News, Seven Days, News Q&A, News Explainer and News Feature in 2006

US regulators prepare to OK food made from cloned animals.

Government proposes steps to save conservation icon.

News@nature.com's hit lists of hot news.

Filtration technique could make transfusions safer, its inventors say.

The pursuit of a physician across borders has fallen at the high court.

Torturing even a lifeless computer character makes volunteers upset.

COROT mission to find new worlds set for late-December launch.

Overlooked genetic changes could impact on disease.

The development of lactose tolerance in sub-Saharan Africa is a fascinating tale of genetic convergence, reports Erika Check.

Ultraendurance racers torture their bodies and minds to achieve near-impossible physical feats. Is it an exceptional genetic make-up or the vestiges of human evolution? Helen Pearson reports.

Kerry Black travelled the world in search of the best surf spots. Then he decided to build them himself — on land. Mark Schrope meets the maverick oceanographer.

From a jewel-like bird, rarer than any diamond, to the delicately poetic swirls generated inside aircraft engines, the pursuit of knowledge turns up its fair share of beauty. This issue, Nature wraps up the year with an arresting series of images from 2006. We've divided them into the art of the natural world, planet-scapes both domestic and extraterrestrial, and the splendour of modern technology. Just because something enhances our knowledge doesn't mean it can't also be bewitching.

Instrumentation problems leave relativity test in the balance.

Project aims to mine information on genotypes, phenotypes and lifestyle.

Why change your lifestyle when you can pay a company to save your greenhouse-gas emissions for you? Quirin Schiermeier investigates whether carbon offsetting can really save the planet.

Critics say trials do not translate well into human studies.

Environmentalists hail 'Happy Feet effect'.

Moles blow bubbles to capture underwater scents.

Non-sexual reproduction could lower the fitness of captive animals.