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An analysis shows that fuel made from wild, herbaceous vegetation grown on land currently unsuitable for cultivating field crops could contribute substantially to the United States' targets for biofuel production. See Letter p.514
A state-of-the-art numerical model shows that the advance of glaciers in a cooling climate depends strongly on the pre-existing landscape, and that glacial erosion paves the way for greater glacial extent in the future. See Letter p.206
Fossils of microorganisms from deep-sea sediment cores show that environmental change correlates closely with extinction but not with speciation, producing a nuanced view of the drivers of evolution. See Letter p.398
Physicists have come up with the mind-boggling concept of a time crystal. This intriguing proposal, which is based on the notion of broken time-translation symmetry, might open up a whole new field of research.
An array of more than 4,000 optical antennas working in unison has been demonstrated on a millimetre-scale silicon chip. The result highlights the remarkable capabilities of optical integration in silicon. See Letter p.195
Most fish living in marine reserves are older, bigger and more fecund than those outside their borders, but they are also slower to flee a threat. The potential for 'spillover' of such fish into fisheries may boost support for reserves.
The hormone insulin has a central role in human physiology, yet the answer to a fundamental biochemical question — how it binds to its cell-surface receptor — has remained elusive, until now. See Letter p.241
A method for dissecting the polymeric networks of gels enables the number of loops — strands that connect to themselves — within them to be counted. This allows network morphologies to be correlated with gel properties.
Magmas that have erupted at Earth's surface reveal a potential new mantle source. This source, which is rich in nickel and has a primordial helium isotopic content, may have originated at great depth in the mantle. See Letter p.393
How influential are the various factors involved in curbing global warming? A study finds that the timing of emissions reduction has the largest impact on the probability of limiting temperature increases to 2 °C. See Letter p.79
Nanoscale imaging reveals that bacterial and fungal enzymes use different mechanisms to deconstruct plant cell walls. The finding may provide clues about how to enhance the efficiency of liquid-biofuel production from biomass.
A detailed simulation of the packing behaviour of deformable particles settles the debate about whether soft matter can adopt an unconventional crystal structure at high densities — it can. The hunt is now on for a real-world example.
Sustained activity of the brain-specific enzyme PKM-ζ is thought to underlie the maintenance of long-term memories. Studies in PKM-ζ-deficient mice, however, cast the importance of this protein into question. See Letters p.416 & p.420
Deep-imaging observations of the Andromeda galaxy and its surroundings have revealed a wide but thin planar structure of satellite galaxies that all orbit their host in the same rotational direction. See Letter p.62
