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Evangelical leaders have called on the United States to step up its efforts to control greenhouse-gas emissions. But can they force action where others have failed, asks Amanda Haag.
Ecologists paid by industry to assess the effects of businesses on the environment are often accused of selling their souls. But isn't scientific expertise exactly what is needed? Michael Hopkin investigates.
Flagella are whip-like structures that power the movement of certain cells. Analysis of a single-cell parasite, the African trypanosome, reveals that flagella are also essential for viability in this organism.
Light from the oldest and farthest stellar explosion yet seen was emitted when the Universe was a mere infant. It provides a close-up view of how and when stars formed, and how they affect the primordial gas around them.
Ways of evolving proteins, and assessing the vast numbers of variants needed to identify those with novel enzymatic activity, are themselves evolving. Oil droplets containing basic cell machinery provide a promising approach.
Molecular physicists and astrophysicists alike would like to know how fast the H3+ molecular ion recombines with electrons. Fast, seems to be the answer — with an awkward consequence for the astrophysicists.
Rhythmic activities such as walking need tight coordination. In mice, pace is tweaked by a specific set of spinal-cord neurons that, surprisingly, make the animals walk faster by inhibiting the underlying circuit.
Highly complex immunoassays that identify and quantify many different antigens simultaneously need high-resolution imaging capability. A simple, low-cost technique could be music to our ears.
Tough carbon–carbon bonds can snap in certain large molecules just because the two sides of the molecule cannot agree on which way to go during adsorption. Heresy? The view through the microscope suggests otherwise.
Evolutionary studies tend to focus on alterations in proteins. But evolutionary change can often occur through modified gene expression, a process that is now under investigation with species-specific microarrays.
