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Pitcher plants have highly effective ways of trapping their insect prey. Electron microscope studies of the pitcher of one species show how its surface features help to maximize the plant’s diet.
The draft sequence of the genome of a dim and distant relation of vertebrates will allow closer inspection of vertebrate origins. Some people have been waiting more than a hundred years for this.
In computer simulations, initially identical populations of organisms growing in identical environments follow very different evolutionary trajectories. Mutational interdependence is a key factor.
The cosmic microwave background radiation is a unique source of information about the early Universe. The detection of its polarization could lead to confirmation of an inflationary phase soon after the Big Bang.
In a technological breakthrough, two groups have shown that it is possible to study the turnover of spines — tiny protrusions on nerve cells — in live mice. But it's still uncertain just how dynamic the spines are.
Memory T cells help us to fight off infectious microorganisms that we have encountered before. There are two models for the generation of memory cells, and new work provides support for one of them.
Electroluminescence has taken a new turn with the combination of organic light-emitting diodes and inorganic quantum dots. The efficiency of light emission is much higher in the latest easy-to-make device.
A substance as simple as water is in fact a rich source of interesting physics. The solid phase contains several amorphous forms of ice, including one with a very dense structure, the details of which have now been revealed.
The familiar way in which frogs swim is with both hind legs kicking together. But on occasion they swim with alternate leg kicks, raising questions about the energetics involved.
A study of the thermodynamics of antibody binding to a crucial HIV protein has shed light on why the virus so effectively evades the antibody arm of the immune response. Changes in the protein's conformation are the key.
Growth factors regulate cell behaviour, and are kept in check by inhibitors. The structure of a complex of two such proteins shows that they form back-to-back butterflies, with the inhibitor's wings stretching to embrace its partner.
Triple points describe states of matter in which three phases exist at the same time — such as solid, liquid and gas. The same phenomenon has now been found to occur between three different shapes of atomic nuclei.
Our understanding of insect flight is hampered by the difficulty of obtaining data when the insects are flying freely. But such experiments can be carried out and show butterflies to be masters of flight control.
A small fraction of Kuiper-belt objects are known to be accompanied by large moons. These double worlds may have formed in the earliest days of the Solar System through comparatively gentle gravitational encounters.
Huge amounts of methane are locked up in deposits that lie deep beneath the sea floor. New seismic images reveal that these deposits possess unexpected features that might affect their stability.
The fat-derived hormone leptin is best known for its effects on weight. But it also influences bone density, and new work reveals a role for the sympathetic nervous system in mediating this effect.
