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A new government initiative to promote university development is a welcome attempt to stem the exodus of outstanding researchers from Germany. But it is also necessary to sustain deeper reform of the country's academic system.
Japan's Nobel laureates have a celebrity status that outstrips anything seen by their contemporaries in North America or Europe. How have they balanced the desire to be a positive influence with the need to retain some privacy? David Cyranoski finds out.
Consumers are stocking up on live yoghurts and fermented drinks that claim to improve health. But is there any science behind the marketing of these 'probiotic' products? Alison Abbott investigates.
How far is the Pleiades star cluster from Earth? The latest measurement suggests that there is a problem with data from the Hipparcos satellite, which will have repercussions for estimating other astronomical distances.
Accurate transmission of the genome during cell division requires the physical separation of replicated chromosomes. The identities of two molecular motors needed to do the job in fruitflies are now revealed.
Carbon nanotubes have become familiar components in nanotechnology. Nanotubes made from inorganic materials are now on the rise, the latest creation being nanoscale tubes of a complex manganese oxide.
We all spend about a third of our lives asleep, an essential but seemingly unproductive state. Experimental evidence now emerges to support anecdotal evidence that sleep can stimulate creative thinking.
A significant fraction of a common organic component of marine sediments has an unexpected source, providing a fresh context for studies of the global carbon cycle in oceanic and terrestrial settings.
Membrane fusion occurs in many situations in living organisms — when certain viruses enter host cells, for instance. Three crystal structures shed light on the protein rearrangements that bring about such fusion.
Scientists who can combine geographic information systems with satellite data are in demand in a variety of disciplines. Virginia Gewin gets her bearings.
