Often, as scientists, we need to look at problems in a different, though not necessarily new, light. We continually challenge hypotheses and re-evaluate dogmas, and, in doing so, we often find that new theories emerge from looking at old observations. In their article on page 46, Ralf Lösel and Martin Wehling discuss nongenomic steroid hormone signalling. First noted back in the 1940s, only relatively recently has this phenomenon been accepted, and new insights into the mechanisms that underlie this process are coming to light.

Similarly, members of the CD44 glycoprotein family were initially thought to function solely as adhesion receptors. However, they are now known to affect processes from cell survival to differentiation, too, which can be attributed to their recently discovered signalling function (see the article on page 33 by Helmut Ponta, Larry Sherman and Peter A. Herrlich).

Staying with the theme of signalling, Denise J. Montell, in her article on page 13, discusses how three signalling pathways are important in the conversion of cells from a stationary to a migratory phenotype during border-cell migration in the Drosophila melanogaster ovary. Obviously, such signalling must be tightly regulated and co-ordinated with changes that affect cell polarity, cell adhesion and the cytoskeleton.

Finally, we are starting the New Year by launching new, exciting projects for cellular and molecular biologists. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology and Nature Cell Biology kick-off their 'Cell of the Month' image competition, while the Nature Publishing Group opens the doors to the Signaling Gateway/the Alliance for Cellular Signaling, a one-stop free resource for cell signalling research. In addition, EMBO Reports is now part of the Nature Publishing Group, too. So, read about science, view science, enjoy science... and move science forwards.