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How does the brain remember the consequences of our actions? Persistent activity in the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia may be crucial for learning correct actions through experience.
Mechanosensitive channels release tension in cell membranes by opening 'pressure relief' pores. The structure of a partially open channel suggests a gating mechanism and delivers an unexpected architectural twist.
Reactive nitrogen is lost from the oceans as dinitrogen — N2 — produced by microbial metabolism. The latest twist in an ongoing story is that different pathways dominate in two of the oceanic regions concerned.
“Galaxies, like elephants, have long memories,” says an influential article from the 1980s. Tapping into these memories has revealed some surprising facts about the history of our neighbouring Andromeda galaxy.
Evidence linking metabolic alterations to cancer progression is accumulating. It seems that cancer cells must sustain their energy production and remain well fed to survive detachment from their normal habitat.
Five studies show that disabling p53, an essential tumour-suppressor protein, improves the efficiency of stem-cell production. Are these results a 'heads up' that cancer cells and stem cells are disturbingly similar?
Evidence that the most recently discovered extrasolar planet is virtually at the end of its life is a surprise. The odds of that are very low — similar to drawing two consecutive red aces from a well-shuffled deck of cards.
Jumping genes, which make DNA copies of themselves through an RNA middleman, provide a stochastic process for generating brain diversity among humans. The effect of their random insertion, however, is a bit of a gamble.
The discovery of a short-lived γ-ray burst at a surprisingly early epoch in the history of the Universe shows how much is still unknown about the evolution of the parent systems of such bursts.
A super-fast, lensless microscope has been developed that works by decoding the diffraction patterns of bright, laser-like flashes of X-rays. This advance should enable ultrafast events at the nanoscale to be recorded.
Certain insulators have conducting surfaces that arise from subtle chemical properties of the bulk material. The latest experiments suggest that such surfaces may compete with graphene in electronic applications.
Discovering gravitational waves would not only validate Einstein's theory of gravitation but also reveal aspects of the Universe's earliest moments. The hunt for these elusive ripples is now well under way.
Strong laser fields can tear an electron away from a molecule, leaving a hole in the electronic wavefunction that races through the molecule. The ultrafast motion of such a hole has been traced at last.
How does neuronal activity affect the development of neural circuits? Work on the retina shows that blocking activity at the synapses between neurons reduces local synapse assembly without affecting global cellular structure.
When subject to flooding, deepwater rice survives by shooting up in height. Knowledge of the genetic context of this and other responses to inundation will be a boon in enhancing rice productivity.
The size of asteroids in the Solar System's main asteroid belt may help constrain one of the least-understood aspects of planet formation — the transition from pebble-sized dust balls to mountain-sized planetesimals.
