Articles in 2014

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  • The properties of articular cartilage, which lines bones in joints, depend partly on repulsion between components of the material. A new synthetic gel that mimics this feature has rare, direction-dependent properties. See Letter p.68

    • Anne Ladegaard Skov
    News & Views
  • The identification of the gene regulatory network that controls the formation of xylem — the major component of wood — opens up new avenues for manipulating plant biomass. See Article p.571

    • Anthony Bishopp
    • Malcolm J. Bennett
    News & Views
  • The discovery and functional analysis of the protein MEIKIN in mice leads to an evolutionarily conserved model of how chromosome segregation is regulated during a specialized type of cell division called meiosis I. See Article p.466

    • Kikuë Tachibana-Konwalski
    News & Views
  • Rapid progress.

    • John Gilbey
    Futures
  • Explore the gory glories of forensic science, grapple with Tom Stoppard's take on consciousness, learn what it takes to live on Mars, re-enter Jurassic Park, dive into a coral reef and dally with Robert Oppenheimer. Daniel Cressey reports.

    • Daniel Cressey
    Books & Arts
  • To kick off 2015, Nature's Careers section asked several young scientists — all 40 or under — about their plans for the year ahead and their wishes for the future of science.

    • Monya Baker
    Feature
  • Usually materials design focuses on attractive interactions, but here a hydrogel is described whose properties are dominated by electrostatic repulsion between negatively charged titanate nanosheets embedded within it; the material, inspired by articular cartilage, deforms easily when sheared parallel to the sheets but resists compressive forces applied orthogonally.

    • Mingjie Liu
    • Yasuhiro Ishida
    • Takuzo Aida
    Letter
  • Quantized conductance in the transport of neutral atoms is observed in an optically produced channel — either a quantum point contact or a quantum wire — between two atom reservoirs; the lowest non-zero conductance value is the universal conductance quantum, the reciprocal of Planck’s constant.

    • Sebastian Krinner
    • David Stadler
    • Tilman Esslinger
    Letter