spectra matching ordinary chondrite meteorites, are seen only among small bodies with orbits that cross inside the orbits of Mars and Earth. Such unweathered asteroids are now shown to have experienced orbital intersections closer than the Earth–Moon distance within the past half-million years.
- Richard P. Binzel
- , Alessandro Morbidelli
- & Alan T. Tokunaga
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Research Highlights |
Astrophysics: Dusty galaxy
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Research Highlights |
Chemistry: Chase acid, solve maze
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News & Views |
Membrane magic
The use of magnetic fields to assemble particles into membranes provides a powerful tool for exploring the physics of self-assembly and a practical method for synthesizing functional materials.
- Jack F. Douglas
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Research Highlights |
Geophysics: Synthetic sky light
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News & Views |
More ozone over North America
Springtime ozone levels in the lower atmosphere over western North America are rising. The source of this pollution may be Asia, a finding that reaffirms the need for international air-quality control.
- Kathy Law
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News & Views |
Stripped on passing by Earth
Asteroids are weakly bound piles of rubble, and if one comes close to Earth, tides can cause the object to undergo landslides and structural rearrangement. The outcome of this encounter is a body with meteorite-like colours.
- Clark R. Chapman
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News Feature |
The real holes in climate science
Like any other field, research on climate change has some fundamental gaps, although not the ones typically claimed by sceptics. Quirin Schiermeier takes a hard look at some of the biggest problem areas.
- Quirin Schiermeier
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News |
Iranian academics fear more killings
Concern grows in the wake of particle physicist's death.
- Declan Butler
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News |
Pollutants plucked from air with copper
Fortuitous catalyst discovery offers a new way to suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Letter |
A large coronal loop in the Algol system
The close binary Algol system contains a radio-bright KIV sub-giant star in a very close and rapid orbit with a main sequence B8 star. Evidence points to the existence of an extended, complex coronal magnetosphere originating at the cooler K subgiant, but the detailed morphology of the subgiant's corona and its possible interaction with its companion are unknown. Multi-epoch radio imaging of the Algol system now reveals a large coronal loop suggestive of a persistent asymmetric magnetic field structure aligned between the two stars.
- W. M. Peterson
- , R. L. Mutel
- & W. M. Goss
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Letter |
Bulgeless dwarf galaxies and dark matter cores from supernova-driven outflows
The properties of 'dwarf' galaxies have long challenged the cold dark matter (CDM) model of galaxy formation, as the properties of most observed dwarf galaxies contrast with models based on the dominance of CDM. Here, hydrodynamical simulations (assuming the presence of CDM) are reported in which the analogues of dwarf galaxies — bulgeless and with shallow central dark-matter profiles — arise naturally.
- F. Governato
- , C. Brook
- & P. Madau
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Letter |
Structural basis for the photoconversion of a phytochrome to the activated Pfr form
Phytochromes regulate numerous photoresponses in plants and microorganisms through their ability to photointerconvert between a red-light-absorbing, ground state (Pf) and a far-red-light-absorbing, photoactivated state (Pfr). The structures of several phytochromes as Pf have been determined previously; here, the three-dimensional solution structure of the bilin-binding domain as Pfr is described. The results shed light on the structural basis for photoconversion to the activated Pfr form.
- Andrew T. Ulijasz
- , Gabriel Cornilescu
- & Richard D. Vierstra
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Editorial |
Security ethics
Manufacturers of computer systems should welcome researchers' efforts to find flaws.
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Authors |
Abstractions
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Research Highlights |
Biogeochemistry: DDT in the ocean
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Research Highlights |
Materials science: Sequencing with carbon
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News |
Pulsar watchers race for gravity waves
Radio telescopes vie with laser detectors to hunt for signs of massive cosmic collisions.
- Eric Hand
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News & Views |
Gone with the wind?
Windy weather is forecast where stars are forming. Numerical simulations show that these winds can reshape dwarf galaxies, reconciling their properties with the prevailing theory of galaxy formation.
- Marla Geha