Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Some oceanographers were hoping that a commission chaired by James Watkins would propose more radical reform of ocean research, education and exploration.
In its pure form, maybe not. But elements of the organic philosophy are starting to be deployed in mainstream agriculture. Nature's reporters analyse this trend, assess the extent of organic farming worldwide, and frame the questions on which its wider adoption will depend.
In the developed world, sales of organic produce are growing rapidly. But how far can this trend extend? That depends on how strictly you define organic farming ... and the answers to three other pivotal questions.
The tallest living organisms are trees, but how tall could they be and what stops them growing any taller? Measurements at the tops of the world's tallest trees now provide quantitative answers to these questions.
Are there any limits to what science and technology can achieve? When it comes to recording data in magnetic media, the answer is yes: there is a natural limit to the speed at which data can be encoded.
In mammals, genomes from both parents are generally needed to make viable offspring. But changing the expression of ‘imprinted’ genes can render the father's contribution dispensable.
What happens to minerals under the conditions characteristic of the Earth at great depths? Experiments performed under such conditions illustrate how the main constituent of the lower mantle may behave.
The B-RAF protein is often mutated in human cancers, contributing to their development. Although most known mutations stimulate its catalytic activity, others, surprisingly, impair it — yet still cause cancer.
