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Volume 542 Issue 7642, 23 February 2017

Michal Gillon et al. report the results of a photometric monitoring campaign of the star TRAPPIST-1 from the ground and space. They reveal that at least seven planets with sizes and masses similar to Earth revolve around this Jupiter-sized star. These planets all have equilibrium temperatures low enough to make it possible for liquid water to exist on their surfaces. The cover shows an artists interpretation of the seven planets and their relationship with TRAPPIST-1. Cover art: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Robert Hurt (IPAC).

Editorial

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Research Highlights

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Seven Days

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News

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News Feature

  • How rediscovered chemical tags on DNA and RNA are shaking up the field.

    • Cassandra Willyard
    News Feature
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Comment

  • Jeffrey S. Mogil and Malcolm R. Macleod propose a new kind of paper that combines the flexibility of basic research with the rigour of clinical trials.

    • Jeffrey S. Mogil
    • Malcolm R. Macleod
    Comment
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Books & Arts

  • Margaret Catley-Carlson plunges into a study of a dwindling resource — groundwater.

    • Margaret Catley-Carlson
    Books & Arts
  • Barbara Kiser reviews five of the week's best science picks.

    • Barbara Kiser
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Correspondence

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News & Views

  • A systematic analysis of bipolar cells, which act as a central signalling conduit in the retina, reveals that the neurons' diverse responses to light are generated largely by feedback from neighbouring amacrine cells. See Article p.439

    • Richard H. Masland
    News & Views
  • Statistical analysis has revealed a simple rule for the occurrence of warm periods during the Quaternary, whereas on much longer timescales geological data have confirmed that the Solar System is chaotic. See Article p.427 & Letter p.468

    • Didier Paillard
    News & Views
  • Optimal protein synthesis requires bases in transfer RNAs to be modified. A key modification has been shown to involve an unusual two-step mechanism that entails the sequential activities of two enzymes. See Letter p.494

    • William T. Yewdell
    • Jayanta Chaudhuri
    News & Views
  • Seven small planets whose surfaces could harbour liquid water have been spotted around a nearby dwarf star. If such a configuration is common in planetary systems, our Galaxy could be teeming with Earth-like planets. See Letter p.456

    • Ignas A. G. Snellen
    News & Views
  • Chemists have long aspired to synthesize two-dimensional polymers that are fully conjugated — an attribute that imparts potentially useful properties. Just such a material has been prepared using a solid-state polymerization reaction.

    • Maryam Ebrahimi
    • Federico Rosei
    News & Views
  • It emerges that blood-cancer-targeting drugs that block a tumour-survival pathway also activate a mutation-causing enzyme in mice and in human cells. This might have implications for the clinical use of these drugs. See Letter p.489

    • David A. Fruman
    • Susan O'Brien
    News & Views
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Article

  • A simple model, based on only summer insolation energy and time since the previous deglaciation, correctly predicts the deglaciation history of the past 2.6 million years, including the change in frequency of glacial–interglacial cycles about one million years ago.

    • P. C. Tzedakis
    • M. Crucifix
    • E. W. Wolff
    Article
  • Whole-exome analysis of individuals with developmental disorders shows that de novo mutations can equally cause loss or altered protein function, but that most mutations causing altered protein function have not yet been described.

    • Jeremy F. McRae
    • Stephen Clayton
    • Matthew E. Hurles
    Article
  • The functional diversity of bipolar cells, which split visual inputs into different excitatory channels within the retina, arises from centre–surround interactions in their receptive fields that tune both spatial and temporal signalling.

    • Katrin Franke
    • Philipp Berens
    • Tom Baden
    Article
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Letter

  • Immunization with Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites under chemoprophylaxis can protect against controlled human malaria infection with the same strain for at least 10 weeks, and protection correlates with polyfunctional T-cell memory.

    • Benjamin Mordmüller
    • Güzin Surat
    • Peter G. Kremsner
    Letter
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Article

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Letter

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Technology Feature

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Feature

  • As it embraces competitive international science, Poland is becoming a force to be reckoned with.

    • Quirin Schiermeier
    Feature
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Career Brief

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Futures

  • Dreams of another world.

    • Laurence Suhner
    Futures
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