News Feature in 2009

From Antarctic icefish to Galapagos finches, there are some interesting characters at the fringes of developmental biology. Brendan Maher explores a world of alternative model organisms.

From a home lab to the Italian Senate, by way of nerve growth factor — Rita Levi-Montalcini is a scientist like no other. Alison Abbott meets the first Nobel prizewinner set to reach her hundredth birthday.

Undergraduate textbooks are going digital. Declan Butler asks how this will shake up student reading habits and the multi-billion-dollar print textbook market.

The only way to meet the increasing demand for fish is through aquaculture. Daniel Cressey explores the challenges for fish farmers and what it means for dinner plates in 2030.

When an asteroid was spotted heading towards our planet last October, researchers rushed to document a cosmic impact from start to finish for the first time. Roberta Kwok tells the tale.

The switch to electronic medical records opens up a potential wealth of data for researchers, if major obstacles can be overcome, reports Katharine Gammon.

Science journalism is in decline; science blogging is growing fast. But can the one replace the other, asks Geoff Brumfiel.

Waste heat from industrial plants and electricity-generating stations represents a huge amount of lost energy. David Lindley finds out what engineers and regulators need to do to get it back.

Could out-of-sync body clocks be contributing to human disease? Melissa Lee Phillips reports.

Alcoholics Anonymous and its spin-off programmes have been helping people with addictions for decades. Jim Schnabel talks to the neuroscientists who are looking deeper into the approach.

Running one of the biggest academic labs in America gives Robert Langer almost 100 people to help and advise; his BlackBerry gives him the rest of the world. Helen Pearson joins the throng.

The International Polar Year (IPY) has covered two full annual cycles at both poles. Consisting of 170 projects, it has involved more than 60 countries and cost about US$1.2 billion.

As change in the Arctic accelerates, scientists and indigenous peoples have pressing reasons to work together, reports Richard Monastersky.

As scientists celebrate the end of the International Polar Year, they see causes for concern on the frozen horizon, reports Quirin Schiermeier.

What does it mean to save a species? For some, preserving the American bison means keeping its genome pure, finds Emma Marris.

A Chinese laboratory is the only source of a valuable crystal. David Cyranoski investigates why it won't share its supplies.

Geneticists looked to the human genome to understand human evolution. But it's hard to interpret without considering the inheritance of culture, finds Erika Check Hayden.

People's mindsets are neither fixed by evolution nor infinitely malleable by culture. Dan Jones looks for the similarities that underlie the diversity of human nature.

Are people's interactions driven by a primitive, non-linguistic type of communication? Mark Buchanan looks at how modern technology can reveal the basis of our powers of persuasion.

By turning neurons technicolour, Jeff Lichtman exposed the brain's wiring. Jonah Lehrer meets the 'unapologetic cell biologist' with ambitions to map every connection in the human brain.