Review, News & Views, Perspectives, Hypotheses and Analyses in 2007

Our description of how the atomic nucleus holds together has up to now been entirely empirical. Arduous calculations starting from the theory of the strong nuclear force provide a new way into matter's hard core.

The project for producing a genome-wide atlas of gene expression in the mouse brain shows how, with advancing technology, huge volumes of data can be collected and made accessible through the Internet.

The deepest and clearest maps yet of the Universe's skeleton of dark-matter structure present a picture broadly in concord with favoured models — although puzzling discrepancies remain.

The perception of carbon dioxide provides insects with sensory data on their environment, and informs many insect behaviours. It seems that this sense relies on two dedicated neural receptors.

Peptides and proteins with sugars attached have many desirable biological properties, but their chemical synthesis is a technical challenge. An ingenious take on an old idea might simplify things considerably.

When the Cassini spacecraft found no methane ocean swathing Saturn's moon Titan, it was a blow to proponents of an Earth-like world. The discovery of northern lakes on Titan gives them reason for cheer.

Molecular investigations of the origin of the dorso-ventral axis in an obscure marine invertebrate illuminate one of the longest-running debates in evolutionary biology — that over the origin of vertebrates.

How do metallic alloys solidify from their original liquid state? A study of the deformation of cooling alloys confirms what had been suspected for some time: solidifying alloys bear exciting similarities to granular materials.

After all known sources are accounted for, puffy blobs of infrared light persist on deep-field telescope images. Evidence is mounting that these could be the signatures of stars in early 'protogalaxies'.