Review, News & Views, Perspectives, Hypotheses and Analyses in 2017

'Squeezed' light exhibits smaller quantum fluctuations than no light at all. Localized squeezed regions have now been produced along an infrared light wave and probed with unprecedented time resolution. See Letter p.376

An algorithm has been developed allowing the rational design of origami-inspired materials that can be rearranged to change their properties. This might open the way to strategies for making reconfigurable robots. See Article p.347

It emerges that phage viruses, which infect bacteria, use small peptides to communicate with each other. This observation of intercellular communication also reveals how viruses make a key developmental decision. See Article p.488

Materials called hydrogels have potential applications as scaffolds for tissue engineering, but methods are needed to assemble them into complex structures that mimic those found in nature. Just such a method has now been reported.

When some cancer cells delete a tumour-suppressor gene, they also delete nearby genes. It emerges that one of these latter genes has a key metabolic role, revealing a therapeutic opportunity that might be relevant for many tumours. See Letter p.119

Isotope evidence suggests that, during dry periods associated with the most recent ice age, the Amazonian forest survived in a region that is sensitive to rainfall changes — settling a debate about Amazonian aridity. See Letter p.204

Superhydrophobic surfaces reduce the frictional drag between water and solid materials, but this effect is often temporary. The realization of sustained drag reduction has applications for water vehicles and pipeline flows.

Light in a laser is confined in the form of standing waves. By engineering such waves, scientists have designed an optical system that enhances this confinement, producing a compact laser that emits a high-quality beam. See Letter p.196

Faced with ever-changing products, consumers can benefit from trying new items. But data collected over almost five years show that, the longer shoppers have been buying a favourite product, the more likely they are to stick with it.

Competition between the phospholipase enzyme PLA2G16 and the protein galectin-8 determines whether the RNA-based genomes of picornaviruses can be effectively delivered into host cells. See Letter p.412

Eukaryotic cells, with complex features such as membrane-bound nuclei, evolved from prokaryotic cells that lack these components. A newly identified prokaryotic group reveals intermediate steps in eukaryotic-cell evolution. See Article p.353

In chemical catalysis, spillover is the process in which hydrogen atoms are made from hydrogen molecules at one site and then added to other atoms or molecules at another. A study reveals details of this effect. See Letter p.68

For almost a decade, astronomers have observed intense bursts of radio waves from the distant cosmos whose origins were unknown. The source of one such burst has now been identified, but this has only deepened the mystery. See Letter p.58

Tobacco plants have been manipulated to improve their adaptation to changes in light intensity. The engineered plants can use solar energy more safely and efficiently than their wild-type counterparts.

A protocol has been developed to grow structures that resemble the main part of the stomach in vitro from human embryonic stem cells — an advance that provides insights into stomach development. See Article p.182

A molecular analysis of human oesophageal cancers reveals abnormalities that might be targetable by existing drugs, and indicates that the current stratification of these tumours into subtypes is incomplete. See Article p.169