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Life happens in three dimensions, so why doesn't science? Declan Butler discovers that online tools, led by the Google Earth virtual globe, are changing the way we interact with spatial data.
Scientists and medical doctors view research through different lenses — but the gulf in outlook between the two tribes isn't what it used to be. Meredith Wadman reports.
Google Earth software proved effective during relief efforts in New Orleans and Pakistan, say Illah Nourbakhsh and colleagues. Is there more to be gained than lost from opening up disaster operations to the wider public?
Rivers are delivering increasing amounts of fresh water to the ocean. The cause seems to be the influence that higher concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide are having on water use by plants.
To maintain their identity across generations, specialized cells must heritably repress swathes of genes — keeping active only genes necessary for the cell's purpose. Now it seems two repressive pathways join forces.
Ionic liquids are useful substances, but in certain applications their utility is limited because they are involatile — or so we thought. In fact, some ionic liquids can be distilled, and even thermally separated.
Some genes have more than one copy, and the copy number can differ among individuals. But does this variation affect the person involved? It seems susceptibility to certain common diseases can be altered.
High-precision nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy generally requires the use of powerful magnets. But using Earth's magnetic field allows us to gain some of the same information on the cheap.
Fashion design? Game-playing? Designing the shortest bond between two carbon atoms can seem to have elements of such apparently ephemeral pursuits. But it can also stretch the chemist's creativity.
