News & Views in 2005

Studies of cultured cells have revealed how the immune system may use intercellular pores to convey information that is important in initiating antiviral responses and in limiting the spread of infections.

The chemistry of organic aerosols has been somewhat neglected on the assumption that they are eliminated from the atmosphere mainly by rainfall. Laboratory studies indicate that a rethink is called for.

There is no coherent explanation for newly observed salvos of radio waves emanating from a direction near the Galactic Centre. Are they from a new type of stellar object? The search is on for similar radio emitters.

The global community is committed to reducing the rate of loss of biodiversity, but how can progress be measured? A novel system to tackle the problem may also identify key factors behind the changes.

The evolution of specialized cellular powerhouses called hydrogenosomes has long confounded biologists. The discovery that in some cases they have their own genome sheds some much-needed light on the issue.

Gas inside collapsing bubbles can become very hot and, as a result, emit light. It turns out that temperatures of more than 15,000 kelvin can be reached — as hot as the surface of a bright star.

The main enzymes that drive cell division can work on numerous substrates, but how is their specificity ensured? Regulatory subunits show the way, using various tricks to guide enzymes to their targets.

Mammals hear with exquisite sensitivity and precision over a huge range of frequencies; tiny amplifiers in the inner ear make this possible. New results challenge current thinking on how these amplifiers work.

The protoplanets that collided to make the Earth may themselves have had atmospheres and oceans. Venus has vastly more argon and neon than Earth: fossil evidence, perhaps, of protoplanetary atmospheres?

Slow light research has been a fast-moving topic in recent years, with potential applications from quantum computing to telecommunications. Techniques are now emerging that can slow down light in optical fibres.

In the Northern Hemisphere, large-scale glaciation was initiated comparatively recently. Paradoxically, it seems that the trigger was a seasonal warming of the sea surface in an upwind oceanic region.

How does an immature cell know how to develop into a specialized one? A fortunate observation has revealed one of the cues that guide precursor immune cells to their ultimate fate.

HIV has evolved to avoid neutralization by human antibodies. New atomic-level details reveal that such evasion involves substantial refolding of its exterior glycoprotein.

The discovery that cell death in nematode worms induces fragmentation of mitochondria reveals a new parallel to the death process in mammals, and may shed light on why mitochondria divide in death.